Xochitl Novella, Part 6
Daily Affairs
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The business was booming, and I sat back and relaxed, enjoying my beer while Rex and Avery went over the daily reports. They were perplexed by my unorthodox methods, especially Avery, but it was worth it just to see the look on their faces.
Although my earnings weren't as high as they could be if I focused on mining or fighting Thargoids, I still made a tidy profit of 148 million credits, along with some extra cargo and escape pods. The majority of these earnings went into a fund for lower-paid crew members on my Carrier, a venture that would benefit them in the long run, even if they decided to leave.
Under the tutelage of Yatziri, Art was quickly learning the ropes and had even completed his first solo interdiction of a pirate transport ship. Yatziri was corrupting him in a good way, and it was satisfying to see him pirating pirates. His ultimate goal was to own a Krait Phantom class ship and start his own cargo operation, but I had a surprise in store for him.
I tasked Chief Bowen with outfitting my Vulture class heavy fighter for light cargo, interdiction, and raiding operations. This would be the perfect vessel for Art to put his knowledge into practical use as a commander. The best part was that any profits he made would go toward his future goal, allowing him to save up for his own ship.
Zooey was doing well under the instructional routine Rex had made for her. Though her goals were not the same as Art’s, she had come a long way, learning a little about most of the positions aboard the carrier. I had planned on pairing her with Yatziri, once she had completed with Art. Learning the ways of a smuggler would be beneficial to her future knowledge.
Stealth
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Art seemed to enjoy the Vulture heavy fighter that I had outfitted for his educational purposes with the help of Chief Bowen. Yatziri had taught him well how to interdict, disable, or destroy ships as the situation dictated, but she couldn't teach him how to master the realm of stealth due to the limitations of the ship they had been using.
His mission, before going solo, was to find and interdict me. I followed him for over an hour, maneuvering through the space lanes, and observing every ship coming in and out of the system. At random intervals, I sent him questions such as why Dolphin and Diamondback ships were harder to detect at range, the correlation between a power plant and engine types concerning heat management, and what methods could be employed by a target to mask their presence.
Although Art answered each question correctly, knowing the answers wasn't the same as facing one in real time. I wanted to run him around to give him time to get comfortable with the handling of the Vulture before dropping him out of luminary velocities into real space and initiating the second phase of his education.
I caught him by surprise as he hadn't expected to be interdicted. He put up a good fight, but his ship was eventually pulled into real space. It was satisfying to see that he immediately boosted to get some distance while activating his weapons. I let him run a few kilometers ahead, watching as he performed a high-G reversal and doubled back on his original heading to face the ship that had pulled him. However, he found only a heat sink that I had ejected, lighting up his sensors and masking the direction I had gone.
'Did you lose something?' I teased.
He repeatedly boosted the Vulture, searching for me as I flew in a lazy circle near where I had deployed the heat sink, watching him on my sensors.
'Find the location of the local star and the location where I ejected the heat sink. Place it between you and the star.'
He reversed his course, moving to a point in space where he could see the point of origin.
'What you are looking for won't be on your sensors unless you are in visual range. Use your eyes to check for any shadows, smudges, dark spots, or movement between you and the star. Use your night vision to help you see, especially within a few kilometers.'
It took him several minutes before he turned towards me, flying a series of s-turns to check his heading.
I turned my ship's lights on and off to get his attention as he flew up to me.
'I don't get it. Your shields are up, and weapons are out, so you aren't in silent running mode. I'm looking right at you, but my sensors are having trouble locking you. How are you keeping off my sensors?'
'You already answered those questions earlier while you were looking around for me. It's all in the engineering. At rest, this ship maintains between fourteen through sixteen percent heat with everything running. In silent running mode, the cockpit frosts over.'
‘How do you defend against that?’
‘You did the right thing by boosting away. When you are pulled by a stealth build, don’t reverse. If they give chase they will expose themselves by heating up.’
I saw Art nodding his head. ‘So wait for them to expose themselves … got it. But I still can’t target you.’
‘That’s the point,’ I said with a smile. ‘Head on back to the ship for debriefing. Tomorrow you begin your first day of fixed weapon fighting.’
Rocks
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Art paused in confusion as Yatziri slapped him on the shoulder while walking by on the way to the Vulture heavy fighter. The ship's two weapons slots were fitted with a small mining abrasion blaster and a seismic charge launcher, and the warrant scanner was replaced with a pulse wave scanner to highlight mineral-rich asteroids.
