"The Deal"

Well here am I, Captain Jonas Elza Macbeth,  in my mid-forties and I'm starting a whole new life.

I'm a "free trader", a merchant who plys the starways.  I've spent my whole life in the Imperium and now I'm leaving it forever thanks to the "deal" that my wife, Kara Lou and I have worked out with our former employers.

Forgive me but I need to be a bit circumspect with names and details.  We discovered absolute proof that a certain highly-connected person had committed something that would result in rather extreme punishment if brought to the authorities.

However this individual was near-and-dear to someone very high up in power . . . so we contacted them first and eventually a "deal" was worked out.

We would keep quiet and leave the Imperium to travel deep into the wilds of the Gateway Sector (near where some relatives of Kara Lou lived).  And there we would stay, never to return to the Imperium or reveal what we know.

The "carrot" . . . we would be provided a healthy "retirement" benefit and transportation to our destination, Cresta, where we would take possession of a 300-ton jump 2 merchant ship.  She was an older Tech-11 "Dione" class Far Trader, but in good shape with no mortgage to worry about.

We jumped at the idea . . . and we are almost there.