April 20th, 009 SDE:
Countryman shifted in his seat while Felki, one of the drifter captains, laid out their counteroffer. They’d been negotiating over the sale of war prizes for the last hour and a half. “We could do that, but it would be a bit tight. Instead we will offer the following quantities of titanium, Ephon Crystals, Tungari, Erudite, gold, silver, tin, nickel and iron.”
Countryman studied the numbers offered, they seemed acceptable but he noted a few omissions from their original request. “No carbon?”
“We are rather tight on carbon supplies ourselves and we are already paying you a lot of it to build ships for us.”
“In that case, instead of carbon, how much Beryllium can you spare?”
“Beryllium?” She asked with a frown, “I’m no engineer but in what world is....”
“It takes longer, but we converted a couple of our fusion reactors to produce carbon as a byproduct.”
“I see, and if you don’t mind me asking, what are you using all this material for? It seems a bit much for a fleet as small as yours.”
Countryman nodded and pressed a few keys on the table. A holographic image appeared above the table. It was a schematic for a modified probe design measuring two meters long. It featured a full multispatial sensor suite capable of peering into the deeper layers of the storm, along with a powerful subspace radio array, high-efficiency single-core pulse wave engines and high density power cells. The shell was a reinforced hull structure designed to survive the storm. “Among other things we have begun producing long range probes as part of a project to chart and study the storm.”
She leaned forward, “I had no idea your people were so industrious, how far can these things roam? What kind of intel might you be willing to share?”
Countryman grinned, “That depends on how much beryllium and carbon you can spare us. These probes are powered by the storm itself, with a sensor array delicately calibrated to run off that power and nothing more. We could send them anywhere, and the more we have? The more coverage our net will have. I’m more than willing to share what data we gather, for the right price of course.”
She groaned then gave him a look, “Damn it, I just handed you the initiative didn’t I?!”
“Sure did, so how much?”
She slumped and forked over a number, “Anything else?”
Countryman paused for a moment and considered. They’d found Rydium on their last expedition to the Deep Storm. It was a mineral of great value to them, much of their technology was based on it. Sure they’d already mined out the entire source they’d found but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more. Yet did he want to reveal their interest in a mineral the other factions didn’t seem to have any interest in? He could also inquire about Zytherium Crystals but he wasn’t sure that would make much sense. Zytherium Crystals were rare metaphasic materials, and they’d already noted that the storm seemed to wreak havoc on them.
Zytherium was like Ryduim, a discovery that happened almost by accident but they were particularly valued for their ability to stabilize and amplify spatial reactions. They were used in warp engines but weren’t actually required for warp engines to function. It was why their early warp program hadn’t used them at all. Later developments however found that when trying to move especially large ships like the Enterprise you needed really powerful heavy duty spatial coils which is where the Zytherium came in. It allowed more powerful spatial coils in a smaller package.
“Nothing I think you can help with at this time.”
“That implies there is something you need. May I know what?”
“Need is a strong word, it's no requirement, and we can make do without the resource in question.”
“Which is?”
Countryman handed back the pad now with a draft of a trade agreement on it, he sighed, “We have a minor interest in Zytherium for research purposes.”
She blinked, “Zytherium,” she glanced up, and let out a breath, “You’re right we don’t have any, last we had some was a few years ago. One of our salvage teams recovered a wrecked cruiser during the last surfacing and among the materials lifted from the wreck were a couple of Zytherium crystals, but we sold them years ago. Although honestly I have no idea what anyone uses the stuff for. It’s basically an expensive paperweight as far as I know.”
“It’s a metaphasic material with rather potent spatial properties. We use it mainly in the construction of high-end warp drive engines but there are other applications.”
“Warp engines? How does that work?”
“Zytherium amplifies and stabilizes the warp field by focusing the spatial folding process. This allows ships to go faster on less fuel and reduces the footprint of the engine module. Pretty much anything involving spatial fields can use small amounts of Zytherium to great effect.”
“And you have a research project dealing in spatial fields. Makes sense.”
“Research aside, why don’t we focus on finishing this trade agreement?”
“Yes, well you do seem to do a lot of research. Of course your military is also impressive. Capturing over twenty ships with minimal losses, we could obviously stand to learn a few things from you.”
“Perhaps, but we do have our reasons for our projects. Each of them is carefully debated in council before we even approve funding for a proposal. I’m sure you do the same.”
“True, we have our own projects,” she said as the subject shifted back to the trade deal.
Countryman stepped off the lift onto deck five. The last few hours had been spent in a long series of talks with the Drifters. How he longed for the days where diplomacy didn’t matter, but sadly it did. The Drifters might not be as organized as the Refuge, but they were proving to be a useful ally. Being dragged into a war was a net negative, but Countryman didn’t envy the alternatives.
Regardless they’d successfully off loaded twenty-nine ships in exchange for much needed material wealth. Materials that would fuel their ongoing research projects, fill their coffers with needed materials to maintain their existing ships, and allow them to continue expanding the fleet.
It was a modest expansion focused on small ships, like fighters and shuttles, but that was basically what they could support. It seemed the other factions invested more into small ship construction than capital ship construction as well, and he didn’t blame them. The constraints of the storm made building capital ships difficult. The council had largely written off building capital ships until such time they were in normal space again. Countryman had no reason to disagree with the assessment. It was a shame, but they could resume those fleet development projects later without any major issues.
