He took an elevator from his suite down to the main floor of the organizational complex and stepped out into the hallway. He walked with a firm tread, and men stepped aside with a slight deferential bow. He passed through the great glass doors at the end of the passage into a huge foyer. Passing through, he entered a courtyard, strode across it, and came into the working area. About sixty men were working at various stations. The men felt that Zimbardo was a real leader and were glad to see their new commander. It was amazing how rapidly the sense of defeat had been changed to one of expectancy and pride. Every day or two another ship docked and new workers came in to join the crew. Zimbardo had sent out a few trusted leaders to recruit men form noted asteroid bases and mining operations in the proximity of his asteroid. He could use more men, especially skilled workers in electronics and mathematics, but he wasn’t eager to build up a large force. He chose carefully. The workforce was being built up gradually with men he could trust. He had also invited three smugglers he had known before to join the operation, with their men. “Stubb,” called out Zimbardo. “Sir,” responded the man so addressed, an eager man about thirty years old, with sandy blond hair and baby blue eyes. He hastened up to the pirate leader. “Give me a status report. The ships first.” “The sheathing systems are easy to manufacture, thanks to the ample supplies from the warehouses. The men are able to put them together rapidly, even the unskilled workers, since they just need a master circuit to copy. I have forty men working on these, with the skilled electricians checking each plate. As you know, we completed work on ten ships six days ago; they were tested and went out on their assignments. They have not returned yet. These plates we’re working on now are going on the remaining ships, and we have already finished work on four of them. That leaves just three to go, including the ship that just joined the crew yesterday. We should be finished by tomorrow afternoon.” “Good. And the power units?” “These are far more complicated, sir, so I only have the most skilled workers assembling these. The same with the propulsion units. They won’t be ready for at least a week, not even one of them. However, once we get the prototype finished the rest should follow rapidly.” “How long until you have all 85 completed?” “I should have a good number of the unskilled workers ready for a new assignment once they have finished with the sheathing plates. Once the design has been checked by the experts, we can get them cracking on the power and propulsion units. Of course, each unit will have to be tested by the experts, so I would estimate that all 85 can be operational within ten days--unless we run into any problems.” “Good work, Mr. Stubb. I will check on progress every day.” “Very well, sir.” The man went back to work and Zimbardo returned to the main complex.