Read Online Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race by Kal Spriggs - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kal Spriggs
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engines or worked down versions of these engines into some racing hulls?”
Nogita’s eyes widened, “Racers would pay anything for those engines, they can afford to anyway. Why, we would be able to charge whatever we wanted!”
Lucius nodded. “As long as you register these patents, the engine–and the profits—are yours… and mine. The money we earn on the racers will easily cover the cost of the fighters. So, do we have an agreement?”
Nogita frowned, “You know, here on Faraday, I could take your money, sign that paper, and if I blew you off, you wouldn’t be able to do anything legally, right?”
“True. If a man dishonest enough to do that did so, it might be wise to remember who has a bunch of Marines willing to break things,” Lucius said.
Nogita smiled, “Just warning you. I’ve seen too many people taken advantage of.”
“You’re my insurance against that.”
The man nodded. “Yeah, boss, we have a deal.”
***
August 30, 2406
Faraday System
Unclaimed Space
Lucius shook hands with Matthew Nogita and nodded acknowledgement to James Harbach. The older engineer hadn't even bothered to hide his bitterness with Lucius. Even so, Harbach knew he had it about as good as he could expect, given the circumstances.
The office held a startling quantity of print-outs, hand drawn sketches, and scribbled columns of figures scrawled on scraps of paper.
Lucius looked in vain for an empty chair to sit in, then gave it up as futile, "So what's today's crisis?" The workshop and trial runs had gone successfully, but he'd received numerous calls from both engineers about a number of matters.
"We're screwed," Mathew Nogita said.
"There's no way we can finish the ships under construction, much less all the orders we've received," James said. He seemed almost jovial in that news. He wiggled his hands back and forth.
Lucius looked between the two. "Explain."
Nogita spoke, "Someone bought up all the palladium, boss. We need the paladium for the drives."
"Palladium?" Lucius asked.
"Palladium," Jimmy Wiggles said, and his voice dropped into his toneless lecture mode, "It is a metal of the platinum group, used most commonly in industrial applications for its properties to absorb and hold hydrogen--"
Lucius scowled, "I know what palladium is . Why can't we buy more?"
"That's just it, boss." Matthew Nogita shrugged, "Someone bought it all. Every ounce of it available in the star system."
"Every ounce?" Lucius shook his head, "There are mines, right? I know for certain the planet has some merchant traffic and a little bit of orbital mining going on too, what about that?"
"There's not a huge trade in it," Nogita shrugged, "The little bit of mining taking place was enough for the small amount of new construction. And most of those constructions don't need nearly as much palladium as your drive does."
"Can we substitute something else for it?" Lucius asked.
"It's theoretically possible," Harbach said. "We're not using it for its unique properties, but we'd probably have to use platinum." He turned to a dusty chalk board and began scribbling as he muttered to himself. "No, no... hmmm."
He turned around, "Well, you know, this is actually very interesting. We'd have to use about three times as much platinium as palladium, but it might actually increase efficency of the drive by three tenths of a percent!"
Lucius frowned, "That sounds expensive."
"Boss, we're talking metric tons of platinum, that's not expensive; it's financial suicide!"
Jimmy Wiggles hummed to himself and did a little dance as his chalk flashed across a board. Lucius shook his head, he gestured at Matthew and they stepped out into the hallway, and left the other engineer to scribble and mutter behind. "Do we have an alternative?" Lucius asked.
Mathew Nogita hung his head, "I don't know, boss. It's bad, either way. We just picked up six more contracts yesterday. When I went to
Nogita’s eyes widened, “Racers would pay anything for those engines, they can afford to anyway. Why, we would be able to charge whatever we wanted!”
Lucius nodded. “As long as you register these patents, the engine–and the profits—are yours… and mine. The money we earn on the racers will easily cover the cost of the fighters. So, do we have an agreement?”
Nogita frowned, “You know, here on Faraday, I could take your money, sign that paper, and if I blew you off, you wouldn’t be able to do anything legally, right?”
“True. If a man dishonest enough to do that did so, it might be wise to remember who has a bunch of Marines willing to break things,” Lucius said.
Nogita smiled, “Just warning you. I’ve seen too many people taken advantage of.”
“You’re my insurance against that.”
The man nodded. “Yeah, boss, we have a deal.”
***
August 30, 2406
Faraday System
Unclaimed Space
Lucius shook hands with Matthew Nogita and nodded acknowledgement to James Harbach. The older engineer hadn't even bothered to hide his bitterness with Lucius. Even so, Harbach knew he had it about as good as he could expect, given the circumstances.
The office held a startling quantity of print-outs, hand drawn sketches, and scribbled columns of figures scrawled on scraps of paper.
Lucius looked in vain for an empty chair to sit in, then gave it up as futile, "So what's today's crisis?" The workshop and trial runs had gone successfully, but he'd received numerous calls from both engineers about a number of matters.
"We're screwed," Mathew Nogita said.
"There's no way we can finish the ships under construction, much less all the orders we've received," James said. He seemed almost jovial in that news. He wiggled his hands back and forth.
Lucius looked between the two. "Explain."
Nogita spoke, "Someone bought up all the palladium, boss. We need the paladium for the drives."
"Palladium?" Lucius asked.
"Palladium," Jimmy Wiggles said, and his voice dropped into his toneless lecture mode, "It is a metal of the platinum group, used most commonly in industrial applications for its properties to absorb and hold hydrogen--"
Lucius scowled, "I know what palladium is . Why can't we buy more?"
"That's just it, boss." Matthew Nogita shrugged, "Someone bought it all. Every ounce of it available in the star system."
"Every ounce?" Lucius shook his head, "There are mines, right? I know for certain the planet has some merchant traffic and a little bit of orbital mining going on too, what about that?"
"There's not a huge trade in it," Nogita shrugged, "The little bit of mining taking place was enough for the small amount of new construction. And most of those constructions don't need nearly as much palladium as your drive does."
"Can we substitute something else for it?" Lucius asked.
"It's theoretically possible," Harbach said. "We're not using it for its unique properties, but we'd probably have to use platinum." He turned to a dusty chalk board and began scribbling as he muttered to himself. "No, no... hmmm."
He turned around, "Well, you know, this is actually very interesting. We'd have to use about three times as much platinium as palladium, but it might actually increase efficency of the drive by three tenths of a percent!"
Lucius frowned, "That sounds expensive."
"Boss, we're talking metric tons of platinum, that's not expensive; it's financial suicide!"
Jimmy Wiggles hummed to himself and did a little dance as his chalk flashed across a board. Lucius shook his head, he gestured at Matthew and they stepped out into the hallway, and left the other engineer to scribble and mutter behind. "Do we have an alternative?" Lucius asked.
Mathew Nogita hung his head, "I don't know, boss. It's bad, either way. We just picked up six more contracts yesterday. When I went to
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