Terran Tankers

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Grandiose Plans

Gregg Morrison suppressed a sigh and sat up straight in his chair. His engineering economics class still had ten minutes to go and they were listening to another grandiose plan to harvest water from comets. The team had attempted to analyse whether it was beneficial to use only terrestrial technology or only Sentient Galactic Society technology or some mixture. Unfortunately they had no way to determine a current cash value of galactic civic investment credits, no way to pin Zircule Pathfinder down on the cost of the galactic technology, and thus no way to compare the long term benefit of various engineering approaches. Gregg suspected the instructor was going to be less than impressed with their report. "Thank you Mr. Brentworth, you may sit down," said Professor Wesson. "Your team made a valiant effort to decipher galactic economics but your final recommendation was weak and fuzzy. Engineering is the art and science of choosing. I have awarded your team a C for this lab project." "Mr. Morrison, is your team ready to present your results?" asked the Professor. "Er … we are scheduled for Wednesday," said Gregg. "That is not what I asked Mr. Morrison. Ms. Wu and Ms. Brown do you have opinions as to whether your presentation is ready?" asked the Professor relentlessly. "We are ready," Cathy Wu said with a bright smile. "Gregg practiced his presentation on us yesterday." Cathy was a tall girl with a full hour glass figure and exotic Chinese facial features. Gregg thought once again fleetingly that it was too bad he had not met her a few years ago while he was unattached. "Go ahead Gregg," grinned Janice Brown. "It is ready as it will be on Wednesday." Janice was a compact bundle of female charms. It was impossible to say what exactly gave her so much sex appeal and personality but after a few minutes in the same room most males were intensely aware of her presence. Gregg stood up with a file folder of transparencies and briefing notes and went to the head of the class to use the projector. He presented their detailed assumptions and a design overview of the proposed water tanker project. Included were tables of risk factors and an economic analsysis that demonstrated a profitable return on dollars invested. "Our project analysed the economics of delivering water from Earth to the moon and compared it with other water mining efforts," summarized Gregg. "Basically we found that if Zircule Pathfinder is willing to invest a lander engine, a relatively cheap water tanker spacecraft could be built that compares favorably with lunar, asteroidal, or cometary ice. We had the same difficulty as everyone else in comparing long term benefits of the two approaches due to the uncertainty in the galatic credit to dollar exchange rates and technology fees. Examination of the relative risks involved with the ventures allowed us to conclude that the tanker transport was a solid investment that would payoff well in the long haul. Although it is not necessarily the most profitable alternative, it will generate a good profit and it is much less risky than lunar prospecting, it also has fewer unknowns than deep space ice mining. We would recommend the water tanker to Zircule Pathfinder or other possible investors as a solid incremental step in building Solar System space infrastructure." "A good conclusion and recommendation," commented Professor Wesson. "I would like the three of you to meet me during my office hours at one o'clock, is that possible?" "Yes sir," said Gregg. Janice nodded also. Cathy said, "I have a chemical engineering class, can we make it two o'clock instead?" All three agreed two o'clock would work as the class bell rung and class broke up in a jumble of white noise as other students filed out of the room.

Chapter 2 - Proposal

"I have given you three an A for the lab exercise," said Professor Wesson. "You did a good job of documenting assumptions, identifying risk factors, and analyzing costs and risks. The work was solid and supported your conclusion. Did you perform any detailed engineering on the proposed water tanker?" Janice and Cathy looked at Gregg expectantly. "Well, I did some conceptual mechanical CAD work and looked up some things on the internet," said Gregg. "It seemed to me that a hybrid of SGS technology and Terran steelwork would work well, reliably, and relatively cheap. I eliminated the need for a lot of fancy pumps, controls and wiring by assuming that the landing pads would be constructed to allow gravity feed in and out of the tanker. Basically the tanker consists of steel structure; tanks, piping, and manual valves; and a galactic lander. It used off the shelf piping and tanks and standard steel construction techniques. Any shipyard or large fabrication shop with an inhouse engineering capability should be able to do a detailed design, validate it, and build it." "What would the three of you say to writing up a detailed proposal and submitting it to Zircule Pathfinder for startup funding consideration?" asked Professor Wesson. "Any entrepreneurial interest here or do you have other plans after graduation?" "I am going to attend the Arizona campus of the University of Sol on a work study program," said Janice. "The curriculum is supposed to be oriented towards space settlement. I would be very interested in submitting a proposal if Greg or Cathy are interested in handling the engineering." "I am going on to graduate school in Chemical Engineering next year and I have plans for the summer," said Cathy. "I have no interest in attempting to ship water around the Solar System. Everybody and their brother has a plan to move water around. It is going to be a mighty thin margin commodity within a few months or years." "My plans are vague at the moment," admitted Gregg. "My girlfriend has accepted a position in Washington D.C. and I am looking for an engineering position in the vicinity. I could handle the conceptual design and operations planning but we would have to get an experienced engineering firm involved later to do the final detailed design." "Ok then. Cathy if you will excuse us, Gregg, I would like to see what you have in your initial design notes for the spacecraft. Janice, you are a business major correct?" asked Professor Wesson as Cathy left. "Yes, I emphasized accounting and finance," said Janice. "I can start an outline of a startup business plan while you two review the initial spacecraft design, if you would like." "I would love that Janice," said Professor Wesson warmly. "Jot down questions as they come up and be thinking about whether you want me onboard as an equity partner or as a paid consultant."

