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Submitted: November 11, 2010
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Titan Sunriseby *MikeDoscher

Digital Art / Drawings / Sci-Fi

Jump shuttles were once common, but were eclipsed by newer, lighter hulls and the dropping price of He3. Remaining examples have mostly been converted to more conventional layouts. The few that remain as built ply their trade in the shadows of Saturn and her moons.

The basic concept is simple, if a little unusual. The main ship can be configured to carry a dozen passengers, two tons of cargo, or some mix of the two. The jump shuttle doesn't enter any significant gravity wells, but rather offloads what fraction of travelers and materiel is required onto a small launch secured below the hull.

With the Acadian Queen complex coming online late in the last century, the commodification of fusion power had become total. This combined with improved materials technology made the type obsolete, and complexity yielded to simplicity once again.

The type was never robust or capacious enough for smuggling, so the remaining examples are mostly operated in either ferry or tourist service by the smaller carriers. Here we see the 'Witch's Promise', a particularly early example of the type, making a holiday run to the Cassini Astoria and associated botanical gardens.

Dedicated to all travelers in time and space, as well as those who await their return.