Fly on the Wall - Birth of the Type-8. (excerpt from leaked Lakon Meeting)
24 May 2024Mart Gameaux
Bert : "What the hell are we gonna do Don?! The damned boffins have pissed away all of the R&D money on a three day island retreat bender! We promised the big wigs upstairs a prototype of a medium pad capable hauler by the end of this quarter!"Don : "Calm down Bert! Now is not the time to lose your cool my friend. I was on said bender and the boffins, who when booze fuelled, sometimes come up with the best ideas. With the added benefit of being so wasted they cant remember what they said.."
Bert : "OK. I assume you're going somewhere with this Don, spill the beans old chum.."
Don : "Trevor in Cargo Bay Design said the most interesting thing whilst downing his fifth Lavian Brandy Chaser. He reckoned that all they had to do to make a Type-7 medium pad capable was to resize the two main cargo decks to reduce the ship height. It would then come in under spec for medium pad approval. Just like the ancient stories about letting the air out of the tyres of a double decker bus to get it to fit under a bridge, he said. The simplest and most cost effective way to get the results that the board want. Trevor then went pale and passed out."
Bert : "Great! I will draw up the orders to get Trevor re-assigned to Jacques research division. Out of sight out of mind. Another awesome catch there Don! This will really get us noticed on the 833rd floor! Up the zigurat lickety split!"
Don : "I was gonna name the 'new ship' the Trevor Bus but thought better of it. Type-8 it is. When Trevor is in Colonia we will rush a proof of concept, say put an old Type-7 in a grav press to spec the height, then set up a demo with the R&D heads. When they green light it we just sit back and watch the money roll in my friend!"