8-050: Merchant Freighter Spanial – Common Room

Karmen nods, “For sure,” and continues, “From Zarg’s World, we’ll restock any supplies we might need and head out again as quickly as we can.  Ostensibly we’re heading for the outpost on the eighth planet, but our course through the asteroid belt in orbit seven is going to take us close to a big asteroid that Jennie has found for us.  

“At that point, Kwint takes the shuttle on to the outpost and Spanial jumps out for our real destination.  We’ll drop off a comm bouy on that asteroid where we can leave each other messages too. “

“You good with that Kwint?”

He nods, “I zoom around the system leaving an audit trail of visits, I periodically send tight-beam messages to the comm bouy on my movements.”

Karmen nods, “For sure.  Ipan, Gregar, is the Comm Buoy ready?”

Gregar says, “we have the parts, we three,” he includes Prrri, “will assemble it after we’ve been through the customs check at Zarg’s World.  Ipan and I will program both ships with comm codes directly into the comms array to avoid any log entries.” 

Karmen nods, “Meanwhile, we hyperspace to our destination, we estimate that’s about six Cycles.”

Kort says, “our employer informs me that no Legion Navy long range patrols are expected in that system during the period we are likely to be there.”

Jennie murmurs, “that’s good to know.”

Karmen continues, “our nav data for the target system is imprecise, so based on what information Kort has been able to give us, Jennie estimates our travel time into our destination could be as much as another six cycles, but we won’t know for sure until we get there.”

Kort says, “once we get there, I don’t expect a stay of more than one to two cycles.  We’ll be dropping off the cargo, and me, and perhaps bringing other cargo and possibly passengers back.  Again, I won’t know until I get there.”

Karmen says, “while we’re waiting, Jennie will do an astronomical study of the system.”

Jennie says, “yes, once I’ve done that our trip to the jump point out of system should be less than half a Cycle, there’s no blanket Dominion regulatory requirement preventing us from jumping out from the real minimum safe distance.”

 

Karmen says, “Then it’s six Cycles in jump back to Zarg’s World.”

Jennie says, “the re-entry into Zarg’s World is one of the riskier parts, we want to come in where our jump signature is masked from any likely observers, which might mean several Cycles before we can rendezvous with Kwint and Hio.”

Karmen says, “but we’ll use the comm buoy as a safe way to communicate.  As a back-up plan, if we haven’t made contact 30 Cycles from when we part company, we head back in to Zarg’s World and meet there.

“After we hook up again, we head back to Mundo Zargo.  We contact our employer via an intermediary that Kort will give us when we reach our destination and they will give us delivery instructions for our return cargo and passengers, and I’m told, will smooth the way through Mundo Zargo customs if needed. So, yeah, any questions?  We all clear on our parts?”

Lia is, of course, free to interject on any of the above.