Boris
Head back to ship to install the EM Flask and to take a look at the Bore Drive. It's a finicky bastard, but could something be done to boost its capabilities (without blowing up the ship... much)?
Boris, despite never having left Deliria's docks, had managed to see everything that he wanted to see of that forsaken station. Rather than wait to take the Sled back, he chartered an automated short range shuttle to oversee the unloading of the EM Flask and his purchased munitions onto the Reunion. The short trip back gave him plenty of time to message Brakhadakh, as well as to muse about the Reunion's bore drive. He could install the EM flask around the reactor in an hour if was pressed, but upgrading the bore drive required a bit more... finesse.
The reunion's current bore system was reasonably advanced, and designed for a military carrier. As such it had two jobs: One, make large long-range bores to move the ship long distances without making too much 'noise' - subspace ripples detectable by FTL sensors. Two, make small short-range bores to rapidly deploy fighters into the fray and redirect incoming high-order weapons fire before it could strike the ship. From a standpoint of efficacy, she was an excellent bore drive, high-powered, long ranged, and without an unduly enormous subspace wake to give away her position. The problem was that she had been designed with a crew of military engineers in mind, as well as numerous support vessels and a supply chain to back her up. She was a maintenance whore, and burned out auxiliary coils and resonance stabilizers at a prodigious rate when working at her full potential.
User higher quality replacement parts would help, but that was more of a continual maintenance issue. What she needed was some sort of integrated repair system, like Scarlet's nanites, to make micro-scale repairs during high-intensity usage. It would likely be more effective to redo the circuitry and replace the δ-Harmonic alloy used by the current wiring with a δ-Neutral alloy in order to slash waste heat to about a fifth, but that would require a complete strip and refit of the Bore Drive, during which time it would be completely unusable. That and δ-Neutral materials were bloody expensive pieces of apex level tech.
Aubrey"Fuzzy, we would be happy to hear your proposal. I have specific questions, yes. If the goat is not code for the trade, when is the trade of the stolen good to take place, and where? Who is the buyer? And as possible questions of interest if that does not empty my account, why are they buying it, and probably more importantly how in the name of the stars is Varkonius so lethal? Oh, and do you have his room number? Sorry, I should ha- Sorry. Let me stop there."
Fuzzy inclined his broad head and tilted slightly sideways, a motion of respect that pantomimed exposing the jugular.
“Thank you. Now, as to your questions. Mr. Davar's room number is A23, and his deal is scheduled to take place on the Flounder itself in the lounge of its hostel. His buyer is also quite early -the nervousness of a first time criminal, I think- and will arrive at the station at approximately the same time Davar arrives on world. They are not, however, scheduled to make the exchange for another three hours. As for the why of it, well, that invites a bit of speculation.” Fuzzy stretched, sheathing and unsheathing is claws in a series of contemplative clicks against the hard floor.
“The buyer is a member of Tiamen, but he's a scientist- expatriated for his heretical belief in the progenitor race and, more importantly, for rejecting the idea that there is anything holy about the 'Relics' of his empire. Knowing that, I'd guess that he's associated with a group that seeks to destabilize the Tiamen theocracy itself and bring about some kind of radical movement- though it's a bit painful to think that rejecting space dross as a deity is a radical belief to any civilized race.” “As for Mr. Davar... He's a man who thrives on chaos. Well trained, well educated, and completely unflappable. He's deadly because he doesn't panic, and that makes him rather difficult for most people to predict. Most animals, Neos and otherwise, flee from uncontrolled fire for fear of being burned. Davar would run straight into it if it would give him the advantage. Whether through modification or natural inclination, Davar is truly a fearless individual.” The measured tempo of Fuzzy's claws clicking across the floor stopped abruptly when Aubrey brought up the deep space murders.
“Aubrey,” he said, his voice quiet and serious,
“do not get involved with that. I know there are people on this station who would wish to steer you towards him, to contract a group of mercenaries to help them in their crusade, but that one will kill you. I am not omniscient, but I do know that he is not after the Exile's Star.”
SadishAction: Purchase the Secondhand Chem Breakdown of putrefied goo
Bio-soup was an excellent way to describe the sample information that Sadish skimmed. Lacking time, she focused on the highlights. Keresh's remark about a bioweapon seemed accurate, rather frighteningly so. Most all material in the sample had rotted away, probably the result of the sample being run well after the initial event, but what was left didn't paint a pretty picture.
The weapon appeared bacterial, with a few fascinating remnant cells left behind that Sadish needed to spend more time studying, but the rest of soup didn't match what Sadish expected of the typical weapons blend. Most bio-weapons killed far too fast for the host's immune system to muster much defense, basically eating through their bodies and leaving behind a cocktail of burned out bacterial matter and half-digested cellular material from the host. The sample Sadish had, while clearly fast acting, had left behind a much more interesting blend than just cell-guts. It looked like the victim's body had been actively trying to fight the infection, but most of the protein bases for the defensive cells were improperly folded, as though the cutting process was interrupted- or vastly accelerated.
Judging by the video showing splatter marks, this disease didn't just consume the victim's cells, it accelerated their immune response well beyond its natural limit. The bacteria didn't seem to have been unduly damaged, but the effect turned the host into a bio-bomb of pus and rotting blood.
Still, despite how horrible it was, Sadish had a sample of the bacteria. She had immunization kits on board the Reunion, and she should be able to whip up vaccine fairly quickly. Such things were pretty much a necessity when one went hopping between a hundred different worlds that all had their own unique strain of bubonic plague.
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Topic: Small Mercies (IC) | Death is knocking, and he wants to buy a goat. (Read 52216 times)