Tamara chuckled. “Well, I don’t have any formal acknowledgement from the powers that be, but I’m fairly certain that at some point in the near future FP is going to receive overtures for more warships from the government. Or I should say one big warship.”
The younger woman goggled at her. “Another battlecruiser?”
Tamara shrugged. “As I said, I don’t know for sure, but that’s my guess.” She pursed her lips, stroking her chin with two fingers. “I suppose we could farm out some of the work to ground facilities and then have them transport those components to the yard for Eretria to integrate.”
“That sounds very generous, if you don’t mind my saying, ma’am,” Tiyaana said, ducking her head slightly.
“If we can speed up construction by having multiple companies work on the ship parts, and increase the local industry base by giving them some of the contracts and cash, I’m all for it.”
“You know you’re taking some of the business away from FP when you do that.”
Tamara frowned at her. “Yes, Tiyaana, I’m aware of that. But I’m trying not to make FP the only company in the system that can do things. Yes, we’re the biggest right now, but I want people to be able to look to local businesses to be able to work on things.” She shrugged again. “Anything we can do to help out the smaller businesses…”
“And you’re not concerned that they might one day challenge us?” Tiyaana asked, disbelief etched on her face. Other technicians in the Operations center turned to look at the bosses, to see what the big boss’s answer was going to be.
“We are currently so far out in front of the others that I don’t think it’s a worry. And I don’t want FP to be the only game in town as far as building things and providing jobs. And if we do, in fact, get trade in the region going again, I want lots of healthy businesses here in Seylonique for the ships to go and trade with. I want more than just some massive company running everything in this system. That might make people less interested in coming here.”
There were mutterings around the room and Tamara turned to look. Smiles had broken out among the Operations crew, a few nods. One man gave Tamara a thumbs up and she chuckled. “I don’t want anybody to think that I’m trying to drive this company into the ground. I want us to thrive and expand, into other systems if we can. But for now, we’re going to have to reduce the refinery output.”
Tiyaana nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll have the workers shut down sectors one through seven and have the maintenance teams get in there for a full overhaul. Good a time as any.”
“Very well, Ms. Moreetz. I’m going down to the fighter bay to speak with the pilots. I think I’m going to see if I can get a few flight hours in on my ship as well.”
“Go ahead, ma’am,” Tiyaana said, sweeping a hand magnanimously. “Just call up when you’re ready to go. I’ll make sure you get clearance.”
Tamara stepped through the hatch into the fighter bay to the familiar clatter and whirr of ships being prepped, air wrenches and spanners being used along with the chatter of voices. All healthy sounds from Tamara’s perspective and an experience that always seemed to help center her and bring her to a good time in her life. Her old life. She felt further and further from that these days. Sitting in her office, or on Moxie-2, or in one of the boardrooms having meetings felt about as far from her flying days as it was possible to be.
But this felt good, almost like coming home. As she stepped into the bay, she started over to where her Perdition fighter was parked. She walked around behind the ship, running one hand over the metal of the left wing and down the laser cannon as she moved around toward the fuselage. A quick surface scan revealed the imperfections in the metal, but there were no problems or breaches. Popping the seal on the canopy, she scampered up the ladder and dropped into the cockpit. Flipping several switches, she powered up, then began running diagnostics.
“She still purrs, Commander,” one of the techs said, walking over to the ladder.
Tamara grinned, leaning her head back against the rest and closing her eyes, just listening. “Yes, she does. I’m not bringing the engines up to temp yet, but I want to check on everything first.”
“We’ve maintained your ship for you, ma’am,” the tech said with a smile. “She’s a beaut. I know that some of the other pilots really want to take her out for a spin.”
“Even more than the Visions?” Tamara asked.
The tech shrugged, putting his hands on his hips. “Oh, they like those ships, don’t misunderstand, ma’am. But this baby?” He patted the metal of the fuselage. “This here is a classic. A certified Republic Perdition class strike aerofighter from back before the war? You can’t find these anywhere.”
“I’m sure the Republic has some ships that would run circles around this old girl,” Tamara replied with a frown. It hurt to put down her fighter like that, but she didn’t want to soft peddle the truth.
“She doesn’t have shields, no, but that baby is fast and agile. I know Commander Korqath has expressed an interest in taking her out,” the tech said.
Tamara chuckled. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen how Korqath does some of his landings. He can content himself with his own fighter, thank you very much.”
“Don’t be a snob, Boss,” the zheen said, walking over. “That lovely ship just needs the right pilot.”
She smiled down at him from the pilot’s couch. “This lovely ship has already got the right pilot.”
“A pilot who hardly ever takes her out anymore. That ship has sat pretty much idle for the last six months. If not for the techs and me insisting on keeping up with the 30/60/90 maintenance cycles, you and that lovely bird would be grounded.”
“I thank you for your diligence, Commander Korqath,” Tamara said with a magnanimous wave. “How is your own ship?”
“Ready for space,” he replied, chittering slightly. “Why do you ask, Commander?”
“Because I could use some target practice out in the yard. Care to bring your Aploras along?”
He nodded. “They could use some practice as well. I’m sure those rocks out there could stand becoming sand.”
