[capnq]

"That was a fine meal," Davdi commented, licking a stray splash of itega sauce from the corner of his mouth.

"I knew you'd like this place," Gurse replied. "They've only been open for a few weeks, so word of mouth hasn't driven up the reservations fee yet."

"I don't know how you manage to find the time to check out so many new restaurants, Retla. Especially with the second colony ship due to launch in a month."

"We learned a lot building the prototype; the work is going a lot more smoothly on this one. I wish I could say the same about ticket sales."

"That's understandable," Davdi agreed. "We never expected the 'Second Chance' campaign to draw as many entries as 'New World, New Life' did, but it's still on pace to fill the available berths. People simply aren't as eager to colonize a planet that they can't breathe the air on."

"That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you," Gurse grinned. "I've got a proposal to deal with that."

"I knew this wasn't just a friendly dinner invitation!" Davdi laughed. "What's your pitch?"

"Have you heard anything about Soctu Timho's latest research results?" Gurse asked.

"Can't say that I have. I leave R&D work to the people who have the patience for it."

"Well, Doctor Timho has gotten some intriguing results from his deep space probes. They picked up an unusual gravitational anomaly near the edge of the system. He's convinced that it's an opening into some kind of hyperdimensional tunnel that will allow interstellar travel!"

Davdi's eyes bulged in surprise. "Interstellar? If he's right, there could be other colonizable planets out there!"

"Exactly! And some of them could even have breathable atmospheres! But we'll need to design and build an exploration ship to verify that they're there, first. And for that, I need your authorization to reallocate part of the construction budget."

"You'll have the paperwork on your desk by tomorrow. Have the waiter bring another round of BLARG, and we'll drink a toast to the future."