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Chapter 18 - A Long Journey[]
9 May 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
Gerald Mitchell had thrown himself into the work, using his own money to hire a local lawfirm to prepare the paperwork to form Mackolla Enterprises. He knew the message had gone out offering to sell one of the Monolith Jumpships to the Federated Suns so they were waiting on it to be accepted and funds deposited into the account setup for payments from the Feddies. It was separate from this new adventure though. But waiting on money allowed him to do a ton of research on a vast array of subjects. It did not take him long to locate a common problem in the entire region, trained or skilled workers, which was a common problem for getting any sort of local higher tech industry going.
"Colin, we are going to need skilled workers if we have any hope of bringing any sort of real industry out here." Gerald Mitchell said
"We have to figure out exactly we are going to do before going on a mass hiring spree. We are still laying the ground work and have no clue how much money we will even have to work with." Colonel (Ret) Colin Blaine replied
"Yes, I know that. I like to plan ahead. What are you working on anyway?" Gerald Mitchell said
"Trying to figure out a couple of these so called locations that I skimmed off the computers on Terra. They just are not aligning correctly. There is this one here that bothers me because there is nothing marked on any star map" Colin replied as he spun the portable computer around so Gerald could see the screen.
"That's site 222. It's two or three jumps from here. SLIC had it removed from the star maps decades ago, it was a dumping ground for all sorts of stuff that was recovered in the Periphery." Gerald Mitchell said
"How the hell do you know that?" Colin said loudly
"Because 53rd Jump Infantry Division. Spent over a decade out here with them and we ran anti-piracy sweeps all the time. I probably visited site 222 five times during my time with the 53rd." Gerald Mitchell said
"So your saying that it is something we should check out?" Colin asked
"Yeah, it sure is. Now that we have a firm location for someone to head for. I am just comparing the dot on that star map you got to where we are standing right now. Sure looks like site 222. But also remember the last time I was there was probably 2758 or so, that is thirty years ago. I am sure it has been emptied by now." Gerald Mitchell replied
"What sort of stuff did they dump out there?" Colin asked
"Back then? Hell, back then, there was stuff from the Reunification War parked out there. But after all these years, I doubt anything is left. What database did you get into that told you about site 222?" Gerald Mitchell asked
"A roster that had SLDF cache sites that were not looted during the war, our war that is. Chief Kellog, Patricia's chief engineer said he knew the SLDF was hauling captured rebel ships somewhere and then cracking the cores with explosives, but he didn't know where." Colin replied
"There is a good chance they were hauling it to site 222. It had been used for two centuries after all. I think we just figured out our first company, how does Mackolla Interstellar Salvage sound to you?" Gerald Mitchell asked
"Sounds okay to me, but we still have to see what is out there to even determine what will be needed." Colin replied
"Then maybe Patricia should send a small expedition to scout the site." Gerald Mitchell said