Trampship Wars 2

by L. D. Roberts

  “What. You said we had a 60% chance of succeeding without your help for 6 months. How is that going to prove anything in just 6 months unless you up grade every Tramp ship at the port?”

  “We can’t upgrade them all. Not yet any way. We are half way through a battle for the French system that has cost us half the fleet we sent over damaged or destroyed already with projections of the fleet being entirely annihilated by after hundreds of pirate ships that include battleships that have invaded the system. The French were not so lucky losing most of their fleet over the last year to pirates that we thought was simply incompetence on the French ir part since they only captured a few up armed transports as they kept losing ship after ship. We didn’t have a clue that the pirates had squadrons of battleships they hold in reserve for taking whole systems or squadrons deep inside the Outback . ”

  Shaking his head. “No. We have to not only replace their losses but increase their fleet as well as ours now that we have proof of who the real enemy is. The problem is that without the council’s permission, the Admiral only has enough credits for a few of the basic upgrades for one or two ships. Though your accidental label as an auxiliary will make that easier for me as well as your bounty . ” Smiling a little. “ Better armor and weapons for the crew, new guns for the ship and a few missiles and torpedoes for the ships boats above the bombers you have already gotten. Which the Admiral was ready to pull from your ship following the Captains recommendation to dump your ship’s crew in the Tramp Camps and dismantle your engines to make sure we could copy your advances . w hile Captain Summers is now in the middle of put ting s together a military crew to take one of the impounded Tramp ships , that had already upgrade its armaments but immediately wen t into bankruptcy when they could not get a load and send it into the outback and see how it does. The Admiral does not like the idea of sending civilians into battle. With the idea that if the military crewed tramp ship d i d o es not run into to many problems and survives long enough to take out a few pirates while delivering cargo. The Admiral w ould ill go to the Parliment Parliament and try up grading a few of the tramps for a pilot program.”

  “No, your little stunt today was enough to pu sh you over the line and convince the Admiral to support you as much as we can. And standing here simply talking to you has convinced me as well. Which is not nearly enough on its own to insure the survival of the pilot ship, your ship, by itself according to Captain Summers but you will be all there is and on your own with no one to look to for help.” Taking a breath. “I plan on using your bounty on equipment to supplement the basics to include enough weapons to allow you to survive in orbit and on the ground as well to make your deliveries and force payment if needed. Which is where over half the ships fail. If you don’t get paid or can’t force payment, it is just as bad as if a pirate took your cargo in space by forcing you to dump it out the locks without boarding, for them to pick up. Which many of the pirates do to keep from losing crewmen trying to take ships they know have large crews. Whereas a small crewed ship losing a few crewmen delivering or forcing payment on a planet can be devastating. Your ship has more than enough crew to absorb a few casualties without affecting your ship’s performance and ability to survive.”

  “Ok , so you are going to upgrade our old 5 inch explosive charge cased, manual loaded, plasma guns for some new Plasma line powered 5 inch 63cal guns.” While the new 5 inch mount s Mark had seen on other ships was the obvious upgrade . Mark r emembere d seeing a ship the week before with one of their 5 inch 63cal gun turret s knocked out and shook his head. Looking around the warehouse with Mickey’s help when they had arrived , Mark had already he spotted what he realized was exactly what he wanted and pointed. “No! Two of those light weight 8 inch single barrel Mk 88 turrets would make nice replacements for our old twin 5 inch Mk 38 battle ship turrets. The 8inch guns put my ships current 5 inch guns to shame. Hell, the 8’s put every 5 and 6 inch gun I have ever heard of to shame and they fit into the same base ring in the hull as our twin 5 inch turrets and require little additional reinforcing structure to handle the firing stresses and are actually a hundred tons lighter than our old heavy cruiser turrets.”