'A mining Vulture?' Art asked.
'Yes,' I replied. 'I will be in the Krait with all the limpets and firepower we need for any pirates that show up. Your job will be to find the mineral-rich rocks, and I will use the prospector to confirm your find. Once we have one that we like, you will place the seismic charges. After the rock is broken, I will send out the collector limpets, and you will break loose any minerals not released by the blast...with a catch.'
Art smiled, looking at me from the corner of his eye. 'Of course, there's a catch.'
'You will be doing all of this without using the flight assist computer. Yatziri will be with you to help.'
'I thought today was fixed weapons training?' Art asked.
'It is. I never specified what the target would be.'
Art chuckled. 'Rocks.'
'Yes, rocks. The upside is that everything we refine today will go towards your future ship.'
Art's attention was now fully focused. 'What are we standing around talking about? Let's get cracking some rocks!'
Presents
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My usual routine was to break three or sometimes four rocks, but never more than that. However, this training session for Art was a rare circumstance that required double the number of rocks. Eighty tons of Benitoite would bring Art's account to the point where he could purchase his own Krait Phantom. The question then would be how to engineer each of its key modules to provide him with the best performance.
As I headed out to visit a purchasing agent to offer a decent amount for our haul, I sent Art and Yatziri back to the carrier to retrieve my Diamondback Explorer and meet me at the customer's orbital station. My plan was to have Yatziri and Art take my current ship back and use my Diamondback Explorer to travel to the far distant system to verify the seller’s claims. If they were true, I would purchase the complete package and have it delivered to my carrier.
Art and Yatziri arrived as I was completing the mineral sale. Art was curious about the ship switch, but I kept the reason for the orders I had given as vague as possible.
My Diamondback Explorer covered the more than 250 light-year range in a respectable time, arriving at the ship vendor's station by early evening their system time. The ship was as advertised, as I checked its paperwork while performing an initial mechanical inspection. The only subjective hours on its frame and power plant were what was required to transport it from the manufacturer to the station. The modules were all original equipment, still in their transport crates.
With everything in proper order, we sat down to finalize the paperwork with a respectable discount by purchasing it from a Li Yong-Rui agent. Unfortunately, the cost of transporting it to my carrier was full price, but not enough to complain about.
They offered me a suite aboard their station, and considering the number of credits I had spent, they threw in a catered meal as well. I didn’t stay at their station, but rarely would I turn down a free meal.
Privateer Funds
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I arrived back at the carrier before the Krait's scheduled delivery, affording me time to rest and recharge before the next adventure. For me, the next challenge needed to align with my desire to avoid monotonous routines while still remaining focused on finding innovative ways to generate funds to cover weekly operational expenses.
As I relaxed in the comfort of my recliner with a cold beer in hand, an idea suddenly came to mind. Using my neural implant, I downloaded the complete database of the living pirates that had been captured in their escape pods. Chief Zarathustra had quite the collection, and while most were still in hibernation, a few of the less experienced ones were put to good use in productive community service tasks, such as cleaning the carrier's septic system or helping to clean parts for Chief Bowen in engineering.
My capture policy of taking any occupied pirate escape pod I could reach was about to provide an equitable return on the time invested. There were more than enough of them to adequately fund the weekly operational expenses of the carrier along with providing a tidy bonus for my crew.
Avery raised a valid concern about the potential risk of damaging our established reputation with the factions these pirates were affiliated with. However, I countered this by explaining that we had been selling legitimate commodities to their markets, funded by the proceeds from the sale of pirated goods taken from their own shipping. Moreover, the pirated goods were sold in a competitor's black market, making it difficult to trace them back to us. The revenue generated from the sale of pirated goods was then used to purchase in-demand items for the host, which further strengthened our reputation.
I sipped my beer and contemplated my next move.
***
I departed early the following morning, to make it to the purchasing agent at a respectable time, by their systems clock. The escape pods in my hold brought in a tidy twenty-four million credits, with almost two million in additional bounties to be collected from opportunistic pirates who attempted to interdict me en route. Their escape pods were part of the sale.
It was fortunate for me to have run across them when I did, as they gave me the idea for the next funding adventure. Finding their system of origin and the settlements they called home, provided me with several fruitful fields to harvest. So many commodities, goods, assets, data, and bounties, that I had trouble deciding where to start.
