Colemenoport Shipyard
“Now, this is the machining section,” Dil Nem said, triggering the door, and stepping through ahead of Padi.
It was a large bay with three work stations: two idle, and the third undergoing either repair or maintenance.
At the back of the bay was a large unit, also idle, though every so often a light flickered along its surface.
“This is what we’ll be upgrading first,” Dil Nem said, waving Padi toward one of the idle work stations.
As they passed the machine being worked on, the tech looked up with a tired grin. “They’ve held together for two hundred Standards,” she said. “It’s a lot to ask of anything, and the devil’s in it that you can’t fabricate a fabrication unit.”
“Two hundred Standards of increasingly hard use,” Dil Nem said, nodding at the tech. “At first, there was an inventory of parts, but as they were used, and no new ones being delivered—”
“The yard started machining everything from paper clips to Struvens,” the tech said, standing away from the unit she was working on. “Now, we’re running out of raw material, not to mention that the extruder over there’s getting very temperamental.” She sighed, and wiped her hands on a rag. “We test everything that comes out of it, and we don’t let anything go that’s under the ninety-seventh percentile, but you have to take into account that the test equipment is two hundred Standards old, too.”
She bowed then, taking off her cap to reveal short grey hair fairly standing up straight on her head.
“I’m Moji tineMena,” she said. “I’m pleased to meet you, Trader yos’Galan.”
“Yard Master.” Padi bowed. “It’s an honor.” She straightened. “Thank you for allowing me to tour your facility.”
“Why wouldn’t I, when Tree-and-Dragon already has our signed contract?” the yard master said practically, putting her cap back on. “And, you know, when Dil Nem told me the reason you wanted to tour—that you’re going on the Iverson Loop, and want to have some idea of what you’re looking at when you visit the yards further in—that was so commonsensical, who could say no?”
Padi smiled. “I wonder if I might ask you a question.”
“Anything you like, Trader.”
“As we were coming in, Dil Nem said that this room would be the first to be upgraded, and I wonder why that would be. Surely, with new pre-made parts on order, the demand for machining parts will fall off.”
“The new parts inventory is an investment in Colemeno’s future,” the yard master said. “Those parts will be needed by the ships coming in from Dust-free space, as you did. Most of our customers—our base, if you will—are ships from inside the cloud—ships that are two hundred Standard years old, and more. Those parts will still have to be machined.”
Padi shot a glance to Dil Nem, who met it blandly.
“There are,” she said slowly, “junk yards in the Dust-free zones.”
“I don’t doubt there are,” said the yard master, “but those parts will be—if you’ll excuse me, Trader—junk, or at least used. With an up-to-date fabrication room, we can produce brand-new parts, within, so Dil Nem assures me, the ninety-ninth percentile.”
“I am instructed,” Padi said, “and I will bear the lesson in mind.”
She glanced at Dil Nem again.
“I wonder if you would share your upgrade proposal with me.”
“Certainly, Trader,” Dil Nem said. “I’ll send it to you when we’re done touring.”