  Smiling from ear to ear at the open mouthed Admiral for a second, Mark looked farther down the warehouse focusing in on pieces of equipment as a devilish smile crossed his face with one corner turning up. “Ok! And a couple, three thousand of those light weight slim hard armored shelled combat suits for the general crew would be a great addition to the new heavy combat suits I am sure you have lined up for our marines and double as space suits for the general crew since our old fabric suits are 150 years old and leak constantly and are worn out and tear easily losing several crewmen a year working in vacuum . And what do I see but a little hundred ton transport shuttle that would fit into our hanger locks. NO! That’s much better. The big Assault shuttles AS-9’s with a full range of weapons would be the thing if they fit in the locks. Four of them would make some planetary landings unnecessary for the ship by landing almost a thousand tons of cargo in one group trip down to any place on the planet without risking the ship. But then where to put the… aaa, bombers?”

  Jack shook his head trying to figure out where to put the squadron of bombers since they would not fit into the lifeboat locks. But what about… Oh yes Mickey give me the car deck bays hatch measurements and compare them to the Try-wing bombers folded for storage. I think they…good. That means we have room for the Torpedo Bombers in the old water tank that used to be vehicle storage decks. As well as something else. Say a something like ohh ahhh Yes, the Space Assault APC’s with thrusters. They are shorter than the APCC trucks and yes they even fit nicely in the life boat locks and work well as delivery trucks on the surface . Yes a good 20 no, 50 48 of them would be better life boats than the half dozen surviving 200 year old life boats the ship has left. Oa, yes. The APC’s cannot only land on a planet while defending itself but re-orbit later carrying more people than the Life boat.” Mark looked surprised for a second. “Oops! Sorry so they can’t make orbit from the ground but they can still land from orbit which will still help out cutting delivery time to remote locations and just flying back to the ship after delivering their cargo and ca n even save time picking up new cargo .” Handing the Admiral the tablet back.

  “Godstar boy, you just cannot dump your life boats. You need them in case of an emergency!”

  “What! The ship now has a crew more than twice the size the ship was designed for and had life boats for when it was new, so that is a moot point. Besides; the ship is going to crash and we can only evacuate a fraction of the ships company. Who goes and who stays. Do you hold a fast lottery. lottery? That is if the few lifeboats we have left even work. Fact is most of them have been replaced by replaced by hull guns that are pretty much worthless anyway. And the few that are left, I used to play pirates in that had been stripped to provide electronics and maneuvering thrusters for the shuttles and repairs to the half dozen lifeboats we use for ship to ship transfers. No. let's use the space for something that can save the whole ship and not just a few elites.”

  “My Commander; you do know how to twist things around but the civilian station’s safety commission is not going to approve of your ship leaving for the Outback if you do not have enough life boats for your crew and passengers.”

  “What? Since when do Planets care if Tramps live or die.”

  “What can I say. England is a very progressive liberal State. We only allow the politically incorrect and the unborn to be murdered.”

  “Well your navy ships don’t have enough life boats for the crew so you can just figure out a way to get us around it as well. Besides you do have a point. Assault shuttles or even Armored Personnel Carriers have such an unfriendly name. So well how about…..ahh. We will just call them Advanced Personnel Carrier Life Boats. And just add a couple letters to the APC. Vaalaa! APC - LB’s. The ship has it‘s life boats. You can add enough of the APC -LB’s to take our whole crew off during an emergency. Though
I don’t know where the hell we would put them all but the water tank or ex a ircar deck could handle several hundred along with the bombers. . ”

  “Yes that is cute Commander but our ships do have inflatable life pods for the entire crew! So.. Ahh aa. Well, we could attach enough life raft pods to make you legal at a fraction of the weight , after all we have more than enough in mothballs with all the ships that have been decommissioned since the Russian War ended.” Turning, the Admiral gave Mark the Tablet again. “Take a walk Commander and add whatever else you can think of for whatever reason and when Captain Summers gets here she can go over it with you.”

  “I thought you said that Captain Summers dropped me like a brick of frozen oxygen. Beside , you still have not told me how much the bounty was.” Mark gave the tablet back to the Admiral.

