Chapter 18

Ferro fidgeted in his seat. They were seated around the conference table planning the procurement and production schedule for the first new military spacecraft in over 75 years. The seats were filled with senior engineers, Xerba, Joyda of the Khan, and Torrin, who sat at the head of the table as chair. Torrin ran the meeting because the topic was procurement and building. Ferro found letting go of complete control of his babies was hard, but he was learning to live the changes.

Missing from the conference was General Rolofson. He had been abruptly recalled without any explanation a week before. They were awaiting his successor.

Torrin had his computer screen projected on the wall behind him. On one side of the screen was a list of parts and on the other side was where it came from, either fabricators or the procurement source if the item was already made. When Torrin ran his pointer over a part, the description on the right changed to give the relevant information.

Two obstacles remained. The first was the gas giant harvesting ship, which was late to arrive. Joyda of Family Khan assured the group that the ship was on its way but that there had been technical difficulties during its journey. She wouldn't elaborate further.

The second bottleneck was already-manufactured ancillary regulators for the fusion cores of the manned ships. When Ferro had designed the ships, he had used as much off-the-shelf technology as possible to shorten the development process. He had accomplished his goal but the unintended consequence was a lengthening of the procurement process, which was frustrating everyone.

"My guess is that the military is interfering," one of the senior engineers said. "There are three competing manufacturers for these regulators and none of them are delivering. One delayed manufacturer could be dismissed, but not three."

"Agreed," Torrin said. "Does anyone have a suggestion?"

Xerba sat up straight. He scribbled a few words on a scrap of paper and passed it across the table to Joyda. She read the note and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Give me a moment," she said as she arose from the table. She stepped out into the hallway.

She stepped back in a few minutes later and took a seat.

"I have a suggestion. Family Khan can 'liberate' at least one warehouse that has this part. There are risks."

Torrin blanched. He gave Ferro a look that was a plea for help.

"What kind of risks," Ferro asked as he sat forward and put his elbows on the table.

"The warehouse is adjacent to military-subsidized shipyards and there are active marine units in the area. We could trigger an incident," Joyda said.

"Some would say that by preventing the delivery of parts, the marines are already provoking us," Xerba said. "I'm aware that a raid on a corporation would be escalating the situation."

"How cool would it be to empty out a warehouse under their noses and leave them a payment chip on the floor to find when they opened the doors," Ferro said. "That would be a plot twist worthy of a space opera."

"We couldn't pull off an operation like that, at least not without specialized help," Joyda said. "Family Farendass could but they would cost us a fair bit of credit."

At the mention of their name, Xerba let out a small gasp. He quickly recovered and returned to a stone face.

"I've never heard of them," Ferro said. "What is their specialty?"

"Mostly assassination but they have a side business, deep penetration operations," Joyda said. "They guarantee their work and don't accept payment if they fail."

"Xerba?" Ferro asked, looking at the man for guidance.

Ferro wasn't sure about the direction of the discussion. Had he been led down this path by Joyda and Xerba, planning ahead of the meeting?

"I would need Benni's permission before doing any business with Farendass," Xerba said. "They are not a part of the co-op with the twenty-two Families now on Callisto. They were invited to join and rejected our invitation."

Torrin cleared his throat. "Are there any other, perhaps more palatable suggestions at the table for procurement?"

His suggestion was met with silence around the room.

"If we hire Farendass," Joyda said, "then we should use their services only once because of cost. We should compile a list of required components for a one-stop shop."

Xerba was about to say something when everyone's messenger on their computer whistled with an incoming message.

Torrin read it aloud. "A courier is docking in the alpha quadrant bays with the new military attaché and his adjutants." He put down his computer. "I suggest we table this discussion until we have a conversation with our new military contacts. I never thought I would be relieved to hear the marines were arriving but if their appearance puts aside the question of hiring assassins, then it's a good thing. This meeting is adjourned."

When everyone else had left the room, Torrin pointed his finger at Ferro. "I did not sign up for this. Military belligerence is bad enough but now we're talking about hiring black-market assassins. Where does this end, Ferro?"

"I don't know," Ferro admitted. "I had never heard of Farendass before today. No one ever talks about the dark side of the Families, but you and I can both see already that there is a bit of darkness in these 'good' families. For all of their fine qualities, they are not sweetness and light. Should we be surprised that a Family such as Farendass exists, that operates far outside the laws and principles of human civilization?"

"All of these Families are beyond the boundaries of human civilization, Ferro," Torrin said. "Whatever social barriers and political covenants promote a civilized human society, they have been stripped from these Families. They are a civilization unto themselves and it is very different from the Imperium. When the Imperium preaches 'go slow', the Families respond 'why hesitate?' These Families reject government authoritarianism, corporate oligarchies, and citizen acquiescence. They're not primitive cultures of honor either. They are in a hurry. When they get an idea in their heads, very little deters them. Even the fear of death doesn't make them hesitate."

"Consider it a business trade," Ferro said. "These are the type of warriors we need to fight the Vizz."

"Do we need them?" Torrin asked. "I'm not questioning the return of the Vizz."

"You had six weeks of General Rolofson. Is he a leader who could defeat an overwhelming enemy bent on our destruction?"

Ferro had led them past their office suite to their favorite bar. Torrin didn't respond until two mugs of kru-berry ale had been brought to the table.