The rough re-entry to normal space had momentarily disorientated the captain. The stars were swinging past with the ship's drunken swagger and she hadn't expected this level of turbulence. Years of experience helped determine the cause. One of the tail blades of the ship had buckled under the stress of slipspace flight and it had thrown the ship dangerously out of control. A momentary lapse while she assessed the situation and decided the best course of action.
Galewind, sitting in the co-pilots chair, was already a step ahead. She too had been surprised by the re-entry, the rough swaying and manically dancing stars - it upset her equilibrium terribly and she could feel the beginnings of nausea. However, her rigorous mental training began to kick in - she calmed and allowed her in-depth knowledge of the Persephone's blueprints and structural elements to inform her of the problem. The tail blade of the ship was damaged, probably as a result of the difference in pressure between slipstream and normal space. They needed to level the ship and she began to fire the starboard and aft thrusters moments before the Captain issued the command.
Amid a flurry of flashing lights and klaxons, they eventually regained command of the the ship, easing it onto an even keel and bringing it to a controllable speed. Seren looked across at her companion, who by now was analysing both the flight plan and the damage reports. "Bit rough, wasn't it?"
"It was a little more turbulent than my initial analysis suggested. The simulations suggested the Persephone would be quite capable of surviving the trip with the additional structural reinforcement."
The captain nodded and lent back into her chair, reaching for the bottle she'd left next to her chair. She grasped at thin air and immediately knew that the bottle was probably sitting in the cargo bay by now. She sighed and looked out at stars she'd never seen before. "Any idea where we are?"
Galewind's fingers danced across the co-pilot's instruments. "Running astrometrics and checking for navigational beacons now...." There were a few moments of silence as the navigational computer analysed the constellations and tried to match them up to known star charts. Seren watched her face intently trying to anticipate what the news might be. She saw Elena's eyebrows rise.
"The journey was successful. Astrometric charts indicate we have indeed arrived on the outskirts of Nova Gaia."
Seren began to laugh, shaking her head. "We'll never do things the easy way will we? What's the damage?"
"The left aft blade is showing damage, analytics are saying it appears to have warped and is off-camber by a considerable degree. It's repairable, probably with what we have on board."
"How far are we from the Botany Bay colony? Are we going to be able to get there?"
"One moment...", Elena fingers danced on the instruments again, "About twelve hours at a moderate speed. I recommend caution until we reach the orbital station."
The captain nodded. Longer than wanted but at least they'd get there. Dropping out of slipspace in such a way could have left them marooned light years from civilisation, deep in the black. "Tell you what. Why don't you go and get your head down for a few hours. I'll come and get you, you can relieve me?".
Elena nodded, stood up and headed down to the makeshift sleeping quarters in the cargo bay. All these years being a trader and she still hadn't bought any bunks.
* * * * * *
Seren stepped off the shuttle and onto the rich green grass of the Botany Bay colony. She allowed herself a moment to take in the beauty of the landscape. The rich colours almost seemed too much, overpowering and more vivid than she remembered. The fragrance too seemed exaggerated, the flowers and shoots of grass were splendidly redolent. She surmised that she'd been on the desert planet too long.
Seren passed through the main gates of the colony with little fanfare, showing her trader card to the sentry manning the main gate. For the most part, the colony looked much the same as it had on Araxes but felt a little brighter and at ease with itself. The central courtyard bustled with activity, market traders selling their wares and fire-eaters entertaining the crowd as they swallowed fire. She passed the Coral Essex hotel, a known haunt for the more promiscuous space traveller and continued towards the Sol Cantina. The round door swished open as she approached. Almost exactly as she remembered it.
Atop a dancing platform in the centre of the cantina, Seren noticed a petite female, her dark hair framing a remarkably attractive face, attired in a pretty yellow dress that swayed elegantly with her movements.
Seren ventured, "You wouldn't happen to know where the medical bay is would you?"
Without stopping her dance, the female smiled and said "Are you hurt? I can show you if you'd like?"
"I'm not hurt. I'm here on a trade mission. I was told to give the medical bay a quick look over. If you wouldn't mind showing me?"
The petite female smiled and shook her head "Not at all. Follow me."
After what seemed a labyrinthine walk, they eventually came out into the medical bay. Even without medical training Seren could immediately tell that the bay was well equipped and highly technological. Clearly a lot of work and money had been well spent. Seren asked if the medical officer or colony chief were available and the woman in the yellow dress told her she hadn't seen the medical officer recently although the colony chief would probably be available later. After Seren's thanks, she excused herself and left the captain to her own thoughts. Nothing worse than a well-laid out medical bay when you're trying to sell medical equipment.
She used her limited medical knowledge to make notes about the capabilities of the bay and after half an hour ventured back down to the cantina, which by now was considerably busier. She analysed the room. Well-armed female to the right, near the bar. Keep a watchful eye on her. The Yellow dressed female is on the dance platform - talking to herself. Odd. Confused looking female on the far couch. Seems disorientated. None of my business.....Ah, over there. Administrator Lane.
