Chapter 1
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Gaters personal log 3015.6.12.1747LST(Local Standard Time):
Another boring run
but good credits. Im just glad these merchants are too cheap to take the fast, high class
transports, and in too much of a hurry to take the common runs. But this is getting old,
Ive got to find something more interesting.
Steve woke the next morning right on
time even though he at last had the freedom to sleep in. No food to prepare, no passengers
to cater to, no ship to fly. He knew from long experience that trying to sleep longer was
useless, better to get something to eat, something someone else cooked.
Finding a
restaurant was easy but choosing what to eat, that was hard. There were too many choices on
luxury vacation planets. He settled on French Toast, and ancient breakfast that he loved.
He had just started when a man dropped into the seat across from him.
Hi, my name
is Jason, Jason Thurston. If Im not terribly mistake you would be Steve Holgate, am I
right?
Yes sir thats me. How can I help you? Steve could tell from his bearing
and dress that he was a potential customer. Many of his jobs started this way so he had
long ago learned to be polite to strangers.
I understand youre a trader. I have a
business proposition for you. I own a jewelry business and am running short of gemstones.
The local supply is way overpriced so I need someone to make a run to one of the source
planets. It would be a very profitable run.
It sounds interesting. I know where I
can get a load for you. It wouldnt be cheap, but about half of what youd pay
here.
No, I have a specific location in mind. It has very high quality gems at
rock bottom prices. You will make much more profit even selling them to me at a quarter of
the local value.
If thats true why havent I ever heard of it? It must be highly
trafficked by traders.
No its not a usual trade destination. Its too far from
the nearest fueling location for almost all ships to get to it, so there are no traders that
make a regular run to it.
Im sorry but my ship doesnt have the long legs you say
will be needed, and besides with as valuable a run as you describe, many traders would have
outfitted their ships to make the run. It just doesnt add up. Sounds more like youve
been told hoax. Steve still didnt want to offend this man by simply calling him a liar,
but the story certainly didnt add up.
Well another reason no traders go there is
that there is no record or advertisement of the quality or quantity of the gems. The clan
that lives there doesnt want (or tolerate) new settlers. If word of the true value of the
gems got out they would have a full time job turning miners away."
"So how do they
marked their gems? They must transport them themselves, meaning that they won't be
interested in selling to me."
Jason chuckled and replied, "No they don't transport
themselves. They use me. I find reliable traders willing to do regular business and keep
quiet about the source. You sell direct to me and no one knows or cares where the gems came
from."
Steve didn't say anything immediately so Jason continued, "So are you
interested? Or do you like what you're doing?"
"I need to sleep on it. This would
require major ship changes which isn't something to be done lightly. What is the planet
you have in mind?"
Now Jason laughed softly. "We need to have an agreement before I
tell you that, but ... " Jason handed Steve a slip of paper with a distance on
it.
Steve whistled. "That is a long way. Can I meet you tomorrow?"
"No,
I'll be out of town, but you can contact me at this address. Just say yes or no. If you
say yes I'll give you the planet name, it's in the registry. When you get back in system
contact me again and I'll meet you at your ship when you land."
At the last minute
Steve thought of one last question, "Jason, what is the name of your company?"
"My
company? Oh yes it's Jewelry Unequaled. Well I must be going. I hope to do business with
you Mr. Holgate." And Jason Thurston was gone.
Gaters personal log
3015.6.14.0901LST:
I spend all day yesterday thinking about Jason Thurston's
proposition. It sounds farfetched, but if it's legitimate (or even if it's not too
illegal) it's a dream come true. I searched the nearby ship dealers for a ship that will
handle the run and found one. It's an old, light cargo ship built before there were so
many places to fuel. It has lousy engines, no armor, no shields and no guns, but huge fuel
tanks. It doesn't carry much so it's not much use today. I think I can get it for a song
and have plenty of credits left over from trading in my ship to load up with expensive, low
volume cargo like gems.
I think I'm going to do this, I'm not getting any
younger.
