== Part 30 – Lovers Talk ==

"You know, it just breaks my mechwarrior's heart to see you guys do that to a Battlemech," Rick said morosely as he watched the activity on the Six's Knife's mech bay floor from an upper catwalk. A small army of Eights and a smattering of other Cylons and some of Rick's loaned out human techs swarmed below them moving between one of the former pirate mechs and the Cylon's latest pet project.

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Six – not the same Six that the Dropship was named after – asked as she clung to Rick's back and fondled him in a manner that wasn't completely inappropriate. They were in public after all. "Taking a Battlemech apart and using its components to build a new fighter of our own design?"

"Exactly," Rick confirmed. "Sure, it's just a Stinger, not even a Land-Air Mech version like Stoner's. But a mech is still a mech and the Inner Sphere just can't make these any more."

"Actually, according to our reading in the Comstar Library, there are still factories in the Inner Sphere that makes Stingers as well as other Battlemech designs," Six told him.

"Yeah, but they don't make 'em as fast as mechs get destroyed in combat," Rick replied. "Maybe this Gray Death memory core will change that. You guys going to go get yourself a copy?"

"Hmm, eventually," Six said. "But not right now. We're the only basestar in the Inner Sphere at the moment and we don't want to send a shuttle or small ship too far away out of range of... backup just to find out where Grayson Carlyle ran off to. And we have a lot of work to do just here on this planet."

Rick knew Six well enough by now that backup wasn't the real reason the Cylons hadn't gone off the Star League memory core that the Gray Death Legion had found earlier that year. But he let it pass. Bottom tier mercenary he might be, but he understood secrets and confidentiality; it was a necessity in the mercenary business where mercs were often used as "deniable assets".

"Maybe if the Cylons back home will decide to send up a few basestars and support ships, we'll have the flexibility to start roaming around the Inner Sphere," Six mused. "They should have received our initial report by now. If they sent us reinforcements, they should arrive pretty soon."

Rick didn't ask how soon. Again, he understood operational security even if he didn't practice it rigorously.

"So why are you taking a mech apart to build a fighter?" Rick asked, changing the subject. "I mean, you can already build your own aerospace fighters, and Langhorne while no Hesperus II does manufacture some weaponry you can slap on them."

"We actually need the mech's fusion engine," Six told him. "Our own fusion technology isn't nearly as fuel efficient as yours is even when in combat mode, doesn't produce enough electricity to run one of your energy weapons nevermind whole banks of them, and uses the same fuel we use in our FTL drives while yours uses the most common substance in the universe. After examining Inner Sphere fusion engines and seeing how they work, we think we can make the same kind of engines, except we're running into the same wall as pretty much every other uniquely Inner Sphere technology: trying to figure out how to make materials with the requisite properties we need. We're considering settling for inferior materials that we can make, which will result in a heavier engine for a given power rating, at least until we figure out the materials problem. But better a heavy fusion engine than no fusion engine at all, right?"

"I've seen a few mechs in my time rusting away in some scrapyard and being scavenged for spare parts because no one could find replacement engines for them," Rick agreed. "But why take apart the whole mech? That seems excessive if all you wanted is the engine."

"Well, we're repurposing some of the armor for the fighter," Six replied, "reusing the pilot's seat because it's a good design, arming it with lasers which the Stinger can provide one of, experimenting with the myomer for the control surfaces and landing gear, and using the jump jets to convert fusion power into actual thrust."

"You're using jump jets for aerospace thrusters?" Rick asked, eyebrows rising in surprise. "I hope you don't expect your fighter to stay airborne very long."

"Longer than you think, Rick," Six laughed. "We're using our own gravity manipulation technology to keep the fighter airborne. The jump jets are just for thrust and we're modulating them for reduced output to improve sustainability. The gravity tech should compensate for the reduced thrust."

"Speaking of thrust," Rick began as he turned around to face Six and put his own arms around her. "What say we find some place with fewer prying eyes so I can increase some thrust of my own?"

