Challenge Accepted: Hutton Orbital
07 Apr 2016Magnudius
“0.22 Ly to Hutton Orbital from the star! You have to be kidding me!” Trackless exclaimed through the voice comms. “I knew it was far, but geez. This is a whole new perspective. Gotta fly there once, I guess.”“At least you're flying this distance to land! I get to fly all the way there just be denied access because of my ship size. You're lucky I'm nice enough to come along for moral support,” answered Nudo.
“Please. You're just protecting your investment.”
“That too. We don't need a repeat of the Ngadandari Fire Opals situation, especially with the distance we have to travel to get to Hutton. Man, I should have just contacted the Hutton Orbital Truckers to see if they would have delivered the Centauri Mega Gin and Hutton Mugs to us at the star.”
“Don't tell me that now as we're hauling there. Ugh, we are at 0.21 Ly.”
“I bet it'll switch to Ls at 0.20 Ly.”
“I say 0.15 Ly.”
Nudo's and Trackless' adventure together had been littered with this “bets” to keep themselves entertained during the long hauls to the outposts. They saved the famous trucker's trail, the cruise to Hutton Orbital, for last for ceremonial purposes. After this station, Nudo will no longer be dependent on Trackless to get her rare goods. Together they have collected Herculis Body Scrub, Motrona Experience Jelly, Karetii Couture, Vidavantian Lace, Cherbones Blood Crystals, Mechucos High Tea, Neritus Berries, Anduliga Fireworks, Burnham Bile Distillate, Non Euclidian Exotanks, Ngadandari Fire Opals (twice because of faulty jettison and drone collecting, which their prides demand they never speak of happening), and Geawen Dance Dust.
Trackless ended up winning because the switch happened at 0.09 Ly. The flight seemed to speed up after the distance switched to Ls. Before they knew it but after the craziness sank in, Nudo and Trackless were dropping into normal space. Nudo assumed her position outside the fire zone and waited while Trackless got the honor of landing at Hutton Orbital. Nudo decided that she had to make the pilgrimage again one day so she can claim the honor of landing and buying her own Hutton Mug. As Trackless left Hutton Orbital and began flying towards her, Nudo fully realized that this was the last time they were doing this. Who knew when she and him would be flying together again? Nudo needed a way to track Trackless.
“Will you be my friend, Trackless?” Nudo tossed out.
“We are already friends, Nudo,” Trackless said, confused.
“I mean officially. I respect your desire to remain anonymous and thus truly trackless, but we didn't get to this part in history by remaining alone. Stop jamming your beacon and allow me to see your whereabouts as you travel, as you will see mine. It's a way to still feel connected while out alone in a far arm of the galaxy.”
Silence stretched across the comm for seconds. Nudo wondered if she pushed too far, but she couldn't take back the words. She nearly missed the silent reply streaming across space.
“Alright.”
Nudo whooped out loud. “You won't regret it! Now we don't have to say a final goodbye! Thank you for all your help, CMDR Trackless. I've made a huge dent in this long list of rare goods thanks to you. It should be pretty much smooth sailing, except for my four permitted stations, but one thing at a time! Don't be a stranger now, you hear?”
“Yea, I hear. Now I need to find my volume button.”
With a smile and an eye roll, Nudi replied with, “Sure you do.”
Neither being ones to prolong an emotional situation, they quickly said serious farewells. Nudo turned to set her next destination and realized she had no idea where to go to next. Deciding that Nudo deserved some down time, she picked a nearby named station and hope it had a station large enough for her to land it. It did, so Nudo landed and, with a toast to Trackless, celebrated her recent successes.