She waved her hand in a shooing motion. “Saddle up then, Korqath. I want to shoot some stuff!”
He buzzed a laugh, sketched a salute and trotted off. She watched him pull out a communicator and talk into it as he left. Tamara pulled herself out of the cockpit, and hustled to the pilot’s ready room to change into her flightsuit.
Eleven minutes later, twenty-one starfighters screamed out of the hangar bay and into cold space. There had been a slight argument among Tamara’s guards, because none of them wanted her to be out flying without them. Even Marat, who normally didn’t seem as though he cared about anything going on around him threw his oar in, saying that they couldn’t protect her while she was off gallivanting.
She ignored them, of course. Nothing was going to keep her out of the cockpit. It had been far too long since she was out flying and nothing, not even her very protective guards was going to stop her.
“Em-One, this is Aplora Leader,” came Korqath’s voice over the comms.
She couldn’t help but smile. “Em-One here.”
“Form up on my wing, Em-One. We’re moving in on the three biggest rocks on vector two-seven-four mark three-four.”
Tamara checked her HUD. “I see it. Forming up, you have the lead.”
“Switching to squadron channel.” There was a beep and Tamara pressed the correct key. “All right, Aploras, push it up!” Grinning, Tamara pressed the throttle forward and her ship sprang ahead, pushing her back into her seat with the acceleration. The other Visions, in their five diamond formations, easily kept pace.
It took little over three hours at cruising speed to reach the belt, and once there, Korqath cut them all loose. They went in as individual units, five sets of diamonds, with Tamara linking up with the first group, staying tight to Korqath’s wing. As they closed with the huge target asteroid, Korqath spoke up over the comms.
; “All right, Aploras, we go in on a strafing run. Cannons only on this run. I want a nice clean strike pattern. Em-One, you take lead position. I’ll be pulling up the rear of First Flight.”
“Copy that, Lead,” Tamara answered. Pushing up the throttle, she angled her fighter in at the rock, and as soon as she reached attack range, she depressed the trigger. Laser bolts lanced out from the cannons on her ship’s wingtips, stippling the surface of the rock. Her attack run continued until she rocketed past the asteroid, and her sensors showed the remainder of the flight was following along right behind her, only a few hundred meters behind. She pulled her ship up and around, making sure to stay clear of the incoming fighters.
They continued with similar drills for the next two hours. By the time they were done, a dozen big rocks had been pounded into smaller ones, by use of the starfighters’ missiles and cannon strikes. They had run an obstacle course through the belt, and even set up for coordinated strikes against communal targets. All in all, it had been a good training session and Tamara felt a trickle of sweat running down the back of her neck.
“That was fun,” she said, forgetting that the comms were open.
Whoops, buzzes and cheers sounded over the squadron channel. Korqath buzzed. “All right, Aploras, knock it off. Let’s head back to the barn. I want a hot wash after that exercise, including from our illustrious leader.”
“I’d be honored,” Tamara replied. She settled herself into a more comfortable position on the pilot’s couch.
“We’ve got a long trip back, Aploras,” Korqath said. “Report fuel status.” The various pilots reported in, including Tamara. “Well, it’ll be close, but if we are a bit more gentle with the throttle, but we can make it in with more than enough reserve to make combat landings.”
There were groans over the comms. Tamara did the math. With enough of a reserve left for a rough combat landing, the trip back would take nearly four and a half hours. Sighing, she brought up a course and speed to make the station in that time frame and pushed the throttle to the appropriate level. She keyed the comm over to Korqath’s private channel.
“Thanks for having me along, Lead,” she told him.
There was a buzz. “No, the pleasure is mine, Em-One. It’s always great getting you out here for a little practice. Too bad you won’t be able to stay on for a few days when we do some actual dogfighting exercises. Don’t want you to get soft. And besides,” he went on, “My Aploras are good and so are the other squadrons, but it’s always good when we can get an old hand to throw some nasty wrenches into the mix.”
She smiled. “Always glad to help. When we get back to the station, I’ll make sure to draw up some ideas.” Tamara considered it for a moment. “I’m thinking of a few situations to toss your people into. Also, I like that you’re having us do combat landings here, keep that up. Make sure they do all sorts of things of that nature, thruster failures, landings, take offs, sensor failures, all sorts of things.”
He grunted. “Already doing some of those. I didn’t consider take offs and regular landings. It is something to make sure my Aploras are working on. I think more than one or two could use the extra time.”
She shrugged, knowing he couldn’t see it. “Something to think about.”
The last of the Aploras was making their hard landing on the hangar deck of the Kutok mine when Tamara lined up herself up for her own attempt. “Em-One moving in for combat landing, coming in speed one-fifty.”
“Copy that, Em-One, this is Kutok Landing Control. You have the ball.”
“Roger, I have the ball.” She pressed the throttle forward, bringing her ship in at a steep angle.
It was more difficult than she’d originally expected. The station wasn’t located in orbit, it was in fact in the atmosphere of the gas giant. Which meant that Tamara was fighting through the high winds and thermal currents to reach the hangar. She applied more power, more thrusters, coming in at an arc, lining up for the landing.
