The oldest among them, Florissa, recovered the quickest. "The Vesian Revolutionary Front has been planning the downfall of the nobles for decades. Unlike other movents which attempt to enact an imdiate change, we have been much more deliberate in our approach. As much as we think the nobles are detestable, without convincing the rest of the commoners who are ignorant of the abuses, our rebellion doesn’t stand a chance."
In other words, the VRF talked big but didn’t do much to back up their words. Ves understood their position sowhat, but these Vesian rebel movents all sounded like they enjoyed their current position a little too much.
Well, it was none of his business, so he simply shrugged and moved on. "Will the three of you be helping us out?"
"That is why we have been sent. I have already corresponded with Professor Velten for the last couple of weeks, so we know what to expect. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
Perhaps Ves could make use of their presence.
"All three of our designs could use a lot of help. If I may say so, I think it’s best you start with the Inheritor design. The light skirmisher is our most stagnant project and could dearly use a firm push."
"Ah, your famous Inheritor chs. Well, we can’t make any promises, but we will see what we can do. Perhaps our specialties will provide the breakthrough you are hoping for. We make no promises, though. We are restricted in the advances we can extend to the Vandals. Trading so of our prized secrets will demand an equivalent trade."
"We expect nothing less." Alloc answered for Ves. "We can compensate you for any assistance you can provide or technologies you can introduce to us through your shell companies."
As Alloc discussed the issue with Florissa, Ves learned that the VRF established a concrete presence in the Republic space. In fact, they owned a whole string of shell companies that perford various services on their behalf!
The main issue for the Vandals was that as a legitimate ch regint, it couldn’t resort to pirating designs and exclusive technologies. To make such a transaction seem proper and above board, the VRF made use of its shell companies to provide so of their transactions with the veneer legitimacy.
It all sounded very shady to Ves, but apparently that was the way the Vandals and the rebels always did business.
As the two older ch designers engaged in their own conversation, Ves had been left with the two younger ladies. Both Iris and Lucille looked charmingly at Ves with big, blinking eyes. Ever since they associated him with Master Olson, they inched a little closer to him, though that was difficult since they sat across the dining table.
Of the two, Ves hadn’t heard much from Lucille, so he decided to ask about her background. "So, are the Hornbachs a family of ch designers like the Jupiters?"
"No, nothing like that." She shook her head. "I started studying material sciences and transitioned into ch design halfway. No one in my family has ever been involved with designing chs before. It turns out that designing chs is a lot more enjoyable to . After I graduated, I already had a job lined up at a major ch manufacturer."
"So did you already specialize in designing heat sinks?"
Lucille nodded. "I beca famous for that imdiately. I studied long hours into the night after work to increase my knowledge on heat sinks. I worked hard in the company to assist in designing the best heat sinks for their products. All of this went well until..."
"Until?"
"Until the patron of the ch manufacturer fell. I thought that the company that I worked for was an independent business. Only later did I find out that it’s actually owned by a small count who fell out of favor. Once his enemies got rid of him, they took over all of his assets, including his company. That’s when all the trouble began."
"Did they harass you?"
"Nothing of the sort. They simply raided the money the company had set aside to invest in new licenses and research. We needed that money to develop new ch designs. Without it, our future was bleak. Eventually the company let go because they couldn’t afford to retain so many ch designers."
That didn’t sound so bad. "So how did getting fired end up with you joining the rebels? That’s quite a leap, you know."
Lucille smiled a little ruefully at him. "I joined on my own volition."
Ves wanted to rub his fingers in his ears. Did he hear that correctly? "Isn’t that a little premature. Not that I have anything against the VRF. It just sounds a bit impulsive to ."
The young woman sighed and brushed back her lustrous black hair. "I put my heart and soul in that company. They truly made feel at ho. Having been ripped away from them, only to see them deteriorate from lack of investnt pained more than anything. I pity those who are still left in the company trying to plug a ship that is leaking air from over a thousand different holes.
Ves sowhat believed her, even if he thought she was being a little hasty with her decision. Many companies tried to foster loyalty and commitnt among their workforce. Ideally, each person who worked for the company would develop a cult-like attachnt to them. It was the best formula to retain talented employees and it had worked for humanity for thousands of years.
Miss Lucille sounded like a typical dupe who had bought in to the whole corporate culture.
"Are you happy with the VRF?"
"I am, though there are too many ch designers in their ranks I think. That makes it a little more difficult for to stand out."
"I imagine it helps that you specialize in designing heat sinks. Not a lot of people pay attention to them, despite relying heavily on them to keep their chs running."
