Power Base: Book 2 of the Leaving Earth series Read online

  Another general row broke out asking what the point of the plant was if there was no application.

  Both Hank and the director for medical research spoke up, then, stating that there were products listed which would be immensely useful to their fields. Grum followed up with his opinion that there were definitely applications in the wider market and genuine USSMC commercial products.

  This time Kelvin had remained completely silent. There was no call for censure or any kind of disciplinary proceedings, but Grum could tell that he had lost some of the wavering support among the board members. It seemed to him that only Kelvin, Hank and the medical research director were on board, now.

  Steve confirmed that in their next meeting. 'Is there any way you can find out just what we would be talking about in terms of commercial products, that might help sway some of the waverers on the board back in your favour?'

  'To be honest, it's my own speculation. I can imagine several possibilities, but I have no actual market data to back that up.'

  'How about I work with Stew on getting that market research?'

  'That would be great. What would you need from me?'

  Steve waved the glossy product catalogue which Nevada had produced. 'If everything is in here, nothing at all.'

  'Everything that's real is in there.'

  'That will be the ideal starting point. Don't worry, Grum. You still have serious support among the board, and the C-suite. At worst, you can always play your big ace.'

  Grum knew he had a carefully blank expression, and once again realised that this was a dead giveaway. 'I don't know what you mean,' he said, for what it was worth.

  'Of course you don't. You have no idea that you could ask me to map out the sabotage attempts, get Kelvin to call an EGM and have at least one board member removed. Nor that you could effectively ramp up SyncDep's consultancy arm and do exactly what the HR director fears you might do, and do it better than he can. None of that has occurred to you, at all.'

  'I said this to Stew once, when he suggested that I go straight over our old VP's head to Kelvin, very early on. It's not time for that. If I have to take those steps it's because I have failed to make things work properly. It is potentially a damaging move and can only be considered as a last resort if the alternative is more damaging.'

  Steve grinned. 'Just wanted to hear you say it. Speak soon, Grum.'

  Steve left and Grum blew out a breath. He really did not enjoy being an analyst in a political position where emotion ruled. He remembered what his lawyer friend, Zak, had told him once, though: it's not just about the facts, it's about the narrative you create with the facts.

  Chapter 12

  THE rebuild of collider "A" was going well, "C" was in its final testing phase, and "B" was beginning to produce the various sizes of generators. They had started with the biggest possible with a single collider feeding the decelerator rig, and progressed down the scale. Although this was technically a production-level test, it was producing real generators which could be put into use. Hank had already earmarked the top three classes of generators for use in the orbital habitats. He was not going to wait for full pods, but — Grum found out from Vann — the generators would be hooked up to the massive on-station battery banks to provide a constant charge, and would be distributed throughout the habitats to provide power in an emergency.

  The trouble was that until all three colliders were up and running, there was no way that Nevada could produce enough generators to fill even that need completely.

  That meant the orbitals were reliant on the giant solar arrays they had always used. In terms of power supply, that was not a problem, the technology was well understood and had a long history. The problem came with the sheer volume of debris which was cluttering up the space around the Earth. USSMC's own space salvage arm was doing as good a job as any when it came to clearing up and re-using material, but the danger to the solar panels was still there.

  So, Grum eagerly read every report which came out of Nevada to make sure that nothing was slipping behind schedule.

  It was while he was running through these reports that Grum noticed an anomaly, nothing serious, but… He punched the speed dial for Reception at Nevada.

  'Nevada Antimatter Power Facility, good afternoon, how may I help you?'

  'Sarah? It's Grum, put me through to Ben, will you?'

  'Of course, sir, please hold,' she said, immediately.

  'Grum?' Ben Abelson's gruff voice sounded on the other end.

  'Ben. I've just been going over the latest data from the colliders…'

  'Uh… Nothing wrong is there?'

  'No, no, not as such, more a curiosity. It's the batch prefixes. For Unit A, the original one, the prefix is 1100; for B the prefix is 1200,' Grum paused a second, fancying he heard a slight muffled grunt on the other end, 'Unit C, though, where I might expect the prefix 1300, has the number 1701. Why is this, please?'

  There was no doubting it. There were definite sounds of Ben's snorting laughter on the other end of the phone.

  'Sorry, Grum, it's relief. I never thought you'd call over something this silly… Really, Grum, I'm sorry. It's like this. The unofficial name for each of the units is "Nevada Collider" followed by A, B or C, and when it inevitably became shortened in meetings…'

  'NCC… Oh dear. NCC-1701?'

  'Well, it is a hell of an enterprise.' Ben went back to his snorting.

  'For crying out loud! Okay, calm down. I suppose you were going to use alphabet designations for the different sizes?'

  'That was the thought. At least for the cell sizes. The generators and pods really need better product names.'

  'For certain. Remember that the products cannot mention Nevada or antimatter in the publicly available literature.'

  'I know, Grum. I'll make sure of that.'

  'All right, Ben. It's your business, just don't do yourself a mischief. Bye.'

  'Bye.'

  Grum hung up and shook his head. 'Sad. Someone actually took the time to work that out.'