  “Don‘t worry about it Commander. No matter how much I stretch or manipulate the facts, it is not going to be enough. But I will get you as much as I can as junk surplus . That is if you let me get out of here and work on it. I still have to leave in a few hours on another assignment. ” And handed the tablet back to Mark. “I still have to get the fleet factories back up to full production with new ship designs.”

  “Well don’t let me keep the hatch from hitting you in the butt Admiral.” Smiling at the Admiral staring at him without taking the tablet. “Really Admiral, I have Mickey. I don’t need your tablet but thanks. S ummers he did tell you about Mickey didn’t she?” With the Admiral's node Mark continued. “Check it. Everything I have talked about is already on that complete with construction change prints and lists. You will also find a bunch of things I didn‘t say anything out load about that I found while we have been talking. As I find things Mickey will add them. If you have any questions just ask the tablet and I will answer or you can just change the list if you want and Mickey will tell me. I have orders to procure a hundred thousand credits of trade goods on a special account. Do you wish the funds for your upgrades or should I see what I can find to sell in the ship’s pit fairs?”

  “No that is a drop in the Engine’s mass tank. Keep it and fallow your Captain’s orders.” The Admiral left with the tablet in hand, shaking his head.

  "Well Mickey, we might as well have some fun even if we never see any of the junk back on the ship." Dropping down to the showroom floor, Mark climbed onto a waist high tank with a large 16 foot fixed barrel pointing out of the front armored steeply angled glacis plat. A little tower in the middle behind the gun had a shallow wide turret plate on top with a couple of barrels pointed out its front sloped armor and sensors that resembled eyes to each side. According to the literature that popped up on his glasses when he looked, one barrel tube was a grenade launcher and the other a heavy plasma machine gun. The telescoping tower could lay flat in a recess on the hull made to fit it for stacking several tanks for shipping or extend up to 8 feet up for long range viewing while the hull remained hidden in grass or even submerged in water with the ability to dig itself into the ground to become part of the land scape until needed.

  Mark fell in love with the little turretless tank with a 12 foot long, 9 foot wide hull and a big ass 105mm gun sticking out the front. Opening the top hull hatch on the rear, Mark climbed down into the seat , having to put the badge the Admiral had given him into his pocket to keep it from getting knocked off. The little clip attachin g it to the outside of his left shirt pocket allowing the badge to flop around and catch on the hatch combing . Then as he settled in Mark and realized that the hull was only 2 feet deep inside forcing Mark to recline in what felt more like a couch than a seat with a thick patrician partition spreading his legs. Though his feet easily reached the peddles with his knees bent over a hump under his legs with the many controls and screens placed around him easy to reach, the cockpit felt more cramped than any fighter he had ever seen. “Ok? Mickey, wasn’t this tank’s hull waist high? That would make the inside a good 3 and a half feet high.”

  “Yes Mark. The hull is on a pedestal simulating what it would look like in operation. The tank has power if you want to start it up though the weapons and lift coils are inoperative. The heads up display helmet that is slaved to the turret is on the display table you skipped by beside the tank with the literature about the tank. I can simulate what the helmet would show. The helmet is designed to be used by an operator either in the tank as well as remote operation from a base or even ship in orbit with the capability of sitting hidden for long periods of time as a sentry or a forward deployed scout. The tank has a crude class 1 AI in a thick armored tube between your legs to assist the operator. Though my sensors show that the armored tube is much bigger than needed for a class 1 AI’s core the English are now producing which is taking up quite a bit of space from the cockpit it need not have. Which is why you are feeling so cramped…”

  Mark patted the pedestal he was straddling. “Hi there tank. Hope you don’t mind me dropping in like this.” Mark was suddenly looking through the eyes of the turret several feet above the hull with two barrels sticking out from his nose. Turning his head the image turned with him allowing him to study the surroundings around the tank. Mark remembered the rocker switch on the control cross bar in front of him and tapped the lower side of the switch with his thumb and he suddenly dropped down flush with the tank’s hull. Stabbing at the upper tab of the rocker switch he was suddenly raised up to what looked a lot more than 8 feet above the floor of the warehouse.

