Ken finishes a brief greeting of each of the passengers and is sure to mention that he is an former Marine.  He pokes his head in the bridge and gives Blake a quick thumbs up.  "Make her go fast Blake.  She's all yours."  Leaving the passengers in the capable hands of the crew he goes to the galley and straps in.

Neva heard the five minute warning and made it to one of the vacant seats to strap in.  She'd have to finish her meeting the passengers after they settled in.

Liftoff went without any problems. It was a gorgeous day on the fair planet of Alzenei. They left the soaring towers, pedways and green belts of Alzenei City behind.

Following its assigned orbital transfer corridor, the Empress Victoria powered through the various orbital traffic bands outbound to the J-Line. Traffic seemed heavy, some larger commercial vessels and bulk carriers were transiting between the massive factories in the Lagrange points, GSO and Alzenei's moon.

A naval squadron was in-bound to the lunar scout base, which had been upgraded into a naval base. The military forces of the Free Suns was technically a branch of the League Scout Service, which was basically an appendage of the ISS, but with war looming the League Space Forces had become an independent branch with an expanded force. These ships were a mix of indigenous designs and Imperial ships built at the local shipyard under licence, which was unusual for a client state.

Many Zhodani (and Imperial) clients relied on cast-offs and obsolete ships to equip their space and ground forces. This was cheap for the clients who got proved and relatively advanced designs, and a nice revenue stream for the patron state which would otherwise simply mothball or scrap old designs. But old ships were usually worn out by the time they were removed from service and required a serious overhaul if not complete refurbishing to make serviceable again. These tired hulls also required far more maintenance than new ships, which in turn needed a stream of specific spare parts bought from their patrons or manufactured under local licence.

Plus, there were only so many older but still suitable hulls of the right tech level (neither too advanced nor obsolete) to go around for all the clients of a given patron (after all, they weren't making any more). Clients relying on ships from their patrons were often forced to take what they could get, not always what the client thought they needed, and there was a definite pecking order regarding who got what was available. ("You need a cruiser squadron? Well, how about 2 Frigate squadrons and some tankers?") As well, simply importing cheap or free ships did nothing to support or promote a vigorous local shipbuilding capability.

The Free Suns had gone a different route than most Imperial clients. They used only a handful of old ships from the Imperium (mostly Scout ships which were easy to maintain) but instead mainly relied on local designs supplemented by Imperial designs built under licence to local requirement. This way local shipbuilding and design bureaus were kept busy and proficient, the ships were new and little additional logistical support was needed. As well, when an expansion was needed it was far easier to turn up already-working production lines than to completely tool up from scratch.

In any system, the 100-diameter limit was a spherical shell around a gravity source like the main World, the main Asteroid bases, Gas Giants, etc.. A ship could transit anywhere on that boundary but in practice outgoing commercial and private ships used the sector above "polar north" for outgoing Jumps and "polar south" for incoming Jumps to regulate traffic flow. Regulations and coordinates for approved Jump points in a given system were part of the Nav program all ships used, where such regulations and information existed. (Jump points for planets and bodies with anomalous orbits or rotations were usually arbitrarily decided by the local Scout service, if any.) Military ships could (and did) use any part of the J-Line for their Jumps to avoid ambush as they exited Jumpspace, as did merchantmen and civilian craft making Jumps to frontier systems where there was a threat of piracy.

That said, they approached the J-line and all systems were go. The course to Nomael was laid in and the power plant and J-Drive were at nominal function. Passengers were settled and seemed to be engaged in a business meeting in the upper lounge. The scopes showed one Type R merchantman in-bound at the far Jump Point but the signal was faint at this distance and it merged with other system traffic. Alzenei Space Traffic Control confirmed they were go for Jumpspace Transfer.

Prepare for jump.

After the 5 minute warning ...  Scan the boards one last time for anything unusual, which would mean Ollie forgot something ...

Do it Mariel.