"If you think about it, every ch is a giant heat generator." Lucille said. "Energy is converted into various movents and attacks. Large amounts of waste heat erge from these transformations. Despite the progress that our race has made since they erged from Old Earth, we still haven’t been able to achieve perfect efficiency. Waste heat is a fact of life, no matter the race. Whether it’s humans or aliens, we are all facing the sa constraints."
Many ch designers treated heat sinks as an annoying necessity that hey begrudgingly include in their designs because it wouldn’t function without them. That was the wrong ntality to adopt. Heat sinks ford a vital function that wasn’t any less important than a power reactor.
One part generated usable energy, while the other part handled the waste heat.
Ves had in fact gained a new appreciation of heat sinks ever since he won the Amastendira. The wondrous weapon that utilized so of the most advanced technologies from the galactic center utilized sothing which the weapon referred to as a dinsional heat sink.
It basically absorbed any waste heat within its body and shunted it into another dinsion, thereby solving the problem in the easiest but also most extravagant manner possible.
Although the dinsional heat sink only worked up to a point, it was still an amazing picture of what the end point of heat sink technology looked like. Ves hoped that he could incorporate them into his own design one day.
Ves entered a brief discussion about heat sinks with Lucille. Despite his broad base of knowledge, Lucille knew quite a bit about materials science, while her insights into thermodynamics veered into a completely unknown territory to him.
It beca clear that with regards to heat sinks, she was truly a specialist who was leagues ahead compared to a generalist like Ves.
Soone with her specialty was in high demand to any design team that worked on spaceborn chs or chs that predominantly relied on energy-intensive weapons such as lasers.
The banquet ran on for several hours until it ca at an end. During this ti, Ves spent most of his ti learning more about what they brought to the table as ch designers. As Iris and Lucille both possessed specialties that pertained to specific components, they could potentially provide a substantial boost to the three designs that the Vandals still kept developing.
As the guests retired to their own compartnt aboard the Wolf Mother, Ves and Alloc walked back to their own section of the massive ship. The corridors had dimd down a little, signifying that it was standard night ti.
Once they fell well out of earshot from the Vesians who attended the banquet, Alloc began to speak.
"Did you enjoy your ti with the girls?"
"Uhm, they’re very competent, sir."
"Rrrright. Competent. Interesting choice of words." The Journeyman curled up his lips before bringing them down to a frown. "Don’t fall for their tricks. The VRF always sends out a couple of vixens to us. They’re always easy to talk to and pleasing to the eye, but that still can’t change the fact that they’re Vesians."
Ves grasped the implied aning and stopped smiling as well. "I understand. I think. If that’s the case, what is the VRF after?"
"It’s one of the many gas they play. The VRF may not look impressive as an insurgency movent, but their influence reaches well beyond the borders of the kingdom. They have their fingers in a lot of different pies. Don’t underestimate their skill in trade and diplomacy. They’re always out to make a deal with you, couched in terms that sound great at first, but turn out to co with several inconvenient caveats."
"If they’re so inconvenient, then why do the Vandals accept this kind of behavior, sir?"
"Don’t ask ." Alloc shrugged helplessly. "I once asked the sa thing to Professor Velten. She told that it’s one of the concessions the Vandals have made to the VRF. The slick-talking diplomats of the rebels have even gotten us to agree that any ch designer that wants to defect to the VRF is allowed to do so without restrictions."
That really got Ves to halt. What a ridiculous concession! "Has anyone ever taken up this offer?"
"Pff. Look at how few designers are on our design team and you have your answer."
That was impossible. There was no way the Vandals would tolerate the VRF stealing over eighty ch designers from them. Ves looked at Alloc with a suspicious eye.
"Okay, maybe I exaggerated." Alloc held up his hands. "Only five ch designers that I know of has defected to the VRF over the past decade. Those ch designers haven’t been content in their current postings anyhow, so good riddance to them. The only regret that we have is that they are all rather good at what they do. The VRF mainly targets Journeyman ch Designers. That’s what Florissa is here for. She’s mainly targeting and the two other Journeyn in our departnt."
Though age gaps didn’t count for much in this day and age, people would still from at couples whose ages visibly diverged. It would be unseemly for Ves to hook up soone like Florissa.
Instead, he could look forward to the advances of Iris and Lucille. Great.
"Well, the cat’s out of the bag. Now that I know, I won’t fall for their tricks." Ves declared with so conviction.
"That’s what they all say, Ves, but when it cos to the matters of the heart, we turn into so of the dimwitted sentient beings in the galaxy. Love makes you stupid."
Despite Alloc’s warnings, Ves did not think much of the threat posed by the three won. He was a Larkinson, and a Larkinson never abandoned the Republic. He also thought of himself as a rational thinker. Though he acted on a couple of reckless impulses from ti to ti, at his core he believed himself to be an enlightened thinker.
There was no way Ves would turn silly because of a silly face.
User Comments
0 comments from readers