Haze Gray 89

"You've been quiet? We can get you a plane?"

Maria looked at Taylor for a moment. They were sitting in an oyster bar. She blinked. "Oh, no, that's not it at all. I can work from anywhere and I sort of think that's the problem. My flag bridge is full of people trying to beat the Cuban thing into something recognizable.

"Which truth be told is going amazingly well considering that they apparently want to be full on communist with a Queen. I think that's what has us all confused, even them.

"Remember the survey we did for Hispaniola? We dusted it off and are trying to make sure we don't influence it one way or the other as it applies to Cuba."

Taylor smiled "Remember when I told everyone we wanted all ideas they could get someone else to agree with? That slowed them all right down and I hope made them think. It at least made them talk to one other person."

Maria nodded "So we are going too fast then?"

Taylor blinked "I didn't say that. I guess it could be inferred from what I said. Maybe you think we are going too fast. Really though it's up to them. I would prefer they not start fights over it and have a reasoned discourse but..." She left it hanging. "We'll stop anyone from doing anything without a majority opinion in support, other than that they can go on their way."

Ginny slurped up an oyster and then nodded "Meanwhile run them all through the process. We are about to finish up Hispaniola, the US has extended the same deal to the Cuban's, might as well take advantage, we can move any cases the docks don't cure to wherever the Havens are. Taking our time, or rather them taking their time and getting it right will be better."

Taylor blinked "You guys jumped on a bus as soon as we picked a place, didn't you?"

Ginny laughed "Eight busses. They're doing lifts too. Fleet Week Yo!"

Taylor sighed "Holy crap, can Amy cure STDs?"

Everyone looked at her and broke up laughing.

Danny walked up "Little fancier joint than we have back home generally." He hugged Maria and kissed her.

Maria smiled "Nice though, bright."

Taylor arched a brow "Who is even minding the store?"

Danny smirked "Tyrone."

Everyone from, or who had been to, Brockton Bay froze for a moment. Taylor shook it off first "We are all going to jail."

Danny smirked "Nah, he knows a guy."

Haze Gray

In Brockton Bay Tyrone looked at the girl in the dock and went to find the OOD. That girl was going to ship. Portsmouth, a Cleveland class by the hull number on that boat. From what Mark said that fit pretty well. Girl could throw up a blizzard of projectiles. Mostly light stuff. Merchants had been trying to press gang her when there were merchants. Since then she had been sort of living here.

Haze Gray

Taylor looked at the message traffic "Huh. Well, we apparently got a build for her."

Amy frowned and looked at the traffic "Six inch? Wow, a lot of six inch, and holy cow what a rate of fire. A hundred forty-four rounds a minute for how long? Wait, why does she want to stay in Brockton?"

Taylor blinked "Somebody needs to she says?"

Amy nodded "We have got to talk to this girl. Of course, she might change her mind after she ships."

Taylor nodded "I'm getting her on a plane. She can ship here and then if she wants to stay there that's fine. We can bring her and her family out here. We got those Skytrain IIs and the Airstation got the bit between their teeth to outdo the Russians with propfans, and there were those P9D plans and we had the C9s because the military went to C40s and then well, there were a bunch of DC 9s in boneyards, so you know, it's a thing."

Everyone blinked. Hong finally nodded "We'll get some crew to Alameda. Uh are those supersonic? Oh no ok, point eight nine mach cruise? Really? Impressive. I want a go."

Taylor looked around "See. A thing?"

Hong rolled her eyes and the LHDs went outside. Everyone watched them launching LCAC 100s full of CBs and equipment. Some of which headed across the bay and some headed south?

The girls came back inside through the crowd of gawkers and Taylor arched a brow. Noelle shrugged "Hunters Point is like right there, might as well keep the boys busy."

Tess perked up "Oh! Hey that place is pretty hot radiologically, I can keep that miner busy. Oh, Alameda s not nice either. Yeah, ok, so there. Give us about a day Taylor. I'll cook the runways first."

Danny cleared his throat "Uh, we don't own either place?"

Lisa chimed in "Both superfund sites. We got the contract. Part of that is a lease. Sort of permanent. As long as we keep up our end the government can't get out of their end. I can't wait for the court challenge on that. Of course, we will then claim hostile use." She grinned. "Any who, as Taylor would say we got 'jillions' of acres from the government we are cleaning up and putting into food production.