Personal communication - Steve Holgate (11293835472) to Jason Thruston
(11293649854) @ 3015.6.14.0913LST): "Yes".
Personal communication - Jason Thruston
(11293649854) to Steve Holgate (11293835472) @ 3015.6.14.0917LST):
"Mystique"
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----------
Chapter 2
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.6.17.1415LST:
Nothing is every easy. They want my ship but won't
pay me beans for the nice appointments. I'll have to sell them myself before I sell the
ship to them. I hope this is all worth it.
Gaters personal log 3015.6.19.1300LST:
OK the sale is complete, now it's my turn. Let's see what was the ship companies name
...
Steve made his way to the Value Ship Dealer. After he examined the ship's
paperwork, and made sure it had been regularly maintained and flown, he inspected it. It
certainly was old. Nothing seemed to fit just right anymore. Cabinet doors either didn't
close or had to be forced shut. The false ceilings and walls were loose in many places.
And it had a small cabin and cargo deck. He knew from the specks that it was small, but
seeing it in person ... But there was room for him to live in it. In fact in a pinch using
the cargo bay he could transport a couple of passengers if they weren't pcky about privasy
and slept in their seats.
The engine design and layout was ancient, but they looked
otherwise in good shape. There were no structural problems that he could see and the
licensing inspectors would have caught any safety related flaws anyway. The avionics
started and ran just fine. They had been updated recently, which meant he didn't have to
go through any time consuming training on it.
Gaters personal log
3015.6.20.1100LST:
Well I now own the nightmare of all traders, an old, slow, unarmed,
small cargo scow! This had really better be worth it! On the plus side I now have enough
credits to kick back for a long time, ... NOT. Tomorrow I buy trade goods fit for a remote
outpost, might as well make money both directions. Then we
fly.
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Chapter 3
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.7.10.0300ST(Ship Time):
I'm in-system for Mystique. It's been a
long trip but I'm here at last. There wasn't any info on this system and not more than a
sentence on Mystique itself, something about 100% cloud cover, a small outpost of unfriendly
folks that mined gems. I see a medium small yellow star without too much radiation, a
couple of gas giant planets further out and just one small planet close in which happens to
be habitable. And it has a couple of asteroid rings. Well soon we'll know if Jason
Thurston was on the up and up.
The "Slow Boat to China", for so she had been
christened, made here way to Mystique and landed on the outskirts of town. As he entered
orbit Steve noticed a small fighter come up and shadow him down. Once on the ground the
fighter disappereared.
It was mid morning and the air was cool and moist. Strange
that there wasn't more plant life, perhaps the lack of direct sunlight contributed to this.
At least the food part of his trade goods should do well. He walked briskly into
town.
In town he saw just a few people on the streets, mostly women and children.
When he spotted a man he approached him and asked if there was a trade center here. The man
didn't understand him and he didn't understand the reply. It sounded like a cross of
English and German. Steve asked again speaking slowly and enunciating his words carefully,
this time in German. This time the man seemed to understand and pointed up the street.
"Two corners, left, one corner, second on right." At least that's what he seemed
to say.
When he finally made the last turn the street looked like the business
district. Inside the second building on the right Steve was carefully redirected back out
to the street and back to the second door on the street which happened to be in the first
building. Undaunted he went in. It was a general purpose store. Seemed to have a little
of everything from food to clothing to tools. There was only one other customer in the
store, an elderly woman looking at clothing, so he went to the counter.
"I am a
trader with goods to sell and I would like to buy some gem stones."
The elderly man
at the counter didn't seem surprised to see him, of course in a small place like this as
soon as the fighter was dispatched to follow him probably everyone knew a stranger was in
town. "What do you have to sell?"
Steve got out his inventory and handed it to the
man. After considering it for some time and looking some of his own files the man wrote
prices next to each item. Most of them seemed to be very good, but surprisingly he would
have to sell the mining tools he brought at a slight loss. Steve tried to barter the prices
up to no avail. But all in all it was a good profit, but it wouldn't cover the long flight
time and fuel. The return trip would have to make it up.
