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"We got six out of eight, damn it! What did you want- a miracle?" Raven
retorted.
"All right. The Chows are calling in the Thunder. Warlock and I are going to
check out something suspicious and we'll be back in a few hours. We have the
chart position you're moving to anyway, so if we're not back before you get
everyone together and get moving, we'll catch up."
Raven frowned. Something suspicious? "Anything we should know about?"
There was a pause. "No. Nothing you should know about."
Ikira used her scanners on Lightning as it pulled away and prepared to punch.
"That is one fast ship. I have never seen a design like that before."
"It's a custom job. It took on a Val and won, so don't underestimate it. I-"
He stopped, then just sat there a moment, thinking, a sad frown descending on
him.
We'll be back in a few hours...
"Something wrong?"
He shook his head slowly from side to side. "No, nothing wrong." He sighed.
"Forget it." But he couldn't forget it, because he now understood the reason
for the crew switch; he knew where they were going and what they were going to
do and he didn't like it one bit.
The only ones who knew the identities of the ships and crews that had come to
their side were the two holdouts, Novovladivostok and Sisu Moduru. They
wouldn't have left yet, most likely; they'd be examining their new stores of
murylium and deciding what to do next. Sooner or later one or both would fall
into the hands of Master System, perhaps alive and certainly with their
records intact.
Master
System would then know the personalities aboard the Thunder's supplemental
force, its ships, numbers, and capabilities.
Both ships were well armed and shielded, but they would be no match for
Lightning, rebuilt as a killer machine and with Warlock at the armaments
controls.
Raven was very glad Kaotan had decided to join in. He sighed. At least Warlock
would be in a very good mood when he next saw her.
It took about forty minutes for Thunder to come in from wherever it had been
lurking, and Raven always liked to hear the comments of people who had never
seen the likes of a fourteen-kilometer-long spaceship before. It was more like
having an asteroid with engines.
"Thunder to Raven, how are you doing?" Star Eagle called.
"Just fine, I guess. I have six ships here-including Fernando Savaphoong and
his ship-all filled with veteran freebooters and a mixture of colonials, as
well.
I
haven't the slightest idea how many people we're talking about, though."
"The murylium's all been stored or shifted to the aft processors, and with
Lightning not in, all four bays are available. I don't see any ship that
wouldn't fit in there, but with Pirate One we still have three more ships than
bays. I suggest that three of you will have to use the cargo docking ports and
make your way to the bay air-lock stations using pressure suits. Until we get
everything organized I would like to move as a unit, acting as a mother. I am
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scanning the fleet and I am impressed, but I would suggest you all send me
your identification codes so I can sort and direct you."
This was accomplished in a fraction of a second.
"I have limited drydock facilities in the bays, although not what we really
need. Kaotan, San Cristobal, and Bahakatan, you could all use some maintenance
and refitting. So could you, Indrus, but you are in better shape than they
are.
I suggest Kaotan in Bay One, San Cristobal in Bay Two, Bahakatan in Bay Three,
and Indrus in Bay Four. Pirate One, you dock at Bay Two after San Cristobal is
inside and the outer hull closed and sealed and walk down with care. Espiritu
Luzon, do the same with Bay One after Kaotan is inside and secured, and
Chunhoifan, take Bay Three after Bahakatan is secured. The bays are not
currently pressurized, so wear suits. We will have people to meet you in each
and lead you into the ship."
There were some special requests. Because of the artificial gravity in the
interior shell there were a couple who needed some kind of rider transport,
and
Ikira made certain to note that she had at least one amphibian aboard who
required water at intervals. It was not easy to gather everyone together; the
whole process took more than three hours and a lot of grumbling. Only the fact
that some of these reluctant recruits really wanted to see the inside of a
ship like the Thunder kept things in hand at all. Hawks met the crew of the
Kaotan, and did not comment on the odd and mostly antique and bulky space
suits they wore. He did, however, make a mental note to himself to have Star
Eagle work on outfitting them better.
"Take everyone into the village and make them as comfortable as we can for
now,"
he told Raven. "I'll stay here and wait for the people from Espiritu Luzon.
Don't take off your suit, though. When I get back I may need you to help fetch
the ones from Chunhoifan."
"Fair enough, Chief. I didn't get much exercise lately anyway. Ladies, this
way, and be prepared for gradually increasing gravity as we pass through the
air-
lock sequences. We have the interior at about point eight of a gee to allow
for muscle toning and natural activity."
All of them seemed awed by the village interior, and stared unbelievingly at
what felt like a tiny island rather than a spaceship.
"I'm afraid we're gonna have to double up a lot, or have some folks sleep
outside for a while, depending on the crowd we get," Raven said
apologetically.
"I expect we're gonna wind up with a bunch of folks either livin' in offices
or on the better ships. Ten to one old Savaphoong would rather commute than
stay here."
"I think it is fantastic!" Ikira Sukotae told him. "I couldn't have dreamed
that such a thing was possible inside a ship!" The others echoed her
sentiments.
"You ought'a seen the place before we fixed it up," the Crow noted. "It looked
like the biggest rolling mausoleum in history. We still got plenty of room
back there, and if we can take the banging and other construction there should
eventually be room for everybody in this kind of setting. Once we get your
ships repaired and all fixed up, we'll have to figure a way to give the ones
on the outside some kind of direct access in."
But it was Takya Mudabur, the amphibian, who said what was in back of all the
colonial crew's minds. "Our ancestors-might have come on this very ship. This
is the origin, the way it began..."
He hadn't even considered the historical and cultural impact the Thunder might
have, but he was secretly glad they hadn't seen in it in its original form.
The history of colonial transport might as well remain romantic; let only the
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