Trish looked over the exterior. “We need to replace a lot of this plating on the outside. You said the nav system was gone? What else do we need besides that and the drive?”
Gandy popped the latch on the canopy. Using a manual crank, it was raised up to vertical.
“I’d say the entire cockpit is a rebuild.”
Harris asked, “You sure we can fix it?”
Trish cut in. “We can do it. Can you spare us for a couple weeks? We’ll need that to get a full assessment of what we’re looking at.”
Tawn said, “Any of the mechanics school students you know need work? You can’t talk of its purpose, or that you plan to enable the gun, but you could say you’re looking at restoring it for a wealthy aficionado. That would be me.”
Trish grinned. “I know three who are currently working retail to get by. They would jump at the chance for a part-time job working on this.”
Harris said, “We should ask Mr. Morgan if he can spare a few mechanics. He’ll be building those freighters.”
Gandy nodded. “I have a couple friends I can ask.”
“Bring in whoever you like,” Harris said. “Just keep those two items under wraps. They can’t know who or what this is for and they can’t know you plan on bringing up the railgun. Are we clear?”
Trish smiled. “Clear. Now who here is hungry?”
Harris pulled his head back. “Well, me.”
Tawn added, “I guess I could go for some grub too.”
Trish pointed at the door. “Good then. Why don’t the two of you go feed yourselves while we get started on this.”
Tawn laughed as she turned to face Harris. “Your first mate is crafty. You see how easily she got rid of us?”
Harris shook his head as he looked toward the exit. “These regular Humans just don’t know what good eating is. Look at them. They’re skinny. They look malnourished.”
Tawn looked down at her belly. “I could use a bit of undernourishment myself.”
Harris stopped. “You aren’t going?”
Tawn pushed him forward. “Never said that.”
Harris pulled his phony badge. “Want to see if we can get it comped?”
Tawn chuckled. “Only if you plan on putting down any deposits.”
A feast was had, followed by a visit to see Bannis Morgan. His immediate comms saw four mechanics at the warehouse within two hours of the visit. The disassembly of the Banshee had already begun. Trish and Gandy were meticulous, recording and logging every nut, bold, and item they removed from the ancient fighter.
Harris sat on a crate next to Tawn. “Look at those two. I’d definitely say this was their calling.”
Tawn replied, “Trish said the number of people joining in is about to double. She has five friends and Gandy three. She said they all sounded eager to come by.”
Harris looked around the otherwise empty warehouse. “What say you and I go out and find a caterer. We can have a couple tables set up over there with food and beverages for the teams if they get hungry. Which they will.”
Tawn stood, placing her right fist on her hip as she pointed towards a corner of the warehouse where a set of bathrooms was located. “They might also be able to make use of a few cots… and maybe a portable shower. Other than buying parts or tools, I don’t see either one wanting to leave this warehouse until they have this job done.”
In the two days that followed, several trips were made to the local home improvement store. A contractor was contacted and a design request submitted. A handful of extra credits saw to it the job would be expedited.
A caterer was next selected and given the task of providing three meals a day along with a table of readily available snacks and beverages. The pair of Biomarines returned to a warehouse bustling with activity.
Gandy gave direction to a forklift operator as he moved in the hull of a third Banshee. As far as Gandy knew, there was only one other hull remaining on all of Domicile. It was slated for delivery the following day. The first hull had been almost completely stripped.
Harris stood beside Trish. “How’s it looking so far?”
None of the hulls have a salvageable drive in them. Electronics are all shot or missing pieces. But this hull and the third one over there are solid. This one has lots of surface marks. I would presume from a fight. The integrity of it looks good though.
“What are you gonna do about a drive?”
Trish pointed at one of Bannis Morgan’s mechanics. “Hollis Germ says he thinks he knows of a commercial engine that might fit in that space. It offers more power than the original, but it’s not hardened for a war environment. His counterpart, Victoria, she’s looking into the nav systems and other electronics. We already found a fusion reactor that will fit nicely where the old unit was.”
“Any big holdups?”
Trish glanced back at Hollis. “Only if that drive won’t fit. Otherwise we have to modify the hull, and from their estimates that could take three months on its own. They don’t make the welders that can handle that thickness of armor anymore.”
“What about the plasma inhibitor boxes to go on the outer hull?”
“Mr. Morgan is supposedly sending over two dozen units tomorrow. He says they aren’t exactly the same as the military units, but he thinks they can tweak them to get equal, or possibly even better performance. Wouldn’t that be cool to just be able to fly right up to one of those warships and blast it?”
Harris chuckled. “Yeah, that would be cool.”
Bannis Morgan shuffled through the main door. “Mr. Gruberg, a word with you please.”
Harris walked over. “Anything you need?”
Bannis looked over the empty hull. “Yep. I wanted to talk to you about making use of one of those Zwicker hulls you purchased.”
“For what purpose?”
Bannis looked around. “Any place we can sit? My sciatica is acting up today.”
Harris gestured to their left. “We have crates.”
Bannis nodded. “That will do.”
