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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ptolemy" data-source="post: 9268568" data-attributes="member: 1412">Returning to Flammarion 102 - 1080Week 1I was anxious all through the jump to Bowman. I did the astrogation for the jump and primed the J-drive. Peter oversaw the astrogation but just assumed I knew what I was doing with the drive. I must have done okay as we made it in one piece. Bowman is a second rate starport. We stayed for a couple of nights, long enough to stretch our legs and get bored. We cashed our fuel voucher with a suspicious vendor and left to jump again. Highndry is an absolute rust bucket and we can’t get the tainted smell of Walston our of the air-conditioning.Week 2Jumped to Asteltine. Again anxious, again it was ok. There is a proper starport at Asteltine which we all enjoyed. Just sitting in a bar with a view of stars and the local planet was comforting. Reflecting on the last few months we had been through a lot. I sometimes question the decisions which led me here, but then I look at Helena and it is all worth it to be with her. Four nights at Asteltine and we set off again.Week 4We arrived at Flammarion and Helena insisted on piloting the ship. We all need to be able to do the basics on the ship and she already has flight experience, albeit a good few years since she last flew herself. Peter was pretty nervous and when we had a near miss with a satellite buoy he took over the controls for docking. We handed the Highndry over, delivered the aid request from Walston and went to relax. Flammarion Highport is constructed as a level surface and a dome. The scout base is attached to the main station and between scout personnel and big traders picking up LSP products manufactured on the planet it is usually busy. The morning after getting back Peter had a meeting with Casarii and was officially allocated Highndry as “detached duty” which basically means it can be recalled but it is cheaper to have an ex-scout flying it than moth-balling it and paying for storage. The Scouts will service it once a year but we need to pay for general maintenance. It remains the property of the IISS. The re-fit will take a few weeks and we have free lodging at a low-end hotel here. Low end is good enough for us (well, I'm not sure about Helena) and we are enjoying being danger free. Dictator Masterton had been fulsome in his praise regarding our actions on Walston and Carsarii is pleased with us. We are going to have our small hold filled with a couple of data drums for a mail run to Bowman when we leave, which is easy money. Peter wants to get some skimming practice so we will jump to 567-908, re-fuel and move onto Walston system and skim a gas giant for hydrogen there. Then attend the trial.Returning to Walston 158-1080Week 1We arrived after an uneventful few weeks of travel. Peter wasn’t happy with his performance skimming, although it seems ok to us. He did, however, let Helena land Highndry. She reported that she is handling much better since eat ere-fit. I have to admit it feels like a different ship. With a whole new life-support system the smell has gone. The Ship’s Locker has been properly stocked. I was a bit worried about that, but it now had 4 high end vacc. suits, 4 rescue bubbles, 2 shotguns - with both shot and foam shells - 4 snub pistols with a mixture of regular and tranquilliser rounds, 4 flak jackets with helmets along with tools and the usual bits and bobs. Oh, and a shiny new pair of PRIS goggles. The power plant has been stripped down and is purring like a kitten. Even the staterooms have been refurbished. We arrived at Bowman and only stayed a night, it was so nice being on “our” first ship. We handed over the mail drums and filled the cargo hold with freight for Walston, part of the aid package. It’s exciting to be picking up some credits. I’ve diverted my income from ship shares into a stock account and we hope to make enough to get by through trade. The 50,000cd for the mail run helped start us off. I am swotting up on brokerage, there is so much to learn and I can’t help but feel that most brokers are sharks, waiting to pounce on me. But if we are going to fund ourselves with trade we need to have an idea about how it all works.Week 2The trail began a few days after we arrived back on Walston. There was video footage of the assault on the customs officers but the defendants had deactivated the cctv before we arrived, so there was some debate about what happened. There was no way the local jury was going to side against Heroes of Salbarii and anyway, Dictator Masterton presided over the case himself. They were found guilty, sentenced to life in prison and then held on remand for the duration of the extradition proceedings. I know we had been glad to leave Walston after the fight at the port but everyone was so happy to see us we couldn’t help enjoy our time there. That we brought supplies for the reconstruction effort was state icing on the cake. We stayed for the 10 day trial, during which time we had Highndry serviced, and left the next day. I like Walston.</blockquote>

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