Ingo Potsch
2015
When the gigantic trans-galactic cargo ship Ostia entered the hyperspace Arcus Stream, it was high noon local time right under it on a planet named Vato Lehibe. She had left the stationary orbit around Vato Lehibe early in the morning. Vato Lehibe was a booming mining planet. Its rock was of a deep red colour and contained high concentrations of aluminium and other metals. As the resources’ deposits began just under the surface, scrap mining was possible and profitable. The Arcus Stream was a kind of swift canal through hyperspace that allowed very fast travel, even for hyperspace terms. Outside the strong wall of the huge spaceship, wavelike trails of misty appearance rushed by. Actually, it was the Ostia that rushed through pas them. She was not only one of the biggest spaceships ever built but also one of the fastest. The Ostia carried passengers, good, and even other, smaller spaceships. Going at a rate of eighty to hundred light years per hour under good to optimal conditions, the Ostia was several times faster than the smaller spaceships she carried as cargo in her huge belly. Sometime in the afternoon, the Ostia was scheduled to reach Louis Homes, an equally booming mining and plantation settlement along the Arcus Stream. Louis Homes was home to both mining and also farming business. They grew lots of plants that had been genetically engineered to precisely fit the needs of the final customers. The plants were also designed to withstand whatever conditions the planet they were grown on was subjecting them to. On Louis Homes, a planet that got its name from a gentleman called Louis; people grew wood that was almost as strong as steel and lots of eatables serving as foodstuff the other mining planets further up the Arcus Stream. Not every planet was suitable for farming and growing food in greenhouses was much more costly than transporting it. At Louis Homes, the Ostia was due to collect some more passengers and goods. The Arcus Stream allowed the gigantic spac
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