Tanya returned to Eden-Five's surface with a signed contract that made her feel like a real shipwright for the first time. Derril and Jimul lawyer had negotiated fair terms, including payment in phases with upper limits, reasonable completion deadlines, and bonus payment for early delivery. Additionally, he had included protection clauses that would prevent Jimul from demanding impossible modifications halfway through the project, while also protecting him from Tanya overcharging. It had reminded her of the importance of having a skilled lawyer.
Phase One called for a detailed mock-up focusing on external aesthetics and general configuration. For most designers, that would mean starting with the exterior and figuring out how to incorporate the necessary systems later. But Tanya had learned enough from Sage to know that approach would lead to compromised functionality and engineering nightmares.
"Right," she said, settling into her workshop and pulling up a new design file. "Let's build this thing from the inside out."
//Correct approach. Core systems define spatial requirements. Aesthetics must accommodate functionality, not compromise it. //
She began with the essential components that every starship needed: hull framework, propulsion, power generation, life support, navigation, and vortex drive. But instead of designing them as a unified vessel, she had a more ambitious concept in mind.
"Modular design," she explained to Sage as she sketched the basic configuration. "Two primary sections that can operate independently or as a combined unit. The forward section handles mining operations with scanners, harvesting arrays, and ore processing. The aft section provides propulsion and power for the entire assembly."
//Innovative approach. Modularity increases operational flexibility while maintaining system integration. Except it will be more difficult to integrate into a unified system//
The forward locomotive would house the mining scanners and harvesting lasers, along with the ore processing equipment that would turn raw asteroid material into filtered ore. The aft section would contain the fusion reactor, main propulsion systems, and crew quarters. When connected, they'd function as a single mining vessel. When separated, the locomotive could dock with standard cargo containers of varying sizes.
"It's like a space train," Tanya said, getting excited about the possibilities. "The locomotive stays constant, but you can add as many cargo cars as the job requires. And if we put manoeuvring thrusters on each cargo unit..."
She worked out the mathematics, designing thruster packages that could be attached to standard shipping containers. The system would scale from small-scale asteroid mining to hauling medium ore loads, all using the same core components while also maintaining speed.
//Assessment: configuration demonstrates advanced systems thinking. However, point allocation requires review.//
Tanya pulled up the cost calculator and felt her excitement deflate. The modular design was elegant and functional, but it was also expensive. The redundant systems, specialised connectors, and custom thruster packages pushed the total well over her budget, and that was if she only had one custom thruster package.
"Twenty-eight hundred points," she groaned. "I'm three hundred over budget before I even start on the mining equipment."
//Query: Why does point limitation matter? The client specified a near-unlimited budget.//
Tanya could feel the mocking in Sage's tone. She had asked this question when Sage first set the point limit and was now quizzing her on whether she had listened.
"Because points relate to actual manufacturing costs," Tanya explained, pulling up the reference charts. "Each point represents roughly a thousand credits' worth of materials and components. Jimul might have said money's no object, but if I design a ship that costs three million credits when a comparable vessel should cost two-point-five million, I look like either an amateur or a con artist."
//Understanding: Reputation management through cost efficiency and acceptable business practices is important to future growth.//
"Was it the same for your people?" Tanya was curious about what values it was basing its judgment on.
//No, but I have studied your extranet, and it is a core of human business practices//
"Not all humans are the same. Maybe Jimul won't care"
The next three weeks became an intensive course in optimisation and compromise. Tanya discovered that balancing thrust across a modular train configuration created cascading engineering problems. The more cargo containers added to the assembly, the more complex the power distribution became. Flexible connections had to handle both structural loads and high-energy power transmission. Emergency separation systems needed to work reliably under combat conditions in case of a pirate attack or other unforeseen emergencies.
Each solution spawned three new problems. Custom joint assemblies required specialised manufacturing. The power coupling system needed redundant safety features. The thruster packages had to be idiot-proof enough for cargo handlers to install correctly.
"This is like designing six different ships that have to work together perfectly," Tanya muttered, running her fifteenth simulation of thrust-to-mass ratios across different cargo configurations.
//Correct assessment. Modular systems' complexity increases geometrically with component variation. Educational value: significant. //
She was using only commercially available components, which was a decision made partly to keep costs reasonable, partly to ensure the ship could be maintained anywhere in the Empire. But even standard parts needed custom mounting brackets, specialised power adapters, and coordination software that didn't exist in any catalogue.
By the end of the third week, she finally had a functional design that stayed within budget. The engineering was solid, the performance met specifications, and the modular concept solved problems that fixed-configuration mining ships couldn't address.
Now came the hard part: making it beautiful.
