AssertUtf8: ä
Name: ShipPurchase
Year: 2603
Title: Purchase of a Hypermodern Old Cargo Ship 
ShortTitle: Bying a Hypermodern Old Ship 
Short: SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT
Summary: SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY 
Headline: "HEADLINE HEADLINE: SUBHEADLINE SUBHEADLINE SUBHEADLINE"
Post: "2603 TITLE TITLE TITLE TITLE TITLE. SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT.. more: http://jmp1.de/e2603"
Image: NAME.jpg
Postimage: NAME.jpg
Smallimage: NAME-100x70.jpg
Author: Heiner Wolf
Translation: Rosmarie Wolf, Heiner Wolf
Tags: [TAG1, TAG2]
Topics: [adventure]
Text: |
  The solar company Astronáutica General buys a cargo ship in the Thoris system. It is the first ship with exo-technology in the Sol System. The purchase takes 17 years.
  The ship is a slow tug by Thoris standards, but it is still 30 times faster than anything manufactured in the Sol System, and it can carry much more cargo. The ship is adventurously acquired from a ship recycler in the outer F asteroid belt of the Thoris system, the domain of the so-called Babur III Harmony.
  Several slow Sol built freighters transport ship loads of precious metals to Thoris to pay for this old ship, because the Sol System does not manufacture any engineered products in demand in the advanced economy of the Thoris system. The precious metals are then sold on the open market to obtain assets in one of the Thoris currencies, at first far below their real value. But over the course of three years, commodity trading by the human outpost becomes more professional.
  Three out of eight shipments are stolen at the storage area of the transshipment point. They have to be replaced by more flights from Sol. In the meantime, a local economic crisis and fraudulent futures contracts reduce the available assets to just 10%. In cooperation with the authorities, a Thoris commodity cartel can be proven to have committed fraud. A large part of the loss is compensated by penalties paid by the cartel. After 12 years, there are enough funds in local currency to buy a small used cargo ship from a scrapyard. 
  Then the vessel is immediately stopped by the Thoris Interplanetary Flight Safety Office and decommissioned for lack of a pilot's license. The crew must spend four years studying at a flight academy for a Thoris system flight license. Penalties, fees, and academy costs require more shipments of precious metals from the Sol System. While decommissioned, the ship is stolen. A mercenary force hired from the Babur Trojans and led by Akofa Ata is able to recover the ship after three months.
  After repairs – paid for by additional shipments from Sol – the ship is ready to be transferred to the Sol System. Yet, it is stopped again by the authorities of the Babur III Harmony which demand a demilitarization before the ship is allowed to cross Harmony space. Before departure Astronáutica had installed some light weapons to prevent the ship from getting lost again, but the Harmony's authorities have no sympathy for weapons on civilian ships in major traffic zones. 
  Finally, the ship is transferred to the Sol System where it is used to open the first regular lines to colonial systems: Cobol and Polean.