Episode 84, Keep it small
31 Jul 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Episode 84, Keep it small
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Instead of heading straight to the hangars, I took a detour to the engineering department to speak with whoever was on duty. I hadn’t had the chance to meet the more than sixteen hundred crew members that kept my carrier running. The man standing near a console was as large as the chief, his voice booming into a headset he was wearing as he studied the readouts on one of the screens in front of him.
“Catch you at a bad time?”
He turned his head to eye me for a moment, a small smirk appearing on his face as he extended a large hand. His grip felt like a vice as his smirk turned into an amused smile. “Name’s Max,” his voice boomed as his eyes turned back to the readings on the monitor. “We have a rookie purging a plasma channel, for the first time, for one of the outboard thrusters. You two come to watch the show?”
“Sounds like it would be fun to watch, but we are on a bit of a time crunch and need to make a few things happen in short order. Your gang up to the task?”
He looked directly at Tara, then me, before shifting his eyes back to the monitors. “Heard there was a raid on, what do you need?”
“I need to jump the ship into orbit of a moon in the system we are raiding, once the others depart. I also need my Dolphin refitted for the task, and I will depart in it, once we arrive at the location. Can all of this be done within the hour?”
His smile broadened as he laughed in a deep bass tone. “Can do, where do you want her, and how do you want the Dolphin configured?”
I handed him my data tablet, as it vanished in his large hand. He studied it for a moment, then began tapping on one of the monitors in front of him as Tara looked at me with a curious expression.
“We are not following the plan you gave to the Coterie?”
A smile of my own appeared on my face. “Yes, we are. I’m making it a little easier for them. It will take them three hyperspace jumps to get there. Then they will need to fuel scoop once they arrive before starting their raid on the three nearest installations. Then they have a long flight to the distant settlements. By the time they arrive there, we will only be a thousand light seconds away.”
“The whole system will see us.”
“Yes, but there won’t be anything they can do about it. It would be foolish to start a shooting match with a capital ship above their primary installation, the same installation I will be raiding with the Dolphin.”
Max let out a deep booming laugh. “Now that’s making a statement they won’t soon forget.”
“Perception is nine-tenths. By demonstrating we can do as we please, wherever we wish, with whatever we want, it will stop all but the most determined from confronting us.”
The large smile remained on Max’s face as he nodded in understanding. “Lowers the risk of casualties too.”
Tara tilted her head to one side again as I reached over, patting Max on the shoulder. “Go ahead and have the maintenance droids transfer over my suits from the Diamondback and stock the stores on the Dolphin in case I want to stretch her legs after.”
Max continued to laugh as I turned on my heel, walking out, with Tara following. The changes I ordered for the Dolphin were not as extensive as I would have liked, but they were enough to get her in a configuration that would be sufficient for the tasks at hand. The system owner’s rival faction had a settlement on the same lunar surface we would soon be orbiting, and I planned on raiding that as well.
Tara said nothing until we entered the elevator. “Are you going to message the Coterie about the change, or do you want it to be a surprise?”
As the doors to the elevator opened, I gave her a little pat on the bottom. “Which surprise in particular?”
Tara paused for a moment, tilting her head to one side again, before following.
In front of us was a flurry of activity as the automated services installed a heavier shield and lighter fuel scoop into the small Dolphin. The twin small beam lasers, the heaviest it could mount, had already been installed, showing themselves from their mounts under the bow of the ship.
Originally designed by its creators as a small economical passenger transport to small outposts, installations, and settlements, where space was at a premium, the Dolphin had evolved over time. Others found that it lent itself as a decent, albeit short-range explorer. Due to its inherent balance between its weight, size, and power plant, it had the potential to be a decent light commerce raider and a respectable planetary raiding ship.
Tara watched the modifications with interest. “You really think this little ship can handle the job?”
I nodded. “The Dolphin’s agility and speed are its greatest assets. We’ll be able to get in and surprise them. Like you, no one expects this class of ship to be a threat. By the time they realize their error, it will be too late.”
She seemed to mull this over. “And if things don’t go as planned?”
“Then its small size will allow us to hide below the installation’s walls from the turrets. There we can wait until the shields rebuild and then we use its speed to get out of range and rethink our approach.”
“Not to cast doubt but out of curiosity. If that does not work or the ship becomes disabled?”
“There are two vehicles in the hangar, a Scarab and a Scorpion. I will take the latter, as it is designed for combat, and provide suppressive fire while you use the Scarab’s speed to get out of range. When I designate the installation I will add in two sets of rendezvous coordinates that will be downloaded to our suits and to the vehicles’ systems.”
Tara turned to watch the automated systems as her neurological matrix analyzed the latest behavioral data of her human companion. He had a habit of last-minute changes that did not negate any planning he or another had made but enhanced it in ways that were, statistically, the least expected action others would anticipate. She could only imagine how it played out in the minds of those on the receiving end; it was annoying enough for those who were with him.
Ryuko paged Lianna to grab her gear and join him and Tara in the Dolphin hangar bay within thirty minutes. That was the time remaining before the Coterie and Jabir were scheduled to depart. After that Akio, who would have received my request to Max, would be notified to jump the carrier to the provided coordinates, which would take five minutes to process and fifteen minutes to execute. By that time the raiding party should have arrived in the targeted system and be well on their way to the first of three installations nearest the system’s host star.
By now Lianna knew to never settle into one place for too long, and always have her gear ready at a moments notice. Twenty minutes after receiving the notification she arrived at the hangar. The midnight black hull of the small sleek passenger ship almost caused it to vanish inside of the dimly lit hangar.
Walking towards its side entrance a small grin graced her face. She shook her head, looking up at it. She knew Ryuko had a weird way about him. Whatever his reason for choosing this small passenger ship, she knew that it would not be boring. Pausing at the top of the entry, she looked back across the hangar and wondered if she might need a sedative before boarding.