by Peter Grant
Wu shook his head. “Weapons are the one thing we can’t provide, because interplanetary treaties restrict their sale and they can be easily traced back to the supplier. We’re willing to install any weapons you obtain from other sources, of course; and once Laredo’s free again, we can sell or donate weapons to it in the same way as we would to any other friendly planet.”
Dave’s face fell. “That’s a blow. They’re hard to come by, because most reputable sellers don’t want to do business with a Government-in-Exile that appears to be losing a war. Those that are want very high prices for them. Unless and until we can show successes against Bactria, and attract more donations, we’re going to find it very difficult to get what we need.”
“I understand Lieutenant-Commander Maxwell has some ideas about that, but for various reasons I haven’t asked him about them. He’s a man with an inquiring mind and a great deal of initiative, which is why I brought him with me this morning. He also has… shall we say, useful contacts that we can’t officially use or recommend as a Fleet. If you and he should come to a meeting of minds during a private discussion, I won’t know anything about it, of course.”
“Ah. I see… I think.” Dave grinned at Commander Maxwell across the table, who returned it impishly. He decided he was probably going to like his Fleet counterpart.
Wu nodded. “Let’s just say that senior BuIntel officers can’t answer questions from politicians concerning something we know nothing about, provided we can prove we know nothing about it – under truth-tester examination if necessary. That… avoids complications, you understand?”
“I do. All right. Leaving aside the question of weapons, then, what sort of ships do you recommend we buy?”
“I’m glad you asked that. Let me show you.”
Wu took a small device from his pocket. He pressed a couple of buttons to synchronize it to a three-dimensional holographic display that sprang to life above the sideboard against the far wall.
“What do you know about the Bismarck Cluster?”
“It’s a group of seven planets about six hundred light years from Neue Helvetica,” Dave replied. “They were settled by various German regions and corporations during the Scramble for Space, and developed into a local political union over time.” He grinned suddenly. “I’ve had to learn a lot about the makeup of the settled galaxy since I arrived here. If you’d asked me that question a year ago, I wouldn’t have known what you were talking about.”
“I can understand that. The Commonwealth’s built up close commercial ties with the Cluster, to the extent that some of our planets have economic treaty relationships with them. We also maintain good military-to-military relations with their armed forces, exercising with them from time to time and conducting joint anti-piracy operations.”
He brought up a picture of what looked like a freighter on the display. It was longer and narrower than the fat-hulled merchant ships Dave had so far researched. “Lieutenant-Commander Maxwell found out about these ships, so I’ll let him tell you more about what you’re seeing.”
Maxwell sat forward. “This is the Bismarck Cluster Fleet’s Bavaria class assault transport,” he began, “with a net register capacity of about three hundred thousand tons. They built eight of them fifty years ago. They were constructed to military specifications with stealthy reinforced hulls, two reactors and high-performance drive systems. They can cruise at a quarter of light speed, only a little slower than modern destroyers, fast enough to operate with a Fleet if necessary. Each is also equipped with four laser cannon to defend against incoming missile fire.”
He frowned. “Trouble is, they’re too small for the job they were built to do. An assault transport’s supposed to carry enough cargo and supplies to support extended military operations far distant from base facilities. That’s why our own assault transports are almost twice as large. They can load far more supplies and many more supporting services – personnel or hospital pods, for example, plus artillery, counter-missile batteries and drone squadrons to deploy with ground forces. The Bismarck Cluster Fleet found it had to use two or three Bavarias for an operation instead of one or two larger transports, which was sometimes very inconvenient – not to mention expensive. That’s why they built only eight Bavarias before canceling the rest of the class and designing larger ships. However, they kept the Bavarias in service and used them for training and internal transport duties. That’s pretty light work, so they’re still in great condition.
“They’ve finally taken the decision to remove them from service. Instead of transferring them to their Reserve Fleet, they’re going to strip them of military equipment and dispose of them, because they don’t think they’ll have any further use for assault transports that are half as big as they should be. However, they’re smaller than most tramp freighters and have less internal cargo space thanks to their military construction and compartmentalization. They’re also more expensive to operate, thanks to military-grade systems that don’t use standard commercial spares and need more sophisticated dockyard maintenance. That means merchant shipping companies won’t want them. They’ll end up selling for their scrap value after their usable systems have been taken out – probably no more than five million Lancastrian Commonwealth credits apiece.”
Dave nodded thoughtfully. “That’s certainly a very attractive price, particularly for military-grade ships; but what about their systems? It’s no good if we buy hulks in the Bismarck Cluster that aren’t capable of traveling under their own power to wherever your shipyards can re-equip them.”
“That’s where we come in,” Commodore Wu assured him. “We can talk to our counterparts in the Cluster. We’ve helped each other out on more than one occasion in the past. I think we can arrange to bring the ships from the Cluster to wherever we refurbish them for you. We’ll take off their equipment as we replace it with our own, and ship it back to the Cluster for disposal. What’s even better from our point of view is that we’re about to scrap several old battleships of the Legion class. Each has four fusion reactors, fifty per cent more powerful than those in the Bavaria class ships but small enough to fit into their reactor spaces. Their gravitic drives and capacitor rings will also be suitable for installation in your ships, as will some of their other systems.”
