You forget that the Freeports are basically a marketplace too. Or were. Lawful traders can sell and buy various items not freely available, for instance, smugglers might pick up the odd artitfact or two and drop off food, which is then, by proxy, traded when a Corsair transport docks and makes the reverse trade. Zoners exist outside of house claimed systems (aside from FP1 in Bret protectorate - A good reason for it to no longer exist since Zoners as a rule don't want to live under house rule) so the legality of the trade is not an issue.
In a sense, they were a neutral trading ground. Trading by that line is now cut off, forcing the Corsairs to either:
a- Import from elsewhere. Stuttgart, or Honshu seem most likely candidates. Gran Canaria might be up for grabs too, not sure what the situation planetside is with Sairs and Zoners there.
b- Start producing food themselves. As you said, biodomes apparantly will not support Crete's population unless created in large numbers.
c- Conquer a stable food source. Cambridge, Gran Canaria... those are the most likely candidates.
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
