Down South

[jammi]

[font=Agency FB]13/04/816, 13:23

"Good god... How did we never spot this place?" Bridge officer Alex Jameson was leaning on the command dash, staring incredulously out the front view port. He was in command of the Bowex Exploration Percheron Cook, and they'd possibly made the most important discovery of their lives.

[font=Agency FB]12/04/816, 12:34

They'd been plotting the edges of the Dublin system after some BMM miners reported highly unusual magnetic readings on the edge of one of their fields. When they'd turned up and scanned the area there had been the tell-tale signs - phase radiation and gravitational osculations: positive indicators of the presence of a jump hole in the area. After a short while of hunting, the ship homed in on the source.

A probe was dispatched through the anomaly. Two hours later they began to receive information. The hole was stable. For now. It could probably take the mass of the ship, but they weren't willing to risk it. They sent another probe through under orders to jump back after arrival. After ten minutes it jumped back with recordings from both sides. The hole was phase aligned both ways: it wasnt a dead end. The probe's video footage showed the jump would leave then in a seemingly icy asteroid field. From the footage quality it was hard to tell.

"We're onto something here, lads. This could get us a fat bonus if there's anything worth finding on the other side of that hole." There was a general murmur of agreement and approval from the gathered crew: two scientists, one navigator, three engineers, two pilots, three deck hands and the captain himself. "As you know, the Cook is currently only carrying supplies for inter-system charting. Were going to have to resupply before we can jump through." There were a few mutterings of disappointment, but no-one vocally disagreed. If the hole destabilised while they were on the other side, it wouldn't have been clever to be caught without supplies. Off-duty crews were frequently exposed to horror stories about being marooned in dead end systems without supplies.

"I propose we sit tight here and send the Resolution back to pick up supplies from London. Any problems with that? No? Good." The Resolution was a Clydesdale the Cook had been retrofitted to carry in the cargo bay. The adjustments made the Percheron look bulbous and distorted, often drawing odd looks from passing traffic. The bay could be vacuumed before being opened to the void to allow the shuttle to undock safely. Such ships were often cramped, hellish things, with little room for crew accommodation and stores. Even so, ExSec's wages ensured they were never undermanned.

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