Arcadia City was laid out in a grid, so addresses were easy. The Uptown Market, the multi-story shopping galleria run by the Chen-Jasic family, which was between Fourteenth Street and Fifteenth Street on Market Street, was simply 1400 North Market Street.
The Chen Restaurant on the first floor of the market building at the corner with Fifteenth Street was 1450 North Market Street. The Chen-Jasic apartment building – which also housed the offices of Chen Zufu and Chen Zumu – was in the north half of the block on the west side of the street, across from the restaurant, and it was 1451 North Market Street.
There were four addresses, though, that did not fit this pattern. The administrative building that was delivered with the original colonists was One Charter Square. The other three original buildings were numbered clockwise around the square. The hospital was Two Charter Square, the university was Three Charter Square, and the office building was Four Charter Square.
The four original buildings had been all glass and steel, and pretty spartan when they had been delivered over a century before. Pipes and utilities ran along the surface of steel walls, much like on a ship. But the buildings had been spiffed up over the years, and the interiors were all now well-appointed.
They were also the most prestigious addresses in Arcadia City.
Jixing Trading was in Four Charter Square. The company had options to lease the entire building as it expanded.
Chen ChaoLi, the CEO of Jixing Trading, was now facing the question of which of the six newly discovered colony worlds to make contact with first. Prime Minister Rob Milbank would have to be consulted and agree with any decision, of course. So would Chen Zufu and Chen Zumu, the leadership couple of the Chen-Jasic clan.
But they would likely all support ChaoLi’s decision.
A decision she had not yet made.
ChaoLi took the elevator down to the third floor elevator lobby and walked through the pedestrian bridge across Arcadia Boulevard to One Charter Square for her meeting with the prime minister.
She and Milbank were friends, having grown close during their cooperation on the hyperspace project. She was well-known to Milbank’s staff, and was waved through the various layers of staff to the prime minister’s office.
“ChaoLi! Good to see you. Welcome to the spider’s lair,” Milbank said, getting up and coming around his desk.
ChaoLi chuckled. Milbank had always come to her offices during the hyperspace project, relishing the opportunity to get out of the office. With as popular as he was now on Arcadia, however, the prime minister’s office was no longer a political minefield. Opposing him on any major issue was a mistake a neophyte politician probably only made once.
“It’s good to see you, too, Rob. I’m hoping you can shed some light on this little decision we have to make.”
“Who do we talk to first?”
“That’s the one.”
Milbank waved her to the side seating arrangement in his office. There was a pot of tea steeping there, as well as a plate of Earthsea cheese with sesame crackers. It was clear Milbank had set some private stock aside before the cheese-tasting party that heralded the arrival in Arcadia orbit of Star Runner. The cheese-tasting party had sold out.
Milbank poured tea, and ChaoLi sipped and nodded. Milbank’s favorite of the Chens’ premiere teas – Oak, so-called because of the oak wooden box in which it was sold. One of what she called ‘the contemplatives,’ ChaoLi appreciated its soothing, calming influence in her new position as CEO of Jixing Trading. She knew now why it was Milbank’s favorite.
Milbank sipped appreciatively and set his teacup down.
“So what are our options?” he asked.
“We have six new colonies. Olympia, of course. They were number twenty-one to be dropped off, so we could get the seventeen drop-offs between Arcadia and Olympia from them. By doing the parallax analysis on their passenger compartment recordings.
“But we have six to get in contact with right now, so it’s not like we have to go there first.”
“Do we have enough shuttles to contact multiple planets at once?” Milbank asked.
“Yes, but not all six. We need more orbital shuttles, so we can free up the hyperspace-capable ones. We do have more coming on line. What we need are more trained crews.”
“We have four hyper-capable shuttles now?”
“Yes,” ChaoLi said.
“Hmm.”
Milbank sipped his tea, and his eyes went unfocused for a few minutes. ChaoLi was familiar with JieMin’s long pensive moments, and was content to sip her tea while the prime minister considered.
“You know,” Milbank said, “when I was talking to the pilots, they said they used the computer for approach and landing, dismounting and remounting containers, taking off and returning to Arcadia. They relied on the computer for everything.”
“Yes, but we still need pilots aboard for backup.”
“Maybe not pilots. Maybe just pilot. If the computer is doing everything, the pilot is your backup system. So the co-pilot is a backup on the backup, and we’ve never even fell back to first backup. Are we overdoing it?”
