Fusiliers Forever: Chapter 4

4
Solaris City
Solaris VII, Lyran Commonwealth
19 March 3038

Garadun stood with Cera, Alexandra and Ian on the wet ferrocrete tarmac of the Solaris Spaceport, watching as Sayuki's Centurion walked slowly up Shearling's ramp and into the DropShip's lower 'Mech bay, guided by Jimmy who was directing her with a pair of glowing yellow-orange batons while he spoke into a headset. This could be tricky for someone like Sayuki who hadn't done it before, but so far so good.
     Garadun smiled as he glanced around. The Solaris City 'Mech Bays weren't that far away. It was where he'd first worked when he moved to Solaris, and being a 'Mech driver was the job he'd been apprenticed to after requesting a transfer from the graphic art department. How many 'Mechs he'd marched on and off DropShips during his time at the spaceport he couldn't say. Probably hundreds.
     He and Cera had managed to arrange to keep their own rides at the Chameleon Stables compound after agreeing to pay a storage fee. Alexandra's Thunderbolt had been transferred there from the spaceport so Jimmy could work on it, and now it had been brought back along with Cera's Orion and Garadun's Hunchback and loaded aboard the DropShip. Ian's Dervish hadn't left the Solaris City 'Mech Bays, so it had been the first to be stowed aboard Shearling. Ian hadn't been able to think of a name for it so he asked Garadun. He'd come up with Bad Dog No Biscuits, the title of an obscure piece of music from the end of the twentieth century on Earth. Garadun was something of an amateur historian and was a self-taught expert on the culture of turn of the twenty-first century Earth. Ian listened to the music in question. He loved it.
     Sayuki's meeting with her new commander and colleagues had gone down extremely well, even though Cera had been a little bit jealous of her. Nobody noticed apart from Garadun though, who knew her well enough to see the signs despite her trying to hide them. Sayuki was a total knockout and Cera wasn't used to the competition. Ian and Jimmy kept staring and were extremely friendly. Alexandra liked the courteous young woman straight away and was more than happy to add her to the Fusiliers' ranks. Sayuki in turn was very honoured and promised to do her best.
     All the final arrangements had been made and Cera had said her goodbyes to her mother. It had been an enormously emotional and tearful scene. With their personal gear stowed safely aboard ship, all that remained was the loading of the BattleMechs. Then once clearance was granted they would lift off and make for Solaris VII's nadir jump point where Distant Memory was waiting for them.
     Cera was really nervous. She'd never experienced interstellar travel before.
     Getting around the galaxy is accomplished by means of DropShips and JumpShips. The former are what transport you to and from planets; the latter take you between the stars. All JumpShips are powered by the Kearny-Fuchida jump drive that creates a distortion field around the ship, which in turn opens a passage through hyperspace and hurls the vessel up to thirty light-years away in the blink of an eye.
     However, while the jump itself is virtually instantaneous, the amount of juice it takes to perform the jump drains the K-F drive's batteries and it has to be recharged. The standard method of doing this is to deploy the ship's jump sail. The device is incredibly huge and extremely delicate, and unfurling it takes about ninety minutes. It then collects energy from the star and recharges the K-F drive. This takes roughly a week depending on the type of star; from 151 hours for a bright B0 star to 210 hours for a dim M9 star. The jump sail is then retracted, which requires roughly three hours.
     The second method for recharging a K-F drive is to use the JumpShip's fusion engine, feeding power directly from the power plant into the K-F drive. This is usually only done if the jump sail is damaged. Because the drive is so delicate, this procedure is normally performed over the course of a week. Quick-charging the drive is possible, an act called hot loading, but it's risky. If not done properly the K-F drive can be damaged, sometimes fried completely which leaves you with a dead ship. The faster the hot load, the more risk involved. Most ship captains won't risk a very quick hot load.
     The third method is to recharge the K-F drive at a recharging station. These huge space stations orbit at the zenith or nadir jump points and continuously collect and store solar power in massive energy banks. A JumpShip can either have power transmitted to its jump sail or it can dock with the station and have its K-F drive charged directly. Using a recharging station takes approximately eighteen hours, saving a tremendous amount of time and allowing the ship to move onto the next system in a day. The only drawback is that there aren't that many recharging stations left in the Inner Sphere, with the bulk of them located at important systems along established trade routes.
     Lastly, there are rare JumpShips which are equipped with lithium-fusion battery systems. These allow a ship to store a second charge for the K-F drive that can be used right after the first, letting the ship jump twice in a row. So valued are these vessels that almost all of them are in the possession of Successor State governments and their military navies, a few interstellar corporations, a handful of the largest mercenary units in the Inner Sphere such as Wolf's Dragoons, and ComStar.