"Jimul wants something that makes a statement," she said, staring at her utilitarian locomotive design. "Something that announces its owner's status and capabilities."
//Aesthetic integration challenge: combine functional excellence with symbolic representation. Consider cultural references that resonate with the target audience.//
Tanya pulled up historical design references, looking for inspiration that could transform her practical space train into something worthy of admiration. Most mining ships looked like flying industrial equipment all angles and utilitarian bulk. Corporate hauliers were slightly better, but still prioritised function over form.
Then she found it in Earth's ancient mythology files: The Lion dance.
"Look at this," she said, projecting the reference images into her workspace. The creature was controlled by multiple people, but it had flowing curves and serpentine grace, powerful and elegant in equal measure. "It's perfect. The modular sections become the lion's body segments. The mining arrays can be stylised as the mouth, and it could literally eat the ore. And the way it moves through space..."
//Analysis: Lion mythology symbolises power, wisdom, and superiority. Psychologically appropriate for a mining vessel owner seeking status enhancement.//
The aesthetic transformation took another week, but the results exceeded her expectations. She was glad that Sage had allocated a separate points budget for the aesthetics after she had argued it was an important part of the brief, and she would still come out profitable.
The locomotive's forward section took on the appearance of a lion's head, with mining lasers integrated as crystalline eyes that glowed with operational energy. The hull plating flowed in a pattern that connected to the cargo container, each one carefully positioned to follow structural stress lines.
The cargo containers became the lion's body segments, connected by flexible joints that allowed the entire assembly to undulate through space with serpentine grace. Manoeuvring thrusters were housed in an outer casing that served both functional and aesthetic purposes.
The final design was stunning, at least to Tanya's eyes. It was a creature of legend translated into functional spacecraft engineering.
"It's not just a mining ship," Tanya said, admiring the completed mockup. "It's a space lion that happens to mine asteroids for a living."
//Assessment: aesthetic integration successful. Functionality preserved while achieving significant symbolic impact. Client satisfaction probability: high.//
She packaged the design files, performance specifications, and visual renderings into a comprehensive presentation. Phase One was complete. She had designed a functional, beautiful, and decidedly unique mining vessel that would turn heads in any spaceport.
Jimul Arran wanted a ship that made a statement. Tanya had given him a one.
Now she just had to build it. She looked over her current project and her profile one last time before pressing send. Now she had to wait for feedback.
The response from Jimul came faster than Tanya had expected, along with a detailed list of modifications that made her grin despite herself.
"More fierce and masculine," she read aloud to her workshop's holographic display. "Gold and black colour scheme. Sharper angles on the head design." She patted the projection table affectionately. "What do you think? Should we give our space lion some bigger teeth?"
//Your client appears to favor intimidation over elegance. Not uncommon among those seeking to project authority through material possessions.//
"Hey now, there's nothing wrong with wanting your ship to look fierce," Tanya said, already sketching modifications. "Besides, a lion should look like it could bite asteroids in half, don't you think?"
The requested changes were primarily cosmetic, with minor reshaping of the lion's head to appear more aggressive, adjusting the mane-like hull plating, and switching from her original red-gold colour scheme to Jimul's preferred gold and black. She'd been prepared for this kind of iteration; clients always had opinions about how their expensive toys should look.
"The engineering stays solid," she told the design interface as she worked. "Just need to shift some mass around to compensate for the new head shape."
//Center of mass displacement requires thruster rebalancing. However, this presents an opportunity to discuss control dynamics. Your modular design will create interesting piloting challenges. //
"Interesting challenges," Tanya repeated with mock horror. "Sage, when you say 'interesting,' I hear 'expensive complications that will keep me up for three more nights.'"
//Inaccurate assessment. Consider it advanced education in real-world engineering constraints.//
She spent two days implementing the changes, refining the lion's head until it projected the kind of regal ferocity that would make other ships give it plenty of space. The flowing mane sections followed the structural stress lines while creating the illusion of wild hair whipping in stellar winds. The gold and black colour scheme was stunning and more dramatic than her original concept.
"You know what?" she said to the completed design. "You look absolutely magnificent. Like you were born to dance through asteroid fields and make it look effortless." The ship had exceeded even her ambitious expectations.
She transmitted the revised design and waited for approval, which came in the most unexpected way possible.
Her brother Marcus sent her a video link with the message: "Holy shit, Tanya, look at this!"
The video showed Jimul Arran in what appeared to be his family estate, guiding two small-scale replicas of her lion design with a handheld controller.
One was painted in striking red and blue, the other black and gold. Together they traced an elaborate aerial dance through the Arran estate with surprising grace, weaving between furniture and open spaces as if the walls themselves were part of the choreography.
