"Janet, please take orders from General Harriman until my return from the war."
"Yes my Lord."
He cracked up.
"I can't get her to stop saying that," I said apologetically. He laughed harder. "Janet has fought the station, under supervision of a Commodore, so tell her what you want, and she'll do it for you. If necessary, a pilot can take full control, but I doubt you'll need that."
"Understood."
"What can you tell me about how my people performed?"
"Superbly. I'll be recommending them for medals and awards. They all did the impossible. Their ships were only part of the equation. Guts and skill, combined with technical superiority, saved the day here. What's the deal with Lacey? He's far too competent to be a Squadron Leader at his age."
"I've no idea. His record shows no reason for holding promotion back. But I've only met him three times, including today, so I've never had the chance to ask him anything."
"I've had plenty of time. I used Camel as my flag ship, as soon as I arrived here, so we've had a lot of time for conversation. But he's said nothing about his past at all. Maybe you can find out sometime? I'll be interested if you do." I nodded. "It's been a long time since I was in combat. I can see why you love it so much, but I'm too long in the tooth now to enjoy it. But having experienced it, I'm very glad I didn’t bring our one remaining Corvette. It wouldn’t have stood a chance here. Your Camel is inspired, Jon. Once the war is over, we need to talk about how you see the Militia's needs for the future."
"We can do that. Don’t ask me when it will be though."
"As most of what was put on the line here belonged to you, you warrant reward. I can't give you a medal, as you weren’t here, but what would you like?"
I thought for a moment, and a wicked grin appeared on my face. Followed by a wince.
"Ownership of Nexus? Or at least, permission to park my station in the middle of the system."
He laughed hard and long, and was still laughing when Lacey and Annette knocked on the door. I waved them in.
"Before I forget Squadron Leader," I said to Lacey before he could sit, "you better tell Marshal Bigglesworth you're still alive. He seems to worry about you."
"I seriously doubt that sir. We didn’t part on good terms."
"So I gather. All the same, send him a vid, and update him with what's been happening to you and the squadron. I'll make it an order if I have to."
"Okay sir. Obviously, you've been in contact with him, and know more than I do."
"Actually, he's been in contact with me, and I think you underestimate him."
He laughed.
"Everyone does sir. That’s why he's the Space Marshall now."
"Give us an overview of the war so far," suggested Walter, bringing things back on topic.
I spent the next hour giving them a rundown of events since communications were cut.
Twenty Nine
On the dot of midday, the four of us walked into the main eating area of the Promenade Deck, which had until recently been a troop's mess. It was now back to its former role as a general eating area, where people could sit with food from any of the vendors around the deck.
There were lots of station residents milling around, and a group of obvious pilots over to one side. A few people held musical instruments, but no one was playing.
Janet had tasked some building droids to erect a small podium with a lectern, and I headed over to it. We stepped up, and faced the crowd.
"Broadcast me please Janet. Here, and to every display in the station."
"You're on."
"Can I have everyone's attention please," I said. The crowd of people slowly went silent. "For those who don’t know me, I'm Jon Hunter. I own this station."
There was surprise showing on the faces of most of the pilots, and a good few of the residents.
"I thought it was fitting to hold a celebration this afternoon for two reasons. Firstly, for those of you who live on the station. You've been through a lot, from the station takeover in the Pompeii system, to the battle at Cobol. Many of you were injured at Cobol, some of you are still in hospital. It's been a tough time. I can tell you now, it's over. The station is now in the Midnight system, and here it'll stay until at least the end of the war. It's safe here, and you are now safe!"
There was cheering from all around the area.
"The second reason for a celebration is the reason why it's safe here. The faces you don’t know, are pilots who have put their lives on the line to keep the enemy out of the Australian sector. Until this morning, they knew they could die at any moment, at the whims of Midgard. Today they know they prevailed, and it's time for them to celebrate their victory."
There was more cheering, notably the group of pilots.
"I'd like to introduce you to General Harriman, of the Australian Militia. For the immediate future, he'll command this station."
I indicated the General, and he nodded to the crowd.
"This is a good place for us to be right now. This is the only functional station between the Australian systems, Avon, and Miami. Once trade gets going again, this will be a natural stopping point for ships making the journey either way. I'm hoping that those of you with businesses, will reap the rewards of your decision to stay on the station."
There were smiles and nods from many people.
"Janet, say hello please."
People looked puzzled.
"Hello everyone," she said, displaying her avatar face on the screens. "I'm the station's Artificial Intelligence. I'll be running things until a new station administration can be set up."
A mutter arose around the room. Her face vanished, and I replaced it on the screens.
"There'll be freighters leaving the station later today," I went on, "bound for Australian sector planets. If anyone has urgent orders to make, submit them to Janet as soon as possible. Scheduling can be done based on where people need things collected from. Until the end of the war, there will be Hunter freighters doing supply runs from Australian planets. If you advise Janet of your orders, they'll be collected, and brought here free of charge."
