AMP Private War by Stephen Arseneault Page B

out even the finest details of whatever it was that we were observing. I was eager to put the technology to my own test.
    It had been two months since the Prassi war and we were eager to know the full outcome. The team was again launched towards the Prassi system in an attempt to gather the information we sought. Four weeks later we arrived. The Prassi were hard at work attempting to rebuild their fleet. Construction docks littered the space surrounding their main planet.
    After arrival, we scanned our visual signatures. As predicted, the debris encountered during normal space flight had stripped the forward edges of each craft of the trans-missive coating. From straight on our signatures were as big as ever. When viewed from behind those same signatures dropped to almost nothing. From the side we were invisible at half a million kilometers, a distance that we felt comfortable with.
    Frig ran several sets of calculations. "Sir, from the construction docks in place and those under construction themselves; I believe the Prassi will be capable of turning out eight battleships, 16 cruisers and 142 frigates per day. I have not seen any docks dedicated to a destroyer class ship. But they are missing a critical element. I am not detecting any stockpiles of Tantric Sir. Without that outer layer their ships will have little defense against the Milgari ion cannons."
    Without Tantric the Prassi ships would also be limited to below light-speed as the normally encountered space debris would cause extreme damage to their hulls. They would be useful for defense within their own star system, but nothing beyond. It was a development that put a pall over their otherwise productive efforts. A ship without Tantric might as well be made out of paper.
    I replied, "Frig. Our new ore production has just come online. I’m sure the Prassi are not in the same credit system as the Grid and the surrounding worlds, what can you think of that we could possibly trade for? We could provide that fleet with the Tantric they need. What is that worth to us?"
    Frig sat back in his chair as he thought. "If you can get us close enough to that planet we can scan for precious gems. Those tend to be universally accepted as tender. A nice Emerald vein could go a long way towards swapping out some Tantric Sir. Of course we would first have to establish contact with them, something that we have not done so far."
    I had a discussion with the team and a decision was made to try our luck with the Prassi. I put out a hail on a common channel. I was soon in a discussion with a high up Prassi diplomat. "Your assistance in the war is very much appreciated. But our queen is a bit uneasy with us having discussions with a party that we do not know."
    "I hope you can understand our position at the moment. Trust is a two way relationship and while your actions have shown you to be genuine, your words are still under suspicion. I am afraid that we must decline a meeting at this time. We take this action out of caution and it is not in any way intended to offend."
    I replied in an attempt to sweeten the pot, "Mr. Bassik, your people are in desperate need of refined Tantric. We happen to have a generous supply of such. What we are in need of is something to trade that is of value to us. I am sending you a list of precious gems that would suffice."
    "If your government has any of those in quantity we could easily make a trade. If not, we have the technology necessary to scan your planet for raw deposits of such. In a gesture of our intentions of good will and fair trade we are willing to deliver a shipment for your immediate use with no compensation in return. We are willing to do this as we see the war you are fighting now as a prelude to the Milgari attacking us. We will await your reply as you consult with your Queen."
    As expected, the Prassi agreed to accept the first load of Tantric with no strings attached. Negotiations would resume if that gesture proved to be valid. Frig was