(Kiri quizzes me on some spatial dynamics requiring a high degree of math as we find out both the distance from Centauri Base to reach Hades Base but also how long it takes the ships of the base to travel between the two.) 

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Kiri: okay, I’ve got a bit of mental weightlifting for you.

Russ: okay.

Kiri: okay, how far or how long does it take and what is the distance for light to travel from your sun to Centauri Base? How many miles?

Russ: okay, it would be…..

Kiri: 3.9 light years.

Russ: (scribbling furiously) So would be 10.574 miles. 10,700,054, something, something, something.

Kiri: how far, how many miles is it from your sun to Centauri Base sun.

Russ: 10,000,000 miles.

Kiri: 10,000,000 miles?

Russ: roughly.

Kiri: nope, considering it’s 93'ish from your sun to your planet.

Russ: 93 million?

Kiri: uh-huh.

Russ: so what is it, 10 billion?

Kiri: uh-uh.

Russ: what?

Kiri: if I told you, you wouldn't be doing the mental weightlifting.

Russ: okay, so light travels from the sun to Centauri Base which is 3.9 light years….

Kiri: uh-huh.

Russ: light travels at 376,000,000 miles per second.

Kiri: uh-uh, travels at 186,000 miles per second.

Russ: oh, okay…..so.....

Kiri: so, in one minute right? It travels multiply that number by 60.

Russ: oh yeah right. Oh boy, that’s a lot.

Kiri: okay that gives you one minute of speed. Multiply that again by 60 gives you one hour, right? Multiply that one hour by 24 gives you one day. Multiply the 24 by the number of days gives you…...

Russ: one year.

Kiri: no, the number of days that it takes the 3.9 years. Convert that into days and then multiply that by the one day or by 24. That gives you miles per hour. Divide that by 365 gives you how far it travels in one year and then multiply it by 3.9 gives you how many miles?

Russ: quite a few.

Kiri: which works out to about fifty trillion miles or do you want the precise figure?

Russ: and it takes pilots from Centauri Base to reach Hades Base approximately 36 hours?

Kiri: well it depends on how high the jump is.

Russ: right.

Kiri: cruise ship about 48, two days that is cruising, just poodling along. A express freighter, it would take it about 24. A scout ship on an emergency, priority high-speed jump, about three hours.

Russ: shoot.

Kiri: that’s from takeoff to landing.

Russ: hate to be the pilot in that one.

Kiri: oh they’re highly trained and highly tough.

Russ: hmm.

Kiri: the only parts that hurt are the jumps, braking in and braking out.

Russ: much G-Force?

Kiri: it’s a combination of things but G-Force actually does play a part in the initial takeoff.

Russ: I see.