Trish hopped out. “Everything was green. Our issues should be resolved. I’ll get to work on a hardware switch.”
Gandy laid his cockpit helmet on the seat as he climbed out onto the wing. “I still can’t believe you shot down the Rage. What a waste of a beautiful machine.”
Harris replied, “We had no choice. And what’s with all the R names? Rage, Regal, Radica?”
Gandy shrugged. “They’re just names. What’s it matter?”
Tawn stepped in. “It doesn’t. Don’t we need to pay a visit to the magnesium guy? They close their offices in an hour.”
“You have the coordinates?”
“On the Bangor I do.”
Harris gestured toward the warehouse door. “After you then, Miss Freely. I’ll even let you drive us there if you want.”
“You’re so magnanimous.”
Harris smiled as he followed. “I do what I can.”
***
The Bangor settled on a concrete landing pad just outside the Grimacle Mines main office. A representative was waiting at the door to take them to a meeting with the principle salesman who had inked the original deal.
Lars Kovensen greeted them as they entered the room. “I hope your trip here was pleasant?”
Harris said, “Let’s get right to it. You sold us magnesium. Where is it?”
Lars pursed his lips. “It’s coming. We had an equipment malfunction in our processing plant that set our production back. At the same time, another client, a long term and highly valued customer, had an emergency need. We’ve had to split our production between you while forcing our workers on overtime. We’re desperately trying to make up the shortage. I must say that I am deeply sorry about the holdup.”
Tawn asked, “How much of the order is available now?”
The salesman winced. “I can’t say.”
“Well when will our shipment be ready?”
“At the moment it appears as though it may be as many as three weeks.”
Harris growled. “This is unacceptable. We have a contract.”
Lars nodded. “And the terms state that all will be delivered as scheduled barring production delays. We’ve had and are having just such a delay. Again, I can’t apologize enough. Sometimes these things happen.”
“Who is your other customer?”
Lars frowned. “I cannot release that information. Customer privacy is tantamount to us staying in business. We hold your information secure as well.”
The back and forth talk continued for most of an hour.
Harris leaned forward onto the table that separated he and Tawn from Lars Kovensen. “I’ll need to discuss this with my partner. What is your availability today?”
Lars replied, “We are closed for the evening, but I can stay should you need me. I will be flying out first thing in the morning to meet with other clients.”
Harris stood. “We need to discuss our options. Can we meet back here in say… an hour?”
Lars waved his hands at the room surrounding them. “If you’d like you can make use of this room.”
Harris shook his head. “Thanks, but I think we’ll head outside.”
Minutes later they were hopping up into the cabin of the Bangor. Harris closed the hatch.
Tawn asked, “What was so urgent?”
“We need to find out who this other customer is. Could be someone has traced our supply line and this is the Earthers’ way of disrupting us. Without magnesium we aren’t doing any refining.”
“Are there any other mines?”
Harris frowned as he shook his head. “Not with any volume. We need this production, even if we have to find out who the mystery client is and try to buy it from them at a premium. And any future contracts need to give us priority production. Anyone else comes along wanting more, that’s fine, they can produce all they want once our needs have been fulfilled.”
A woman approached the outside of the ship. Harris opened the hatch. The woman smiled.
“Can I help you?”
“Anyone else aboard with you?”
“Just me and my partner.”
“The admiral sent me. I’ve been told to let you know the magnesium supplies you require can be purchased through a third party.”
Tawn said, “Let me guess… at an inflated price.”
The woman nodded. “Yes. It was purchased by a firm we suspect is collaborating with the Earthers. We purchased it from them under the guise of sending it out to Bella III for use in a new factory. The admiral advises that any future agreement you sign with Grimacle or any other supplier guarantee delivery to you before any other new or updated contracts. And that would be with all suppliers.”
“We were just discussing that,” said Harris. “We’ll make that happen.”
The woman added, “The admiral also wanted to send along his congratulations. He’s been impressed with your operation. However, he says that you should remain vigilant in your defense. He has word the Earthers have big plans in the works, but he doesn’t have any specifics, so watch your backs.”
Tawn nodded. “We’ve been keeping a close eye on them. I do have a question for the admiral while you’re here: our funding stream. We haven’t received the payment for this week. We need those credits to continue operations. Any slowdown in funds will mean a slowdown in delivery of product. We need those credits.”
The woman nodded. “They will be forthcoming. Political pressure is being placed on our military to account for every credit spent. Our previously large black-ops program has been getting squeezed. Ongoing operations have lost a quarter of their budgets. Things will only get tighter as the politicians try to get their controlling fingers on every credit available. We are no longer at war and there are a number of our leaders who question why we have a black-ops program at all.”
Harris frowned. “That’s not good news. I know love, peace, and harmony between us and the Earthers is the ideal, but they’re set on expansion. Our having freedoms are based on them not succeeding at their goals. This is not a ‘they do well so everyone does well’ situation.”
