Kaem asked, “Which metals are you hoping to condense this way?”
“Arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead. Chromium’s also toxic, unfortunately, it isn’t a vapor at the 2,500 degrees Centigrade our furnace has been maintaining. The good news is that the amount of chromium in our waste is vanishingly small.”
Upset, Arya said, “I thought we were going to staze the ash with the toxic metals in it!”
Apologetically, Emmanuel said, “We were. Not used to the properties of Stade, I failed to consider that the fact that it wouldn’t cool in the furnace wasn’t just a good thing that let us keep the waste hot for a long time. It also means we can’t cool it without moving it to another tank. Since we have to move it to another tank to cool it, it seems like we should take advantage of the vapor states to separate and remove some of the toxins.”
Arya narrowed her eyes, “And how much is this tungsten tank going to cost?”
Emmanuel looked uncomfortable, “I can’t find any for sale. We’d have to get someone to fabricate it and tungsten is over a hundred dollars a kilogram. Since I couldn’t find anyone selling tanks, I priced tungsten furnaces. Even small furnaces are about ten thousand dollars. A good deal of that cost is due to heating systems we don’t need, but I don’t know how much.”
Arya looked at Kaem, “We can’t afford it.”
“Oh, come on. We should have the money for the vacuum chamber any—”
Arya interrupted, “It hasn’t come.”
“Just go into the credit li—”
“We’ve almost maxed out the line of credit buying the Mylar for the vacuum chamber.”
Kaem turned to Emmanuel, “Just go ahead and order the tank. We’ll have the money by the time—”
Arya slammed the flat of her hand down on the table, making a whipcrack sound. When everyone’s startled eyes had turned to her, she said, “We won’t be able to pay your salaries until the money comes in for the vacuum chamber and Space-Gen’s dragging its feet.” She turned her focus to Kaem. “I respect the hell out of you Kaem, but you promised you wouldn’t spend money if I said you couldn’t. Now you’ve just told your dad to order a tank we don’t have the money for.” She swept the others with her eyes. “The rest of you, do not order anything until we’re solvent again.” She turned once again to Kaem, “I know. We are going to have some money soon. But we’ve been saying that for a long time and right now we’re broke dammit. Do - not - spend.”
Kaem gave her a calm nod. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Are we hassling Space-Gen about paying us our money?”
Arya nodded in return, “Every day.”
Kaem snorted. “I’d guess you’ve delivered our financial report, right?”
Arya tried to keep a straight face, but a little grin broke out. “Right. Sorry.”
Kaem waved it off, “Not your fault. The salaries are an issue. Do you have any ideas for dealing with that?”
She shrugged. “They aren’t due for another couple of days. I’m hoping Space-Gen comes through by then. If not, we’ll have to ask if any of you can get by for a few days without your paycheck. If we can’t do that, we’ll have to be late paying some of our suppliers. I don’t want to start down that path of ugliness.”
Kaem said, “More of us should call Space-Gen. I’ll call Aaron Marks.” He looked at Lee, “Can you call Cary…? I’ve forgotten her name. The CFO?”
Lee said, “Lark. Cary Lark. I thought you had an eidetic memory?”
“Not for everything. I have to decide to remember stuff. Space-Gen’s CFO is important enough I should’ve decided to remember her name.” Kaem shrugged. “It’s embarrassing that I didn’t. Anyone else have any ideas on how we could get some cash coming in the door?”
Gunnar said, “I can wait for my paycheck.”
Lee and Norm opened their mouths as if they were about to volunteer the same, but Kaem said, “Anyone else that can wait, please let Arya know in private. I don’t want people who can’t afford to do so to feel pressured.”
Norm said, “What about Mr. X? I thought he was supposed to be rich enough to fund us through some rough spots.”
Arya looked over at Kaem. I’ll bet he didn’t see that one coming, she thought, trying not to smile.
Kaem spoke without hesitation. “I’ll ask him if I have to. My impression from previous conversations is that he’d be disappointed with us, um, me especially, for spending so recklessly as to get in this bind.” He gave a sheepish grin, “So, I hope you can see why I don’t want to ask.”
Arya managed to keep her face straight as she thought, I think it probably has more to do with the fact that as the nebulous Mr. X, you’re probably broker than any of the rest of us.
Norm said, “Um, GLI wants a vacuum chamber too. I’m assuming we can’t afford to make them one right yet?”
Arya thought, He said, “we.” I think Kaem’s gonna be
