My name is Martja Challerson and I am the new captain of the Kalitá . It is the third day of the eleven hundred and sixth year of the Imperium and I'm on board ship at Riesling Down Starport on Kinorb and, frankly, the shit has hit the fan.

We've no idea how most of it all started. There had been accidents, or so they seemed, at the downport, and much of the freight stock had been damaged. Then there had been explosions and the brokerage office was hit. This wasn't accidental, though. Rumour came through that there was an insurgency of some sort, some anti-Imperial propaganda amongst other things. With stock down and trade limited through fear the jobs started to dry up. People were laid off until we were down to a skeleton crew. When the boss was shot — actually shot — when trying to protect the remaining warehouse we all knew it was time to call it quits.

Luck, at least, seems to be on my side as the brokerage, despite folding, managed to ensure that some of its assets were distributed amongst the remaining staff. Their leaving gift to me wasn't credits, though, they signed across to me a mortgage benefit for a ship. A ship! I'd never thought before about owning a ship. It was also fortunate that Fiezel Lollops had a ship for sale. He was wanting to reduce his trading fleet, thinking of moving his business into Uthe to escape the troubles. When I mentioned the mortgage arrangement to him and asked for his advice everything went into overdrive and before I knew it, I was a captain of a Far Trader, the Kalitá .

Now I need to find a crew, get some trade or passengers to pay my way, and get off this planet before the incidents get worse. Oh, and learn what to do as ship's captain. I immediately applied for an Imperial Trade Charter from the Ministry of Commerce, registering the business name Kinorb Gambit Trading. Hopefully, the charter will be approved tomorrow.

The Kalitá is old and bits of it are falling apart, but she is serviceable. I'll need an engineer first, then a steward and a medic, especially if I'm going to take on passengers. I'm heading rimward — Regina and perhaps beyond — so Beck's World or even Yorbund would be my first choice of destination. I've posted adverts on the downport's network for crew and then I will start to see what remaining trade I can find.

#0001 — 003-1106 @ 1700 to 003-1106 @ 1800 IST Ω

It looks like I am not the only one to be trying to leave Kinorb at the moment — others seem worried about the disturbances and are looking for work that gives them a way off the planet. I've had several engineers apply for the position and with some swift conversations and a check on references I've hired Otto Flowers who has already started preparing the ship and checking the cargo bay.

Otto has even invested in the ship, cashing in a pair of his Naval ship shares he received when mustering out. It brings down the mortgage a little, but it does mean that he gets a minor share in any profit we make as a crew. That's alongside his salary, too, which we agreed at Cr6,000 a month. Steep, but he's a very experienced engineer and we are going to need that just to keep the Kalitá in one piece to begin with.

Whilst sifting through the applicants for the other roles and doing the interviews for the engineer I have been scouring the downport network and contacting those brokers that are still operating to see what speculative cargo I can find to transport.

#0002 — 004-1106 @ 0900 to 004-1106 @ 1400 IST Ω

Finding a steward to look after passengers has been another thing new for me, but at least the interviews were conversational and pleasant. In the end I have plumped for Annie Wilson who had just returned to Kinorb . Annie has worked as part of a crew on a Far Trader before and brings a fair amount of experience to the role. She also brings another Ship Share and commitment to the crew, though her salary is less than Otto's at Cr3,000 per month.

I've managed to contact a broker, Hallax, that still has a decent amount of stock for sale and he sent me across his inventory. The timing is great as the charter has come through, and I'm now the owner of an officially licenced company, Kinorb Gambit Trading LIC.

Taking a good look at the goods, based on the premise I am going to head to Beck's World first, and combined with the fact I only have Cr40,000 in total in savings, I am limited somewhat in choice. The Kalitá hold will take 57 tons of cargo so with my starting capital I am not going to be able to fill that.

I think that Hallax was needing to sell quickly, as I made some good deals, with some commercial-grade computers that should sell at Beck's World fairly well, alongside some food stocks. I spent most, if not all, of my savings on the cargo. I've agreed with Hallax for the goods to be delivered tomorrow, giving Otto time to clear out the cargo hold. If I can find a medic and see what freight is out there, as well as get Annie looking for passengers, I might even be able to leave within a day or two at the most.

