The Journey Continues

[IndigoWyrd]

It's been a while since I've updated this. I would like to say that a lot has happened, but in truth, things have been rather quiet and not entirely eventful. Following Sai's emotional break, and my own pledge to assist her however I can, things have largely settled down aboard the Singularity. We did take a break for the holiday, and made landfall on a rather scenic world. As much as I have enjoyed this trip, I must confess, it was nice to take a little break, enjoy some of the ship's facilities, do some actual course-plotting, and actually start to lay out something that resembles a plan. Due to the extremely low stellar density on the galactic fringe, I've pulled back slightly and will continue along a course that is as close to the edge as possible.

This has also led me to do a little back-tracking to find a viable course, and that course will go through the Skull and Crossbones Nebula. I do enjoy a good nebula from time to time. They often hide either interesting views, interesting worlds, or nothing at all, which is, in its own way, something unusual. I invited Sai to participate in planning the next leg of this trip, but she did not have much input to really offer. I suspect she's dealing with things in her own way, by simply focusing on her work, and making use of the ship's facilities to keep herself from thinking too much. In many ways, it reminds me of myself.

I can only hope Sai doesn't lose herself in working the way I have a habit of doing. It extracts a heavy price. I hadn't realized it at the time, but now that I write this, I realize what some of that cost has been for me.

It was over dinner, while we made idle conversation, near this field of fumeroles the seed of this realization was planted.

"So, have you ever been married?", Sai asked.
"No.", I told her. She looked at me somewhat perplexed.
"Really? Why not?"
"I'm a pilot.", I said, but the expression on Sai's face told me this wouldn't be explanation enough, so I elaborated.
"I don't spend any great length of time at any one place. I fly ships, I rather like to fly ships, and that isn't really conducive to long-term relationships. Long-term relationships tend to complicate things."
"What about girlfriends? Or does that complicate things as well?"
"Nothing serious, but yes, I've had a few. The longest was just a little over a year. She was also a pilot, so it seemed a pretty good match. We both 'got it', what it means to be a pilot. Some times we flew in opposite directions, some times we flew together. And before you ask, she was shot down in 17 Draconis. I recovered her escape pod. She spent a few weeks at a medical center and decided to change careers and became a terraforming engineer. I'm still flying. Had I made any other choices, I may not be here, now, on this trip, with you."

It was that conversation that made me realize what all my working had really cost. I'd traded deep personal relations for a personal fortune, a fleet a ships, and a good reputation that spanned thousands of light years. I'd traded the complexities of interpersonal relations and an actual 'home' for the freedom to traverse the stars. I don't actually think I would trade it for anything. I may not have the same level of empathy or the bonds of family that Sai has, but at the same time I don't have the potential for loss or pain Sai has either. It's just less complicated, and there is always the possibility that a day may come when I have seen as much of space as I want, made as many credits as I want, and do want to settle down, raise a family and live out my days, well, somewhere. When that day may come, or even if that day may come, I cannot say.

These images span our first two days after our little holiday break. Still a good number of water worlds in this area, as well as a few more interesting gas giants. I have to say I am rather curious as to what her next image set will be.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

So many worlds, so many images. My first thought looking at this layout was to caption, but given the sheer volume of places I didn't even know where to begin, and I have to admit, at this point, I think it better to simply let this spectacular collection simply tell its own story. Vivid gas giants, sharply contrasting high metal worlds, breathtaking ringed Hell Worlds, a water world with a chain of tiny islands - and a rather interesting collection of life-forms, commonly called "Bark Mounds", a sort of vegitative life, highly resistant to radiation. Earth-like worlds and dazzling geysers of ammonia ice, and ammonia worlds rivaling many of the Earth-like worlds in land-mass and oceans I'd certainly not want to swim in, spread across a thousand light years.

To think, we have only just barely scratched the surface of what is out there, I find myself longing to know what lies beyond that next jump.

 

[Liberalguy]

Fun! And great pics!

 

[IndigoWyrd]

We've crossed into Achilles's Altar. We came in by means of a very long and thought-out method involving directly bombarding the ship's frame shift matrix with highly concentrated neutrons.

This particular stunt requires some very precision flying, as one needs enter the jet cone emitted by a neutron star, stay within it long enough to saturate the frame shift matrix, and survive and exit the cone, which will propel your ship a fairly considerable distance from the star as well at rather impressive velocities. After some consideration we decided to risk it. The turbulence within the cone is considerable, but we emerged unscathed, and with a new, though temporary increase to our maximum jump range, of 180 light years. Not bad for a big ship like this. Way beyond manufacturer's specs.

In addition to all the systems with 1 or more stars only, and the standard balls of ice and rock, we found:

A gas giant with water-based life.

This particularly impressive view:

of iron magma erupting from the ground.