“I see what you’re saying,” ChaoLi said. “We have the computer and a pilot. Maybe that’s enough. Which would allow me to send all four hyperspace-capable shuttles out to planets, and still have enough crews for the local work fitting out Star Runner, Star Tripper, and the others.”
“Exactly.”
“That might work. We still need to decide which four.”
“Well, Olympia should be one of them,” Milbank said, “or, for the next round, you don’t have enough known colony planets to send four shuttles out. There would only be two colony planets left to contact.”
“That’s right. So Olympia is one.”
“What are the other possibilities?”
“Bali, Tahiti, Terminus, Playa, and Aruba,” ChaoLi said.
“What have we been able to figure out about them from the flyby data?”
“Bali has a technology focus on endocrinology. All the hormones that affect sexual function, gastrointestinal function, thyroid, adrenaline, diabetes, weight, metabolism, all of that. One group also brought along a whole bunch of different vine cuttings from Earth, and they specialize in excellent wines.”
“OK, I like that one right off,” Milbank said.
ChaoLi chuckled.
“Tahiti has a technical specialty in anti-aging research. Cell senescence and rejuvenation, that sort of thing. One family group there spent all their cubic on bringing seeds of all sorts of heritage apple varieties. They have a couple hundred different varieties of apples.”
“Hard to ship apples interstellar.”
“Actually, it depends on the variety,” ChaoLi said. “And you still have all the products, like apple sauce, apple cider, dried apples, canned apples.”
“OK. Fair enough. What’s Terminus like?”
“They have a technology specialty in forestry management.”
“That doesn’t seem that important,” Milbank said.
“Think of all the things we use wood for,” ChaoLi said, and rapped her knuckles on the wood table between them.
“I stand corrected.”
“A colonist group there spent their entire cubic on taking flowers. Seeds and bulbs. The pictures of the planet are incredible. Beautiful gardens and parks. Like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
Milbank nodded.
“What were the others?” he asked. “Playa, I think you said.”
“Yes. Playa has a technical specialty in cybernetics. Robots, believe it or not. Also mechanical arms, micro- and macro-manipulators. All that sort of thing. And a family group there brought along hundreds of varieties of edible mushrooms in their cubic.”
“There was one more.”
“Aruba,” ChaoLi said. “Aruba is a bridge planet to the Perseus Arm. They have no technical specialty that JieMin could find. No concentration of people in one specialty. Like us. But a colonist group on Aruba brought along all the varieties of the cocoa plant. There were about half a dozen when we left Earth, but the standard colony stock was all the Forastero variety.”
“So they have....”
“Chocolate. Vastly superior chocolate, if my research is right. The standard colony loadout for cocoa was the hardiest plant, not the best tasting one.”
“Oh, my,” Milbank said.
“Yes. My sentiments exactly.”
“And what of Olympia? Besides being number twenty-one, I mean.”
“They are close to workable fusion power reactors,” ChaoLi said.
“People have been saying that for three hundred years, ChaoLi. More.”
“No, they actually have working units in the grid, though they are all one-offs. Perhaps I should better say, they are close to mass-production of a standardized fusion power reactor.”
“OK, that makes a difference. Anything else?” Milbank asked.
“Yes. A colonist group there concentrated on distilled spirits.”
“Distilled spirits?”
“They have a very competitive market in single-malt whiskeys, as well as brandies and cognacs,” ChaoLi said.
“Oh, this is impossible. How do we pick?”
“Olympia is in, you said.”
“Right,” Milbank said.
“I think Playa should be in.”
“The one with the mushrooms?”
“The one with the robots,” ChaoLi said. “Robots can work in vacuum. They can do exterior work and repairs on interstellar ships without spacesuits and all that nonsense.”
“Ah. Right. OK, I get that. Who else?”
“Probably Aruba, as a bridge to the Perseus Arm, so we can set up a freight transfer station there. Long lead time on that.”
“And that gets us much better chocolate,” Milbank said.
“That, too.”
“OK, and then the other possibles are Bali with endocrinology and wine, Tahiti with anti-aging and apples, and Terminus, with forestry management and flowers.”
“Right,” ChaoLi said.
“Tahiti.”
“Why Tahiti, Rob? For the apples?”
“No,” Milbank said. “I’m not getting any younger, ChaoLi. I can wait on the wine.”
