"Of course we're the heroes. I always play the hero, Diedre says with a trace of smugness. She frowns a moment later. "Well, there was that one series, but I really don't look good in leather and hardly anyone buys those."
Entiren stands back, letting the others do the explaining of everything.
"Whatever it is, I haven't seen it before," Diedre says, her attention being drawn back to the strange characters. "Some of what we were looking at looked like control software, but control of what, we don't know." She looks to Aureum to expound more on the subject.
Aureum shrugs and nods in agreement. "Nobody has seen it before. From what little I could understand, it seemed to be monitoring some other system. Something even more complex, but I don't know what."
"Lauren was suggesting that the Drift Rock was part of something a lot bigger. So whatever it controlled or monitored could be still be where it came from. And I've heard that it could be from almost anywhere."
Diedre shrugs, having reached the end of her speculation regarding the artifact.
"Without more information, I don't think there's anything else here for us to investigate."
The vidscreen chimes softly, and Chiskisk eagerly touches the panel near the base, bringing up some sort of report. {"Ah, good, we have something."} Expanding the figures on the screen, they continue, {"I asked Guidance, our in-house AI, to try and match the symbology within the Drift Rock to material in the Starfinder databases. It seems... oh."}
Chiskisk's antennae droop dejectedly as they continue, {"There is some good news. The Starfinder Society’s linguistic database recognized many of the symbols you found on the Drift Rock, because this is not the first time they’ve appeared post-Gap. The bad news is that the source is… highly unreliable,"} Chiskisk notes, as segments of their chitinous body scrape together in agitation. {"All that we have about these earlier texts comes from Halkueem Zan nearly three centuries ago, and it seems that no published studies of those texts have appeared since. According to these records, Zan’s original findings were donated to the Qabarat University of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology on Castrovel shortly after his — "} The shirren pauses while contemplating how best to phrase the sentence. {" — disruptive expeditions.
{"Fortunately, the Society has numerous alumni from that university, and I can readily secure you a contact there and forward my personal recommendation to a few faculty members. Perhaps they can show you Zan’s notes and even take you to the original site so that you can search for more clues about whatever this Drift Rock once was."}
"Oh," Diedre says in surprise. "Castrovel? Um ... yeah. We could go there and talk to ... to whomever you know there."
Something occurs to her.
"Qabarat University?" she questions, looking at Aureum. "I guess we could visit there and find out what we can find out. We've got ... uh ... some things ... to do tonight, but we can leave first thing tomorrow morning."
The many 'big' and unusual words in that rundown leave Lauren a bit confused and full of questions, but she keeps them to herself in the hope of looking them up later. "We need sell goods brought back with us and to speak miners. We also needs foods for trip. Tomorrow night work betters, no? Give time make connections."
"I guess we could visit there and find out what we can find out. We've got ... uh ... some things ... to do tonight, but we can leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Chiskisk waggles his antennae with bemusement. {"I appriciate your enthusiasm, but I strongly recommend taking a day or two of rest and relaxation. You've just been through a very stressful few days, and I'm sure more challenges lie ahead. Time is of the essence, yes, but it is equally important to tend to your bodies and minds. Your new ship isn't flying anywhere without you."}
Relief that they don't have to immediately head back out is clear on the half-elf's face. As more of their hosts words sink in, Diedre frowns.
{"At the first chance we get,"} she emotes to her teammates, {"Aureum and I are going through the Moriko's software base and identify any homing or remote operations software. There's no way I'm having our ship lifted from under us like the shuttle was."}
"We will keep you updated," she says to Chiskisk. "Thank you again for the oportunity you've given us."
Still aware of the small things working their way through his body thanks to the bite of the Akatas, Entiren nods at the Shirren's statement that they won't be leaving at the first opportunity. "Thank you Chiskisk. The rest time will be greatly appreciated."
Aureum perks up when the University is mentioned, looking equal parts excited and apprehensive to return to her alma mater.
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Halkueem Zan was a human male who styled himself as an archaeologist, but he was far more interested in building his own "heroic" persona than contributing to the collective knowledge of society. He was most prolific roughly fifty years after the Gap, traveling all over the Pact Worlds system, slapping together reckless expeditions in search of "lost treasures" and writing sensationalist books with little factual basis that were nevertheless extremely popular with the general public. While he inspired many to take up studies of the past, he also inspired a generation of trigger-happy tomb looters.
