Freelance Traveller

Heriot-, Hare-, and Heyerdahl-class Hyperdrive Merchants

designed by Benjamin Pew

This article originally appeared in the June/July 2014 issue.

Heriot-class Hyperdrive Merchant

Using a 400-ton streamlined self-sealing hull, the Heriot-class merchant is designed for frontier trade and shipping. It mounts Hyperspace Drive B, maneuver drive D, and Power Plant D, giving performance of 2G and 2 parsecs per day. Fuel tankage of 16 tons supports four weeks of operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a TL12 computer of rating 10. There are 13 staterooms, 9 low berths, and 13 escape pods. Four double turrets are installed, and four tons allocated for fire control. They are equipped with four beam lasers, two missile racks, and two sandcasters. Ship’s Vehicles include a 20-ton lifeboat, and an air/raft. Cargo capacity is 221 tons. Construction costs are MCr130.675, exclusive of architect’s fees. The Heriot requires a crew of eight: Pilot, Navigator, one Engineer, one Medic, and four gunners, one of whom should also have steward skills.

The Heriot-class hyperdrive merchant is based on the old Akkigish-class Jump Drive Fat Trader design, but the use of hyperdrive makes it faster, longer-ranged, and higher capacity. The longer range allows it to provide services over long trade routes. The Heriot is the most common variant of this hull used by smaller corporations and free traders, as it is considered to be the most versatile for their purposes. There is a freight-only version which is used on similar routes, along with a passenger-only version, descriptions for both of which follow.

Hare-class Hyperdrive Freighter

Using a 400-ton streamlined self-sealing hull, the Hare-class freighter is designed for freight and cargo carriage on otherwise poorly-served routes. It mounts Hyperspace Drive B, maneuver drive D, and Power Plant D, giving performance of 2G and 2 parsecs per day. Fuel tankage of 16 tons supports four weeks of operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a TL12 computer of rating 10. There are 6 staterooms. Two turrets are installed, and two tons allocated for fire control. They are equipped with four beam lasers. The Ship’s Vehicle is an air/raft. Cargo capacity is 275 tons. Construction costs are MCr103.475, exclusive of architect’s fees. The Hare requires a crew of six: Pilot, Navigator, one Engineer, one Medic, and two gunners.

The Hare-class freighter is often the choice of both governments and corporations to support regular freight service to backwater worlds that would otherwise be irregularly served, such as colonies or low-population worlds off major routes. It represents a best-effort at maximizing the revenue potential for a cargo/freight carrier and minimizing the cost of operating such routes, but even so, subsidies may be required. Corporations may also use the Hare to serve small bases in newly opened territory, or to link through a low-traffic area two routes with moderate-to-high-traffic.

Its long endurance, greater range, and increased cargo capacity as compared with the equivalently-sized stock Type R offers the possibility of a faster payoff under standard subsidy terms, and for planning of routes to maximize potential return on speculative trade.

Heyerdahl-class Hyperdrive Liner

Using a 400-ton streamlined self-sealing hull, the Heyerdahl-class liner is designed for passenger carriage on otherwise poorly-served routes, though it is also used as fill-in on high-traffic routes. It mounts Hyperspace Drive B, maneuver drive D, and Power Plant D, giving performance of 2G and 2 parsecs per day. Fuel tankage of 16 tons supports four weeks of operation. Adjacent to the bridge is a TL12 computer of rating 10. There are 30 staterooms, 40 low berths, and 30 escape pods. Two turrets are installed, and two tons allocated for fire control. They are equipped with four beam lasers. The Ship’s Vehicles is an air/raft. Cargo capacity is 152 tons. Construction costs are MCr136.175, exclusive of architect’s fees. The Heyerdahl requires a core crew of six: Pilot, Navigator, one Engineer, one Medic, and two gunners. A variable number of stewards are also required for servicing passenger needs; the exact number required depends on the number and mix of high and middle passengers, and the skill levels of the stewards.

The Heyerdahl-class liner is the passenger variant based on the Heriot design. It is generally used for passenger service in areas where the Hare finds a use for freight and cargo carriage, and for much the same reasons. They are also seen on corporate high-traffic routes as ‘fill in’ ships, where demand exceeds the capacity of standard large liners, but not by enough to make an additional large liner profitable. Governments may also subsidize these liners to provide passage between poor, high-population worlds and other worlds, or occasionally as supplemental colonial carriage (though larger vessels, if available, are preferable.). A few Heyerdahls are in service with free trader crews who prefer to cater to passenger service, and a common after-market conversion is to take a few tons of cargo space and make a casino. Some incidental cargo may be carried, or passengers may be given a more generous baggage allowance.