Seren coughed and offered her hand. "Hello there", darn, very professional Undercroft, well done, "I'm Seren Undercroft, I've come to do some business. Consulari Raghilda has dispatched me on a trade mission."
They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. They chatted for a while and Seren felt her awkwardness drifting away. Her previous experiences in trading had frequently involved a less-discriminate sort of clientele - the sort that looked over their shoulder nervously and went quiet in the company of authority. Now she represented a planet and she felt the pressure, crushing her natural style into a pedantic uninspiring drone. Regardless, it seemed to do the trick. Administrator Jubilynn Lane clearly saw the benefits of mutual trade and offered to show her something extraordinary. They walked together to the medical lab.
Lane reached into a cabinet and retrieved a storage unit, opening it on the counter. "Have you seen this before?". She offered the unit and Seren took it, peering in and examining it closely. "No, what is it?"
"Harjel"
Seren's brow furrowed "Harjel? Never heard of it. What does it do?". Lane smiled and began to explain. "It's very useful. It's a biogel, a waste product of the Har, a type of coral. It can't be compressed and it's a natural antibiotic. It can't become infected with any known pathogen.". She lent on the cabinet. "It's very useful in exosuits, to absorb shock and cushion the user. In this state, its also supersaturated with oxygen, yet its stable"
Seren lifted the unit to her nose and sniffed at it absently. Jubilynn indicated with her hand to give it back and Seren did so. "You can't drown in it", she continued, "because with difficulty, you can breath in it. But it's even more useful than that."
She poured the contents of the unit onto the counter and the harjel began to spread across the surface. Not quite as fast as liquid but unusually fast for a gel. She gestured to the mass, "It has some non-Newtonian fluid dynamics as you can see, but even better...". Jubilynn pushed a button on the side of the storage container and an electric flash illuminated the gel momentarily leaving it frozen in place: solid. Seren's eyes widened in amazement "I've seen non-Newtonian liquids before but never with these additional properties".
"If you apply a charge to it", stated the administrator, "it changes state to a solid. Very useful to seal a wound in the field or a ship's hull in orbit."
Seren nodded, examining the mass. "There's been plenty of times when something like this would have come in useful. Can I take a sample of this away with me?". Jubilynn nodded and said "I'll have a crate of the auto-injectors loaded onto your boat. Anything after that, we'll have to negotiate pricing"
"That's generous of you" said Seren still examining the mass.
"Generosity is a long term investment" Jubilynn exclaimed, smiling and reaching into her belt, "Here's 200cc of harjel and a device to activate the charge. The ungel solution is in the bottom part because if you use it on a wound you'll want to get it off eventually. There's a data stick with some instructions in the crate with some training materials. But I wouldn't think about ingesting it and then getting shocked".
Seren smiled and raised her eyebrows "Yeah, I'm guessing that'd be a pretty unfortunate thing to happen.". Suffocating in such a manner would be an unpleasant way to go, she thought.
"Generally", stated the administrator, "I don't suggest it's use ingested, as I said you could breath it but it becomes more viscous around 90 degrees. Bacta is still a much better medium if you need breathable fluid in one's lungs however." She nodded to the large tanks to the rear of the medical bay, "I'm sure we can come to terms on this or other items?"
"Generally", stated the administrator, "I don't suggest it's use ingested, as I said you could breath it but it becomes more viscous around 90 degrees. Bacta is still a much better medium if you need breathable fluid in one's lungs however." She nodded to the large tanks to the rear of the medical bay, "I'm sure we can come to terms on this or other items?"
Seren smiled and nodded confidently "I'm sure the Consulari will be delighted with this and will certainly want to return the favour and drum up more business." Jubilynn nodded "We have an extensive supply of other devices...RMKS, IRMSS..."
"RMKS?" Seren interrupted.
"Robot medical kits, surely you've seen knitters."
"Ah, yeah. Right I understand. Different names in different places I guess.". The administrator smiled and tapped her data-link "I'll send over a list of some of our inventory." Seren nodded and noticed the uplink with her own receiver. "That's great, thanks."
"Well, if you don't have any other questions?"
Seren smiled and shook her head, "No, no. I've taken up enough of your time. A pleasure to meet with you.". The administrator nodded and headed out of the room before pausing and saying "I'm heading back up. If you need anything, I'm available on the Cortex. Jubilynn. Two N's."
The captain nodded and waited while the administrator left the room. She touched her finger to her earpiece, the biometric imprint immediately opening a link to the earpiece in Elena Galewind's space helmet. "Hi, the trade mission is a success. I'm going to spend the night down here, make sure you get some rest up there. Expect a consignment of crates courtesy of Administrator Lane. How's the 'Seph?"
"Repairs are satisfactory, Captain. Congratulations on a successful encounter. We should be able to make FTL to the slipspace point and launch successfully from there."
"Fantastic. Oh, but you'd better plan for us to come out of slipspace early. I'd rather spend a few days extra travelling than colliding with something when we emerge."
"Confirmed."
"Night Elena, good work. Seren out."
