Star Picking (PM Only) Short Storys

[Tobiastonzon]

I must have picked up a spacebug of some sort at the last station. For suddenly I sneeced so hard that the ribs hurt.

There was goo infront of me. Like most explorers I keep a small cleaning bot to care of that sort of things. So I programmed it to start in my cockpitt while I searched for tissus and medicin.

You think someone should have figured out how to cure the flu by now, but thats not happened. So I opened the explorer surviverpack of vitamins and all sorts of pills that should help. My philosofy was take a lot different pills and hope some will help.

I checked my provicions and calculated in my head my trip. I had a contract of scanning a part of an sector for a mining company. Its a 2-3 weeks trip. It would not bee any problem even if I am ill.

So i cooked a hot cup of coffea and put in a large whiskey on it. My diamondback explorer is a bit ruff in the edges but if you try hard, you can feel like home.

Before the bot had finished a new shower came out of me. And I wonder whos gonna clean the bot in the end.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

Two days later I was down under with the flu. The floor was littered whit tissus and I half sat half layed in the chair.

I stared at the screen and found that the planet I chased in an hour must just be a spot on the screen. My eyes was reddish and my nose had erupted so much that it also was sore and read.

This wasnt working at al. I have an cure for this sort of things, or I heared of a cure from an old explorer that i meet on a bar. You can get tips from old explorers if you buy them good drinks and lissen for a long time. The problem is that some is a bit funny in their heads. In the old days those pilots was out alone for years. Thats exploring for you. But they often get a bit funny. You cant always trust what they say.

This pilot told a story about how he used to cure any sickness.

-You get feber, see. Thats the bodys way of killing the bugs, see. But the bugs are tuff, see. But there a cure. Im a bit thirsty, see. Thanks. You see, feber is not enough. You need more heat, see.

He looked at me whit one eye focused on me. I nodded my head an looked back.

-You need to cook those bugs out,see. I closed the vents an drove the engine hot, see. Cooked me, see. Burned some vires to, but cooked those bugs out of me. Cured me every time, see. But one time I had to cook 3 times before that was that. Nerly lost my ship, see. But you cant use a good ship if your dead, see.

And the old mans eye focused out, and I know I was finished whit him that night.

Its a red hot fish that. Cook yourself better. But if I aint get better soon I seem to have no other choise. Better a dameged ship than a dead pilot.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

Well, my head is a bit cloudy and filled whit endless amount of goo and slime. I had to do this cooking before I crash in to a planet or something.

Luckly you are alone in space and noone can see you missbehave. Well exept that time in Thors Helmet when I got the surprice of my lifetime. But I have to take off my clothes. They are designed to regulate heat and I could put on very much heat whitout beeing effected.

Then there is the question of how long do I close the the heatpanels? If I do it to short the bugs will survive and I have to do it again. That could damage the ship more than a single long cooking. But to long and I can die and the ship to.

I have no medical charts that takes up this onboard. I know that 43 degrees can be deadly in a long period, but now we taking about a short period and then the body can survive higher degrees. I took out the bodycensors from my spare suit and rigged them to display om main monitor. When the body was at 50 I have to quit.

I put on the emergency air mask and closed the heatpanels. On the monitor I could see the temp increase, but it takes some time before it gets in to cookpit. And first I could see my bodytemp increase on monitor before feeling it myself. Freezing as I was.

The heat roled over me and it felt good. The windows started to steam and moist. Soon I was swetting al over and I could hear the warning of overheating. But my body temp was only at 35. This cooking take longer than I recond before.

The heat started to get dryer and dryer. The drops of moist that was at the windows hizzed away. The cleaning bot started to make sluggish movments. The ship was in pain and I could see the damage made on my right screen.

Over 40 degrees. The skin started to burn alover. The head feels like it been pressured. The cool air in my lungs did help. It was the only thing stopping me from screaming. The ships system shows 80 % condition. Good ship, steddy now.

My body temp rises slowly, so slowly. The instruments seems a bit sticky. My cleaning bot falls over and start to melt. The ships condition under 60 now and my bode temp 48.I start to feel very sleepy. I bite my tung to keep awake. My finger awaits the second its 50. And bam open the heatpanels. I can feel the cool air streaming in before the light gets dimmer and is gone.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

The light was flickering when I came to my sesnes. Its smelled of burnt cables and a sticky oder. Somehow I had removed the breathing mask.

