"No, the other contract has to go forward." He shakes his head. "But we don't need the whole fleet to pull it off. If my recall message reaches Bel, and if nothing else goes wrong along the way, then the Ariel will be back in time for departure and my pursuit will amount to nothing more than a waste of a little fuel. If not, though - Baz, you're in charge of this one."
He brings up a map with a woggle of his pen.
"We're smuggling pack-horses, so to speak. Vega Station," he indicates the map, "is an independent deep-space transfer station currently under an arms embargo courtesy of the Cetagandan Empire, who owns one of its neighbours and strong-armed the other two. We come in through Toranira with a perfectly legitimate flight plan filed, headed to Illyrica through Zoave Twilight. And that is exactly where we go, but while we're in Vega space, we drop off three of our ships - not troops or armaments, but the ships themselves. Then at Illyrica we pick up three new ones. Winterfair gifts from Emperor Gregor."
Through the ship's internal system rather than his pen, he sends the specs to Baz's comconsole.
"The only trouble is, my brother just walked off with a third of our trade inventory. We were supposed to give away the Triumph, the D-16, and the Ariel. The nearest possible substitute for the missing ship is Truzillo's Jayhawk. I'm really hoping I can reel Thorne back in before we have to leave, because while the replacement ship would be an across-the-board improvement on the Ariel, it falls a little short of the Jayhawk's firepower. If I take too long chasing down the Ariel, though - Baz, can you talk Captain Truzillo into the trade?"
no subject
He brings up a map with a woggle of his pen.
"We're smuggling pack-horses, so to speak. Vega Station," he indicates the map, "is an independent deep-space transfer station currently under an arms embargo courtesy of the Cetagandan Empire, who owns one of its neighbours and strong-armed the other two. We come in through Toranira with a perfectly legitimate flight plan filed, headed to Illyrica through Zoave Twilight. And that is exactly where we go, but while we're in Vega space, we drop off three of our ships - not troops or armaments, but the ships themselves. Then at Illyrica we pick up three new ones. Winterfair gifts from Emperor Gregor."
Through the ship's internal system rather than his pen, he sends the specs to Baz's comconsole.
"The only trouble is, my brother just walked off with a third of our trade inventory. We were supposed to give away the Triumph, the D-16, and the Ariel. The nearest possible substitute for the missing ship is Truzillo's Jayhawk. I'm really hoping I can reel Thorne back in before we have to leave, because while the replacement ship would be an across-the-board improvement on the Ariel, it falls a little short of the Jayhawk's firepower. If I take too long chasing down the Ariel, though - Baz, can you talk Captain Truzillo into the trade?"