Traversal: So At Odds

There was a certain expectant silence on the bridge. Harking took a few deep breaths, feeling in those scant seconds the weight of his years fall away. Then reality came back, and he snapped into decision-making mode.

"Navigator - do we have enough range to make it? I need to know our options."

The man barely blinked, shunting histograms and charts onto Harking's screen.

"Affirmative, sir, but we will have exceeded our normal operating envelope by more than a half again. It'll be a fuel-optimal burn and free-fall for the rest of the way. Estimated time to target would increase by a third."

The captain nodded, reading between the lines. _We don't have many options._

_Then we make the best of what we have._

"Go dark, then connect us to the Interlink. We'll need to call this one in."