All That Glitters

All That Glitters -- Ch 45

New visitors. Visit to Liramor Prime. The party ends.

An unexpected visit from new neighbours. The Asoc visits Pallanders at Liramor Prime. The delegates take their leave.

© bigtddybr March 2022. This story 'All That Glitters - Ch 45' or the series 'All That Glitters' cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com in whole or in part without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and bigtddybr must be credited for this work.

Due to the number of abbreviations, ship listings, and list of characters, in this story, I include a glossary that is now in a stand-alone chapter called

'All That Glitters: Notes'

. Any and all information that you want or need to know about the series is included in Notes. It will be updated frequently simply by re-issuing the chapter to Literotica.

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

A big shout out to SaddleRider and my other editors, who wish to remain anonymous, for all their help.. With their guidance, I'm making fewer and fewer errors. If you find any errors still left in this chapter, they are mine, as I have ignored sage advise to make a silly point.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

Main Conference Room, The Interspecies Embassy, Juliet Deck, Liramor-23, 109 Piscium System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Cynthia Stewart was hugging herself in disbelief. She had returned to Liramor-23 with the Presidential Press Corps, at the urging of her boss because they had heard a rumor about a trade summit. The rumour had turned out to be true.

As Cynthia was a known entity here on the platform, it was decided to send her back for the summit. She now had more than forty hours of vids on the various trade agreements made on Liramor-23 between the Union and the Greater Community and between members of the Greater Community. Liramor-23 and the Interspecies Embassy was turning into a boon for the Greater Community.

The Presidential Press Corps was a little miffed at Cynthia as she was doing so much better on the platform than the established press members. It was the President's of Staff, Jason Canter, who had informed the Secretary of the Press Group (nominally in charge of the group), that Cynthia Stewart had won a Medal of Bravery right here on Liramor-23 for her direct assistance while reporting on the attack of the Second Battle of Liramor-23. She had earned her place in the hearts of those who lived and worked on the platform, after which, the Press Group gave her their grudging support..

The task was too simple for Cynthia, who had close ties and friendships on the platform.. All she had to do was simply stay back, watch, and record all that was happening. Of course, she also did interviews after the fact on the benefits of each deal for the parties involved, her friends on the platform helping get interviews with those whom they were dealing with. She had to pinch herself as she continued to record new interviews.

Cynthia's news radar activated when Raymond came into the conference room at the behest of the Asoc. The Asoc signalled him forward when she saw him.

"Raymond, my host, we have been requested to visit Pallanders Orbital Shipyard in order to ascertain for ourselves if we should allow our techs to participate in the activities there," the Asoc began.

"How difficult would it be to take a side trip to Liramor Prime?" she asked.

"Not difficult at all, Asoc," Raymond replied. "Liramor Prime is well within a single jump for my ship. We could leave now and be back for lunch or leave after lunch and return for dinner. However, I will need to file a flight plan, as the President of Liramor Prime would not appreciate the ruler of a species visiting without giving notice. We can ask him to keep the ceremonies to a minimum if you would like."

The Asost barked a laugh. "A few days ago, we would expect all this bowing and scraping from our people everywhere we would go within our realm. Now, we are glad to turn some of it away."

Raymond smiled at the comment. "I will let you know in thirty minutes when we can make the trip. Do you have a preference for the time of day?"

"No, we have nothing of importance today that our Ambassador and our Ministers cannot manage. We are free to make this visit whenever you can arrange it," the Asoc stated.

Raymond gave a bow and left to make arrangements.

"War Dragon Minister Kloä>, Minister of Interspecies Affairs, War Dragon Minister Dugran, Minister of Interspecies Trade, I leave the two of you and our Ambassador and his staff to deal with any issues of trade until our return," the Asoc stated formally.

"As this trip is informal and of an unexpected nature, would you and your retinue like to come with us, Kumaraie?" the Asoc asked of the Kumar Pair. They welcomed the opportunity to go to Pallanders.

Cynthia made sure to be invited along...

Pallanders 1, Orbital Shipyard, Liramor Prime, The Liramor System, Thirty Light Years from Terra

The Wanderer came into being in high orbit above Liramor Prime less than an hour after Raymond's discussion with the Asoc. The ship asked for and received permission to approach Pallanders 1 and slipped into the parking orbit assigned to it not far from the station.

The Asoc and her immediate retinue were moved to the station via the ship's VIP shuttles. They came into the VIP reception area to be greeted by Marcel Lapierre, the President of Liramor Prime, and his daughter, Lillianne, who was acting in the place of Marcel's late wife.

"Welcome to Liramor Prime, Asoc >Catal Mutt Herrtt, Asost <Korme Mutt Goult, Kumaraie Na-Maj Se-Lam Pod-Raie, Kumaroe Jarl Se-Lam Pod-Sai-Roe, Ministers of the Asocans and Ministers of the Pod-Drran," Marcel said with a low bow.

"We welcome you in turn, Mr. President and thank-you for receiving us on such short notice," the Asoc replied.

"We appreciate that you have kept this low-key, as it is our intent to take this time to view the capabilities of Pallanders Shipyard," the Kumaraie stated simply, getting nods of understanding from Marcel and his daughter.

