Eris on Cardamine

[Emissary]

"Freeport 4. We'll dock here. One last stop, and the last human settlement you'll see for a while. Four hours should be sufficient enough to get everything done, you should get some rest and then we'll be moving on."

When Doc got out of his ship Anje was already at docking bay and arguing with another man, a Liberty official. Doc couldn't hear what the two were having an argument about. Eventually the man had enough too and left the hangar. Emissary approached John and told him to meet at main hall in three and half hours.

Later at designated time Doc found Anje at the main hall and they walked to hangar bay. Doc wondered if they have a culture, what it would be and how it is important in diplomatic affairs he is accustomed to in his own experience.

"Their culture is unlike ours, their values are very different. There are countless meanings we do not understand because there is nothing in our experience we can relate them to, no words in our languages exist to express. Best you forget what you know about human diplomacy, I know it will fail you there. If you want my advice: be who you really are, John, and not whom you're trying to be. It's hard to explain but you'll understand what I'm talking about. They are dangerous and for all their propaganda it's one thing Order got right. Dangerous, yes, but not beyond reason, except it's not ours and that's what most can neither figure out nor accept. I've been among them for many years and still it's all very alien. I do not know what you'll see there and how it'll end - it's different for everyone. Perhaps you'll even find more about yourself than you ever knew."

The ships left Freeport 4 and set course to Kansas jumphole. Although the system was discovered a long time ago there weren't many attempts to colonize it. From that time they found abandoned small base or what's left of it after presumably junkers took it apart, leaving only scrap behind. Anje set destination point straight at the dense cloud behind green gas giant.

"Stay close, it will mess up with your navigation systems." - Anje warned Doc. Indeed, Turtle Creek nebula had a lot of interference making navigation difficult, a pilot entering it could be flying blind and ion storms only increased as they went deeper. Somehow Anje knew exactly where to go to. Except for asteroids and periodic lighting storms there wasn't anything interesting, dull as it can be. Eventually Anje ship stopped and Doc halted engines too. As he was about to ask why they stopped the lighting struck on background and for a brief moment Doc saw a large object ahead of them. In that moment he instantly recognized silhouette - the unmistakeable shape of the Nomad jumpgate he had seen before in Coronado system. Anje's Sabre flew straight to the jumpgate and Doc followed. He tried to get navigation system lock on the object, but the ship's computer stubbornly refused to notice there was anything in front of them. Approaching it closer he noticed the gate was damaged, parts missing and one segment had its 'guts' exposed. Going through alien jumpgates was dangerous as it is, but going through damaged alien jumpgates was plain suicide for any sane explorer.

"The system on the other side had its local star ran dry not so (static) ago. There'll be a massive asteroid field right ahea- (static) -from a drop point. Once we emerge on the other side you'll stick to manual flight control, hit cruise engines instantly and follow. Re-route all non-essent- (static) -engines and just keep life support systems on. Navigation and communication systems will not work there at all. Turn on automatic repairs because it's going to be quite a miracle for this hunk of trash you fly to come through in one piece. Your only instrument will be your eyes. (static) -will be enough to send us both through but not for any- (static) -one-way path. So keep focused, stay close to me and you might make it through."