36.6 degrees was visible om main screen. I turned my head to check the status of the ship. 52 %. No bigger problem to survive if I do some minor repairs.

And I? Status? I felt a lot better, but I looked very red. I checked my face. The redness in the eyes are gone, but I looked like a fool. Red all over except where the mask had been. There is a big white part of the face. Took a selfie, but stored it in personal. I would not like that picture to come to public.

The radiation lotion does wounder whit any burnt skin. And no it is not radioactiv. But call it antiradiation lotion they will not. Like someone having agression problem. They often have no problem becoming angry. But call it antiagression problem they can not. Very confusing.

After I cleaned the cabin and put the cleaning bot in a box and sent him to the great open whit a salute and all, I started to feel better. A hot meal, a cup of coffee and a lot to drink, I started to feel good. And working with the repair list, music playing, me singing along, life was good.

Later, tired and sorted, I stared out in space. And I think I looked just like the old explorer did when I left him.

What a crazy thing to do.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

When exploring you have time to go thrue the post. And I mean really enjoy reading the post.

Most explorer have stuff to do while exploring. Even mystic fysic professor Evan Downing roumered to have been an explorer. That should explain why he never hold any live lectures, only voice.

Reading the post is not a work, a meer distraction. Its hard to work with the rest of the world when you always are out in space. So you do your post and billings and when you land all the outgoing post is sorted. And crediter can take out and advance true the exploration funds.

And for the buying of things, most traders know about the explorers trust. Most explorers are known to always pay their buys. You cant spend much in space anyway.

And talking of spending, there is a letter from Saul the Begger. He have found a project for me, that Ive been looking for many years. A 200 years old coffee maker that every sensible explorer want. Or at least some.

An Albert - the coffeemaker that makes coffee whit attitude. The pictures show a wellbeaten and loved Albert, aparently a lucky surviver of 2 shipcrashes. I take that as a lucky sign. Its more or less a compleat condition. All circuts working but in need of a lot of love.

The price is 100000 credits and a 20000 finders fee for Saul. It can seem like a big price, but that is an antic and classic and a lifesaver. The price of this can onlt go up. So I send afformation about Albert.

Then I saw some other news that fancy my eyes.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

There is the Explorers Ball coming up. Every seccond year all explorers are invited to the Ball. And now its only a year before the event.

A 10 miljon credits this time for the best excuse not to come is avorded.

A Long time ago the Ball was made. The legend tell that they booked a big place and invited all explorers. But every one was out and have sent letters of wy they couldent come. So they had all that place for reading a lot of letters. But many was pretty funny and in the end the panel decided to award the best whit a price. The rest is history.

But this days there is a full banquett. Retired, hospitylised explorers come and familys to explorers make a livly sceen under the 3 days it lasts.

But now I have to make up a good reason to wy I cant come.

But that have to wait. Found a good planet ahead. Have to land. Doctors order.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

The gravity free enviroment on the ship is very comforteble. Specially if you put the ship the way you like it. I like to put the airflow from top to bottom and creating a bit of a flow.

For me its nice when things flow down like in real gravity so I can drop stuff and it will gather up on the floor. But other spacers swear by having a netural flow around your seat. "the best place to pick up your stuff is where you left it".

Well the planet Im locking at is a 1,3 earth gravity and Im going in to land. My doctor have been very stiff about this planets walks. I will never live on a planet that have more than 0,6 egravity. Thats my comfortzone. And the suit give you a false gravityworkout with resistens and so, but like the good doctor say. -You cant replace real gravity with resistence alone. And if you want to keep your license to work on hi grav planets you have to do more time on planets, specialy hi grav planets.

So there I go. Driving and walking on this lovely planet. A lot of dust and gravity. It always come to me on hi grav planets, that feeling of beeing fat. The heavier I get the fatter I seem to myself. Sometime woundering why I dont just lay mayself on the ground and roll around. The fact is that the more time you spend on dose planets the bigger and heavier you get. But put that down to mussels. After walking a half an hour my feet hurts. So I deploy my SRV and drive around some hours. You can always look for minerals.