"Kind of wearing out tractors at this point. Freaking humongous tractors. We may have gotten a little carried away. Might have crashed pork beef and poultry prices but we caught it and just didn't slaughter. We did lower production targets on animals so we will catch up with that. Lesson learned for the fish, crustaceans, and shell fish. Though freezers so not so bad."

Maria nodded "And the aquaculture? rather than the wild caught?"

Lisa sighed "That's harder than it appears. At least to do in a sustainable way. We're, or rather the shore, river, and sea keepers are breaking the code though. These guys got oysters down. We should look at getting seed from them for around Mare. Maybe try some of their seed down in the gulf. Definitely bring some of our seed up here."

The person behind the counter held up a finger "Hey hold on, John and Terry want to talk to you guys."

The girls blinked then looked at Taylor. "Oh, the owners? Uh, why?"

The woman laughed "Because you are the water goddess. Abel too, that's the chef, he wants access to your fish. Apparently, he has been to one of your barbeques down on the beach in Hispaniola. Your food will be coming out in a minute."

Taylor blinked "Uh we didn't order anything?"

"Andi, you fed him, he plans to feed you. Plus, I guess your cooks are all in the kitchen picking our cooks brains. How does that work by the way?"

Haze Gray

On the way back as they were cruising at low power Juggernaut offered "Once you get past the California those folks are pretty smart." Everyone nodded. She continued "It's like they want to be their own country, or think they are, or something?"

Noelle shrugged "Well, they were, for a minute? Texas was a republic longer. Maybe it's a big state thing? Alaska just ignores the little big states?"

Ginny came up on the net "You know you read about this. It's fascinating."

Taylor sighed "Its politics. Everyone is playing out here."

Mongrel shrugged "Except those folks lined up to get in the dock."

Chang Chang added "Which wow. Not much socialism going on there, at least not in society paying for medical care for those poor people."

Cassidy nodded "Running them through Brockton Bay to resolve their legal status will fix a lot of that. Couple million new workers at least." The discussion turned to the logistics of getting the illegals up here to run through the docks. Then transported to Brockton Bay and the still up and running Homeland Defense organization there.

Taylor skated along thinking "So, getting all these processes running and the problems with them smoothed out may take longer than a week."

Lisa nodded "I'll check on Alaska. Winter up there is a bitch though. Plus, we have school. We need to have a week or so to sort that crap out. So, we need to be up there by like the twenty sixth of August. Labor Day falls on a Monday this year so school starts late."

Kathy shrugged "I can keep a task group out here. We don't need to rush into anything. Chaos and his boys and girls plus that new PRT department, the Protectorate and all the alphabets have a tight lid on. With the Tradewinds we could be in anchorage in six hours including loading and unloading.

"We can establish a beach head and you guys could catch up."

Taylor nodded "Let's go a little further. Tess can you get a miner in to St Mathew, St Lawrence and the Diomedes?"

Noelle nodded "Hill forts. Yeah that could work. St Lawrence island, Wake, and Attu I think though. That would give them both the message. We have the reach with the cruise missiles at that point."

Taylor nodded "We can war game it."

Meili grinned "I will be the inscrutable Chinese foe."

Hong smiled "Oh good, I can sink you." Meili pouted.

Taylor sighed "We need a Russian."

Haze Gray

In the dock the doctors worked over the blond girl called Alina or Teri. She had been badly beaten; a troop of girls led by a 'Mandy' had brought her in. They weren't in very good shape themselves.

The Yard manger looked at the group and smiled. Then he talked to his other instances and got the orders in for nearly a million tons of metals. It was time to see what the boys and girls could do with a large gas turbine in cogeneration. Hmm, two for redundancy. He looked at the conveyors running locked wide open.

Have Gray

Leet looked at the email "Duuuude."

Bakuda leaned over and read the email "How many megawatts? Wait, eighty percent thermal efficiency? No tinker manufacturing or maintenance, a million hours between overhauls, and it has to run natural gas as its primary fuel, navy special as its back up fuel? Oh, JP eight is ok too. Of course. Christ OK, you get that dude for free. Wow, what if we ack!" Leet had grabbed her and dragged her into his lap "Damn man just say you want a warmup session. Hey! Don't stick the damn tablet up my nose. OH. Yeah OK I can make this. Octanitrocubane, too easy. The shape isnt hard either, oh, cool, implosion crystal formation. That is a big ass turbine disk to make into one crystal. How are you going to fix it on the shaft? Oh, the whole thing at once. Wow didn't see the scale, that's fucking huge. OK. Haha! MADE YOUR TINKER HAPPY HUH? MMMH HMM RIGHT THERE, THE WHOLE THING AT ONCE!"

