The Dragon Emperor · a private room in the starship mess.
Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte and Lilith seated across from him, each eating in her own way and seeing to her own business.
Charlotte was looking over the data of the three new starship classes Zhao Chen had lately provided.
Lilith was handling the after-war figures Little Dragon Girl had gathered, and the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group's plans of development to come.
Zhao Chen felt the air of something like a cold war about him.
Since that night's business, he had supposed all was smoothly settled.
But he never thought that from that time Charlotte and Lilith would of a sudden make common cause against the outsider, and turn exceedingly cold toward Zhao Chen.
"My two young ladies, I know I was wrong. What will it take for you not to be angry?" Zhao Chen looked at the two with a bitter smile.
Hearing this, the two did not look at Zhao Chen, but exchanged a glance, held a conversation with their eyes, and judged it about enough.
"Hmph. This once we let you off." Charlotte gave a cold snort.
Lilith beside her looked at Zhao Chen in banter. "Commander, we are not angry on purpose either. It is only that your keeping it from us was truly a little shabby."
In fact, as Lilith said this, she was somewhat guilty within.
For she is a person of close and careful mind, and had marked long before that there was something between the Commander and Charlotte.
That she now feigned, like Charlotte, to have been deceived by Zhao Chen.
Was of course to make the bond between the two sisters firm.
For which the Commander must simply suffer.
"I did mean to find a chance to be open with you. But there has been so much business of late that I had no time to be open about anything," Zhao Chen said helplessly.
"You and your reasons." Charlotte threw him a look of the whites of her eyes.
Zhao Chen knew he must not pull too long upon this subject; he pointed at once at the holographic projections of the three classes before Charlotte. "These three classes — what do you think of them?"
At the mention of starships, this was a thing that interested Charlotte.
Charlotte's eyes swept over the three.
"The T5 King-of-the-Hill-class Heavy Interstellar Comprehensive Strategic Escort and the T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship want no saying. They fill the two gaps in our T5 order.
"Whereas this T4 Star-Vault-Sentry-class Interstellar Unmanned Guard Ship — in comprehensive value to the Owl Dragon, it may even be said to surpass the other two."
Lilith beside her, hearing the T4 Star-Vault-Sentry mentioned.
Said with her eyes alight as well, "That Star-Vault-Sentry I think very fine too. Ten million star coins the hull; and if one does not reckon its ordnance capacity and its endurance, its fighting power differs not at all from a T4 interstellar warship! But its very standing is defensive and of the guard, so ordnance capacity and endurance need not be reckoned at all.
"Set that beside the low build cost, and the build time.
"One T4 Gemini can produce at the least 200 of these in a single month.
"And were the T5 Galaxy-class industrial base to undertake the building, 200,000 in a single month!"
One could see that Lilith liked this T4 Star-Vault-Sentry exceedingly.
And the foremost advantage of it was beyond doubt that low build cost.
"Then how many of these do you think we want at present?" Zhao Chen inquired.
Charlotte showed a thinking look.
Lilith opened the interstellar map of what the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group actually controls, and the two fell to muttering over it.
Very soon the two had a figure.
"Three hundred thousand!"
At hearing this number Zhao Chen was startled.
"These 300,000 are by the best plan for what our several holdings, resource-mining districts, star gates and other important strategic positions require at present. Though, considering how we now stand, we may build them in stages. Build first the least number of Star-Vault-Sentries — say 50,000 — and make up the gap by degrees thereafter," Lilith explained.
Charlotte beside her said as well, "Though the T4 Star-Vault-Sentry's fighting power cannot match a T4 interstellar warship of the same grade. It wins by its low cost, and it asks nothing whatever of crew. Should the field require it, one may form forlorn hopes of them, to no small effect."
Lilith was thinking of the management of holdings and resource points.
Charlotte was thinking of the military side — even of use upon a field.
Zhao Chen nodded. "As to the settling of this class, you two may lay it down; only let it not tell too much upon the production tasks of our other main-force starships."
Lilith nodded and set it down.
"And how goes the recovery of production at the several works, industrial zones, and starship yards?" Zhao Chen asked a question that mattered.
For on account of the Swarm Surge before, Zhao Chen had thrown very nearly all the production lines of the Owl Dragon and the three great empires into producing combat stores.
Now the war was over, and these industrial works must of course be brought back upon their proper road.
Lilith answered, "Our industrial base in the Owl Dragon Star System went back to its original production tasks at the first moment we held the absolute advantage upon the field. The Northern Goose Group, having run off one further batch of field stores, went back to its production tasks upon the third day. The industrial bases within the other three great empires will return to their original tasks by degrees within seven days."
Zhao Chen nodded in satisfaction.
The talk of work being done, they had all eaten well besides.
As the two women were about to leave, Zhao Chen followed after, and two hands went about their waists with long familiarity.
"Having eaten, one grows sleepy. Let us go back and rest properly first. Having fought such a campaign, we ought to rest properly too." Zhao Chen looked at the two with a face full of smiles.
But the next second the two slapped Zhao Chen's salt-pork hands away.
"No time."
The two walked out of the mess without turning their heads, taking no heed whatever of the aggrieved Zhao Chen behind them.
And for the month that followed the two refused Zhao Chen's approaches likewise; by the look of it, his punishment was not yet at an end.
Though there was another reason besides, which they were unwilling to raise: that the after-effects of that night's madness were far too lasting.
They wanted a stretch of time to recover.
And Zhao Chen at this moment did not yet know of the empty room that awaited him for a month.
He could only look helplessly after the two as they went.
"Very well; now they have made a united front of it." Zhao Chen could not help laughing.
He stood where he was, and did not for a moment know what he ought to go and do.
Very nearly everything was handled by those under him.
To go back and rest… he had rested enough these last days.
What business was there that he might do…
Ah yes — go and find Annie.
Zhao Chen called to mind this chief engineer of his.
"Fix the position of Chief Engineer Annie's starship; transmit." Zhao Chen began muttering it.