The JHC Drive

[Zeppy]

The Icarus emerges from the Jump Hole, its engines silently scream in the vacuum of space as it turns towards the Privas Cluster approximately forty kilometres away. “Almost there George”, Jack calls to the back of the ship, in the general direction of the ship’s toilet.

All that answers him is a retching sound followed by a very unpleasant sloshing sound. Jack winces; maybe he had been a bit insensitive of George’s problem, he would take it easier on the throttle when they were heading back.

Now that there is nothing between the Icarus and the Privas cluster Jack can fly in a straight line. Without the Icarus constantly twisting and turning George recovers fairly quickly and joins Jack in the cockpit. “You should interface with the probes and begin the extraction now George, we don’t know how long it could take”. George nods, he is still slightly green and he does not speak but he quickly settles into his work at the console.

Five minutes of careful adjustments later and the Icarus settles into an uneasy orbit inside the Privas cluster’s volatile gravity well. “Stable orbit established…somewhat stable at any rate, how long until extraction is complete?”

“The Privas two probe has successfully opened the DGM’s outer casing and has begun the extraction of the crystal. The Privas three probe seems to have been destroyed or disabled by the DGM prior to our arrival, a coincidental overlap between its movement pattern and the DGM’s alignment cycle brought it within the DGM’s area of effect.”

“What are the chances of that happening to the other probes?”

“Minuet, it was a slight error in the probes initial alignment, a fraction of a centimetre difference. Over time it deviated more and more from our projected course and eventually its path intersected the DGM’s area of effect.”

“Ok…what about the other probes?”

“The Privas four probe is intact but will take significantly longer to finish the extraction; it was on the opposite side of the DGM when we arrived.”

“How long?”

“It will be several hours before the DGM’s alignment cycle allows for it to move into position.”

“Ok if time and circumstances permit then we will wait for that one, we may have to depart before that though. What of the Privas one and five probes?”

“The Privas five probe has begun extraction but its time is limited, the DGM’s alignment cycle will soon overlap its current position and destroy it. I give it roughly an hour, maybe less; I seriously doubt that it can complete the extraction in time.”

“Let it continue, but if it becomes clear that it won’t have time abort before it is crushed. We don’t want it being crushed while it’s doing something important, the DGM could fail and I don’t think the Gallians would be very understanding if we single handedly destroyed the delicate balance of the Privas cluster.”

George nods, “that leaves the Privas one probe, that’s going to be the most difficult of the five. The very complicated alignment cycle of the DGM at the centre of the cluster means that it will have a very small window of time when the extraction begins in half an hour. Even if it completes the extraction it still has to get to the surface of Privas one and fire it safely out of the cluster’s gravity well.”

“Same deal as with the Privas five probe, if its not going to finish in time then abort.”

“Alright then, the first probe to complete extraction will be the Privas two probe. It should be done within the next ten minutes and on the surface in another five.”

Jack nods to himself and the Icarus’ manoeuvring thrusters flare to life as he starts his slow readjustment of the Icarus’ orbit to bring them above Privas two.

---

Reseach into the Kansas sector

Research into the Privas Planetary Cluster

Research into Alien "Trade Lanes"

A new ship, Jack Denton's time on Freeport 11

The JHC Drive

An Unscheduled Vacation of Sorts

The above are meant to be read in order, if you jump in at "A new ship" you are going to be lost.

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