Squealer looked up at the shouting "You know she isn't on birth control."

Uber blinked "They wouldn't leave a kid in here would they?"

"No."

"Oh, hey Dragon, what the hell did you ask for? Leet and Bakuda are fugueing the hell out of each other."

The ominous pause was not helped when Dragon replied with a curious tone "I didn't-" and trailed off.

Uber quickly held out a fist against the other palm. They quickly counted the strikes down and Uber blinked at the three fingers poking from Squealers hand "Goddamn it, every time!"

Squealer laughed "Large cruiser beats everything. You go."

Uber turned to his tablet and made a few more futile attempts to break into Leets email before he walked to the door and then down the hall like it was the green mile. "Oh, thank god." He ran back in the room "He hadn't moved his tablet, jacked it with my eyes closed."

Squealer was looking at him incredulously still listening to the thumps and bangs from Leets 'lab'. "Oh my god are you stupid? What happens when they take a break and then want to get warmed up for round two?"

Dragon chuckled "Actually they aren't having sex. They're making a prototype out of... toilet paper and water? Where did he get a roll of toilet paper?" She looked around at the little knick-knacks scattered around she hadn't brought in here. "Which one of you tinked the toilet paper dispenser? Okay, yeah that is sex after all. Model making as foreplay?"

Squealer and Uber went straight scrub "Wasn't me." They replied at the same time.

Uber launched a spoiling attack "The Mare island instance of the yard manager wants a turbine capable of generating seven hundred megawatts and being direct coupled as well as running a generator. Power slit one third two thirds. Wait that's what three hundred fifty K horsepower direct and a hundred fifty K into a generator. OK that isn't hard. A GE F9 could do that.

"Oh, Oh wow. A million-hour life and eighty percent efficiency."

Squealer blinked and took the pad "Co-generation. Hmm, so high pressure steam then low pressure steam like the Dock's steam ones run by the blast furnace. Blade erosion would be a bitch. Wow, can you even make that alloy? Its a carbon metal ceramic really. Holy crap this is going to cost a fucking fortune, iridium, osmium, palladium, tungsten, and steel? What the hell is that crystal going to look like. A snowflake maybe? When it fails its just going to go up the stack as exhaust." She poked at the tablet "What the fuck is Octanitrocubane? And why does this have a photoflash initiator setup like an implosion bomb? Bakuda!" She jumped up and stomped off to Leets lab. Dragon looked at Uber who looked at her.

Uber sighed when the shrieking started. "You know this is fucked up. Sherrel is great, but we just don't click like that. Maybe you can gank a thinker? Female, twenty-five to thirty-five, she can help me be adult supervision?" Dragons image arched a brow. "I got a list, some of those Elite ones, a couple independent villains in Lostwages. Like that." The eyes under that arched brow narrowed. He sighed and rose to go cut the arguing down to a less than nails on a chalkboard level.

Haze Gray

Taylor flopped face down in her berth on the brand-new berthing barge. Amy came in and flopped next to her. Taylor sighed "Parents."

"Faff em, I just want to sleep. Hush." Taylor got them arranged comfortably, Amy was already out, and killed the lights. She did end up in navy blue briefs and a cami instead of nude like she liked though. The sail back and then trip through the dock had turned into a bit of a thing too. All the Havens were treating people with both hands as fast as they could be pushed past, and Taylor had to fight through some really strange orders and plans from the yards. It had been a bit much.

"Meanwhile Whirlygig was in charge of the docks at home? And busy integrating four hundred women into Kathy's old outfit? Canadians, Brits, German, All the NATO countries plus France. What the actual faff? The staff could work on this crap tonight. Tomorrow was another day, or really it was already another day at home?" She drifted off.

Danny and Maria looked at each other as the first set of cold feet joined them in bed. Maria looked down "This one is new?" Danny sighed. Maria chuckled "Union Dad strikes again!"

Danny wiped his hand over his face "Please don't. Go to sleep, we'll find out what this is tomorrow."

"Phht! This is Russian trafficked girls who we will need to kill several people over and question this governor closely about. Michelle will insist probably."

