ALL NOVEL Right of Salvage
Data Transfer
For most Guild ships, the amount of time spent in-system is minimized as much as possible. Ships are profitable when they’re moving data across interstellar distances; not when they are sitting in port connected to a data feed. This means that most ships attempt to onboard and offload data from the moment they cross the hyper-phase. While small data transfers are possible even via high latency, the reality is that latency is the enemy of throughput. For this reason, the Guild has established buoys in most populated systems that perform a store and forward function. This reduces latency to passing Guild ships and thus improves throughput.
In order to ease interstellar commerce, the Guild has standardized access protocols and compression formats. This ensures that any Guild certified ship will be able to communicate with any other Guild ship and allows data customers to receive a consistent data product regardless of the actual ship or consortium providing the transfer service. As of this writing, there are over 1,000 standard protocols and standards for data transfer. These are documented in GTP 2343.2 and are updated once per Terran year by the Guild sub-committee on connectivity and standards (GSC-CS).
Refusing a valid data transfer request from a Guild ship or signed node is grounds for suspension from the Guild.
Excerpted With Permission
Data Trader’s Handbook
Copyright 3250, Interstellar Data Trader Guild
Gunny was quietly smoldering on the trip back to the Reggie. The shuttle was completely silent for the entire trip. The soft hiss of entering the GTE barrier seemed amazingly loud when it came. When the door opened, Gunny pointed at the door. “Eddington. Timur. Channah. You three with me.” Without a backwards glance, he stalked out, fully expecting to be obeyed.
Leo, Ramona and Ollu looked at each other for a second then Leo shrugged and followed Gunny out of the shuttle door. Following Gunny’s tense back the found themselves in a conference room. A table was set up and two masters sat behind the table. Gunny took the remaining chair. Leo looked around, there was no place for the three of them to sit.
Guild Master Thorsten was the first to speak. “This tribunal is now in session.” Leo blinked in shock. How did they convene so quickly? “We have reviewed the evidence submitted by Master Tomlin from communications logs. They clearly show that you were ordered to leave the unknown vessel by Master Tomlin and you did ignore that lawful order in a life critical situation. This falls under Guild Code fourteen point six.” Leo was stunned. While he knew that he was bound to face some flack for disobeying the order to abandon ship, he had not expected a formal tribunal. Certainly not so quickly. “Journeyman Timur, as the senior trader present do you wish to make a statement?”
Leo cleared his throat. “Master Thorsten, it was my assessment at the time that it was in the best interest of the Guild to attempt to save the ship if possible. While this did involve danger to myself and to Apprentice Eddington, I felt that the risk was justified.”
The three masters were stone faced. Obviously unmoved by this defense. “And using what evidence did you make this determination?”
“Statements made to me by Master Ship Handler Channah.”
“To summarize, you decided to accept the word of a Ship Handler over the orders of a Master Trader?”
“Yes, Master Trader.”
“Very well.” Thorsten looked at Ramona and Ollu with a look that did not invite comment. “Do either of you two have anything to add?”
Both Ramona and Ollu shook their heads. Leo fully expected the Tribunal to consult in private and was stunned that they merely conferred for a few seconds. “Journeyman Timur. This tribunal finds that you did willingly and knowingly disobey a direct order from a Master Trader during a life critical situation. You are hereby banned from taking your masters board for a period of two years.” Leo was devastated. Two years. And very unlikely to pass after that time. Not with a black mark like that. “Apprentice Eddington. This tribunal finds that you showed poor judgement but that you were following the lead of a senior trader. You are fined one thousand guilders and removed from Weps pit. You are assigned to i-Proc effective immediately.” Ramona maintained a blank look, showing no emotion at all. “Master Ship handler Channah. You are hereby relieved of duty and removed from ship’s company. You will be put off the ship at our next port of call. You are restricted to quarters until that time.” Ollu simply shrugged then reached up to remove her collar insignia. After looking at them for a moment, she casually tossed them onto the table.
Master Thorsten seemed to be expecting a statement or an outburst. He looked expectantly at the trio standing before the makeshift tribunal. “Very well. This tribunal is closed.”
As the three masters began to rise, Ollu spoke for the first time. “Master Thorsten. A moment please.”
He looked at her as if a piece of furniture had started to speak. “Yes?”
“Have you formally entered your judgment into the record?”
“Not yet.”
“Can you do so please?”
For a moment, he looked as if he was going to unload on her. However, he simply sat down and used his tablet to enter the judgment. “Not sure why you are so eager to have your employment ended, but there is no reason to delay. The judgement of this tribunal is formally entered.”
Ollu showed emotion for the first time since entering the shuttle. She smiled. “Thank you master trader. As per Guild policy forty six point seven, I claim right of salvage.”
Everyone was looking at Ollu now. “YOU WHAT!?!” Thorsen looked like he was seeing a strange alien creature rather than someone who had been a senior member of the ship’s crew until moments ago. “There is no Guild policy forty six point seven. You’re making that up.”
If possible, Ollu’s smile got wider. “SPACER’S Guild.” She looked directly at Gunny. “I claim right of salvage. As a member of the spacer’s guild I am legally entitled to salvage rights for any vessel found abandoned outside of a registered polity. I claim right of salvage.” She tapped the table with her index finger to emphasize the last sentence.
“That is a Guild SHIP!!!”
“Yes, master trader. I am willing to sell it to you at fair market value. In the meantime, I will register clear title for the ship at the nearest registered polity as per Spacer’s Guild guidelines. You may file your bid to purchase at that time.”
“You cannot claim salvage right when you are working for the Guild. Everything you do at our direction belongs to us.”
“Yes, master trader, you are correct. Any action I take at the direction of the Trader’s Guild is subject to Trader law. As we have just established, my actions were not at the direction of the Trader’s Guild. This fact has been formally entered into the record; I believe. I am a member of the spacer’s guild and thus outside of Trader Guild jurisdiction if I am not employed on a trader vessel.”
“HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE GUILD? YOU CANNOT…”
A loud guffaw cut him off. Gunny started to chuckle, then laugh outright. Finally banging his hand on the table with mirth. “She’s got you by the balls Roger. You just fired her, remember?”
Thorsten looked at Leo. “Timur, if you ever hope to make master, you will clarify that you were in charge of the salvage operation at all times.”
A surge of hope hit Leo. Could he make master after all? But there is no promise of master, just the threat. “Master Trader, I believe that if you wish my testimony on this matter, I would need to see the results of my masters board now.” Now all eyes were on Leo. Could he really go through with it? He thought furiously. Anything could be traded. This was the lesson he finally understood. It was the way of the Guild. “If the three masters present confirm my completion of my masters board, then it would be clear that I was in charge and I could answer your question truthfully.”
Now it was Thorsten’s turn to bang on the table, and not with mirth. “You little shit! I will not be blackmailed!”
“It’s called trading. Master trader.”
“You will never make Master.”
Leo looked down. They had called his bluff. Time to go all in? Leo thought about what Ramona had said. Without the possibility of becoming a master, there was really no point in staying. It was time for him to leave his second home. He looked at Ollu, who smiled sadly. She knew what had to happen next. “Master Trader. I hereby submit my resignation as a member of the DA Reginald O’Rourke.”
Ramona took a half step forward. “Master Trader. I hereby submit my resignation as a member of the DA Reginald O’Rourke.”