I contacted Yatziri with the information, to see if she was interested; it was a rhetorical question.
Transitory Exchange
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As Yatziri headed out to engage in some pirate hunting, I returned to the carrier to load some of the lesser minerals I had acquired for sale at a station offering an above-market price. One of the advantages of the carrier was being able to store the modest quantities of various minerals and goods I was able to acquire during my varied dealings. Some of these items were considered black market only, while others were legitimate. It was a nice mix that could please the requirements of various markets.
I spent the next few hours organizing my inventory and taking stock of my current funds. It was a routine task, but an essential one in order to maintain a clear view of my financial situation. Reviewing my accounts, I realized that my recent transactions had put me in a comfortable position. With the additional revenue from the escape pods and bounties, I had more than enough to cover our weekly operational expenses and still have a tidy profit.
Feeling satisfied with my progress, I reclined in my chair, sipping on a cold drink, and admired the view from my cockpit. The vast expanse of space always amazed me, and I felt a sense of freedom and liberation that I could never find on any planet.
As I sat there, I began to plan my next move. With my current financial situation secured, I could afford to take a few calculated risks and explore new opportunities for profit. A sudden idea from the past came to mind. Referencing a pricing list a smile appeared on my face. Some things never change. Rex and Avery both were going to love what I had planned.
I sent a message to the vendor outlining my proposal. All that remained was to watch the stars outside and wait for their response.
***
Rex sat back in his chair with a jolt, staring at the monitor. Shaking his head, he tapped the communicator on his wrist.
‘Avery, are you tracking our Captain?’
‘Yes, commander. Is there an issue?’
‘She knows her carrier’s space is finite?’
‘She is aware. If this is in regard to her most recent act, I do not believe her actions will be an issue.’
Rex stared at the monitor. ‘I’m not in her head like you are, so would you please clarify before chief Bowen sees this and has a meltdown.’
The information on Rex’s monitor changed, to show a forecast model that Avery sent. ‘Damn, that’s a slick move.’
‘I am unfamiliar with your reply commander.’
Rex chuckled. ‘Thank you, Avery. I will notify the chief to expect a transitory exchange.’
Fleet Sales
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As I sat in my scout's cockpit, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and longing for the views of distant nebulae that I missed while aboard my carrier. Despite having access to the observation lounge, my time on the carrier was often spent preparing for the next adventure or monitoring the countless screens. Out here, it was just me and the stars.
I reflected on my past experiences as a line mechanic for a Federation outfit, specifically the last time I made a fleet purchase for my employer. This time, however, the modern-day fleet purchase was all my doing. I had recently purchased ten Orca class passenger ships at a 20% discount, only to sell them at full price and make a tidy profit of seventy-two million credits for my crew, after a small commission and transportation fee.
The cockpit of my scout was warm and cozy, but it was engineered to idle cold, making it undetectable by standard sensors. This made it the perfect ship to sit out here, alone, and admire the breathtaking views before me. Sipping on a steaming cup of coffee, I couldn't help but imagine the looks on commander Rex and chief Bowen's faces when the fleet arrived at the carrier to refuel before heading off to the customer's orbital station.
This cycle had been exceptionally profitable, as I had managed to net a total of 193,886,288 credits for my crew. As usual, ten percent of this would be allocated to the carrier fund, which aided the lower-paid crew members. An additional ten percent would be converted into commodities and stored for future use, with a final ten percent set aside for emergency supplies in case of a famine or outbreak in our operational region.
The remaining amount would be deposited into the carrier's account, which was already well-funded for over a complete annual cycle, with some change to spare. It was always essential to keep a healthy balance in the account to ensure that we could sustain operations and take advantage of new opportunities as they arose.
Monetary Opportunity
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The first new opportunity of the day was a lumbering pirate Anaconda, acting like a typical pest around the system's navigational beacon.
As I waited for the Anaconda to become engaged with the local traders, I positioned my Diamondback Scout 100 meters behind its exhaust, ready to strike when the moment was right. The ship's stealth engineering worked flawlessly, keeping my heat register low at only 17% despite having all systems powered up and weapons ready.
