All That Glitters Ch. 09

Liea sent him the list of Raymond's requests from her comp. The executives were surprised when they saw the requirement for a Marine Company listed on the ship.

More information was available from the list the Raymond sent on its size and capabilities. From these, the executives were able to quickly decide what would have to be modified.

"Because of her size alone, the estimated cost of the functional refit will be close to C300 million. We will not know the exact cost until we complete it, but that estimate will be close. Other modifications will add to that, specifically VIP modifications you might want onboard such as additional quarters for VIP staff, and the choice of materials you use. You will have a very capable ship in the end.

"The shuttle deck will be huge as you will not need anywhere near the number of shuttles that the ship would normally carry. If I might make a suggestion?" the foreman asked of her.

Liea nodded to him to continue.

"We used to have smaller ships that were used by the UDC to carry diplomats around. They were called by different names, from courier ships to diplomatic runabouts. They have since fallen out of favour as they have a limited range that have been greatly superseded by more current and somewhat larger ships and the increase in capabilities of FTL comms probes.

"These runabouts are twenty meters in length and seven and a half meters abeam. Your shuttle deck could carry two of them as well as all the necessary VIP and standard shuttles you would need and still have plenty of room to spare.

"We can modify the runabouts with the new Marilon/Aruna generators and specially modified, oversized FTL vanes that would improve the vessel's capabilities significantly. Instead of the previous twelve light year jump limit, we could bring that up to at least thirty-five or possibly even forty light year bounds.

"In fact, if they work out with you, we could offer them as small private vessels or as runabouts to the various planetary and Union governments. We would give them to you at much reduced cost if you can establish their capabilities for us. It would be worth it for us if you were able do that," the foreman finished.

He showed her the design of the runabouts. Liea was intrigued by them and decided that she would purchase four of them.

"They would have to be built from scratch to be VIP vessels," she suggested, getting a nod from the designer and from the foreman.

"We have nearly completed two such vessels from scratch. We have put oversized generators on board. We need to test them to see what kind of boost we get to their range," the foreman mused, getting an interested look from the VP of Finances.

"Cost of each?" Liea asked.

"We built those two for approximately C30 million each, and would sell them for C50 million, but we would make the four available to you for say C75 million as you will be our defacto sales rep for these vessels," the VP of finances told her. Liea nodded her acceptance.

"I will want all new shuttles on board, with the new generators," Liea stated. "I want those shuttles to have some surprises up their figurative sleeves, including more robust engine capabilities. There will be attempts from criminals to take those shuttles and I want reserves built in that will help save us if that happens."

"We will be able to do that," the foreman told her. "The new generators are providing a number of hitherto unknown capabilities that we are just beginning to understand. We are fortunate that they are being built here on Liramor Prime.

"With some of the new generators and a change of engines, you could increase the efficiency of the shuttles quite dramatically. Most shuttles can barely make sixty percent light. The new ones might be able to exceed ninety percent light. Only warships would be able to keep up with them.

"We will have to wait for the final number of crew to determine the exact number of VIP and standard shuttles that would be onboard, but, with the size of the shuttle bay you will have, there will be more than enough space even with the four runabouts," he finished.

"Oh, only two of the runabouts are for the ship, though we might be carrying a third on our first voyage," Liea told him with a sly smile.

Liea talked specifics with the executives until she had to leave for her 15:30 appointment for her charity work. She couldn't wait for the arrival of the new ship.

Senior Officer's Mess, Folden Naval Station, Karen System, Seventy Light Years from Terra

FAdm. Charles Thenton was seated for breakfast in the senior officer's mess. He had just returned with the victorious fleet of the battle of Liramor-23, some of the captains of those ships currently seated in the mess.

Thenton's favorite cook came out with his meal, presenting it to him with a flourish.

"Ah, Siobhan, so good to see you again. Are you still bored working here, my dear?" he asked in a solicitous manner.

