Nerys was further beyond explored space than she had ever gone before, in the fraying regions of known as The Rim. The silence of the voids roared around the Crested Hawk, her Mark-7-7-5 explorer-cruiser. Most genuine economic activity, these cycles, was done by the drones, and there was too much excess to bother with competition or the pretense of scarcity.
All activity, of course, except for the collection of Durionite, which was used in making the best sort of starship engines. There was an extremely limited supply to go around, and for that reason, Durionite engines were normally only available to members of those fancy, hereditary guilds her ancestors hadn’t belonged to. Well, they could stuff it, as far as she was concerned. When she finally hit the mother-lode, anyone who wanted share of her excess had better have an excellent forgery, and a team of expert engineers, to repay her. Until she had a large enough haul, in fact, she was planning to keep going outwards, even if it would take years.