Back and forth

"I like this draft proposal," said Argyle. "It has substantial work left to be completed before I will recommend it to Zircule for his active consideration." "Can you list some of your concerns for us so we can focus in the proper areas?" asked Professor Wesson. "Yes. It is vague on who the entrepreneurial owners will be. Does Cathy Wu have a legitimate interest since she was in on the original class assignment where it originated? Are you going to be a paid consultant or partial owner? If owner, how much effort are you going to contribute to the projects success? Are there provisions for the crew to escape the tanker if it should have a problem? It is my understanding that the driving force in your economics analysis is a cheap and dirty spacecraft. That is fine as long as we do not lose lives in any resulting disasters as you learn to build them effectively. Do you fly the initial prototypes until they die with a mishaps or will they be retired and dissected to learn how to build better, bigger, tankers? How will you deliver the product to your customers? Are you selling direct to homesteaders, to wholesalers, to lunar settlements? What provisions are made to interface with your customer community? Asteroid and comet missions are being designed on the moon by lunar business people. Will they have a homefield advantage as you manage your company from Earth or do you intend to locate the company on the moon? Do you intend to be a free lance capitalistic company or are you depending upon the University of Sol's assets and people to provide cheap expertise, labor, capital, and facilities to store and utilize the water? What time frame are we talking about here? The moon needs water desperately now to support expansion. As public interest wanes in pioneering and various asteroid and comet ventures succeed in bringing home the water the demand will fall off relative to the supply. Can your proposed enterprise still retain profitability or enter the market in this saturation phase or will you need to make a quick profit and then shutdown in the face of superior competition? Professor Wesson looked at Janice inquisitively, "That provide enough direction to proceed with further development Janice?" "Yes sir," said Janice. "Let Gregg and I kick around some schedules and numbers. Do you have any information on the asteroid and comet ventures that we can use Argyle?" "Yes, but it would be better if you run your own searches of the public databases. I do not wish to provide the appearance of favoritism. You would probably not be happy with me if I provided them with copies of your data and plans." "Oh, of course. Sorry," apologized Janice. "Do you need any further direction regarding the engineering Gregg?" asked Professor Wesson. "I think I have accomplished as much as we reasonably can for the proposal stage. I have used the Computer Aided Engineering software on the transceiver net to analyse several designs and it detects no engineering problems in the information provided so far. The problem is that the piping layouts are unworkable and require extensive detailed design to meet standard operating requirements. I simply do not have the expertise to do a detailed design, specifying all off the shelf parts, materials, and custom work for analysis. I am confident from what I have that a detailed design that will work is possible to achieve at a reasonably cheap cost," explained Gregg. "Ok, let me help you out Janice," said Professor Wesson. "Put me down for a one time retainer fee of $100K to assist with proposal development and conceptual development for the first two years of operations. I can also sit on the Board if you wish. Any further detailed work will be billed at an hourly charge rate of $200. I will have no equity and receive no fee whatsoever unless your entrepreneurial proposal is accepted and funded by Zircule or other venture capitalists." "Add yourself and Gregg into the operations budget at an initial management salary of $100K/year with the same benefits package provided to other employees," said Argyle. "You should negotiate a one time fee with Cathy Wu for her services in preparing the class assignment that lead to the proposal to be paid only if the proposal is funded, that way there will be no legal hassles later when you should be focused on running and improving the company." "To optimize the company's legal position we should pay the same fee to Gregg and Janice for the class work. They can use the fee to buy stock in the company, that way it is clear their equity positions result from investment of personal labor and cash in working to establish the company," said Professor Wesson. "Good idea," said Argyle. "Ok, we will get this refined and get back to you in a couple of days," said Janice. "Excellent, Cherio!" said Argyle as the transceiver link faded. "Gregg, since it is friday, why don't you contact Cathy and schedule negotiations while Janice and I work the business plan. You and Janice can get together tonight and go over schedules and further refine it. We will meet back here Sunday for an informal review, you can present it as you will to Argyle and Zircule." "Ok," said Greg. "I thought contract negotiations was business not engineering but I will give it a shot. How much should I offer her?" "Start with a thousand but do not exceed fifty thousand," suggested Professor Wesson. "The important thing is to close the deal as soon as possible and get it firmly in writing. That we can proceed with planning on a firm basis and assure Zircule that we have addressed all the interested parties. I will Email you a sample contract in which you can fill in the amount." As Gregg left to track down Cathy, Professor Wesson moved out from behind his desk and turned on the room's air conditioner. Then he went over, closed the door, locked it and closed the Venetian blinds covering the window in the door. "Ready for your oral final exam, as we discussed, my dear?" he asked Janice reaching down to fondle a breast. "No, I have changed my mind," she said. "I will take the written test. I have enrolled at the University of Sol, beginning this summer, so I no longer need the A to get into a graduate school program." "You could still flunk you know," said Professor Wesson with a hard cold calculating stare at her as he continued fondling her breast. "I could modify the proposal we send to Argyle to eliminate your up front fee," said Janice pushing his arm away from her chest. "You do not think the company has a chance or you would have insisted on an equity position. This is merely an excuse for you to generate a large consulting fee with little or no effort." "So why are you still involved with the proposal if you know it is going to fail?" asked Professor Wesson curiously. "You have the hots for young Gregg or something?" As Janice slowly turned red she resolved to allow him to draw his own conclusions. She certainly found Gregg attractive and it was embarressing to have someone imply that she would base business decisions on that attraction, but it was better that Professor Wesson think that, than realize he was letting a fortune slip between his fingers. She was not an engineer but she had worked with enough of them on projects and labs to know that most loved technology, the more complex and costly the better. Gregg was different. She had watched him pare down the space tanker designs to just what they needed to deliver water. He knew how to go about identifying what he knew and what he had to find out or verify. He was good with the transceiver tools and getting better at design and finding what he needed off the shelf. She was confident that with Gregg running their engineering efforts they would have reliable, profitable, tankers that performed as advertised in the business plan. "N no!" she exclaimed artfully. "I need to make contacts within the University of Sol to have a chance at better opportunities." "If I inform Argyle and Gregg that my analysis has shown that Terran based space tankers are uneconomic then the proposal development will be abandoned," pointed out Professor Wesson watching her closely for small hints as to her thinking. "You will make no further contacts at University of Sol outside of normal classes and Greg will proceed to Washington to live with his girlfriend. You will not see him again nor really care to. Washington eats young single engineers and spits out fat married bureaucrats." Janice was silent while her thoughts whirled in confusion. The thought of losing all further contact with Gregg was more hurtful than she had anticipated. Perhaps she was letting her personal feelings bias her judgement too much. "On the other hand, we can entertain each other tonight as we planned and then I can show you my analysis and go over the curves with you to find a regime that looks feasible, although we both know it is an optimistic fraud," said Professor Wesson. "No," said Janice after a long pause. "Send your information to me via transceiver and I will massage it for presentation. If you do not earn your fee I will recommend to Argyle as comptroller that we do not pay it. I am not taking either the oral or written exam. I will expect an A in the class, based upon work performed to date, or I will file a complaint with the campus ethics committee and blackmail charges with the FBI." Janice picked up her transceiver and notebooks and left for her dorm room. She had a lot of work to do before Gregg arrived.