At last Steve noded. A
young man was summoned from the back of the store who soon reappeared out front with a
tranport vehicle. They unloaded the goods from the ship and returned to the store. After
inspecting some of the goods the shopkeeper paid the agreed credits. When he turned around
another man was waiting for him at the door.
"Mr. Gruder says you want to buy gems,
yes?"
"Yes" Steve replied. "Do you have some for sail?"
"Oh yes I have all
you want, come."
Steve followed the man across the street and into a storage room in
the back of the building. It was filled with storage racks which in turn were filled to
overflowing with gems. All had been carefully cleaned and were sorted on the shelves. The
man handed Steve an inspection lens and the tour
began.
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Chapter 4
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.7.12.1100ST(Ship Time):
What a treasure trove! I'm no expert,
but these are the largest, purest gems I've ever seen! And the prices! It's almost like
stealing! But even at that I didn't have enough credits to fill up with the best stuff.
The bulk of what I got is either medium grade or small in size. But no matter I should net
triple my credits on this one run. Well, I've a long run home and they made it clear that
they want me to come back real soon. They even told me what goods to bring this
time.
The Slow Boat to China labored to clear the atmosphere and leave the planets
gravity well. She wasn't even outside of the moons orbit before trouble happened. Four
ships on an intercept course apparently from the inner astroid belt were closing in fast.
Steve knew now that the outpost didn't operate a space patrol, the fighters were only for
planet side protection. Out here he was on his own, and with no guns no shield and no armor
in a slow ship!
Steve disengaged the engine and waited while they matched his
course and speed.
"Follow!" was all they said.
He had no choice and followed
them into the asteroid belt, all the way desperately trying to think of some way out of this
with his life. When they landed in a bay on a large asteroid and it was pressurized, they
came in to get him. They drug him out and pushed him ahead down a corridor to a cell.
Well at least they didn't shoot me immediately. I will probably end up a slave in
some illegal mine somewhere, but at least I'll be alive to try and escape. Damn you Jason
Thurston! You knew, in fact you probably work for the pirates not the planet! The planet
doesn't advertise because then the pirate trouble would be advertised as well and no one
would ever come. At least this way you occasionally get fools like me to bring you
stuff.
It was a surprisingly short time before they came back and drug him from the
cell back to his ship. The cargo door was open, and all of the containers had been opened.
About half was gone. One of the man slammed the cargo door shut and turned to
Steve.
"Tax. Leave now!"
Steve was pushed into the cabin and the door shut
behind him. Soon he heard the chamber depressurizing and shortly after that the main door
opened again. His comm came to life:
"Leave now!"
He didn't need to be
told twice. He lifted and spun the ship on it's axis then eased it out of the door. There
were a couple of ships waiting for him outside so he didn't waste any time leaving the
area. They trailed until he was outside of the orbit of the gas giants.
Gaters
personal log 3015.7.12.2105ST(Ship Time):
I don't believe I'm alive. I don't believe
I'm free! And the strangest thing is they left me some cargo. Probably none of the good
stuff. But why? They could have had it all and they sure didn't seem like a para military
group, just pirates. Why not just kill me? ... Of course, they want me to come back. If
no one ever comes they can't steal anything. If they kill me I don't come back. If they
send me away with a loss, I don't come back. They've probably tried both of those before.
But if I make a profit, maybe I will return for them to rob again. No wonder there were no
other traders coming here. If I belonged to one of the exclusive trading guilds I probably
would have been warned. In fact that is probably why Jason Thurston (if that's really his
name, which I doubt) chose me. I'm not in a fancy guild so I wouldn't know. Jason
Thurston if I ever see you again you are going to
pay!
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Chapter 5
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.7.14.0100ST(Ship Time):
My prized possession has paid off
somewhat. The Kuzari scanner/analyzer has done some of it's magic. Taken two days to
review it's encounter records and analysis. Seems like the pirate ships that intercepted
us and from limited scans, the others at their base, are only two types. A lightly armed
fighter that's not very nimble, but very fast on a straight course. And heavy gunboats.