“The news gets better and better! So how many of the Cluster’s ships should we buy?”
“I’m going to suggest you buy all of them,” Maxwell said. “There are several reasons for that. First, if you put in a bid for the entire class of ships through a front company it looks convincing to outside observers, as if they’re being bought in a job lot for scrap. If the ships are later identified in your service, the Cluster can claim they must have been illegally re-sold by the company that purchased them. It won’t exist anymore, of course, so tracing the sale will be impossible. Second, the ships should be in good condition, but there’s always the possibility that one or more may have been damaged in service. That sort of thing can only be identified by an in-depth inspection, which is difficult and expensive. If you buy all eight and we find a hull that isn’t worth refurbishing, you’ll have another available to replace it. Third, you’re going to need crews. You can hire mercenaries of dubious provenance and reliability, but there’s a better alternative. You may be able to swap ships for crews, saving a bundle and getting more reliable people into the bargain.”
Dave frowned. “Who would want to provide crews in exchange for old spaceships?”
“I’ll come to that in a moment. The fourth reason is that your ships may suffer damage during operations. You may not have access to a dockyard where they can be repaired quickly. If you buy all eight ships, you’ll have another available to replace the damaged one. Finally, we can provide spares for the systems we install, but structural spare parts may be hard to come by for ships like these – they’re not commercial vessels, after all. If you buy all eight, you can cannibalize one or more of them – perhaps one unsuitable for refurbishment – for structural spares if necessar
y.”
“You’re making a lot of sense. If we can get a good price for them all, I’ll go for it.”
Wu added, “You might want to consider hiring one or more retired senior Fleet personnel to serve as advisors on how best to employ your ships. We can probably introduce you to a few suitable candidates.”
“That also makes sense,” Dave agreed. “What about the crews?”
Maxwell grinned. “What do you know about Gandaki?”
“That’s the planet of the Gurkha mercenaries. I’ve looked into hiring them, but their rates are very high – too rich for our blood.”
“That’s not surprising. They’re probably the best in the settled galaxy – the only mercenaries we’ve cleared for operations with our Fleet and member planets of the Commonwealth. In fact, we think so highly of them we’ve based some aspects of our Marine Corps training on their standards.”
“High praise indeed.”
“Yes, it is. Anyway, as part of the grant of their planet to them by the Bihar Federation, they were forbidden to form their own System Patrol Service or compete in merchant freight services with other planets of the Federation. They’ve chafed under that restriction ever since. They’ve managed to obtain concessions in other areas, but Bihar’s remained adamant that they don’t want Gurkhas expanding into spacefaring. I found out about that when I worked alongside them on the planet Rolla a few years ago. In private conversations with Gurkha officers I learned they’d love to find a way to train some of their people as Spacers and set up their own merchant freight line, perhaps even have their own warships and provide mercenaries to crew spaceships in due course. The problem’s been how to get that started without arousing the suspicions of the Bihar Federation, which has meant they can’t do anything in their own system. That’s where you – and we – come in.”
He paused to drink the last of his coffee. “If you have ships to offer them, we can outfit them with new systems – weapons too, because the Commonwealth has a treaty relationship with Gandaki. We just won’t tell anyone about it until it’s too late for the Bihar Federation to prevent it; a fait accompli. We can arrange with Rolla, one of our planets, to allow you to base your ships there while the planet’s System Patrol Service trains your spacers and Gandaki’s, and helps to bring the ships to operational readiness. I’ve worked closely with their SPS, and I can assure you their standards are very good indeed. You’ll have to pay for their assistance, of course, but I think with Commodore Wu’s help we can arrange for that to be provided at a reasonable cost.
“What this means is that we can offer Gandaki the opportunity to get their hands on a couple of military-grade ships free of charge, fully refurbished, armed and equipped for service. We’d also train several hundred of their people as Spacers. In return they’d be required to provide enough people to crew your ships for a fixed period – say, a minimum of two to three years. Your funds would be used to purchase all the ships, buy weapons and cover operating expenses for your vessels, and pay Rolla to train Spacers for both Gandaki and Laredo. You’ll also probably set up a very good long-term relationship with Gandaki by helping them get around the restrictions the Bihar Federation imposed on them. How does that sound?”
“It sounds very fair,” Dave said slowly, brow furrowed in thought. “I’ll have to look into the actual numbers, of course, but if they’re within reason I see no reason not to do it.”
“It’ll be a lot cheaper than hiring your own military-trained spacers, particularly given issues with quality,” Maxwell pointed out. “Any Gurkhas will be high-quality by definition. They won’t be experienced Spacers, but they will be experienced and highly disciplined soldiers. That’s more than half the battle won right there. They can add Spacer skills without too much problem.”
