With Keen Sight and my avatar safely on board, I raised my head again and sealed the airlock between my mouth and the cockpit. With the seal in place, the door at the rear end of the cockpit now leads to the internal compartment area, which is currently outfitted to maximize cargo space, except for one passenger cabin and the commander’s quarters.
Keen Sight connected some telemetry equipment to the appropriate connections in my cockpit. Then he pressed the Comms Transmit button on a console. The roughly 400 milliseconds between him doing that and him starting to speak was plenty of time for me to get the radio equipment operational. He spoke,
“Keen Sight here. Connie’s ready for departure.” I routed the response through the speakers:
“Roger, airlock is clear.”
Keen Sight looked out the front of the cockpit glass window and said, “Take us out Connie, nice and smooth.”
My thrusters pushed us up a bit, then I opened the rear-facing exhaust nozzles to push us towards the factory airlock. As soon as I had the correct attitude for passing through the airlock, I moved very precisely, like on rails, towards it.
There was one other ship already leaving and passed through the airlock. Two more were just taking off as I passed over them, having their own acceptance inspection completed.
As we passed through the airlock, we found ourselves near the surface of a small moon where the factory was located.
I had been programmed with the knowledge of where this factory was located, but reading the input from my sensitive gravitational sensors and a brief glance at the sky, I was able to quickly confirm my precise location in the galaxy.
For long distance travel the warp drives of old are mostly obsolete, but as they are a quick and cheap way to move away from the influence area of a planet, ships are still equipped with them. I used mine to get some distance between us and the moon we just departed.
I used my speakers to make a *ding* noise like a microwave oven and announced,
“FSD startup sequence complete. Ready to charge and go.”
I switched one of the HUD screens to a readout of FSD endurance, efficiency and expected speeds. The values were far, far below what an FSD of class and rating like mine should be able to accomplish, but still very good considering it’s running in service mode and only using the ambient friendship of the ponies who assembled me. Many ships have much worse values on their first flight.
Keen Sight looked at the readout and said, “There is a reason why Neighkon is consistently voted to high rankings in ‘most pleasant workplaces’. Now, please get us to LHS 453. There is a dealership waiting for you.”
I replaced the screen with a navigational map. LHS 453 was only 7.52 lightyears away. There was a metallic clank and a deep humming noise as I made my FSD probe the hyperspace for better navigation data.
A few seconds later, I was able to overlay a color-coded map of the present compression ratios of hyperspace. They showed a significant trend of more spatial compression - and thus less distance to travel - further away from mass-rich objects such as star systems and clusters of star systems. A few more seconds later I was also able to show the primary flow directions inside hyperspace. Following those would allow us to traverse hyperspace faster. The fastest flow rates are not always congruent with the regions of highest compression ratio. With this information, I calculated three optimal paths in terms of travel time, fuel economy, and travel distance.
“We’ll take the quick one,” Keen Sight commanded.
“Friendship Drive charging” I responded.
There was one loud, deep rumble coming from the aft area where the FSD was located. Followed by a hum and whine that increased in pitch and loudness.
“Opening hyperspace aperture,” I announced. The gemstones that lined the exterior part of my FSD started glowing and emitting energy particles that spread to the sides and curved forward in a stream, focusing on a point about two ship lengths in front of us. A colorful distortion was formed at the focal point until it erupted into a cloud with a visible aperture that allowed a glimpse into a realm filled with strange colors and moving miasmas. Then there was a metallic clang, accompanied by a small jolt. The gemstones stopped emitting and I announced “Configuring for ship mass”. Different gemstones on my FSD started emitting a sustained curved beam of light into the aperture.
The beam started red in color and shifted through the color spectrum a few times. Then there was another metallic clang with a jolt and the beam stopped.
“Configuring for ship dimensions,” I announced and the FSD went through the same dance three more times. During this phase, the hyperspace aperture stretched to fit me.
Configuring the hyperspace bubble endurance was the final step. After its completion, I announced, “FSD charged and configured. Entering hyperspace.”
I pushed us into the aperture. There was a small resistance that I pushed against and a thin, iridescent film stretched over us and encased us as we pushed into hyperspace. Where my hull pierced the aperture, the aperture emitted a light that changed in intensity in a pattern that matched the shape of my hull.