  Mark could suddenly see all the tanks and vehicles around him in great detail including a monster tank farther down the display isle. A caption appeared saying that the huge tank was called a Tigger with a 155 mm gun and 6 feet of armor across its front coming in at 200 tons even though it was only 7 feet tall. Mark could see the huge gravity coils lining the sides. The tank was another hundred feet down the display isle and partially covered with other tanks from sight as he had walked up to the little Panther tank he was in. But then he was not that interested in the big stuff as heavy as they were. But he could not help staring at the monster now completely visible from high above most of the surrounding vehicles. The caption grew saying that the tank could carry two full squads of troops inside its rear troop compartment. Which Mark realized was why it was a good 30 feet long. “Wow. I bet it isn’t this cramped in that tank.” Mark tried to move a little but the pedestal took up so much space he could barrely barely move his legs from side to side.

  “I am sorry Mark. But the Class 1 AI in this tank is a primitive AI even for the English. Which is why the armored tube is so big. The AI must be 10 years old at least and built to an Empire design I see is hundreds of years old that requires the large tube to hold its core. Though I see that the AI is mounted in the English’s newest plug receptacle that is normally used for class 6 AI’s. The receptacle is a hundred times more sophisticated than this old simple AI needs or can even handle. My guess is that it was cheaper to use the better receptacle that is being manufactured at this time than starting a new production line for the old tech receptacles. Though why they are using such old processors is beyond me. I will have to give this some study.”

  Mark popped the thick hatch open and climbed out finding that it took a lot more work to climb out than it took to simply slide into the coffin sized cockpit.

  A man in coveralls and a clip board screen walked up and put his arm across the long barrel and relaxed as he watched Mark work his way up out of the hatch and then drop off the side. Shaking his head. “Ok? What the hell do you think you are doing here Tramp and just how the hell did you get in here in the first place?”

  Mark smiled at the man and then started looking at the open cargo box behind the tank showing 3 of the Panther tanks stacked up inside of it. Their ass towards the open hatch where Mark could see a hatch in the center of the hulls that had to be for accessing the cockpit from the rear, affording the tank’s operator protection to get out with the tank under fire. Which Mark had not noticed when he had slide down inside. “Oh. I am just looking around making a Christmas wis
h list.” Turning back to smile at the bored man still leaning against the Panther’s barrel. “As far as how I got here? Well Vice Admiral Edwards dropped me off telling me to look around and make a wish list.”

  The man shook his head. “Then where is your sheet for making your list buddy?” Taking a bored breath. “Like I have the time for this shit.” Looking at Mark. “You are going to have to come with me.”

  Mark chuckled as he spotted a small tank across the aisle and started walking toward the little 4 by 5 foot tank only a foot tall with several guns in a slightly larger turret on a pedestal that looked like the turret on the Panther tank he had just climbed out of. “Tell you what. Call Admiral Edwards or even Captain Summers. This is my first and probably my only visit to toy land so I really don’t want to waste time jumping through your hoops when I am following the orders of a Vice Admiral , Sargent . ” Going out of his way to look at the name tag on the man ’ s uniform. “A, First Class Humphry.” ” Smiling at the man that looked like he wished he was anyplace but there. Mark started looking over the small tank that had to be remote controlled. Wondering if it would fit down the passageways of the Star Queen. Finally deciding that it was not really useful aboard ship while looking to damn lightly armed for operations dirt side.

  Mark moved on down the display aisle. The First Class with his mouth hanging open still leaning against the Panther ’s barrel watching Mark walk away to climb on to another tank somewhat bigger than the panther complete with a turret. Using the same 105mm gun with a crew of two in much roomier cockpits , the Mk-4 tank was twice as heav y as the Panther and had half the armor. Though it could be operated remotely by its crew as well .