Chapter 44

"From what you tell me, we have about a month to have all arrangements in place and about then two weeks before your trainees return." Brakeman mused. "Chagos presents no greater problem than Azores and it's much less trafficked. Orville, I think you have underestimated the mass, if all the decks are filled as you say. Still I can allow for that in the planning at our end. You should have your aft areas emptied by the time your show finishes at Chagos and I'm sure you will want something delivered each day after and it would be easy to back load. Yes! Thank you, Enkland now has a substantial gold reserve."

Sir Peter shook hands all round and TJ led him back to the boat bay and return to the Army Navy.

He left behind a not quite stunned group. Skinny gave a short chuckle,

"I should have warned you. He does work very fast. My great uncle Barnaby says Peter is the best administrator in the City.

Now to more mundane things; do tell me about 'Nita and that little black thing. My great aunt has tremendous breasts and is always complaining."

Clare was regaling Skinny with the story when the crew trooped back into the mess having closed down the Club. 'Nita collapsed next to Skinny,

"My feet are killing me, these heels..."

"Perhaps you could develop antigrav for the shoes" slyly suggested Skinny.

'Nita sat up straighter - and straighter - and her eyes glazed over as her face developed a puzzled look,

"You know, you might just have..." and stood up demanding "Where's Orville? Cedric?..." and scampered out calling as she went.

"Skinny, that was not nice, doing that to her" Clare accused.

"Oh, I don't know, Clare" Gerty interjected "a tit, a body, its just a matter of mass but if she pulls it off flatties will die a natural death."

"Bedlam. C'mon I'll show you to the cabin. You won't be disturbed. The fresher is just there. We rise whenever and scarf breakfast off the side tables."

...

Gerty rolled off the lounge bed, collected her things and headed to the fresher to be headed off by 'Nita and Susan emerging, grumbling, from Morg's cabin also heading for the fresher; recovering from her surprise she was confronted by Clare and Ally, dressed for the day, emerging from TJ's cabin as that unshaven worthy also headed for the fresher. Her glance into the mess revealed Wendy admonishingly slapping Orville's hand off her breast and accusing him of having had enough. Gerty gathered her wits and entered the fresher determined not to notice a thing.

In the flivver returning to the Mansion, Gerty tentatively mentioned her observations. TJ mentally shrugged and gave his listeners the background; questions led the tale back to the start on "Naseby".

"I've told you the full story" TJ explained " because you've seen it. Come to think on it, you are the only people who have stayed in the Accomodation other than Percy Gantry who was in on it from "Naseby". In confidence, mind, and I mean strictly. (evil laugh) You might find your explaining staying overnight interesting."

"TJ" expostulated Gerty "how often are you told you are not a nice person at all."

"Frequently, Gerty. But remember, I'm the one who has to deliver your selections and you wouldn't want me to develop amnesia. Suits, there's your pad now and you have a welcoming party."

TJ aligned the fliver, descended to the pad, disembarked the passengers and did a hot turnaround heading back to his ship.

Orville and Cedric were deep in discussion slurping on the liquid stimulant as they muttered and scratched patterns on a napkin. Cedric looked up as TJ joined them,

"Just checking TJ, but what size cross members will we have to get to support the decking when we remove the slabs?"

and sat up as TJ went blank for nearly a minute.

"Sorry Cedric, there is a thought trying to surface. Probably five millimetre angle, tee pieces would be slightly better ... three metres? ... Got it! Orville, what could be two cross supports you envisage are lashed to the inner bulkhead of the starboard boat bay. Channels. They were loose when we took over and I lashed them down rather than throwing them away as I thought there might be some use for them ... Have you inspected all the spaces? Could you do a non invasive of all the boxes, say in the aft CD? It just might be the case that the people who filled the frames were looking ahead — I would have and I'd have had the cross members in the ship so as to avoid questions. Got the gear?..."

"TJ, can't it wait to morning watch; some of us need sleep" Cedric complained.

"Sissies the lot of you, but suits. Eight morning?" TJ agreed laughingly.

Three box frames, placed strategically about the aft CD deck gave disorganised returns; Orville lifted one of the deck plates revealing crossmembers; he closely examined the tacks fixing the deck plates declaring them to be molecular seamed.

"Makes sense in a way" he advised, "construct the hull in space, shield it, and them construct the decks. Seaming make a stronger join but has to be done in atmosphere so airlocks on the cylinders and air it. We can do much the same; Get our gear together, send the kids off to break their bones and with the Club open, we can be rearranging in here with no gravity. Shift my machinery, rip up the decking, remove and stack the billets, seam in the cross members then the deck plates, and rearrange my machinery. Three seamers for TJ, Morg and me should do it — four, might need a spare — and I think the budget will stand for it."

"Boss, Morg and I need a private discussion. Can you come to my cabin?"

"Your cabin, TJ? Will you show me your etchings? Never mind. Old joke — see you in two ... Now what trouble have you pair got this time?"

"There has been ... have a seat by the way, has been a slight miscalculation of the metal weight ... by about a factor of three and a bit..."

"Three and a bit? ... TJ, that's twenty thousand tonnes."

"We think twenty two point six making some allowance for the boxes containing cross members; say somewhere between twenty to twenty five."

