During the jump, the test of the fuel bladders is mostly successful, but as a result they make a few changes -- there was a small gas leak into one of the staterooms for a short while. They also installed the EMS Jammer while in jump.
The temperature on Hinay is -80F at temperate latitudes, but is rather warmer here at the equator. The place is cold, but livable. Gravity is 1.13. Law level is 8, TL-13, government is an Impersonal Bureaucracy. They will take Imperial Credits here, being the capital, but the exchange rate is rather unfavorable for the average tourist. The place does not seem unpleasant, so staying a week to get better trade deals should not be a hardship. Unusually for such a planet so far out, there is a Travellers Aid Society building here (where they take Imperial Credits and will exchange at the proper rate).
Mich contacts the starport for the parts and stuff he requires. It will take 2 days and 100 kCr ($180,000 actually) to complete the gunnery repairs. Mich adds a skull-and-crossbones with a line through it to the hull for each pirate they have destroyed. They buy the 66 missiles they need to replenish their stores. They also buy a translation chip for the local Protectorate language for $500.
Sir Bridgehead changes 100 kCr with Fostriades for $180,000; Chiang Ho also changes 100 kCr. Some of the crew visit the TAS. It has a more colonial atmosphere than most of the TAS buildings they have visited, and is more consciously upper-class. There is a good selection of bars and restaurants, and Sir Bridgehead (with Helen) is "invited" to the more exclusive areas -- the others are not.
It's a fairly pleasant place. The usual employment adverts are mostly from local companies, but there are some freelance traders looking for crews, and so on. There are also the usual Positions Wanted adverts, a lot of which are seeking working passage to the Imperium. Sir Bridgehead suggests filling out the crew here, but the consensus is that this is not quite the right place for it.
Sir Bridgehead and Helen go to the suggested restaurant for dinner. Sir Bridgehead, as usual, asks about the medical facilities -- the TAS has good Imperial facilities, and of course there are always the native hospitals. He asks if they have much contact with the Imperium here, and the reply is that they ARE the Imperium here. What sort of business is conducted here to bring such fine people here? "Most of us here, sir, are not in business, and we don't inquire as to the lifestyles of our members, sir," says the waiter.
There are no actual Imperial ships here, although there are some free traders from that area. Delaney wants to contact the local military to ask about unusual ships, and so on. The Customs and Trade Regulation organization is the suitable body here, and he does manage to contact them. There is not much pirate activity within the Protectorate, but there is quite a lot between the Protectorate and its neighbors, including the Imperium. There are, for example, not many ships that can make it from the Imperium to the Protectorate in one jump, and it is in the less regulated planets in between that most of the piracy takes place. There is no record of any particularly interesting unidentified ships. In general the impression is that the Protectorate has a pretty well established trade and passenger system. Interstellar commerce is well respected, advanced, and encouraged. Customs and trade authorities assist rather than hinder the progress of trade.
Fostriades tries to make some contacts here -- there's a fairly pleasant merchants' bar, but almost all the trade is internal Protectorate, and what does come in from the Imperium is mostly by independent free traders -- there is no scheduled Imperium trade. He looks for crew prospects, but no-one seems really outstanding. He tries to seek out dog people, but has no luck (export of livestock is discouraged).
Chiang Ho and Joe look for local martial arts schools, karate clubs, and so on, but can't find any. Weapons, violence, and so on are actively discouraged.
After Mich finishes the work on the repairs, he proceeds to check the rest of the ship's systems. He finds a few simple things that need fixing, and has everything sorted out within the week.
The planet in general is fairly boring.
Sir Bridgehead announces what he is doing with the rabbits -- he's trying to see if he can get them to make more rabbits. He's been putting his theories through the computer and just has a few more details to work out. All his rabbits are going to help them fulfill the mission. He has not made any new rabbits yet -- Helen suggests it would help if he put them in the same cage; Chiang Ho falls off his chair. Sir Bridgehead says it will revolutionize their understanding when this is discovered. Helen suggests that Sir Bridgehead ask that plant what it thinks, and it (Mich) wiggles its leaves and says it works for plants by fusion -- fusion plants! Fostriades leaves at this point, taking his dogs with their pretty butterfly wings. Chiang Ho gives Sir Bridgehead some raw beans and tells him to make more beans. Sir Bridgehead says he doesn't care about beans -- he really cares about people, because after he figures out how to do it with rabbits, he can do it with people -- more crewmembers! Chiang Ho asks if Helen might have something to do with ... "Making beans?" Mich suggests. Yes, that's right, beans. What does the Captain do, anyway? Sir Bridgehead doesn't want to use the Captain to make more people. The conversation degenerates further, and the computer is asked for rabbit recipes. Sir Bridgehead wants to try putting them in the same cage now, but when Chiang Ho suggests darkening the room and playing soft music Sir Bridgehead exclaims that he has to do the work, because the rabbits don't know what they're doing. He collapses on the floor, dissolving in laughter, then studies the horns on Helen while she contemplates the grapes in his beard. Sir Bridgehead reiterates that what he wants is more people, so that when they invade they will have a whole ship of new people. He leaves for a nap.
Afterwards, Sir Bridgehead can't remember what he said at the party, but he can of course review the tape, which as usual Avon has produced!