Defense Force and ran a very tight ship. The more relaxed atmosphere of a civilian privateer seemed to make him uncomfortable. Catherine had to force herself not giggle at him sometimes.
There was no reason she had to come down to Astrogation for this meeting. There was no real reason they even had to have a “meeting” in the first place. The Andromeda was almost seventy meters long, big for a ship in her class, but she still made for cramped quarters. Catherine could have just as easily had this discussion with her officers over the ship’s network, but the captain liked to do things the old-fashioned way. She preferred face-to-face sit-downs with her officers and to talk in person. Some of her crew considered this habit an Avalonian quirk, and maybe it was. In any case, Astrogation had the new ultra-high-resolution holotank installed. That piece of equipment hadn’t been cheap, and Catherine was determined to get as much use out of it as she could.
“Everyone relax,” Catherine said to her assembled officers, who were crowded onto the Astrogation Deck. “I need your input on this. First, I apologize for waiting so long to fully brief everyone on the mission we are currently undertaking. It was for security reasons, and to protect client confidentiality. Has everyone gone over the information I sent them?” The room nodded in agreement. “Good. As you’ve probably ascertained, our destination is not actually Columbia. Astrogation, show us the way.”
Kel Morrow, the Andromeda ’s third officer and chief astrogator, nodded. “Yes ma’am.” His fingers rapidly tapped at the controls for the holotank. The display started with a close-in 3D image of the ship, thrusting tail-first along a projected line of trajectory. The image zoomed outward, showing the trajectory from the jump point through which the Andromeda had entered the system to the one through which it would leave. “We’re forty-four hours from docking with this resupply station,” he said. The holotank portrayed a 3D image of an automated orbital platform from which the Andromeda would purchase reaction mass and supplies. “From there, we’ve got another hundred and eighteen hours until we translate to Lambert-1267. That’s where we have to make our choice of route.”
“Explain,” the captain ordered. She knew the details, but she wanted to have things laid out plainly so her officers could offer useful input. She hadn’t gotten into the details of their destination in the briefing.
“It’s very simple,” Morrow said. “Lambert-1267 has three known transit points, including the one through which we’ll be translating into the system.” The holotank projected an image of the Andromeda flashing through the transit point into the Lambert-1276 system, which consisted of only a red dwarf star. “One route will take us about four thousand hours to navigate, going through these systems.” The holographic display zoomed out even further, showing a three-dimensional map of the local section of the galaxy. Glowing lines delineated stars connected by naturally occurring transit points. The route the ship was to take was displayed in red, with an alternate in blue, connecting the dots of stars, threading through the quantum maze of space-time from their present location all the way to Zanzibar.
Wolfram von Spandau and Kel Morrow had both known the ultimate destination. The rest of her officers had only been told that they were going to go pick up a VIP, her brother, from the Llewellyn Freehold. There were noticeable reactions from her crew when they realized the terminus of their route.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. “Thoughts?”
Chief Engineer Indira Nair, the Second Officer, was the first to speak up. “Captain, your brother is on Zanzibar? Why is he there?”
“Another time, please. It’s something of a long story. Give me your assessment of the routes.”
The engineer looked back at the holotank, squinting a little. “These are
There was no reason she had to come down to Astrogation for this meeting. There was no real reason they even had to have a “meeting” in the first place. The Andromeda was almost seventy meters long, big for a ship in her class, but she still made for cramped quarters. Catherine could have just as easily had this discussion with her officers over the ship’s network, but the captain liked to do things the old-fashioned way. She preferred face-to-face sit-downs with her officers and to talk in person. Some of her crew considered this habit an Avalonian quirk, and maybe it was. In any case, Astrogation had the new ultra-high-resolution holotank installed. That piece of equipment hadn’t been cheap, and Catherine was determined to get as much use out of it as she could.
“Everyone relax,” Catherine said to her assembled officers, who were crowded onto the Astrogation Deck. “I need your input on this. First, I apologize for waiting so long to fully brief everyone on the mission we are currently undertaking. It was for security reasons, and to protect client confidentiality. Has everyone gone over the information I sent them?” The room nodded in agreement. “Good. As you’ve probably ascertained, our destination is not actually Columbia. Astrogation, show us the way.”
Kel Morrow, the Andromeda ’s third officer and chief astrogator, nodded. “Yes ma’am.” His fingers rapidly tapped at the controls for the holotank. The display started with a close-in 3D image of the ship, thrusting tail-first along a projected line of trajectory. The image zoomed outward, showing the trajectory from the jump point through which the Andromeda had entered the system to the one through which it would leave. “We’re forty-four hours from docking with this resupply station,” he said. The holotank portrayed a 3D image of an automated orbital platform from which the Andromeda would purchase reaction mass and supplies. “From there, we’ve got another hundred and eighteen hours until we translate to Lambert-1267. That’s where we have to make our choice of route.”
“Explain,” the captain ordered. She knew the details, but she wanted to have things laid out plainly so her officers could offer useful input. She hadn’t gotten into the details of their destination in the briefing.
“It’s very simple,” Morrow said. “Lambert-1267 has three known transit points, including the one through which we’ll be translating into the system.” The holotank projected an image of the Andromeda flashing through the transit point into the Lambert-1276 system, which consisted of only a red dwarf star. “One route will take us about four thousand hours to navigate, going through these systems.” The holographic display zoomed out even further, showing a three-dimensional map of the local section of the galaxy. Glowing lines delineated stars connected by naturally occurring transit points. The route the ship was to take was displayed in red, with an alternate in blue, connecting the dots of stars, threading through the quantum maze of space-time from their present location all the way to Zanzibar.
Wolfram von Spandau and Kel Morrow had both known the ultimate destination. The rest of her officers had only been told that they were going to go pick up a VIP, her brother, from the Llewellyn Freehold. There were noticeable reactions from her crew when they realized the terminus of their route.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. “Thoughts?”
Chief Engineer Indira Nair, the Second Officer, was the first to speak up. “Captain, your brother is on Zanzibar? Why is he there?”
“Another time, please. It’s something of a long story. Give me your assessment of the routes.”
The engineer looked back at the holotank, squinting a little. “These are
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