The Dartmouth eased itself out of the orbital station’s docking collar.
Orange lights swirled all around as the crew at the end of that collar peered through large pressurized viewports and waved goodbye at the crew on the Dartmouth.
The cruiser had finished loading and unloading some of its cargo, and wrapped up its business at its second trading stop. She was a short-haul trader and was filled to the brim with a variety of juicy cargo.
She had also refilled her fuel in preparation for the third stop, which was on the other side of Lombard IX, the planet they were orbiting.
The entire Lombard system had sixteen planets, and more than half of them were populated. Each of those populated planets had multitudes of orbital stations that served as the main supply hubs for the colonies be
