Seen here in orbit over the planet Caius, the Euphrates recently celebrated its one hundred fiftieth anniversary of continuous flight. Built to last through what was anticipated to be a new epoch of exploration, jumpships were instead quickly made obsolete by rapid advancement in ring drive technology. Nevertheless, due to the sheer reliability of their systems, ships such as the *Euphrates* have been in use ever since, becoming in effect their own settlements, complete with a permanent population.