''You'd freeze Engineering in the tight combat structure?'' Kris asked.
''No can do,'' the Engineer said, shaking his head. ''Right now, I can't get to half of my gear to maintain it. Whoever designed the combat format for my spaces was either a midget or expected us to expand back out if we needed to repair or maintain anything. We'll need a middle ground, something small enough to fight but big enough to work in.''
''How much bigger?'' the Captain asked.
The Engineer slaved the skipper's table to one of his readers. A schematic of the Firebolt's engineering spaces now took up most of the tabletop. It quickly sequenced through the change from large and comfortable to combat-ready and cramped. As it expanded back out, Dale froze it. ''That's about what I think we'll need.''
''Computer, calculate the metal requirements to armor that area. Post it to the schematic.'' A second later, Nelly added a list of weights to the graphic. Again, the Engineer whistled.
''A hundred tons of smart metal. You'd need that much to cover fifteen extra meters of Engineering space?''
''After the damage the Chinook took,'' Kris said, damage she had done the targeting for, ''BuShips wants the Engineering spaces well protected.''
''How much does a hundred tons of smart metal cost?'' Dale asked.
Kris told him. He didn't bother whistling at that one; he just looked at the Captain and groaned. ''I guess I know why we're out here trying to solve this problem.'' The Engineer leaned back in his chair, stared at the lowered combat ceiling of the Firebolt, and took in several slow breaths. ''Could we replace some of the smart metal with regular old metal? I mean, if I'm not going to go around rejiggering my engine rooms, we don't need that fancy stuff.''
Captain Hayworth raised an eyebrow in Kris's direction. She shook her head. ''Nuu Enterprises has done some testing. Mixing regular and smart metal together on the same ship only seems to confuse the smart metal. They can't recommend it.''
''Why am I not surprised?'' Dale snorted. ''When they can charge us an arm and a leg for smart metal, why figure out a way to do something on the cheap?'' Both officers carefully avoided looking at Kris. That her grandfather Al was the CEO of Nuu Enterprises and that her own portfolio was centered on several hundred million of Nuu Enterprises' preferred stock did not prevent them from holding the usual low opinion fleet officers held of corporate practices. The Skipper was good about not saying it to her face.
Kris saw no reason to pussyfoot around her birth connection today. ''My Grandfather Al is working on something that might save my father, the Prime Minister, a chunk of the Navy's budget if you decide, Commander, the Navy should freeze the Engineering space on the Kamikazes.''
The Engineer chuckled, and the Captain rolled his eyes at the overhead. ''They warned me that neither cowardice nor common sense had ever been mentioned in one of your fitness reports, Lieutenant. So, what might save me from telling BuShips that it has to totally unbalance the Prime Minister's latest budget proposal?''
''Nuu Enterprises is testing something it's calling Uni-plex metal. This stuff holds its shape for the first two times it's organized, then forgets it the third time you change it.''
''Forgets it. Metal's metal.'' Engineering frowned.
''Yes, sir, but the third time, it's more like liquid mercury than armor plate.''
''Who would want such a damn death trap?'' Dale growled.
Somebody who wanted somebody dead, Kris knew from all too personal experience, but she just shrugged for her fellow officers. She still was none too sure how she felt about Grampa Al's making a profit from the stuff that had almost killed her.
''Produced in thousand-ton lots, the Uni-plex costs about one-sixth of smart metal,'' Kris told them. ''When you add in the savings by it self-fabricating itself on ship, its competitive.''
''Spoken like a true Longknife,'' the Captain drawled dryly.
But the Engineer was eyeing the schematic. ''How much of my engine room is smart metal?''
''Computer, answer the man,'' Kris said aloud. Numbers appeared on the table.
''Three hundred fifty tons,'' Dale said thoughtfully.
''Plus a hundred tons of extra protection,'' Kris added.
''But if we gave back three hundred fifty tons of smart metal…''
''And drew four hundred fifty tons of not quite so smart metal…'' Kris added.
''Then the Navy would actually be saving money by converting the Engineering space of the forty Kamikazes,'' Captain Hayworth finished with a chuckle.
''Sixteen thousand tons of smart metal would build us five or six more boats, sir,'' Kris concluded.
''Got to love it when you can make everyone happy.'' Dale sighed.
''From way out in left field,'' the Captain agreed.
''Maybe, maybe not.'' The Engineer sat up. ''Has your Grandad Al checked how smart metal gets along with its retarded cousin? If I can't order this Uni-plex stuff to fix battle damage, I'm going to have to spray in smart metal around dumb metal.''
Kris shook her head. ''They aren't that far along.''
''We can't have this Uni-plex migrating around the boat,'' the Captain added. ''It could make for thoroughly unpleasant surprises.'' All three officers nodded at that conclusion.
Dale got to his feet. ''I got to check on the rest of my snipes, see if they've dug up anything new on our test.''
''Keep me informed.''
Kris stood to follow the Engineer out. ''A moment, Lieutenant.'' A knowing smile crossed the Engineer's face as he closed the door behind him. Kris turned to face her Captain, going back to a brace that would have made her DI at OCS proud.
''Once more, Lieutenant Longknife,'' the Captain began, ''you have succeeded in turning insubordination into a virtue.''
Kris had no answer for that, so she kept her mouth shut.
''One of these days, it will not be a virtue. One of these days you will discover why we do things the Navy Way. I only hope that I will be there when you discover that… and that too many good spacers don't die with you.''
Again, Kris had no answer for her Captain, so she used the Navy's all-purpose response: ''Yes, sir.''
''Dismissed.''
Kris went. Once more she'd been raked over the coals for doing the right thing the wrong way. Still, the Captain hadn't been as hard on her as he could have been. At least he had dressed her down as ''Lieutenant,'' not ''Princess.''
Chapter 2
No surprise, the yard had saved the Firebolt's usual space alongside Pier Eight. Tied up snug by 1530, the crew settled into the along-side routine while Kris followed the Skipper and Chief Engineer into the yard to their usual meeting with the usual dock managers at the usual conference room. After two months, too much of this job was becoming ''usual.''
Today, the yard team included new faces. ''We watched your run,'' the yard's Project Manager said. ''Figured we'd better add a few scientists to our meeting.''
''Lieutenant Longknife told me about your not-quite-so-smart metal,'' the Captain said, taking in the four new members. ''You working on that?''
A woman leaned forward in her seat. ''My team has been seeing what we could do with Uni-plex since Princess Longknife arranged for us to get a sample of it.'' Kris gritted her teeth.
''How does it work around smart metal?'' Dale said, getting right to the point. ''I think my engine room is a good candidate for Uni-plex, if you can keep it contained. You can understand my Captain's reluctance to discover the bulkhead between him and space might have acquired a bit of this stuff the next time he changes ship.''
''Our testing hasn't gotten that far,'' the woman admitted with a sour frown directed at one of her subordinates.