The carrier was huge, at least three times the size of the Nova, which also was an interplanetary ship but of a smaller class. The ship was about 200 m long, 75 m wide and 30 m in height, angular shaped and had a flat top. From his position in the sky above, Robin could see three big hangars that were hidden behind thick hatches and at the end of the ship towered a huge bridge that gave view to the happenings on deck.
At the ship's rear two enormous thrusters were waiting for their turn to push this giant forward and on each side three vertical thrusters were mounted that would hopefully be able to win the struggle against Rucasur’s gravity.
This carrier was testing the limits of how far mankind could fight against physics. A bigger ship wouldn’t be able to land on planets or moons anymore, because its weight would make any landing pretty rough and take-offs impossible.
“Amazing…” Robin marveled, comm still open.
“Isn’t it? That’s the smallest interplanetary carrier you can get, but therefore it retained its ability to get down to planets. You should visit an intergalactic carrier if chance arises - those monsters are the real deal!” Happy explained, knowing her stuff about UAS ships.
“How many S-sized vehicles can it transport?”
“That’s a Cradle from Humbler, it can carry up to 12 ships in its hangars. However that is only in optimal conditions with zero-g or on some moons. To be able to leave Rucasur, they should bring along no more than 9 vehicles.”
“Can you fly that thing?” Robin asked, still flabbergasted at the sight of the enormous ship.
“That one? Sure, but I’m aiming for intergalactic cruisers - that’s where the real fun starts!” Niu laughed, “Come on, I already hailed local Flight Control. We are clear to land, you should get a hangar assigned in a minute.”
Only moments later, Robin got a confirmation via his comm.
“IPC Themis calling for Melody II.”
“Melody II listening, requesting permission to land aboard.” Robin replied and was happy to be finally able to use some of the theoretical knowledge he had to learn when working towards his license.
“Melody II, permission granted. Please proceed to hangar 02 and keep your ship powered on after landing, until the security scans give green lights.”
“Copy that, IPC Themis, taking hangar 02 and waiting for green lights.” Robin closed the comm and became a bit nervous. If they found the special upgrade, he was done for. Not only would he be disqualified, but probably also sued and sent to jail for attempted terrorism.
‘Let’s hope Jim and Slice know their stuff well enough, so this won't be a direct trip to the next prison.’
As he closed in on the big ship, he saw the shutters of hangars 01 and 02 slowly opening. While Robin had still excitement building up, Niu already came in hot, not even waiting until the door was fully opened and loudly cheered on their private comm channel.
"Whoohoo!"
Robin shook his head and ignored her antics. He stopped the Melody above hangar 02 and waited until it was completely open, only then did he dive in - slow and careful - and landed his ship at the side of the big hall inside.
In the middle of the room, directly under the shutter, was an open space with markings for ships to take off. To its side were four parking slots, two already occupied by other racing ships. When he turned off his engines, a small hatch in the wall to his side opened and some antennas extended from inside. An orange light turned on and began to blink, informing him about the ongoing scan.
Robin began to sweat a bit as the damn security check didn’t finish even after a minute went by. When the orange light changed to a steady red, his heart began to beat rapidly.
“Burn in plasma…I hope Slice didn’t fuck this up!” He cursed and waited for the security staff to arrive.
Only a few minutes later, three people in Apex colors came into the hanger and walked over to him. The man in the front was Bart Nelson, the official in charge of the Apex Highspeed Cup. With him were two more staff members, a man and a woman Robin didn’t recognize. They probably belong to the security department of the carrier.
“Mr. Tulward, nice to see you! I hope you had a good flight.” Nelson began with a friendly greeting. That gave Robin some hope, as the other two made quite the stern faces and didn’t seem in the mood for chitchat. He had already opened the cockpit, but hadn’t left his seat yet.
“Hello Mr. Nelson, thank you for the warm welcome. I’m really sorry that I caused a scene right after arriving on your ship.”
“Ah no problem, I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding, right?” He looked at Robin first and then at his two colleagues. No one seemed to believe that.
“You’ve brought an unknown device with a very strong energy signature. It’s neither part of your former loadout, nor does it seem to be of any use to the ship’s systems. Can you please explain what we are dealing with?” The woman in the back took a step forward and asked.
“Yeah, sure. Sorry again for disturbing you!” He said and climbed to the back, where his cargo hatch just opened. With both hands he fished out the crate Jim had installed for him, it wasn’t connected at the moment.
“I think what your scanners reacted to was this crate. It is a simple battery pack that I’ve installed as backup for my ship's systems.” He carefully handed it down towards the man who already had some tools prepared.
“As you know, the Melody II is a custom model I crafted myself. And while it’s not that I don’t trust my skills, in the training sessions over the last weeks there were some minor instabilities in the energy grid. I ordered this custom backup supply at my bosses workshop. If anything happens, it should provide enough energy to keep my ship alive until the race is finished.” Robin explained the totally made up story and was happy that he was not in one of Seka Security’s rooms. The sensors there would run wild right now.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The man began to tinker with the box and looked for a way to open it. Luckily Jim and Slice made sure that you wouldn’t be able to do that without breaking it open by force.
“Ahm, I’m pretty sure that energy supplies shouldn’t be against any rules, so I would love it if you don’t break it, Sir.” He stopped the man in his actions, “You’re welcome to do external analysis or connect it to a test-system. But please don’t break my lifesaver!”