Stopped by these water geysers:

to wash the windows, in the dark.

Spotted these twins, so close together we'd intially thought they had collided:

Turns out they had not, but they did share an impressively close orbit, and each has some interesting features of their own.

Eruptions of molten silicate magma on one.

And an almost surreal landscape of silicate fumerols on the other, with the sister-moon high in the sky and sun low on the horizon.

Decided to wash the fighter here.

https://i.postimg.cc/tRKrhW8K/Screenshot-0805.png[img]

Gas giants and their colors, few things can compete.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/YSC8p3mW/Screenshot-0806.png

Hello little gas vent.

Terrestrial ammonia worlds make me wish I was outfitted to delve into these rancid atmospheres just to see what's down there.

Another gas giant, full of water-based life. Whatever lives here has to be one of the most populace species in the galaxy. I don't know how many of these I've seen, but they're still impressive and fascinating.

And where would I be without a pair of inviting water worlds? One with, one without ice. But the scale of that ice cap, and the fascinating secrets that ice must hold... perhaps Ishmael was right after all, I shouldn't have gone chasing stars, but kept my nose in my books and studied the sciences. Of course, I could have also been right saying he should have kept his nose out of the Federation and their funding and stuck with the sciences. Now I'm wealthy, well respected in both the Federation and the Empire, and free to travel where ever and whenever I choose, and he lives like a hermit on a little base in Thargoid Ally and has both the Feds and the Imperials breathing down his neck. I just have....

"Sai! What are you doing?!" I exclaimed, as I felt something poking at the back of neck.
Sai laughed slightly. "Seeing if you'd dozed off again. You haven't moved in over an hour."
She retracted an extendable magnetic coupler she'd poked me with, trying to conceal it, though she had to know it wasn't working.
"I'm awake, though not for much longer. I was just..."
"Just annotating your scrapbook, I know. Remember, I helped with the layout on the last one."
"And left me nearly no room for any notes." I stood up, joints protesting.
"You getting rickety, boss?"
"Just a bit stiff, but unlike you, I don't get to spend half my day playing around in the gym, or the sauna or tinkering with, what are you tinkering with anyways?"
"Well you COULD, but that would mean letting me take the helm while you take a break."
"We tried that, remember? You nearly hit an entire planet."
"That was so not my fault. YOU said 'Here, take the helm, I want to go scanning in the fighter.' and then just got up and left."
"It's not like we've not done that before."
"Yes, but not at 800 meters above the surface!"
I started to say something, but stopped and started again before stopping again. Even with my helmet on, Sai was beginning to recognize some of my mannerisms.
"Just say it."
"Say what?"
"Whatever you're stopping yourself from saying."
"Alright, fine. You have to be ready for anything, at any time, with or without warning. It's not just part of the job, it's part of everyday life."
This time Sai started to say something and stopped.
"Your turn, you say it."
"You're not wrong, ok? I just... I wasn't ready, because I never know when you're testing me, when you're evaluating me, when you're being my boss, and when you're being my friend, ok?"
"The answer is: always. I'm constantly testing and evaluating. But it's not personal... well, it is, actually. Because I want you to live up to your potential, you know that. And I know you're still young, and full of that youthful energy and unstructured way of thinking. It's something I admire, because I was like that too at your age. I am also always your boss, as long as I'm paying your salary, and I'm always your friend, at least... as long as you want me to be your friend."

There was a long, almost awkward moment of silence, before Sai spoke.
"So you're not mad? I mean, about that planet?"
"No, I'm not mad. Just learn from it is all I ask. No harm was done, and that's why we have shields. But that doesn't mean I tease you about it either. Much like you seem to enjoy teasing me about my sleeping habits."
We both laughed a little. It's been nearly a month now since we set off on this sojourn, the longest either of us have been away from anything that passes for civilization, and it's important we maintain a good working relationship. Too much isolation and the mind starts to do strange things. Some call it 'space madness', professionals refer to it as 'isolation sickness'. Even the most solitary of us are susceptible, or so they say. I might test my own endurance one of these days.

"As for what I'm tinkering with, as you said, I think I might be able to fine-tune the fighter's composition scanners to give us a little better resolution. I'm no expert by far, but if it helps, I thought why not?"
I nodded in approval. Worst case, it's a fighter, and we've plenty of spare parts on board.
"How much better?"
"I don't know, really, maybe 3 or 4 percent?"
"It's a start, just remember - if you break it, you fix it."
"You got it, boss. And thanks. Those tech manuals really help."
"At least now you won't mistake a backflow gasket for..."
"Oh DO NOT bring that up again!", Sai laughed, and hopped in my seat. "Go on, get some rest, I'll keep us going in this direction."

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I thought I had succumb to "space madness", or at the very least, the victim of Sai's practical jokes. But it was not Sai pulling a joke, it was the universe.

