Seated around the table were Gunny, Gramps, Doc, Formentara, and Kluthfem. Colonel Cutter leaned against the carbon-fiber inner wall near the room’s primary hatch. “All right, folks, listen up. We are on our way to Ananda, half of a binary system with Om, planets circling a class G2V star, FHND 31-Epsilon—that’s Flamsteed-Halley New Designation for those of you not planning a second career as an astronomer. “Informally, the system is called Lance. Mid-rim, Orion Arm, turn left at the Dagger Nebula and straight on ’til morning. “Ananda is an E-type world in the ninety-eighth percentile for atmosphere and gravity, a little more oxy, a little less nitrogen. Your circulating antibacterials and antivirals have been updated to deal with the local bugs. “Twenty-two-hour days, 369-day years, climate range Within Terran Standard Limits, but shading more into tropical, save toward the poles. “Activate your sunblocks and drink a lot of replenishment fluid. “There are no indigenous intelligent species.