Contract Negotiation

Cathy hung up the phone and looked around her apartment. It was fairly clean but it had accumulated a couple of days clutter since she had picked up. She picked up the loose stuff from the coffee tables that did not belong and carried them in to toss in her walkin closet for later sorting. So Gregg and Janice were putting together a proposal to present to the big boys for a feasibility study. Gregg said the money guys had indicated that as part of the study process, if it was approved, they should buy the rights to her class work in the seed project. He was coming over to negotiate. On a friday night! His girlfriend must have left for Washington already. She made the bed quickly and then went into the kitchen to do the dishes as she considered what wear. The really amusing thing was that Gregg had done all the real work. She had answered a few questions regarding potential corrosion control methods and left him to do all the design and analysis as she concentrated on material for critical and difficult chemical engineering classes. She had successfully achieved the A's needed to secure entrance to her desired graduate program and now he was coming over to pay her because her name was on his work, after he got an A in the class project for her! What a joke!

Cathy opened the door just before Gregg knocked. She must have seen him through her view window facing the street realized Gregg. "Come in Gregg! It is so nice of you to come over on a friday," Cathy commented as Gregg walked in. He admired her as he walked by, she was dressed in a cheer leading outfit: a tight, thin, sweater and the matching pleated skirt. It would look a bit old fashioned but for the fact that the sweater had a short tight waist while the skirt was slung low on her hips. This exposed her slightly rounded belly and emphasized her large bust and sweetly rounded bottom. Overall, the display of her exaggerated ample hour glass figure was a phenomenal visual effect. It was interesting that she was bare foot, apparently she was comfortable with him in her apartment. The apartment was simple and plain. Meticulously clean. As he down in the only couch in the small living room, leaving the easy chair for her, he commented, "I did not know you were on a cheer squad?" "This is my high school uniform," said Cathy. "I have been coaching and working out with my high school, it is nearby. Would you like a coke or a beer or something?" "Sure, I will take a beer," responded Gregg. He admired her legs, rump and the small of her exposed back as she walked by into the kitchen. She returned with two beers and handed them to him. "Open mine too please," she requested as she perched next to him on the edge of the couch. He open one and handed it too her and then opened the last one for himself. Taking a sip of beer he leane forward and stacked the two beer caps neatly on the coffee table. "Well, we did good work on that class project," he said turning to face her by putting his inside leg up on the couch with a bent knee and leaned comfortably with his arm over the back of the couch. He took another sip of beer as he awaited her response. She turned similarly but had to push the front of her short skirt down to be sure her crotch was not exposed to his alert vision. This showed an admirable amount of thigh while outlining the precise shape of the back thigh muscles running to her rump. "How good was it?" she asked eagerly. "How much do they want to pay us for the rights to it?" "Well I have been directed to start at $500 but I am authorized to go a little higher if you are insistent," Gregg lied. Cathy set her beer on the coffee table and said, "Well I am certainly going to be insistent, since it was important enough to bring you over here away from your girlfriend on a friday night. Why don't you get comfortable?" she asked as she took his calf and pulled his foot into her lap to take off his shoe. "Well it is not that big of a deal. Lila has already left for her new job in Washington and the apartment is empty without her on a weekend. I figured there was no sense waiting until next week if you were available to chat," said Gregg. Cathy got up and stepped over his near foot so she could turn and perch on the edge of the couch between his legs. Bending forward she picked up his other foot and untied the shoelace, pulling the back of the ankle back against her bare belly as she pushed the shoe off. Leaning back into Gregg's lap Cathy could feel his hard on as she pulled his ankles up and across her waist, his arm naturally drifted down across her shoulders and she looked up at him with her almond eyes wide open. "Are you going to make me an offer I can not refuse?" asked Cathy. "I hope so," said Gregg fervently. "I can offer you two thousand dollars for all rights to your work on the project." "That hardly seems like enough," said Cathy. "Especially when you have nothing to do all weekend with your girlfriend gone already." "Well I have to work on sunday but I have tonight and tomorrow," said Gregg mentally writing off a late night phone call to Lila. It was paranoia on her part to assume he would be out partying without her, the fact that he was working tonight would not satisfy her. "I also have to give Lila a call tonight but that should not take long." "Really?" asked Cathy. "If you were my man, I would demand you take your time and satisfy me completely. "If I were your man, I would insist that we try some of everything to find out empirically what you would find satisfying," said Gregg boldly. "If you can satisfy me tonight, I will sell you my rights to the water tanker project tomorrow morning for $2K, on the condition that you stick around and continue to play with me until Sunday morning," countered Cathy. "I will satisfy you tonight one way or another after you sell me your rights to the water tanker work for three thousand dollars and stick around Saturday if I enjoyed it as well," proposed Gregg. "Pay me five thousand for the water tanker work tonight and I will serve your every desire until Sunday," proposed Cathy finally working the negotiations around to where she wanted. She preferred the man to take charge in her lovemaking. "Very well, we will sign the contract and a promissary note tonight. You will be mine until Sunday and I will get you a check to buy back the promissary note when the study proposal is funded, as I expect it to be shortly," summarized Gregg. "Agreed," concurred Cathy.