I saw some heads nodding. I'd just thought of the latter idea, since these people had made a huge decision to relocate, and could use some help it wasn’t going to cost me extra to provide.
"Likewise, if you need information about the sector, and where you can order things from, ask Janet through any display unit. The station has a small but efficient security force. If you need their attention, again, speak to Janet. Anything else, speak to Janet. If it needs to go to the General, you'll be redirected."
I could see boredom setting in.
"That’s all I wanted to say. This celebration is on me. Eat, drink, and rejoice in being safe. Thank you for your attention."
There was a round of cheering again. The screens went blank.
"Let's have some music!" I called out.
"Nice speech," said Walter. "You continue to amaze me young Jon. I'd have thought you grew up with public speaking, and yet I know you haven’t."
"Let's eat," I said, heading off any further discussion.
I'd no sooner stepped down from the podium, than I saw Jeeves waving me towards a table. A small cargo droid removed the lectern. I headed over, and the four of us sat. Jeeves soon had food and drinks for us.
Some musicians took their places on the empty podium, and a party atmosphere quickly followed them beginning to play.
"Janet, have some butler droids go to the hospital, and make sure everyone there is provided with food and drink. They can also seek out any groups of people who aren't attending the party, and offer them whatever they would like as well."
"Yes my Lord."
"What's next?" asked Annette.
"I'm going to get a few quick modifications done to the Carrier, while no-one is aboard. When complete, and all your ships are repaired, we'll transfer them over to the Carrier. Once all the ships are there, we'll return to Cobol. As soon as the ground
team's work is complete, we move on to the Azgard jump point, and continue rolling Midgard back."
"So we're all going with you?" asked Lacey.
"Those of you who work for me. The Gladiator pilots will remain here as a fighter force. Some Talons may join them. That’s up to the General."
"What about the new ships?" he asked.
"Both Camels will go with us. I think I have a buyer for them. The Excalibur was built for me, so that goes with us as well."
He looked a little downcast.
"I was hoping I'd get to keep flying my Camel. I know the other two want to keep flying their Camel and Excalibur. The Centurions will be a definite come down now."
I chuckled. I knew the feeling.
"We'll see what happens. At the moment I have more ships than pilots. If you know some good pilots who might want to join your squadron, let me know. Having new ships built isn’t a major problem at the moment, although getting them done will be problematical until the sector militaries stop monopolizing the shipyards. For now, after you've eaten, see to your pilots and their ship repairs. When they're complete, have them moved onto the Carrier. You can land the Centurions on the Flight Deck, through one of the side entrances. Just leave the sides clear for two of the Corvettes to land, and keep well clear of the lifts. The station has some other ships I'll be having transferred over, so the lifts will be busy."
"Yes sir."
"Will I be landing Unthinkable on the Flight Deck?" asked Annette.
"Yes. Gunbus will go one side, and Unthinkable the other. I'll be making arrangements for docking the Camels."
She and Lacey nodded, and we continued to eat in silence.
After eating, I showed them around the CCC, had Janet raise and lower the pilot's chair, and left them to get on with their own business.
Back on Gunbus, I began discussing changes to BigMother with both Jane and Janet. While we were doing this, Janet moved all the builder and unoccupied repair droids from the station, over to the Carrier. With them went all but two of the Search and Rescue droids, and all but six of the salvage droids. While no one was aboard was the best time to do the changes I was thinking of.
The hard part was fitting things in. Bob had done too good a job of filling up the extra spaces with anything which could shoot.
I'd only talked to him about turrets and launchers down the sides. But at the time, I hadn't considered the majority of the surface area being on the top and bottom hulls. I'd been thinking more in terms of where to put the extra power generators for the Point Defense, and extra shielding I'd wanted, not in terms of the Carrier being converted into a Heavy Cruiser.
Junk Heap One, when I captured her, had almost no weapons at all. Just a few anti-fighter missile launchers.
Bob had added Cruiser and Destroyer guns, and after my experiences in Midgard, seemed to have run amok with Point Defense.
Much to my amazement, BigMother had more actual firepower now than the station did. Along the sides, he'd opted for capital ship missile launchers instead of guns. There were thirty on each side.
He'd even added twelve Mosquito launchers. Two were on the sides, and four each top and bottom.
The thing I was coming to grips with was the Carrier was the opposite layout to the Pocket Battleships. The PB's were all sides, with much narrower tops and bottoms. The Carrier was all top and bottom, with narrow sides. Narrow being subjective, since she was taller than any of my other ships, although this varied down her length. The underside was flat, the topside sloped down from back to front. Her length was midway between a Cruiser and a Battleship, and the width at the front was almost the same as a Cruiser.
She now docked the same as other large ships, with a full length Cargo Deck ending in a Large Freighter airlock at the front.
