ALJ Chpt 69

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 69 - A Long Journey==
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17 January 2787
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
The first true Merchant Class Jumpship had finally arrived once the new jump core was installed. Warrant Officer Bart Cooks had decided to just pull the jump core back out and send it back to Site 222 to recover another Merchant Jumpship. The crew being taken back to Site 222 were also hauling the modified Snowden Core Grinder Station back to where it could begin work grinding up the jump cores as they were pulled from ships. While he was coordinating getting the Merchant into the Olympus stations yard to make pulling the core easier, at the Zenith Jump Point a pair of Star Lord Jumpships had arrived carrying Lockheed Galactic and completing its move to Mackolla. He figured the best purchase Gerald Mitchell had made was the two Pusher Tugs he had bought with the first cash windfall. Civilian tugs that could push around the largest civilian Jumpships with ease. One was currently maneuvering the Merchant towards the repair bay, the other was docked and waiting for the final decision to be made where to locate Lockheed Galactic's maintenance slip.
There had been several fairly heated discussions over the last week about where to actually locate it, near the Olympus Recharge Station, which was favored by Gerald Mitchell. The other option was at the Zenith Jump Point where they were currently located. He favored the Zenith because he did not want prying eyes on what they might be working on, Gerald wanted option one because he figured it was the perfect place. Commodore Patricia Mitchell had not been much help seeing the wisdom in either option. 
On the surface, Gerald Mitchell had jumped for joy when the funds from the sale of the Invader Jumpship had come thru, mainly because building all the housing and infrastructure for all the incoming employees had put a strain on his on-hand cash supply. Tomorrow, he and Patricia would take a shuttle up to the Olympus Recharge Station and settle where to assemble Lockheed Galactic's maintenance slip and Christopher Namath, the ranking Lockheed Galactic head, would be meeting them on the station also for his own input on the subject.
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21 January 2787'
Olympic Recharging Space Station
Zenith Jump Point
Handshakes were exchanged all around as each person introduced themselves to Christopher Namath. They were on the stations grav deck in a conference room for this small meeting. Gerald Mitchell sat at the head of the table just because it was the closest to him. Once everyone was seated, he started the meeting.
"Now that we can put a face to names and all that, we still have not chosen a site for Lockheed Galactic's maintenance slip. But now that Mister Namath is here, maybe he can enlighten us and maybe offer us some insight into where he thinks the slip should be located. Lockheed Galactic is the first company to relocate under Mackolla Enterprises and others are on the way. So, Mister Namath, share with us what Lockheed Galactic brings to the table."
"First, let me say it is damned good to not be travelling anymore. Second, thank you for sending a Dropship up to ferry folks to the surface, most are not used to months of limited gravity. Lockheed Galactic has a state-of-the-art maintenance slip, though we cannot manufacture parts, or we thought we couldn't, we can handle every maintenance need a Jumpship or even a Warship up to one million tons could need. The slip itself is fully outfitted with automated lifts, welders and cutters. It can house a crew of two hundred which we rotate weekly. One week based on the slip and two weeks on the surface. If we had a major project, we hot bunk and work until the job is complete.
I said we thought we could not manufacture our own parts because someone, no telling when, forgot that at some point just under 19,000 tons of manufacturing and final production equipment had been stored away in warehouses. When we were pulling it all out of the warehouses, I looked it all over and everything was vacuum sealed when stowed, and the seals were intact. I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is all the machinery for the Leviathan Jumpships, and except for a core forge, we have everything else to put it back into production if that is what you decide to do. Personally, I would love to do just that, it has been twenty years since I got to actually build a ship and would love to do so again. We also brought just over 12,000 tons of assorted spare parts, most had been stored for a long time, so I suspect they are also from when the Leviathan was being manufactured. I have 628 EVA qualified ship workers, not including myself, that can handle just about any kind of EVA work needed. During the war, we had no choice but to service the Rim World ships and we did plenty of that. Repairing battle damage, routine maintenance and a ton of other stuff. As for a location, I do not have enough information on exactly what the plan is to help select that. If I am filled in, I might be able to assist." Christopher Namath said
"I would love to get a good look at all that manufacturing equipment." Warrant Officer Bart Cooks said
"Before we get lost in the weeds let's bring Mister Namath up to speed some. The dilemma is we are doing some special projects and modifications right here on this Olympus Station, some that we would prefer no one knows about. Even if it would make a meeting such as this easier and easier to defend a single location rather than two. Our salvage division has been busy, and we are salvaging quite a few Jumpships and bringing them back here to Mackolla for final repairs. The amount of abandoned Jumpships out in the Periphery just waiting to be salvaged is amazing to say the least." Gerald Mitchell said
"Then the Zenith would be the best location to set us up at. No need to have a bunch of idle spacers with nothing to do but watch this station while their ship is in for maintenance. The planet is close enough to lift any needed parts to the Zenith though having the parts right next door here on this Olympus would be so much easier and quicker, not to mention being able to use the recreation facilities here would be a huge boost to morale. But we are used to roughing it." Christopher Namath replied
"How long to reassemble your maintenance slip and get it back into operation?" Gerald Mitchell asked
"Three months tops, two months to put her back together and another month running all the tests on everything. Once we get her back together and tested, we could help in putting the recovered ships back into shape. At least until we have a full schedule lined up for maintenance work." Christopher Namath replied
"I can promise you will be doing just that. The slip here on the Olympus can only handle up to 120,000 tons. They have located quite a few ship larger than that out there that we cannot handle." Warrant Officer Cooks said
"Then I best get back to my outfit and get things sorted out and start putting it back together. Looks like we already have some work waiting for us." Christopher Namath said
"Before you go, now that you are here, I have two old Conestoga Transports that I need a full maintenance check done on. I will be taking them on an extended operation and it would be nice to know everything is in top notch shape before heading out." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said
"Conestoga? Never even heard of that one. But if it will fit in our slip, we can handle the check out on it." Christopher Namath replied
"Postponing?" Gerald Mitchell asked
"Sammy is not back yet and I promised him I would not take any chances, this falls into not taking any chances, Pop." Commodore Patricia Mitchell replied
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