Chapter 43

Alexander found Jasper in the atrium. The large space was much quieter now that most of the people had gone back to their homes or whatever work they did around the facility. From what he could tell, that was mostly farming. He was getting some interest in the work he was offering but it was slow."Alexander!" Jasper called as soon as the man spotted him.

Alexander waved back and walked over to join his friend. He was sitting at one of the many benches scattered around the large open space. They were one of the few things still intact after so long. And they weren't worth stealing.

"I'm surprised you're all alone today, Jasper. Where's the rest of your crew?"

The man shrugged. "Even I get sick of my crew sometimes. …I'm just kidding. Wilkes took Naomi back up to the Zephyr. There wasn't much for her to do down here, and since we are planning on returning to STO space soon her time was better spent trying to look for our next cargo run."

"How would she do that without a Qcomm?"

"Oh, the info will be out of date, but she can narrow down some parameters. Once we are back in STO space, she can double-check those shipments to see if they are still available. It's not the first time we've been out of comm range."

"I actually wanted to speak to you about shipping."

His friend nodded. "I thought you might. I would love to deliver supplies out to you Alexander…"

"I hear a but coming."

The man grimaced slightly. "You know how dangerous it is to come out here? I'm willing to risk it while the Hawks are here. But after that, I can't ask my crew to put themselves in harm's way like that. They are like family to me, I'm sure you understand now that you have Yulia."

Alexander sighed and nodded. "I do understand. The Hawks have agreed to extend their service for an additional three months. If I had something to keep you safe after they left, would you continue deliveries?"

"I don't see why not. But let's not dwell on what-ifs for now. Tell me, what did you need me to deliver?"

Alexander handed his friend the tablet he had been forced to purchase from the Hawks. Having an easy means of communicating data to others hadn't been on his original purchase manifest.

The man scrolled down the list, his eyebrow quirking at some of the items. "These are some expensive items," Jasper finally said as he lowered the tablet.

"I know. But those are all items I need and cannot print."

"They should be easy enough to acquire. Travel back and forth will likely take two months."

"I understand." He handed Jasper a credit chip. "This chip contains the sum total of all my credits." Minus a few million he kept in reserve just in case.

The man paused before accepting the item. "Why are you giving me all your money?" Sёarᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"It is currently useless out here. Use what you need to purchase the items I requested, and then I would like you to place the rest in some sort of account that garners interest. I am unfamiliar with what would be available, so please use your best judgment. Then you can draw from that account any time you need funds for my purchases. Eventually, it will turn into a corporate fund that I can use to pay others."

The man gave a faux shocked expression. "Already looking to replace me?"

Alexander chuckled. "Hardly. But at some point, one ship will not be enough to keep up."

Jasper smiled. "I like that you are thinking big my friend. Have you thought of a name for your new enterprise yet?"

"I have." He told his friend the name he had come up with.

"Fitting, I like it," he chuckled as he stood from the bench. "You keep being you, Alexander. Just try to stay safe out here ok?"

He nodded. "I will. I have a meeting with the Hawks today to discuss that very issue. You stay safe as well."

"Oh that shouldn't be much of an issue with the Hawks support ships patrolling the systems between here and Varlen. Oh, that reminds me, you may want to think about building an orbital dock as soon as possible. And a refueling station. You're going to need both to tempt any other captains to even bother with this system."

Alexander sighed. "I'm working on it. The items I'm asking you to bring on this first trip should make it easier."

There was a series of beeps from Jasper's vac suit. "Looks like Wilkes is back." The man held out his hand and Alexander shook it. "I'll see you in two months, my friend. I can't wait to see what has changed in that time."

"It was a pleasure flying with you. Tell your crew that I will miss them. As will Yulia."

The man smiled and gave Alexander a wave before hurrying off. He really would miss the Captain. Jasper had filled him in on so many of the things he didn't understand over the long journey. He had even given him a crash course in how to fly a spaceship. And that would have been a crash course had there actually been anything to hit along their path. Flying a ship did not seem to come naturally to Alexander. However, he had improved slightly during the later part of the journey.

With Jasper heading back to the Zephyr, he turned and headed toward the Hawks' little encampment. It wasn't far away.

"Mr. Kane, what can we assist you with today?" one of the mercenaries asked as Alexander approached the barricade of their camp.

"I would like to have a meeting with Captain Matthews and any Field Leaders that might be available."

The man nodded. "I will radio the Talon to see if the Captain is free."

After a short wait, the man dropped his hand away from an earpiece. "The Captain said he would be free in ten minutes. Travers and Jallen are the only two field leaders available in this section. If you would like to wait in the command tent, they should be here shortly."

He thanked the man and headed into the very familiar tent. It had a set of folding furniture and a video uplink to the Talon.

It didn't take long for the two Field Leaders to show up. "Mr. Travers, Mr. Jallen. Good to see you again."

"You as well, Alexander," Travers replied. "We don't have anything new to report since our meeting a few days ago, so I assume this meeting is about something else?"

Alexander nodded. "I'll get into it as soon as the Captain has connected."

Less than a minute later, the screen came on. "Looks like everyone is here," Matthews spoke. "What can we help you with Mr. Kane?" Try as he might, Alexander couldn't get the Talon's Captain to call him by his first name.

"I've been recently made aware that pirates still occasionally come through this system."

All three men nodded.

"We have heard similar from the locals," Travers confirmed.

"I expected as much but it's good to hear confirmation," Matthews stated. "This system isn't that far off the normal space lanes. It's not a surprise that pirates would use it to travel. But I assume your main concern isn't them passing through, is it?"

"It is not. While this facility didn't make a tempting target before, I'm afraid fixing it up is going to draw unwanted attention. I need advice on how to best protect the planet once the Hawks leave. Unless you have reconsidered my offer?"

