Snippet #1391385

Shortly after Kane had begun his wait by he airlock the jacked figure of Grant appeared drifting through. Most of the crates containing the pilot's purchase had been ferried out, but enough remained to suggest that his craft wasn't miniature. He caught the bag that was flung towards him with one hand as he finished his new passenger's remark.
"...is all taken care of." He said, smiling. "Come on." He becokoned Grant to follow him up the boarding tube and into the Artemis. He touched down gently as the ship's artificial gravity took a hold. He turned around to wait for Grant to arrive before walking him through the ship's interior. Speaking as he went "Welcome to the Artemis Grant, the Hunter." He turned back to see if the other man was following, confident that he was Kane continued on his way. "Shes a 15 year old Tysai Frigate. You've probably heard rumors of the the Tysai, they design for beauty first and utility later. Despite her looks on the outside this model is a swift devil, able to outmaneuver most equally sized craft. She had been stripped out when I got her so a lot of components don't blend too well. Here we go." He indicated an open cabin, placing the bag by the door. "This will be your accommodation for the next few days. Make yourself comfortable and feel free to explore the ship, just don't break anything." He chuckled. "I'll be on the bridge if you need me. Give a shout if you need anything." Kane meant the last comment quite literally, everything on board could be overseen and overheard from the command station.

He left Grant in his new lodgings and picked his way through the convoluted corridors to the bridge. A quick glance at the multitude of screens assured him that his cargo was loaded and all the tramps were away. He stood at the view port, tall and strong as his pianist fingers flitted over the controls. The drive core charged, compressing into a super dense mass susceptible to manipulation. A holographic display flickered into light. The drive chamber was rendered a a translucent green sphere with a small glowing point at its center. There was vibration that shook the ship and figures scrolled across a display to Kane's right reporting that the docking tube had been unattached. Grinning he dipped his right forefinger into the green hologram and gently touched against the glow. He felt the thrill of commanding the Artemis run through him. He could've set in the appropriate co-ordinates into the computer and let the ship guide its own way out. However Kane was a pilot and enjoyed the hands on approach. He slid the small ball of light adheared to his fingertip horizontally sideways inside the hologram. Responding to the impetus the sleek body of the frigate shifted sideways smoothly, pulling away from the mining station. His free hand worked independently tapping and bringing up a range of smaller spheres. Kane splayed his left hand and touched his three fingers to the glistening dot in the center of each, all the while directing the bulk of the Atremis through space. Delicately he orientated the craft, shifting all three left fingers slightly, so that the prow followed the ship's trajectory towards Trascerm. He piloted the Artemis expertly, skimming just beyond the critical range of the heaving planet's gravity well. He pushed the charged particles inside the drive further, increasing the acceleration until the blue planet dropped away behind the ship. Her prow cut smoothly into the nebula clouds and pushed her way out system. Stray charged particles making their home in the constantly shifting gases sparked across the shielding.

With a single push of his left thumb Kane deactivated the interface of the orientation spheres that linked to small ion chambers scattered around the ship and used his now free left hand to deactivate the primary hologram. The craft stayed its heading as Kane accessed the galactic map to locate the obscured Rysik station. the database was recent enough that the trading colony was registered and Kane set the computer the task of calculating the rift parameters. He sat back in his chair waiting for the computer to run through the complicated algorithms and equations that would make the transfer safe. Despite the Artemis's continuing travel though the the glinting orange clouds of the Horse Head nebula Kane felt no external forces acting on him. One of the beauties of piloting in space was the lack of the dangerous g-forces. The computer beeped, alerting Kane to the finalisation of its calculations. He rose from his position and accessed the ship's announcement comm system. "Grant, prep yourself. We'll be rifting in 5...4...3..." his fingers danced over more keys, typing in the authorisation code for the computer to overcharge the ion drive. "2...1." He pressed his finger down on a small button and reality as he knew it ripped away from the Artemis as she was flung into the aether. The removal wasn't nauseating, any organic rifted would simply feel as if their entire body had been separated from their consciousness for a moment before the were replaced elsewhere in the cosmos.

The Artemis, along with her grand crew of two, appeared in a much less extravagant system to the nebula they had left behind. It was a simple system hiding in the midst of black, star speckled void. A young, yellow sun warmed a scattering of mostly barren, freshly formed worlds, one of them still showed the tell tale red of a molten surface. Circling the life giving star along with the globes was a small twisted metallic structure. Although in the distance Rysik station looked much more appealing then the mining operation Kane had left behind. He stood in the bridge of the elegant spacecraft looking out at the simple yet charming view as he waited for the ion drive to reset and recharge.