The group was brought to a large conference room with a view showing some of the exterior cages where large ships were being constructed.

"The ships immediately in front of you are new supply ships being constructed," François indicated two ships that were only partially formed.

"The ship in the upper right is a Fairling Class Frigate being refit for the Navy," he indicated a ship that was fully formed but with bits and pieces of it that should be inside of it now seen being moved out of the ship.

"What you are looking at are the old Marilon Generators being replaced," he explained. "The ship will be refit to the latest upgrades, which include Jump-grid technology. With a ship that large, she will have a single jump capacity in excess of 200 light years.

"The ship in the upper left is a Cruise Liner Ship, being built for the Luxury Vacation Market. It is expected to support more than 500 guests in the lap of extreme luxury while they cruise between significant planets and natural phenomenon. It is hoped that parts of your realms may one day become must see destinations for the cruise liners and vacation companies.

"Around this station, we have thirty-six cages being used to build large vessels. On the station itself, we are constructing the Princess Class, Sprawl Class, and Trine Class vessels. We are also doing refits of the Whippet Class Escort Ships for the Union Navy," François explained.

"I liked Junelliya's little ship," the Asoc proclaimed. "How long would it take to build such a ship for us?"

"We currently have three construction lines being opened for Trine Class ships, which will have a capacity of twenty-four ships per line per month. At the moment, we only have the line for the construction of personal yachts and we are working at a pace of five ships per month. We intend to increase that to ten or eleven ships per month but we do not expect to arrive at that pace before two more months. For now, we have pre-orders of nineteen ships. We cannot get to your ship before the next three months. It will take thirty days for us to build your ship, then another twenty days to outfit them as Royal Yachts," François told them. "You could expect to see your ships in five months if we continue the current pace of construction. When we get the opportunity to bring up the build numbers, we could probably cut one to two months off the construction time for your ship."

François took them to see the construction lines for the Trine Class ships. There really wasn't much to see, except in the luxury yacht line, as the other two lines were currently still being put together to begin construction.

The skeleton of a new ship was being constructed. They watched as metal pieces of the frame were welded together using a technique he called molecular welding.

Two arks of the frame that would eventually form a circle, were being welded together with what appeared to be a thin piece of flat metal. As the metal passed between the two pieces, the joint seemed to flow together. When it was finished, you would not know that there was a seam at that location if you didn't know where to look. The Asoc was encouraged to touch the seam, which was cold to her touch. That surprised them all.

"Molecular welding is just that, we manipulate the molecules of the two metal pieces and encourage them to flow together. It takes considerable energy, however, the energy needed to weld the pieces together is exactly the amount of energy to do the job without excess. That means the weld feels cold almost as soon as it is completed," their guide informed them.

"This technique and the tools to use it is available for sale?" One of the Kumaraie's ministers demanded.

"It is part of the kit for building our ships and stations," François assured them. "The instruction on its use will be provided during the learning phase of our ship design construction at Pallanders Six, either here or when it gets to the Piscium System."

"What do you intend to do with the Trine Class ships not being used for yachts?" the Kumaroe asked.

"They will replace The Princess Class and Sprawl Class ships so that they can carry members of the Greater Community in them. The extra headroom will make a significant difference between these ships and the older models," François informed them.

"What name will you give the new class?" the Asoc wanted to know.

"We will keep the name, and simply call the new ships Princess II Class and Sprawl II Class," he informed the group.

"How many lines do you have currently making the other classes?" the Asost asked.

"We now have three lines making the Sprawl Class and an additional three lines for the Princess Class. Once we get the three lines setup for the Trine Class, we will shift the construction on all those lines to the updated class builds. " François revealed.

"And the cost to us to build an Imperial Yacht?" the Kumaraie wanted to know.

"We can build a Trine Class Imperial Yacht for just under 100 million credits, Kumaraie," François told them. "However, that will include all of the newest upgrades, including Jump-grid technology, which means you will have the same jump capacity as The Trine, or 190 light years at a jump. With the new Marilon/Aruna generators, you can jump once every hour, meaning there is no distance within the Greater Community that you cannot traverse within a single day."

"What of a ship the size and opulence of Navy One?" the Asoc asked.

"An Imperial Ship that size would be much more expensive, approaching 3.5 billion credits, Asoc, it would take us almost nine months to build, and an additional two to three months to fit out. However, you would have a ship with the same jump capacity and even more opulence than The Wanderer," François specified.

"So, we could have an Imperial Yacht in three to five months, and an Imperial Ship the size of The Wanderer in twelve months?" the Asoc demanded.

"Twelve months to build the ship, if there are no problems. Then a month to a month-and-a-half for space worthiness trials. So just shy of fourteen months provided there are no issues. Since this will be the first time building such a ship from scratch, we do not know what issues we will face," François explained.

"If I had the smaller ship when I needed it, I could live with not having the Imperial Ship for that length of time. However, who would crew this ship?" the Asoc wanted to know. It was obvious that she wanted her own people to crew the ship.

"Yes, we would definitely have to teach your people how to crew and maintain the ship. We would have to have humans on the ship until your people are competent enough to take over from them," François stated.