Zan is perhaps best-known for his infamous expedition to the unsettled continent of Ukulam on Castrovel, where he violated local travel bans to investigate a buried site his scanners had identified from space. When Zan emerged from Ukulam’s jungles months later, lashunta authorities arrested him and confiscated his findings, though he retained enough notes to publish a sensationalist travelogue titled "Pyramid People of Ukulam" after he was released weeks later. Precious few have followed up on this work, not only because it was overshadowed by early contact with the Veskarium, but also because of Castrovel’s limits on travel to Ukulam. The incident single-handedly shifted Castrovellian public opinion, prompting restrictions on off-world explorers for several generations.
Miraj has little to add about the nature of the language, but he's happy to ship out to Castrovel for a new mission. His earlier comments about movie plots and teams of corporate special ops closing in on the heroes makes him worry about what they'll find when they get there.
"Perhaps you've done zis already," Miraj suggests politely, "but I'd contact zee people who have zis information und warn them to ratchet up their security und perhaps lock zee notes away. If your database turned zis up, it's possible other parties interested in getting their hands on zis information are already prepping for a trip to Castrovel as vell."
Once the meeting ends, Miraj says to the group. "I'm going to get another dose or two of Serum of Disguise und change my appearance. I don't vant attention zat it seems ve may vell get now zat ve are heroes. I have my reasons for staying off video news feeds. I vill alert you to my presence by saying 'Fiddlesticks.'"
"Perhaps you've done zis already," Miraj suggests politely, "but I'd contact zee people who have zis information und warn them to ratchet up their security und perhaps lock zee notes away. If your database turned zis up, it's possible other parties interested in getting their hands on zis information are already prepping for a trip to Castrovel as vell."
{"Oh, rest assured. Castrovellian universities have been wrestling with ne'er-do-wells seeking information on powerful artifacts for personal gain since the beginning of recorded time, more or less. You're lucky you have the Society behind your back, or you might never see it!"}
Looking over the group, Chiskisk continues, {"It seems that you have your next steps somewhat established. I wish you the best of luck, and please let me know if you have any questions!"}
"I always has question," Lauren says to Chiskisk, "But is not time for confusions." As she gets up to leave, she bobs her bell at Chiskisk in salute and attempts to send a message to Diedre telepathically.
Lauren heads back to the ship to gather up all the stuff that needs to be sold.
As the group leaves Chiskisk's office, Entiren begins feeling the small parasites inside him getting more active as his magic begins to fade. Managing to walk through the awful feeling, he looks around at the group. "I think that I will head back to the ship for now. I want to get some rest, try to get this Akata's infection thing over with." He then stops, feeling bile rising in his throat a little. Pushing it back down, he continues. "I would appreciate it if someone with steadier hands and more knowledge could treat this before I head off, but I could work on it myself if need be."
Miraj checks his comm unit and smiles. "I passed my exams for Medic 2nd class before I left for Absalom. I'll pick up my patch and other insignia later. Let's have a look see."
He takes a sample of Entiren's blood and tests the parasites for susceptibility to various auto-immune enhancing medicines. Injects what he thinks will be the best. "I'll check on you tomorrow, but call if you need help or advice. I imagine zhere are better medics available here in zee Lorespire so get zee best help you can. Hate to have to put you down." He makes sure the big guy sees him wink and packs up his medkit.
Miraj checks his comm unit and smiles. "I passed my exams for Medic 2nd class before I left for Absalom. I'll pick up my patch and other insignia later. Let's have a look see."
He takes a sample of Entiren's blood and tests the parasites for susceptibility to various auto-immune enhancing medicines. Injects what he thinks will be the best. "I'll check on you tomorrow, but call if you need help or advice. I imagine zhere are better medics available here in zee Lorespire so get zee best help you can. Hate to have to put you down." He makes sure the big guy sees him wink and packs up his medkit.
Although he may be a bit short of field experience, Miraj certainly earned his first aid accreditation, and he expertly selects a cocktail of medications to administer to the nuar. Entiren isn't bothered as much by the sensation of wriggling parasites, but the Station seems to sway slightly under his feet in a disconcerting manner.
Entiren will thank Miraj, before slowly working his way back to their ship. Once he gets there, he goes to his bunk and lays down, glad to not be moving anymore. He eventually goes to sleep.