The doctor insisted that I have to bee on the planet for atleast 4 hour. Even just driving you exercise your body, hearth and lungs very much.

Back in the explorer my body start to hurt. Like always. And on this trip I have to visit a 3 egravity planet too. Thats a pain. But I can keep my hi g permit and that gives a lot of extra credits per trip. And I cant afford to loose that.

But back to basics. Scanning planets and asteroid belts, rings and suns. You see what the company is after is....

 

[Tobiastonzon]

.... mostly high metall planets whit low gravity. Thats for many reasons. You can use less experienced workers in low gravity and the rigg is cheaper to build.

Of course you need to have stronger pressure applied when the gravity not do so much. But the vere and teer is lesser and the overal structure dont have to support so much weight. And its easier to harvest and load on to the ship.

You could think that an all metall planet should bee interesting for mining companys, but its to complicated as a frontier mining station to find the good stuff. Its more a big industry thing that works. Unless you find a planet rich with good mettalic ore.

On a planet with hi metall content you find cores of metall. You can easy follow that. On an all metallplanet you have all the rest metall around those ores so you cant see where it goes, if you not dig it up. You put upp a miningrigg whil plutonium but when you come back is mostly filled whit iron ore.

But you cant just scan the best planets and come back whit that. The miners and geologist that come after get confused and land on the wrong planets if you not give them a complete chart of that solarsystem. And then they not find the stuff you find and you get sued for failing the contract.

I know its stupid but if you miss to scan a planet they go to find an other system whit right amount of planets. And that is why they get lost in space.

I never get lost in space, because I have learned to trust the feeling of I am here.

So what do you do, scanning al those lonly planets? You get a project to work on. Like this 600 year old mecanical wonder.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

During the animatronic renessance in the Empire, they made this mecanikal machines. In brass, silver and gold, wheels, cogs, chains and levers made them alive. Bells, belows, strings and flutes gave them sounds.

The svan I was holding, could wake up, spread its wings and sing, before it went back to sleep. Made in white gold, it was a masterpice that I never could afford. Inside was filled with mecaniks that should work. But it wasnt designed to work i no gravity. And I am the only one I heared of that can make this animatroniks work in no gravity.

It began when I found a simple model at a scrapyard. The good man didnt no what it was, and I took a chanse that I could fix it. The spare time I had was in space, so I had to make it work in space.

The motor works in no gravity. Its springs that drives the models. But levers that should fall in gravity dont do that. But put in springs that push them down after they been lifted and there you go. Then there is a lot of more tricks to make it all work.

After I fixed a few models I hade no room for more. So I sold them. So many people live in low gravitys and some familys have had nonworking animatrons for generations. And when the word spread I got more work than I need. I tried to get an office and only do this, but I dont feel relaxed on one place. The longing gets to me. I cant focus when there is to much distraction around.

Working alone can make you forget the basics. I have alarms sounding for food and drinks. You have to have fuel to the engines or the machines stops. So I put away the swan in the box and head for the foodmoisterer.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

Amos Spice Buns is the brand I use. But I buy spices from other brands also. I like them for the easy convinece you can eat them whitout getting dirty.

The buns are made of yeast and alges that are modyfied to contain all you need to live. Amos Spice Buns come in a paper cocoon that like an origami suround the buns when the grow in the mosteriser.

Two buns I always take. When they are finished you have two hot buns, but the special paper do so you can hold them without any problems. Then you spray them whit Amos Bun Oil. That make the spices stick in low gravity. And then you spray them whit spices. Today I took spaceballs and on the other chicken tahu.

And to drink a cup of coffee and a water bottle of cold fizzy water.

There is different system to have a real cup of liquid in non gravity. I have shoose Lingquist metod.

All liquid that is going in the cup have a special salt in it that make the liquid more sutible to trasfere electric current. The cup have an electric rod in the middle that make the liquid to an weak elektromagnetic fluid. That holds in place of the cups metallic sides. On one place of the cup the metallic side is thinner and there you drink.

Only problem is you cant chift to drink from left to right hand. You buy the cups in left or right mode.

