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A dreaming bee - Pavel - 12-24-2013
Dominik Autenburg quickly passed the "road" on level C and entered his cabin, as drilled in asteroid's stone living rooms were called. They indeed were more similar to cabins on a starship than normal rooms; small and with limited amenities, they were one of the reasons Domink sometimes hated the fact of living pirate life. Toilet, shower and fridge were in the other, special cabin, common for the entire "parcel" consisted of dozen of living cabins, each inhabited by at least two persons. Life on Vogtland station surely was nowhere close to the levels of luxury found on Orbital liners and resorts.
Dominik smiled though, after reminding himself life on New Berlin isn't a lot different - his grandparents originated from that planet, and young hessian still remembered their stories about entire underground cities, built below the surface to escape harsh snowstorms and arctic cold of the planet. Hamburg wasn't much better climate-wise, with that difference its inhabitants weren't tunnel rats living in holes... On the other hand, the three remaining Rheinland planets had quite good, in comparison, climate. Holstein was corporate controlled water world with colder version of temperate climate, with only few small island chains and network of sea platforms, Stuttgart, even although altered by a SynthFoods terraforming operations, was warm green planet, and Baden-Baden... Well, that planet was a paradise, one of which Dominik heard, but couldn't reach. Photos of tropical islands with palms, golden sand beaches and resorts full of smiled, happy people, which he saw once in the NeuralNet, were remembered for long after that night at Kreuzberg, where he stopped for refuel and got interested in what group of Junkers and Unioners is talking about, in the corner nearby TV.
"If I could live that life at least for one weekend a year..." - Dominik thought. It was twenty-fifth day of his name, and his entire life was just full of bolts, screwdrivers and wrenches. He was born and raised at Vogtland. Childhood period was short for children in all larger pirate movements, sometimes it never really occured. Dominik helped in the workshop since he was fourteen. After three years he moved from fixing broken vacuum and water filters, found in countless numbers inside giant asteroid-base, to "civilian" vessel workshop. Although there is little to nothing civilian about the Red Hessians, that's what was his employment for nearly a decade - learning ship mechanics and helping with repairs. After four years he became normal mechanic, and occasional smuggler.
Smaller hessian "shipping" crafts were often piloted by mechanics importing spare parts and fuel from other friendly and neutral bases. Such solution had few advantages, first of all mechanics could always check quality of needed parts and equipment. Another perk was a constant exchange of experience between technical personnel of the movement, and finally constant flow of goods between hessian bases. Tired after the entire day of trying to figure out what exactly is broken in his freighter's engine, mixed with few good repeated times of unmounting it from the ship, exhausted Dominik closed the metal door and fell on the bed in dirty from grease boilersuit....
RE: A dreaming bee - Pavel - 03-25-2014
He opened his eyes and lied down for a few seconds more, waiting for all of his sense to turn on and get used to the inside of the cabin. It was silent and dark in there, but he had a feeling of being observed, somehow he felt there is a someone else in the room. Mechanic turned around and sat on the bed. Two meters farther on the bed behind a small low table, shadowed sitting figure indicated Dominik is not alone. The figure spoke:
- Weisser was looking for you.
- You're back.
The shadow didn't answer.
Dominik stood up and reached a light switch with his hand. Single circular lightbulb of a diameter of a plate illuminated the room and revealed unshaved man in his late forties sitting on the bed on the other side of the small room.
- Good hunt?" - young hessian asked.
- We joined farmer group attacking Synth convoy. Here, take that kid." - the man said and threw a package towards Dominik, which he caught with a single hand in the air.
- Paste, thanks.
The man again didn't answer, but lied down on his bed on the back, with hands behind his head.
- What Weisser wanted from me?
- I don't know. He'll tell you that himself.
- How long ago you returned?
- Not too long. Go and let me sleep kid.