  In an effort to mitigate some of the negative views in the company magazine, Grum had taken to releasing periodic updates parsed from the Nevada testing reports. He had to figure that the report of bringing the "C" collider online would be positive, even if it did mean that production ceased completely for the month just prior. However, it was almost completely neutral. Much was made of the production shutdown and a lot of speculation about the "stability" of the site if the whole thing had to be shut down "just" to being another collider online. It was deeply frustrating.

  Even more frustrating was when the VP for Medical R&D came to see him.

  Frank Mullins was not someone to whom Grum had spoken much, and the fact that he had come to visit for the first time, was evidence of some concern. The source of that concern was not long in being stated.

  'I think your devices are what we seriously need to power some of our more ambitious devices. Especially the cybernetics and prostheses. But I have to tell you that my director is wavering.'

  'I thought she was supportive.'

  'She was. But she has been swayed by the argument that your production schedule may not be as quick or as stable as you say. She's a hell of a doctor, but not so good on the technology front.'

  'That seems to be a theme on the board.'

  'True enough. Once the production schedule is maintained for a while, I should imagine that she will take the evidence as it stands, but for now there is sufficient doubt around that you may lose her support.'

  Grum closed his eyes briefly in resignation. 'Nothing to be done?'

  'Not unless you can avoid shutting down the site to bring the final collider online.'

  'No. That's physically impossible. The whole thing has to go through a full cycle. Shutdown, warm up, chill down, on. Without that, the colliders really will be unstable. Their environments must match.'

  'Then, I suspect, you are going to find hard times ahead with the board.'

  'You seem to understan
d how things really are. She won't listen to you?'

  'I'm in a tricky position, myself. Some of the existing battery and super-capacitor technology is almost good enough for what we need. But they only last a few years before they need replacing. With much of what we want to use them for, that means surgery. A lot of my programmes are coming under scrutiny, and the director is getting it in the neck for supporting me. Supporting you as well is damaging her position.'

  'I see. I can't thank you for the message, but I do thank you for bringing it. Have you been able to get any of the first-batch samples to experiment with?'

  'Very few. It's the smallest ones we really need and they have been the most delayed, so far. That hasn't helped.'

  'I understand. Once we're up to full capacity, I'll see what I can do to bring those sizes up the schedule.'

  'That would be appreciated, but I'm not convinced it will be soon enough. Neither is the director.'

  'I can see that. I wish I could change reality to bring things into line, but I am bound by the laws of physics, I'm afraid.'

  'I know. I hope things work out.'

  'Thanks.'

  'I'll be off now. I just thought I should come and tell you the lay of the land.'

  'It's appreciated. I'll see what I can do to counter the negativity, and whether there's anything I can do to relieve your director's pressure.'

  'What can you do?' Frank held his hands out wide, in a gesture of impotence.

  'I don't know. I'll have to talk to people.'

  'Well. See you around.'

  'Thanks for your time, Frank. Hope I have better news next time we talk.'

  'As do I.'

  Frank left the office and Grum sank further into his chair. This was getting to be hellish. If he lost complete support on the board, he would be done for, he was sure.

  Chapter 13

  'I'M not happy about this situation, Grum.' Kelvin Goldstein was sat forward in his throne-like chair peering at Grum across the desk as if trying to discern something hidden in Grum's features.

  There was a slight rustle of sound from outside of Grum's peripheral vision, and the barest shake of the head from Kelvin as his eyes darted in the direction of the sound.

  It was first thing on a Monday morning and Grum had not yet had enough coffee to deal with this. The last week had been almost completely taken up with fighting an information war, trying to keep whichever detractors he faced on the right track about the Nevada Facility's capacity and capabilities. This meeting request had been sent first thing this morning, and followed up within minutes of arriving by Mr Grey knocking at the office door.

  'No, Kelvin, me neither.'

  'It really is necessary to shutdown the plant in order to bring the last collider online?'

  They had been over this point several times already. 'Yes, it really is. To do otherwise really would make the whole thing unstable and probably lead — in very short order — to the destruction of the plant.'

  'Then, I have no choice. You are ordered not to bring the final collider into operation. The two you have will have to be enough. Will they be enough?'

  'No, sir. They will not. Both Space and Medical have orders outstanding which will only be filled in any reasonable time-frame by have full production capacity up and running.'

  'Then Medical R&D will have to go unfulfilled. Unfortunately, that will almost certainly cost you the support of the director responsible.'

  'I am aware of that, sir. That is why I wanted to have both sets of orders filled as quickly as possible.'

  'I expect that this is what some people want, I'm afraid to say.'

  'I gathered as much.'

  'Indeed. It cannot be helped, now. In it's current composition, I cannot influence the board any more than I already have.'

  Kelvin's eyes flicked again to where Grum assumed Mr Grey must be standing. What on earth was that about? he wondered. 'Is there anything I can do to improve the situation?'