"Aye, that I am. It was nice of you to get me into that cooking school and here at this mess, but I miss being on a ship," Siobhan Riley replied with an exaggerated sigh.

"I might have a ship for you then," Thenton informed her. "That is, if you still want to be a cook aboard a navy ship again."

Siobhan gave him a look of shock. It had taken all that Charles could do to ensure she got into a prestigious cooking school, graduating from which allowed her to work in this mess. Only the best of the cooks got to work here and only a very few were permitted to personally serve senior officers. Siobhan, being a navy senior chief, was one such.

Her surprise was genuine, as her real purpose here was to work as an intelligence gatherer for her principle supporter, FAdm. Thenton. She did note though that she was finding less and less material to send to him and wondered when he would terminate her contract here. Now she knew.

"Do I need to submit a request?" she asked of her benefactor.

"No, CPO. I've known for some time that you haven't really been happy here and have wanted to return to a ship," Thenton mentioned. "There are few ships available that could readily employ your considerable skills, but I have one that will be available soon. Drop by my office when you have time over the next few days and we will discuss it" he finished, tucking into his food.

A very surprised senior cook slunk back into the kitchens to check her schedule. She wanted to see Thenton as soon as possible.

Commanders Office, Sector Forty-Two, Folden Naval Station, Karen System

FAdm. Charles Thenton greeted Senior Chief Siobhan Riley as the long-lost friend she was. They had met on one of the first ships he had ever served on in a senior position, a Tung Class Frigate named the Verge. Siobhan had noticed things going wrong on the ship and determined that there was potential for trouble as the ships Captain and Number Two were not well liked among the crew.

Both were rather harsh with the crew and served arbitrary punishments specifically against those they had personal vendettas against. The then newly promoted LtCdr. Thenton, had noted the problems within days of joining the ship, but he wasn't aware of just how much trouble there could be.

While sitting with Petty Officer 1 (Cook) Riley for coffee in the mess between meals, he had casually asked the PO about her own feelings for the ship.

"Aye, ye be a sharp one, ye be," she had told him in the broad accent she had at that time. "There be much ill will aga'n the old man and his hound. Those two make favorites oo't of the crew.

"The brownnosers seek favors with 'em and speak aga'n their fellow crewmates, even if it be lies, making factions on the ship. This be not so good for ship's moral.

"Worse, is when the old man and the hound punish the others, setting arbitrary punishments aga'n 'em. This ship be on edge now, and it cain't end good," she finished.

Thenton had asked her to keep an eye on the crew and to advise him when she thought things were getting out of hand. He quietly checked out the members of the Goat Locker, the Senior Chiefs on the boat - including the Boatswain - and found them to be just as nervous about the situation as Thenton was.

Other than the Number Two and a few of the Junior Officers, most of the officers were worried about the feel of the ship. Thenton quietly grouped those officers together to act when necessary with the next senior officer Cdr. Dallen, the Chief Engineer of the vessel.

Things came to a head when Riley sought him out one day to tell him that she had overheard the brownnosers getting ready to bring false charges against a few crew members that they wanted out of the way to make way for promotions within their own clique. They had hatched their plans around the table in the mess unaware that Riley was listening in.

Thenton advised Cdr. Dallen and the Boatswain, and they were ready when charges were brought forward by the brownnosers.

When those charges were put forward, the ship exploded. It took everything the officers and the CPOs had to contain the potential mutiny. When they advised the captain that the charges were fictitious, he and the Number Two sought to bring charges of sedition against those that opposed the Captain's clique.

Cdr. Dallen took charge and confined the Captain, the Number Two, and senior members of the clique to quarters. The ship was returned to base and an investigation wound up relieving the Captain and the Number Two of command and demoting several members of the Captain's clique for their actions.

The ship received new senior officers and some crew was switched out and the ship continued on its patrols. Thenton always listened to Riley when she told him things weren't going right and worked hard to correct things before they ever again got out of hand on any ship he served on. The two wound up moving from ship to ship together until Thenton was promoted into the ranks of the admiralty.