The victim is exhausted. Whenever she takes a standard or full action, she must succeed at a Fortitude save at the disease's DC or lose the action and become nauseated for 1 minute.
I'm just going to say that this doesn't look like it will be overly fun. I now have to make four consecutive saves if I want to get rid of this.
It's only been eight hours since the Starfinders' day began, but it has felt like a year. An asteroid fraught with dangers, a malicious starship staffed by militant undead, and a frantic press corp have assailed them in both body and mind. Returning to the Moriko to regroup before the evening's activities, the adventures begin to go their separate ways.
Entiren, weary and ill, bunks down for what will be a fitful and restless night.
Lauren and Miraj head out separately to ply the round-the-clock markets of Absalom, hoping to restock before the adventures ahead.
Diedre and Aureum strike out together, exchanging looks of nervous excitement.
Finally, Diedre's path-finding leads them to a dingy, cramped courtyard with a musty smell. Aside from a few small shops, the only feature of note is a large fountain which overflows across the floor. A tiny buoy floats in the fountain, bearing a hand-written sign that reads "Mossy Star Extravagantly", text in several unfamiliar languages, and an arrow... pointing down?
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When Diedre finishes her preparations and joins Aureum at the monorail, she is garbed in a dark burgandy halter-style dress. The top is split down to the bottom of her chest leaving just a hint of her freckle-covered skin exposed. The hem of the dress is sloped from just below her hip on the right side to almost her knee on the other. Matching strappy heels have her just topping six foot. She's returned her hair to its natural auburn color and it falls loosely about her shoulders.
~~~
"Um ..." Diedre begins, looking around nervously. "This isn't really what I had expected." She reaches out and taps the floating buoy and watches it rock back and forth. "Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?" she mutters to herself.
"Hello?" she calls out louder. "Is there a maître d', or something? They don't expect us to ...?" She eyes the water apprehensively and then looks down at her dress.
She finally closes her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she says to Aureum in a defeated voice. "This was supposed to be ..." she shrugs, "... special."
Lauren does as she said she would do. She heads back to the ship, collects all the goods to be sold, inventories them, and contacts the Starfinder Society at the Lorespire Complex with the intent of selling them.
After selling everything, she splits out the credits/UPBs evenly 7 ways.
She then delivers the credsticks/UPB's to everyone's quarters or whatever pre-arrangement they made, sending Jehir's cut along to him via courier (or whatever). When she sees how sick Entiren is, she also gives him the group cut and says, "You is needing professionals. Get to healer. Come!" She then helps get him to a mystic to buy a remove affliction spell.
Once he has been taken care of, she heads to Puddles to see old friends and do some shopping for new equipment.
Once the official debriefing is over at Lorespire, Miraj heads for the doors, but takes some time in the lobby adjusting his holoskin to disguise himself to look different than he did on the news video. He doesn't want people gawking or calling him out, even if they probably only mean to compliment him.
Looking in the mirror, he fears it won't be enough, so he sits down to try again....
His second attempt is good enough for the moment. He attends to one more task before leaving. He looks up information on what to bring to Castrovel, assuming everyone might end up mucking about in whatever the wilderness was like on that planet, about which he had only heard stories.
Finding several articles on the sphere, he sets out to do some shopping.
He starts by getting some clothing that would help deal with environmental hazards that being a Starfinder would likely expose him to. He decides to splurge and get a set of reconfigurable clothings, wearable high tech that would allow him to change outfits quickly and be ready for anything. He orders a set with everyday clothing, for non-wilderness situations, with options for environmental designs to deal with heat, cold, dust, and extreme gravity. After that he stops at a weapon supply shop to pick up some ammo for his new guns and some spare battery packs. Finally he gets a medkit and picks up his certificate and wearable medical emergency responder patches and badge.
Then he stops in an out of the way restaurant for a good meal before enjoying the services of a spa to get cleaned up and relaxed. Then he heads for the ship for the night.
Entiren wakes up feeling even worse than he did when he fell asleep the night before. Slowly getting up, he brings up the comm unit in his armor to begin searching for ways to get these tiny, disgusting parasitical things out of him. Eventually deciding to head to the nearest temple of Desna, his patron goddess. Gathering his things, and taking along a portion of the group share that Lauren had left the previous evening, he begins heading there, along with anyone else who wants to go.