While eating I read more post. I see that a friend is getting married. Good for her. I have to see if I can make it to the wedding. I know that she likes tea. If I can find some exotic the and I nice pot, then I think she be happy. I put that up on my to do list. And decide to take one more cup of coffee.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

When I started exploring there was many things they never told us. Like how do you sleep good in deep space.

I know some explorers that always land on a planet to get some gravity, but I never thought of that. The first years was a mess whit sleeping pills and horrid dreams. But now I have found a good system for me.

I turn down the lights, erect the chair and plug in the suit to charge. I keep the magnetic hold in my back and change the suits recistens so i get more force on top of the suit. That feels like you have a blanket on you, and it calmes me down.

When you have turned of the trusters and other modules the ship becomes peaceful. And it helps to have the air at 19 degrees but keeping the suit at 22. Gives the illusion of a blanket.

A very soft hmmm rest in the ship and some soft music keeps my thougts at bay.

If you want a soft wakeup you program the trusters to start in the morning and gradually turn to the sun. You wake up by yourself by the increased light. I wiched that they had told you this stuff in school so you didnt have to find out by yourself.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

Sitting here and looking at my model of Aura 4, the first ship to go trough supercruse. Its a big ship whit a little cochpit. When they discovered that Einsteins equtions allowed for speeds over lightspead they started to try to build ships doing that.

To break it down simply for you. E=MC*2 Energy is the same as the mass and lightspeed x 2. Energy thats not bound by mass can speed over the lightspeed. Why? Becouse its not bound by gravity. If you can part mass from surrounding gravity it can also be moved in speeds over lightspeed. With enough energy.

To describe the fact you can easly speed on earth to the soundbarrier. Thats becouse of the airs resistence. If you could get free from the surrounding air you dont have to force the soundbarrier. You can easy drive faster. Thats how the frame shift drive works.

When you create an negative gravitational field around the ship, you make it possible to fly faster than light. The only problem is that you use a lot of energy and create a lot of heat. Those two factors is why you cant go further. Going faster than light, the time is still. And you cant put in more fuel than the engine can hold. When its used up the field drops and you travel below lightspeed again.

Thats probobly why we dont can travel to different galaxys. We have to have all the fuel with us, and thats the size of a big planet. Moving that amount is not possible. The only way is to create an engine loaded whit all that fuel at once. Going al the distance at once. The heat that comes out of that is quite deadly. So dream on.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

I had landed on a 1.5 g planet for my daily exersice. There was great dunes of sand and I got a bit driving crazy. Sometime you need to do stuff to get out of boredome.

Well, I hit those dunes quite hard. Flying, landing on the other side. Yeah, relly good time there, but on my way to land after a dune there I saw a very big stone. I hit the trusters but I had no gas left to avoid it. I hit it a meter up and hit it hard.

This buggys is very tuff, but this time i broke it. The impact hit the right wheel the most and broke it. I used the trusters to get down to level ground.

Inspecting the damage showed some chassy damage, drives and gears on right side. One wheel of, the other bent. And the dunes made it impossible to land near here. I had to do the main repairs here. Its not impossible, but it thakes time.

I made a list of needed parts, loaded the printer whit needed minerals and press print. The printer on the buggy is a lot slower than the one on the ship. Deploying the repair bot we started to dismantel the broken parts.

The repair bot have all the nessecery tools to take of and deploy stuff. It looks a little bit like a spider whit many arms, so it can get grip on stuff to give thork in low g worlds. After one hours work it started to look like something you can drive again. And one more to make it finished. Like I said, the printer is a bit slow.

Then I drove more careful this time to get past the dunes so I could call the ship. You can have to much of exitement for one day.

 

[Tobiastonzon]

Bots are very useful and very stupid at the same time. The most advanced bot you got is the ship.

Yes it is clever enoff to stop your ship if you get to close to the sun. But still it gladly sitt there an let you roth in radiation if you dont drive away yourself.

This singlemindednes is needed because no bot can learn to understand human thinking. In the old days the ship stopped you if you get to close to a star and drove away. That is good for many people but sientists complained that they could not do their work. They needed to get close to get their data.

Many other examples their are of bots taking to much responcibilitys that led to disaster. The Lenovsky insident, that killed the colony. And Paramouny Company that whent out of bissnis becouse of their homebutlers.

They decided