The airlock doors had barely opened before the words were out of Florian's mouth. A tired looking Seabourne handed his bag to a waiting steward before stepping over the threshold from his Taurus-class fighter back aboard the Breezewood. Seabourne sometimes found his second officer smug and annoying, but he never quested the efficiency of the hospitality staff under his watch. "I said yes."
Florian lit up like a firecracker. "Kendra is NOT going to like this," said the Breezewood's second officer as he followed his captain along the corridor towards the bridge. "She's been complaining about all of the legal and security issues of inviting Gaians aboard."
"That's your job to figure out," replied Seabourne, smiling at a few tourists as they passed. He was puzzled by their reaction until he remembered that he was in a flight suit and not his normal uniform. He checked his watch, but Florian was faster with his ocular interface. "You're not on duty for another 5 hours, plenty of time to freshen up, change, and explain to me just how large a nightmare you have created for the two of us."
"The plan is for 25 Gaians to man the equipment, which we have to procure the hardware for." "Do you have a list?" Seabourne handed him a piece of paper, hand scrawled with the requirements. Florian took the list and burst out laughing. "What the hell is Kendra going to do with this? These are not specifications, they are a Christmas list from an indecisive child!"
"Just because they're gibberish to you..."
"Oh no, this isn't a lack of engineering education. You need 25 units of 'alien organisms.' Do you know how many alien organisms there are? The wildlife themselves are technically 'alien organisms!' So are you and I for that matter. And the ever so specific 'industrial hardware' I'm sure will be trivial to track down. I'm sure the Zoners of Galileo keep crates of it in between their "thingamabobs" and "whosiwhatsits." And these Xenobiotic Filters... well that one actually is specific enough, only one company makes the things, though I am surprised to see Gaian technology using Planetform components-"
"Kendra will make it work. She knows her stuff better than any of us."
"She's a miracle worker, but this is beyond the powers of a minor deity such as her."
They stopped by the bridge to see Oldham in the main chair, manning the con. She turned to look at the two men who entered the bridge. "You said yes, didn't you?"
Seabourne smirked. "Remind me not to play poker with either of you." "I spend a lot of time in the ship's library," said Kendra, "I know how to read an open book."
A bemused Seabourne handed over a data pad. "What's this?" asked Kendra as a confused Florian looked over his captain's shoulders. "Technical specifications for the equipment our Gaian friends will need to construct these chambers for us. Can you procure the supplies?" "Of course I can. They were very thorough in their specifications," replied Kendra as she navigated the files on the pad. "They even included locations and contacts of known providers. All I have to do is relay the order numbers. Of course, that doesn't mean I can assess the safety and wisdom of such actions from schematics alone-"
"You'll get your chance to examine everything up close and personal," interrupted Seabourne before Oldham could build up a head of steam. "No switch will be flicked until you are 100% satisfied."
"I'm an engineer," said Kendra coolly. "I'm never 100% satisfied."
"Fine, I'll settle for 99.9 repeating percent satisfied."
Kendra started to point out to her captain that 99.9 repeating and 100 were the same number. A challenge problem on one of her middle school math tests dealt with that concept. She remembered it because of her teacher's praise when she was the only student to get that right. She pointed out that if they weren't the same number, then something would have to exist between them but there was no way to write such a number. It was her first "proof by contradiction," and the first time she felt "good" at math. But she got what her captain was trying to say in English even if it made no sense in numbers.
"Understood, sir."
"Good, carry on Kendra."
Oldham returned to her duties as Florian looked back at the paper in his hand. Seabourne took the note, folded it, and returned it to the pocket of his flight suit. "I'm not an idiot, Florian. That note was for me, not Kendra. Here's yours."
Seabourne pulled out a trifolded stack of papers from another pocket. A significantly longer set of letters, handwritten in the captain's neat cursive, now filled Florian's hands.
"Those are the basic specifications of the people we'll be entertaining. Your job is to do whatever you need to do to keep them as guests aboard the Breezewood in the event that we're stopped by the Navy, short of refusing a lawful order from our charter government."
"I though we were the innocent face of the corporation?" said Florian as he leafed through the papers.
"Yeah, well, White Star Lines is branching out I suppose."
