Rec sipped his coffee. “So, why are you still out here, Captain? What’s your plan?”
“Simple,” she said. “First order of business is to determine who survived the shutdowns on the mining colonies and make sure those colonies are all properly staffed and operational, which should keep the settlements going, which will enable them to send back food and other supplies. Some of the older extraction colonies will need to transition to manufacturing and fabrication, to keep the colonies and our ships in spare parts. Now that the Imperium is out of the picture, everyone will need to trade more directly with each other. We’ll also see what sorts of ships are still outside Imperial space, since we’ll need more than Opportunity and Liberty for transport.” She thought a moment. “We should probably form some sort of government sooner rather than later.”
“Probably,” Rec said. “And then?”
“And then,” she smiled, “once we’ve settled things among the existing colonies, we head back out there and see what else there is to find.”
“Really?” Rec raised an eyebrow. “I’d have thought hitting the Imperium would be your next step.”
She laughed. “Why would we want to do that? The Imperium is clearly happy to stay within their new borders, and we’re quite content to leave them there.”
Valis waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, the Imperium has maybe fifty years of life left, if they’re lucky.”
“Oh?”
“If they’ve transitioned to using matter replication exclusively, then they’re already dead.” He shook his head. “Replication units aren’t magic boxes that make something out of nothing. They convert base matter into whatever you want, true, but a slab of steelcrete fabricated through matter replication is nowhere near as strong or durable as one made from actual raw materials. And food?” He laughed. “Even sequenced nutrient staples are more nutritious than replicated food.”
“Within a generation or two, the Imperium will be a malnourished police state trapped in a crumbling infrastructure,” Captain Altair said. “When it all falls apart and they call for aid, we’ll certainly help them, but we’ve no interest in fighting the Central Oligarchy over the scraps of their broken old world.” She smiled. “We’d much rather focus on building a new one.” She gave Rec an appraising look. “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said.
“Do I.”
She nodded, holding his gaze. “Colonial Custodian pays next to nothing,” she said. “The only benefit is the freedom to move from new colony to new colony, ever outward, never back in.” She shrugged. “It’s why Captain Rider and I volunteered for colonial patrol over easier and more prestigious assignments in the Core or Rim systems.”
Valis nodded. “And it’s why barely a handful of crew from both ships took those shuttles back to Imperial space.”
Captain Altair held out her cup. “So what do you say, Mr. Valentine? You interested in building a new world, and seeing just how far we can take it?”
“Captain Altair,” Rec said with a grin, tapping his cup against hers, “I’d say that sounds like one hell of an adventure.”