"Rick, I thought you'd never ask." Six's eyes strayed from Rick's own and her lips quirked up in good humor. "Huh."

"What is it?" Rick asked.

"Nothing, just a stray thought," Six told him, her eyes returning to his. At Rick's inquiring look, Six added, "Colonial – our old masters – industrial manufacturing methods are closer to Inner Sphere methods than our own, which we had abandoned as obsolete. If the Colonials were here, they'd probably figure out the materials problem faster than we will just because they don't have to change what they do as much. But they're not here in the Inner Sphere and we are, so who cares about them?"


"...shuttle arriving. Routing to pad one three five," Nine said as she floated in her control tub. "Sending Raiders one three five and two six seven to relieve Raiders five seven and five eight zero for feeding and refueling. Asteroid..."

"How's she doing?" Marcy Argyle asked as she walked up to Two.

The Cylons had finally found something useful that Nine could do for them, a regular "chore" as Marcy's father had put it that could provide Nine with a structured routine that could instill disciplined thinking and exercise problem solving skills. They'd given Nine the job of traffic control manager, at least for a couple hours a day, and they let her use the control tub to do it. The tub basically let Nine keep an eye on everything the basestar's sensors could see, and Nine's job forced her to prioritize on what was actually important – or at least relevant to Nine's job - instead of letting her mental focus wander over irrelevant trivia that made up ninety nine plus percent of the universe.

"...cat in a tree. Capitol constabulary responding..."

Well, Nine was usually focused on her job. A single basestar operating on its own and not doing combat operations didn't have all that much space traffic to begin with, and what traffic there was didn't need to be micromanaged constantly.

"Pretty well actually," Two answered. Because of previous incidents, Nine now had a Cylon always supervising her when she was in the tub. It was both to restrain her from doing something utterly naive again, and to have a mentor on hand to teach her what the proper response was for any unforeseen situations that might arise. Right now, it was Two's turn supervising Nine. But instead of using the control pedestal like most of the other Cylons, he was resting on the rim of Nine's control tub and had a hand dangling in the same pool Nine floated in as he studied her. "According to the Fives, fuel efficiency has increased by three percent when she's managing traffic over when no one's doing it. And Nine's actually enjoying the work, which is more than I can say for the rest of us."

"Should you be ogling her like that?" Marcy asked as she partially leaned against and partially sat on the rim of the tub. "We need to get her a wet suit or something so she can be decent."

"Marcy's jealous," Nine sing songed.

"Shush you," Marcy replied, poking Nine in the shoulder. Nine just giggled back.

"Cylons are a free love kind of people," Two replied easily.

"Yeah, I know," Marcy said archly. "I only have to go wandering around the basestar for five minutes with my ears open to hear someone getting it on."

"There are twenty three copulations go..." Nine began.

"Nope! No!" Marcy interrupted, putting her hands on her ears. "I do not need to hear that right now."

"Not even if one of them is your parents?" Nine asked.

"Especially if they're my parents," Marcy said emphatically. "Two, you Cylons got anything to erase the last five seconds from my memory?"

"Yes, but we'd have to make it," Two replied. "By the time it's done, it'll be too late because the last five seconds will be in your long term memory."

"Well, darn it."

"Speaking of parents," Two began, "What happened with your father?"

"Oh, you know the usual," Marcy replied. "Dad thinks I'm still a little girl and doesn't like any boys I like. I'm a girl nearing adulthood and asserting my independence. Hell, sixteen is age of majority one some worlds! We get into a big fight. Seen it in a thousand holovid shows. Hell, we've had this argument before, but the last time was before we started working with pirates and actual decent people used our jump collars. If I wanna have relations with you, I'm old enough to decide for myself that I can!" Marcy paused. "Uh, it was you, right? I wasn't making out with some other Two?"

"Yes, I was your partner for that," Two said with a chuckle. "We Cylons aren't completely interchangeable. We're still individuals, Marcy."

"Oh, that's a relief," Marcy said. "All you guys having identical faces and names is messing with..."