Danny though about it a moment then nodded "You work on Michelle and the Abuela. I'll let the guys know. Got a Union meeting first thing tomorrow, teleconferenced to the Stewards at home. Got to hash out whether this is a new local or what."

Haze Gray

Johnny read the text from Kim and sighed. He called for a plane for the boss. This was going to get ugly. Gulfstream V, just the ticket. At least it was summer. Fucking Russia was cold.

Haze Gray

Emily, being the far easternmost of all was naturally awake first. As was now her habit she made it to the dock, however not as usual she froze looking in it. It was full, as was the outside dock. She left her glasses on, the ones with the HUD in them and started both sending video and receiving updates. She shook her head. Hundreds of women and girls, plus parahumans, or at least people in mask. All in ranks, or at least groups, going through the program US Kanmusu Support Command had developed. At least the physical exercise program. Pretty obviously the rest of it to as they all had Ktablets. "What in the world now."

A young woman swam up to her and matched pace "Major Samuels, good morning ma'am."

Emily nodded "So you took over for Lieutenant Palermo?"

"Yes ma'am."

Emily nodded "Bumped the grade because it's a rump joint international battalion then. Army being senior service gets a crack at it. OK. So, what did you do for your uncle before this was a thing?"

"Flew Apaches."

"Well, they don't have those yet." Emily supplied "So you are nearly sure to ship." Major Samuels grinned. "Christ another one. What the hell are we doing wrong that all the women want to leave? Not just us, apparently every government in the world."

Major Samuels nodded and shrugged "I actually haven't had a problem because I'm a woman. And the Army isn't gung-ho about the Corona scans or catching triggered people. Fairly sure I have worked with low level parahumans before. If not, then some extraordinary people. I had a hand to hand instructor who could make MMA super heavy weights cry.

"Anyway, they don't give out MRI's. If they catch one or suspect one, they may or may not test for it before they cashier you for something else. I had a Sergeant Major who said 'a soldier does something he can get a chapter for at least three times a day' you don't really have to go looking for excuses to hard. If people meet standards leave them alone and let them get on with it.

"Being black hasn't been a problem either. Both are more a problem off duty.

"This looked like an interesting assignment. And it was an early command slot. Plus if I ship its a sabbatical until they get congresses head out of their third point of contact."

Emily chuckled "Better study LHD's. Antietam corrected the problem of the flight 0 America class by adding a well deck. And about ten thousand tons. Pretty sure she is bigger than an old Essex, somewhere around a Midway. Lots of that is well deck. Her sisters have come on the same pattern. You'll end up a flight of that class."

Major Samuels blinked. Emily laughed and nodded to the rib following her "Your security boat is chasing you."

"Crap, I just got here,"

"I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied." Emily watched the woman.

"I'm from freaking Kansas!"

"Nimitz was from deep in the heart of Texas." Emily offered.

"They have a coast!" The Major declared, as if that ended the discussion. Emily laughed and laughed.

After a few minutes she recovered "So the conveyors are running flat out, and the train is dumping stuff in again. The buffer should handle you ladies. Even the refugee circulation that has picked up to maximum capacity again I notice. I wonder what is going on?"

Major Samuels nodded "Bunch of trafficked women showed up at Mare. Russians, some teenagers. In really bad shape. Plus illegals apparently."

Emily nodded and started texting furiously.

Haze Gray

Barack sat up and swung his legs out of bed. He put on his robe and wandered into the living room. Michelle was sitting with her chief of staff and fixed him with a red eyed glare "Christ, what the hell is going on now?"

His briefer offered him a folio. He sat and a steward brought coffee. He read the first couple of paragraphs and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, it was nice to know Jerry?"

Michelle actually laughed "This is organized crime. Lisa will break them like a shotgun. It's an attitude problem though. Who were the customers? Even a cursory look is turning up some really bad things. Hollywood Madam ring any bells?"

Barack nodded "Taylor doesn't care as long as everyone is doing whatever they are doing of their own free will though. Prostitution being illegal in California doesn't mean she is going to care. Whelp, looks like the Alphabets are going to get some more exercise."

Michelle nodded "Or you can move those Delta guys and Wendigo down there. That girl needs a tan."

Barack blinked "So she is fine since they fattened her up?"

Michelle nodded "And bathe her regularly." Barack just looked at her. She appeared to be deadly serious.