"Safe is a sector away, behind the Fleet." Roland sighed as he stood up to collect his new gear." If I remember my history right by now the enemy is four of five jumps deep into Imperial Space, and turning every sector they can into a shooting gallery."

   "Lucky for us, there's no reason for them to go to an interdicted system. Except to take out the local squadrons securing them...but that's probably low on the list of things to do, and the Swordies don't have the same resources the Zho did last time....so for now Victoria may be a close to safe as it gets."

"Hey I am an Imperial citizen as well. This ship is not a warship and we have nothing but small arms on board. Running is smart for now." Gahler replied a little indignantly.

Kraig nodded.  "I agree that we should take it one system at a time.  Let's sneak into Victoria quietly and then make plans from there."

"So are we able to make the escape pod useable again?" Gahler asked the remaining folk in the Galley.
"What about a few decoys? which we can use if needing to make a quick exit."
"Do we have sufficient materials to make a few space mines?"

Kraig considered and then nodded.  "We should definitely refurbish the escape pod.  It could be sold if nothing else."

At the call for sensor operators, Kraig excuses himself and heads to the bridge.  "I'll see what they need up on the bridge."

[To Bridge]

Arc flies the air raft back to the ship, with all aboard, and after docking, everyone meets in the galley with Luise.

Sitting around the table, making the galley somewhat cramped, are: Luise, Arc, Steve, Gahler, Kraig, IM, Hans and Roland.

Still in coldsleep are: Jyro, Marashi, Nathaniel, Randy, Shamus, Shunu, Beth, Stez, and Vermeer. That leaves only one free coldsleep chamber.

Kraig filled Luise and Arc on on what they had found before they started discussing their next steps.  "We need to refuel ASAP.  It will be unrefined so we'll want to take extra care in our Jump calculations and engine tuning.  I say we head to Ghandi.  There is a naval base so we can likely find transport for our supernumaries.  A lot of us might get reactivated and pulled into the service.  The ship is ours but we'll have to hope for dismountable tanks of fuel bladders or a ride on a Jump tug to get back to Imperial lines.  Heading rimward through Sonthert and D'Ganzio requires heading along the Swordie frontier for Jump 2 or a ride out of D'Ganzio on a high Jump ship or tug.  I think D'Ganzio is more likely than Ghandi to be under Swordie attack."

Where ever we go we should try to stay near Naval bases. Roland spoke up after a minute. Patrols are going to be pulled back to defend the bases. Every commerce raider, pirate, and idiot with an armed ship is going to be looking to pick off refugees, and stragglers."

"If we stay near the bases the odds of jumping into an ambush are a little more in our favor."

"Will Navy bases also be prime targets of aggression by the Swordies." Gahler queried.

IM muses "Until we know the situation we go we don't want to jump too deep into whatever system we pick.  I would suggest a one parsec jump which give us a reserve to jump back out if it's too hot."

"First of all, we've got full fuel tanks, except for the jaunt to Albert," Arc reminds everyone. "We refueled on Victoria, remember?"

"Second, we've got two full fuel bladders. You... 'acquired'... them on Sky Rig."

"Third, you picked up some non-paying guests on Sky Rig. There were people in the medical bay that were in life-support chambers. We brought them aboard because it looked like the refueling station might get destroyed in the storm."

"They were put in the life-support chambers because the medic thought they had contracted some sort of plague and he couldn't find a cure. As long as they are in the pods, they... and we... are safe."

"It looked like one of them was starting to revive, but I put him back under, since we weren't set up for any quarantine. Those life-support pods aren't meant for long-term use. I'd put the upper limit at about 90 days. After that, the people in them will start to deteriorate beyond the pod's ability to keep them alive."

" Going anywhere near a naval base is going to risk jumping into a fight." Roland replied to Gahler. If we're lucky they won't be shooting civilian ships while they have a system squadron to deal with. We're small poorly armed and not big enough to be carrying anything of value to the defenders."

  We might get boarded and impounded, but I am hoping they aren't in shoot anything that moves mode. now that they have lost the element of surprise they don't have to worry that we'll run and tell the fleet they are under attack"

If we are really lucky we'll have enough time to jump out of the system before they intercept us...we do have plenty of fuel for now."

After Arc spoke her jerked a thumb in the general direction of where the pods were stored." If we get to a base we can drop off the pods. Naval bases tend to have pretty good medical facilities."

Luise had been listening in silence. She knew that her crew would do the right thing. She only had to wait till they had decided on what the right thing was. As a child, her father had given her The Little Prince to read and she had found the king's advice very useful:

Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable.

Personally, she hoped to get rid of the cold ones, but that was probably because she had been babysitting them.