This world shall be known, from now, until the end of time as B-Happi.
The happiest planet in the galaxy.

I cannot make this stuff up.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Sai's Diary

Entry: 33050110

The Transgalactic dictionary defines "Terror" as "extreme fear", but that does not do justice to what I felt earlier. I was just waking up when I heard a sound I still don't know how to describe come over the ship's intercom. I knew it was the boss, but I couldn't begin to imagine what would have caused him to make such a noise. A stroke? A heart-attack? The onset of isolation sickness? I raced to the bridge, and as I got closer I could hear something. I couldn't quite make it out, at least not at first, and by the time I'd reached the bridge, I could see the boss, on the floor, rolled up in ball. I raced to his side. His arms were wrapped around his chest, and the sound coming from him, I thought perhaps he was choking on something. His mag-boots held him partially to the floor, partially to the side of his seat. As I turned him the thought that kept leaping to the forefront of my mind was 'What would I do without him?'

I had some experience maneuvering the ship, but a frame shift jump? I was pretty sure I'd wind up killing the both of us. Signal for help? Who knows how long it would take someone to get this far our, let alone find us. That rush of panic mixed with dread, mixed with terror. I looked at the boss, unsure of what to even try to do. I wasn't a medic. Then I came to realize, he wasn't in distress, at least not of the life-threatening kind. The strange wheezing he was making turned into what I could only call a snort. I released his helmet. The grin on his face and the water pooling at the corner of his eyes told a very different tale. He wasn't having an attack of something, other than laughter. Hysterical laughter. Our eyes met, and he sucked in a tremendous breath, and laughed again, pointing towards the canopy.

For just a moment, I thought he must have snapped, lost his mind, but I looked towards the canopy. That's when I saw it too. Plain as a food paste, the planet directly ahead of us looked exactly like a great big, ridiculous, smiling face. It was absurd. Impossibly, improbably, utterly absurd. I could help myself but to join in laughing as well, though not nearly as much as the boss. At least, not at first, not until I realized how ridiculous I felt rushing to the bridge in such a terrified panic. Then I simply couldn't help but laugh more, at the stupid absurdity of the whole situation. I felt myself sink to my knees, and I took hold of the boss's suit.

"I just want to know, you scared the life nearly out of me.", I managed. It made him laugh a little more, and it made me laugh a bit more. Heroic efforts were required, so I sat in his chair, and turned our course away from that sinister world.

"Oohh...", was the only intelligible thing the boss managed to wheeze out as the view faded. I could only bury my face in my hands and shake my head. After a few minute more, I could hear him struggling to get up as I looked down from the helm. All I could do was shake my head some more. It took him a few minutes at least to get to his feet, and he was still holding his sides.

"Oh.. I think...", he managed, "I think I bruised my ribs."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. I still didn't know if I should be laughing, or furious for being frightened so much. Instead, I just slipped from the helm and offered to help the boss to the infirmary.

I will certainly remember this place though.


Entry 33050111:

Today was a particularly uneventful day, all things consider, probably for the best. The boss did actually bruise two ribs, but I have to say, in the end, it was probably for the best. He's been in a terribly good mood all day. I guess that's what he needed, a good laugh. I still can't quite figure him out. So stoic and professional, most of the time, but sometimes through little cracks in that shell he keeps around himself, something else shines through. A sort of glowing humanity, a genuinely good, warm, compassionate person, kept wrapped in a cool shell. There are so many things I want to ask, so much I really want to know about him. But he doesn't really seem to want to talk all that much about himself. It's almost as if he's afraid to really open up, or perhaps it is just some sense of duty and professionalism. Yesterday's incident though, perhaps that will draw him out? I'll have to try to get him to talk over a meal.

We haven't really seen anything of note, but at one point while refueling, we did get a nice view of the star erupting into space.

I do have to admit, I am impressed the way the boss manages to keep us from going up in flames so close to these.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

After a brief visit to the infirmary, and a thorough dressing down by my fighter pilot, I am in still in a particularly good mood. To be fair though, I do understand Sai's concerns, and they are valid. We are quite a distance away from any sort of assistance, and while Sai may be a very capable pilot, she does not have the experience or training to operate a frame shift capable vessel. The only option I see is to train her myself, but truth be told, I'm not really much of an instructor, so this is going to be quite a challenge.

While we are continuing to cover great distances, we seem to have entered a particularly barren patch of galaxy - plenty of systems with nothing more than stars, mainly brown dwarf stars, which means keeping a close watch on our fuel. While the Singularity may be blessed with an enormous fuel tank, this isn't without its complications either. Crossing long stretches of brown dwarf stars means longer and longer stops to refuel when we can, which puts us at risk. A coronal mass ejection at idle speed could be extremely hazardous, as could a sudden solar flare eruption. These are just a few of the hazards of extended refueling.