Breakup

"I do not like it," declared Lila as she rubbed his taut muscular shoulders and back. Gregg had mentioned to her previously that it did little good to give a back rub while creating tension with arguments but she had not heeded his admonishments. "There are plenty of engineering jobs around Washington I do not see why you do not get a Civil Service position and begin climbing the ladder." "Politics is your passion, not mine," Gregg answered, a little impatiently, for what seemed like the five hundredth time. "I am getting paid to help evaluate the potential of this entrepreneurial startup we proposed. If it works out it could grow into an awesome opportunity." "This is the third time in two months you have flown out to see Janice. What is wrong with corresponding by transceiver?" asked Lila suspiciously. Gregg rolled to his left side and waited for Lila to adjust her balance then he reached up with his left arm and wrapped it around her right elbow. Rearing up a bit and then using his weight he rolled her towards the middle of the bed onto her back. "Oh no! Not again already!" exclaimed Lila in mock alarm. With his head between her breasts, he shifted his left arm to around the back of her neck and snaked his right arm underneath her right knee. Using his upper body strength he pressed her leg up until he could grasp her ankle with his left hand. Then he slid his left knee up against her back and used his right leg to capture her right leg. Reaching up with his free right hand he retrieved the large feather he had placed in the headboard earlier. "What are you doing?" panted Lila breathlessly, finding it a bit hard to breath with her diaphragm compressed against her thigh. Silently Gregg began gently stroking the underside of her left breast with the soft edge of the feather. "Ah!" gasped Lila. "That tickles! Stop it!" she demanded as she reached around the back of her leg with her left hand and managed to grab it. Undismayed, Greg shifted to free her right leg of his leg and then wrapped his right arm around under her right knee. He let go of her left leg and quickly trapped it with his legs in a scissors holds. Laying back he pulled her legs widely apart and placed his left hand on her puffy mound. "Gregg!" squawked Lila as he rubbed around her slit a bit and then inserted a couple of fingers while applying pressure to her clitoris with his thumb. "Stop it now!" With a sigh Greg removed his hand. While still holding her lewdly spread apart he inquired, "We only have an hour before I need to leave for the airport dear, what would you like to do?" "Let go of me!" demanded Lila. Greg released her legs and put his hands behind his head. "I do not see why you need to go to Arizona," stated Lila tenaciously. "Do you want to do something about this hard on?" asked Greg. "That is all you think about! We need to get your career started and plan our wedding and all you want to do is have sex and fly to Arizona about this pipe dream!" screeched Lila. "All right dear. I am going to take a shower and get ready to go. The taxi will be hear to pick me up in an hour," said Gregg calmly. "When are we going to talk about this?" asked Lila adamantly. "When I get back," said Gregg. If I come back, he fantasized briefly to himself. But no, he would need to come back to pack up his textbooks and personal stuff. Lila could not be trusted with that stuff even when he was around. He supposed that after two years together he owed it to her to tell her they were through in person.