     Every star has two standard jump points located far above the star's poles, known as the zenith (northern) and nadir (southern) jump points. These points in space lie at the edge of the star's gravity well. Other non-standard jump points exist, commonly known as pirate points, but calculating their position is a tricky exercise and failure can lead to a misjump or even destruction. Assuming a JumpShip has made the jump successfully, its DropShip (or more than one depending on the JumpShip's size) then detaches and makes the journey to the system's inhabited planet. At a standard velocity of 1G this can take anywhere from two days for the dimmest M-class star to over seven months for the brightest B-class star (however, most stars of the latter type have no inhabited planets). For a G-class star like Sol the travel time averages a week or so. This can be cut down by the DropShip going faster than 1G (never fun for anyone on board) or by using a pirate point that has the JumpShip arrive in the system much closer to the target world. The latter is normally only done by pirates (hence the name) seeking to avoid the authorities or by military units looking for a tactical advantage. In either case it's never safe. You pays you money, you takes you chances. To get to Solaris VII's jump points requires a journey of a little over five days at 1G.
     Jump travel is always a bit disorienting on the mind and body, but some people react badly to the experience and become terribly ill, with vomiting and terrible headaches, even fevers. It's called Transit Disorientation Syndrome, TDS for short, and there is no way to tell who might suffer from it. Big strong macho soldiers have been laid low by it while some skinny accountant with allergies hasn't felt a thing. There are drugs that help the symptoms but it's never fun.
     Cera was really, really hoping she didn't have TDS.
     A few high-pitched cries interrupted her mental drifting and she looked down at the towel-covered cat carrier sitting on the tarmac beside Garadun. He immediately knelt and pulled the towel away from the wire frame door, sticking his fingers through the grate and speaking reassuringly to Wasp and Stinger. Alexandra got a warm smile on her face. The sight of the streetwise 'Mech jock comforting his kittens was one of the oddest yet sweetest things she'd ever seen. The man was full of contrasts.
     "How are they, Gar?" Cera asked.
     "They're scared and want their daddy," he said without a trace of embarrassment. "Aww, it's okay, babies, it's okay. I know. You want out."
     "Will they be all right?" Ian inquired, gesturing at the DropShip.
     "Once they're in my cabin they should calm down," Garadun replied, lifting the carrier and holding it in his arms. "All they've really known is my apartment. The vet gave me pills to make them sleep and help their systems when we jump."
     "I've never heard of a MechWarrior with kittens before."
     "Well, that's their loss. Right, looks like everything's okay with Sayuki," he observed, and started off towards his Scarab. "Only my car left to load."
     "You should leave it behind," said Ian, smirking. "Get another one."
     "Hey, it's my car," Garadun countered.
     "No offence, man, but it's a piece of crap."
     "Yeah, but it's my piece o' crap," he said loyally. He opened the passenger door, put the cat carrier down, then went around and got in. His friends watched him zoom across the tarmac and up the ramp and into the DropShip with the utter confidence of someone who'd spent years driving on the chaotic streets of Solaris City.
     "That is one crazy son of a bitch," Ian remarked, amusement in his voice.
     "He sure is," said Cera, grinning. "Just be glad he's on our side."
     "We are, Cera, believe me," said Alexandra with a chuckle. "Come on. Captain Forrester will be waiting for us."

The Union class DropShip is arguably the most famous class of DropShip in the Inner Sphere and the yardstick by which all other DropShips are measured. Well-armed and armoured, the spheroid-shaped vessel can carry a full dozen BattleMechs and a pair of aerospace fighters, along with all the requisite pilots and support crew, and deliver them anywhere from the hottest landing zones to the most peaceful spaceports.
     Shearling is the Grosvenor family's current DropShip, commissioned from the Alarion shipyards and delivered to Pencader in 3022. Unlike most other Unions currently in operation in the Inner Sphere, Shearling was custom-built to the late Baron Grosvenor's personal specifications, with a superior air-circulation system (unlike the standard one found on Unions which leaves the air foul and unpleasant). In addition, Shearling's crew deck was carefully modelled to closely match the original design specifications from way back in 2708. The ship's crew, and any MechWarriors, enjoy extremely comfortable double-occupancy cabins (luxury by current standards) and the officers single-occupancy cabins; all are very nicely appointed. Alexandra had also recently had installed a dozen commercial simulator pods for training and recreational purposes.
