Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race by Kal Spriggs

especially to enthusiastic students.  He had a training exercise to attend later in the day and Lucius actually looked forward to it... and to the nasty surprises he and Anthony Doko had worked up.
    Even so, between the training and the continued repairs aboard the War Shrike , he hadn't had time to follow up with Nogita. One thing he had come to value about the man, once he got a tune for Lucius's hands-off approach, he simply got to work.  Lucius had felt certain the other man would warn him if anything serious needed his attention.  For now, it appeared that he'd been correct.
    “ Well, boss, we got it all done,” Nogita shrugged, “It's been a month that if I ever repeated, my wife would kill me.” The engineer settled slowly onto the edge of his desk.  “As soon as it became clear that we found a source of palladium and that we'd be producing the ships not only on time, but early, Schultz Enterprises flooded the market with palladium.”
    Lucius gave a snort, “I hope that didn't help them.”
    “It didn't,” Matthew Nogita smiled.  “As a matter of fact, between the loss they took between the buy price they paid and the sell price we got, they lost somewhere upwards of a hundred million.  Combined with the twenty million dollar bonus for early completion, and the hundred million dollar price tag, I think they're having a bad year.”
    Lucius smiled in return, “Good.  Very good.  I suppose it would be too much to hope it ruined them?”
    Nogita shook his head, “No, Baron, unfortunately not.  They're one of Faraday's largest corporations.  That chickenshit Schultz owns controlling interests on half the space industry.  It hurt him, it might make it so he can't do anything to us any time soon, but he'll recover.”
    Lucius shrugged, “Then we keep an eye out for him.  I think the loyalty base we've developed with the factory workers will work in our favor in that regard.”  He nodded out at the busy factory floor.
    Matthew nodded, “Agreed.  I never held with the standard practices around here.  But I've never seen these people so motivated.  I wouldn't have bet even money that we could finish those ships, but when you let on how much it would hurt bastards like Schultz...”
    Lucius nodded.  “They've suffered through a lot, Matthew.”  After his talk with the ship's captains, he found more than enough recruits and the factory floor had flooded with workers.  He didn't fool himself to think their hard work came from anything besides a hatred for the rich who'd mortgaged them to wage-slave status, but he hoped they had at least gained a working relationship now.
    “ Good job, Matt, and be sure we give those people out there a decent bonus, I can't think of a better use for the profit we've made on Schultz's behalf.”
    ***
     
    “ Captain, the first shipment of fighters is here.” Chief Petty Officer Winslow reported.
    Lucius nodded, “Excellent!  Alice send someone forward to open the hatch and tow them in.”
    It was with no little awe that he watched his new fighter squadron XO go into motion.  Just two weeks ago she, and half her squadron had been the female racing gang known as the Raging Lionesses.  They had signed up, in masse, after the first day of his advertisements.  Their presence was at once both startling, amusing, and, to some of his crew, contemptible.
    Faraday considered itself an enlightened culture, above such things as gender or racial discrimination.  This of course, flew in the face of their xenophobia of those born off world.
    The culture of the Nova Roma sector, on the other hand was fairly primitive.  Even the most Egalitarian oriented of Nova Roma never considered co-sex dining halls, sleeping quarters, and even bathrooms.  In this respect, a number of his crew experienced embarrassing and even harassing incidents.  Lucius had found the need to hammer more than one individual for behavior that was unacceptable.  He had hoped that such behavior would