Brown dwarfs also pose another hazard, their gravitation area. It's far easier to get caught in their gravity and pulled from frame shift cruise than most other stars. I suspect it is due to their lack of corona, as they are all below fusion temperatures. It makes it far too easy to misjudge one's position and wind up just a little too close. It's happened a couple of times already, and we're down to our last heat sink. While there are plenty enough materials on board to synthesize more, I can't help but think the universe is trying to tell me something.

But its message from yesterday is still particularly clear, at least I think it is. I have to admit, it's been a long, long time since I've laughed quite like that. Not since the spider incident. I mentioned that to Sai over lunch, but her reaction and her previous reaction to the sock fiber incident tells me she might be even less of a fan of the spider story, so I'll save that for some other time.

After an extended stretch of brown dwarf after brown dwarf, Sai was worried, and I had to admit, I was getting concerned myself. Our fuel reserves were down considerably, and we didn't have fuel enough to press on beyond the next star, also a brown dwarf, on our route. Fortunately there was an option. Just 46 light years out, and only slightly off course, was an M-class star. Unfortunately, our maximum range is just barely over 45 light years. There is, however, a very nice stock of materials on board, though replenishing those supplies could prove difficult out here, but given our options, or the lack thereof, I made a slight change to our course, and prepared a frame shift injection that would give us the increased range we'd need.

Once our fuel supply was restored, we felt like we might be able to relax a little. The navigation computer recalculated our route,. It looked like we'd be heading through at least one more long, dry patch. Based on my own calculations, we'd burn half our fuel before we reached, well, here's the not-so-good news. Our final stop along this route would take us to not one, but two consecutive neutron stars, and to clear this dry patch, we'd have to overcharge from both of them. That means putting another 400 light years behind us.

The closest system to us is HIP 17892, and that's 23,740.33 light years - or around 580 standard frame shift jumps. We're at the first threshold. If we push on, the dangers we face only continue to rise. I knew Sai's response long before I even brought it up - 'You're the boss, I go where you go.' she'd say. I'll admit, at least to myself, it was this kind of thinking that landed us in the first situation where I began to seriously rethink this journey. With only a few jumps between us and that neutron threshold, I found myself distracted just enough to do exactly what I was concerned about - hitting the gravity of a brown dwarf. Our temperatures shot up, alarms were sounding everywhere, and the smell of overheated systems flooded everywhere. I dumped a heat sink and turned us hard about, trying to put as much distance between us and that dwarf as possible, while the frame shift drive cooled enough to get back into cruising speed.

A rather well-known fact among pilots is that these Beluga liners generate a tremendous amount of heat getting to super cruise velocity, and while the Singularity is exceptionally cool-running, even she generates a great deal of heat getting up to speed, which means breaking away from this situation wouldn't be pretty. I told Sai to stand by on fire suppression, and when we were as far out as we could get, I punched us back to super luminal velocity. Again, the heat spiked, and during that transition, for whatever reason I simply cannot fathom, the heat sink system will not respond. So we made it back into cruising speed, with a shower of sparks erupting from every console and panel around us. Heat sink #2 kept us from causing any extensive damage, but we definitely took some damage. The point defense system fried completely, and all our systems were compromised in some manner or another. There was only one thing for it, a full reboot of the ship's systems. To do that safely, that would mean setting down somewhere. Unfortunately, there was nowhere we could set down in this system, so we had to press on, and hope the next system would give us somewhere to set down for a while and evaluate.

Our next jump attempt, well, that reminded me just how precarious our situation was - the frame shift drive failed to engage. I've had this happen before as well, just never quite so far out, because I've never ventured this far out. I could see the concern on Sai's face, and hit the drive again. This time she jumped, and we found ourselves in yet another brown dwarf system with nowhere to set down. Only two more jumps to the first neutron system, and our next jump also failed to engage the first time. Now I was getting concerned as well. Even if we were to head for the nearest inhabited system, it would still take quite some time to get there, and it would put us in Thargoid country. Now take a frame shift drive that's acting up, and mix in the stress of not one, but two neutron overcharges, and things were looking bad. Combine that with other systems starting to show some serious stress, and I was calculating and recalculating possible routes to the nearest station.

I locked our course and the helm. We could cruise for quite some time, and I called Sai over to discuss our situation.

"Sai, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to answer me, not as an employee, but as a person. We're really far out here, our systems are compromised, and even if we should head for the nearest station it will still be quite some time until we get there. If it were just me making this trip, I wouldn't hesitate to decide. But it's not. You're here with me. You've also got your own matters back in civilization to look after, so I want your most honest answer: do you want to press on, or do you want to head back? I'm fine with either. If we head back, we make repairs, I can have some of the systems swapped out for equipment more suited for this sort of trip, and come back. The galaxy's been here a long time, it's going to be here even longer. If we press on, we're about to hit a pair of neutron stars, and overcharging off of them is going to push us even further away, which means an even longer trip back if it comes to that. So you tell me, what do you want to do?"