As they enter the puddles district, she glances around curiously at this unusual part of the station and follows Diedre to the sign. Kneeling on the edge of the fountain, she peers down into the water, trying to see to the bottom. "So we’re supposed to… Can we even...?”
Sensing her date’s agitation, she hesitates, and then reaches out a nervous hand to catch Diedre’s own. ”Hey, it’s okay. We can go somewhere else if you want, but honestly, I don’t mind a bit of adventure. I just want…” She blushes. ”I just want to spend time with you.”
She giggles just a bit. "You know ..." she says with a roll of her blue eyes, "If I could swim at all I'd toss this dress and we could see what's down there." She takes a deep breath. "But I can't, so we probably should see where else we can find a table."
Reluctantly, she releases the lashunta's hand and begins manipulating her comm unit.
"There's got to be somewhere around here we can find something to eat." Her fingers move across the controls and practiced ease. "What do you think about sushi?" she asks. She pauses a moment and looks up. "Otherwise, we could just grab whatever we want to go and I know a great virtual place we could eat it back at the ship."`
She shifts her weight as Diedre looks things up on her comm unit, anxious and excited to get going.
"Cool!" the half-elf responds with a smile, her gaze not leaving the display in front of her.
Not a minute later, her task finished, she looks up with anticipation. "Done," she says taking Aureum's hand again. Realizing what she just did, she glances down at her hand and then at the lashunta as if looking for approval. She tips her head in the direction they arrived from and giggles. "Let's head off. Dinner's on the way," she says.
Diedre's quite happy to talk about her experiences at university on the trip back. Her original goal of coming away with a technical degree, but getting sidetracked and ending up in adult entertainment.
By the time they arrive at the ship, there's a delivery bot waiting there. It's stylized up as a dragon with gaudy Minkaian glyphs decorating it. Diedre retrieves a number of packages from its climate-controlled compartment and transfers the credits to pay for the delivery.
They head inside and Diedre leads them to the entertainment suite. Once inside the spartan room, with nothing but the scent of cucumber wafting up from the packages she carries, Diedre grins at Aureum again.
"Load and Run: 'A Special Night with Lana Lash'," the half-elf commands.
The cold artificial lighting is immediately replaced with flickering candlelight. A rendering of Diedre in a much more revealing gown than the dress she's currently wearing rises from the table. Before the holo-image can say anything, Diedre interrupts with, "Console Mode," and the image freezes in place.
Diedre looks nervously at Aureum. "This is just ... I mean it's just where I keep ..." She trails off with a huff. "Here, let me show you," she says impatiently. "Hard Jump to 'Sounding Board' setting, but background MOBs only."
The romantic dinning room is replaced with an outdoor scene. A sidewalk cafe sitting on a small pedestrian street. The sun is warm and shining, but there's a light breeze to prevent it from overly hot. People of various sorts walk up and down the cobblestone street and birds of different varieties sing in a nearby small tree.
Taking her companion's hand again, Diedre leads her over to one of the small tables and, after sitting down, begins opening the various boxes and packages revealing different types of sushi. "I wasn't sure what you liked," she says. "So I ordered an assortment of what they had. The place was rated 3 out of 4 stars so I hope it's ok."
Once a few of the various rolls are sampled, Diedre asks, "So you went to the University of Qabarat, huh? How was that? I spent a single semester there. It certainly beat the heck out of the Cordana Institute of Technology, but my mom couldn't afford for me to get a full degree there."
The conversation between the two ladies continue on well after the sushi is long since gone. Long enough, in fact, that eventually a man in a waiter's uniform walks up with a smile and places a credit reader on the table and then walks away.
"Oh, dang!" Diedre exclaims. "I put that guy in to remind me that time is passing. I don't have the environment on a normal time scale so it'll stay late afternoon or early evening as long as I'm in here and sometimes ..." She shrugs. "Sometimes I let time get away from me. He's the two-hour notice. I have a busser set up to come by at the four-hour mark."
Diedre pushes the chip reader to the side of the table with a smirk. "I will neither confirm nor deny that I have a six-hour alarm. Because that would mean that I spend way too much time here thinking about things."
They take their leave of the entertainment suite after collecting the detritus of their meal.
