[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 166: Client

Two days later, the Mancroft System welcomed an intimidating fleet of vessels. Over ten different spacecraft of various sized revolved around a sizable ship the size of a jumbo transport.

The flagship was a bona-fide mech carrier. Her mech carrying capacity surpassed all the other ships in the system. Like a queen returning to court, the carrier trudged slowly towards the inner system with her escorts leading the way.

Ves received an alert from Captain Silvestra and entered the bridge. "That's a really big ship."

"She's a military surplus fleet carrier. She's meant to carry over two companies of mechs."

Her length from bow to stern reached two kilometers. She took on a long but fairly stubby profile, which reduced her efficiency when transitioning to FTL but allowed her to carry large amounts of mechs and goods in her abundant holds.

"Frankly, she's not a ship that should thrive out here in the rim." Silvestra added, disapproval apparent on her face. "Three or four civilian large transports can carry the same load as that carrier with a fraction of the cost. The amount of money that you have to spend on fuel and crew to keep this boondoggle running day by day must run in the millions of credits."

That made Ves regard the former fleet carrier in a different light. Her flamboyant orange and pink coating made it clear that no government authority currently commissioned the ship. A private outfit must have snapped up the vessel and turned her into a mobile base.

There must be thousands of people crewing the ship and her many mechs. Even in a heavy populated system such as Bentheim, the large amount of mechs could certainly pose a threat.

About half an hour after the emergence of the carrier fleet, the Barracuda received a new hail. The flagship directly sent some codes along with the message that made it clear that the newcomers had some connection to the mission.

"Accept the hail. Let's see if they're the ones I'm supposed to meet."

The central projector lit up and displayed the upper body of a uniformed bridge officer. "Greetings. Am I speaking to Mr. Larkinson of the Barracuda?"

"That's correct."

"Lord Jeremiah Kaine has been expecting your arrival. We'd like to cordially invite you to attend a banquet aboard the Ark Horizon. Our ship will dispatch a shuttle at the appointed time, so please maintain your current orbit."

"Understood. I'll be ready to attend the banquet."

The communications officer cut off the hail after a perfunctory goodbye. Ves stared at the display and counted the number of escorts that flew around the Ark Horizon. How many more ships would join the fleet in the coming days?

"Your thoughts, Silvestra?"

His captain shook her head in disapproval. "A conventional fortune seeker rarely needs an entire fleet carrier to explore the frontier. You can't make a profit if you are saddled with too many assets. This doesn't look like a normal expedition at all. It seems to me that they're prepared to conduct a full-blown raid into hostile territory."

That made some sense, but Ves believed there had to be another reason. "Lord Kaine requires the services of a mech designer, and I doubt it's because he wants me to optimize his mechs against the sandmen. There are plenty of specialized mechs on the market that do a better job."

Not anyone would hire a mech designer on a whim. For a mech designer to do a good job, the client has to provide him with an intimate understanding of their current disposition of mechs. If their blueprints and other essential data fell into the wrong hands, they'd be vulnerable to targeted attacks.