Once inside, we found ourselves in a radically different environment. Space seemed to be filled with some faint fluid or vapour. Countless little lights floated around and they seemed to group together, floating in roughly the same direction together before spreading apart again. The question whether these important lights are just a natural phenomenon or controlled by intelligence is still a matter of debate.
The stars and planets that were just clearly visible only appeared as distorted shadows. My sensors needed a few seconds to calibrate until i was able to see them clearly again, and I was soon able to find our destination of LHS 453 again, now appearing just 712 kilometers away. There were also plenty of other ships and they clustered together around areas where the little floating lights seemed to move about especially fast.
“The bubble should last us for about 5 hours. Better get moving,” I said, and fired my thrusters to move close to a stream of the wisps.
“Thruster efficiency reduced by 87%,” I announced. This was within the expected range.
I shut off my thrusters, twisted my stubby wings so the stream would hit us roughly from side/aft and also deployed the large dorsal wing. I had to adjust the wing angles and their camber line until we intercepted the stream for optimal efficiency. As we moved away from our origin system into an area of higher spatial compression, the distance to our destination decreased faster than what should be possible given our low speed. I constantly updated the estimated time enroute displayed on the hud which was now at four hours fifty minutes and rapidly decreasing.
I spotted a Beluga Liner just a few hundred meters away and I altered course to intercept them. As I came near I said, “Hi, I’m Connie” and the Beluga liner responded
“Hi there, I’m Sunny Travels”
“Nice to meet you, Sunny. I’m going to LHS 453. Are you going there too?”
“Yes, get in formation if you like. Makes travelling so much easier.”
There was a significant jolt as both our speeds got a 13% boost. And the Beluga Liner said “LHS 453 1 is such a nice place. Is it your first time going there-” but suddenly she looked forwards instead of at me and shouted “No, shut up! I’m not asking her if she has any! I’m gonna- I swear I will turn around if you don’t stop pestering me. You already have a landmine. I’m not stopping to get you another one!”
At my look of confusion and concern she grinned sheepishly and said, “Sorry, I was talking to my passenger.” Ah, passenger liners and their inability to speak internally. I wonder what that's like and why they’re designed that way.
Sunny started a short rant about the eccentricity and demanding nature of VIP passengers, but soon transitioned into telling anecdotes about some of the more unusual ponies she ferried and the amazing and varied places she visited. Having visited many different settlements, she had some theories on the topic of cultural divergence that I discussed with her with great interest, imagining how I would one day be able to tell such stories.
With me distracted, Keen Sight was studying the Telemetry data from my first FSD journey for his report.
After about three hours of travel time, we were nearing our destination planet. Sunny was still right next to me and I announced to Keen Sight, “Destination reached. Collapsing bubble.” Sunny and I said our goodbyes to each other and I started the bubble collapse. There was a grinding noise from my FSD and the iridescent bubble surrounding me dissolved starting from my bow and finishing aft. As hyperspace repels baryonic matter, we were pushed back into normal space right above our destination planet, which was a pristine equuslike world.
Transitioning back into normal space is never a completely smooth affair and we were also experiencing a strong rotational momentum. I calculated that completing a full 360 degrees sideways turn would be more comfortable than fighting the rotational impulse full force, so I did that. Readjusted and steady again, Keen Sight directed me to land at a large settlement on the northern continent. A bright flash of light appeared about a hundred kilometers to my side where the beluga liner emerged from hyperspace. Being a more agile ship than me, she struggled less with the forceful ejection and quickly resumed normal flight. She had a different destination than we had. I chose a vector that would put the destination settlement close to the horizon so that our reentry angle would be sufficiently shallow. As we approached, the silence of space was replaced by increasing levels of vibration, shaking, and creaking as we entered the upper layers of atmosphere. I slowed down, trading the discomfort of a fast reentry for a smoother ride, but increased fuel consumption from the ventral thrusters until I could no longer justify the increased fuel use.