Sai looked at me for quite a while. I could tell she was considering what I said. Her sense of duty was highly commendable, but her reply, that made me realize she was growing in ways I couldn't possibly anticipate.

"Alright, Indigo, I'll be honest. Initially I thought this was going to be a fun, long-range trip. Maybe we'd make it to the edge of the galaxy, maybe cruise along the edge a little, and then head back. Then yesterday, when we found that ridiculous planet and you had your laugh-attack, that's when I realized a few things. First, I don't really know that much about you. Sure, we've talked a bit, and I've gathered a few things. You're extremely professional, but you've got a very kind heart. You treat me better than anyone I've worked for, and better than nearly anyone I've ever known. You didn't come out here just to see what's beyond the next star. You came out here looking for something, and not something you'll find on sensors, or even find looking out the canopy. You're looking for something inside of yourself, something you need. I have no idea what that is, and I'm not really sure you do either, but you need to find it. Yes, that laughing fit yesterday scared me, because I've never seen anyone who needed a laugh so badly. I can't begin to imagine what might have happened to you, and if you decide to tell me, that's your business. You hired me because you wanted a pilot, and you wanted a companion on this trip. You could have taken Christiana or Roxana, but you chose me, for whatever reason. You've said you seen a great potential in me, and perhaps there's some part of that that's true, but I think there's something else as well. Something in your unspoken past that my being here is helping you come to terms with, and to be honest, I'm enjoying the ride. The day you hired me I was down to my last few credits, and had been sleeping in the lounge because I couldn't afford a regular room. I remember seeing this ship land, and I remember thinking how nice it would be to just climb aboard one of these and take off to who knows where, and now, here I am, who knows where, on an incredible ship, seeing things no one else has ever seen, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. So I say let's keep going. Let's find what you need, let's see what is to be seen. And if we do have to head back to some station somewhere, because the ship is falling apart around us, then let's do it because it's your choice, your need, not mine."

To be so young, and yet shine with such wisdom and insight, it moved me. Sai had seen into a part of myself I often tried to deny. I did need that laugh, it reminded me I was alive. I did need to find something out here, my own humanity. I couldn't deny the fact that despite all my humanitarian efforts, famine relief, hauling medical supplies to plague-ridden systems, rescue operations on stations crippled by Thargoid attacks, at the end of all that, I wasn't really doing it because I was helping anyone, I was doing it because someone was paying me. Over the years I'd just grown colder, more detached, more and more misanthropic, and more miserable. Out here, I was finding myself. I had to be here somewhere.

"Alright, we press on then. Be sure to grab your own helmet. I'm setting us down to make what repairs we can the first chance I get."

And so, we pressed on, further into the unknown.

It wasn't until a few jumps past the second neutron star that I found a place to set us down and start making repairs. Once Sai and I were both sealed in our suits, I started the reboot process. I have to admit, there is something unnerving about seeing a ship go as dark when they're rebooted like this. There's always that moment when I can't help but wonder, will it actually come back up, or will it end like this, in the dark, cold, airless void? But the Singularity's systems recovered, and our point defense was back online.

As soon as we could get off the surface, I sent out a repair limpet to mend the hull damage, and we were underway once more.

It wouldn't be for several more jumps before we happened upon anything other than a ball of ice, or a collection of stars. Despite whatever appeal water worlds have for me, this one, with no visible ice caps, and a thick, dark atmosphere, with hints of shadowy something below, this dark world did not stir me the way so many others have. There was something about the stillness of this particular world that touched the darker parts of me. Or perhaps it was just the realization of just how far away we were. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something else, something I'd not yet realized.

"Sai, take over for me will you? I'm not sure why, but, I'm really tired. Tomorrow, we'll see about teaching you about the frame shift systems. I hope your calculus is good."

"Sure thing, b...", she stopped herself. I could hear it, but I pretended not to. "...Indigo. Get some rest. Oh, and....", she trailed off, looking at me.

"And?"

"And... I don't remember who's turn it is to make breakfast, but if it's yours, can it be crepes for breakfast?"

I chuckled a little, and realized I didn't remember either.

"Yeah, it can be crepes. But you'll have to bring up some fruit from the lower stores."

"I can do that." Sai smiled. There was something about these little moments that gave me the will to carry on. Perhaps that was what I was really looking for out here. Only time would tell.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I keep hearing something, a sort of ticking or tapping at odd times. It's not a particularly distinct sound, and it is irregular in both repetition and interval. Tick-tap-tap. Tap-tick-tap. Tap. Tick. I've been hearing it off and on throughout the day. All the ships systems indicate no external damage, and we haven't passed so much as a ball of ice in the last 40 systems. Tap-tick. Sometimes I'm not completely sure I'm even hearing it. If I listen for it, I never seem to hear it, at least until I stop listening. Tap-tap.

