Karadin

[Stoat]

As the alarm went off, Karadin got out of bed and headed for a shower. Twenty minutes later he was packing his few possessions and looking around at what had been his home for the last few years. Now that it was upon him, he felt excited. Buoyed up by the possibilities that lay before him he strode out the door and headed for the docking bays, and his future.

As he approached the bays, the heavy from the bar appeared at his shoulder. Well, the ships yours, mate, he said, grinning again. All you have to do is walk in there and claim it. But I warn you now, you might not like what youre getting. Still, too late to back off now, ey? With that he disappeared down a corridor, leaving Karadin staring at the entrance to the bays. He swallowed and pulled out the key to the ship. An encoded data crystal. Taking a deep breath he walked into the bays and up to the service area where he gave the crystal to one of the mechanics. The crystal was placed on a reader. The mechanic glanced once at Karadin, then picked up the key and walked around the end of the counter.

Follow me, Mr Karadin. Now, weve been able to make some repairs to the ship, but a lot was beyond our skills Im afraid, and has had to be removed. The weapons are all kaput, as is the additional armour that had been fitted. Weve had to strip them all out, but youll be glad to hear that the mountings are still in working order. The comms unit, scanner and navigational computer have all been repaired and are in full working order again, but your countermeasures and mine dropper are also shot. We can, however, make use of those items that are beyond repair ourselves, so are willing to make a reduction to your bill to take that into account. Your thrusters have been repaired successfully, but their power drain has increased, so youll be wanting to replace those at some point in the future, no doubt. The damage to the cargo bay, hull panels and wings has been fully repaired. Youll be glad to know that your cruise engines were completely undamaged, as was the shield generator. Given the amount of damage the ship took, youre lucky the damned thing is even capable of flying. And, of course, there was the re-fuelling. Anyway, the upshot is a bill for eighteen thousand, seven hundred and sixty five credits all told. We have an old countermeasure dropper, and a couple of old Vampire mark ones we can fit in about an hour, whichll knock the price up to twenty five thousand, but thats your choice. However, given the Hessian activity around these parts, Id call you a damned fool to your face if you were to go out there without any weapons on your ship. The mechanic finally stopped talking, stopped and turned to face Karadin, a sympathetic smile on his face.

Twenty five thousand? he echoed. Bloody hell! Thats every penny Ive got! This was just typical. Nothing ever went smoothly did it? Paying for the ship repairs would leave him penniless, save for about 50 credits or so, but he knew he wasnt exactly in a position to be able to refuse. Sighing deeply, he reached into his pockets and withdrew all the credit cards hed accumulated. Yup, exactly twenty five thousand credits. He looked up into the expanse of the hangar workshop and sighed again.

This better be worth it! Karadin said. Get the guns and measures mounted too. In for a penny, in for my damned life savings I guess.

No worries, Mr Karadin. Ill have her fixed up within the hour. Just ask for George if Im not at the desk when you get back. He said, offering his hand. Karadin shook it and George turned and trotted off.. He rubbed his face with his hands, and headed back the way hed come. There was a little cafe not far from here that did a fine fry up, and he could just about afford a cup of tea to go with it.

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