JumpShip Farstar Disappears En Route to Combine 7/25/3132
INN - Interstellar News Network
SADALBARI—In a press conference today, the Republic Transport and Safety
Bureau (RTSB) reported that StarCross Starlines has officially listed the Farstar, a
Starlord-class JumpShip, as missing, with as many as 400 passengers and crew—
notably Senator Caressa Tarn-Manoj of Acamar (Prefecture V) and Hans Halruar,
power forward for the all-Terra soccer team, the Atlantics—and several million C-bills
in cargo. The merchant vessel makes regular jumps between Prefectures and also has
routes into both the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns.
As per its filed jump path, the Farstar departed Ozawa and made a scheduled stop at
Sadalbari, where it picked up the Joshua, a Monarch-class passenger DropShip. Thus
fully laden, it then was scheduled to jump from Sadalbari to Matar in the Combine. A
week after the vessel was scheduled to appear in the Matar system, StarCross
contacted the RTSB.
Emily Morgan of Sadalbari said her husband Randy, 37, was on the Joshua on
business for his father’s art gallery, Morgan Friar, Ltd. Mrs. Morgan was visibly
shaken after the announcement. “Randy’s made this transit twice before and there’s
never been any trouble. I can’t believe it,” she said. “Where could they be?”
According to the manifests transmitted to StarCross headquarters before it departed
Sadalbari, in addition to the Joshua, the Farstar carried three Buccaneer-class and two
Mammoth-class cargo DropShips. Our investigation, however, has uncovered a
discrepancy in that report. According to Captain Russell Barton of the Hasek, a
Merchant-class JumpShip that was in-system when the Farstar departed, the Farstar
was carrying only a single Mammoth DropShip, though the Farstar carried its full
compliment of six DropShips. Captain Barton reported that he could not determine
what class of DropShip the other ship was, but it was not a Mammoth.
When asked about this discrepancy in the press conference, RTSB spokesman Erin
McDonough dismissed the question out of hand, stating the captain of the Hasek was
simply too far removed from the Farstar to make it out clearly.
If the Farstar has met with tragedy, it would be the first such vessel lost in the
Republic since the Jade Pillars in 3103; the RTSB was formed in part because of that
disaster.
When asked what they felt the most likely scenario was, McDonough said, “It’s still
too early to tell. Sadly, we fear the worst.” Because every populated planet within a
thirty-light year radius of the Farstar’s jump capability had already been contacted,
with no sign of the missing JumpShip, the RTSB “would have to move forward under
the assumption that the vessel had suffered a catastrophic mid jump-drive failure.”
The Kearny-Fuchida jump drives that make interstellar travel possible can
malfunction, though this usually occurs right before or right after a jump, as the drive
powers up or is powering down. Such occurrences are rare. The most common drive
malfunction is helium seal failure. Each drive is suspended in a tube of liquid helium.
If the seals blow out, the vessel is completely stranded. Nevertheless, if a JumpShip
drive fails mid-jump—as was the case with the Jade Pillars—the JumpShip is
completely destroyed, with all lives lost and little wreckage left behind. Whether or not
this was, in fact, the fate of the Farstar has yet to be determined.
When asked to comment on the disappearance of the Farstar, Captain Barton said,
“The folding of space is a tricky thing. A malfunction is a possibility, but until you’ve
got evidence, I’m not willing to guess one way or another.”
McDonough reiterated that regardless of initial impressions, every effort would be
expended to track down the vessel as quickly as possible.
INN - Interstellar News Network
SADALBARI—In a press conference today, the Republic Transport and Safety
Bureau (RTSB) reported that StarCross Starlines has officially listed the Farstar, a
Starlord-class JumpShip, as missing, with as many as 400 passengers and crew—
notably Senator Caressa Tarn-Manoj of Acamar (Prefecture V) and Hans Halruar,
power forward for the all-Terra soccer team, the Atlantics—and several million C-bills
in cargo. The merchant vessel makes regular jumps between Prefectures and also has
routes into both the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns.
As per its filed jump path, the Farstar departed Ozawa and made a scheduled stop at
Sadalbari, where it picked up the Joshua, a Monarch-class passenger DropShip. Thus
fully laden, it then was scheduled to jump from Sadalbari to Matar in the Combine. A
week after the vessel was scheduled to appear in the Matar system, StarCross
contacted the RTSB.
Emily Morgan of Sadalbari said her husband Randy, 37, was on the Joshua on
business for his father’s art gallery, Morgan Friar, Ltd. Mrs. Morgan was visibly
shaken after the announcement. “Randy’s made this transit twice before and there’s
never been any trouble. I can’t believe it,” she said. “Where could they be?”
According to the manifests transmitted to StarCross headquarters before it departed
Sadalbari, in addition to the Joshua, the Farstar carried three Buccaneer-class and two
Mammoth-class cargo DropShips. Our investigation, however, has uncovered a
discrepancy in that report. According to Captain Russell Barton of the Hasek, a
Merchant-class JumpShip that was in-system when the Farstar departed, the Farstar
was carrying only a single Mammoth DropShip, though the Farstar carried its full
compliment of six DropShips. Captain Barton reported that he could not determine
what class of DropShip the other ship was, but it was not a Mammoth.
When asked about this discrepancy in the press conference, RTSB spokesman Erin
McDonough dismissed the question out of hand, stating the captain of the Hasek was
simply too far removed from the Farstar to make it out clearly.
If the Farstar has met with tragedy, it would be the first such vessel lost in the
Republic since the Jade Pillars in 3103; the RTSB was formed in part because of that
disaster.
When asked what they felt the most likely scenario was, McDonough said, “It’s still
too early to tell. Sadly, we fear the worst.” Because every populated planet within a
thirty-light year radius of the Farstar’s jump capability had already been contacted,
with no sign of the missing JumpShip, the RTSB “would have to move forward under
the assumption that the vessel had suffered a catastrophic mid jump-drive failure.”
The Kearny-Fuchida jump drives that make interstellar travel possible can
malfunction, though this usually occurs right before or right after a jump, as the drive
powers up or is powering down. Such occurrences are rare. The most common drive
malfunction is helium seal failure. Each drive is suspended in a tube of liquid helium.
If the seals blow out, the vessel is completely stranded. Nevertheless, if a JumpShip
drive fails mid-jump—as was the case with the Jade Pillars—the JumpShip is
completely destroyed, with all lives lost and little wreckage left behind. Whether or not
this was, in fact, the fate of the Farstar has yet to be determined.
When asked to comment on the disappearance of the Farstar, Captain Barton said,
“The folding of space is a tricky thing. A malfunction is a possibility, but until you’ve
got evidence, I’m not willing to guess one way or another.”
McDonough reiterated that regardless of initial impressions, every effort would be
expended to track down the vessel as quickly as possible.
| July 25, 3132 |