Unfair, page 4
“We don’t need something that carried a battalion around,” said Tom.
“Of course you don’t. What you need is this one.”
The image changed. The ship looked very similar, but the front end was different. The screen zoomed in, showing the normal cargo airlock. But below that was a much larger blank area.
“Try this image.”
The image changed, and this time the blank area wasn’t there. Something much more useful was.
“A flight deck?” asked Nyle.
“Yes. It goes the length of the ship.”
“I don’t see any launch tubes,” I said.
“There are none. It’s a closable flight deck. You land on the deck, close the doors, and then air up the deck. When you want to launch, you remove the air, open the doors, and fly out. Or you can leave it in vacuum, and use the airlocks and soft connection tubes to get in and out of the fighters.”
“Neither sound like very fast launching,” said Tom.
“They’re not, but the system is very simple, and getting back on board when you don’t want to stop is easy. We had some destroyers through here a few weeks ago which had launch tubes at ninety degrees to the ship hull, and no flight deck at all. If those ships are not stopped at the time, getting back aboard is incredibly dangerous without an AI doing the flying. Most pilots smash the fighter up trying. There was a mercenary fatality trying that out recently.”
“Okay,” said Darren. “I can see this is better.”
“What happened to those destroyers?” asked Brook.
“The protectorates bought most of them. They’re running Brawler class drones off them.”
“No use for us then,” said Doug.
“At a pinch, the ships were useable, but a bit of a death trap. Eventually I expect more of them to end up in the hands of pirates and merc groups, but mainly for the frigate level guns they’ve got on them. I’d never sell something like that to you though.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
She chuckled.
“Because I happen to know what you got paid out, and between you, you can afford something much better.”
“One of these Q-ships,” said Nyle.
“Yes. You can shoehorn on a dozen of most available fighters, so you could run a squadron off them. But for you six, I can do a bit better.”
“You keep saying that,” I said. “What fighters are you wanting to sell us?”
“Excalibur Fours.”
We all looked at her in surprise.
“You’re all rated for them, and being ex-Imperium and ex-League pilots, you’re allowed to buy them. And as it happens, I have six of them in good condition I can package up with a Q-ship which can carry them very comfortably.”
“Remind me what the Four was like?” asked Doug. “It’s been a while.”
“It was the first cut down version of the Excalibur, designed to launch from normal launch tubes. The original design was never intended for carrier launching, and this version was, mainly by chopping the wings down. The full bedroom was removed in the redesign, and replaced with a bunk unit, and a small fresher and kitchen.”
“The space freed up was used for better shields than the Three, and more ordnance storage space. Most of the rest of the specs stayed the same, but it was designed to launch out of standard launch tubes, where the first three were long range fighters which were not expected to land anywhere but at stations.”
“Remind me what it shoots?” asked Nyle.
“These ones have ten guns in the nose, at about corvette strength, with missile and torpedo launchers also in the nose, and an additional missile launcher in the tail. There’s four twin gun point defence turrets, but only pre-Imperium software to run them. No AI, sorry. The same for the ship. You’ll need to fly them yourselves, although the software does have autopilot modes.”
“Missile loads?” asked Darren.
“Three twenty missile or torpedo magazines in the nose for each launcher, and three more in the rear. Both missile launchers will take image recs or fire and forget, or they can be mixed in the magazines. There’s also a grav sled at the rear. That wasn’t removed until the mark five bomber redesign.”
“Repairs?”
“The missiles and torpedoes require a fighter specialty repair droid to swap out. I can supply those. Also ones for the Q-ship. They’re an extra though. The ship does have some stuff on it now which hasn’t been inventoried, and may in fact have its own repair droids. It’s sold as is, and anything on it you don’t want you can sell.”
“And the fighters?” I asked.
“Stripped of anything useful, but the bunks do have mattresses, and the kitchen and fresher facilities work. Or they will if you fill the water tanks. Fresher maintenance is done by the repair droids as well, but you’ll also need to buy cleaner bots. The guns will fire, but they need charging first. They’ve been in storage for quite some time now.”
“How come you have them at all?” asked Doug.
“All the mark fours were replaced by fives when they went into production. Some of them went to police forces, but most went into storage. A lot of those were subsequently upgraded to fives, and went to new bomber squadrons. The rest are still there in storage. If at some time in the future you want another six, or replacements, I can supply them.”
“Where are these six now?” I asked.
“On the Q-ship. Want a look see?”
She grinned at us.
Nine
“This ship reeks of cat,” groused Brook.
Aisha had been so sure we’d want to go there, she’d already had a rift put in from her office. We’d stepped out of it at the back of the bridge. There was a big pit in the middle, with a chair over the top, and stairs leading down into it. It looked vaguely familiar, and I rounded on Aisha.
“This ship is Keerah designed, isn’t it?”
“Yes. But it will be sold with an Imperium standard bridge. We’ve done a lot of those conversions recently, so it’s a quick job. Likewise, all the quarters will have human bathrooms, and the beds will have reasonable mattresses on them. The ship will be liveable by humans. The smell might take a while to dissipate though. Fastest way of getting rid of it is fly the ship down into an atmosphere, and open the cargo bay airlock and all the bulkhead doors. But that’s something you’d have to do yourselves.”