"I'd offer to walk you to your place," the half-elf says with a hint of pink in her cheeks. "But seeing how your place is my place ... um ... I wouldn't want to imply that I expect anything else." Her eyes widen. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy anything else, you understand. Just that ..." She sighs and puts her hands over her face.
"You'd think I'd be better at this, wouldn't you?" she finally says with a soft chuckle. "Smoother? Less awkward? Yeah. That would be nice, but that's not me. Put me in front of a camera with the barest outline of a script and I can be sexy and suave nine different ways. But one-on-one, unscripted, I'm a mess, sorry."
Lauren does as she said she would do. She heads back to the ship, collects all the goods to be sold, inventories them, and contacts the Starfinder Society at the Lorespire Complex with the intent of selling them.
Within a couple hours, a battered cargo truck bearing the emblem of the Society pulls up to the cargo bay doors of the Moriko. As a motley collection of servitor drones load the Drift Rock spoils, a brown-furred ysoki in a tweed jacket excitedly talks Lauren's ear off, rapid-firing academic terminology and references without even pausing for the scyphozoan to respond. Lauren is unable to understand most of what he says, but her understanding of Pact Worlders leads her to believe he is very excited to receive their discoveries. Her hunch is confirmed whem the studious ysoki hands her a credstick containing , waggles one of her tentacles vigorously, and departs with careful haste.
Once the official debriefing is over at Lorespire, Miraj heads for the doors, but takes some time in the lobby adjusting his holoskin to disguise himself to look different than he did on the news video. He doesn't want people gawking or calling him out, even if they probably only mean to compliment him... Looking in the mirror, he fears it won't be enough, so he sits down to try again....
After tinkering for a while, Miraj is reasonably comfortable that he won't be casually recognized on the street.
Then he stops in an out of the way restaurant for a good meal before enjoying the services of a spa to get cleaned up and relaxed. Then he heads for the ship for the night.
Tucked in a tiny noodle bar wedged between massive support pillars for the docking bays above, Miraj enjoys a hot bowl of totally unidentifiable vegetables and synthetic pasta while watching a newscast of the days events. Although they were the talk of the Station just hours ago, it seems that the saga of the Drift Rock has faded somewhat - with hundreds of sentient species in the Pact system alone, new news isn't hard to come by.
Entiren wakes up feeling even worse than he did when he fell asleep the night before. Slowly getting up, he brings up the comm unit in his armor to begin searching for ways to get these tiny, disgusting parasitical things out of him. Eventually deciding to head to the nearest temple of Desna, his patron goddess. Gathering his things, and taking along a portion of the group share that Lauren had left the previous evening, he begins heading there, along with anyone else who wants to go.
Entiren feels a feverish heat beneath his face, and the knowledge that the churning in his guts isn't entirely of his own body makes him dangerously nauseous. Through trial and error, the nuar finds that small, measured steps cause the least discomfort. Whether by sheer will or divine blessing, Entiren navigates to a train, which whisks him almost halfway around the Station before he reaches his destination - the neighborhood known simply as Congregation.
Weaving between temples, cathedrals, and shrines as diverse as the stars themselves, Entiren slowly, slowly makes his way up a winding ramp, each step harder than the last. Staring at his shuffling feet, he's suddenly surprised to see an elaborate butterfly, woven with moons and stars, worked into the floor beneath his feet. So intent on moving forward, the nuar had almost walked right past his destination. Looking around, Entiren sees a graceful, if modest, worship space, capped with a transparent dome filled with stars. As his vision dims around the edges, Entiren looks up, instinctually honing in on Cynosure - home of the Song of the Spheres, and the brightest star in the night sky. Its cool, calming light soothes Entiren, and its steady brilliance is the last thing he sees before collapsing into unconsciousness.
---
Entiren wakes with a start, sitting up from a spartan cot in a small room.
"Easy, fella! You're safe now. Here, fill your belly with something good." A middle-aged male halfling with gray flecking his reddish hair hands the nuar a bowl filled with a warm broth. "It seems like you got here just in time. Bit of a dramatic entrance, but I ain't gonna judge. Drink up, now. I can't imagine you've been eating well as of late."
As Entiren takes the proffered meal, he realizes that the nausea nd fever that have been slowly grinding him down over the past two days are simply gone. No pain, no unsettling squirming in the pit of his stomach. Only a light fatigue remains, and the smell of the broth causes his stomach to growl aggressively.
