On 13Jun2020 1328, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:
> And there, friends, is my 'Dark Imperium' setting. :)
>
> My question is:
> As jump is precalculated, and as there is no maneuver drive in an
> X-boat, what *exactly* do you pilot? No thrust and press a button to
> initiate when the computer says it is time? Is that like Sigourney
> Weaver's character in Galaxy Quest? ("I have on job, to repeat the
> computer, and I'm going to do my job!" - rough paraphrase)

Pretty much, but presumably you also make sure the ship is pointing in
the right direction, and that the pre-jump checklist is filled out. But
Pilot seems to also be the general skill of being a spacehand. Book 1
says of it:

"Pilot: The individual has training and experience in the operation of
starships and large interplanetary ships. This skill encompasses both
the interplanetary and the interstellar aspects of large ship operation."

That seems to me to mean that it's what you'd want for general
shiphandling as well as actual piloting. So basically an X-boat pilot is
a warm body, because you need one to jump safely, who gets to do stuff
that really machines can do about as well (like the astronauts in the
Mercury program). Sensible yet optimistic ones learn Engineering (but
it's only available to those with Edu 8+, so those who left school early
had better hope that they get JoAT) so they can try and fix stuff that
breaks in the event they're not close to a tender. Less optimistic ones
learn skills that will be useful anywhere *but* in an X-boat.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>