"So, ye say you have a ship for me that would exploit my considerable cooking abilities," Riley scoffed to the admiral, her standard now greatly improved from language lessons arranged by Thenton throughout their joint careers.

Thenton laughed. "You do have a way of getting right to the point," he grinned.

"Ye mean cutting out the BS, eh?" Riley smiled in return.

"A ship is being decommissioned, the NS Korman," Thenton began. "She's been sold as scrap to a billionaire. Said billionaire is shortly retiring from the navy as a Captain because of his suddenly acquired wealth.

"We are giving him the ship with some of the heavy guns still aboard and her tubes still functional," here Thenton stalled for a sip of coffee while he watched Riley's reactions. Her reactions were along the lines that he expected.

"The crew is being paid for by the billionaire or by the navy?" she asked pointedly.

"Very good, Siobhan, you understand fully," Thenton said, without surprise. "The ship will be refit as a pleasure yacht but will attain some major capabilities as a warship, including a navy trained crew and Marine Company paid by the navy.

"As a private vessel, she will be able to go quietly to places that warships, by their very appearance, would arouse suspicions," Thenton finished.

"So, you would need a gourmet cook that could serve aboard such a pleasure craft," Riley confirmed. "Preferably, one that you knew could serve your needs and watch both the crew and the new owner to ensure that they stay loyal to the Union."

"Not much gets by you, Siobhan," Thenton said with admiration. "Then we are agreed?"

"Aye, we are," Riley confirmed. "I was getting bored serving those stuffy senior officers anyway," she said with a grin to her very senior officer boss.

Senate Offices, The Senate, Capital City, Terra

Andjuran was going through messages when he received word that the person he had requested earlier in the week had arrived. He had his staff show her in.

"Senator Andjuran," she said with a small bow.

"Sit," the senator ordered. "Would you like coffee?" he asked. She declined.

"You have your papers for working in space?" he asked, which she confirmed.

"How is your French?" Andjuran asked.

"Functional, but not the best," she admitted.

"You will need to brush up on it. I need you to go to Liramor Prime and seek employment with the Liramor Mining Company, specifically, with Liramor-23 Mining Platform in the Piscium system.

"While you are there, you will find out all you can about what is going on in that system. Reports from there are sketchy at best. You will report back to me within three months, using this cipher code," and here he passed a memory chip to her.

"Other than general information gathering, you are also ordered to review all activities of the Director, one Fiona Marsh, and her aide-de-camp, Henadi Noor. Marsh has been developing a powerbase on Liramor-23 which has grown quite significantly over the last few months.

"As for Noor, she is apostate and is being sought under church law as a renegade to the Church of Andanii on Anuura. Union law allows for the support of Union law enforcement for the capture and return of such criminals to their home world. The Elders of the Church of Andanii have requested support in finding and arresting Noor.

"As long as Noor remains on Liramor-23, she is outside of Union law enforcement regulations for arrest without extradition warrants from Liramor Prime. Costly in both time and credits and not likely to be sought out for non-violent criminals.

"However, once she enters Union space again, she can and will be arrested. We will need to know of her movements over the next few months. We also need to know why Marsh is protecting her. Questions?" he finished.

She shook her head and pressed the memory chip to her comp, quickly stripping it and locking down the information under several layers of security. She discarded the chip, rose and quickly left the room.

Andjuran smiled. His operative didn't need to know that Church law was not transmissible to Union Law unless specifically asked for by the planetary government on which the church resided. She also didn't need to know that the 'Elders' seeking information on Noor's whereabouts were Andjuran and his clique. Yes, Noor was apostate, but as long as she resided off Anuura, she was untouchable. He would change that.

*****************

Andjuran's operative pulled up passports under the name, Celia Corden on her comp, locking them in and securing special information under layers of security. Now, only her supervising captain, or a Division Level officer of the IPPF could open the compartmentalized portion of her comp.