The models moved like living creatures, their segmented bodies undulating as they darted and chased one another through intricate manoeuvres. Each movement felt deliberate, fluid, almost alive.
Tanya was impressed not only by the craftsmanship of the models themselves but by the talent it must have taken to translate her full-scale design into something that could perform so precisely at miniature scale.
"Where did he get those?" Marcus asked when she called him back. He remembered how Tanya's room had once been crammed with model kits, shelves full of famous starships she'd built by hand.
"No idea," Tanya lied smoothly, though she was genuinely impressed by the craftsmanship. Someone had put serious effort into making them accurate representations of her design, complete with working articulation joints and what appeared to be functional mining arrays.
They talked for a while longer before Marcus had to go, but the video sparked an idea that made her practically bounce with excitement.
"Sage! How detailed would a scale model need to be to show actual flight characteristics?"
//Physical models reveal truths that simulations cannot. The interaction between theory and reality often produces surprising education. I recommend full fabrication with accurate mass distribution.//
"Perfect!" Tanya rubbed her hands together. "Let's build ourselves a lion cub."
//I should clarify that 'full fabrication' means manual construction rather than automated printing. The tactile understanding gained through direct assembly is irreplaceable.//
"Of course it does," Tanya said with a dramatic sigh. "Because heaven forbid I take the easy route for five minutes. You're worse than a nagging university professor, you know that?"
//I am exactly like a university professor. The comparison is apt.//
The workshop's fabrication systems could have printed a perfect model in minutes, but Sage's insistence on manual construction meant Tanya found herself hunched over a workbench for the next twelve hours. She started with the frame, fabricating each beam precisely. Each connection had to be perfect and not just visually, but structurally sound enough to handle the stresses of actual flight testing.
The hull panels came next, hammered alloy sheets and shaped to match the flowing curves of her design. Her fingers grew sore from the detailed work, filing each piece to fit perfectly with its neighbours. The seams had to be smooth, not just for appearance, but because even at 1:50 scale, aerodynamic efficiency mattered.
"Mass distribution is critical," she muttered, adding carefully calculated lead weights to simulate the full-size ship's power core and cargo holds. The center of gravity had to be exact, or the model would fly nothing like its larger cousin. She checked and rechecked her calculations, adjusting weight placement by fractions of grams.
The thruster assemblies were the most challenging part. She couldn't replicate the actual propulsion systems, but she could build functional miniature versions that would produce proportional thrust. Tiny compressed air jets with precisely calculated nozzle sizes, each one individually machined and tested.
"The control surfaces need to respond exactly like the real thing," she explained to Sage as she installed micro-servos and feedback sensors.
By dawn, her back ached and her eyes burned, but the model sat complete on her workbench. Every panel hand-fitted, every system functional, every component carefully weighted and balanced.
"There," she said, attaching the final thruster assembly with trembling fingers. "You're just as stubborn as your big brother is going to be, aren't you?"
//The model will demonstrate flight characteristics that pure simulation cannot reveal. Manual construction ensures you understand every component intimately.//
When she finally powered up the completed model, Tanya had to admit the results were gorgeous. The little lion moved exactly like her simulations predicted. It was graceful, serpentine, with an almost organic quality to its movements. But it also revealed problems that her computer models had completely missed.
"Oh, you cheeky little beast," she said, fighting to keep the model on a straight course. "You're drifting all over the place."
The modular sections created momentum transfer effects that required constant pilot input to correct. Every acceleration, every turn, every minor course adjustment sent ripples through the articulated hull that tried to pull the ship off course.
//Observe how each segment responds to the thrust differently. Your lion has a mind of its own, much like the mythological creatures that inspired it.//
"That's poetic, Sage, but Jimul's going to need something more practical than poetry when he's trying to maintain a mining orbit," Tanya said, watching the model's tail section swing wide during a turn. "This thing needs serious computer assistance, or he'll spend more time fighting the controls than actually mining."
//Correct. Your design requires sophisticated flight control software that can predict and compensate for segmented hull dynamics. This was not covered in your university curriculum, I assume?//
"Not even close." Tanya guided the model through another test manoeuvre, noting how the momentum effects cascaded through each section. "We learned to design ships that looked good on paper. Nobody mentioned that flying them might be a completely different skill set."
//Most graduates join established shipyards where master craftsmen teach these practical considerations over years of apprenticeship. You are receiving accelerated education through direct experience.//
"Lucky me," she said, but she was grinning as she made notes about the control system requirements. Every problem was just another puzzle to solve, and she'd always loved puzzles.