#0003 — 005-1106 @ 0900 to 005-1106 @ 1900 IST Ω

I've finally found a medic, and just in time. It looks like a lot of the fully trained doctors and medical personnel from Riesling Down Starport have their hand full with the aftermath of some of the disturbances so are staying here to help. Fortunately, there hasn't been any further incidents at the downport for the last few days, but the general feeling around the place seems to be it being only a matter of time. I'm hoping to be well gone before that happens. With limited people applying for the role it became a fairly simple choice and we now have James Bourgelat joining the crew. James has been on ships before, but not as the ship's medic. He does have a wealth of medical experience, however, and as our choices are limited and James seems to be very keen, I am hoping that it will work out. Like the others, James has been able to pitch in via a Ship Share and we have negotiated a pay of Cr4,000 a month.

While I have been busy sourcing a medic, Annie has been looking for people seeking passage to Beck's World and we will have our first cohort ready to leave on tomorrow at 1200 IST. Annie has suggested we take on high passage passengers for the first run, so we are filling the upper deck staterooms. Although we could take on some low passage travellers, we haven't had time to do a full service of the low berths and James will need to get up to speed with their functions first.

We can take on six of the passengers and I will need to arrange to ensure that we have the galley stocked with enough provisions to satisfy them, as well as enough for us as a crew to get us all of the way to Beck's World .

With the understanding that we still have some cargo hold space available I have started the search for any freight cargo or mail that needs delivery.

Finding a freight supplier isn't that difficult, despite the problems that the downport has been having. Freight is still shipping rimward, though it is much reduced.

With the goods packed and ready to be shipped I have ordered most of the freight available to be packed onto the ship. It is a mixture of metals and ores, though there is a crate of medicines of some sort. One of the shipments has a hazard code for flammable and perishable goods and is a vast stock of an old form of paper currency. I am told it is basically worthless to most people, but there are some collectors that still trade in this stuff.

The freight should be arriving tomorrow alongside the passengers and then we are nearly ready to go. With the pre-payments in from the passengers I am able to on-board provisions and fuel the ship so we are ready to go.

#0004 — 006-1106 @ 0900 to 006-1106 @ 1845 IST Ω

We have just come to a stop in the inky blackness of space just over one hundred diameters from Kinorb . Our hold is crammed full of goods and freight and Annie is taking good care of our passengers. I believe they want to see me and have me join them for a meal after we head into Jumpspace.

We made good time out of Riesling Down Starport, leaving on time. The Kalitá may look a little old and rusty but she gets the job done and we had no problems leaving customs. There has been some talk about trade blockades and an increase in piracy, so we have been careful, staying close within the supply lines.

It is the first time I have piloted a ship with paying passengers and a full hold of cargo that it fully my responsibility. I am new to captaincy and piloting a vessel, having only gained my pilot licence recently as staff shortages in the brokerage led to Fiezel bringing me on as a co-pilot. Leaving the starport and heading up into space and out towards the jump point was nerve-wracking.

Some thirty diameters out we passed^[1] In The Mist of Time, a modular cutter out of Dentus . I hailed to ask of any information about blockades or news from coreward but they had little time for small talk and albeit politely, they ignored us.

As we got closer to the one hundred diameter limit I began to start the astrogation plot for the jump to Beck's World , courtesy of a jump tape that Fiezel had left on the ship for me.

It was my first time plotting a full jump on my own without the support from a qualified astrogator. I'm glad I had the jump tape to set the base targets. It was quite an intense experience and the calculations took some time, with cross-checks and double-checks with the onboard computer. More complicated jumps are going to be much more difficult, so I think I am going to have to find an expert program to help me with this in the future and I will need to purchase jump tapes for any routes further out.

I followed tradition, as much as I know it, of dimming the lights before Otto made the final jump drive engagement and we entered Jumpspace at 1745 IST.

I suppose I should go and get dressed for dinner now and see how our passengers are faring. Hopefully none of them will have any jump sickness

#0005 — 007-1106 @ 0900 to 007-1106 @ 1800 IST Ω