Pirates were all the same. I knew that few ever cleared their tails while focusing on a target in front of them. Greed and hubris produced target fixation, and their loss of situational awareness would work to my advantage as I placed my weapon sights on the center of the Anaconda's exhaust. Punching through its shields would take some effort, but if its target kept it distracted long enough, I would be able to expose its hull plating.
I watched as the Anaconda launched a hatch breaker limpet at the Keelback freighter while its two Eagle wingmen broke formation, turning to engage the Anaconda. A smile crossed my face as the Keelback boosted away from the incoming limpet, its onboard fighter launching to add its firepower to the Eagles.
As the Anaconda and Eagles fired almost simultaneously, I squeezed the trigger, putting two double shots of overcharged frag cannon rounds into its shields, while my twin multi-cannons spun up to their high rpm, adding their weight, with the Keelback's fighter adding its own fire to that of the two Eagles.
As the Anaconda's shields began to flicker, its pilot noticed my assault and began to turn his lumbering ship to face me. My smile grew as I turned quickly away, boosting towards the nearby local star, letting loose a heat sink and a cloud of chaff in my wake.
Even being so near to the star, frost appeared on my cockpit window as the range between me and the Anaconda grew quickly apart. It didn't have a visual on my ship, and looking for the dot of a shadow highlighted by the star wouldn't be possible with a heat sink in his vision. I was invisible to him in every way as he reversed his course to deal with the ship's fighter and the two Eagles, which continued to fire on his now exposed hull plating.
My ship's heat never went above 20%, keeping me shielded from its sensors as I maneuvered in behind its big engines, getting within 50 meters. There was no way to miss as I let loose a full volley of corrosive frags and incendiary multi-cannon shells, destroying half of its thrust in one shot.
The Anaconda attempted to reverse on me once more, but this time I did not withdraw. I was able to match its move, staying behind its lumbering mass, letting loose two more full volleys, destroying its engines, and leaving it at the mercy of its intended target.
This time I backed away, blending into the blackness of space, listening to his cursing on the open frequency as the ships of the trading wing dissected the large ship like so many ants.
'Get to your escape pod, and I promise you will live,' I broadcasted, as internal explosions began to rip the armor from the Anaconda's hide, culminating in the blinding flash of the reactor's explosion, as parts and debris were flung throughout the space around it.
Looking at my own sensors, I saw there was indeed an occupied escape pod, which had jettisoned clear. The trading wing was busy attempting to reform as I moved in, my cargo scoop open, ready to take the pirate captive.
A million and a half bounty, plus the pirate. That was the start of a good day.
Fortunately, I did not have to listen to post-explosion cursing, as he was in a pleasant hibernation state. He would be a good start toward rebuilding my inventory of pirate escape pods, for willing customers. The Federation and Imperium both employed their types for various tasks, as did chief Bowen … but he wasn’t a paying customer.
What's in a name?
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While headed back to the carrier a message came in asking if I wanted to take a mission for a local clan, locating some product for them. I didn’t do missions for anyone, other than myself. The location in question was the planet my carrier was orbiting. While I might not do a mission for them, there were detectable signal sources below which did catch my interest, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to go down and see what dust I could stir up.
The perfect ship for that task was my Cobra Mk IV. It was set up for small trading, raiding, and the odd pirate transport interdiction. If all else failed, the Delacy lead brick to its nimbler Mk. III brother, could simply fall on whatever it was, and flatten it.
I liked to poke fun at the weight of the ship, as it almost seemed like a blasphemy considering the lineage it came from, but deep down, I actually loved the thing. It had a uniqueness to it, even though it handled like an anemic Type 6 transport with a full cargo hold. She was hard as a rock and could bash another ship with the best of them. I've even bounced her off the hull of a few Federal Assault ships, and they weighed over twice what she did.
Smiling as I stepped off the carrier's hangar tram, I looked at her unique lunar camouflage, thinking about doing something special to her that I had thought of doing before but had never gotten around to. While the correct spelling for 4 in the heavier Cobra model was the Latin IV, I found that I preferred spelling it "Iv." It seemed to go better with the "Mk." usage for the new mark of product usage for a new version. "Mk. Iv," I liked that. "Version" or "Mark Ivy." It kind of had a singing sound to it—even a cyborg could have a whimsical moment.
Connecting with my neural processor, I sent a command to the ship's robotic hangar systems to apply a name to her hull. I never marked any of my ships, but this time, I would make an exception. Her name would be on her hull, barely visible to my human eye, but my cybernetic eye could see it clearly in the ultraviolet spectrum.