Ken glanced at the repeaters for ship course and position as they rode the thrusters into space.  It felt good to be back with a full cargo hold and batch of passengers as well as a mission from Lorain that offered to pay well.  Hopefully this was a sign of a change in fortune as the FDI connection with their passengers could lead to a lot of future work.

Linus was busy playing steward and ensuring that the passengers had everything that they needed for their meeting, including refreshments.

Olly treats Renfield's comment with the contempt it deserves and concentrates on his beloved engines.

Once into jump space & piloting matters are done with, Mariel can take a break while Blake pulls first watch up front.  Another week's passage begins ...

Ken thought through to the cargo they were carrying and the invoices folded in his pocket.  With a single large lot of 30 tons they filled most of the hold.  Then a smaller lot of 10 tons filled out most of the space.  He'd negotiated a deal for a 4 ton and 2 ton lot to give them the full 46 ton capacity.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 168):

Unbuckling herself, Mariel got up.

"Thanks! See you in a bit. Want anything from the galley?"

OOC: I generally play it that only an engineering watch is required, but that this can be covered from the bridge so that shifts can be shared between pilot/copilot and engineer.

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 170):

Once the seatbelt sign had gone off, Walker got up, and made sure that the customers were settled in their spaces.  Once done with that, he headed off to Engineering to set up his own sleeping space.

OOC:  To Engineering

Once the ship was safely in Jump space Ken relaxed and unbuckled.  He headed back to speak to the passengers again before heading to the galley.

Stanley was taking his Security duties seriously, thinking of the ship in a new way with this load of passengers and a full cargo hold. He hadn't really UNDERSTOOD commerce flights before this trip. He had imagined that the universe consisted of small bright candles of technological might, hoarding their resources and knowledge so that they could keep dominance over the other systems. His law degree and other collegiate experiences had been, he had thought, the wistful daydreams of "Ivory Tower Thinkers," as his favorite professor had been fond of saying.

This trip put it all into a new light. These passengers were employees of an intergalactic corporation, and one that was surprised at a readiness for violence.

Perhaps shipboard combat was a reality as well. Instead of seeing an empty ship filled with daydreamers, he began to consider the tactical implications of the ship's layout. A few days into the trip, he suggests to Ken, "Have you ever thought about running combat drills or training exercises in case of....pirates, or whatever other dangers happen in space?"

In front of the passengers, he keeps up the Simpleminded Alien Savage act unless he sees some sign that it isn't necessary. He has learned by now that it takes extraordinary sophonts to see past the limbs.

 Of course, the fact that he still couldn't bring himself to take off his Vacc Suit while in space wasn't helping. But dammit, the other suits don't FIT him.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 172):

The VIPs were settled into the passenger lounge, trying to make productive use of the time in Jump. They seemed to be veteran travellers, although not necessarily used to what could be considered a tramp freighter. The passengers did seem too like the culinary options and service available.

They had taken a 5th High passenger just before Jump, brought out by high-speed Pinnace which easily caught up and matched courses with the Type A2 Far Trader as it was deccelerating on approach to the J-Line. There was just enough time to get them situated in before Jump. This wasn't an extremely uncommon situation but hardly routine. Now they were in Jump, the new passenger (a young man) made himself comfortable.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Thu 10 Oct 2013.

Linus made the newcomer welcome and got him settled in, inquiring about his likes and dislikes.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 175):

Neva, not happy to have a last minute passenger added to the list, frowned a bit when the transfer was made.  She inspected his papers and stuff and finally showed him to his room and then went around to all the other passengers to make sure they survived the jump fine and didn't need assistance.  It was also a good opportunity to make sure they were all were they were supposed to be.

156-1108

A week later, the starship emerged from Jump into the Nomael/Jungleblut system, no worse for wear. The passengers were reasonably satisfied, if bored. Nomael (C767886-8) was a rich blur-green World with an economy that didn't yet support indigenous interstellar travel. The high port was little more than a minimal work shack, but there was a small starport (Nomael Down) outside the major city of Varnov's Landing. Nomael Down was where the passengers were going and the cargo needed to be offloaded.