"That would be acceptable," the Asost said. "We would want to ensure that the ship would not fail somewhere between stars."

That got a significant look from his mate. Eventually she relented to reality and nodded her consent.

"So, I would want a Trine Class Yacht for each of the planetary governors in my realm. That would be eighty-one ships, each a little less opulent than the Imperial Yacht. I would need an Imperial Ship of The Wanderer Class. What price would that give us?" the Asoc asked.

"A Governor's Yacht, would cost around eighty-five million credits each. As you want eighty-one Governor's Yachts, we could bring that down to sixty-five million per unit, that would be a total of 5,265,000,000 credits. Your Imperial Yacht, we could do for 85 million. The Imperial Ship would cost around 3.5 billion. We cannot know the full cost until we construct it as we have never made a ship of this size from scratch before, however, we could work to keep it to between 3 and 3.5 billion. Actual cost, if you purchased each separately, would be 9,675,000,000 compared to the discounted volume cost of 8,650,000,000, or a savings of 1.05 billion credits.

"Does that meet with your approval?" François asked.

"It does. We had thought it might cost us much more. We are pleased that the total cost will be under ten billion credits," the Asoc informed him. "How long before we could see the Governor's Yachts being available?"

"Now that we have a large volume contract, we can make a push on the Trine Class construction lines, increasing the number of lines to three and the number of ships produced to ten per month. With our current orders, that will allow us to have your Imperial Yacht ready in three months and certified a month later.

"The Governor's Yachts would be ready not long after, possibly having three per month per line starting two months after you receive your own Yacht," François told them. "The extra capacity on the lines would mean we could finish off your total order around sixteen months from today. Should we receive more orders, we can probably up the number of constructions to twenty-four ships per line per month. That would allow us to finish your order inside of ten months, however, I would plan for the full sixteen months for now.

"We can start building the Imperial Ship immediately. It should be ready in roughly twelve months time and be certified in a month to a month-and-a-half after it is finished. So fourteen to fourteen-and-a-half months from now. We could also work to certify crews of your own people on the ship types as soon as you can identify your people and have them brought here.

"Engineers will be the big issue as it takes time to train an engineer on a new type. You might have to rely on human engineers for at least the first full year of operations," François stated.

"Very well, we shall have our people brought to you as quickly as we can. Do you have a place for them here?" the Asoc demanded.

"Yes, we have plenty of room for them here," François assured her. "And also for your construction techs. Would you like to view Pallanders Six?"

"We would. How will you get us there?" the Asost wanted to know.

"We will use VIP shuttles. Pallanders Six is a few hundred thousand kilometers from here. We should be able to get there and back in a little over one hour. If you would excuse me for a time while I take care of some business with the Kumar-Pair," François asked, getting a nod from the Asoc.

The Asoc smiled at her fellow rulers and followed the guide that François provided to get a look at the interior designs of her new ships.

They moved to a new conference room where the interior design people were waiting. The quickly had a mock-up of the interior colours of both ships and the Governor's Yachts.

Their guide received the signal that they were ready to view Pallanders Six and brought them to where their VIP shuttles were waiting. The Asoc, the Asost, a few of her senior Ministers, and a couple of retainers moved into one shuttle, while other members of her entourage were designated to other shuttles.

Soon, the small fleet of shuttles left Pallanders Two and headed to the construction site of Pallanders Six. Fifteen minutes later, they were all hovering around the new station. They could see the skeleton of the station being formed as François explained what was happening, his comments being related to the other shuttles. Part of the lower section of the new station, from their point of view, was now covered.

"The covered section will soon be airtight, which means we will be able to house our workers on site in less than a week," François stated. "That will make things a little easier on the crews as the workers' shuttles are considerably slower than our VIP shuttles. It takes them more than forty-five minutes per trip one way.

"That can make for a long day when you are in an EVA suit," he finished.

"It looks somewhat larger than the station we just left," the Asost stated.

"Yes, that is correct. Pallanders Two is the second station we built and the first with onboard construction capability but it is still considerably smaller than all the follow-on stations we have constructed.

"Pallanders Six is designed to be used by members of the Greater Community, so it is being built larger than all of our other models. It is designed to be a teaching institution on human shipbuilding and station building techniques. It will also be the main design for all shipbuilding stations we will sell to your people," François admitted.

"How much will it cost us to build such a station?" the Asoc demanded.

"It will cost around ten billion credits to build it," François let them know. "We can build you a station in a year, where your people might take upwards of two or three years to build one of your own. Once you have the experience of building a station, the follow-on builds will be considerably faster. We will, of course, have your people helping in the construction of your own shipbuilding stations.

"When you are familiar with the techniques for station construction, you will be able to build your own orbital stations around each of your planets. That will help you in the long run, especially when you start forming a Navy," he told them.

The Asoc contemplated the trip to Liramor Prime. They had been here less than three hours and had already contracted for eighty three ships and two orbital stations, one shipbuilding station and one for commercial use. The Asocans had their own stations in orbit around many of their planets, mostly for commercial use. However, it took five to ten years to construct one of their stations. If they could build one in less than five years, the investment in technology would pay off in the long run.