OOG: The other thread was getting long, and this seemed to be a good point to start anew :-)

IG:

"I think we're ready to go," Joxe said to Brent from her bridge chair, next to his. Wanderer, new and improved with her updated drives, new computer and everything else electronic, a refurbished interior, and even new hull paint, sat in a docking bay while the air was pumped out preparatory to departure.

Brent was amazed when the ship's new controls were powered up for the first time, for the bridge deck was a featureless, smoothly curved grey sphere when everything was offline. The bridge chairs were smaller than others he'd seen, so as to offer as much visibility as possible. When the displays were active, it appeared as if the bridge crew was floating in space. The controls could be arranged to the crew's liking, as could the displays.

All of the cargo had been offloaded, and the cargo bay had been reconfigured as additional passenger quarters, allowing the trader to carry fifty people on the return trip. They'd be packed to the deckhead, but it was a single week's trip thanks to Wanderer's four-parsec range. A single 20dt container was loaded with refined lanthanum, and extra rations and life support supplies were included for the return trip.

Radshir comes up on the main traffic channel. "Wanderer, you're cleared to depart. The only traffic is the fighters; they are a hundred kilometers outsystem, and they will stay clear of your departure route."

Brent took a deep breath as Joxe spoke up. He looked to her and smiled. "Considering what they have done to improve your ship. It's almost impossible to believe how improved she is yet still the same. This must be very satisfying to you." He reached out to give her and a squeeze. "Now let's see how she performs when it counts."

Still a little bit unsure of the new controls, Brent slowly brought up the full interface around them. Taking care he activated the coms. "Ready to depart control. Wanderer outbound to the jump point. Two souls on board." With a glance over at Joxe Brent took the Wanderer out of the dock and onto the minimum time course to the jump point.

"She's our ship, husband," Joxe said with a grin, "and she's wonderful."

The jump point was a hundred diameters from the asteroid, which meant the ship arrived in ten minutes even at the leisurely lope of a quarter-gee acceleration. "Jump field aligned," Joxe reported. "We are ready for jump, Captain."

Brent laughed and smiled broadly. He couldn't help but experiment with the controls and ship performance even in the short journey to the jump point. Once they arrived he checked over calculations in the navigational computer. "All calculations look good, we have a green board, engaging jump drive." Brent disabled the virtual cover over the control and engaged the jump drive.

Brent noted that the ship dimmed the interior lights in the ancient tradition just before the drive engaged. The hyperspace translation was smoother than before, and the drive's telemetry was within normal ranges.

"Oh, that was nice," Joxe said. "I've never flown a jump this long, so I really, really hope that the plot is good. We have current system data, so that helps." She waved her hand. "Oh, I know that distance doesn't work the same way in hyperspace, but I still can't help but think in those terms."

"That was nice. I could get spoiled working with this high Imperial technology. I hope the plot matches the capability of the drives as well." Brent shrugged. "I will leave the theory behind jump technology to the scientists. Frankly, I think they are using a combination of guessing, luck and approximation to manage jump drives. Look how they cannot explain how a missed jump can go so far."