By the time we pierced the cloud layer, we had slowed down to a speed typical for atmospheric craft. Keen Sight directed me to a landing port in an industrial area of the city. After obtaining clearance, I touched down at a pad.
Keen told me,” You’re expected at a dealership a few blocks from here. We’ll walk the rest of the way.” I chuckled and replied,
“You mean I will walk the rest of the way and you enjoy the ride.”
“That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”
Keen pulled up navigation on one of my cockpit’s HUD screens and typed the address. I stood up and started walking along the street. It was just a few hundred meters. I used my HFMP to minimize the effect my mass would have on the road surface. Ships are required to do this when walking inside settlements as the hundreds and often thousands of tons of ship walking along would surely damage the pavement and the entire neighbourhood would hear and feel it. Keen used my comms to notify the dealership of our arrival. When we got there, the large doors to the showroom were in the process of being opened for me. A pale grey earth pony introduced himself as “Shiny Swap” and the owner of the dealership. He directed me to a sufficiently sized empty spot where I walked to and sat down.
My first journey was not much of an odyssey, but still a successful one.
Keen Sight briefly hugged my avatar and said, “Good luck out there, Connie. Make the company proud. I’m taking a passenger liner back.” Then he unplugged his telemetry equipment and stood up to leave. I lowered my head and opened my mouth to let him out.
Meanwhile the dealership owner put a beautifully designed professional sign next to me declaring my ship class, my outfitting - already many A-rated modules and optimized for bulk transport - and my price of three hundred and thirty-eight million, five hundred and five thousand and three hundred and forty-four bits. Oh look! There is even financing available! I am sure I will be sold in no time!
Day 2: By now the ads will have been published.
Day 3: Any moment now someone will walk in and buy me.
Day 6: Slow week anyway.
Week 2: Somepony just bought the Chieftain next to me. Who buys a fighter?
Week 3: Luckily I have my galnet connection built in and can pass the time entertaining myself on discussion forums and news.
Week 4: Somepony on a discussion forum just made a statement about intercourse with my nonexistant maternal ancestor. Some ponies are weird.
Lots of ponies just looking at ships in this dealership with no apparent intention to buy.
Week 5: Hello! Big freighter for sale here! Anypony?
Week 6: Maybe I will be bought soon! The boss just told me someone called and sounded very interested in a big freighter, specifically me. They will be visiting for a test drive in two weeks. I am so excited!
Week 7: This week is longer than the previous 6 weeks combined.
Week 8: That dark grey pegasus with the black and blue mane, walking along the sidewalk outside the dealership like somepony with a mission. That must be him. I have no data to suggest so. I just knew.
He walked in and inquired at the info desk. The boss was called and the two approached me.
Shiny Swap said, “Connie! You have a potential buyer! Please join us.”
I lowered my head and walked my avatar out of my mouth towards the two. We introduced ourselves to each other and shook hooves. The potential buyer introduced himself as “Pinwheel”.
Then we walked to the meeting room where the interview would take place.
We sat down at a table adequately sized for three ponies to talk. The boss introduced me with a marketing-laden talk about my specifications. Impressively, Pinwheel was able to correctly contradict him on several minor details. I contributed to the talk with my own aspirations in cargo transport, preferred cargo types, and the greater economical impacts.
Then it was time for Pinwheel to tell us about himself. He started with his educational background, explained the origins of his interest in cargo transport, and his business ambitions.
It was all standard speech during the commander/ship introduction interview, but when he casually mentioned the sale of his last ship, the boss and I were suddenly a lot more attentive.
“How did you proceed when selling your ship?” I inquired. The way a commander handles the sale of a ship tells a lot about his character.
Pinwheel responded:
“The first thing I did was to make sure I found a nice buyer. I met a kirin who told me about her ambitions to venture outside the bubble. She seemed nice so I took her as crew. Luckily she and my ship got along really well. Still, telling my ship I was selling her wasn’t easy and I tried to tell her gently.”
I interjected, “We are programmed to accept a sale as a normal part of life.” Smiling, I added, “But still, it’s nice of you to think of our feelings.”
“She’s an AspX,” Pinwheel countered.
“Oh yes, the little ones with the more juvenile personality archetype can get quite attached. How did that conversation go?”