Pallas
Station, as was the case with most stations in the Alliance Core, boasted a
large size. Over fifty thousand people called the station home. Everything that
could be offered by the system was, in fact, offered. Pallas orbited a Neptunian
ice giant at the lagrangian point for its largest moon, Antioch, which also
happened to be outside the scattered ring system.
Pallas
served as a home for the mining that took place on Antioch, as well as trade
from without the system. But since the adoption of jump drives in the core
worlds, sailing ships, and the trade such ships brought, had become almost
nonexistent.
For that
reason, Flynn felt he could get a good deal on a sailer.
He and
Eltie toured ship after ship, rejecting the top-of-the line used models because
of their cost and facilities. Eltie demanded a ship with some kind of weapons.
At the least, Flynn wanted a ship with the weapon mounts beyond point defense
lasers.
Finally,
Charlie Brethin showed them a nereid class ship. Her hull hadn’t been cleaned
in some time, showing a a patina of intrasolar dust. Even so, she seemed to
call out to Flynn. As they toured the ship, which had the requisite weapon
mounts in both an upper and lower magazine for Eltie, Flynn found himself
touching the ship, running hands over bulkheads, pipes, and consoles, much as he
had on Atlas.
Her lines had a grace to them the
others hadn’t. They tried to impress with power and size, boasting engines that
could easily handle a small cargo train, insuring the maximum payout for the
cost. The little nereid class could handle three cargo pods, tops. Her engines
were not impressive, and the amount of sail she could handle was small in
comparison. But she had a soul to her the others didn’t. This was a ship that
wanted to be back among the stars, which was exactly where Flynn wanted to go.
After a test
flight to make sure her sails worked, Flynn offered up the standard retina scan
and thumbprint, sealing the deal. On the registration form, Flynn didn’t
hesitate on the name: Calypso.