Making the Grade (Omnia Online Series Book 2) by Christopher Booth

mall, that seemed to offer anything a mercenary could desire in the way of combat equipment.  Cairbre’s Weapon and Armor Smithy was located on the second floor.  So instead of shopping around, Drake went right up the first lift to visit his old boss.
    Cairbre was behind the counter, just like the first time Drake had met him.
    “Give up on the life of adventure?” He grumbled to Drake.  The Half-Dwarf always seemed to grumble, even when he seemed happy.
    “Nah, I got my armor shot up pretty bad and was hoping you could fix it.” said Drake.
    He took the armor out of the duffle bag he was carrying it in, and presented it to the Half-Dwarf to look at.
    “Hmm, this took some blaster shots.  I imagine you were wearing it at the time?” He asked.
    “Yep, the body piece caught two shots to the chest and one to the back, as you can see here.” said Drake as he pointed to the damaged areas.
    “I received the whole set used, as part of a deal I made with someone, and it could all use a little care.  But the torso armor and the left leg piece took the most damage from the last fight.”
    Drake continued, “Remember I said I had some trouble with pirates.  Well, this happened on the rematch, and since I made it out alive, I now have to pay the price for the protection this armor provided.”
    “Humpf,” Cairbre picked up the torso armor and looked at it. “Ah, I think I remember you wearing this stuff the last week you worked here.  It’s Crezidine Scout Armor, right?  That active camo they build into their suits is tricky and expensive to repair; you should try to take better care of it.”
    “Let see,” he said as he continued to examine the armor Drake had laid out on the counter. “I think I can get this stuff back into new condition for 1550 credits, and that price includes a 10% discount, so don’t try to bargain.  This could take a couple days to get fixed properly.”
    “Why is the price so high?  I understood that this armor could sell for almost that price used,” said Drake.
    “Maybe, but not used and in like new condition.  The real cost here is the materials.  They built these suits with lightweight materials like carbon allotropes that are real hard to patch.  In fact, I’ll have to re-weave a lot of the armor. Then there’s active camouflage build into the outer skin, that’s going to take re-weaving the organic light emitting fibers and making sure they connect right to the suits controls.  Repairing armor of this type is more like rebuilding then patching.  So the material costs are high, and there’s a lot of labor.  To get this done in two days will take at least two of my techs working on this project alone.” said the Half-Dwarf.  Drake was sure that this was the longest speech he’d ever heard from the man.
    “Ok, deal; I need the armor working, so two days?” Drake asked.
    “No, it’s the weekend remember.  I can try having it ready by Tuesday afternoon, I’ll send you a note if there’s any delay,” said Cairbre.
    Drake nodded, “See you on Tuesday then.”  And he left the shop.
    He still had about an hour to kill before his psionic training at the Guild Hall.  But the shops in Balsdif’s were all closing, so he headed back to the Hall.
    “Samantha, what can you tell me about the rank E mercenary work on offer at the Guild?” asked Drake as he walked back in the direction of the Hall.  He wasn’t in a hurry, since he had so much time, for a change.
    “Well, some jobs are long-term, like mercenary companies hiring to fill their roster, or people looking for security guards and personal protection.  Since most of these jobs are long term I thought you’d want me to remove them from consideration?” asked Samantha.
    “Yes, I don’t want to get tied down.  Remember we don’t know when Aggressive Solutions might call on us for the assistance I promised in finding Sid’s sister.  Then there’s the data cube Sidonia is supposed to crack, and we