Within the older naming conventions of the Colonial Navy, a name like Apollo was reserved for either a battleship or a fleet carrier. Indeed, the name Apollo had spent many years moving from battleship to battleship as the fifth fleet's flagship name.
The High Admiral found it odd that Logan had picked that name. It hadn't been used since the last Apollo had been retired and replaced by the Endurance. The names of ancient gods were not actively in use, with a few exceptions still due for retirement.
"Interesting choice, Mr. Firth. Are you sure that's what you want? After the registration has been changed, you will have to jump through a few hoops to rename it." She gave him a cautious look.
"I'm sure. I've given it some thought." He said plainly.
"Very well." she hesitated. "The Apollo will be ready in about a week, maybe a few days longer than that. Some issues are still being ironed out."
With a curt nod, she terminated the communications link.
"What was that about?" Lilith asked. She had been sitting next to him and watching.
Giving her thigh a soft squeeze, Logan smiled at her, "I think there was some hesitation on her part, given the name I picked. It has a lot of history behind it."
"Why did you pick it then?" She looked at him curiously.
Logan took a moment before answering her, "I guess I wanted something a little different. I had a few other names in mind, but at that moment, it just felt like the right one."
"No regrets, hopefully." Lilith poked him playfully.
"I hope so." He laughed slightly. "How about we go get some lunch? I'm thinking about this noodle place I read about."
"Oh? Noodles, you say. I know just the dress to wear." She leaned in and kissed him before getting up to change.
It was like their first meal together when the events leading up to their current situation began. Logan and Lilith sat beside each other, eating some dumplings while waiting for their main course to arrive. The restaurant wasn't quite the same kind of hole-in-the-wall, but the food had good reviews on the info net.
"I haven't heard from Emily at all. It's worrying me a little." Lilith said between bites of dumpling.
"Between what we told her and the fact she's still on duty, it means she's probably busy," Logan tried to reassure her.
Turning to him with a frown, Lilith paused momentarily, "Why didn't they give her any time off?"
"They could have, just more than likely, she's stuck on Port Cephus for the time being." Logan kept his tone calm. There could have been a dozen reasons for the lack of communication, but Lilith seemed to miss her friend quite a bit. He guessed that over the last few years, her number of friends was pretty limited due to her being stuck at Steepler Interstellar.
"Pretty rude of them considering what we went through," Lilith bit into her last dumpling and sighed in contentment. "I think these may actually be real meat."
"Given the price, I would hope so. I know we both have some money now, but after all the spending, I think I'm going back to being frugal for a bit." Logan hadn't burned through all of the credits he had set aside. Some funds were needed for travel expenses and provisions.
"We have splurged a bit, haven't we." She smiled, playfully squeezing her breasts together, which almost caused them to pop out of her dress.
"Money well spent; I think." Logan gave her an affectionate squeeze. "By the way, how much did you get from the Steepler Settlement?"
"Five million credits paid out over ten years. I'll get 500,000 a year," Lilith said matter-of-factly.
"Wow, I guess you'll be treating me from now on." He said casually, clearly joking.
Lilith raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? Considering the value of your new asset currently sitting in orbit, I thought lunch would be on you."
Without hesitation, Logan squeezed her a little tighter and kissed her neck. Lilith giggled happily. The two continued their banter and eventually finished their lunch, heading off into the city to find something to do that wasn't shopping or spending money.
*
The manifest in front of him was reasonably short. Provisions for two weren't challenging to prepare. Logan assumed that two months of food would be more than enough, given their ability to dock anywhere and resupply if needed. His first venture into ship logistics and management wasn't the best, but thankfully, Lilith helped. She was good at that sort of thing. Planning ahead was a strength of hers.
Logan stood at a broad window looking out into the hanger the Sparrow... the Apollo occupied. Despite the fresh coat of white paint with the ship's new name, it would take him a little while to remember he had renamed it.
Port Cephus's repair crews had done a fantastic job. You could see where the damage had been; the brand-new sections of hull plating were slightly brighter shades of grey than the older ones. What had surprised him the most, though, were the two small rail guns on the dorsal section. They were a far cry from any kind of main battery, but the added firepower was appreciated.
A destroyer like the Tilbor massively outgunned the Apollo. The Tilbor had a total of 12 guns, 8 dorsal and 4 ventral. 80 missile tubes and two rail guns was a modest armament, considering most ships could destroy a decent number of incoming missiles with their point defense.
He didn't want to think about the cost of resupplying ammunition if he ended up in a fight.