Finally, she spoke, her voice quiet and clear:

"Gentlemen, this is all well. Roland, Graig has mentioned Ghandi, is that what you are suggesting, as well? Ignatius, the only one Parsec Jump from here is Sonthert, D-class airport, zoned yellow. Gahler, if we're staying away from naval bases, which system would you choose?

All things equal, I'd prefer a system with a gas giant, although I am aware that desperate times require desperate measures - like buying fuel".


A touch of humor - never amiss when leading people.

"We have a few more options with those fuel bladders," Steve brought up. "Each one is good for a Jump-1, so, in theory, we can go anywhere within 4 parsecs."

"We could head for Calit, or Ficat, or Tavonni. Even Arba, for that matter. It all depends on where we want to go after that."

"Calit and Ficat are unimportant targets, off the beaten path. Swordies shouldn't have any interest in them."

"Ghandi and D'Ganzo are trade routes and prime targets. If we jump to either of them, we could be in the thick of a space battle."

"Arba is likely to be a staging area for the Swordies. I'm not feeling particularly foolhardy today, so I'd rather not test my luck."

"Calit moves us away from the war, unless the Swordies have made a thrust as far as Denotam. Otherwise, it gives us the option of heading coreward... go to Phlume or Rangent from there."

Gahler shrugged, "I am just a pilot not the astrogator, ma'am."
"A navy base would be able to deal with our sick folk and we do need to file a report on what we have seen at the invasion and the sky rig to someone. Might as well be navy, though a scout base would be less confronting."

" Calit, then Denotam, we can drop off the passengers report what we've found out o our own...from there we can make for Regina." Roland spoke up after  a minute of thought."By the time we make Regina there should be a pretty sizable fleet marshalling for a counter assault. If there's a swordie within three parsecs of Regina they'll be on a prisoner transport."

Kraig shook his head.  "If the Swordies attacked Lanth you have to figure that the Zhos are across the border in strength.  The dogs of the Sword Worlds would not dare to attack without their masters."  He took a deep breath, obviously angered by the sudden attack.  "If we go to Calit we could find ourselves in a system under attack or under siege by the Zho.  I say we use our fuel and range to make a series of Jumps to Quopist.  It has a gas giant and is away from the front.  It's unlikely that any foe have made it there.  We can drop off our passengers there or continue on with them."

Arc scanned through the computer as all these worlds were mentioned. He wasn't familiar with any of them. Hell, he hadn't even heard of most of them!

"Quopist looks to be rather dangerous all on its own," he chimed in. "Small world, thin atmosphere, little water, poor world. Tech is at a premium... expensive. Law level is high, but not extreme. Run by a Knight."

As he says that, he glances at Luise.

"It sounds like he runs a strict world. Probably has to... to keep it running. We start tossing around data about the Ancients, he's going to see credit signs. The Baroness here may be all that we have to keep him in check."

"So what do you think, Captain? Can you handle this Knight? He's going to see us as an Opportunity. If he's desperate, he might not like you standing in his way."

He gave her a moment to think about this before adding, "It's your call, Captain."

Kraig shook his head.  "I say we keep quiet about the Ancients until we reach a Scout base.  I'd not trust anyone else with the knowledge."

Luise weighs the options:
"Calit is a jump towards the edge of human space, Quopist is zoned yellow and although I believe I could talk my way past the local potentate it is a risk - but the general direction is towards the Imperium. And then there is Ghandi..."

"I think it is time we take a vote on this. Ghandi and then the scout base at Dinomn is my personal preference, but this matter is too mportant to disregard your preferences. So, gentlemen?"

Kraig spoke up.  "I'd not object to Ghandi.  We can learn more about what is going on and likely be safe unless the Zho have attacked and raid the system with high jump ships."

" I'll go for the Ghandi route." Roland agreed." But let's have a jump plot ready for anywhere but there just in case we end up in the middle of a major scrap.One ride in an escape pod per year is my limit."

IM nods "Sounds like Ghandi is our destination. And I agree, we keep stum on our finds until we locate a scout base that's far enough from the fighting that our information will stay this side of the border."

"Welllll... it's not the way I'd go, but you are right, IM, about keeping it from getting across the border," Arc chimes in. "If the Swordies or the Zhodani learn about that translation device, they'd be here in a flash with full force!"

"As it is, I doubt if the Scouts will believe us. Either way, they'll file it away in a secure  folder and send it on down the pipeline... or would that be up the pipeline? ...to some higher authority. It's not like anyone's going to be able to make instant use of the data to stop the war."

"So, Ghandi it is. You've already got a majority vote. It doesn't look like anyone else seriously objects."

He glances at Gahler, Steve and Hans.