The Infinity Chronicles Volume 1

Act-23: Back on the trail...

The Infinity Chronicles Volume-1, Chapter-4:

"All things being equal..."

Imperial Starport, Marrok

1-June-2331

Act-23: "Back on the trail"

Alex sighed happily as he and his little group boarded the waiting packet. It was a tiny ship, about a fourth the size of a Commercant but it was here to serve only one purpose: To get Alex and his crew off of Marrok.

Within a few minutes of boarding, the nimble, needle-shaped ship launched into space. It was a Star Warp vessel, which made Alex nervous, but it's crew assured him that they were in no danger, and it was FAST!

The normal trip from Marrok to Center took almost 3 days, between capacitor recharging and star sighting for each skip, not to mention the sublight crawl to and from stable skip points. These new Star Warp ships not only could go FTL drive while just out of an atmosphere, they were at Center in under 40 hours!

"That right there," He began, as he led his little group off of the ship and into Center's main civilian debarkation area, "is the future of civilian merchant shipping."

"Oh yeah, so how exactly is a free booter captain supposed to afford an AMR?" Elisha asked, as she shouldered her small duffel bag. He smiled.

"Government subsidy loans. AMRs are risky, so you get an insurance policy that covers the ship the same as though it were flying though hostile space. Yes, it will cost more, but with the speed of these ships, they'll be able to make turnarounds between destinations only thought laughable a few years ago. Center to Taucente in less then a day."

"That is until the aforementioned free booter gets his monthly maintenance bill. The AMR is nice, but it's still too fickle and finicky for the humdrum engineering crowd in the Merchant Marine." Came a new voice from behind Alex on the other side of the customs desk. It was Delilah. Alex smiled seeing her, but before he could say hi, she spoke again.

"So, I hear you got the 'B-Star' shot out from under you." She cooed. He grunted something unintelligible.

"No, when the 'Wisconsin' blew up we got caught in the blast. The 'B-Star' is still at 'Soft Growl', and I doubt it'll ever fly again." He replied, looking back at a dejected looking Elisha and Cygna.

"So, come to GSE to get your next ride? I mean, I read the local society rags, and whenever your little sister is in the news, I figure it's only a matter of time before I see you. And yes, I know you can afford anything you like, so what'll it be?" She asked coyly as the group split up, Cygna and the rest of the girls going in one cab, while Alex, Cyban and Del got into another. Mentally, he contacted Cygna.

"<Protect the free persons with you Cygna. I give you full rights as a free person. Defend them to the death if need be>"

"<Understood Master. I'll let no harm come to those in my charge>"

"<Go shopping with Karen when you get to our suite. Remind her that we are short of large rounds. She'll know where to go>"

"<Yes Master!>"

Breaking the Life-Link, Alex turned to Del.

"I want a Phoenix Dragon, though I want to re-arrange the main armament."

"Oh? What's wrong with the cannon layout?"

"The ships bound for Marrok are equipped with battle cruiser grade cannon, but their reactors are too weak to effectively cycle the mains fast enough to be useful. Big ships with big guns have oodles of reserve reactor capacity, so they can quick fire their mains. The 'Dragon's 'can't because there's just no more room in the hull to accomodate a bigger reactor. I ran simulations back on Marrok and Soft Growl. What these ships should have are either triple 228's or dual 304's. Eliminate the storage bay, since what little space and weight was allocated for cargo is a joke, and push the reactor to the limits of weight and available space." He said, as Del made notes on her PADD. The leaning taxi made it to Red Sector and Alex tipped the driver heavily to compensate him for the unwarranted wear on his cab from Cyban.