Lot's of firepower if they get in range, but slow and clumsy. So what does this mean? It
means a ship with speed and maneuverability to stay out of the gunboats range, and the
shields and firepower to take on the light fighters could make this run IF it also could
carry enough fuel. I have a long trip back home to think about this.
Gaters
personal log 3015.7.20.0130ST(Ship Time):
I've spent a lot of time looking at available
equipment specs in the catalogs. It can be done. Start with a small light weight cargo
ship with huge fuel tanks (none being made anymore, but I happen to own one!), outfit it
with a very expensive high power to weight ratio generator, good heavy shields to offset no
armor, some good light weight guns (several choices would work) and modern high efficiency
engines (very expensive). The increased engine efficiency makes up for all of the added
weight so the distance is still achievable, even at 75% load. It would be fast enough to
outrun the gunships easily and powerful enough to make mincemeat of the light fighters, even
if several were engaged at once.
Gaters personal log 3015.7.22.1933ST(Ship Time):
So am I going to do it or cut my losses and run? ... I'm going to do it. The
opportunity is huge. There would be no competition and great trade exchange rates both
ways. Problem is how? Even if I had all of my cargo I couldn't start to buy the equipment
I need, much less buy trade goods. I'll have to think on this.
Gaters personal log
3015.7.25.1013ST(Ship Time):
I've been thinking and here's what I come up with. What
do I have? A slow small cargo ship that's defenseless and has only one thing going for it
against the competition, long legs. So I need to find a safe run that again requires a long
range ship. But who does that? Exploration groups. They are always having to make long
runs, especially in the beginning before fuel depots are set up. Of course most of their
needs are taken care of by their corporate exploration transports, but they are large.
Maybe there is frequent need for a small volume run. Like when they get there and find this
or that broke on the way. Anyway when I get back I'm going to check into exploration on
the edge of Liberty space. It should be
safe.
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Chapter 6
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.7.31.0900(Ship Time):
Well I've just landed. Tried to contact Mr.
Jason Thurston when I first got in system and you already know what I'm going to say. No
answer. When I tried to check on his whereabouts it seems that there is no such person on
record. It's easy to put an alias in a communications account record. Jewelry Unequaled
exists sure enough, but never heard of him and they do business only in buying and selling
finished jewelry. They don't cut gems or fabricate jewelry. On the plus side I was able
to sell the gems left in the cargo hold for a very nice profit. Enough that this trip
overall was a nice credit maker, better than running vacationers, but not near enough to get
the stuff I will need to go back.
"Liberty Exploration Service, may I help
you?"
"My name is Steve Holgate. I'm a trader and was wondering if you would have
any active explorations going on where I might be of service to you?
"I'll direct
your call to our Logistics Department, please hold."
"Logistics
department."
"Sir, my name is Steve Holgate, I'm a trader with a small cargo ship
and I was wondering if you have any ongoing explorations where you might need occasionally
to hire the use of a small ship instead of using one of your behemouths."
"Sir there
is stiff competion among traders to fill in this gap for us. We make it a policy to deal
only throught the reputable trade guilds for these services. Good day."
"Sir, Sir
one minute please ..."
"Yes"
"I wasn't looking to compete with them, I don't
have the ship for it, but what I do have is a small cargo vessel with a very long range. It
seemed to me that you would have great difficulty filling this need for long range
explorations."
"Hmm. Now that you mention it we have a long range exploration job
just starting. I have contacted the trade guilds for support and haven't gotten any
takers. Maybe that's why. I'll tell you what. I'll send you the location of our
support base. If you wish, go there. If we don't get sufficient support from the guilds,
we'll use you."
"Thanks so much sir."
"Good luck lad."
Gaters
personal log 3015.8.08.1722(Ship Time):
Well here I am at the support base. Checked in
this morning and what a surprise. They were actually happy to see me. Seems they have a
lot of little things to send out and none of their ship's are scheduled to make a run for
over a month. I fly tomorrow. I guess none of the guild traders have the range for this
one.