“True. I presume we’ll need some experienced officers and senior NCO’s as well, though.”
“Yes, you will. You can hire them yourself – Rolla might make available some of its retired personnel – or we’ll arrange introductions to firms on Lancaster that act as agents for retired Fleet personnel. We can make sure you get good people, although they’ll be expensive.”
“Quality always is. I don’t mind paying for it, as long as I can afford it and I get my money’s worth.”
“Then you won’t have a problem. I’d say you’re looking at fifty to eighty million Lancastrian Commonwealth credits to buy the ships and get them to one of our dockyards. Refurbishment will be on our tab. Routine operating costs will be about a million credits per ship per month for those actually in service, plus the cost of non-Gurkha personnel, and you’ll probably pay Rolla four to five million per operational ship in terms of training their crews and providing base facilities while doing so. Weapons are going to be your most expensive purchase, of course.”
“That’s my cue to disappear,” Commodore Wu said lightly as he stood. “I definitely shouldn’t know any more about what Lieutenant-Commander Maxwell has in mind. That way I can’t be made to answer questions about it.”
Dave and the Lieutenant-Commander stood with him. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the help you’ve offered this morning,” Dave said as he offered his hand. “What will be the next step, please, Sir?”
“If your associates approve of our proposals, you’ll have to spend a couple of months traveling to various planets to set up everything. I’ll make Lieutenant-Commander Maxwell’s communications frigate available for that. He’ll tell you more about it. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange the purchase of the ships from the Bismarck Cluster. One of your associates will have to set up a company on another planet to act as a front for the transaction, and provide the necessary funds.”
“It’ll be time and money well spent. I’m sure they’ll approve. Thank you, Sir.”
They sat down again as the Commodore closed the door behind him. Dave said, “So what about those weapons, Commander?”
“Call me Steve, if you like. We’re the same rank, as you pointed out earlier.”
“OK, thanks. I’m Dave.”
“Good. I’m limited in what I can tell you right now, but let’s just say that we – or, more accurately, I – have contacts in certain organizations that… shall we say, aren’t very strict in observing interplanetary treaties governing the transfer of weapons. Some of them can best be described as downright criminal. I’m pursuing certain options that might lead to a number of anti-ship missiles becoming available to you. It’ll take a few months before I can tell you more. In the meantime, there’s a very good option for laser cannon. Ever heard of Marano?”
Dave frowned. “It’s where Bactria bought its corvettes and the Satrap’s yacht, as well as a bunch of other weapons.”
“That’s right. Marano makes a pretty wide range of military equipment, from warships to missiles to assault shuttles. They sell them to anyone who’s got the cash to buy them, asking very few questions – just enough to stay within United Planets arms export guidelines, and sometimes not even that for cash customers.”
“Uh-huh. Money talks.”
“As always.” They exchanged a cynical grin. “Their weapons aren’t the latest or highest technology, but they’re workmanlike and of acceptable quality. Among other things, they make a self-contained laser cannon barbette that can be fitted to any ship with a sufficiently strong structure and enough reactor power. That includes the Bavaria class transports, of course. They aren’t too expensive – about two million apiece, including all associated systems – and they can be integrated with any fire control system.”
“Sounds good. Will they sell them to us?”
“Not directly. Don’t forget that Bactria buys weapons from Marano too, so they won’t want to offend a valued customer. I therefore suggest you use a broker to make an anonymous purchase.”
“How do I find one?”
Steve took a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it over. “I’m given to understand that any of these three firms on Marano will arrange the purchase for you, ob
tain a forged end-user certificate in the name of a third party, and have your weapons loaded aboard a freighter of your choice. They’ll charge a premium of anywhere from fifty to a hundred per cent, so play them off against each other to get the best deal. By using them, Laredo’s name won’t appear on any sales documentation. You can conduct initial negotiations and put down a deposit by message, but you’ll have to go there to pay in full, in advance, in bearer bank drafts or hard assets.”
“All right. How many will we need?”
“I’d suggest twenty. That’ll give you enough to equip four of your ships, plus four spare units. You won’t want to arm more than four initially, because you won’t be able to afford enough crew members or missiles.”
“That sounds logical. Thanks.”
Steve sat back. “You may be interested to learn that Bactria’s talking to Marano about repairing the two corvettes you damaged at Laredo last year. They’re not mobile under their own power, so Marano would have to collect them using a special ferry. Personally I think it’d be cheaper to replace them with new ships, but I guess they have reasons for doing it their way.”
“You seem to know a lot about what Bactria’s doing.”
“Not directly. BuIntel is keeping an eye on Marano, which happens to be talking to Bactria.”
“All right. I won’t ask awkward questions.”
“That’s good, because I won’t be able to answer them!” They chuckled softly together.
“Two more questions. What do assault shuttles cost? I think we’ll need some for boarding operations and any planetside excursions.”
“They’re expensive. Marano’s basic model – you know them; Bactria manufactures a variant under license – costs about fifty million apiece. The more advanced ones like ours run double that or more.”