The elder industrialist slowly eased himself up onto one of the wooden boxes. “I’d like to take one of those Zwicker hulls, deconstruct it, and add in about 75 percent more room. Put in a modern drive and wormhole generator, and turn it into a raider that can be flown right up to a ship’s hull.”
Harris laughed. “You planning on storming a ship?”
Bannis shook his head. “I won’t be, no. But we may have need of it. I heard about your plan to steal the cargo hauler from Rumford Mine. What if your efforts fail? Taking that ship up in space might be a better option. And what if we decide we want a look at an Earther ship? With a raider and a few dozen of your Biomarines we could take down a destroyer. Would love to know how they are built and what electronics or armaments they have on them.
“During the war, there was an unwritten agreement that neither side would take control of the others ships, nor would we snoop when those ships were destroyed or disabled. Each side was allowed to go in after and collect their dead and their debris. Another of the strange arrangements of that war.”
Harris glanced around at the activity in the warehouse. “A raider, huh? I’ll have to talk that one over with the colonel, since it would have to be staffed with his people.”
Bannis patted Harris on the shoulder. “No need, this was the colonel’s idea to begin with. He thought it might be of use should the need of taking a ship arise.”
Harris replied, “Then I guess I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Back on Eden, has the climate-hardened equipment performed as desired?”
“The operators are reporting warmer than normal cabin temperatures. Nothing unlivable, and something we can fix on our own. The equipment itself has done exactly as it was designed to do.”
Bannis nodded. “There are always efficiencies to be had. Those will come over time.”
Bannis Morgan shifted uncomfortably on his box. “I’ve been told the Earther colonies are still growing on the other truce worlds.
Are there any plans underway to counter those expansions?”
Harris shook his head. “Eden is soaking up most of our time. Once we deliver our first load of titanium plates to Domicile, I’ll try to change focus to our own populations there. I’ve been talking to Fritz about building domes on those planets. If we want settlers to move out there, we need to provide a safe and inviting opportunity.”
Bannis returned an unconvinced scowl. “Domes are expensive. While fantastic for a long-term colony solution, we don’t have the funds to build them. Any payback from taxes and such would take a century of business from a vibrant settlement. Our pockets are deep, but not on that scale.”
“We’re building domes here. How is that different?”
“We moved a dome, we’re building a second. Unless titanium is sold in quantity we may not be building beyond Fireburg. The members of my consortium are patriots, but they are also capitalists. For them to be willing to commit their time and effort to this project they require that at worst it breaks even. At the moment, I’m peddling patience with the lot of them.”
Harris crossed his arms. “Too bad we can’t get the military to commit to upgrading the fleet. Titanium would quickly be a sought-after commodity.”
Bannis frowned. “There have been three attempts to bring a modernization bill before the Senate. Each time it hasn’t made it out for a vote. The pacifists on the defense procurement committee want to see our military budgets cut by half, not expanded. At the moment they outnumber the others seven to four. Did you know we have fewer members of the armed services today than at any time in the last twelve hundred years?”
Harris chuckled. “Don’t have to tell me that. I’m one of them.”
Tawn sat beside the two men. “Talking about our military?”
Harris nodded. “He was saying the pacies in Congress have managed three times already to stall any attempts to update our fleets. And they want to cut our current budgets in half.”
“They do and we won’t be able to protect anyone. The Earthers would roll right over the truce colonies. The outer colonies and Domicile would be next. Very short sighted if they think the Earthers are just going to be all fuzzy, friendly, and happy. We might as well be that colony at Dove.”
Gandy hustled over to the others. “We found a drive and wormhole generator that will fit in the Banshee. It’s a design from a new company though, and they have yet to complete the prototype. The preliminary specs say it will be about 30 percent more powerful than the original. And it has the reactor built into it. We’ve arranged a meeting to visit with them tomorrow.”
Bannis said, “Would you mind if I came along? Would give me a chance to look at this from an investment perspective.”
Gandy nodded. “Would love to have you go. I’ve read where some of these startups are scams. Could use your judgment as to whether or not we’re wasting our time.”
Bannis smiled. “I’d be happy to offer my assistance. I’ve evaluated hundreds of small companies over the years. The rotten ones are usually easy to sniff out, if you know what to look for.”
Trish walked up. “You told them the news, didn’t you? I wanted to make it a surprise.”
Gandy said, “Mr. Morgan has volunteered to go with us. He can tell us if it’s worthwhile or not.”
“I hope it’s good. It’s the only one we’ve found that will fit in that hull.”
Harris’ comm chimed. “This is Gruberg.”
“Major Divos, sir. From the Warlift. I’m coming from shuttling a dozen new recruits out to Eden. The colonel says there’s been a new development. A dozen large ships just landed at the Rumford Mine.”
“Any other details from the colonel, Major?”
“Sorry, sir. You’ll have to get any details from him. I’m heading back to the Retreat.”
Harris looked over at Tawn. “You want to come or you staying here?”
Tawn laughed as she pointed at Trish and Gandy. “Depends if you’re looking for a partner or a first mate. I assume these two will be staying?”
Harris replied, “They have too much to get done. Don’t think we could tear them away from here anyway.”
