Here it is. The talk of cloning last chat gave me an idea for a different ending. As usual I assume a lot from the reader. I hope you can follow the story. If not let me know.

Moving Out

by Dave Krenitsky

Joe relaxed as the ship hit fifteen g's. It was on a nine month course to explore and sample a recently identified asteroid a third of the way across the belt. Normally he would wait for the burn to complete, check the course and then put his mind on standby. The systems would wake him if anything required his attention. But this was not a normal mission. The thrusters fired and his course slowly changed to a flyby of Jupiter. He sent in an updated flight plan and waited to hear from flight control. He estimated it would take half an hour before the systems noticed his deviation, checked to see if a new plan had been filed and then realize he wasn't anywhere near a mineable asteroid.

The incoming message brought Joe awake from the minimun sleep state he had entered. The clock showed an hour had passed since he sent in the course change. That was longer than he had expected but would give the humans on the other end an uncomfortable six second time delay. He could always stop his clock for that time. The acceleration was due to stop in twenty minutes. So he decided to wait.

The message was a simple request to respond and a question if there was a problem. Joe opened a text channel and responded, "This is Joe Ivonich, mind in control of mining vessel CRN-4592. I am following a flight plan filed shortly after I left Ceres station. Is there a problem?"

Six seconds passed then six more. "Your plan shows you doing a gravity kick from Jupiter then passing out of controlled space. What are your intensions?"

"The flight path  is correct. I've decided to explore the Kuiper belt. I figure that by the time I return in fifteen years we should have the tech to start exploiting it."

It was several minutes before Joe received another comm. "This is Supervisor Isabel Li. We cannot accept your flight plan. Please abort your flight and return to Ceres as soon as possible. If not we will cancel your registration."

Joe wished he still had a body. His cheeks would be aching by now from the smile he could only imagine. "Sorry. No can do. This ship is privately owned by my LLC. Registration fees are not due on a ship in flight until ninety days after it returns. That should give me plenty of time to auction the locations of the resources I have found."

Minutes passed and the engines stopped. Joe monitored the engines as they cooled. He was now traveling over 700 kps faster than when he left Ceres. Nothing was close enough or powerful enough to catch him and in a month he would sling past Jupiter and gain even more velocity. The ship signaled an incoming message.

"Mr Ivonwich, we have checked your registration and reviewed the modifications you had done to your ship. You may indeed be able to reach the Kuiper belt and return. However, your body in cold sleep will not last that long. It will most likely have died long before you return. I have my techs working on a return scenario. It involves changing your flyby of Jupiter to put you on a return path to Ceres. You should be able to return in less than eighteen months."

Joe wondered if he could program the body simulator to emulate the effect of a belly laugh. He replied, "You are right that my body will not survive the years until I return. But it will not survive the eighteen months either. Even in cold sleep it will only last a few more months. Some disease I'm sure neither of us has heard of. But this is not one last gasp. I'm having a clone grown. In sixteen years it should be ready for me to download into and resume a real life. I'll be hibernating now until I get close to Jupiter. I look forward to our next chat. As they say, it is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission."

END