“No. We are at the point of desperation. We ether start a galactic war in the surrounding sectors with the as surviving System s States already fighting to survive and become ultra-territorial to keep what little trade is left creating dozens of small costly wars while trying to escort hundred s of small convoys across thousands of square light years and go bankrupt in 10 years . Or we try something new Captain Summers has suggested.”
The Admiral looked at Mark as he grimaced. “Arming the Tramps with modern weapons to protect themselves. You are th e at first ship . That is if we can do it without anyone knowing we are doing it. One word across the space ways that England is helping you and your ship won’t last a month which is one reason I have to make it look like your bounty has paid for everything even though your ship is broke . Hell, company ships are barely tolerated on many of the planets simply because they are usually considered to be civilian with only enough weapons for defending themselves so the fragmented new State and Planetary Governments that still survive let them operate while charging high taxes and landing fees and the pirates in general see no reason to mass and destroy them outright since their cargo is usually not that expensive valuable luxurious . While every English military cargo ship we have crewed and sent in has been taken out simply because we sent it , in the belief that the ship must be transporting expensive cargo by pirates and are spy’s by planetary governments . No Mark. One word about England helping you officially and your ship is doomed which is why we are going through you and not your ship’s Captain.”
Mark stared at him for a few seconds and swallowed. “Aaa. Captain Summers plan?”
The Admiral smiled. “Captain Summers’s plan calls for sending in armed Tramps with crews big enough to fight off most anything with no allegiance to anyone but themselves and other tramps . Transports that pose no threat to governments or companies and are looked down on as a worthless waste of time to take by most pirates, at least until they make a few Credits and are about to leave the Outback.” Turning back to look across the warehouse. “Tramp ships already have only a roughly 20% success rate of surviving a year unless they stay close to the State planets but even then they only have a 60 % chance of surviving a year with only marginal gains as the cost of cargo is not that as high around the State itself. Bankrupting many ships unless they go out beyond the State and into the Outback. We just need to up that rate somewhat to save this State and the State we just annexed from this war and this whole sector. That is what you are supposed to do Mark . Survive” Handing Mark the tablet back. “Just survive and successfully deliver cargo and… And take out a few pirates while you are at it until you too are destroyed once you have become rich enough to buy another ship and split your crew and be come a prime target for pirates and desperate planets to go out of their way and spend the time and money to take you.”
“Roughly 20% survival rate for a year!” Mark could not believe it. That was not what the Captain had told the ship. “No! Any ship that would go into the outback under those conditions would have to be stupid, crazy or pretty damn desperate. It can't be right. “They are just leaving the outback using a different route right?” Handing the tablet back to the Admiral. Either way he did not want anything to do with the outback at those odds.
“Mark. We have embassies, surveillance outposts and sensor mines scattered for hundreds for hundreds of light years around our sector . P p ut the i r e during the war. We know what the hell is going on. We just have not released the information to the public. It would close down what little trade is left and result in this sector’s collapse in a year or two instead of a decade.” He did not tell Mark that most of that information was just now being paid attention to by upper Command. “The problem for you is that now that you are here , you have few choices that do not include heading back toward the Empire even though the engine up grades we have spent so much money developing to allow our transports and battleships to operate across the vast distances between the stars that are beyond the dead zone , would probably make you profitable again. ”
Seeing Marks expected baffled face the Admiral smiled. “ The Empires big Shipping Companies do not like unfair upgrades and your engines would be de-rated at the first State you pitted in, to what the average ship’s engine of your class can produce. Most likely bankrupting your ship where you sat because you could not deliver part of the cargo you had on board at the time unless that happened to be the planet most of your cargo was going to which for a tamp is not normal. The fact your engines are even more powerful and advanced than our upgrades, could mean that they actually destroyed your ship to keep the secrete of your new fusion core from spreading.”
Mark physically deflated as he leaned against the rail.
“But if we can upgrade a Tramp ship enough to make it prosper and survive through the first 6 months to a year, when most of the ships fail, our military AI says that it will demonstrate that upgrading all the Tramps that pass through our sector will not only stave off the collapse for additional decades, (if not longer), it will be very cost effective. Though it will take upgrading at least a hundred s of Tramps if not thousands more after the concept is proven. Which will take years. That statistic also covers the 12 to 16 month spike for losing tramps when they become fat pickings worth considerable effort for both corrupt governments and Pirates. We can make that less likely if they start running in pairs or mini convoys by then we can afford to escort with one of our new cruisers that should be coming down the pipe by then. Escorting a few tramps until they can buy a ship to split their crew making both ships pore again should not drive us into bankruptcy . We eventually may even be able to As well as allowing rescu e ing the tramps stranded in Tramp ship Hells and turning Tramp ships that have gone over to the dark side of pirating themselves with an amnesty, back into just transporting goods profitably. ”Handing back the tablet.