Operations plan

"Our operations plan is very simple once our initial docking ports have been completed," said Gregg. "We will hire pilots from among University of Sol's work study graduates. At a constant acceleration of one gravity the tanker will take a little less than four hours to transit from the Earth to the moon or vice versa. Add an hour at each end for landing, loading and vehicle preflight and we have a 6 hour mission. This allows us to schedule two round trips a day. Since we have a standard lander, we can carry passengers both ways and will do so to satisfy Zircule's conditions for providing the drive and lander. We will not carry solid cargo so the lander will be permanently equipped with 25 first class seats. Pilots will fly in standard shifts of two missions in a day with a twelve hour layover between flights. They will then have two or three days off. So each pilot will fly four missions a week. We will have two pilots per trip and 14 trips a week. So we will need 28/4 or seven pilots to keep the tanker busy round the clock plus a couple of relief or standby pilots at each port. Call it a workforce of fourteen pilots, two to fly and one at each port on standby and to assist with loading and preflight inspections. Each flight has a payload of 52,000 gallons. Leave a day of downtime per month and occasionally longer for routine maintenance such as painting, weld inspection and corrosion control and we are left with shipping just over half a million gallons of water a week or two million a month. Thus we should easily achieve twenty million gallons in a year with a generous allowance of two months for unscheduled downtime." Janice and Jim both cringed at this planned rate of failure. "Do you think the tanker will be that fragile and failure prone?" asked Jim. "The biggest problem will be corrosion control and metal fatigue. There will be a lot of moisture, ice, and thermal displacements as the vehicle cycles from Terran atmospheric to lunar vacuum conditions," said Gregg. "It is critical for our bottom line that each tanker operate at least three years and longer will be more profitable." Assuming that your prices are low enough to stimulate demand, how do you propose to meet growing demand?" asked Jim Kern. "Well, our initial tanker is small and segmented into twenty six 2,000 gallon tanks for a total capacity of 52,000 gallons of water. We will operate it initially port to port. Using a constant acceleration of one g it can do two round trips a day. After we have experience operating it we will design a larger tanker for port to port operation and use the small vehicle to deliver to individual sites in 2,000 gallon increments," explained Greg. "Currently our water comes in plastic bottles via steel shipping crates," said Jim. "Our people consume it for drinking and washing, the bottles are recycled as plastic or burned to provide CO2 for the greenhouses. The wastewater is recycled into drinking water, H2 and O2 for feul cells, and fertilizer for the greenhouses. Water is constantly in short supply because even with efficient recycling it takes a lot of water to setup even closed loop life support systems. Basically our expansion is limited at this time by the quantity of water we can import. It sounds to me like you have a good operations concept once you figure out how you are going to store surplus and surge capacity here on the moon so you can keep your ships cycling fulltime." "Our expansion will be limited by how fast we can dig out storage caverns for the water. To help expedite that we are looking at multiple use for the storage caverns. Basically we would like to set the caverns up for aquaculture and as aquatic recreational systems. We have started talking to your microecology specialist, Tim Harris, about the overall requirements. The biggest task is excavation and sealing of large underground caverns equipped with plumbing and flourescent grow lights," explained Greg. "What will you charge initially for the water and how will you determine delivery priorities?" asked Jim. "Water is currently a critical item in most activities and it is important to have stable and hopefully declining prices for it." "We had intended to auction the initial water until supply caught up with demand and forced us to go to commodity pricing," said Janice. "However, negotiations with Argyle and Zircule have convinced us to start with an artificially low initial price of a hundred dollars per gallon and leave it fixed until we choose to drop it. We are anticipating reducing the price in a roughly linear fashion after the first year of operation, within ten years we should have the price down to under ten dollars a gallon." Jim laughed. He could not help it. "Our lunar settlers have gotten used to rationing and recycling water. We are receiving enough water within our existing supply lines of twenty landers operated essentially free of charge by the Universersity of Sol to support slow expansion while making up water losses. We have missions to comets in planning stages and underway which will bring back hundreds of millions of gallons with labor as the only out of pocket operating expense. You have a window of opportunity to bring capitalism to the moon and help us diversify away from being solely owned and operated by University of Sol and other entities such as governments and corporate 100 behomeths and perhaps make some serious money doing so, if you move fast. However, nobody is going to pay you a hundred dollars a gallon to set up their own closed cycle life support for an independent homestead. We will continue to survive by balancing water requirements against other critical freight from Earth and continue digging out our future recreation facilities in anticipation of large quantities of cometary ice. Perhaps the moon will remain socialist or corporate, if there is no way to deliver water cheaply at a profit to small independents." "What about industrial clients?" asked Janice. "There is no industry without a population and markets to support it," said Jim. "All of our current industry is focused more on University of Sol style cottage manufacturing. The largest demand for water is for life support and for cracking into hydrogen and oxygen for feul cell use away from large settlements electrical grids. If you get your prices down sufficiently a large demand for water for recreational microecologies will emerge but nobody can afford what you are talking about for recreational purposes or aquaculture. We will continue to ration water and use spray and drip systems in the hydroponics farms and greenhouses." "What would you propose as a pricing structure that would guarantee some initial demand?" asked Janice. "I can guarantee that Lunar Settlement One would begin purchasing small quantities of water to support current population expansion and future requirements at a price of ten dollars a gallon. At a dollar a gallon we would start looking at large recreational storage facilities. At price points in between local politics and the availability of cometary ice from domestic suppliers make projections murky at best," said Jim. "Ok, thanks for the information," said Janice. "We will rerun our numbers and get back to you. Are you a pretty typical settlement?" "No," said Jim. "As a result of being steady suppliers for University of Sol's medical efforts and research, we are on the leading edge. I would estimate that other markets similar to us will emerge in between one and three years depending on how successful the individual founding groups are in establishing commerce with other settlements and with the University of Sol. It sounds to me like you have a handle on the operation. I can get the initial water storage dugout and installed if it will double as a city recreational area. It will also help our city grow to be a port of entry for high volumes of cheap water. Howabout you and Janice taking a field trip up here to meet with Tim and I in person for further discussion?" asked Jim. "You can observe how the landers are operated and I can show you around and discuss lunar operations with you so you know how your water supply fits in around here." "I think that is a great idea!" exclaimed Janice. "Ok, send me an email when you get scheduled on a flight. I gotta go, I have a meeting with my department chiefs in ten minutes," said Jim. "Ok, thanks a lot Jim," said Gregg. The transceiver link faded. "So what do you think?" asked Janice. "I think we should start at the low end of the price curve and get started designing our second tanker within a couple of months of beginning operations," said Gregg. "The second tanker will be much larger and more economical to operate. It should provide a high gross profit at a lower unit price if there is sufficient market for the volume of water it can deliver." "We can make money doing that but we will not get filthy rich fast the way we were projecting," objected a downcast Janice. "We will not be able to finance rapid expansion and pay for our own facilities, we will have to lease and perhaps limit operations until financing becomes available to expand." "It will allow us to get started with little risk and make influential friends. Once we are operating we become a local lunar business interest and can begin providing input to lunar politics and policy," pointed out Gregg. "We have an obligation to the stockholders to make as much money as fast as we can," said Janice pedantically as she arched back and stretched cramped muscles. Gregg noted her breasts thrusting out against her sweat shirt and wondered idly how she would react if he reached down and cupped one. "You, I and Zircule are the only current stockholders," he pointed out. "If we choose to get in on the ground floor by not charging exorbitant prices for profit I suspect Zircule will go along. If you recall he indicated previously that if we kept the price under a dollar a gallon he would see about getting us galactic civic credits on a per thousand gallons delivered basis. That may be a swindle or a good long term investment. How much do you think the dollar will be worth in the future if Zircule decides not to accept local currencies for medical treatment and galactic technology?" "You have a solid point there but you are proposing that we defer being filthy rich within a matter of months in the hope that galactic civic credits are actually worth something. Let's go swimming and then we can discuss this further while soaking in the hot tub," proposed Janice as she brushed by him to reach into her closet. "Turn your back while I get into my swimsuit." Gregg complied silently but sat down at her study desk. The mirror she had sitting on the desk was placed perfectly to provide a clear view as she stripped down and then stepped into her one piece swimsuit. As she donned a sweat shirt, sweat pants, and running shoes he continued the conversation, "Jim as much as told us directly to get started fast and get our prices down or face extinction from comet mining interests. Zircule did not loan our startup the hundred million dollars needed because he is looking for a high rate of return. He is already absorbing a significant fraction of the planet's gross domestic product with his medical treatments. For whatever reason he is interested in helping us settle the Solar System. Cheap water is necessary for that. Who do you think is pushing and financing those comet missions?" "Why would he finance us in competition to his interests in comet missions?" asked Janice incredulously as she bent over to tie her shoe laces. "Parallel development," he answered tersely and then expanded. "He does not care particularly where the water comes from or who provides it as long as it is plentiful and cheap to allow rapid settlement growth." "Why would he give up control of something as critical as water?" asked Janice. "He already controls longevity treatment and vast fortunes in local currencies around the world," Gregg points out. "If he wants to, he can target and gain control of just about any industry by using galactic technologies unless local political processes get in the way." "So how far down the price curve did you have in mind?" Janice asked as she took him by the arm and lead him into the hall towards the campus pool. "Start at five dollars a gallon and work our way down 10 percent a quarter to 50 cents a gallon within a couple of years. Play it by ear after that," answered Gregg. "We would make only millions, not billions in the first few years," said Janice. "It would guarantee us enough of a gross to invest in additional tankers while retiring the firm's debt to Zircule. It is certainly better than any salary or other investment opportunity we have," said Gregg. "What will Lila think when you tell her you are not going to be an overnight billionaire?" inquired Janice playfully. "She is no longer a consideration," said Gregg. "I have to go back to Washington to pack up and tell her we are through, but I have already enrolled in University of Sol to learn how to pilot landers and gain additional engineering and business knowledge as well as to qualify for lunar settlement." His head tracked sideways as a couple of good looking coeds slipped by dressed to kill in form fitting skirts. "Well you sure seem broken up about it," said Janice acidly as she noted his momentary point of focus. "Don't," said Gregg. "Don't what?" asked Janice. "Don't get bitchy. We can get involved or keep our relationship strictly business but either way I am currently saturated with women acting bitchy," said Gregg. "It was excellent scenery and well worth appreciating. I still have plenty of attention left for you, if you desire it." Janice was silent until they reached the next intersection then she pulled him into a left hand turn. "Where are we going?" asked Gregg. "The pool is the other way." "We will take the scenic route past the cafeteria," said Janice. "There is a dance tonight, plenty of scenery wandering around. You can tell me which fashions you like best in the clothing the ladies are wearing." "I was looking forward to the scenery at the pool," stated Gregg honestly. "Well then you will have a tough choice to make after assessing the current fashions," said Janice sympathetically. "Shall we go on to the pool and hot tub, and the excellent ladies on display there, or shall we return to my apartment where you can help me choose a party dress for the dance?" "Either way will be a night to remember," said Gregg as he slipped his arm around her waist.