"TJ? No you aren't kidding me. You two don't have a sense of humour. How much did you tell me had been dug out of Old Earth?"

"Last known deposits were worked out just before the mutie wars in the twenty fifth century and the total was a tad over two hundred thousand tonnes."

"I'll just have to let Sir Peter know; got his com?"

Administrative duties kept Clare tied down so she detailed her 'Jimmy' to organise the transfer to Chagos — after all that is what he was there for. TJ attended to the details and took "Sundowner" across into the covered berth at Chagos — he had done his home work. Air bridges were connected to the dock and atmosphere and gravity engaged across the passages to the dock outer air locks.

The shuttle busses ferried the trainees to Snowy and Cook and the Sundowners began another two weeks of business in the Club and the House. The style of garments requested differed from those over the Pond but Morg and his minions coped admirably.

The others began the rearranging of CD aft and then turned their attention to the bulkheads about the thwartships box. Well ahead of schedule(?) attention turned to the BC deck made feasible by no gravity. Colin hovered (literally) over the hydroponics and the Daughters always had a representative in the laboratory — just in case. When attention turned to the other side, Cedric imitated the pattern in the clean room. (Both locations were recognised as important and due care was exercised.) The stacks of billets were becoming an obstacle course so gravity was left off pro tem and the billets lashed (to prevent their floating away) to BC deck as that deck was re-covered (more cross members were found).

The services of the trainees were missed in the Club and Morg's little pile of burnt bits 'n pieces grew as the local hire tried to satisfy two masters.

The billet recovery teams were able to have several days relaxing while the Club was in its closing days.

TJ and Morg were on an EVA inspecting the nose cone — hull sealant, and noticed group of observers in the observation bay of the dock,

"Who the Hades are they?" TJ wanted to know.

"More importantly" Morg replied "how the Hades did they get there? Wendy? (on safety inside the hull) We are coming in. Ask Cedric to investigate."

"Morg? It's the owner of the dock" Cedric reported "the one who is paying Generic to build it. Says he's the President of DaDakiDan and wants to know about our ship. His people visited the earth exposition, says he knows about the Bhute shoot out and had described it pretty well."

"Suit! Answer his questions but play it close."

Cedric reported to the Sundowners later regarding the conversation complaining it was!@#$% difficult when the )(&^% could see every outer hull detail.

The President's Q & A session started with a general chat about the history and then onto specifics —

construction of the hull; double cylinder with additional airlock fore and aft:

nose cones; falsies concealing engine room aft (informed guess by his experts) and probably missile magazines forward (His experts had visited every deck except E and the Bhute missiles had been fired from forward.):

defensive shield from eight (?) generators deflecting a missile salvo; old technology and we got the generators cheap (wouldn't have anything to do with shield fluctuations?):

bow maser; we are going to relocate that:

Oh?: Four maser mounts:

multiple rifles?; No, cause too much trouble with defensive shield, effective against the BC's shield:

missiles and not energy weapons; ranges better but require better control:

five open decks, troop carrier; could if configured correctly:

engine room aft must restrict after defence; is certainly restricted:

assault shuttle streamlined into starboard boat bay; no where else to put her unless want her on hull:

unsightly; agree:

if engines not in way could open after end; yes, could put a hangar there for 737 but it would be lonely as the deck spaces are huge.

Hmmm thank you Cedric, you have given me a lot to think about.

TJ's and Morg's private consensus was that he might have a lead on triple shield, but Dune, active detection and FTL were still safe.

The Club closed for a 'recess' while routine maintenance was undertaken on "Sundowner" — according to the advertisements which had appeared in the newsfaxes.

The billet recovery team quickly moved into the forward middle deck space where the task was a bit easier what with the absence of awkward things - Cadcam manufactories, lathes and the like.

"You know my ADC? Lt Colonel Wollaston? Says you've met."

The first shuttle truck was huge and battered; it gave the appearance of an independent trucker just making ends meet. Look closely however and the dings and dents were artefacts skilfully painted on. Watch as she moved and there was a smooth co-ordination of controlled movement only available when power plants were well maintained. The control of the shuttle was as skilful as expected from a well experienced 'trucker'. The shuttle locked onto the outer workshop.

The amount of cargo brought up was miniscule this time — the provisions order for "Sundowner". The remaining space was crammed with bodies wearing colours and patterns of skinsuits long absent from the Enklan ranks. Later sorties brought up machine parts and miniature power plants (miniature being a relative term).

"The Final Service Officers." Sir Peter explained. "Been around for millennia — the idea that is, not the people... 'though I do have some doubts about that. Retired, most of them. Most of 'em independent means. Respond when the Monarch calls — usually; if it doesn't clash with the local church fete. Won't take pay, satisfied with the occasional gong for services to the Monarchy. Do anything asked, if you can persuade them it's for the good of the Realm. Converse with statues — I think most of 'em have forgotten how to speak — make bricks look like church choirs. Had to tell them what we are up to.

This one isn't; an FSO, I mean. Clare, gentlemen, Dennis Hodgson aka Gold Stick — means he commands the Sovereigns' Bodyguard; used to be Household Division but a bunch of feminists just before the Supersoldier's Wars objected to the use of the word "household" being applied to a military organisation."