Let's stay clear of the theocracy

"Err, I think you need to be on the bridge to get any response from Zen." Kester was in the doorway, leaning casually against the door frame. "Hadn't you noticed that?"

"Actually," said Stacy, "now that you mention it I had."

"And anyway I think you're wasting your time asking him about anything that doesn't relate to flying the ship." Kester walked nonchalantly into the Astrogation room. "Don't be fooled by his apparent intelligence. Zen is a sophisticated computer but, like any computer, he has been programmed for a specific task."

"You probably don't want to be saying that too loud when you're on his ship."

Kester ignored Stacy's remark and lent over the star map. "I'd recommend against going into Magisterium space," he said. "I'm surprised that you don't know about them. Their empire is strictly regulated by a theocracy that makes the Solidarity look like bleeding heart liberals."

"Okay," said Stacy, "let's stay clear of them then. How about this system?"

She touched the screen selecting a system on the outer edge of Conglomerate space. A pop-up appeared next to showing an image of the star and it's orbiting planets. The name of the system appeared next to it, "Calabraxos".

"Calabraxos IV looks good," said Astra. "Pleasant temperatures. And it's on the quiet outskirts of Conglomerate space but safely out of Magisterium space. Could be good for some relaxing downtime."

Stacy smiled. "What could possibly go wrong?"

1. Stacy and Astra teleport down to Calabraxos IV

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