Other times I'm certain I hear it, clear as a klaxon, sharp as a knife. Though where it could possibly be coming from, I haven't a clue. Tick-tick. It doesn't sound like any ship noise I've ever heard, and it doesn't happen with any particular rhythm, or when making any particular maneuver. It just happens. I've listened into the duct work, to bulkheads, decks, and it's just not coming from anywhere I can track down.

The first highlight of this leg of the trip, a rather dark water world. This has been a particularly desolate stretch, full of brown dwarf stars, balls of ice, and lone stars, shining into the blackness. Tick-tick-tap.

I locked the helm to wander the bridge a while, listening, straining against the hum of systems, trying to pin down the source of that noise. I gave Sai a collection of materials to familiarize herself with regarding ship operations, and frame shift calculations. Tap-tap-tick-tap. I've called her over the intercom a few times to see if she's hearing this, but she says she's not. She told me to check my helmet's audio system, but my helmet has been... where did I leave it? Tick-tick-tick-tap. Oh, that's right, it's in the gunnery seat. Definitely not the audio system. We've been running on minimal systems to keep our thermal output down for a while.

A second water world in the same system. Tick-tap-tap-tick. It doesn't seem to matter where I am, or what I'm doing. That noise just keeps happening, whenever, from where ever it's coming. Tick-tap-tap-tap. Tick-tap. I've resigned myself to as thorough an exam as I can perform in the infirmary when Sai come up to take the helm. I don't want to think it's an indication of isolation sickness, but it certainly won't hurt to be sure. Or at least as sure as I can be. Is it even possible for someone losing their mind to know they're losing their mind? Tap-Tap-Tap-Tick.

I mean, we do have a number of damaged systems, but none critical, except perhaps for the point defense system, but even that's powered down for now. There's nothing on radar, no indications of anything else out here, except balls of ice, and brown dwarf stars. There's the occasional fuel star to keep us going. Tick-tap-tick-tick. That is, unless that noise makes me head for the nearest station, just to drown it out in the noise of a station.

This sapphire Earth-like world makes me long for the system capacity to land here, just to walk outside and perhaps not hear that sound for a while. Anything else would be welcome. It's been at least 10 hours. Tick-tick-tick-tap. Still no pattern, no interval, no consistency to it. Just that tapping, ticking, ticking, tapping, and then some span of relative quiet.

It's nearly time for Sai to take over for a while. Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap. This time it seems louder. I listen, even as the door to the bridge opens. Tap. Tap. Tap. I look at Sai as she walks onto the bridge. She's suited up, helmet in one hand, and... a racquetball in the other?

"Sai?"
"Yes?"
"Where did you get that ball?"
"From the gym. Ever play banji?"
"Banji?"
"It's like racquetball, but in zero-g."
I squint slightly, I can feel my brow furrow and my face tense, but I focus on staying calm.
"No. Tell me, have you been bouncing that ball around the ship?"
"Uh, yes? Why?"
"Can I see it a minute?"
"Sure." She bounced the ball off the deck. Tap.
I caught it in one hand, and it took a tremendous amount of restraint not to crush the ball.
"Because THAT'S what I've been HEARING all DAY.", I said, forcibly calm, notably, forcibly calm, but with just a bit of extra stress on certain words.
Sai was still and silent, like a sidewinder pilot meeting a Type-9 in an airlock.
"I... uhh..", she started, as I closed my eyes, and focused on calm thoughts, slowing easing my grip on the ball. "Sorry?", Sai finally managed.
"I asked you if you heard that noise. You said 'no'...", I held up one finger as I spoke, like an orchestra conducter, conducting my words. "I didn't think to ask, 'Are you making that noise.' I should have asked. I'll remember to ask. But I have to ask now, if you were making the noise, how could you not hear the noise?"
Sai untucked a pair of tiny earphones from her suit and held them up, rather sheepishly.

I took a deep breath. I wanted to throw the ball, but I knew I'd wind up breaking something, or worse, hitting myself with it and then breaking something, so I simply let it roll from my fingers, and drift in the microgravity.

