“I understand,” Samantha said. “On a more positive note, Margaret informs me that our new ambassador to the U.N. is finding that there is a block forming around Delphi Federation. Multiple countries are signaling that they intend to vote with us.”
“I think that’s good,” Marc said, “but only time will tell. Admiral Michaels, our surface fleet?”
“We have deployed two carriers, one to the Mediterranean Sea and the second here in the South Pacific. The next two should be ready for deployment in four months. We’ve managed to find another two frigates, and we’ve placed them with the two carriers. We still are working to get them to their full complement; it’s slow, but it’s progressing well. I would suggest we find a retired admiral who has commanded a carrier group to take charge of the surface fleet,” Admiral Michaels suggested.
“I hear that Admiral Morris is available,” Blake said.
“Am I allowed to shoot him?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“I think you would need to stand in line,” Marc said, shaking his head at Blake’s antics. “That’s good news about the carriers and frigates; I hope we won’t need them, but they are a significant enhancement to our security. I assume you’ve briefed the prime minister.”
“Yes, I have. She understands, but is not particularly happy about it.”
Marc laughed. “She is the consummate pacifist.”
“That she is.”
“Thanks, everyone. Have a good day,” Marc said to close the meeting. “Fred, do you have a moment?” Marc asked before Fred could get up to leave.
“Sure. What’s up?” Fred asked, sitting back down.
Marc waited until the room cleared before proceeding. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve noticed that you seem to get stuck with managing a lot of things. I wondered how you were feeling.”
“Are you kidding? I love it,” Fred said. “I got my M.B.A. in hopes of running a charter flight company; getting to run all this is like a dream come true.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hey, homeboy from Compton makes it big. And with that bonus I picked up this spring, my mama’s one proud woman.”
“Would you be interested in a more official role?” Marc asked.
“Maybe. What do you have in mind?”
“President of MacKenzie Discoveries,” Marc said.
“Whoa, that’s a big step,” Fred said.
“I think you’ve already been doing the job.”
“More like Chief Operations Officer.”
“So, president would be a step down?”
“No, no, but I haven’t been setting strategy, things like that. I’ve been focused on execution.”
“I’d still be the C.E.O., and we’d talk through strategy,” Marc said.
“Let me think about it.”
“Any reason for the hesitation I should know about?”
“Not really. There is this new pilot I’ve started dating. I’d like to get a better sense of our relationship before I spring something like this on her.”
“Okay, you’ve been doing the job, so not much needs to change. I can bump your salary and deal with the title later.”
“I like that,” Fred said.
“Alright, let me know when you want to make it formal. I’d like to do it before I head out to Artemis.”
“That’s plenty of time.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The next morning Marc called Samantha, Blake, Nikola, and Kal to his office to discuss the colony mission.
“I’d like to review my plans for the colony, and we need to talk about how we can attract more colonists,” Marc said as his way to open the meeting.
“What, you mean adventure isn’t enough to have them lining up?” Blake asked.
“I think we’ve already got all the ones that are attracted by just the adventure,” Marc said.
“Well, how did they find colonists back in the day?” Kal asked.
“Criminals,” Blake said.
“Well, besides dumping their criminals on the colonies, how did they attract colonists?”
“As I recall, they usually gave them land,” Samantha said.
“There you go,” Blake said.
“But if we do that, then the colonists will disperse to their land, and we won’t be able to have the necessary labor and community to get the colony established,” Marc said.
“You can make the offer of land contingent on completing service to the community. Say, a two-year period,” Samantha suggested.
“What about people who want to start a business?” Marc asked.
“For them, you can give them a town lot and maybe the building,” Samantha said.
“I knew there was a reason I brought you onto the colony board,” Marc said.
“Everything will work if you think of it as a negotiation, with your needs and the colonist’s needs being met.”
“The concept of negotiations sometimes goes over Marc’s head,” Blake said as he moved out of Marc’s reach.
“Got it,” Marc glared at Blake. “Now, how much land do we offer?”
“What are they going to be doing on it?” Kal asked.
“I assume farming or ranching,” Blake said.
“There’s a big difference in the amount of land you need for farming versus ranching,” Kal added.
“Sure, but they tend to be different types of land,” Blake said. “Ranching would be hillier or dryer. Something that makes it less suitable for farming. Farming pays more per acre.”
“So how big for farmland?”
“The average size of a family farm in the U.S. is one hundred hectares,” ADI said.
“What’s that in acres?” Kal asked.
“Two hundred fifty,” ADI replied. “An average ranch is about twice the size.”
“So, four hundred hectares would make for a thousand-acre farm,” Marc said. “That would allow them to raise livestock as well as farm. And twice that much for ranchland.”
“I think that will attract a lot of people,” Samantha said. “Now, how will the land be allocated?”
“Why don’t you define the parcels early, once you get a lay of the land, then each person gets to pick based on a random selection,” Kal suggested.
“Yes, and you could increase their odds of getting to choose early based on their service. Points for doing good work, points taken away for getting drunk and disorderly,” Samantha suggested.
“I’ll have to think about that. But I like how you’re thinking. Now, let me show you my plans for the town,” Marc said as he brought up a holoprojection on their HUDs and synced them, so they all saw