Shoving such thoughts aside, Countryman reached the door to his quarters and thumbed the keypad. It slid open to his familiar foyer and he headed on in. He could already smell the pasta cooking and heard voices deeper within. Identifying Ruri’s voice he smiled, things were working out, it seemed she’d managed to get back without any coaxing from him. To quote a saying, it was like the stars were aligning.
Then he stepped through the door from his foyer and into the main room of his quarters. Countryman blinked, then blinked again. The expected people were all here. Rose was at the table feeding Rika some sliced fruit, while Ruri was on the sofa. An animated feature was playing on the monitor, but it didn’t seem anyone was actually watching it. Yet his gaze fell on the presence of Vera. She was in the midst of a heated discussion with Ruri and for some reason he couldn’t help taking in how the two were dressed.
Ruri had always been on the smaller side. Her dark hair, which she usually kept tied so it wouldn’t be in the way, hung loosely around her shoulders, and had she done something with her eyes? The blue of her eyes seemed brighter today, almost as though they were glowing. She wasn’t wearing her lab coat, and instead wore a tight little dress that hugged her curves so well it hid nothing. Ruri actually had a decently sized bust, but in that dress it looked all the larger and the hem was so short that he could see the lacy panties she’d chosen to wear.
Meanwhile Vera was an alien beauty easily taller than Ruri at a hundred and fifty five centimeters tall with pale blue skin, bright green eyes and silver white hair that she’d tied with a pair of black ribbons. A black party dress hung on her frame with a deep V cut that drew one’s eyes to her chest, she had apple sized boobs that seemed to have a good shape and he noted she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Ruri saw him and paused her discussion of high level gravitic field manipulation, “Jac! How’d the meeting go?”
“Wonderful, we got everything we wanted,” he glanced at Vera.
“Oh I invited her over, figured we could have a nice dinner together, then afterward we could try to conceive together.”
Vera flushed, Countryman blinked.
Vera was first to speak, “Wait! What!? Conceive!? As in, make babies?”
Countryman groaned, with everything going on he’d forgotten that Ruri wanted to bring Vera in as another partner for him. In her mind this made perfect sense, but it seems her weak grasp of the social graces had struck again. “Did you even ask Vera?”
“Why would she object? Physically you and her are both very attractive specimens with good brains. I double checked gene compatibility, as I suspected before you two are a good match. The chances for a superior child are high....”
Countryman sighed and only half listened as Ruri lined out all the positives.
Rose interjected from the table, “While she isn’t wrong I’d thought Mother at least asked Vera.”
“Don’t assume. If anything, assume she blundered. It works wonders.”
Vera spoke up, “Look I’m flattered but aren’t...”
“See, she doesn’t have a problem.”
Vera groaned.
Countryman palmed his face. Ruri just looked between them cluelessly, as an awkward silence filled the room. The moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity until a sudden ding echoed through the room with a suddenness that made everyone jump. Rose quickly rushed from the dining table and went to the counter where she turned off the pasta. Drained and rinsed it before coating it in oil. Pulling out some plates she called, “Okay dinner’s done!”
Countryman took a seat near Rika who was happily swallowing a slice of fruit. “Have fun today?”
She giggled in the affirmative and snatched another piece of fruit off her plate.
Ruri and Vera joined him at the table, and a moment after that, Rose was placing plates down in front of people. Each one was carefully proportioned and garnished with a touch of parsley and oregano. She also added some dried cheese to the table for people to add as desired.
The moment Rika had her plate, the girl was nomming on the pasta. The last of her sliced fruit left forgotten, like yesterday’s news. A smile showed on her young face. Countryman chuckled. “Ah pasta, a timeless favorite.”
Vera watched her eat, “Really?”
Countryman nodded, “I’ve never met a child that doesn’t like pasta. Although it does make a bit of a mess.”
Rose interjected, “Don’t worry I’ve got the shower ready along with plenty of towels and a spare outfit.”
“The shower?”
“Trust me, Rika will be wearing it by the time dinner is done.”
Rose nodded then addressed Ruri, “Mom since you are here, why don’t you take care of that tonight?”
‘Um? Sure, I can do that.”
Countryman realized what Rose had just done and smiled. Then he turned to his pasta. It tasted great, but the conversation proved a bit stilted. He just wished Ruri had asked Vera before inviting her over. It might have played out better.
A while later dinner had come to an end and he found himself alone with Vera while Rose was cleaning the kitchen. He cleared his throat, “So about Ruri...”
She sighed, “It’s fine. I’m aware that she can be a bit... clueless at times.” She let out another breath, “Just didn’t think I’d get bit by it.”
He chuckled, “Sorry.”
Vera just glanced at the hall, “So what do we do?”
Countryman looked up, “Well we know what Ruri wants, but what do you want?”
Vera frowned, “Well I can say I haven’t thought about a kid of my own. I just never considered trying so soon. I don’t even have a boyfriend!”
Neither spoke for a moment, neither really knew what to say.
Rose finally interjected, “Might as well just do it. You know how Mom is, might be easier than...”
Both of them just groaned but Countryman knew what she was getting at. A moment later, Ruri finally returned and he shared a look with Vera.