Entiren takes the offered bowl, taking a deep breath of the light steam coming off the broth. Looking back to the halfling, he inclines his head his head in thanks before carefully putting the bowl to his lips and drinking it down. The sense of being able to eat without feeling like he will retch up what he just took down is amazing.
Once he finishes off the broth, he sets the bowl down on his lap. Leaning against the wall that the bunk is set against, he looks back to the halfling. "Thank you friend, both for the broth and the removal of my ills. I'd hoped to be able to get over them myself, but It appears my personal fortitude is less than I had thought. How long was I out?"
After his hot meal, pleasant only because he could eat it in peace, Miraj pulls out his comm unit and does a search for a place between the noodle bar and the ship's new berth that sells reconfigurable clothing. As a detective, he's wanted to get a set so he could shift his appearance quickly to help him avoid notice when shadowing someone or when trying to shake a tail.
He pays for his meal and walks a while, enjoying the feel of gravity which is reassuring after all that time in zero gee. The ability to roam freely is likewise therapeutic after being limited to the ships and the asteroid. Eventually, he jumps on a local transit line and locates Esmeralda's Haberdashery Extraordinaire, which is still open.
He chats with the ysoki clerk, who explains there is no Esmeralda, that the name sounded more professional than his name, Snits. He browses the options for the reconfigurable clothing. First thing, he orders one set of the Explorer's special, clothing for travel, cold climates, hot climates, dusty environments, and zero gravity environments.
Then he sorts through the more diverse sets of clothing for various social situations. He orders a set that includes a tuxedo suitable for most formal occasions, the garb of a cleric of Yaraesa, since posing as a religious leader can sometimes be an advantage, a suit that can allow him to blend in with professional business types, a set of distressed clothes that would be appropriate for most places where the poorer classes live, and a uniform of a street sanitation worker.
He transfers the credits to the shop and waits while the automated tailor equipment in a back room puts the sets together, browsing some information on Yaraesa to begin to learn basic things he would need to know to pass for a priest of the faith. He was never very religious, but the tenets of Yaraesa always appealed to him since they were free of magical mumbo-jumbo.
Once he has his clothes, he packs the environmental set away in his pack and wears the other, testing it to be sure he can correctly shift from one set to the next. He wears the shabby garb of a poor person for his trip back to the ship.
Once he finishes off the broth, he sets the bowl down on his lap. Leaning against the wall that the bunk is set against, he looks back to the halfling. "Thank you friend, both for the broth and the removal of my ills. I'd hoped to be able to get over them myself, but It appears my personal fortitude is less than I had thought. How long was I out?"
"Only a few minutes, I reckon. Some of those deep-space parasites can be nasty, but once they're gone, you're right as rain! The Song O' The Spheres has a gentle touch." The halfling's gentle smile is one suited for old friends and good company, bringing a warmth to the room.
Having completed their errands and healed from their ills, the crew of Moriko's Legacy bustle about the bridge, making final preparations for an interplanetary voyage to nearby Castrovel. The previous day had seen a complementary visit from a Society engineering team, which provided upgrades and minor repairs for a bevy of systems, bringing the old vessel up to modern standards and capabilities. The emblem of the Starfinder Society gleams in gold and blue from the bow of the ship, married beautifully to her glossy paintwork.
Finally, Sunny informs the crew that they're received permission from Station Control to depart the docking bay, and Entiren smoothly takes the Moriko out into the chaos of the Armada, easily slipping between darting shuttles and lumbering tankers. The power core hums with life and the thrusters purr with grace as an analog tape deck somewhere in the depths of the ship plays an energetic ditty.
"All systems green, y'all! Plotting course to Castrovel low orbit..."
Sunny spits out a preliminary navigational report:
DESTINATION: PACT SYSTEM // CASTROVEL // LOW ORBIT
Estimated real-space travel time: 3 days 0 hours
Estimated Drift-space travel time: 3 days 12 hours ± 2 days 12 hours
Difficulty of Drift astrogation: Low
Risk of Drift anomaly: 1%
"Thanks loads, Sunny," Diedre says as she looks over the displayed data. "I think we're going to stick with real-space for this trip. There's a chance we could save a couple of days, but I don't those two days will make a lot of difference in the end. Besides, it'll give us a bit of time to get comfy in our living arrangements. We're still working out shower schedules and meal times."