"I said I was sorry?", Sai offered.
"It's ok. I'm not angry. I'm not going to get angry. I thought I was losing my mind, but I'm not. I was out of my mind in the first place. I'm going to bed now, and I'm going forget all about this by morning. Keep us on a steady course, and we'll see about you making your first jump tomorrow."
"Okay.", Sai managed.
I stood in the doorway of the bridge for a long moment before I spoke again, looking back over my shoulder, watching the ball drift slowly.
"And Sai?"
"Yes?"
"Stow that ball. We don't want a repeat of The Sock."
"Yes, sir."
"And..."
"And?"
"You've got breakfast duty tomorrow. Lunch too, possibly dinner if I dream of hearing that tick-tap noise."
"Deal."
"Goodnight, Sai.", I said as the door slid shut behind me. I stood there for quite a while, enjoying the peace of the ship, before I finally shook my head. I knew it wasn't intentional, but it was incredibly annoying. Somewhere in the darker recesses of my mind, I could hear the formation of a plan. There would be payback, and it would be delightful. I felt the smirk crawl across my face, as I made my way to my cabin. A little laugh escaped me along the way, soft, deep, almost disturbing. Almost.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day 34
Location: Lyra's Song

I actually had to take a minute to figure how just how long we've been out here. 34 days, across 4 sectors of the galaxy. Still another 13 to go to complete circumnavigating the galaxy itself, 10 more to cross the center from edge to edge, and then 3 more to return to where the humans live. Best guess, another 221 days, assuming the same level of progress, a total of 255 days, under ideal circumstances to complete this trip.

"Of course.", as Sai would say, the obligatory water worlds. I'm still not sure what draws me to these, but there's something serene about them. They're probably not serene at all. Some I suspect rage with storms and massive tidal waves with nothing to crash against, and yet, they still almost call to me.

Ammonia worlds like this, also intrigue me. According to several leading xenobiologists, the Thargoids like call a world like this 'home'. Home, there's an interesting concept. Despite being raised on Achenar 3, I don't think of it as 'home'. I don't really have a 'home', and nowhere really beckons me to stay, at least nowhere I've seen yet. Sai talks about her home from time to time, but she doesn't seem to long for it.

Sai made her first successful frame shift jump, and landed us here. Nowhere really, but this plain brown planet and it's strikingly contrasting moon did make for a pleasant backdrop for lunch. Sai's cooking is improving too, as is her knowledge of ship operations. She's still full of questions, and full of youthful energy, but she fidgets a bit less, focuses a bit better, and has not been bouncing anything around the ship. All of which I consider good traits.

Our last surface site in Achilles's Altar, an ammonia ice geyser.

Our last world in Achilles's Altar, a bit plain as ammonia worlds go, but thick with clouds and far better sight than the hundreds of systems of brown dwarf stars and barely illuminated balls of nearly featureless ice.

Dinner was largely a question and answer session. Sai had a barrage of questions, almost as numerous as the number of balls of ice we've seen in the past 34 days. I was glad to answer, pleased to see her taking this crash-course in ship operations seriously, and her first frame shift jump was nearly perfect. I don't think it will take all that long before she's fully capable of operating the ship entirely on her own, which will only benefit her if she does follow through and obtain licensing from the Pilot's Federation. I have to admit, out here, the whole bureaucracy of pilot licensing seems pretty silly. But they like their forms, their paperwork and their credits, and their insurance plan isn't half bad either, so at least they do serve some purpose.

We set down here for the night, to get some real, much needed rest, and to enjoy the ringed gas giant rising over the cliff walls, in this valley of water ice geysers, on a ball of ice, somewhere far, far out in the galaxy. I had a feeling tomorrow would be a good day.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day: 53
Location: Lyra's Song

Long journey is long indeed. Sai has been doing well handling the helm, and I've even been able to relax a bit myself. It is certainly quite a bit different playing "passenger", and I'm not really sure I like it so much. Even if we running in full cruise-liner mode, fully staffed and with planned events, I'm fairly certain by this point I would be going out of my mind bored. On the bright side though, we haven't had any more catastrophic mishaps. Overall the trip has been quite for a while. There's a whole lot of unremarkable space out here, which isn't unlike what I expected. It makes the occasional sighting of something out of the ordinary all the more interesting.

This massive ringed brown dwarf was an impressive sight. I remember working for someone, some time ago, that necessitated driving off a band of pirates around something like this. It was an interesting challenge due to the constant heat buildup and the tight maneuvering.

A plain, brown, lumpy planet may not look like much, but the sheer amount of surface deformation makes this interesting on its own.

A rather ruddy gas giant with a massive ring system breaks up the otherwise mundane scenery.

Life finds ways in strange places - a ringed gas giant inhabited by ammonia-based life.

Ah, anything other than a largely featureless ball of ice is nice. This happened to be particularly nice.

Colorful plumes of gas, set against a backdrop of a ringed gas giant.

Oh hi there! Haven't seen any of these colonies of crystalline structures and microbial, well, whatever they are.

A good place to set down, eat and rest. The backdrop of gas vents is peaceful and soothing.

Approaching a water world from its night side gives the planet a nice halo effect.

A massive polar ice cap. While I'm not fond of being cold, I would risk it to step out on something like this.

An interesting conjuction, observed from a nearly featureless plane.