She made her way to the Liramor Embassy in the capital city. She reasoned that she didn't need to go all the way to Liramor Prime to join up with the mining operation, a process that would cost her weeks in transit and waisted time on Liramor Prime.

What she didn't understand was that people specifically asking to join Liramor-23 from anywhere other than Liramor Prime were immediately placed under enhanced security checks. That was the first mistake she had made in many years as an operative for the IPPF. On this mission, it would not be her last.

Liramor Holdings, Liramor Prime, Liramor System

Fayad Ouihya walked reverently into Annette Liramor's private office not long after arriving on Liramor Prime, escorted by Annette's EA. He had been picked up from the Liramor Holdings Space Port and brought directly to the building not long after the shuttle had landed.

Annette personally greeted him at the door and offered him tea or coffee and some refreshments. He was far too nervous and didn't know how to respond, but Annette was an old hand at making people more comfortable in her presence.

She took tea with him and asked him some simple personal questions that let him calm down some, before her father came into her office.

Fayad gave them a memory chip that she cued to her office monitor. Once the information came up, Fayad started his brief and quickly found his stride. He told them of the aftereffects of the Battle of Liramor-23, vis-à-vis the TUSN and the finding of slaves aboard the pirate's cargo vessels.

This resulted in the need for the President of the Union to order a passenger vessel large enough to transport the former slaves back to Terra for continued treatment that had been started aboard Liramor-23.

He mentioned that Senator Wasim Andjuran had taken advantage of the ship to come to Liramor-23 for a senatorial inspection after the fact, however, this particular senator had no reasons by way of being a committee member to be involved in the after math of the battle. HRRC had not committed any resources to the repatriation of citizens and had no need to be on Liramor-23.

Fayad explained that Andjuran was not looked upon as an enlightened Elder in the Church of Andanii and, in fact, was under a great deal of suspicion from many church members for his actions to date. But Andjuran, as the senior Elder, had tight control over the church.

Fayad told the two Liramor executives of his father's misgivings over Andjuran, and of how he had decided to make himself available to Andjuran in his role as runner, to see why the senator was on Liramor-23.

He told them of all the information that the senator had asked him to research for him, and the fact that the senator had had his watchdog looking for much the same information. Information that was conveniently fudged by the Chief of Naval Intelligence, who happened to be on the platform.

He explained to them what had been passed to Andjuran and why.

"This information was far too sensitive to send by FTL coms probe, so Dir. Marsh sent me to brief you," Fayad concluded.

The two executives asked several hard questions of Fayad, who answered truthfully if he could, but deferred if he didn't have the answers.

Annette looked at her father. The memory chip had included Fiona's personal recommendations and statements of facts on Fayad. She quietly showed those to her father, who gave her a quick nod of assent.

"That brief was very well done, Fayad," Annette began. "I have seen briefs by far more senior personnel who have not come up to that standard.

"Ms. Marsh has recommended you to the Manager Program, and I concur and add my endorsement. However, it is for my father to decide on acceptance of personnel into the program," she finished, looking over to the senior Liramor.

"I agree with my daughter," he began. "The brief was excellent. You did not embellish, you stated fact when you knew it and told us when you were uncertain of events or situations, leaving it to us to make up our own minds.

"The information you provided was direct and to the point. You included information from other personnel but did not add your own point of view to those unless you had been directly involved or you were asked specifically on the situation. So many others would like you to believe that all they were briefing was their own work vice that of their subordinates, or fellow workers.

"I'm inclined to accept the recommendations of Dir. Marsh and my daughter. I would accept you into the next Manager Program. But you will have to have an intensive course of French for the next three months prior to our accepting you.

"You will be in the program for just over six months. It would be better for you if you spoke French. While we use standard on all our mining platforms, here on Liramor Prime, most work is done in French.

"Work hard, don't disappoint Ms. Marsh, nor yourself," Antoine Liramor finished before shaking his hand and leaving him in his daughter's care.

Navy Shipyards, Folden Naval Station, Karen System