Chapter 11
_______________________
The Bangor set down under the covered docking bay of the main dome at Fireburg. Tawn and Harris made their way to the colonel’s office. The colonel was busy ripping through a list of contact messages on a tablet.
Harris asked, “What do you have for us, Colonel?”
“The Earthers just moved in a workforce of a couple thousand people. They’re unloading materials and equipment. They’re about to build a pipeline, and plan on following that with their own city.”
Harris tilted his head. “I didn’t think they had the water to expand that much.”
The colonel flipped on a device, projecting a map onto a nearby wall. “The big blue dot is the colony. The green is their current well. It’s low volume, probably a few hundred liters per hour. The red dot is a well they just completed yesterday. It’s approximately the size of ours. The material on those ships is for building a pipeline. They’ll be pumping the water thirty-eight kilometers.”
Harris rubbed the back of his neck. “So what you’re saying is if we can support twenty-five thousand workers here, they can do the same there?”
The colonel nodded. “Exactly. I’d say they will be trying to beat us at our own game. If they get twenty-five thousand settlers on planet before we do, they could take over the government here, or block us from our goal of taking it over.”
“So long as the pacies stay in control, I don’t see that as a problem.”
Robert Thomas shook his head. “Not true. The pacies have the ability to impose taxes. In fact, one of my sources tells me they are drafting up a plan to do that exact thing. A customs fee for any export would be charged. Also in that proposal is a water tax and an environmental impact tax. Looks like they are finally wising up to what being in control means.”
“Even if they do that, can’t we just pay the tax and keep moving?”
The colonel winced. “What happens if those taxes and fees are exorbitant? We’re already beginning to struggle with our finances. They could make titanium so expensive we can’t afford to pull it out of the ground.”
“Wouldn’t that be the same for the Earthers?”
The colonel replied, “They have deep pockets over there, Mr. Gruberg. Our government is not eager to build new ships. As has been said before, we’re now on a tight budget. Unless we stick to that, the consortium of industrialists Mr. Morgan has pulled together will collapse. These proposed taxes and fees would certainly push us in that direction.”
“So what do we do about the Earthers?”
The colonel pointed at the map. “Sabotage. We need to slow their expansion. We keep that big well from delivering water until we have enough settlers here to throw control of this planet our way. That’s four months from now, minimum. Problem is, if we hit them they will retaliate. Might be time we tried to harden this dome.”
“How would we do that?”
The colonel changed the image displayed on his wall. “We’ll be cranking out titanium plates in volume. One of my men came up with this idea. Instead of storing the plates inside for delivery later, or shipping them back to Domicile, we instead use them to cover the dome’s exterior. Those plates are thick and will easily absorb a plasma round from a hand weapon.”
“Would it do us any good to throw a few of the ion transducers we use for ship shielding on there?”
The colonel shook his head. “You’re asking the wrong person. That might be a question Mr. Morgan could answer for us.”
Tawn said, “Seems like we just can’t escape the conflict. This war is still being fought.”
The colonel leaned back in his chair. “We have three thousand people here at Fireburg. When that second dome is complete, that number will have doubled. That’s three thousand more we need to protect and defend. Given the size of the workforce
over at the Rumford Mine, we probably have two to three weeks before that water begins to flow. That gives us two to three weeks to fortify this place.”
Tawn asked, “When are we expecting the first titanium plates to come out of manufacturing?”
“Today. And our next freight shipment from Domicile will have dozens of welders capable of tacking those plates together. Two spot tacks on each side should hold them in place. We can overlap to get full coverage. Should make for easy tear-down once we’re ready to put them to use elsewhere.”
Tawn rubbed her chin. “Have you thought any about placing watchtowers around our perimeter?”
“Too much effort to build and maintain. Mr. Morgan has a dozen aerial drones coming our way. If we keep four in the air at all times we can lock this sector down. We would know of any assault force coming our way well ahead of their arrival.”
An aide came into the colonel’s office. “Sir, you wanted to be informed when the first plate was coming off the production line. That will be happening in the next few minutes.”
The colonel stood. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”
Robert Thomas gestured toward the door. “Let’s go watch. The troops need to see that we’re interested.”
“Speaking of plates,” said Harris. “Anyone had lunch yet?”
Tawn shook her head. “You just don’t stop, do you?”
Harris smiled as he walked into the hall, glancing back down at Farker. “Big dog has to eat. Right, boy?”
The robotic dog farked three times.
Harris grinned. “See. He agrees.”
Tawn and Harris followed the colonel into the titanium plate production facility. “At the far end, we have the refined ore from the digger machines coming in. That first vat turns the ore into titanium tetrachloride. In the next vat it reacts with magnesium to strip away the chlorine, leaving the pure titanium metal. From there it’s formed into ingots, which are rolled into sheets.
“Forty-two of those sheets are bonded together to make a plate that’s approximately two meters square. When the bonding is complete, the finished plate should pop out over here. We would normally be stacking twenty to a pallet for storage, but we’ll be taking these straight out to the dome.
ARMS Harris' Revenge Page 10