Netia Maomi sighed and ran a hand through her long black hair as she studied the schematics that had been sent to her office. She knew the designer was talented, but his unconventional approach sometimes made her question whether he might be going slightly mad - and whether she was mad for choosing him. It said something for how frequently they came into conflict that she didn't need to look up the number for his office, simply dialling from memory. The phone only rang a couple of times before being picked up and Netia found herself being greeted with a jaunty "Hello!"
"Efen? That is you, isn't it?" She asked.
"Yes boss. I thought you'd have a few questions about that design I gave you, so decided I'd hang around and wait for you to call."
"You're right, I do have some questions. Come up to my office and see if you can convince me this thing makes sense."
"No problem, I'm on me way."

True to his word, it was only a few minutes later that Efen knocked on her door and came into her office. As usual, he had a broad smile on his rosy-cheeked face and his curly dark hair was a tousled mess. He certainly didn't look worried. Netia motioned him to take a seat where they could both see the design.
"Efen," said Netia, "the contract we're going after is for an up-to-date attack aircraft. Explain to me, please, why you have produced a design for a triplane that looks like something Francesco Baracca could have fought in World War One."
"That's easy," Efen replied, "it was the best way to meet their criteria."
"Did they ask for a retro style? I don't recall that in their specifications."
"No, no, no - it does work. Listen here. They wanted something that was manoeuvrable at low speeds. That means a design with a lot of lift and plenty of area for control surfaces. But they also want it to operate from small airstrips, so we can't make the wings too wide. There were two ways to manage - I could have used a tandem wing, mounting a second primary wing behind the first. That would have worked, but it would have been hard to mount weapons on the rear wing, the front one would have been in the arc of fire for them. So the other way was to stack the wings and make a biplane or a triplane. And it makes a lot of sense. They were the main planes for years, so we have all that data to draw on. And look at the space it gives - three layers of mounting points for the armament, all with a clear line out the front."
"Speaking of the front, I see you did at least put the cockpit in the right place. I suppose I should be grateful you did at least one thing in a normal way. What is not normal is calling for engines with thrust vectoring. Do you know how much more complicated they are? And how they'll increase the cost? What are you thinking of?"
If anything, Efen's smile got even broader. Netia had seen this before, always when he was smugly proud of himself. She knew he was going to greatly enjoy explaining it to her, and resigned herself to put up it.
"Ah, I was hoping you'd ask me that," he said, his eyes sparkling with a near-maniacal glee. "I thought you would. Now, it is true that we could use a normal engine and still have a short take-off – I grant you that. Would I be able to convince you this is just to let it have a heavier weapons load? That I just planned it for that?"
Netia sighed. "No, Efen, I know there's more to it than that. Get it over with, what's your brilliant plan?"
"Not so fast, lass – I'll get to it in me own way. Now, this isn't going to be a true VTOL – that would be going too far. But we can use the thrust nozzles to create more lift. Now, like I said, this lets you mount heavier weapon loads. That fits with one of the big selling points of this – it's flexible. Depending on the mission, they can change where the mounting points are and what they fit. They can go low-altitude bomber, close range gunship, medium range rocket pods or long range missiles."
Despite herself, Netia felt a growing sense of excitement and found herself nodding along. This all fitted with what she could see in the design and being able to take on multiple mission profiles would be a big selling point.
"What I've done," Efen continued, "is make this even more flexible. They wanted a plane with a short take off. Well, I've checked the measurements and calculations, and with the extra lift from vectoring the thrust, this is going to be able to take off from the new Beast-class carriers. Now tell me that isn't going to grab their interest!"
Netia sat bolt upright with a jerk. Her mind raced. If Efen was correct – and he was good at theoretical predictions – this was a new market with big potential. A carrier-capable plane attack plane for supporting ground troops would be of real interest. It could be deployed much more quickly and responsively than the alternatives, and there would be no need to hold and defend airfields. This was big.
She turned face Efen, who had been observing her reaction with an amused grin on his face. She tried to keep herself composed, but couldn't keep a thrilled tremor out her voice.
"Efen.." she began, "This is... incredible. If it works – and I believe you when you say it will – this will be one of the best-known planes in the world. I needed to talk to you about this because I wondered if you'd been afflicted with madness. Now I have to wonder if you are blessed with genius."
"Ah, don't let that bother you," Efen responded, standing and heading for the door. "I've often wondered the same thing meself."