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Chapter 7
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Gate
rs personal log 3015.11.22.0837(Ship Time):
Well it's been good while it lasted. Made
some good credits, but now that two guild traders have shown up, and they get first
priority, there's not much left over for me. I have enough credits to trade back to a
normal trader with some decent capacity and engines, but darn if I ever want to get back to
the Mystique run, I'll need this ship. Don't know what to do in the mean
time.
Gaters personal log 3015.11.24.1135(Ship Time):
Somethings up. One of the
guild traders just returned and I got a call for an urgent meeting at the logistics
office.
Gaters personal log 3015.11.25.0326(Ship Time):
Well this changes
everything. Seems there's an epidemic at the exploration site. The Liberty House Office
of Health (LHOH) won't let them come back and there isn't nearly enough medicine or
doctors out there. They won't even let the ship's out there return. As soon as they
heard the trader had come back they took his ship and quarantined it and him. What a shame
But they still need stuff out there. Seems LHOH considers I and my ship clean even
though it's been there because I was here when it broke out. So now they want to use me to
trasport stuff and have an LHOH official travel with me to make sure no contamination can
happen. We leave in the morning, which is almost here. So much to do, so many credits to
make.
Gaters personal log 3016.01.14.1535(Ship Time):
Doctors, nurses, medicine
and now at last patients being brought back for observation and study. Will in never end?
I think I might have enough to outfit my ship for the Mystique run, but I like my no. 1
status here. Trader guild has been complaining for some time, but it seems the LHOH
doesn't have the same policy toward the guilds that Liberty Exploration Service does. And
besides I let them do a lot of internal modification to my cargo bay and cabin to safely
transport these people and this stuff. None of the other traders is fitted out right and
the LHOH isn't interested in doing it to another ship. I think I'll just stick it out
until the crisis is over. I'm sure once LHOH is gone, I'll be out of work
again.
Gaters personal log 3016.01.27.1007(Ship Time):
Well LHOH pulled out this
morning. Last of the patients and bodies went with them. All told 7 died and 37 still have
a mysterious illness. I thought I would be out of work, but I didn't think we all would
be. Seems that LHOH has put a quaruntine on the system they were exploring. Everything is
coming back. Well it's time for me to look for some bargins on pieces
parts.
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Chapter 8
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Gate
rs personal log 3016.02.04.1252(Ship Time):
Today I ran across an old friend. I former
client that I used to take from Kusari space to Liberty space very quietly. He's retired
now, but very well off, partly because of the contacts he was able to keep with my help. So
guess what? Out of the blue he offered me a state of the are Kusari combat control system.
I couldn't say no, but what good it will do on my cargo ship I don't know. The only catch
is that I am strickly not to sell it or let anyone examine it. I can do that. But what I
really need is engines, generator, shields and guns.
"Well Gater that was a great
dinner, but what do you think of my weapons?"
"John I think their great. I'd love
to buy any of them. Unfortunately I can't. Weapons prices seem to have skyrocketed in the
last year."
"Yes they did. Supply and demand. When the pirates in Bretoria suddenly
attacked Her Magesties armary and destroyed so many of their newest weapons it created a
great demand. That coupled with the discovery that the pirates had better weapons than
anyone thought, ... well everyone suddenly decided they needed new equipment to engage
pirates. So competition for the limited weapons supply has driven the price very high. But
you know when this happens, the prices never come down again. You might as well buy
now."
"John I just don't have the money. And I have pirates to contend with too so
I can't use the old stuff either. But hey thanks so much for meeting me."
"Well
Gater I heard that you were the one who helped out with the Liberty Exploration epidemic. I
had a cousin out there and appreciate what you did, even if it was for money. So I'm going
to give you a piece of advice. The pirate battle that took place was on the edge of
Bretoria space. Many of the casualty ships went drifting away. By the time the scavangers
got there some of the ships were too far away to get to and back. I happen to know that
there is one more outpost way out there that some of these ships will sail past in a couple
of months. They'll be going too fast and be too far away for for almost anyone to get to
them, and they aren't worth sending a big ship after them. But your ship could make it.