“Looking good,” the signals officer said, voice coaxing her. “Little more power. Powwerrr…”
She brought the Perdition’s nose up, and extended her landing gear. It was going to be tight, what with the Aploras scattered all over the deck like that. Finding an open patch of deck, she decreased speed and pushed the stick forward, bringing the nose down and touching down. There was a horrible screeching sound as the struts scraped along the decking, but based on the sound, it didn’t feel as though she was gouging deep furrows in the metal. Hitting the braking thrusters and putting a puff to the ventral attitude jets, her ship skipped up off the metal and landed again, bumping hard against the decking. Five seconds later, the ship came to a stop, less than ten meters from the wall.
“Em-One, I’m down.” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Checking diagnostics, it appeared as though she hadn’t taken anything more than superficial damage to the landing struts and nothing to the main body of the ship. Thankfully, there had been a large enough gap for her to set down. “Glad that’s over with.”
Checking the seals, she popped the canopy, which slid forward so she could get out. Her helmet was still sealed and looking back she could see the huge hangar doors closing, sealing off the hangar. She powered down the ship and then climbed out. Moving forward, she went to the forward landing strut to check out the damage for herself.
“Nice landing, boss,” one of the pilots congratulated her, coming over to her.
She looked up. Hearing the voice over her suit comms made it difficult to tell where the voice was coming from, but an indicator on her HUD quickly showed her where the speaker was. It was a male zheen, not Korqath, about three meters away. She nodded to him and then looked back to the landing gear. “Thanks,” she said. No, like the sensors had indicated, it looked as though the strut had made it through the landing without much wear. She’d check it out and replace the foot at the bottom if any microfractures had formed.
“I’ll have the techs lug this old girl into formation and your normal parking slot, Commander,” the zheen offered.
“Thanks, but I think I’ll do it myself. I want to run through the diagnostic and maintenance for this myself, assuming no crisis pops up. I don’t have any meetings for the rest of the day and tomorrow, well, I think I can put off a few things.” She ran one hand carefully down the leg strut, but couldn’t feel any fractures. Not that she would anyway if the cracks were small enough. “And I’ll want to get her refueled and rearmed.”
The zheen nodded, his antennae bobbing up and down. “Yes, ma’am. Gotta do that with all these birds.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Then I guess we’d best be about it, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Commander Tyler, we have an incoming burst transmission from the Toroj,” one of the communications technicians reported.
“Send it here,” Tyler indicated to the tactical console. The man nodded and a moment later the information popped up. It included a number of passive sensor scans of the local space infrastructure. Tyler pulled out his communicator and called to Verrikoth.
“What is it, Commander?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, my lord, but the scouts have reported back in. There is no sign of the battlecruiser.”
There was a pause. “I will be right there.” Less than a minute later, the pirate lord stepped out onto the heavy cruiser’s bridge. “What have we got?”
Tyler looked up at him and smiled. “It looks good, my lord. We’re showing four, not three, of the system defense corvettes currently in close proximity of the gas mine and less than an hour ago, the squadron of fighters just returned to the station.”
Verrikoth looked at the display and nodded. “Excellent. And at thiss here?” He pointed at an icon out away from the others.
“That is the mining station at the edge of the asteroid belt, Lord. There is a pair of defense turrets there, but no warships, Lord. It does look as though there are a number of shuttles and sublight cargo ships, as
well as worker bots moving around the area.”
The zheen rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He turned to the comm-tech. “Order Cierre and Xiy’jan in toward the mining sstation, with Ironhide and Skale az ssupport. A desstroyer and a corvette sshould be more than enough to handle those turretss. Meanwhile, there resst of uss will be moving in on that gass mine.”
“We’re going to be within extreme sensor range of our own in about two hours, Lord.”
He nodded again. “Yess. Let it begin. Tell all sshipss to increase sspeed to the max acceleration of the freighters. There won’t be much they can do to sstop uss now, especially if their greatest asset iz out of position.” Tyler started issuing orders and the deckplates shivered as Nemesis accelerated. Checking his chair’s monitor, he saw that the rest of the fleet had brought their speed up. In a few hours, the fun would begin and a system that had managed to remain untouched by pirates, raiders or Republic interference would find out what it was that they had been missing. “I want them to ssee uss approaching and tremble in fear.”
Nasan Tariq sat at his command seat, wanting desperately to stretch out. But as the Master and Commander of the First Principles defense corvette Cavalier, it simply wouldn’t do to for the captain to be seen doing something so… normal. Cavalier, as well as her three sister ships had been in close proximity to the Kutok mine for three days now, allowing the crews to have some limited shore leave, even if it was only on the mining station. There had been talk of building an actual station complex, similar to the orbital station at the habitable world, out at this end of the system but so far all it had been was talk.
“Captain?” one of the sensor techs called from her console.
“What is it, Lacey?” he asked, using this as an excuse to get up from his seat and walk over. Screw it, he thought, stretching his arms and rolling his head to get the kink out of his back.
“I’m detecting… something.” Her fingers flew over the keys of her console, the tip of her tongue sticking out between her lips. “I’ve got a number of ships coming in on a vector from… out system.”
First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 Page 74