In reply to GM (msg # 177):

Being one of the ship's gunners (Mariel being the other, with Blake filling in in a pinch), Jaxxon was manning one of the beam laser/sandcaster turrets. As there was no threat, the turret weapons were on standby.

"Turret #1 manned and at nominal standby function. Safety interlocks on, weapons not hot."

Any comm traffic ??  Nearby ships ??

Ken replied to Stanley.  "We should be rigorous about running drills.  With piracy and commerce raiding rampant it can't help to be vigilant.  Let's just avoid upsetting the passengers too much."

OOC: I assume that Ken being professional military would have drilled fairly hard during the last few months.

When the enter the system Ken is standing at the entrance to the bridge watching over the shoulders of the pilots.  "Anything hazardous on the screens?  Let traffic control know we are here and let's get a shortest time course laid in to land."

He acknowledges Jaxxon.  "Stand by the turret until we are sure everything is clear Jaxxon."

In short order, the Radar scope showed no nearby or approaching traffic. Traffic control used a standard automated IFF type to keep track of vessels. It reported there was an armed civilian merchantman and a Free Suns navy Corvette in orbit around Nomael.

Blake relaxes after hearing what ships are present.  It's the unknown ones that bother him.  Both of them will start gentle course corrections as needed.  With an automated system, I assume every hour or so they will need to make adjustments as they fine-tune the approach process. Both will keep an eye on those two known ships - any radio chatter from them ??

Mariel can send the planetary images to the turret, crew pocket computers & lounge for all to see.

I assume the ship has 360 degree spherical radar coverage ??  Otherwise some fancy maneuvers will be need to randomly sweep the region.  Some radars may only sweep a certain direction ...

Blake will hail the local ships when 30 light minutes out, assuming nothing else appears.  Free Suns are on our side ??

Linus ensured that information about the destination was available in the lounge for the passengers, and provided drinks and snacks for them.

"Does anyone require assistance packing?" he asked.

Seeing that things were clear Ken relaxed.  Still, the most dangerous place in any system was right at the 100D point and he had no desire to be snatched by a sudden raider.  "Keep an alert for the next half hour or so Jaxxon.  Things look safe but it's better to be ready."  He turned to Blake.  "Go ahead and bring us in if you would Blake."

He heads back to the lounge and nods to Linus. "We look to be clear to land Linus.  If you and Neva can get the passengers settled I want to make a few calls on the cargo and possible lots back to Alzenei."

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 182):

Nomael was 7000 miles/11000km in diameter, so the incoming 100-diameter Jump point was 1.1 million km out-roughly three and a half light seconds from the planet.

Coded transponder signals identified the ships as the merchantman Kazarian, registered out of the Descarothe Hegemony and the League of Suns (aka "Free Suns") corvette LSS Chariynn. As the Free Suns (aka "League of Suns") was the local Imperial client and most powerful state in the subsector, they were friendlies. Technically, although the Descarothe Hegemony was antagonistic towards the Free Suns they were not at war. A Hegemony merchantman might not be there to trade, but could at least still refuel.

The Free Suns Corvette answered the hailing signal, the Hegemony merchantman did not.

The ship's radar coverage was spherical so no special manoeuvres were required to scan the nearby volume of space. The IFF/radar transponder was linked directly into the radar display, so as long as the ship's IFF system picked up the other vessel's squawks (automatic hailing signals) the data (course, direction, delta vee, distance and ID/name) would be fed automatically on to the radar's display screen. If the IFF transponder was disabled, then they could still rely on radar, but the 2-way coded signals provided much additional information.

Fortunately, in-course correction was rare, the ship's manoeuvre program served as an autopilot. Barring some kind of emergency, piloting would be a simple matter in Nomael's relatively empty space. Additional scanning revealed some kind of small craft (roughly pinnace sized) on approach to one of the inner planets.