Rowe hears Golt shout a command as he remains in the cockpit.

GOLT: “Lock, please, Rowe.”

ROWE: “Understood.”

With the press of a button on the ship’s dashboard, the airlock opens and Golt finds himself face to face with both Garren and Vlex. He spreads his arms in an almost mocking curiosity.

GOLT: “What?”

Garren appears to be noticeably energized, as if the entire rest of the night hadn’t even happened.

GARREN: “We got a distress signal on the AMR. Off-world.”

Golt stares for a moment, slowly processing the information.

GOLT: “Good God, Garren, it’s the dead of night after a Kreintan bender and you’re not even lettin’ a sixty year-old man sleep more than a couple of hours? Are you tryin’ to kill me? Why do we need to get involved, anyway? Why not just let the Alliance sort this out?”

VLEX: “We were able to trace the Mwah signal to a system just past the rim of Alliance space. They’d rather leave him for dead than risk saving someone in unmapped territory without proper infrastructure.”

This, of course, was the cruel truth. Faster-than-light travel is by no means cheap. Any ship could be outfitted with more outdated FTL engines, but fuel prices fluctuate to an absurd degree- largely due to the Alliance owning most of it. More modern FTL engines require synergy with an Orbital Slingshot Gate or OSG, which was something only a fully established Alliance world would be able to afford. OSGs are also one of the few technologies devoid of a common phonetic abbreviation. “Awzg” Just didn’t have the same ring to it as Mwah or Nare.

Simply put, if you didn’t have an OSG, you better pray you have enough fuel to get to one. Golt considers this reality for a moment before responding.

GOLT: “Well, how do we know this ain’t some pirate scheme to lure someone like us in?”

GARREN: “We don’t. Although, any pirates setting up base outside of Alliance space would be taking just as much of a risk as anyone else.”

Sensing that this conversation would not be so easily ended, Golt invites the two inside and leads them to the cockpit for a seat. There are only three proper swiveling chairs on the Hark- the captain’s in the front and two co-pilot seats behind in a triangular formation. Just behind this, many smaller seats line the port and starboard sides at the back of the bulb. All kept their occupant in place with a four-point harness- an absolutely critical piece of hardware unless you would like your crewmembers to become projectiles during tight maneuvers.