We've landed on Charon. I'm about to leave to get supplies. Nayla is taking Franz to my Uncle Ben's campus residence, where he has his own lab. Dr. Benxamin Bovine is my mother's older brother. He has been working at the university since I was a kid, and moonlighting as a consultant for the military's science needs. The folks at the university aren't big on the military these days, nor is Ben.
Charon is the last Plutonian bastion of peaceful relations with other dominions, perhaps the only one ever. Most of the students there are Plutonian, but in the interest of ongoing smooth relations, they accept applicants from other worlds. I was never a student, but I did spend a lot of time on campus as a young adult, before my duty tour. I met several other species there. Uranians, Saturnians, Jovians, even a few Humans. Plutonia's relations with Neptune are a bit icy, no pun intended.
Partying among the other Solar races, I learned a lot about culture, and a lot about college life. Tales passed down by the Humans reveal that college life has not changed much in the past several centuries. I learned to live on very little, and still have a great time living. I know exactly where to go on campus. A great little general store owned by Squiggy's cousin, Yguis.
The journey to the Uranian system, where we'll probably want to hide out for awhile, will be something like 50 days, with intermittent stops for fuel.
Here is my shopping list:
30 x surplus Plutonian military rations 100 x gallons of drinking water 10 x bags of Asteroid Chips 10 x bags of Mars Mix 10 x big jars of Squiggy's good shit (Yquis sells it under the counter) 5 x boxes of Galactic Brownies 5 x boxes of Marshmallow Moon Crunch 5 x boxes of Cosmic Creme Cookies 5 x packs of Goodpup Crackers 20 x assorted Quik-Hot Meal Packs 5 x 12-packs of Doctor Sodium 20 x cans of vacuum packed condensed soup 5 x standard first aid kits 6 x tubes of toothpaste 20 x lbs of assorted freeze-dried veggies and fruits 20 x lbs of freeze-dried artificial protein meal 20 x cans of dehydrated plant milks 10 x tubs of freeze dried ice cream 6 x bottles of soap... maybe a few more. 3 x new toothbrushes 2 x wire fur brushes, for the kids
If you're wondering how I'm paying for this, I'm selling my comics collection to a student archivist nerd here on Charon. I'm moving this great amount of crap using a hover cart I keep in the cargo hold. It will take me a few trips, but I should be done before Nayla and Franz get back.