Tour of Lunar Settlement One

Work Study It was early and the halls were scarcely populated as Gregg hustled to make it to his assigned work tunnel on time. He had chosen the graveyard shift from 10 pm to 2 am as an ideal time to physically exercise while mentally relaxing. After getting off work at 2 am he would hit the hot tub briefly and then hit the sack. Janice was a sound sleeper and rarely noticed as he snuggled up to her in the middle of her night. Likewise she would scarcely wake him as she got out of bed at 5 or 6 unless she was ready for some sexual attention. Then he typically slept in until noon, when he got up and ate a cafeteria lunch for breakfast. The thick rock walls of the dormitories and the sound proofing of the doors were phenomenal, the bustle outside never bothered him in the still confines of what he still thought of as Janice's room. He had quickly fallen into a routine after moving in with Janice. Both were busy keeping up with personalized study programs while attempting to corner all the details necessary to launching a startup venture. In the early afternoon he either studied engineering or related subjects, according to the galactics it seemed everything was related to engineering, or he did detailed review and engineering on his tanker spacecraft. The CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) tools available via the galactic transceivers were amazing and he had no trouble running analysis simulations after he had made the design decisions and entered the data into the CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) programs. The problem was the databases for manufacturing processes were woefully deficient. He had no doubt that various commercial entities had loaded the proper information for their own use but since it was marked proprietary he could not access it. The software would routinely tell him something was feasible to manufacture using galactic nanotechnology only to find there was insufficient access space for Terrestial welders. He had achieved as good a design as he could given his current level of experience and expertise. It was time to contract with a design construct firm for the tanker. He put together an Email with general requirements and a request for bids and sent it to his top twenty choices filtered from the Thomas Registry and the Internet. Then he got back to studying materials science. It was amazing what was known and what was not known about material science. Stainless steels were typically used for liners or tanks for storing hydrogen not because of their strength, they were typically not as strong as high carbon steels, but because of their resistance to hydrogen embrittlement and retained ductility at cryogenic temperatures. He had specified stainless steel tanks, piping and valves to reduce corrosion problems. At first it had seemed a nice side benefit that they were resistant to metal fatigue from thermal cycling but it turned out to be irrelevant since the tanks and pipes were inside a heavily insulated double hull, the interior would stay relatively warm from the water being shipped and the waste heat available from the engine unit. The exterior hull was where thermal cracking could be expected if he had gotten an elastomer foam that was insufficiently compressible and exerted too much force on the outer hull or the thermal cycling fatigued a weld or other stress concentration.

Contracting

"Our initial estimate for the job as you have outlined it is twenty million for the steel fabrication of the ship and two million for the detailed engineering. Naturally we may need to revise our construction estimate when the engineering is complete," said the salesman on the transceiver. "The engineering can be complete in six months and the construction completed six months after that." Greg had started to think of him as Sleazy Slim and had resolved to review any contracts entered into very carefully before signing. Unfortunately the firm he represented had a reputation as being one of the best in the steel ship construction business. Of course that was for ocean going Terrestial ships, tankers and container vessels. "That is unacceptable. In my original request for quotes I specified a firm schedule of one month to complete and verify the engineering and two months to construct the tanker. It is small compared to your regular jobs I do not understand the problem," said Gregg. "The problem is with leadtimes and backlogs of existing work," said the salesman. "Our facilities and staff are expensive and must be kept busy. We do this by booking work in advance, discounting where necessary to put the work in the docket," explained the salesman. "Perhaps we could add the second larger tanker to this initial contract and run the contract in two phases. That way the discount for the deferred larger ship would provide a premium for getting the smaller initial ship done quickly," said Janice. "It simply is not possible for our engineering staff to address this project immediately, they have several other large projects involving billions worth of construction over the next decade to complete before they can begin," said the salesman. "Are there external engineering firms your construction division is comfortable working with whom we could approach about getting the engineering done quickly so that construction can be initiated?" asked Janice alertly. "Well, yes I can give you a couple of names of design firms but they are not as capable as our inhouse group. Of course this is a pretty simple over designed craft you have specified. Our engineering group could probably cut the weight in half and increase your payload accordingly," said the salesman. "Perhaps we can benefit from their expertise on a future tanker after we have some operational experience," said Gregg. "Give us the three best external design firms you work with and I will get back to you when we know how the design process is going." After the transceiver link faded away Janice asked, "Three best firms?" "We are going about this wrong," said Gregg. "Nobody has an incentive to attempt to meet our time schedule, apparently things move slowly on big projects. Let's offer each of these three firms half the fee quoted, one million dollars, to complete an engineering design. Then we will pick the best one and pay another million dollars for them to help us oversea the contractors construction effort and flight testing. We will have two of the prototype tanker built, we will need them for short hop delivery on the moon fairly quickly anyway. We will have the Contractor that does the best job and delivers it on time build the larger model two tanker." "That eats up our management reserve. An extra twenty one million dollars tied up in the extra prototype tanker. Doubling our work force will require another ten million a year if we stick to paying premium wages for premium people. This does not even address additional upfront costs in digging reservoirs and filling them while we wait for the demand to rise. We run the risk of saturating the known markets and driving our unit price way down prematurely which would greatly damage our gross revenue. We might get only a small increase in the gross revenue to cover nearly doubling our initial expenses," explained Janice. "Ok, let us go over the summary again quickly with this new proposal in mind. We have funds allocated as follows:

Purpose millions millions Total capital loan, Zircule 100 100

Interest 12 Dividend 3

Prototype Engineering 2 Prototype Construction 20 Initial year labor & operations 10 Space suits 10 Docking ports Earth 2 Lunar 10 Reservoir NA City provided Alien technology NA Total Projected expense 69

Management reserve 31

Gross Revenue projected nine months @ 2 million gallons/month @ average $4/gallon = 72

First year gross change in cash flow is a positive 3 million. Net operating loss due to depreciation of tanker.

