“I was going to leave it somewhere in the office since we both use this space. I still don't know where.”
“I like it where it is. It should be somewhere everyone can see it, I think.”
“Makes the decision simple. Speaking of decisions, I've chosen a few targets for Triton to hit when we're ready. One will solve our wormhole generator problem. Price and Finn managed to find more combat damage, it would take weeks to machine the parts since they're too dense to materialize. Not to mention we don't have a machinist that's worked with the technology before. Liam is going to try and rig a solution that'll get it working until we can find a port we can buy the parts from or pursue another solution.”
“The learning curve would kill us on time if the engineering crew can't improvise something.”
“Exactly. So I'm putting a plan together using the Triton, the Samson, and the Cold Reaver along with a few fighters in a support role. I want to steal a wormhole generating hypertransmitter. The intelligence Frost got his hands on lines right up with the transmission data we're tracing.”
“So you've managed to find a transmission node? One small enough to steal?”
Jake smiled at her and nodded. “The Samson can pick it up with the maxjack if she has enough cover. There's a station nearby but if we hit fast and hard enough, distracting with the Triton we'll be able to snatch it. That's only if we can't buy the parts on a recruiting run.”
“Good chance of that. Wormhole generator parts that'll work in the Triton's existing systems are rare.”
Jake nodded his agreement and went on. “In the meantime, there are some supply routes we can hit with hyperspace layover points. I've managed to narrow the list down to military targets that run a lot of wetware assets.”
“You mean slaves.”
“It's not clear. The information we have indicates average head counts per square meter, and there are too many for the ships to carry active crew and no slave cargo. The routes and shipments are significant enough for any disruption to hurt. The loss of these assets won't go unnoticed. That presents another problem.”
“We don't have any allies to offload extra cargo to or to take anyone we liberate in,” Alice finished for him.
“Exactly. So we'll have to take on slaves first, try to take on any cargo that could help us and destroy what we can't resell. After that we'll have to find an ally fast.”
“Unless we take the hypertransmitter first.”
“With the crew still untried?” Captain Valance asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You've seen them in simulations and live drills. They follow orders, their reaction times are fast even by my standards after just a couple of weeks. They're dedicated.”
“I want to start on a solid victory, and if we go after this transmission node and come up against something unexpected we'll have turn and run early. We might not even get a chance to launch the Samson or any of the other ships, it might come down to going in cloaked and getting out if there's no way to the hypertransmitter.”
“You have a point. It's got to be pretty well protected. What are the chances we'd make it without major casualties?”
“Less than fifty, but I'm working on refining the plan. I'd still rather see what the crew can do to a supply convoy first. A softer target,” Jake said, turning on a holographic navigational chart. It flickered on and hovered over his desk. “Here, this would be perfect. Lower chance of there being slaves, but the average mass index of the shipments going through show that they regularly ship heavy materials through this point, probably munitions and supplies that are too complex or dense to materialize on site. Steal it or wreck it, Regent Galactic will feel the pinch.”
“There's still about a five percent chance of wetware cargo,” Alice pointed out.
“True, but we can't get hung up on the what ifs. This crew is together because a lot of them stayed to do some damage to Regent. We'll just have to run ship wide sims that include taking on a few thousand slaves, just in case.”
“I'll set it up during my shift. The crew won't like it, but I'm sure they'll rise to it.”
“Good, I want to be as prepared as we can be.”
“When do you think we'll hit this layover point?”
“I'm giving the Engineering team two weeks tops to get a fix in place for the wormhole drive. If there's no way they can get it done on that deadline, then we'll have to do it all on hyperdrive. Still, we won't start talking about it to the general crew yet, there might still be a couple Regent Galactic spies on board.”
“Stephanie's doing her best to catch them, she's tearing her hair out at the Intelligence department though, they just don't know what they're doing.”
“I know, we'll have to do something about that. Don't get pulled into it though, it's taking the both of us in overlapping fourteen and sixteen hour shifts to run the Triton and we haven't chosen a day watch first officer yet.”
“About that, should I give Price the official rank below me on night watch?”
“No, he's being paid as a first officer and doing the work, so there's no need to force a rank on him that'll just make him nervous. Besides, he's pulling triple shifts when no one's looking just because his race doesn't have to sleep for days at a time. If we promote him I'm afraid he'll never sleep again.”
Alice couldn't help but chuckle. It was true, the issyrians were particularly hard workers, and more importantly they were commonly curious about the ship. The only person more dedicated to her duties was Ashley. She was relatively new to piloting but she had a great feel for the ship, controls and her thirst for knowledge, her need to improve was insatiable. The young woman knew how to relax, sure, but on most nights she was deep in a simulation, piloting large ships and fighters alike into the most challenging scenarios. “So Ashley's going on her first recruiting mission.”
Jake smiled a little and nodded. “I was wondering when you'd bring that up.”
“She's key to the helm during day shift, I was a little surprised.”
“Her navigator is going with her. I'll be using another team at the helm for the next couple days. I figured it was time to give them a chance. If the worst happens I could always take the controls.”
“Do you think she can manage a small crew for a few days?”
“I left her in charge of the Samson enough while Stephanie, Frost and I were off ship. The Cold Reaver is easier to take care of.”
“You know, I wish I was around for the Samson days. I keep hearing stories.”
“It wasn't as interesting as it might sound. The Samson is far from done though. I have plans for her, the Cold Reaver and a few other ships in her class if we can get our hands on them.”
“Oh really?” Alice asked with an upraised eyebrow.
“The Triton is perfect for serving as a command center for several smaller crews on ships just like the Samson. There's no reason why we can't go after several small objectives at a time or use a group of smaller ships to help capture convoys, hit military targets that are hardened against large warships like the Triton or we could run deep recon, cherry pick targets before going in with everything.”
“I like the way you think. Makes me really wish the Clever Dream was still around. She'd be perfect.”
“I'll make sure you get an agile ship when you run missions. I don't know if we can find something like the Clever Dream, but I'll do my best to replace her.”
“Maybe I should take a look at Regent Galactic's military vessel listing. I'm sure they make something I'd like to get my hands on,” she said with a crooked grin. “I've met enough ship thieves and pirates to know a few things.”