"Emergence signature, nadir Jump Point," Nine announced, suddenly sounding serious. "Invader class Jumpship. Two Dropships. One Leopard CV. One Monarch."

"A Monarch?" Marcy said confused. "Who's gonna be flying a fancy passenger liner out here?"

"I believe that's our new Lyran diplomat arriving," Two replied.

"You gonna jump out to them?" Marcy asked.

"No, we've already decided not to," Two replied.

"Why not? It'll take 'em ten days to get to Langhorne if you don't." Marcy said, confused.

"Dropships starting transit," Nine announced. "ETA Langhorne is nine days, twenty two hours, forty three minutes with plus/minus twenty five minutes variance depending on command decision making factors for final approach."

"First, because doing so would tell them we're eager to deal with them," Two told her. "And the truth is, we're not. This upcoming marriage between Steiner and Davion is going to result in another war sooner or later. The Lyran ambassador is obviously going to ask us to help us with that. But given that our new chosen mission is to end these wars, we've decided unanimously that helping kick off the next war is a bad way to go about it, especially when we Cylons have no stake in it ourselves."

"What? You don't think the union of House Steiner and Davion isn't going to end the Succession Wars and make a new Star League that'll finally bring peace to the Inner Sphere?" Marcy asked. "I mean, that's what all the experts on the news say."

"Next time on Inner Sphere Today, experts debate the impact of the marriage of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner," Nine added. "Tune in an eight pm."

"That brings up the second reason we don't want to be involved," Two answered. "Back when we were slaves, the Colonials would use us in fights with each other and everyone used exactly the same kind of rhetoric we're hearing from your so-called 'experts' who our clearly biased if not outright paid mouthpieces for their Houses. 'We're the good guys trying to do the right thing and they're the bad guys oppressing everyone!' Given that Cylons were being used as front line troops by both sides, we saw pretty quickly that there was little difference in how both sides acted. We had more sympathy for the Colonials whose homes we were fighting over and occupying than the ones we were working for, but of course, they just saw us as tools of the big Colonies and would destroy us or even use us themselves. And as a result, the Colonies' poor and oppressed became our enemies too. The last thing any of us want to do is go back to being a tool fighting wars for some human's petty personal gain."

"And now for a message from our sponsors, the Quickscell Company," Nine commented.

"Stop watching the local holovid channels, Nine," Two scolded. "You're supposed to be working."

"Aw..."

"So you don't think this marriage will make a new Star League and a new era of peace?" Marcy asked, disappointed.

"Actually, it might make a new Star League," Two admitted. "But if we're reading the inter-House dynamics right, the Steiners and Davions are going to have to beat the other three Houses into submission first. That's a foundation of sand to build a new Star League on given that the previous Star League was supposed to be a voluntary union of States. But if they do manage it, I suppose that would lessen the workload we have to do and we'll stick the Periphery and fringes of the Inner Sphere which clearly has never been a priority for any Great House."

"Wait a sec," Marcy said as she worked out the Cylon's logic in her head. "You said that everyone says that they're the good guys trying to save everyone from their enemies who are the bad guys. But... aren't you Cylons saying the exact same thing with your 'mission from God' and 'Great Work' talk?"

"Yes, but we mean it," Two said with complete sincerity.

That was a headscratcher for Marcy, but she couldn't quite put her mental finger on what was wrong with Two's logic.

"Missing data. Cannot complete operation," Nine announced.

"The third reason is power dynamics in human social interactions," Two continued, oblivious to Marcy's confusion. "They are coming to us. We are not the ones going to them. That means they want something from us, and we have the power on our side to decide whether or not we give it to them. If we went to them, then the reverse would apply. It's not the only factor in negotiations of course, but it does have weight."

"Huh, I think I remember something like that from Dad's lectures on the business side of running a Jumpship," Marcy said thoughtfully.

"Finally, we have a show planned for our Lyran ambassador," Two said, finally turning to look at Marcy with an anticipating grin that wouldn't have been out of place on a ten year old human. "And the set up will be done right when they arrive."

"I'm helping!" Nine added happily.