The last hurdle was to run the tentative decision past Chen Zufu and Chen Zumu. ChaoLi requested a meeting, and got an acceptance for late that afternoon.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Chen Zufu. Chen Zumu.”
“Thank you for sending us the background information, ChaoLi. You spoke with the prime minister about this decision?” asked Chen MinChao, Chen Zufu – honored grandfather – of the Chen Jasic family.
“Yes, Chen Zufu. We are agreed.”
“And your decision, ChaoLi?” Jessica Chen-Jasic prompted.
“Olympia is one for the first round, Chen Zumu, or else we do not have four colony planets for the second round.”
“And how do you solve the pilot shortage problem?”
“The computer is the primary, and the pilot is the backup, Chen Zumu. A co-pilot is a backup of a backup, and we will do without in order to keep everything moving while we train up pilots.”
“And you have not fallen back to the first backup yet, ChaoLi?”
“No, Chen Zumu. I judge it an acceptable risk.”
Jessica nodded.
“Please continue, ChaoLi,” she said.
“Thank you, Chen Zumu. Playa is in the first round, because robots can work in vacuum without spacesuits, which will be a big help in fitting out and maintaining the hyperspace ships.
“Aruba is also in the first round, as it is one of the two bridge colonies to the Perseus Arm, and will be a good site for a freight transfer station, which is a long lead-time project.
“Finally, given the other three choices, we picked Tahiti because of their anti-aging research. The clock is ticking on everyone, so less delay there seemed worthwhile.”
“What are the governments like on these four colonies, ChaoLi?” MinChao asked.
“They are variations on what we have seen so far, Chen Zufu. Parliaments and assemblies, presidents and prime ministers. A couple of the six still have council structures, as the original colonies did, but these have morphed into elected bodies in the time since the colonies were planted.”
“And they all have civil rights guarantees, ChaoLi?”
“Yes, Chen Zufu. Curiously, none of these six colonies have reverted to the sort of dreary tyranny all too common in Earth’s history.”
MinChao and Jessica looked at each other. Jessica gave a tiny nod, and MinChao turned to ChaoLi.
“Very well, ChaoLi. This decision is approved. You may proceed as you have outlined.”
“Thank you, Chen Zufu.”
“When will the shuttles depart?” MinChao asked.
“As soon as Hyper-1 returns from Earthsea, Chen Zufu. They should arrive there next week. They plan to head here with self-contained QE radios suitable for shipboard use. We can ask Director Laurent to include some of the larger radios for planetary comm links to Olympia and Aruba as well.”
“Do we know yet whether the QE radios will work in hyperspace, ChaoLi?” Jessica asked.
“No, Chen Zufu. JieMin thinks they will – the physics seems to predict it – but we won’t know for two weeks. The shuttles to Olympia and Aruba will wait until Hyper-1 arrives back on Arcadia, so they can take QE radios with them. One of those will be Hyper-1 itself, so we have to wait until it returns regardless.”
“The other two – to Tahiti and Playa – will not take QE radios, ChaoLi?”
“The paths to Tahiti and Playa lie through Earthsea, Chen Zumu. As we go farther into the cluster of colonies, travel times increase. They will stop in Earthsea for a few weeks for gravity reconditioning, then proceed on to Tahiti and Playa. While on Earthsea, they will pick up additional radios, whether they work in hyperspace or not. This will allow them to hook those colonies into the network when they arrive, and also have their own shipboard QE radios on the trip home.”
“I see,” Jessica said. “Very well.”
She nodded.
“I like this plan, ChaoLi. Nicely done.”
“Thank you, Chen Zumu.”
After ChaoLi left, Jessica and MinChao turned around on their pillows to consider the garden.
“That was an interesting observation ChaoLi had, that it was curious none of the colonies had reverted to tyranny,” MinChao said.
“Well, Arcadia almost did. If Madam Chairman had not intervened through my great grandfather, we would have. Who knows how many other times she has intervened as successfully.”
MinChao nodded.
“Fair enough,” he said. “At least we don’t have to face that issue this time around.”
“The devil’s bargain? Doing business with a dictator because we really want something he has to trade? No. Not yet. Hopefully it won’t come to that, MinChao.”
“What do we do if it does, Jessica?”
“Decide then. In the meantime, let’s not borrow troubles we do not have.”