Chapter 7 - War Bird

We looked at the exposed part of the dark blue hull. The docking bay tube was clamped firmly around the main hatch to the old ship, the door open showing a tiny part of illuminated innards. The owner beamed at us and the captain just stood by silently.
''Well, come on in! Take a look around!'' The owner, Benny he'd said to call him, chimed.
He was either very confident about the ship or very desperate to get rid of it. We stepped into the warship. It looked like a waterworks on the inside. All pipe, metal grate walkway and yellow lights illuminating it. We headed to the front, guided by the captain.
''When was she last in for an upgrade?'' Mum asked, running a claw along a pipe before it disappeared around a corner.
''The start of this cycle, miss.'' He said.
I looked at Lucas. Being a psychic made him a top notch lie detector and he was showing no signs of distress. Another truth being told.
''Everything still working then? No faults?'' She asked.
''Well, you might want to get the resistor coils checked out before you set off anywhere. That is, assuming you decide to buy it.'' Another truth.
''How did you get your hands on a warship, may I ask..?'' I asked. The question had been niggling me since I saw it docked.
Benny went quiet.
''Erm...'' He said. We all looked at him. ''It's sort of complicated, so I won't bore you with Kenemian politics, so here it is in a nutshell: After her last battle, the battle of Kensar, she, and the rest of her sisters, as we put it, were taken out of comission. You can still get parts for 'em, of course. They're still being made, since the ship's only a few two full cycles old. So they either went into hauliage or orbital patrol.''
Lucas didn't twinge. So far, the guy hadn't told a single lie. Which was rare.

We came onto the main bridge. The back was raised and in the depression were three seats, the two nearest the front having their own consoles. The same decor was in here too. Industrial looks, yellowish lighting. I walked down the front of the bridge and stood at the main viewer window. It dominated a large portion of the bridge, but it was something I liked to see on any ship. No radar or scanners? You had to use your own eyes. Panoramic viewing was good for survival. I turned to the captain and the owner.
''How many Grade A fighters can it carry?'' I asked.
''Up to ten at a time, sir.'' The captain said. He was a stout man, with a scruff of beard and bald head rimmed with white hair.
''How do we get to the docking bay?'' Mum asked.
''This way.'' Benny said, making a sweeping arm gesture towards the bridge door.
He took us back into the hallway and down the narrow corridoor that was directly to our left. We stepped onto a lift and went down a couple of decks right into the bowls of the ship. We stepped out into a white light filled area, ten lift locks all paired in twos down towards the rear of the ship. All locks were lowered and ready to accept any incomming ships.
''All the umbilicals are within the lift locks' casing. Once the locks are in place on the ship, the umbilicals will attatch themselves automatically, unless a malfunction occours.'' The captain said. ''Each lift lock can withstand up to fifteen tonnes and you can use multiple locks for the same ship.'' He added, pointing up at the complicated network of rails that held the lift locks up.
Lucas nodded thoughtfully. ''More than enough room for what we need. I take it the engine room access is further down..?''

''One of the access routes, yes. You can get to the engine from three levels. Deck one, near the bridge, deck three, opposite air lock three and just up the back there. Of course, the formal route is the bridge route. But that's up to you lot if you decide to purchase this ship.'' The captain said.
''How much would it take to get someone to run all this? I mean, full time engineer, commander, pilot etcetera'' Mum asked curiously.
''I'm currently out of the job, as it were, since I was decomissioned along with my ship. So I could stay on long enough for you to find a new pilot and a commander. Although, if you don't mind my saying, I'm willing to take on the task as commander or pilot.'' The little man said.
Benny was watching the exchange carefully. I nodded, taking this into consideration.
''Was this your ship to begin with, or...?''
''No. I was stationed as captain of the Starless Thunder. Unfortunately, she was detroyed in combat and only a handful of my crew survived. Some went on to other ships, the rest retired.'' He said honestly.
''Do you mind if we have a look at your systems and main computer?'' Mum asked. It was more of an order rather than a request.
Benny and the captain nodded.
''The console over there'll give you access to all parts of the ship. I unlocked everything when I heard we had potential buyers, so feel free to poke around.'' Benny beamed.
''If any of you would like to see the engine room..?'' The captain said.
Lucas nodded and followed him. I stayed behind and had a poke around the rest of the ship with Benny. It was all very impressive. Could carry a crew of thirty. Comfortable quarters. There were two holorooms and a rec room that reminded me of the bar on the station. Top of the range replicators had been installed too. I was very tempted. Then I was shown the offences and defenses. Everything a strong and reliable warship should have.


An hour later we walked back onto the station, having told the Captain and owner that we would have a think about it. It was certainly a ship we could use to full effect and more. The captain's offer of staying on board until we got things sorted out properly was more of a generous offer than the asking price for the ship. We sat in our assigned quarters, discussing what we'd seen, listing the pros and cons of the ship and it's systems. We had an hour to figure it out before someone else could put in an offer.
''The resistor coils do need a bit of tweaking, but that's nothing I can't handle. It's a simple fix and we could run the ship's engine on a quarter whilst I'm working.'' Lucas said.
''There're some spare parts and resources in hold two. It's not much, but it comes with the ship with no extra charge.'' I said.
''There's a few bugs in the computer system, so the whole thing'll need to be rebooted before the ship leaves dock. But again, like Lucas said, it's not a big job. The bugs only got in there because of the system unlock and are relatively easy to remove.'' Mum added. ''So, the next question is: Do you have the money for this old bird, or what?''
I thought, trying to recall the current balance of the team account. We had just over two hundred thousand, so buying the ship wouldn't ruin us.
''All right. I'm in. Lucas?''
Lucas grinned broadly.
''Count me in.''


Back at dock fifteen C, the captain and Benny were sat on a crate, playing cards. They looked up, watching us expectantly as we walked down the ramp towards them.
''The original price of three fifty still standing?'' I asked.
They nodded.
''Good. How do you want it payed for? Account to account or cash in hand?''
Benny jumped up from his crate and clapped his hand around mine, a massive grin on his wrinkled face.
''Account to account will do just fine, sir!'' He beamed.
The captain made a noise in his throat.
''We've accepted your offer to stay onboard until you find another ship.'' Mum said.
The captain looked more relieved than anything. ''Thankyou. I am captain Me'rass.'' He said and took a slight bow.
''There's a bank just down the way. I can have the money transferred immidiately. Uh, how're you getting home by the way?''
''I'm getting a passenger ship to Alton 3. I'm opening up a new business there, selling second hand ships and ship parts. You should drop by sometime.'' Benny grinned.
I turned and walked back up the ramp and exited the docking bay to go and get some money transferred. Once that was done, all that would be left to do is sort out the niggles in the ship and get our own, much smaller ships set up in their lift locks. We still didn't know what we wanted to do about the ship's ID beacon. We could get it replaced, so that we wouldn't be mistaken for anyone from Kenemia. We might keep the ship's name if we do end up changing the ID, I dunno yet. But those are things to worry about at another time. Possibly when Ann can have a say in all this.

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