“Backup energy is not against any rules, no worries.” Mr. Nelson quickly explained to make sure the guy didn’t mess up the situation.
“Of course, but we have to make sure it’s not some tool to enhance the ship’s systems AI-control. That would be against the rules. Do you have a matching connector?”
“Ah yeah, here you go.” Robin threw him the also custom made cable.
“Only two strands?” The security guy questioned as he inspected the adapter.
“Uhm…yeah? It’s only an energy supply - so you just have plus and minus. Why would you need more strands?” Robin asked, trying to make the dude feel like an idiot.
That unfortunately failed and the two security people went over to a workbench at the side and called for a technician. Together they began to examine the backup battery.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Tulward. I hope you understand their thoroughness.” Mr. Nelson said and Robin waved him off while trying to keep a leisurely face.
“No problem, it’s their job.”
From the other side of the hangar Happy came over as the two conversed.
“Hey Rob, what’s taking you so long? Oh, hi Mr. Nelson, what are you doing here?”
“Ms. Alaris, good to see you. We just have to check some of his new upgrades. Should be done in a minute. You know each other?” He asked in a submissive voice as if he was talking to his superior.
“Of course, I am his master and training him to become a proper racing pilot. What upgrade did you get?”
While Robin would love to sink into the floor after that introduction, he was grateful for her being here. Maybe she would be able to stop them from making even more tests. That thing would only be able to veil itself from the most basic sensors. When he saw that the security staff was in the middle of assembling some big-ass machine around the box, he just put his trust in Niu.
He looked her directly in the eyes, trying to convey his need for help.
“You complained so often about the instabilities of Melody’s power grid, that I made Jim craft me this backup energy supply for emergencies. While it’s not against the rules, these dudes are still very thorough with their examination. I hope they don’t break it, it’s custom built after your personal instructions.” He came up with more bullshit and dragged Niu in this, too.
Happy crooked her head, thinking for a moment and Robin’s heart sank even further.
‘If she doesn’t play along and they find that, I’m really done for!’
Luckily Happy turned back to Mr. Nelson.
“Mr. Nelson…Bart, I obviously approve of you doing your job, but you better not mess this up. I want my student to get a good ranking and if he fails only because Scrappy here,“ she pointed at Melody, “loses too much energy, I will hold you personally accountable.”
“Yes, you are right. Give me a moment, please.” Nelson hurriedly said and shuffled over to his colleagues.
After he was out of reach, Happy looked at Robin.
“So you let this build after my instructions, because I complained so much?” She squinted her eyes, “That’s great, you have to tell me everything about it later!”
Robin raised his hands in defense.
“Will do, will do!”
“...”
“...thanks!” he mumbled, getting a grin from Niu.
“You knew I wouldn’t chicken out when something fun was going on.”
“Yep, I knew.” He chuckled just as Mr. Nelson came back, the crate in his hands.
“Here you go, all fine. We just had to make sure it's not something against the rules, which we could confirm, or anything that threatens this carrier - the energy in that thing is quite high, I hope you understand.”
“Well, it’s a battery pack, so there better be a lot of energy in it!” Niu scoffed and Robin took the box to put it back into his ship.
‘That was a close call. I really have to thank Niu later!’
“Getting this out of the way, why don’t I accompany you inside. We will take off in a half an hour and you should get your rooms before that.” Bart Nelson elegantly changed the topic and led them inside.
***
Some registrations and paper stuff later, Robin and Niu were chilling in a small, private lounge. It was to the carrier’s side and had a large window that overlooked the outside.
“Thanks again, Niu. You were great back in the hangar.” Robin began as she was still helping herself to get some drinks.
“Aren’t I always great? Damn, I really hoped that would be the case!” She cursed and finally decided on which cocktail to grab.
“You can speak freely here. Apex doesn't have the guts to eavesdrop on the conversations of their pilots and definitely not on mine!” Niu said and sat down on another couch.
“It’s not a battery pack…” Robin carefully said.
“Huh! Oh no, I'd never expected that!” She exclaimed in false horror.
“I cannot tell, really. You know I’m working towards a special opportunity after passing the second race. I need this thing to grasp that opportunity.” He tried to explain the rough idea.
“Are you cheating?” She asked, still smiling, but Robin knew she wouldn’t approve of that. It would be dishonorable and kill all the fun.
“No, Niu, I promise you I’m not cheating!” He said.
“Then why all the secrecy? Shouldn’t be a problem if you brought some extra stuff that isn’t against the rules.”
“Well, you remember, what Nelson said at the end? They had to check if it was against the rules, or…”
“...or a threat to this carrier! Holy shit, just what did you put on your ship?” She exclaimed, now really shocked.
“Nothing to harm anyone, I’ll need it in the final race to get off the radar for a few moments.”
“You don’t wanna win the last race?” She asked incredulously.
“Neither do I have the skill for that nor do I even plan to try it. So don’t freak out and call the UAS or whoever you have on speed dial, when I’m suddenly gone - supposedly crashed.”
Happy thought about that for a moment.
“You know, actually I have a speed dial for…” she began but Robin interrupted her with a laugh.
“I’m really happy to have met you!” He chuckled, just as the ship started to vibrate.
All the thrusters began to power up, glowing bright blue and rumbling like rolling thunder.
‘Time for my first trip into space!’ Robin thought and looked outside the window.