  'The situation is not being driven by knowledge, Grum. But by fear. The people standing in your way are not truly against any of the technology coming out of your Division, nor — I suspect — are they truly against any of the resourcing innovations. They are scared because you are climbing fast and they see themselves losing influence to you. It is personal. I detest personality politics in the boardroom, and would be happier if the main culprits were no longer there… But, as it stands, we must both suffer from this unhappy situation.'

  Grum wrestled with the thought which Steve Branch had brought up. He probably could stick his neck out and force a boardroom showdown between Kelvin and the HR director. That would probably end in Grum's favour, but it would be very messy, and ultimately damaging to the company as a whole. He decided against it.

  'Yes, sir, I think we do.' Grum became aware that Kelvin had been watching him intently again, and now relaxed.

  'Yes. It's still Kelvin, by the way, Grum. I appreciate that you have dropped into a formal mode as this is a serious discussion, but I trust your judgement. Nothing I have seen from you leads me to believe that you are doing anything which is against the interests of the company. Quite the opposite.'

  'Thank you, Kelvin.'

  'It's a storm, Grum. USSMC has had a few. Likely there will be a few more. I am convinced, though, that the future well-being of the company lies with people like you and those with whom you have chosen to associate. Frankly, I trust you, Grum. Not many are given that particular accolade.'

  'I'm honoured, Kelvin. I am pleased to say that I trust you as well.'

  'That is excellent. OK. The order still stands, I'm afraid. I cannot overrule the board on this. Well, that's not true. I can. But I'm not going to. The situation will have to be resolved in another manner.'

  'I agree.'

  'Good. Now, please go back to running your Division, and see if you can't find some way to turn this around. I will work on it, as well.'

  Grum stood to leave and Mr Grey moved to open the office door. Kelvin had already started working on something, so Grum did not bother with any farewells. He walked out of the office and wondered what avenues of resolution were left open to him.

  The call to Frank Mullins was short and somewhat bitter. Frank told him that he had been expecting the call as his director had dropped a heavy hint on him about being careful with the few antimatter generators they were likely to get.

  Few was being a bit harsh, thought Grum. Even the testing runs had produced several million devices which could be used. In one way that was the joy and the bane of the pico-scale generators. They could be produced in huge quantities, but the flip side of that was that they had to be produced in huge quantities. That required storage and shipping. Medical would have enough of the smallest types to keep testing for years, if not of the exact sizes Frank wanted.

  He also had to tell Hank that his schedule would be reduced from the planned rate. Hank, as a member of the board, already knew that, but he sympathised when Grum called to let him know officially.

  Stew came to see Grum later in the week. There was nothing playful or cheery in his attitude. The political situation had become a little nastier since the announcement of a delay in bringing the third collider online at Nevada. Although there was nothing official said to the effect, there were nevertheless rumour going round that there were safety concerns.

  'It's ridiculous, of course. The only safety concern would have been with trying to bring "A" back online without a shutdown. The rumours are persisting, though,' said Stew as he slumped into a chair in Grum's office.

  'I know. Is there no way we can nix this crap?'

  'Not that either I or Steve can think of. The worst part is that we're now getting the no-smoke-without-fire being applied to us.'

  Grum sighed. That was inevitable. If there is something highly technical or scientific, and political pressure is brought to bear to slow it, or label it, or demand additional testing for no scientifically sound reason, the upshot was always that the same people who brou
ght the pressure would point at the result and say: "Look! They are doing the-thing-we-forced-them-to-do, there must be a reason for it!". Well, yes. Of course there was a reason, thought Grum, sourly. The reason is you idiots forced it to happen, unnecessarily.

  'And that's not all,' continued Stew, his tone even more defeated than it had been.

  'What?'

  'HabSatTwo lost power last night.'

  'What?! How? Is anybody… Did anybody..?'

  'No-one died, no. It actually happened during the power up sequence after the power transfer from the shuttle's battery banks. Grum… Did you know that the entire battery bank supply grid goes offline while the transfer happens?'

  'What bloody use is that to anyone? No, I did not know that.'

  'Me either, but that's what happens. Can you guess where our generators derive their minimum current needed to supply the superconducting magnets?'

  Grum stuck his face in both palms and in a muffled voice asked Stew: 'How many quenched?'

  'Just the one, and dissipating that energy into open space is about as efficient as it gets, but it did cause a surge which briefly took the solar collectors offline.'

  'How on earth — or off it — did it do that?'

  'Vann's investigating. Although she's technically involved with the orbitals, she didn't get involved in the connection design for this habitat. It was one of the previous Chief's last solo projects.'

  'Crap. So politically…'

  'It's going to be stuck on our doorstep unless we get Hank to own up.'

  'That's a tough ask. Even if no-one was hurt, they could've been.'

  'Agreed. I wanted to come and tell you in person. Steve's in overdrive trying to find the least harmful spin, but I don't see it, myself.'

  'OK. Thank you, Stew. I need to get my head round this.'

  'I'll leave you to it.'

  Chapter 14

  BY the time he entered into Space Division's territory, Grum had worked up a good head of steam. Real righteous wrath was pouring off him in waves. It was unfortunate, therefore that the first person he ran into when he arrived there, was Vann.