Dinomn gleams in space.  White vortices of cloud over a surface crusted with ice and snow.  The world looks like a Holiday decoration, lit by its single G8 V primary star.

For an instant there is a pulse of radiation, only some of it in the visual portion of the spectrum, and a ship is suddenly in space almost a million kilometres from the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dinomn." Jago mutters under his breath.  Then louder, over the crew channel, "Weapons armed and ready please.  Saskia, did we make it through all right?  Ash, get me a course to the port - either the orbital one or the downport.  Either will do.  Shui - are the passengers all right?"

At his post, Tylen arms his weapons.  His board runs basic scanning patterns by default, the the gunner sits back watching data as it flows past, and casually picking out any anomalies he spots that don't trigger alarms.

"10-4 Big Boss." he responds, clearly influenced by something he has been watching during the jump.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:58, Mon 08 Aug 2016.

Shui immediately begins checking in with the passengers, working to verify their status.  Her fingers flicker on the keyboard as she speaks, sending a reply to Jago as quickly as she can.

~~ I will report on the passengers as soon as I have verified their state, Captain Lanza. ~~

So far nothing, but one never knows.

Ash starts pulling navigational data from the beacons in orbit around the world, collating it, and feeding it into his course calculations.  "Should have a solution in a few seconds." he assures Jago.

The Captain meanwhile is listening to a report from Saskia, coming in over the internal comms.  He smiles and says, "Thanks.  That all sound fine."

The turrets begin to track, as Yas and Tylen activate them and start to run warm-up and diagnostic sequences... 

Shui checks on all the passengers, contacting them in their cabins, or in the Passenger Lounge.

"You got that  big rock, Jago?" the Gunner asks, flashing details to the pilot.  However, he sets the turret to tracking it, just in case.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:17, Mon 15 Aug 2016.

After a few calls hither and yon, Shui checks back in with the captain, this time through the intercom.  + All passengers are well, save for Keryn, who may be suffering from mild morning sickness.  I will check on her condition. +

Indeed, this is said into her dataglove as she strides along the corridor, en route to the passenger's room.  Once there, she pings the door.  "Ms. Taylor?  May I enter?"

It's always worth checking.

Two solutions, actually... the lanky ex-Scout thinks to himself.  As per his nature, Ash is bit of an overachiever, but only in the sense that he doesn't want to not have alternatives.  That and he likes the practice; the rest of the crew is relying on him to not throw them willy-nilly into the far reaches of space.

He hums softly to himself as he works, the gracefully curving arcs of the plot solution churning through his head as well as on the screen.  Ash's fingers dance as he pushes the first of the iteratively refined solutions to display and then the second as well as the summary information pertaining to standard deviations to the margins of error and times.  "Of course," the lanky navigator notes rather perfunctorily, "these number are still be refined.  Especially as local proximity and traffic conditions are updated."  It wouldn't due to have another ship or a wayward asteroid cut there flight time to zero.

Given that it is another ice-crusted planet, Ash rubs his hands reflexively and notes with a touch of playfulness to no one in particular on the bridge, "I bet the weather on the highport is warmer..."  Then a thought comes to him concerning Covan which he vocalizes to the Captain, "Boss, do we have a target based on Mr. Draik?  This is his stop, right?  Did we make a promise to drop him at the downport or the highport, respectively?"

Jago seems distracted, reading something in a side frame of his display.

He shakes his head, then replies to Tylen, "Thanks Tylen.  I have it.  Now.  Keep an eye on it and let me know if it comes inside a thousand kilometres."

The Captain thanks Shui for her report.  Always good to know that your passengers are fit and healthy.  Healthy passengers are happy passengers, and happy passengers tell other people about their enjoyable trip.

Ash's question is a good one, "I don't believe he specified anything.  I suppose he might have a preference.  Put a call through to him and ask.  Might flatter him a bit if our Navigator asks him where he'd like to land.  Make him feel important."  He goes back to reading...

Keryn opens her door for Shui, and stands aside to let her enter.  "I hope you didn't make a special trip over here to see me.  I'm all right, really."

