_{This is a continuation of my story series "My Vacation On the Exotic Shores of a Black Hole".}

_{To read the previous installments of this series, you can click below.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6}

"Julia! Do you see this?"

"Sorry, captain, I don't have any visual sensors capable of seeing from that vantage point, and it seems the cargo container is at least partially shielded."

I reached down into the cargo container, and tried to pull on the metal frame, but it was barely budging. I braced myself with my legs on either side, and pumped up the power on my exo-suit, and it started to slide out. Slowly at first, and then quickly, and all at once. I had to push off of it and rebound against the ceiling to try to stop it. In the end, it floated just above the cargo crate, a massive main cannon. What's more, is that in the crate, there was another right next to it, facing the opposite direction.

Parts of it shore with an almost mirror like finish, though clearly showing scratches and wear. It was likely well polished before it was packed away, but far from new. It must have been scrapped from a heavy cruiser, but this wasn't even standard armament. Perhaps it was from a military ship. It looked civilian though. Was this from a pirate vessel?

"Julia, what do you think?"

"It's massive, captain."

"Can you identify it?"

"No captain, it does not appear to be in my database. It does show some resemblance to a Mark 20 Holokill."

I backed up and looked at it. It was massive...and beautiful. I also managed to see a tag on it. "Holocrusher Mark II. Julia, can you tell me anything about that Holokill?"

"It's a main cannon used in light cruisers, made by the Mitsua corporation. It gets it's name from it's innovative design. It uses multiple lasers within the structure, and a holo crystal to target multiple points. It is able to completely obliterate small targets with the same amount of energy that normally would only cause limited damage."

"Completely obliterate small targets, eh? So, could we use these in place of the point defense lasers?"

"Not a change captain. They are far too massive, and judging by the motors on the turrets, would move to slow. Any objects that were going to hit us would have to go directly in front of where our cannons were positioned."

"Yeah, I thought not. Oh well."

"Captain, if they are similar in design to the Holokill, there is a chance that we may be able to use some of the parts though. As I said, it uses multiple individual lasers. We may be able to use those and create some makeshift laser cannons using mounts from either the mining lasers, or the point defense lasers."

"I guess that means you want me to take it apart?"

"That would be helpful, captain."

"Okay, I'll go get my tools." I started to move, but then stopped myself. "But first, I should check out the other containers. We don't wanna waste a bunch of time on this if there's something more befitting of the situation."

"That would probably be a good idea, captain."

I went through a few more cases, and found more than a few grey market and black market goods. I was really tempted to take a bottle of Salian brandy from an entire crate of the stuff, but that would get me in more trouble than it was worth. Then I came across one crate in particular. It was white. From the same shipper as the cannons. It too was locked, without the correct key.

After putting on my goggles, plasma cutting the locks, and thankfully remembering to use something to touch the metal other than my hands, I opened the crate with a grunt. I really should remember to wear my gloves more often. "Well well well. What do we have here?" I reached into the crate, and pulled out a plasma riffle.

"It appears to be a plasma riffle, captain."

"Yeah, and enough to supply a small army. Okay, maybe a large ship. I didn't know I was gun running. Could these be of any help, Julia."

"I doubt it captain. They were made to violently destroy humans, not meteors. I doubt they would vaporize anything larger than would be taken care of by our deflectors."

"Yeah, figured." I put the rifle back in the crate and closed it back up.

I found plenty of interesting things, but nothing too helpful. I even found a crate full of grenades from that same shipper. I'm pretty sure I recognized his name from previous runs. Wonder how many guns and other munitions I had been running for him.

"Alright, that's all the suspicious containers. There could be something else, but I can't go through all of these crates until it's the last resort. Not only is it an invasion of privacy, but it would take forever. I'm gonna go get those tools." I walked up the cargo bay hall, and made my way to the machine shop. I grabbed a toolbox, and then sighed. "On second thought though, first I'm gonna get some food. Julia, can you make me a sandwich?"

"Of course captain, what would you like?"

"I don't really care. Maybe something with some kind of veggies. I'm gonna go put these in the cargo bay. Have it ready when I reach the mess." I took the tools to the cargo bay, and just left them floating at the entrance, then made my way to the mess. Julia actually had the sandwich waiting for me on the table in a little sealed grey packet. She must have had a bot put it out for me. Musta been pretty quick too, I didn't even see him.

The sandwich was incredible. Or maybe I just was that hungry. I got myself a beer to go with it, and savored every bite. It was some kind of reconstituted veggie patty with "lettuce", and some kind of green paste. Lettuce really didn't keep long, even in space, so it was really a lettuce like product made from algae and various veggies, pressed into sheets, and frilled at the edges. The sauce was probably something very similar, just in liquid form. Hell, even the cheese was probably made from mostly algae. Algae is really easy to process, so a lot of the cheaper products on space stations are made from it. Not just the food even. There were certainly enough algae plastic products.

I lowered my head. "I'm sorry Julia, I'm gonna have to do a rain check on taking apart that cannon. I'm just too exhausted, and it's gonna be a lot of work. I'm gonna take a nap."

"I understand captain. Would you like me to put something on?"

"Play some smooth jazz, with guitar. I'm gonna actually sleep in my quarters for once."

"Yes, captain."

The music came on, and I made my way to my quarters, after putting my trash in the recycler. I put my boots in their cabinet, and sorta half strapped the exo-suit up, and then strapped myself to the bed, and grabbed my blanket to go to sleep. "Julia, turn down the heat just slightly in this room." I liked to be cozy when I slept. I also was too lazy to get my blanket while in the cinema room though.

"Yes, captain. Have a good sleep."

"Goodnight Julia."

Goodnight captain.

_(source)

_{I'm actually gonna leave it here for now. A nice little short chapter. I might actually try to pick it up a bit later, but no promises.}

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Click here to read Part 8.