“We are all patriots here, Mr. Gruberg. You will find a message on your system of who to contact about the magnesium. With funds currently held up, I would suggest you attempt a partial purchase now, with the remaining portion later. Our supplier has instructions to hold it for you.”
Before Harris could again reply, the woman turned and walked away.
Harris sat in his pilot’s chair as he closed the hatch. “Sounds like our support from the admiral is getting thin.”
Tawn crossed her arms. “Not good news, that’s for sure. If we lose those funds, how long would we be able to keep running?”
“We’d have to stop all expansion and then focus our energies on selling the production we have. That would keep the mine running, but not by much. Rumford and the Earthers are eventually going to figure out how to get water to their mine. When that happens, things are going to explode over there. They won’t have any finance issues.”
“Maybe it’s time we start looking to the outer colonies and truce worlds to expand our supply business?”
Harris scratched the back of his neck. “Only problem I see with that is our credit stream from that would be slow to develop. Will cost us up front to get established, with the payback coming over time.”
“What other avenues do we have available to us?”
Harris thought for a moment. “Not sure. Maybe we build colony domes. There are settlement companies on Domicile. And the Earthers are eager to expand. Maybe we get contracts to build domes for them.”
“Wouldn’t building Earther domes defeat what we’re trying to do out there?”
Harris shook his head. “Our priority is to stop them from acquiring titanium. If we can do that, their influence on the other truce worlds won’t make a difference. At least not anytime soon.”
Tawn gestured toward the door. “Well let’s get back in there and ink a new deal.”
“What if they
want to raise prices on us?”
Tawn shrugged. “Maybe we offer to throw in some titanium plates. I don’t know if they’d have use for them or not, but we could use some of that production to help finance this if needed.”
Harris stood. “We’ll hold that in reserve. Let’s go do this.”
After a long negotiation, a new deal was signed at the previous price. A ride on the Bangor followed with the ship landing outside the warehouse where the Banshees were being tested.
Harris was the first in the door. “How we looking?”
Trish replied, “Both hardware and software lockouts are enabled on the Regal. We have the software version done on the Radica with the hardware going in now. The pilot will be able to flip a hidden switch to completely disable the ship’s systems. There is also a soft passcode they will have to enter when they hop in the cockpit. And we have the broadcast message that will disable the drive and the weapons.”
“Who knows about these items?”
“The hard switches? The three of us and Gandy. The passcode and the broadcast message, Mr. Morgan’s two engineers came up with those. And for safety’s sake, we’ve already made updates so they can’t make use of them.”
Gandy walked up. “The switch is in.”
“So these two are ready to go?” Tawn asked.
Gandy nodded. “They are. And can I ask that you not shoot them down this time?”
Harris chuckled. “We’ll do our best. Can I talk the two of you into taking them out for more flight testing on the way? We can check the wormhole generators, the railguns, and the rest of the systems. When you’re satisfied with their performance we’ll turn them over to Colonel Thomas for use.”
Tawn looked around the warehouse. “You have one more Banshee hull. What comes after that?”
“Next up will be that Zwicker we have over there,” said Trish. “Whether or not it flies will depend on getting a new drive and wormhole generator that will fit in her. So far we haven’t found anything that we could squeeze in. Nobody makes a drive that shape.”
Harris crossed his arms. “I know we were planning to rebuild that one for Tawn, but I have a new proposal. Can it be rebuilt with a drive but no wormhole generator? If so, we can still use it out at Eden for escort duty. Might be a quick addition to having the Regal and Radica. I’m sure it would be put to use.”
Trish pondered the idea for several seconds. “We’ll have to talk that one over. If your goal here is to get a third ship onstation as soon as possible, that option might be the way to go.”
Harris nodded. “Whatever gets one to us sooner. Make that happen.”
The two refurbed Banshees were put through their paces with all systems testing out as green. After a quick delivery to the colonel, Trish and Gandy were flown back to the warehouse, where work began on the newest makeover. A second Zwicker class freight shuttle, this time minus a wormhole generator, was expected to be ready for service in three weeks’ time.
Chapter 15
_______________________
Tawn and Harris sat in the colonel’s office.
Harris rubbed his forehead as the colonel talked about charts and tables displayed on his wall. “The pacifists at Dove are being stubborn. Their water reserves are down 60 percent. Our offer to move them to Jebwa has been voted down three times.
“They are convinced they can conserve and get by. Last night we shut the well down completely. With their current reduced needs they will be out of water in less than a week.”
Tawn asked, “Why haven’t they explored getting a new well drilled?”
The colonel shook his head. “They don’t have the funds.”
Harris glanced up. “Have we offered them water for concessions? You said the tax they have been looking at was close to being passed. I’m surprised they haven’t rammed that through as a bargaining chip. You pay the export tax and we’ll buy the water.”
“They don’t want that co-dependence. To date they have been fully in charge, only yielding to pressure from Domicile. They don’t like or trust us or the Earthers.”