"Mk. Iv." It had a ring to it.
I boarded the ship, as the robotic arms moved across the hull, applying her unique tag. The molecular-coated tag would be dry before launch, and the cold vacuum of space would seal it, blending it perfectly with its camouflage.
Mk. Iv. with UV filter
First Finds
-Calm before the storm-
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As I descended towards the planet, the signal source resolved into a distress signal. Adjusting my downward angle, I set up my approach to placing me within seven kilometers, giving me time to survey the scene and get my weaponry prepared. Usually, these were downed craft with either raiders, pirates, or their robotic skimmers guarding them.
Even though it was on the lighted side of the planet, I turned on my night vision to aid in highlighting any ground or near-ground objects as I approached within visual range. Not seeing any hostiles, I reduced my velocity to perform a low pass. This would activate any unseen security skimmers while allowing me to check my contacts page for what was present underneath.
I skimmed low over the site, as my sensors detected six occupied escape pods. Without the wreckage of a ship being present, it was likely that the ship had either been destroyed in orbit or had crashed somewhere else on the planet. Since there were no signs of any pirates or attackers at the scene, I proceeded to land my Cobra nearby and used my Scarab ground vehicle to collect the pods and bring them back to the safety of my ship. I contacted Avery aboard the carrier to have a medical team ready, as I set about locating each of the pods for recovery.
As I began loading the escape pods into my Scarab, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Why were these escape pods the only sign of a shipwreck? And why were there no pirates or raiders guarding them? That meant one of three things. The ship escaped, was destroyed in orbit, or there was a crash scene somewhere else on this moon or another one nearby.
With all the pods loaded and secured, I launched back towards the stars above, and my carrier which was in low orbit, meaning that if any pirates were waiting nearby, they wouldn’t have the chance to interdict me as the transition between entering orbit and being within range of my carrier would be almost seamless.
The transition between landing, offloading to Zarathustra’s waiting security team and the medical technicians, and departing all happened within a few minutes. I wanted to get back out and scan the planet and nearby space for any additional signals to see if there was a crashed ship or the presence of pirates working near the shipping lanes near my carrier.
***
I searched the space lanes but found no signs of pirates or raiders. While there was a local pirate group in the system, their lack of presence didn't concern me. The usual trading traffic was lower than normal too, but that could be due to the usual market fluctuations that occur in each region from time to time.
There was a nearby uninhabited system I had been meaning to visit, and with no pirates around to engage, now was a good time to investigate a new place. The computer indicated that it had a gas giant with a ring and a few nearby moons, which might have some volcanism or bacterial life forms due to their proximity to a large gravitational source.
The best part about traveling from system to system was the temporary hyperspace wormhole generated by the frame-shift drive. The differences in perspective between my human and cybernetic eyes gave me a mental rush with each journey. However, I never lost focus on the star I would arrive at, as the wormhole required a gravitational source to tether to, completing the tunnel. Pilots who were not paying attention coming out the other side would quickly find themselves flying into the star, which would ruin a trip real quick.
Fortunately, I had a supercruise assist module on my Cobra that would zero the throttle as I exited from hyperspace. I rarely used it, but it came in handy when traveling to far-distant planets that may take an hour or more to reach from their system's main sequence host star. I could use the time to read, catch a nap, make a meal, or do other things, while the ship essentially traveled on autopilot toward the set destination, and then put itself into orbit until I manually disengaged it.
With time to spare until I reached my destination, I leaned my head back and downloaded the regional news. Closing my eyes I disappeared into my processor, viewing the different articles, factional standings, and general happenings; the worst being the various opinion pieces. While most were hubris, it was a way to gauge the pulse of a particular sect inside each faction.
These moments gave me a brief opportunity to null the sensation of the nano-sprayed piezoelectric skin covering the areas of my cybernetic prosthesis and get a rapid charge to top up my power levels. While this was normally accomplished through movement or when in one of my suits, through that same skin, it was nice to relax, remove all sensation, and top everything up.
For a non-engineered person, a similar experience would be in a sensory deprivation tank. Only I carried mine around and could vanish my consciousness into the neural processor. I could keep myself entertained there indefinitely, creating my own separate reality if needed, or browse through periodicals without the associated nausea.