“And that’s just one of them,” Kalico waved at the list on the monitor. “Xing Hanaan. Aircar tech. Turalon’s got sixty powerpacks on the manifest that will put at least thirty of the wrecks out in the weeds at the edge of the aircar field back into service. Assuming the other parts on the manifest, like fan motors, can be adapted. Again, a Corporate tech, using Corporate parts, that can repair aircars that belong to individuals in PA.”

“Those individuals can pay The Corporation for the parts and hire Hanaan for a set fee to fix them.” Yvette gave a dismissive shrug.

“What’s a fan motor for a Beta aircar worth?” Kalico asked. “See, what I mean? We’re going to have to put a fricking price on every piece of equipment, every spare part.” She tapped the printout of the cargo manifest where it lay on the desk beside her. “It’s going to be an accounting nightmare.”

“Did The Corporation send us an accountant?” Shig asked mildly.

“Hell, no!” Kalico snapped. “Back in Solar System what do you need an accountant for? Inventory and value are all handled by the AI and algorithms. Everything’s ‘in the system’ from starships down to lock washers.”

“We can pay for starships and lock washers, assuming Lawson can’t make them on his own.” Yvette leaned back, fingering her chin. “It’s the intangibles. How do we set compensation for services? And worse, what happens when we get into that gray area where we’re using a mix of PA and Corporate parts, tools, and know-how? It’s all melted together over the past couple of years.”

“It’s been working fine,” Shig said. “We’ve made progress. It was Lawson and Montoya, working with Talovich, who figured out how to finally and safely drive the Number Three drift into the mountain.”

Kalico leaned back, making the worn chair squeak, and tapped fingers on the butt of her pistol. “Outside of the fact that we were running out of just about everything we need to keep the more advanced equipment running, I’d say we had a pretty good thing going here. Unfortunately, I don’t think that IG Soukup is going to be as open-minded when it comes to Corporate rules, let alone leaving seventy-two people in PA.”

“You going to house them in the barracks?” Yvette asked. “If you are, where are you going to find beds for your people rotating in from Corporate Mine and Southern Diggings?”

“Not to mention,” Shig said mildly, “a lot of your people have bought homes here in PA. They hold title to their property. Has IG Soukup discovered that yet?”