Barrent and the boy's father smiled understandingly.
"Well," Ronny said, "how fast do they go in real space?"
"A hundred thousand miles an hour," Barrent said, naming the first figure that came into his head.
The boy nodded, and his father nodded. "Very fast," the father said.
"And much faster in subspace of course," Barrent said.
"Of course," the man said. "Starships are very fast indeed. They have to be. Quite long distances involved. Isn't that right, sir?"
"Very long distances," Barrent said.
"How is the ship powered?" Ronny asked.
"In the usual way," Barrent told him. "We had triplex boosters installed last year, but that comes more under the classification of auxiliary power."
"I've heard about those triplex boosters," the man said. "Tremendous things."