Below that was the Flight Deck. Like all Escort Carriers, this was only meant to land smaller ships one at a time. At the rear, she was slightly wider than five Cruisers docked next to each other. Most of the rear section was engines and power plants, but the Flight Deck went the whole way through, so a fighter could fly in one end, and out the other. The opening at the rear was much wider than the one at the front, allowing larger ships to enter. Inside, were large ship bays, where Privateer and larger small freighter sized ships could be parked. You could land a medium freighter at the rear end of the Flight Deck, but it wouldn’t fit into one of the bays. Each bay had its own cargo handling system, mini versions of each station dock. Private yachts, and the smallest of the small freighters, would fit down the ship lifts, and be stored in the ship bays below.
The two side openings to the Flight Deck, were large enough for a Corvette to enter and park, without obscuring the main length.
What had been completed, as well as the weapons and Cargo Deck airlock, was upgrading the Bridge Deck and the main accommodation. The Bridge had been rebuilt to the same standard as Custer's, except substantially bigger. As well as an adjoining kitchen and mess, there was now a captain's Ready Room, and a Conference Room for thirty. On the same deck were five VIP offices, and ten standard offices.
The captain's suite was bigger again than Custer's, but of a similar design. There were five VIP suites the size of the XO's suite on Custer, and twenty five ordinary suites comprising a living room, bedroom with queen sized bed, and bathroom with a four person spa bath. Each was larger than my suite on Gunbus.
On the same deck was a kitchen, Dining Room for fifty, recreation room, gymnasium, a bathroom with two twenty person spa baths, and a sauna.
What hadn't been done included the ship's storage areas, the Maintenance and Launch Deck; Cargo Bay upgrades, and the various crew areas. The latter included a Pilot's Mess, Marine Mess, and Crew Mess. Each was the size of the crew area on Custer, and was to be equipped the same way. I also wanted Custer's gun ranges duplicated, an arboretum, and some viewing lounges.
Jane highlighted the fact that all the equipment and fittings needed were on board, just none of the work had begun. As a secondary task, I had Jane task the Marine Mess and its attached Armoury, hopefully to be completed by the time we reached Cobol. The other tasks would be begun when everything else was complete.
Also on board were the eleven Sabers and four Epees I'd salvaged from a trap I’d walked into, the same day I'd captured the Carrier. They were all ready to fight. There was also three shuttles and a Captain's Gig. And the magazines were crammed full of ordinance for the various launchers.
I gave Jane instructions for the six Mustangs, five Sabers, and three Epees on the station, to be moved to the Carrier. The Mustangs were just small enough to fit down the lifts. Excalibur and the Centurions were too big. I also asked for twelve of the Hive clusters to be moved to the new mountings on the Carrier, as soon as they were complete.
She also found several pallets of butler and maid droids. I instructed Jeeves to activate those we needed once we moved over. I asked for a butler droid to add the names of the team to the nearest suites to the stairwell and quick access shafts. These ran up the middle of the ship near the rear, above the Flight Deck, allowing quick access to all decks from the Cargo Deck upwards. There were also similar access areas on each side of the ship, as well as between lower decks in other places.
I pondered the stairwells and quick access shafts. The Bridge was on a separate level from the Accommodation. Angel was going to need to be denied access to the shafts, and down the stairwell on the Accommodation Deck. I instructed Jeeves to find extra cat walls, or have Janet make enough new walling to keep Angel limited to the top two decks.
I wondered why I hadn't seen an invoice for all the work done, and what had been left on board. It had to have made a sizable hole in Bob's pocket.
The two AI's and I debated ways of doing what I wanted. What we settled on wasn't necessarily pretty, but it would work.
The builder droids began, supervised by Jane. Cargo droids transferred everything the station could provide, and it was stored in cargo bays until needed.
Discussion
over, I went and played with Angel for a while.
Thirty
Once Angel went to sleep, I sat in a lounge chair and waded through emails. There were a lot of new banking ones, advising of bounty payments, on kills now weeks old. There were plenty of real estate ads, investment advice, and more of the usual junk mail.
David Tollin responded to say he was moving to the station as soon as my Liner arrived, with a core administration staff. The family in residence on Outback Orbital would take longer to decide, but he'd pitched the case, especially if the station ended up in Nexus.
He listed the freighters he'd received from 266 Squadron's efforts. These were a mixture of small and medium freighters. All had been caught with drugs. He'd found crews for them all, listed 266 Squadron on each as a crew member, and set them to work. Now that the pirate presence in the Australian sector had been eliminated, courtesy of my good self, trade was back to normal amongst all the planets.
Hunter Trading was the name used for the new company, keeping the mercenary and trading sides of my Hunter Enterprises separate. As each captain was responsible for running his or her own ship, and paying the owners percentage of profits to the company, the company itself had only needed to borrow starting credits from Hunter Security, for food and consumables for the ship crews. Once trading began, each ship had paid in enough very quickly, to repay those loans.
Lacey, as Squadron Leader of 266 Squadron, was receiving regular payments of their crew share from each ship. David made a point of mentioning Lacey had been quick to divide each payment up with his pilots.
I thanked him for the information, and sent him General Harriman's aide's contact details, asking him to co-ordinate with the General, as he set up the station administration. The station was going to need a military only area, and only the General could provide the details for creating it.
Make or Break the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 4) Page 15