Finishing his reading, for the moment, Jago smiles as he activates the ship's main public address system, and makes an announcement to all crew and passengers.  "This is Captain Jago Lanza.  Some of you are probably aware of the reports of the death of Norris, the Duke of Regina, on or about 245-1107.  We have just received a news bulletin originating at Regina, and relayed via Dinomn.  It reads, 'The office of the Duke denied reports that His Grace Norris, Duke of Regina, had died of a rare form of lung infection. Although declining to answer questions on the Duke's condition, or to reveal the Duke's whereabouts, a spokesman for the Duke's seneschal stated that His Grace was in a safe location, and was recovering rapidly.'  That bulletin is dated 302-1107."

"When one of my passengers - especially a pregnant one - complains of nausea and headache after Jump, I will most certainly investigate," Shui replies with a smile. "Thank you, Ms. Taylor.  If you could join me seated, I shall check your vitals."

Should Keryn agree, Shui does just that - a few small tests with what she has brought with her should be sufficient to determine if there is a serious sickness or merely a mild malady.

"If any symptoms persist, please continue to keep me up to date," she cautions the young woman.  "I would prefer to catch something before it becomes a serious issue...though I doubt there is anything dangerous here."

Her eyebrows rise at Jago's announcement.  "What do you make of that?" the steward inquires.

The young woman waits patiently while Shui examines her, and answers questions quickly and concisely.  At the end of the examination, she assures the Medical Officer that she will contact her if she thinks she needs to. 

Keryn frowns at the announcement, but it turns into a smile as Jago continues speaking.  "Well I remember that they reported he was dead.  It was when I was still at home on Frenzie, just before Yas brought me to the ship.  There was a lot about it in news reports because he was the Emperor's commander in the Marches.  He's the leader of the whole Sector, so his death now, with a war going on, was an even bigger thing than usual."

"Him being alive is good news for everybody, I think.  Apart from for the enemy of course."

Finalizing her tests, Shui settles back in her chair.  "I'm pleased to hear that, Ms. Taylor.  The illness is, in fact, a mild viral infection.  Please begin taking a dose of anti-virals - I'll send you the amount and type - and it should pass quickly."

Her tone grows more quiet and thoughtful. "I am always pleased when someone lives rather than dies.  And such an important..." Her voice trails off for a moment, her eyes growing distant.  It's not out of the question, Shui considers, that this was deliberate.  And if it were?

"...such an important man," she finishes. "Good news, as you say."  Her smile is bright.  "Have you heard how the war progresses?  My duties tend to keep me occupied to this little section of space."   A quick gesture indicates the ship itself as that 'section'.

"No, the only news I see is what gets transmitted to the ship when we enter a new system." Keryn says, shaking her head, "Or, rather, I see what Captain Jago puts in the library banks.  I don't know how much he takes out, if any."

"So far I don't think the real fighting has started.  Or, if it has, it's too far from where we've been for word to  have reached us."

"Uh..." Ash notes with a touch of hesitancy, when Jago asks him to contact Covan directly.  He's not had that much interaction with the corporate scion; and that was primarily due to the Captain's explicit orders.  "Okay.  I'm on it."  His fingers tap out a rhythm as he opens a comm link to the room that has been assigned to Draik.  Only the scratch of the short-cropped hair behind his right ear betrays the layer of nervousness that the man is feeling.

He hums slightly as he waits for the line to open and rehearses what to say.  Good Morning, Mr. Draik... we'll be putting into Dinomn in short order.  Do you have a preference as to whether we berth at the Highport or the Downport?  Ash isn't really sure why he is nervous; just that he is.

Almost immediately, Ash receives a reply.  "I'd prefer the High Port, if possible.  But I'd be happy with either."

"High Port it is then, sir." Ash pronounces, letting Jago know of their high passenger's preference at the same time that he confirms it with Covan.  His fingers are already working on navigational solutions for best approach to the orbital station around Dinomn.

Out of pure idle curiosity and while he still has Draik on the line, Ash also asks, "Will you require further assistance in transport down to the surface eventually, Mr. Draik?"  Though not strictly required as a service once a passenger disembarks, the lanky navigator figures that it may not be the worst thing in the world to stay on the man's good side.  And he really is curious.

"I don't know at this stage." Draik responds, "My immediate business, and subsequent handling of the company, should be just as easily dealt with from orbit.  In theory, at least."

There is a short pause, and then, "Thank you for the offer though."