“Oh!” Mark sighed with relief. “You had me going there for a minute Admiral. There is no such place as Tramp ship Hell or Tramp ships that turn pirates. They are just ferry tails to scar the kids.” Handing back the tablet.
“But there is my dear boy. I have seen one Tramp ship hell and captured or destroyed several Tramps that have gone pirating trying to survive. Tramp ship Hell is created when corrupt governments, Pirates, infighting and other circumstances including economics at some particular cross roads among the star t s, winds up stranding tramps and a company ship once in a while s around the same planet or station or moon or rock out in the middle of nowhere with no fuel or hope. ”
The Admiral looked at Mark’s disbelieving face. “ Some ships band together for survival waiting for something to change or rescue by Godstar. I have heard of 3 such hells and seen one with half a hundred ships stranded, some of them just hulks with dead crews still aboard. The shame is that the circumstances that brought the first ships there keep s bringing more every year instead of salvation. Even healthy ships that wonder past and try to help usually wind up stranded themselves. The old drowning man syndrome; the desperate y pull the healthy ship down with them stealing repair parts, equipment, fuel, oxygen, water and even food that is barely enough to keep the mass of ships alive as more ships continue to join. ”
The Admiral shook his head. “ The shame is that Tramp ship hell is usually where a Tramp or Company ship usually turns to pirating instead of dying by taking what they need to get out of there or survive from the other ships even if it means killing. Eventually taking anything they come across including small stations and outposts most pirates ignore simply because the Tramp’s large desperate crews make it easy as well. While pirates are usually after only other ships with profitable cargos, most Tramps left in the deep o O utback after 18 months become scavengers rooting through the garbage and half alive dying planets, moons, mining stations and ships to survive. Hanging around systems watching people die by the thousands even millions, so they can move in to feed off the carcasses and equipment left behind by the dead. Becoming Vulture ships. ”
&n
bsp; Mark turned red and started to call the man a lyre until Mickey interjected telling him to calm down. That the Admiral was telling the truth. That the Star Queen had files on dozens of ships that had gone to the dark side and even details of a dozen trampship hellholes. Several of them even in toward the Core States of the Empire.
Looking back at Mark. “ I take it your ship plans on earning enough to split and leave the outback in a year. That is good. We just want to make sure you have the tools and weapons to stay alive long enough to do just that. Except again you will not be allowed to leave though few Tramps know that little fact . ” He stopped short from saying (if you’re damn lucky). Handing the tablet back to Mark. “ Except again , you will not be allowed to leave though few Tramps have survived l ong enough to know that little fact . You can’t tell your crew or your Captain that . Even if they believed you , it would destroy y our ships moral and in sure that they fall prey to planets and pirates or wind up in one of those damn black hell holes stranded with hundreds of other ships just like you . ”
He did not mention the secret mission the Admiral had planned for a scout ship deep into the Outback. Maybe the Star Queen. The problem was he had no faith that a scout ship big enough to make the long journey without making hundreds of stops would survive alone long enough to get it's finding back to England. Though he knew if the Star Queen lasted the year he would probably be forced to figure out a way to make them take the mission. After a year no other ship would have the experience or power to make the journey. Even if they only made it half way to the Home planet of the Empires old enemy before being destroyed ,the message torpedoes they would have managed to send back by then would prove one way or another if they really were looking at a massive Galactic war again or just a hell of a lot of pirates.
Mark turned red and started to call the man a lyre until Mickey interjected telling him to calm down. That the Admiral was telling the truth. That the Star Queen had files on dozens of ships that had gone to the dark side and even details of a dozen trampship hellholes . Several of them farther in toward the Core States of the Empire.
Mark smiled as a thought occurred to him , still not rea l ly believing the Admiral or Mickey him . “So with that many ships littering the space ways , it should be easy to buy a cheap ship long before we get rich enough for anyone to bother with right?”
Shaking his head the Admiral sadly smiled. “How long do you think your ship could go without having to buy replacement parts for your engines or life support equipment or access to a ship yard Mark? England prime is only one of a half dozen ship yards in the state still operating right now after all the damage that was done during the war. Once you get into the Russian province they are few and far between with none that we know about in the outback right now. You can’t just order up replacement parts at the nearest Ship Market because there is none. Most of those ships in the outback are grounded or stuck in orbit simply because they have no replacement parts for their engines or money for fuel . If there is fuel to buy. ” Taking a breath. “Sure you can buy a hulk for practically nothing , but then what are you going to do with it. Fact is, one of the biggest scams going on out there are ships advertising replacement engine parts that either don’t work or is just a ruse to get close enough to the ship to take and strip it.” The Admiral could not understand as Mark kept smiling at him. “Mark if you don’t have at least a year ’ s supply of everything you need before entering the Outback, you will probably never leave it.”