Matthews leaned back in his chair and rubbed his bearded chin. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Kane. While your offer is more than generous, there are extenuating circumstances you may not be aware of."

"Such as?" Alexander asked, making his avatar frown slightly.

Matthews sighed. "We were going to discuss this at next week's briefing, but I don't see any reason to wait. You are aware that the gunships that came with us are patroling from Eden's End to Varlen?"

"Yes, you did mention that a few weeks ago."

"At their last stop, they received a Qcomm from our headquarters. Pirates have assaulted multiple systems along the Eastern end of STO territory. We don't have many details at the moment, but the leaders of Ganos have called in all available mercenary companies to ensure the local space lanes remain safe for travel."

If Alexander had a heart, he was sure it would have skipped a beat at this news. Petrov Station was on the eastern fringe of STO space. Alexander hoped Petrov Station, or more specifically, the orphans were ok. If they weren't Yulia would be devastated. "Does this mean you will be leaving early?"

"No, Mr. Kane. Our deal came into effect before we were alerted to this change. But I can no longer extend our stay past the additional three months. As for the deal to upgrade the Talon's Engines, that will need to wait until we can return."

Alexander nodded. "Understandable, Captain. Return whenever you can and I will make you right. With this upswing in piracy, I'm even more concerned about safety."

"As you should be. This attack will embolden the rest of those scum, that's for sure. As for defenses. The easiest and cheapest will be to reinforce the concrete above your facility. That will likely deter small pirate crews. The Talon has Gauss cannons as its main armament, but we also have missiles. I don't recommend either of them for you."

"You don't? Why not?"

"I can answer this one, Captain," Jallen spoke up. Matthews nodded to the man. "Other than being expensive, both require complicated processes for building and assembly. They also need multiple computer systems, which you have told some of the Hawks' engineers you have a limited supply of."

"That is true, and most of the ones I currently have in stock are earmarked for projects already. What are my other options? What about railguns?"

"For planetary use, that should be fine," Matthews said. "But the railgun rails need to be replaced regularly. This makes them less than ideal for space-based weapons as you can imagine. That's why you don't see them in use in the STO Navy. A Gauss cannon will do pretty much the same thing as a railgun and require a tenth as much maintenance."

Alexander didn't even have a reliable way to get goods into orbit yet, so having to repair orbital weapons systems constantly would not be very productive.

"Laser-based weapons would be ideal, but again, you are going to need at least a CPU per weapon. More if you plan on aiming them. I'm afraid you don't have many good options for space-based weapons. And even building the ground-based ones is going to be an issue unless you have the design plans for them. …You don't happen to have design plans for any of these weapons, do you?"

Alexander wasn't sure what to say here. Technically, he didn't have any STO-purchased designs for weapons but he still recalled the designs he had built back in his shop.

"Yes, and no. I don't have any STO designs, but I believe I can build a railgun and maybe even some lasers based on my technical knowledge."

"I suppose that's not too surprising. Railguns aren't all that complicated. I am a little curious as to how you know how to build lasers though."

"Lots of machines use lasers, Captain. It's just an application of concentrating the light and adding more power." He really hoped the man didn't dig further. Not that Alexander was doing anything illegal, not out here anyway.

"I suppose that is an accurate enough description. You should focus your efforts on the ground-based railguns then. They will be the cheapest and easiest to manufacture and keep running. The sulfur air of Eden's End would wreak havoc on ground-based laser optics unless you stored them in air-tight silos. And that will just increase the cost and complexity of those systems."

The other two men nodded in agreement at the Captain's assessment.

"Defense turrets at the entrances would also be advised," Travers added. "You can remotely operate them, removing the need for complicated control systems. Just print up and put together some simple circuit boards and pop a couple of flechette rifles into them and they would be a very effective deterrent for anyone. Heck, you could even repurpose those ancient Earth weapons if you really wanted to. You would need to go through them to make sure they were functional first though."

Why hadn't Alexander considered printing basic circuit boards? He had been so focused on future tech that he hadn't even thought of building his own simple processors. They didn't need to be super complex or powerful. Not for some of the things he wanted to do.

"Thank you all for the suggestions. I have a lot to think about."

"That's what we are here for, Mr. Kane. Is there anything else we can assist you with today?" Matthews asked.

"There is. I was recently informed that this base has a Low Orbit Launcher. Are you familiar with the devices?"

"I've heard of them. Can't say I've ever seen one though. If my memory is correct, aren't they just low-power railguns?"

"I believe you are correct, Captain. The launcher is behind a sealed blast door. Do you think your engineers can help me cut into it to get inside?"

Matthews shook his head at that. "If there are blast doors, it means they are there for a reason. I would recommend against cutting through them. I can have the engineers take a look and see if they can restore power and functionality to the doors though."

Alexander left the meeting with a lot to think about. He was already thinking about a design for a railgun in his head that would be powerful enough to reach into orbit. The gun was turning out to be the easy part. The limiting factor was the availability of power.

The research facility relied on antiquated solar and geothermal power. It did not have the more common fusion power plant that was in use in this day and age. He supposed it made sense to use easy-to-manufacture and replace items instead of something complicated and costly like a reactor. Solar and geothermal systems were both time-tested and rugged technologies as well. The fact they were still working to this date proved the people who had built this place chose wisely.

Alexander knew how to construct a fusion reactor thanks to the plans he purchased for the Zephyr's design. The plans included all the information and design specs he would need to build one for himself. The problem was that he was nowhere near the manufacturing capability required to build something like that. With fusion power a distant dream, he turned his focus to supercapacitors and batteries. They were much simpler to build.