There's some really modern stuff out there and best of all it would be free."
The
Slow Boat to China slid quietly next to the fighter. It was rotating slowly, but a nudge on
a weapons wing ended that perpetual dance. Steve suited up and went out to look her over.
First he tied a grapple line between the two ships and tethered himself to it. The whole
nose of the ship was gone. Either a missile strike of a collision with another ship. The
cockpit was also missing. But none of the rest seemed badly damaged. A couple of weapons
burns that didn't even penetrate the armor.
He worked quickly as he could in zero
G opening up all the bays freeing the engines. All told it actually took two days work to
get it all. But in the end Slow Boat to China pulled away with two lasers, two cannons, two
engines (too small for her, but with great trade possibilities), several thrusters and a
great generator. The shield projectors were too built in to be able to be removed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 9
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Gate
rs personal log 3016.03.10.1039(Ship Time):
Well that about does it. They installed
the new engines yesterday. They wanted the fighter engines so bad they swapped straight
across even though mine are bigger and more efficient. I did have to pay for labor, but hey
nothings free. With the guns, generator and the shield system I bought last week there's
nothing more I want ... right now anyway. I think I'll get a good nights sleep and
tomorrow buy some trade goods.
Three weeks later the SBTC (Slow Boat to China)
cruised into the Mystique system. Steve was shocked when he powered up the Combat Control
system to see that it clearly picked up the surveilance energy pinpointing the pirate base
and it showed all of their ships that were powered up. None made a move toward him all the
way in.
Gaters personal log 3016.04.02.1542(Ship Time):
Well I made a killing on
my trade goods and am full of gemstones. I see on the Combat Control that there are four
pirate ships hovering out there just waiting for me to leave. And I think I know what to
do. Here goes.
SBTC lifted quickly through the atmosphere into space. As the pirate
ships began their intercept Steve selected an evasion plan on the Combat Control. SBTC
accelerated and the pirate ships followed suit, but the two gunboats were losing ground
fast. Then suddenly SBTC spun 135 degrees and accelerated creating a rapidly divergent
course. It worked beautifully. The two interceptors screemed past, unable to match the
turn, but the gunboats further back turned and were going to be able to go by quite close
enough to do a lot of damage in the short time they would be in range. But LBTC spun again,
this time across the gunboats bows and passed just out of range. After they passed the
opening speed was tremendous. They were out of the picture for good. Meanwhile the
interceptors had finally slowed and turned and were appoaching more cautiously this time.
As the came near Steve selected an attack pattern. SBTC suddenly started making random
turns and random accelerations and decelerations, but always closing with the interceptors.
When the came in range the interceptors fired repeatedly, lasers, cannon and even a couple
of missiles. The only thing that came close was one of the missiles, which the Combat
Control destroyed at a safe distance with cannon fire. Then suddenly when they were very
close SBTC accelerated directely between the two intercepters. In the critical seconds
where they had to hold fire for fear of hitting the other, SBTC straightened up and hit one,
then the other with cannons and lasers. The shots were very carefully placed and destroyed
both engines on both interceptors. They were alive but out of action.
Steve (Gater)
Holgate returned to Liberty House space with his cargo safely some 18 days later. He made a
killing on the trade run and everyone wanted to know where he got the gems.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epil
ogue
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To say he lived happily ever after would be to imply boredom. First there were hired thugs
sent to pry out of him the source of the gems. Then some enterprising person earned himself
a hefty payment by attaching a tacking bug to his ship, and the word was out. Trouble is
few could reach it. And when they did, well the pirates had a hey day with them. After
that the pirates actually became quite friendly with him. Steve had brought them more
business than they knew what to do with. Eventually a new fueling station was opened up
along the trade route and anyone could get there. Soon there was a police presence sent to
protect the guild traders and the pirates moved on. Worst of all was the Mystique settlers
could no longer keep new settlers, minors and explorers away. Everything changed and Steve
new it was time to move on to other routes.