The young hessian silently opened the box and pulled out the first random tube of a size of toothpaste one from the inside, putting it in the pocket. The rest was placed in his drawer for private things under the bed. Short and made from metal and hard plastic alloys, the furniture was meant to serve as a sleeping place on small stations or freight trains, and couldn't provide good rest for anyone using that model for longer periods. It originated from intercepted Republican transport shipping internal station equipment components few years ago. Dominik wanted to take a shower and dress up the clean boilersuit on before returning to the workshop. He took the clean boilersuit from the wardrobe, also metallic one for stations, but from different transport. In the result, it was bizzare sight of furnitures of two different styles in a one room.
With a clean boilersuit, a towel and a soap Dominik quietly left the room, slowly closing the metal door behind him, trying not to wake up Ulrich. The most important thing experienced raider needed after returns was undisturbed sleep; hours of waiting for a prey at a trade lane or between asteroids were psychically exhausting, especially as raiders never had absolute sureness won't they meet combat ship patrol sent by the police, military, corporation or the hunter guild, instead of rather vulnerable transport with scouts only. Sometimes provided by the Junkers intel wasn't accurate, sometimes escort was much tougher than expected, and on a rare occasions slow fat train expected by the pirates turned out to be well armored battletransport or two with wing of combat fighters. On every succesful raid there were at least two which didn't go too well, and either the loot was bad, there were losses in ships or men, or from various reasons the transport managed to escape... When succesful though, materials and sometimes financial gain compensated the dangers of pirate profession. Domink crossed the path and approached drilled out in the stone stairs leading up. After few hundred steps he opened the door to the common for his parcel hall. Washing machine under the wall was working loudly, warm light coming from exactly the same lightbulbs as in his room showed bathroom section in the farther part of the hall. He undressed dirty boilersuit throwing it at the floor, placed the clean one at the chair and made few staps towars the shower, protected against unwanted eyes only by waterproof shower curtain. This time the young mechanic was in luck, the time of the day was early, and the water warmed up by giant electrical boilers was hot, instead of lukewarm stream of evening hours he got used to. He wet his entire body and turned off the water before using soap and scrubbing dirt coming from various greases. Dominik turned the water on after he more or less returned his skin to acceptable levels of white.
- There you are Dominik. Ulrich was upset I woke him up when I knocked to your door
Hessian turned his head around, protruding above the curtain. Old woman of wrinkled face was looking at him expectantly.
- Mrs. Elsa, what's it this time? Again broken filter?
- And radio. I miss evening auditions, they always talk about the goods our raiders got during the day, and how many enemies were shot down.
- You really still listen to that amateur radio organised by few bored teens on our level?
- Will you repair it?
- Will you wash my boilersuit?
- For tomorrow?
- Yes.
- I can. When will you repair my radio?
- Later today, after the work.
Old mother of two hessians who never visited her nodded and left Dominik without word. Warmer relationships rarely happened between all sorts of pirates, and hessians were no different.
Dominik dried his body with towel and dressed up the clean boilersuit, while leving the dirty one and towerl on the chair, so old Elsa as she was called could wash them later. Leaving the hall cave down the stairs he noticed Red Greta sitting before her room few dozen meters down the path. Red-headed thirty rested after work outside of room occupied by her and two other women.
- Hey Dominik, when will you come again? - she asked seductively, blinking one of her eyes.
- When I have time, and something in exchange. It passed some time since I got my hands on anything worthy or useful for you.
- You could repair my datapad.
- I'm ship mechanic, not optronics programmer. Dominik said and went his way, thinking which raider could give her datapad from pirated ship, and how weirdly it's organized that he, mechanic doing useful and much needed job, owns far less than Red Greta, always receiving gifts from customers. Thousands of men living and stopping by at Vogtland had certain needs and Red Greta was one of many women ensuring those needs are met. She highered her living standard above common hessian level as a result of her profession.
