Information sent by Xboat. Also known as express mail and Imperial mail.
Xboats carry information only (at least for their civilian customers); material objects may not be sent. Messages are digitally encoded; xmail costs Cr10 per 2 megabytes per parsec. The message may be sent using a standard Galanglic character set (about Cr10 for a 5,000 word message), or in classical written Vilani (about Cr10 for a 7,000 word message) or a picture may be reproduced as a facsimile (Cr2 for a 2,000 x 2,000 bit matrix). The message is printed out at its destination and delivered by a world's local mail service, or fed into the local data messaging systems, at the sender's option.
Some merchant companies operate an express Packet service, transporting small cargoes at speeds close to those of the Imperial boat network. These services are considerably more expensive than standard methods of cargo transport.