The Mech Touch novel Chapter 170

Afterwards, Lord Kaine discussed the finer details. He wanted to keep Ves close in order to avoid another desertion.

Ves didn’t object to Kaine’s strongly worded suggestion, but he wanted Melkor to stay with him. He already found his cousin’s presence to be a boon. Even if the other mech pilots didn’t respect him, they acknowledged Melkor’s strength.

"The Ark has a berth available for your cousin’s mech." The leader of the expedition answered after a few seconds of thoughts. "I’ll allow him to accompany you, but you’ll have to leave behind your weapons."

"Very well."

They hashed out an elaborate set of responsibilities and conditions. Ves would transfer to the Ark Horizon and work full-time on improving the hunting platoon’s mechs. The fleet carrier came with a compact but modern mech fabrication workshop, outfitted by his predecessor.

Treachery aside, the man spent his ample budget well. The 3D printer in particular almost matched the Dortmund in speed and precision. For now, the mech technicians used the printer in order to fabricate new replacement parts, but hopefully Ves would make much better use of the machines.

Along with access to the workshop, Ves also had the right to draw on the carrier’s well-stocked raw material reserves. In order to make sure he didn’t squander his reserves, Lord Kaine assigned a minder who kept watch over his activities.

"I’m okay with that." Ves replied. He knew that Lord Kaine didn’t trust him very much. He’d keep a close watch on Ves anyway, so they might as well get it out of the way.

They also discussed the deployment of the Barracuda. As a fast and fairly modern corvette, she would function as an ideal scout. Lord Kaine wanted to bolster her crew with his own men but Ves put his foot down on that point.

"I don’t want too many foreigners on my ship. She’s extremely valuable."

Ves suggested that Lord Kaine post a single liason on the Barracuda. He acceded to the demands to restrict the FTL drive and the quantum entanglement node with special hardware as long as they didn’t permanently disable the modules.

"Very well. We shall have to leave it at that." Lord Kaine finally conceded. The Barracuda wouldn’t be straying too far from the main fleet as a consequence.

After coming to an understanding on his role, Ves bid Lord Kaine farewell and left the stateroom. As they came out of the reinforced hatch, they returned their comms to their wrists and picked up Lucky.

A young uniformed attendant greeted the pair as they wondered where to go. "Mr. Larkinson? I’m Ensign Jules D’Amato, and I’ve been assigned to be your guide."

Ves expected some kind of grizzled old veteran who took no bullshit from anyone. Instead, he got a polite and friendly minder who behaved suspiciously friendly.

"Can you take us to our quarters? We brought some luggage but we left it behind in the hangar bay."

"Your luggage is already brought to your new quarters. This way, please."

They traversed the corridors and went down to the bottom decks. Overall, most of the ship’s operations happened in the upper decks. The activities pertaining to mechs occurred at the lower decks.

The Larkinsons started to see more crew members donning various different uniforms. Ensign D’Amato explained who they were. "Half of the Ark Horizon’s complement of mechs are owned by mercenaries."

"Why isn’t Lord Kaine filling up the hangar bays with his own mechs?"

Ensign D’Amato adopted a pensive look. "House Kaine is currently burdened by many obligations. Lord Kaine is unwilling to draw away too many mechs on a lengthy voyage to the galactic rim."

His words sounded reasonable, but came off as an excuse. If Ves was in charge of the expedition, he wouldn’t have been nearly so liberal in hiring so many mercenaries.

After ten more minutes of navigating deeper into the ship, they finally reached the lower officer quarters. The Ensign led them to a modestly furnished quarters with barely enough room for two.

"This will be your quarters. Your comm is already keyed into the lock, but I don’t recommend you store any valuables or sensitive data inside. Please get rested. I will pick you up tomorrow morning for breakfast before introducing you to Lady Felicity."

Once D’Amato left the quarters, the hatch slid shut, giving the Larkinsons the illusion of privacy. Ves sighed and sat down on the lower bunk while Melkor checked his luggage to see if it was still intact.

"They went through our luggage." He stated.

"That’s to be expected. House Kaine has grown quite paranoid."

Ves expected a difficult assignment due to his predecessor’s untimely withdrawal. That might become a larger hindrance in his task to make sure the hunting platoon made it out alive and intact.

"What are your thoughts about the mission?"

"Lord Kaine is light on the details." Melkor leaned against the bulkhead once he went through his luggage. "One of the major uncertainties so far is his plan to deal with the sandmen. It’s clear that the Groening System falls in their sphere of influence."

"Anything else? What are your impressions on the mercenaries?"

"The local mercenaries are fairly competent, but they’re lacking in discipline. Half of them are quick to anger while the other half are quietly scheming their own plans. I’m not impressed. On the other hand, the three mercenary corps from the Grey Willow Star Sector behave a bit more competent than you might expect of soldiers for hire."

"Isn’t that a good thing?"

"George’s Cavalry behave like they’re still part of the military. Adila’s Chosen is bound by a common religion. As for the Stray Phantoms, they try their best to appear normal, but my senses tell me that they’re spooks."

This sounded a lot more complex than he initially thought. Ves scrunched his face in thought. "Could it be that different factions of the Constance Grand Kingdom have a stake in this expedition?"

"I’d put my money on that bet. House Kaine had probably made too many movements. Once the Constance Grand Kingdom found out about his intentions, they probably imposed their own conditions."

The truth might be different, but from what Ves had gathered it appeared to be true. The foreign mercenaries treated the ship as their own and took no notice of the officers from House Kaine.

The situation grew more complex by the minute. He already had to contend with traitors and leakers. "Their true identities doesn’t matter. My only concern should be to work on the mechs of the hunting platoon."