Jake was currently heading down the main elevator shaft to the landing pad after Marcus had given him a tour.
(That was insightful. It's good to have someone we know at the station.) The Atlas spoke to Jake.
After Jake's conversation with Marcus, The station commander was quite impressed by Jake and decided to give him the full tour.
'Yeah, it would be nice to see him again.' Jake spoke, happy he had made an acquaintance at Celis Station.
Jake walked back to his ship, and just like Marcus had told him was washed and refuelled, free of charge.
Jake walked through the cargo bay ramp and headed to the cockpit.
After preflight checks had been completed he was given clearance before taking off, the journey home in an empty ship would be much faster.
"Nice, my first legal paycheck." Jake grinned as he looked at his balance.
"By the way Atlas, why did you tell me to put all the funds Elian gave us into this company?" Jake asked, as the day after he had found the money given to him by Elian, The Atlas had informed him of investing in a company whose share price had not changed in years.
"I mean its owners and board are not public and it seems they have yet to receive a commission from anyone." Jake was worried as nothing had changed and though he was not as proficient in the market as the Atlas was capable of, he could still tell it was a bad investment.
(The Hyperion Shipyard you mean?) The Atlas asked.
"Yes, that one."
(Well the main reason is that it's a military shipyard, located on Mars and they seem to have a source of income other than the investments. While it might seem that they will file for bankruptcy any minute, they have been the most stable company in the past decade.)
"So you're saying they might have a card up their sleeve?"
(Exactly, if they're able to stay afloat being able to pay their workers, running costs, etc without being commissioned, they might have a powerful backer waiting for the right time, and we want to be next to them when that happens.)
"And what about the other companies we've invested a little in." Jake asked as he invested small amounts in a few other companies that were doing extremely well.
(Those are for making quick money, most of those companies are just fronts for market manipulation, in essence, they're average and any long-term investments are not worth it, so we'll just buy and dip when it plateaus. I have a good reading on most of the companies on the market, so we're fine on the financial side, just leave it to me. The reason why we invested so little is to not attract any attention.)
Jake felt relief knowing he was currently on the right track and the Atlas had taken care of it.
"What's next for us then?"
Valles Marineris, Sil City, Mars:
Two men sat in a high-end massage parlour, resting after a sauna.
"Why didn't you take us here in the first place, Mathaus." John spoke as he sipped on a cocktail, his skin gleaming for the first time in his life.
"Work first, fun later." Mathaus spoke as he rested on his chair.
"Sure, we've been running around this whole time ever since we arrived at Neptune, and you still haven't told us why we're here."
"Well, you're in luck then, we have one final place to go. Then you can do what you want after, I can organise a ship out of Sol or get you an ID here." Mathaus answered John.
"Back in that container again. Fuck that, I'm staying." Mathaus chuckled when he heard John's response as he knew he'd stay.
"Good, good, I'll get you a decent job here and you can live quietly as a thank you for joining me." Mathaus spoke with a smile on his face.
A few hours later a cab landed 50 km away from Sil City near the small industrial zone and two men stepped out.
"It's smaller than I thought it would be." John spoke as he recalled the size of the industrial sector.
"There's only 2 main companies and a few smaller irrelevant ones. They provide basic amenities to Sil while one of the main companies is an old power station, it wasn't worth it to dismantle so the government keeps it running for the excess power it sells off-world, bringing some profit to the local government.
"What about the other one?" John asked curiously.
Mathaus smiled as he led John "That's what we're here for."
They walked for a few minutes before reaching a lavish office building, with Tall walls blocking off the area.
The sign in front read "HYPERION SHIPYARD".
"Hyperion Shipyard? Don't tell me you're looking for a ship." John looked at Mathaus in confusion.
"I am looking for a ship, but not for me." He spoke, the confusion still evident on John's face.
They walked to the front gate and Mathaus ringed the intercoms.
After a few seconds, a man answered "Hyperion Shipyard, May I ask your reason for visiting?" He spoke politely.
"Mathaus here, did the shipment come in?" He spoke with confidence.
An alarm beeped before the gates opened and Mathaus and John entered, walking to the front door.
When they entered the building, John was shocked by the vast difference between the inside and outside of the building.
On the outside, although clean, the building looked empty or as if the company was closed.
On the inside, dozens of workers were walking, and chatting, some on computers while some seemed to be on break. It seemed all divisions of the company congregated here, be it the ones working at the shipyard or the ones in the office.
"Surprising huh." A man's voice came as the two immediately turned to their left.
A tall man in a sleek tailored 2 piece black and white suit walked towards them.
The man had steel grey eyes and although the skin on his face said otherwise, the salt and pepper hair hinted he was a vastly experienced man.
"Adrian Vossberg, acting CEO of Hyperion Shipyard." The man introduced himself, exuding both confidence and charisma.
Mathaus shook Adrian's hand as he introduced both John and himself.
"Olaff Mathaus and this is my associate John Selier, we last spoke when I was on Neptune." Mathaus spoke.
"Yes we did, I apologize if I caused you any trouble." Adrian spoke.
"Not at all, do you have what you need?" Mathaus asked.
"Absolutely, although we should continue our conversation in my office, I've made you stand for too long. Please follow me." Adrian politely spoke and led the two to a nearby elevator.
"Would you two like anything to eat or drink?" Adrian asked as the elevator went up.
"I won't have anything." Mathaus spoke.
"Coffee for me." John spoke as he felt slightly thirsty.
The elevator quickly arrived at the CEO's office and they were greeted by a large reception.
A woman exited the office and greeted Adrian.
"Everything prepared Samantha?" Adrian asked his secretary to hand him a file.
"Yes sir, I've cleared your schedule as well." The secretary answered Adrian before returning to her seat.
"Good, please come in gentlemen." Adrian walked into his office and Mathaus and John followed.
The large office surprised John who quickly had a look around.
The walls were a colour scheme of rich mahogany wood blended seamlessly with metallic silver accents. To the left was a glass-walled meeting area and a mini Library.
To the right was a seating area for guests and artwork of ships which adorned the walls, which Adrian quickly called them too.
The rest of the office consisted of his desk which appeared to house large holographic screens, most likely integrated into the table.
The ceiling-to-floor glass walls had a beautiful view of the Valley as well as the shipyard which was currently active.
John and Mathaus took a seat and John saw that refreshments and snacks were already prepared and he quickly picked up his coffee to take a sip.
"It's a beautiful office Mr Vossberg." Mathaus spoke honestly.
"Please Olaff, call me Adrian." Adrian spoke as he gestured to the snacks and refreshments on the table.
"Thank you Adrian, now about the materials." Mathaus spoke as he picked up a biscuit.
"Yes, the materials provided are more than enough for both our current projects. We predict 4 years for the smaller one and 6 years for the other." Adrian spoke.
"That is quick based on what you've been telling me."
"Of course, our main issue was the materials, otherwise we would have been done already. The funds have already been provided so we had no issues there besides supply." Adrian explained.
"Have you informed your client of the time frame?" Mathaus asked.
"No, they specified that we had to be done by 2399 and gave us specific instructions for delivery also."
"Would you too like to see the designs, and then I'll take you two down to the yard." Adrian woke up and asked the two to follow them.
Adrian walked to his desk and pressed a few times on his holo screen, after which a screen was projected on the wall, and the pictures and specifications of two ships were shown.
Both Mathaus and John's eyes widened.
"Holy fuck!" John exclaimed.