planet could make every member of a crew rich
beyond their wildest dreams.
9 Morn and North gave each other a final greeting then started off.
North's first sun was a disappointment; a small, dying star with no
planets. The space around it was strangely empty, as if it had been
swept by extensive mining operations. "They won't even bother to put a
station out here" complained his Navigator, "not even a communication's
relay."
10 "If the Astronomers have made their sweep," ordered North, "let's
line up for our next leap. Maybe that will be better." This system was
the opposite of the first they had visited. No major planets, just
pebbles filling the space from near the sun's gravitational field until
far out into the darkness of space ....a vast ring of dust circling the
sun, the largest pieces no bigger than a Hashon basketball.
11 "Well, this one will be worth some mining," commented North. "It
will take a long time to sweep up all THAT mess, but nothing any good!
There's hundreds of systems like this already in The Empire that
haven't been touched. We'll wait for the Astronomers and continue on."
12 North was feeling his crew's disappointment, and hoped that they
would find something in the next system and they wouldn't return home empty handed. Just as they were getting
ready for their last leap to an unknown system, Communications laughed,
and turned to North. "Fleet is relaying a message from your wife," he
announced, "it's uncoded. Permission to put it on ship's speakers."
13 "Very well," agreed North, guessing what the message was.
14 '"To Commander Northern Star, Lord's Vengeance, from his wife.
Traveler arrived on schedule. Screams like his father and is always
hungry like him, too. All is well. End transmission.'"