     However, because there were only a half-dozen members of the Fighting Fusiliers at the moment (plus two kittens) everyone was getting a cabin to themselves, which was a real perk. Their personal effects had already been brought aboard and placed in their quarters by the crew (fourteen men and women all told, including the Captain). With the BattleMechs and Garadun's ground car securely in place, the Fusiliers were shown to their quarters and told to relax.
     The first thing Garadun did was find a corner for the litter box, then sat down on the bottom bunk and opened the cat carrier. Wasp and Stinger, wide-eyed and very nervous, stayed inside for a little while until curiosity and their daddy's comforting presence got them to slowly creep out and start sniffing around. He put the carrier on the floor next to the bunk and stretched out. The kittens explored the entire bunk for a while, then cuddled together on his chest and settled down.
     Twenty minutes later there was a knock at his door.
     "Come in."
     Cera came in and, seeing him with his cats, smiled. "How are they?"
     "Doing okay," he said, stroking them. "How's your cabin?"
     "A lot smaller than I expected," she said, leaning in the doorway.
     Garadun smirked. "This ain't a luxury liner, beautiful. Better get used to it. This'll be our home while we're in space. Be thankful we're so well off."
     "I don't understand," she said and came inside. The door closed with a faint hiss.
     "This ship is less than twenty years old," he explained, and she sat on the edge of his bunk. "That's like brand-new, practically. When I was working at the spaceport I saw countless Unions come and go, and none of them, I mean none of them, were in this good shape. Most were all beat to hell. The air stank, jury-rigged wiring all over the place, rusty deck plates, bays doors that had trouble opening, wonky landing gear… This ship looks like the bubble wrap was just peeled off. You smell that?"
     Cera sniffed. "I don't smell anything, not really."
     "Exactly. Unions are notorious for bad air, but not this one. I'm telling you, girl, we got lucky with Alexandra. Her family knows what's what with spaceships."
     Cera stroked Wasp, who mewed and purred. "Can…can I stay here?"
     "For take-off?" he said, knowing she was nervous.
     "Yes."
     "Course you can," he said, giving her a comforting smile.
     "Domo," she said, and leaned over and kissed his forehead. She was still stroking the kittens when the intercom crackled to life.
     "Attention, this is Captain Forrester speaking. All crew members prepare for take-off. Man your stations. To the members of the Fighting Fusiliers, I welcome you aboard Shearling, the finest DropShip in the Inner Sphere. Please secure your gear in the proper compartments and strap yourselves into either your bunks or any available acceleration couch until given clearance to move about the ship. Thank you."
     "Okay, this is it," said Garadun and got his kittens back into their carrier. He closed the door and then secured it to the end of his bunk where they could see him. Cera climbed into the top bunk and fastened herself in.
     "You okay?" he asked.
     "So far." She sounded nervous.
     "We'll be fine," he said and reached up with his hand. Cera took it and held on tight. She let out a squeak of fright a couple minutes later when a klaxon sounded, three times in a steady pattern. Then there was the most tremendous roar and the whole ship began to shake. The kittens started crying in fear. Then they were pressed into their bunks by ever-increasing G-forces as the ship blasted off from the Solaris Spaceport and began blazing up into the sky. The cabin felt like it was in the middle of an earthquake and the noise was overwhelming. It seemed liked it would never end.
     And then, just like that, the roaring died off to a low rumble. The ship had gotten past the atmosphere and had entered the vacuum of space.
     "Oh, thank God," said Cera her breath coming in quick gasps.
     "You can let go my hand, I think," said Garadun.
     "Oh, sorry," she said and let go. His hand was white and red from being squeezed so hard and he wrung it painfully. He checked on the cats and they seemed to be fine, if somewhat frightened. The crippling gees of take-off were gone, so he undid his straps and open the carrier, taking out his kittens and comforting them.
     "There there, it's okay now," he said, and they miaowed and clung to him.
     The intercom came to life again a few minutes later. "Attention, this is the Captain speaking. We have cleared Solaris and have begun our trip to the nadir jump point at a speed of one gee. ETA of rendezvous with JumpShip Distant Memory is five point one-eight days. Passengers are now free to move about the ship. If you have any questions, please ask a crewmember. Lady Alexandra to the bridge, please. Captain out."
     "Well, we're on our way." Garadun got up from his bunk with his cats cradled to his chest. "You can relax now. Nothing to do but kill time."
     "I think I'm gonna take a nap," said Cera, curling onto her side. He nodded in understanding and stretched out on his bunk again. She was going to need him, he could see that, to help her get through all the big changes her life was undergoing, the most immediate of which was adapting to space travel.
     Well, no problem there. That's what friends were for.