I could feel my blood boiling.
“Who owns this ship?” I demanded. “Is it that Pound bitch’s mercenary company?”
“Yes.”
She said it straight, looking me in the eyes as she said it.
“No, thank you then. I don’t want anything that’s come from her, and I sure as hell am not putting my credits in her pocket. Show us something else.”
“There’s nothing else anywhere near this good.”
“Show me anyway. Let’s see the Excaliburs though. Them I don’t have a problem with.”
“Follow me.”
She headed out the door at the back of the bridge. I got some not happy looks from the guys, especially Doug and Tom who didn’t understand why I hated Pound so much, but Brook seemed to be following my lead. But it was her who went into the captain’s quarters for a look, and the rest of us followed. The reek of cat in here was much worse. There wasn’t a bed at all, but some sort of tree, and no wardrobe of any kind. There was a bathroom, and it did have a large bath, but the look of it made Brook and I gag.
“All of that gets replaced,” said Aisha. “You also get a choice of how much accommodation you want. The ship should require additional crew, and you can get accredited for passengers from the Merchant Guild. Putting all that in place can be done just as easily as just providing for the six of you.”
“We’re not getting this ship,” I said, forcefully.
No-one said anything, but I caught Nyle and Darren looking at each other. Aisha led us to the tiger equivalent of a travel car. It took us out to the hull, down a few levels, and along the ship a bit. The doors opened onto a passage way, and that had windows opening onto the flight deck. A few strides away was an open airlock. She led us in, and it was definitely a soft seal tube connecting ship and fighter airlocks. A decent knife would slice it open.
The airlock of the Excalibur was open as well, and she walked us into the much smaller passage way inside. Seven of us was too squeezy, as the space was very similar to what a Spitfire had. So Brook and I went after her, and the others waited at the airlock. The bunk and fresher was as she’d said they were. Brook tried the tap in the fresher, and nothing came out. There was nothing there in the way of anything you’d need for either fresher or small kitchen operation, but the hardware seemed to be working.
The cockpit was familiar. We’d all flown this model before, or at least the four of us had. And the cockpit hadn’t changed much with the five and six, or the Spitfire which replaced the four and five as true carrier based fighters. Brook let me drop into the seat, and after looking at Aisha, who nodded, I turned the bird on.
The systems looked a bit out of date, but memory kicked in, and I navigated everything as I’d used to. The only thing I hadn’t used before was the actual auto-navigation system. But that looked very straight forward. The screens which came up for combat and showed me all around the ship were basically the same as I was used to using, and when I checked, not all of them available were selected. Brook seemed to be a bit overwhelmed though, which made me wonder how many she usually used.
Brook took my place, then we returned to the airlock, and let the guys take a turn. As we went back onto the ship, I didn’t need to ask anyone if we wanted the fighters.
“Let’s talk price for the fighters,” I said to Aisha. “And show us what else you have that isn’t from a tiger shipyard.”
“Follow me,” she said, and led us back to the travel car, which took us back to the bridge, and then back to her office.
On the way I heard Darren talking to Doug and Tom in low tones. I think he was explaining why we didn’t like our last wing commander, who no longer was one. I wasn’t sure if Darren understood my actual hatred for her, and truth to tell, I wasn’t really sure why myself. She just generated those feelings in me.
We sat back down in the chairs, and this time they did feel uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just me. Everywhere I went I was being haunted by that dumb bitch, and it was driving me crazy. Now I couldn’t even buy a ride without it coming from her. The cosmos obviously hated me.
The pricing on the Excaliburs was higher than I’d have wanted to pay, but much less than if they’d been new builds. And even with a repair droid each and full missile magazines, we could afford them. Living in the bunks would be tough, but these were still long range birds, and the airlocks were big enough you could use them as extra space.
Life in them would not be comfortable, but assuming you did get enough work, time between jobs could be spent in hotels, or even renting several apartments long term wherever we decided to base from. It was doable, and for the first time I actually felt like there might be a future for me out there after all.
Aisha said she had some other options to show us though. She had a Gunbus corvette in stock, which could be used as a living area. Although technically, this one had started life as a Camel, which was the civilian version, and was later brought up to military spec, more or less illegally. The design was influenced by the first version Excalibur, and was supposed to fly just like them, even though much bigger.
It had hangar room for three Excaliburs, just, and two airlocks for external docking of two more. And Aisha said the top marine airlock could be rigged to dock a fighter as well. It would look strange flying around with three birds sticking out of it, but it was an option.
The down side was it only had four cabins and a barracks area. But the barracks and adjoining wet area could be redone for two or three cabins. It was a real option, and well within our combined budget. The ship itself had the same basic forward firepower as the Excalibur Four did, but with corvette turrets on each side firing light frigate pulses. But we’d either need an extra pilot for the Gunbus, or we’d only need five fighters, and one of us flew the Gunbus. It was a definite option though, and I decided it might work for me.