Start year two with: 103 cash on hand.

Purchase tanker model two 60

Year two gross revenue T1 12 months @ 2 million gallons/month @ average $3/gallon = 72 T2 12 months @ 20 million gallons/month @ ave $3/gallon = 720

So as you can see we can do the second prototype without running out of cash. As long as our initial assumptions about pricing are close to correct we can still afford the larger tanker although we may have to scrimp on reservoirs and facilities and delay construction until we are certain adequate revenue is coming in from the second small tanker," proposed Gregg. "You are ignoring the fact that the smaller tanker costs the same to operate as the bigger one in labor and almost as much in depreciation. One third of twenty two million is seven million plus ten million in labor and some charges for tying up port facilities and we could be losing money at one dollar/gallon. Yet you are proposing that we try to get our per gallon price down to 50 cents/gallon in the long term. If the prices drop fast we may not break even on the second small tanker before we need to scrap it in favor of operating larger tankers. Our only other alternative would be to economize on labor," said Janice. "If we do not do something to get into the market, the cometary ventures will begin selling water and amortizing costs and we may no longer be in the driver's seat. It may be impossible at that point to prove that operations from Earth can be profitable. Nobody is going to build a large multi million gallon supertanker without some experience with smaller ships to inform the design ..... well nobody except perhaps Zircule," responded Gregg. "Let us consult Argyle and see if he thinks we should brief Zircule." "Ok," said Janice. "Let us do that. I will get some summary charts drawn up for the various scenarios and point out that if our operating assumptions are flawed we may need additional operating capital to build larger tankers in order to break out of the red. We will see how committed he is to having competing commodity suppliers."

Engineering?

Argyle had reviewed Janice's alternatives, schedules, and cash flows told her point blank that the schedule was unrealistic and needed appropriate adjustment. Steel construction had inevitable lead times even if creative methods such as use of salvaged equipment was used. After expanding the cash flow analysis to a much greater level of detail and staggering the initiation of the two initial prototypes they had a working prototype to propose to Zircule. He had listened carefully to their presentation and told them to go ahead, he would not let a good venture fold for lack of capital. He was willing to loan/invest up to a billion dollars in larger tankers if necessary to get into the black but it was important to expedite initial water delivery with the second smaller tanker. Janice had been extremely heartened and a bundle of energy ever since. She had started talking about doubling their management salaries and the initial dividends issued to the three stockholders but Gregg had convinced her that was a premature action. Now, at last he was briefing the engineering firms selected to get on with the job. "Gentlemen, let me summarize once again. The tanker is designed around off the shelf components and technologies. It is designed to be gravity loaded and unloaded, the valves are electrically actuated with manual override capability. It consists of a bottom deck which is made of steel girders and very thick plate steel, both on top for support of the tanks and top decks and on the bottom for a landing pad. The primary drive unit is mounted at the top center of this deck. Zircule has assured me that the drive unit will exceed our requirements and requested you forward appropriate specifications to him so he can software limit its thrust and torque output appropriately. All electrical actuators and main valves are on this deck underneath the 2,000 gallon tanks they serve. On top of this deck are squat cylindrical tanks such as are found in tank farms. These serve as an exterior and interior double hull with insulating elastomer foam sandwiched between them. The 22 foot vertical cylindrical 4 foot diameter tanks are placed symetrically around the inside perimeter of the inner hull. There is one more large tank in the interior for additional structure and this is tied to the inner hull with beams and plate. There is to be sufficient crawl space to get inside and around for inspection, welding and painting but it is not a luxurious volume. A standard galactic lander is mounted on top for crew space and provides safe crew space for operations and an escape vessel for an emergency. Both clamps and explosive bolts are available to detach the lander in an emergency, abandoning the aft payload section. The detailed engineering and analysis needs to be complete within three months so that construction can begin. The best of three competing detailed designs will be selected and that engineering firm will oversee the construction for the additional fees specified. I shall expect delivery of the first tanker spacecraft for initial test trials six months after construction contract award. As soon as it is accepted we will authorize construction of the second craft with another firm on the same six month crash schedule. The best of the two construction firms as measured by operations in the field will be given first shot at our larger tankers in the the future," concluded Gregg. "Are there any further questions? Very well I look forward to seeing your submittals."

Engineering Review?