Harris replied, “Sounds like we need someone from Domicile to convince them.”
“Not going to happen. The connections there are the pacifists in the senate. The senators already don’t like what we’re doing. Titanium is viewed as a military-use metal.
“The less there is the less likely there is to be war. As far as their allies back on Domicile are concerned, they want us and the Earthers gone from here. They don’t have sufficient pull to make that happen, but they can influence the inhabitants of Dove to stay.”
“How’s managing the well at the Rumford Mine going?”
The colonel nodded. “As good as can be expected. They still have no clue as to what’s happening. I’m expecting to see a new wellhead and drilling gear brought in any day now. They’ll have to move their flow-pipe, but that would be a minor effort.”
“If they drill a new well,” Tawn asked, “how long would it take for us to tap into it?”
The colonel frowned. “Four days to be up and running. They have a very large cistern there. Four days of full flow could fill it halfway. That would be enough resource to begin ore processing. They couldn’t sustain operations, but it would allow them to flesh out any startup problems they may have, bringing them that much closer to full-rate production.”
Harris said, “That sounds like it might be a good opportunity for a clandestine attack on their pipeline. I would think we could stall the flow for a day or two, if not longer.”
The colonel sighed. “True, but they would know who was responsible and reciprocate. I’d rather not risk lives over a tit-for-tat with them. They injure or kill a few of our civilian workers and we might have a hard time recruiting. As it stands, we currently have a waiting list.”
Tawn asked, “How’s the second dome coming?”
“On schedule. We’re starting to move workers into the first of the housing. We were expecting to have the first run of a production line in another week. Our budget problems are pushing that back about ten days. Shame too. I think this second unit would have allowed us to turn a profit much sooner. With the single unit, we’ll be lucky to break even.
“On a different note, I was able to pass our rail cannon needs off to Mr. Morgan. He said he expects to have a design ready to evaluate in about a week. He’s going for a twin cannon design, housed in a turret that will give us three-sixty coverage. First run will install four units that look like radar facilities.”
Harris waved his hand over his head in reference to the facility they were currently inside. “This dome have all the inhibitor boxes installed?”
The colonel nodded. “She’s as shielded as any warship and then some. Given the thickness of her titanium plating, and the fact we’re in an atmosphere, she should be able to take a couple dozen shots to the same spot before things begin to break down. Nothing I’m aware of on the ground will do her harm. And if we get the rail cannons, we can keep plasma weapons at a distance if they attack in warships.
Harris chuckled. “Sounds like we should have named her Fort Fireburg.”
A comm came in for the colonel: “Major Rollington, sir, you asked that I report in with results from our Banshee testing.”
“Go ahead, Major.”
“Sir, the pilots report all systems appear to be functioning normally. Atmospheric as well as spaceborn tests have all gone according to expectations.”
The colonel nodded. “Excellent. Move to phase two of the training, Major. And remember, escort duty comes first. All training will be conducted during free time.”
The comm closed.
The colonel smiled. “Looks like we have a pair of winners. Congratulations on pulling that off.”
“Now if we can just keep them out of the hands of the Earthers,” said Tawn.
“This is good timing for us as well. That Rumford ore ship is nearing capacity. We plan to move ahead with commandeering it.”
Harris asked,
“What’s the plan?”
“We have a team of ten who will be dropped in the desert about fifty clicks from their compound. An overnight run will have them in position for a midday raid. We plan to go in when the sun is hottest. Observations have shown that to be the least guarded time. They will hit the expected three guards with sniper shots and should then be able to stroll aboard.
“From best count, we expect four Earthers to be on the ship at that time. They will be taken out quietly. That should leave us with five to eight minutes to power up the ship and to fly it away. They have two spotter ships in orbit. We’ll have half an hour of flight minimum to reach a jump point.”
Tawn said, “So the Earthers have a thirty minute window available to stop us? Any way for us to stop their spotter ships from reporting?”
The colonel shook his head. “Short of attempting to shoot them down, no. And we attempt that and they will call in reinforcements anyway.”
Harris winced. “So how do we get that ship up through the atmosphere and out through a portal? Seems like a suicide mission.”
“Unfortunately, at the moment it is.”
Harris stood. “I have an alternative. Your team flies that ship out into the desert where we rendezvous with it. They can set waypoints for the ship to take on its own. We’ll take the team aboard the Bangor and fly along on the hull of that freighter until it’s safely away. If the Earthers follow it, we can separate from the hull for a fight. You could even jump the two Banshees through for an assist.”
The colonel tapped his fingers on his desk in thought. “Hmm. Not a bad idea. Keeps our people alive. And gives us a better shot at getting that ore away to a safe place.”
Tawn said, “You know, we could make use of the skin on the Bangor for this. Take a snapshot of the hull of that freighter and upload it as a skin choice. Park right on the hull and enable that. We’d look just like a part of that freighter.”
ARMS Harris' Revenge Page 14