An armed freighter was the next option, with six external airlocks. It already had more accommodation than we required, but we’d need to hire a captain for it, and if we actually traded, someone would need to learn that side of things, or we’d need a cargo master. It was old, had seen heavy use, and looked it. Aisha guaranteed there would be no mechanical problems. At least until we did something which broke something.
The last option was a destroyer. It was ancient, and once again, we’d have to dock the birds externally. But it too had more than enough accommodation, even considering it would need crew to run. Especially a captain, helm, and weapons officer. The guns did fire, but they were rated at way less than current destroyer guns. She told us it had been picked up from a retiring merc, and been designated for the protectorate forces, but she could swing it our way if we wanted it.
In some ways, the Gunbus was the better option, we’d only need five Excaliburs, and we could do some more extensive changes internally. The common area outside the barracks was more space than we needed for a group of six, but the only real privacy was going to be in the cabins. But it would work, and it was my preferred option.
Aisha made a point of telling us the Q-ship option was actually the cheapest.
“How?” asked Tom. “That makes no sense.”
“Let’s just say, the overheads on it are smaller,” she said, smiling.
“Because they were captured,” said Darren. “No cost to buy in the first place.”
“Also,” added Aisha, “as ex-military, and trusted by the League…”
“Are you sure about that?” I broke in.
“Very. When people leave the Imperium or League forces, I get a list of those I can sell high grade hardware to. You’re on that list. It gains you some discounts and extras that anyone who hasn’t been League military never hear about. We don’t sell the Fours to just anyone. We are selling them to you. Likewise, something with the firepower of a cruiser is not something we put into anyone’s hands. There are plenty of mercenary groups who would love these ships, and even be able to afford them at top prices, but they will never know they’re even available.”
She looked around at all of us. Darren looked troubled. So did Doug and Tom. Nyle seemed to be debating something with himself. Brook was looking at me.
“Hold us the fighters,” I told Aisha. “We’ll talk about base ships tonight, and hopefully give you a decision in the morning.”
“Then I’ll see you then.”
She grinned at us.
Ten
Doug and Tom got the full story out of us over dinner.
They’d taken cheaper rooms in the same hotel for tonight, but before they’d commit to joining us, they wanted the full story of what had brought us here. Darren told it, the rest of us listened. Both were shocked at twenty four Spitfires being destroyed so fast, and that no-one higher up had thought that was just bad luck. We’d been hit by a well-executed trap, and that sort of thing did happen.
Darren couldn’t explain why we’d been discharged though, because none of us understood it. But Doug nodded sagely. He and Tom understood that sometimes good pilots were let go for reasons no-one wanted to admit, and the chances were, we’d just turned into an embarrassment for someone at the top, and needing two weeks to recuperate gave them the excuse to get rid of us. Put that way, it started to make sense to me.
After we finished eating, Darren said he had some errands to run, Brook declared she was going to Jane’s disco for some dancing, and the others all decided they needed to shop, or might even go dancing as well. I think Brook had more than that in mind though. I told them to have fun, to think about the options, and we’d discuss it over breakfast.
Back in my room, I went over the Excalibur and Gunbus specs. The Gunbus was just a bigger fighter in a lot of ways, and apparently the Imperator had flown one himself early on in his career. A super version had also been done, merging two of them together around a central joining section, but this wasn’t one of those.
It had plenty of point defence turrets, but even though the side turrets had been improved from the originals, they were slow firing. Someone hadn’t done the upgrade with power requirements in mind. But they meant you got a big hit every five seconds, which was an eternity in combat, but as a first hit punch, that was excellent, and was the equivalent of a triple torpedo launch.
I was getting ready for bed when some specs pulsed in from Aisha. She’d done a redesign to provide us with the extra cabins we needed. Bed had to wait. I went over the specs fully instead.
She’d left the captain’s bigger quarters alone, as well as the three cabins on the top deck, but had replaced the barracks and wet area on the cargo deck with three more cabins. Each one had a queen sized bed, lounge chair, and bathroom. It would give us a spare in case we needed somewhere for a passenger.
It left the armoury and gym on that deck alone. The captain got more space than anyone else, with a small lounge room off the bedroom and bathroom, a tiny kitchen unit, and a small office. Deck two had three more small offices, and an observation area at each end, as well as a small rec area for four. That was in addition to a small medical bay, and the ship computer, both of which were a bit out of date, but more than what we’d need.
She included updated pricing, and I decided if the others didn’t want to go that way, I could buy it myself, and just go wherever the work took me. It was a good general purpose ship, which had the freight capability of a small freighter, and the firepower of more than a fighter, with the same manoeuvrability. It was getting old now in tech terms, couldn’t tangle with a modern fighter like the Spitfire at all, but for hunting pirates or bounties, it was ideal. The cabin changes would also allow for six passengers.
That brought on some thinking about the others. Did I really want to stay with them? Did I have to? Did they want to stay with me? They certainly didn’t seem to be on the same page as I was with what we needed, so maybe they’d take the Q-ship without me, or the destroyer. Did that bother me? Apparently not.