This was the sixth time Gregg had been back to his alma mater in as many months. Sometimes he wondered what Cathy did for sexual release and entertainment when he was not around. He doubted that a sexual dynamo such as she simply stayed home and studied, although given her grades she certainly must study sometime! She had presented him with a key to her apartment the third time time he had been here so perhaps she was not concerned about him walking in on her with other boyfriends. He let himself in and verified there was nobody home and then he unloaded the groceries he had picked up on the way. From experience he knew they had a long night ahead of them reviewing potential corrosion problems or else exploring some area of human sexuality. He would not dare propose some of the activities they had experimented with to Janice. He wondered if that was because he knew her well enough to know she would not be interested or because he was not intimate enough with her to know she might be interested. Janice had a shy reserve that was difficult for Gregg to pierce. For that matter it still astonished him that Cathy insisted on a submissive role in sex. She was so agressive about initiating sexual behavior that it was sometimes difficult to take control smoothly when she expected. Fortunately with her latest theme and antics he could always tie her up in some interesting contorted position and rub her pussy a bit. It infallibly got her heated up and then he was excited in turn by having her helplessly waiting for his touch. Going into the kitchen he got busy preparing for the weekend. When Cathy was not busy with sex this weekend, perhaps even next week as well, he intended to have her educated, capable, high IQ reviewing spaceship plans for potential trouble spots involving corrosion. As near as he could tell the only large remaining risk factor to be addressed in operation of his future tanker fleet was corrosion. It had the potential to retire his vessels early, cause mishaps in space, or incur costly revenue decreasing downtime along with expensive repairs. He put a ham in a pan and covered it with several cans of pinapple slices and put it into the oven to bake. He added carrots and potatoes as he got them washed. Then he chopped up a large diverse salad. He had wine, pudding, and roses in the refrigerator remaining chilled. He had a full selection of microwaveable frozen dinners in the freezer in case the leftovers ran out when he had no time to monitor the cooking. He was ready for the weekend. He went back into the living room and began reviewing plans and specifications. He had already spotted several tight corners where it would be difficult to grind away rust and repaint. He had also checked the valves and verified that they were off-the-shelf with short advertised leadtimes, typically weeks, not months. He settled in to check the piping and was suddenly not pleased. A requirement had been added for flow meters underneath each individual tank! What in God's name would they want with individual flow meters! It got worse, to save some money a small meter had been specified, so suddenly in the middle of his six inch piping sized for rapid loading and unloading there was a 3 inch flow meter! He did not bother to calculate how much that would slow down the loading and unloading he merely made a note to have it removed if this was the winning design. He was absorbed in tracing the electrical circuits specified to control the air vent valves when hands went over his eyes and pulled his head back into soft pillowy breasts, "Guest who?" whispered Cathy in a quick staccato. "A belly dancer?" queried Gregg. "Close," she breathed back in his ear. "Wait a few seconds and you will get a big surprise. Ok," she said, putting her arms down on his chest. At first it did not register what he was seeing. There were eight women in approximately three cheer leading outfits. Some were missing panties, others skirts, sweaters and bras. One had the equivalent of a bikini on while another had on both panties and skirt but was completely topless. Another was bottomless! Suddenly there was music and they were all in motion in front and to the sides of his chair. This went on quite a while and then suddenly stopped. "Ok girls, go get dressed," said Cathy. "You like?" "Well I am not sure," stalled Gregg. "I was looking forward to us working and playing all weekend and maybe some next week. What is this all about?" "We have a cheer exercise group of about a hundred former cheerleaders, mostly from my old school but others as well that like to participate. A couple of the girls were over for dinner while I was reviewing the last space tanker submittal. Word got around that I am attached to a future big shot in the space tanker business and getting paid big bucks. These girls want to get paid big bucks for being space pilots. They are willing to trade being your occasional playmates for piloting jobs, two weekends a year, each, minimum, more subject to mutual negotiation." "Are they pilots?" asked Gregg in fascination at this strange explanation. Inevitably the engineer in him did the math and a little over one weekend a month seemed like a sustainable hobby whispered the sexual opportunist in him. What was he thinking? He was having trouble juggling two women and now he was going to make arrangements with eight more??? "No, they figure you will have to train pilots since the ships are new," answered Cathy. "They all declined to go on to college, most have had a hard time since, they figure this is a chance to get established back in the upper middle class." "They would have to go to the University of Sol and become certified pilots plus they have to be in at least the top third of the class for us to consider them. That is what we have specified in the business plan," said Gregg in a bit of a daze. "Why don't you go in, give them the good news, and start getting acquainted while I start looking over the new specifications for potential problems?" coaxed Cathy. "Good grief!" he exclaimed in heated whisper. "What am I going to do with eight more women?" "Whatever you want, master," said Cathy sincerely. "I informed them that you call the shots and are willing to have transgressions punished severely. They are scheduled to be here all weekend, or until you send them away. Some can come back during this week or next weekend so you have plenty of time. They were all concerned you might get to them last and not give them a fair audition so we talked about workarounds to fit them into your busy schedule. I required them all to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases just last week and they all were clean." "This is what you do when I am not around?" asked Gregg quietly. "You are these women's mistress?" "Yes," confirmed Cathy. "I got involved with a submissive female while I was in college. I found I enjoy dominating women, although I like my man to dominate me." "How old are these women? I mean they are all at least eighteen right?" whispered Greg in a near panic attack. "Relax Gregg. I would not spring jailbait on you. They range from 20 to 69. I required all of them over thirty to take the longevity treatment when it became available, that is why they look so young," explained Cathy. "How would this work with the eight of them at University of Sol in Arizona? One would slip and Janice would find out," said Gregg miserably. "Nine," said Cathy. "I will naturally have to come along and look after them. Do not worry. Janice can be managed. She was not so prim and proper when I was sleeping with her in college. I let her have you because I was busy with my maidens but I have decided I like having you as my master. Janice will eventually become just another of our maidens who is also a skillful comptroller." "She owns a third of my company," said Gregg miserably. "Zircule owns another third. If you had indicated you wanted in at the start, we would have two quarters of it between us, as it is she could cause me or the company very large problems." "You handle the engineering and operations of the company," said Cathy. "My maidens and I can handle Janice. When we are finished with her Janice's ownership will be distributed amongst my ladies and myself, she will be one among many and have to go along or be shut out.

Steel Fabrication?

The shipyard was an amazing place. Several large U.S. Naval vessels were undergoing construction and repair. The space tanker was tucked into an odd corner between several railroad lines and accessible by an overhead crane, when it was not scheduled on higher priority military work. Gregg could see where the schedule negotiated came from when competing for equipment with multi billion dollar military contracts. Perhaps next time around he should look a little closer at smaller shipyards or fabricators. Of course next time around he would probably not need the spacecraft quite as fast or could make do with what he had for a while.

Lander arrival?

Finally! The tanker was ready for final integration of the drive units and the lander. Janet had caught a ride to L-4 several days ago to pickup the lander.

Installation of drive units and transceivers?

your

Test Flight?

your

Operation Cutthroat Competition?

Environmental impact Earth Save Los Angeles from global warming, requesting funding from government or oil companies to expand operations. Lunar No environment, no impact

Terrorist Attack Hit, tumbling, jettison. Expansion