Mark tried to stop smiling with little success. “Sorry Admiral but one thing our ship’s AI Admiral insisted on, was making sure the Queen ha s d everything she need s ed to make repairs to the ship without critical outside parts. Our machine shops may be damn old but we can completely over haul damn near anything on the ship if we have the plans or the item to copy. That includes making that new Fusion Core we altered from your kits original cone shaped core to make our upgrade while even lengthening the damn engine to take full advantage of the new core’s fusion system. Hell Admiral, we even pull our own gravity wire to make gravcoils while we are coasting between systems. Sure it takes a day or two longer to transit but shutting down the engines when we reach 75% of the normal segment’s velocity saves a lot of wear and tear on the engines over accelerating for the whole damn trip. Besides our old engines were spending half their time broke down anyway simply because we have always had a hard time getting the proper metals while there are some modern processes we simply can’t copy yet but we make do with second best . ”
Mark looked at the Admiral with a smile. “ But as far as cheep cheap hulks go, we could completely rebuild the whole ship if we have to but the council simply decided we were not going to go that route. We would have to spend months in one place without income to get it done while we starved to death. Too damn big a crew. Which is a laugh since the large crew is why we have the ability. But then not needing to use the many over hall shops and facilities at each port also m ade it possible to support the large crew. So figure. Though one of the arguments right now concerning the old water tank deck is between converting it into a cargo hold or enlarging the farm decks so we would be independent for food so we could sit someplace, feed ourselves and rebuild an old run down ship if we had to but then the cost of raw materials would be damn high as well unless we went into mining as well. Which we don’t have the equipment to do. Though give us another year and we will have plenty of crew to start.”
“What the hell. You said Gravity wire? It takes a damn factory out beyond the Ort cloud of any system to be far enough away from all gravity sources to pull gravity wire and you are saying you make the damn shit while you drift along sightseeing between the damn stars?”
“Sure, take a look at our ship’s online store. Most of what we make we sell to other
Tramps.”
The Admiral jerked the tablet out of Mark’s hands and started tapping the screen. “Where? I t don’t see any… Ok yes there it is.” Looking back up at Mark. “ and And you say you have all the wire that is listed here?”
“Sure. We keep a couple hundred tons of the comon common e sizes on hand , give or take a few tons as we sell and make more depending on how long we drift on each leg. As I said the hard part is buying the base metal and rare earths needed to mix each batch up. Just like the damn engine injectors we are always having to make. As long as we have the right material s we can make all we want or sell . That is until we run out, which we do quite often. Though our injectors don’t last as long as the originals since we can’t do the advanced processes yet that would toughen them up but we are working on that. Though my new fusion core isn’t as hard on injectors as current technology cores are. The lower pressures to start with and the greatly reduced flow should allow each injector to last a good year between changes instead of weeks. We finally get the new toughening processe s down and they should never wear out. ”
Shaking his head in astonishment. “You list the gravwire and even coils but there is nothing about your ship being able to do what only a ship ship yard or Ortstation is supposed to do. We don’t even have that in our records.”
“Well Admiral. A lot of our equipment is damn old. Gotten out of junk yards and or picked up cheap in old ship yards. I supposed it just never dawned on anyone why anyone outside of the Tramp community would care what we could do. After all most modern shipyard s can do a much better job. Though now I see why that could change Especially now we are headed for the Outback.”
Turning away from staring at the weapons and equipment scattered in front of him across the huge hanger. Mark closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “So. Why my ship?”
“Originally…You Mark. You and your AI have demonstrated to the Admiral that if any one ship can pull this off , it would be you and your ship . N Kn ow with all this additional information , it can only be your ship. Then if you survive the pilot program; we will start arming other tramps. Helping Maybe even helping e e very tramp under the table or establishing s
ome kind of lost base for them to find before they it go es into the outback and even releasing the crews in the Tramp Camps and rebuilding their ships. R Even r eplacing all the equipment sold off the hulks to help pay their bills. But t hen there is still the problem of being able to maintain the ships in the outback without anyone knowing we are doing it. We believe that a large percentage of the ships get stranded or over run on planets or cought by pirates are simp ly because of maintenance issues and breakdowns. Though we can’t be sure since there is little left of those ships or their crew s to ask. ”
“And here I thought Ms. Summers was pissed off at us Tramp Bozos to use her expression.”
“Captain Summers has written a report about the Murder of your ships AI and all the other waste and bad practices aboard your ship, the Star Queen. Yes she has withdrawn her support for your ship. But then she has never really served aboard a ship as a crewman and lacks some of the real world smarts that comes with time in a can. She does not have the experience to realize that you r ship is not that far from the average Tramp Ship. ” The Admrial chuckled as he looked down and smiled. “ No none military ship could possible live up to her fantasy. Then again, Admiral Ridgway has decided you will do and she will follow orders. I concur and now think you are the only Tramp that can pull this off. Though the odds against you are still shit. " Shoving the tablet back into Mark’s hands.
Trampship Wars 2 Page 28