A Sedentary Sustainment

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus closed the channel, not sure how much Lulah heard. He leaned over the side, then walked down the steps to the lower level of the bridge, with the helm and co-pilot controls. "We're heading for Blue-sun system, best possible route."

He imagined Morse was living the dream, enough credits and plats to never have to step into the black again, sit back and be a family man. At the very least he was probably comfortable where he was.

He put in a request for departure, to the port authority. The message response simply said 'request clearance pending'.

Would Marcus ever have that? He doubted it. He'd hadn't been dealt anything in his life close to that. Not since Burts. But had Marcus asked for it? Honest life? Had he ever thought to try.

He shook off the thoughts. Found a center and a heading: Getting off planet and out of system, Blue-sun System. Muir. But the Fed. What to do.

"Lulah, look up planets between near Muir, somewhere with no fed bases or legit relays to speak of." He wanted a world they couldn't be tracked on. Hopefully.

The pending screen turned into a green 'granted' screen and a vector was displayed, and visible on navigations. He turned on the PA, but kept the volume soft.

"All hands brace for take off." He said before cutting the PA and starting the process.

It all went routine, the lift off, the angling to the vector. The slow, regulated acceleration away from the crowded areas. The ascent into the black.

All according to plan. How few times he got to say that in everything else. It was great when a lift off, better still a landing, went off without a hitch.

[Lulah Hayes]

Naturally, Lulah had eavesdropped in on Marcus' conversation over the Cortez above her. It calmed her to know that things were under control, and that her new Captain had some highly skilled contacts to call upon in these times of need. That was always a bonus. Honestly, she was a bit in awe at the concept of making it seem like they'd never even been on Sihnon. By the time Marcus walked down the steps to her level, she at least greeted him with a warmer and more trusting smile. Even if she was still a little anxious about the whole situation. They hadn't left Sihnon yet, and the longer they stayed, the more difficult she presumed that their invisibility trick would be.

"Lulah, look up planets between near Muir, somewhere with no fed bases or legit relays to speak of."[/i]

“Muir?” She repeated, as though she needed to convince herself that she'd heard him right. “Hmmm.... Muir... alright, let's take a look-see.”

Why did the name sound familiar? Fingertips begun a series of rapid tapping against her console until at last, the planet's profile popped up in a detailed hologram. A small planet hovering near the inner circle of the Blue Sun System, way out in the rim. Ah-ha! That was it; she'd dumped some unwanted cargo there a few years back. One of those, drop and go missions. Old Captain Roth had boasted that the majority of the Blue Sun System had virtually no alliance presence. As far as she was aware, most of that statement was still true. The only problem was, half the Reaver rumours originated from the Blue Sun System. Lulah just hoped that they wouldn't be hanging around long enough to see if anyone of those were actually true.

“New Canaan's right next door to Muir, see?” She pointed at the next floating image that displayed the actual star map. “There's two small moons there; Lilac an' Ugarit. Reckon Lilac's your best bet. Jus' farmers and cheap vacation shacks, but it ain't nothin' but a ri shao gou shi bing. Feds don' bother with it. Too far out for them t'care.”

Tapping at the screen, she zoomed the map again, and brought up another planet. “Um... Oh! Or we got Deadwood's moon here.” Lulah pointed again, as the image quickly changed. “Haven! Real bang-up rock for smugglin', y'know, stuff.”

Waiting for Marcus to make his choice, when he did, she worked on routing the co-ordinates in, to ensure that the ship followed the quickest route possible.

---

ri shao gou shi bing = pile of sun-baked dog poop

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus looked over the planets in the corner of his eye as they followed the designated Trade routes out of Sihnon space. Out of all the planets one was closet on the way.

"We'll buzz by Deadwood's moon." leaving it at that. His brain was forming a plan. But he needed to see how his crew fared first.

(and that's a close to this one. Continues in: Routes Resolved)