He finally reached very basic lift and pushed the button. Few persons, men and women, gathered around the entrance before the lift arrived. Some drunk pilots left the cage and the group at last found itself inside, moving down. After longer while the door opened and passangers left lift's cage, each going away in different direction. Dominik entered loud path, with sounds of hammers, wielding and working angle grinders filling it entirely. His workshop was at the path's end, close to the hangar. As he entered his place of work fourty-years old man from the other side of spacious hall filled with ship and other mechanical parts shouted something to Dominik, but the working tools were definitely louder. Showing that by poining out his ear with fingers, mechanic went closer to the shouting man, with the man doing exactly that same and approaching Dominik. They met in the middle of hall, right next to bigger than a man supertrain wing engine, waiting for repairs. It was meant to be put on one of captured Herons later, and reinforce hessian smuggling capabilities.
- Finally I found you.
- Rather I found you.
- I needed you for the last three hours.
- Why? After yesterday I think I have a right to few additional free hours, eh?
- Yes yes...Rest all day long while supplies are not delivered, absolutely not a problem. We fixed your ship in the night.
That surprised him.
- How?
- Starter electricity had to be removed, we gave her new cables and it solved the problem.
- Thanks, that means?..
- That means we used enough starter spare parts this week to need more. And I'm tired after mounting the engine in your ship. Bring me some cigars from Kreuzberg. Don't forget the parts.
- Now?
- Yes, now.
Dominik sighed quitely. He started hoping on day or two free, but it seemed he won't rest more after yesterday. Internally resigned, he left the workshop with list of needed parts and commodities written on a piece of paper. He directed his steps to nearby hangar, one of the few at Vogtland. This one was responsible for small shipping and some of independent raiders. Crossing between parked ships of all sorts from small classes, hangar was a one big square with roof placed fifty meters above. The irregular rocky shape of the walls and the roof reminded him regardless of all the efforts, it still is asteroid, not regular constructed from modules base. He had to carefully choose places for his steps, landed vessels were everywhere, surrounded by containers offloaded from and loaded to freighters. Tubes carrying fuel from local fuel valves, which were placed every few meters also were dominant part of scenery, with tubes being attached to ships' fuel tanks on one end and to valves on the other. He found his dromedary somewhere in the middle of the square, with fuel tube already filling it up with H-fuel needed for travel. Worker from hangar's administration was operating the tube.
- Hey, already full?-the mechanic asked.
- Almost-the worker replied. - Standard route Dominik?
- Yeah, to Kreuzberg. Bring me something for Junkers when you're done with refuel. Blood Diamonds, pirated goods, whatever will bring some profit.
- Right away.-he nodded, unhooking the fuel tube and laying it down on the floor. After a while Dominik heard sound of electrical engine and noticed forklift carrying two small containers, slowly driving on the paths which were spontaneously created between parked ships, to ensure there is acces to every one of them. The young mechanic-pilot opened the cargo bay door and forklift placed both containers inside, nearly fully filling the bay up and leaving very little space for everything else.
- Thanks, how much do I owe?-Dominik asked.
- With fuel, it'll be over fifteen.
- Okay, workshop will deliver something for the hangar, or do some repairs.
- As always, sure.
- I'm going to bring something back from Kreuzberg, what do you need?
- Fuel for the hangar, as always.
- Good, you'll get it.
- Fly safe Dominik.
- Thanks.
Dominik sat in the cockpit and entered his identification card into hole in a navicomputer's keyboard. The computer turned on, checking all systems.
Armament status: Green...
Fuel level status: Green...
Internal systems status: Green...
Life support systems status: Green...
Shielding systems status: Green...
Dominik waited until the check is over, activated repulsor engines and slowly started flying straight up. Once he was ten meters above the floor with all of its ships parked down there, he asked docking control for permission to launch, which was soon given. One giant metal hangar door opened before his ship, and he flew through them. Dromedary was now between two large masses of synthsteel from which the hangar doors were made. The internal door closed and artificial gravity in space between both doors was turned off. Dominik turned the repulsors off as well, and after few seconds the flood-gate was decompressed. Dromedary pilot activated cruise engines, waited for the outer gate to open and flew outside, entering corrosive cloud of sulfur and sulfuric acid, directing all the additional power to shields and engines.