"With a sprightliness that belies his appearance, the merchanter is the first to leave the firewagon."
"Alcidas and his Spartan pirates took off the next morning, where, no one knew, and Phrynus was thrown in the hold of a merchanter that made its cautious way out of Myonnesus."
"The next starship turns out to be not a scheduled merchanter but the "spook ship" Loki, on an unspecified priority mission."