Sai is getting better, so I indulged her desire to do a little ring-surfing. Not bad at all.

Sometimes these balls of ice can be interesting too.

This jump took Sai by surprise. It had been a long while since we happened on a binary system with stars so close. She was glad to hand off the helm, and I was glad to navigate this one. I won't admit to showing off a bit when I flew a figure-eight pattern from one corona to the other, but our fuel tanks were grateful.

A very terrestrial ammonia world. I can't deny the curiosity to see one of these from the surface.

The weak starlight here barely illuminates this ringed gas giant.

Water worlds, water worlds everywhere, might they be good to drink?
Water worlds, water worlds, I don't know what to think.

I just spent the last hour trying to plot a route here. In some regions stellar density makes route plotting impossible. In others, it's more a matter of the NaviComp just not being able to connect the dots. Though I have to admit, the NaviComp is still vastly better than route-plotting manually. After quite a bit of effort, occasional cursing, and crashing the NaviComp twice, I was finally able to lay in a course to our next destination - Tenebrae. I have spotted a few places I will have to return to study, but I am going to require a different ship, as these lie too far out the range of the Singularity. Our next destination lies 13,202.12 light years ahead.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

"Hey, Sai, go up to the observation lounge and grab two chairs and one of those folding tables.", I said, after listening to my pilot make enough noise for two people with a bit of gum.

"Sure? Where do you want them?", Sai responded, almost springing from her station. It was fairly obvious she was as restless as I had become. We'd crossed more than 20 systems without seeing so much as solar flare or a little ball of ice.

"Right here, on the bridge.", I said, as I dug through one of the little utility bins for a roll of velcro tape.

"You got it, boss." Sai said, as she crossed the bridge with that fidgety energy and the crack of gum that had been our only entertainment for the majority of the day. I certainly did not expect every day to be a thrill-ride, in fact, this was exactly what I had expected a lot more of - mostly empty space.

Not that it was entirely empty - this ringed world with it's glaring contrast was a nice change, though there was little really remarkable about it, save the coloration.

This ammonia world was also nice change of pace, despite being a near neighbor of the nicely contrasting ringed world.

Sai brought the chairs and the table to the bridge, and I determined their optimal placement.

"Ok, hold that chair a minute." I said, as I velcro-taped it to the carpet. Clever design, these Saud Kruger ships. While most ships used metal floor plates and somewhat bulky magnetic boots, the designers at Saud Kruger took a more innovative approach, and used a very velcro-friendly carpeting over the metal deck plates, and slippers with velcro strips were available as an option.

Once the chair was secured, I eyeballed a place for the table.

"Same thing, hold the table."

"You got it. Mind if I ask what you're doing?"

"I do, just hold the table still."

A few strips of tape later, and the table was in place.

"And now the last chair, right here.", I pointed.

Sai positioned the chair, and set about taping it down as well.

"So you're really not going to tell me?"

"Not yet. Oh, there's something..."

I returned to the helm to spot

"Another ball of partially frozen water.", Sai said with a smirk.

"You know it. I just can't seem to get enough of them."

And it was true. The next few jumps revealed

not one, but two balls of water, though without crowns of ice.

It would be another 12 jumps before we happened upon anything particularly interesting.

A colorful, high metal world with a brilliant ice ring.

Had I known then that would be the last thing we'd see for another 22 jumps, I might have parked us there. Sai resumed her post, and her gum-noise making. I turned up the ship's covas system just to try to drown it out a bit.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen one of these with a ring.", I said, as I put the Singularity into a tight orbit.

"What of w... oh, ball of water.", Sai said with a little giggle, "I know I haven't, and if you haven't, then there probably aren't any. I'm pretty sure you've seen every ball of water out there."

I laughed a little.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it."

"I'd believe it."

"So," I said, getting up from the helm and taking a seat in one of the chairs at the table, "do you know what one of the hardest things to do in microgravity is?"

"It?", Sai offered.

"No.. uh.. er.. uh, yes, but.. hmph.", I should have seen that one coming. I walked right into it. Sai giggled and made noise with her gum.

"Well, which is it, yes or no?"

I took off my helmet, to display the look on my face, which only made Sai giggle more.

"It's both. Yes, it is difficult, no it's not THAT difficult, and that is not what I meant. You're just being... gah... you've been cooped up in here with me too long. Come, have a seat."

Sai slid down from her post to join me at the table. Initially she moved to pull the chair out from the table a bit, before remembering it had been velcroed to the floor, and she sat across from me. I slipped a small box from the top pocket of my suit.

"So what is it, boss?", Sai prompted.

"Cards. It's very difficult to play cards in microgravity."

Sai looked back at me, reflecting my own expression.

"Who plays cards any more? I mean, with actual cards?"

"I do, and you're welcome to join me, or you can go back to your post and make noise with that... where did you find gum anyways?"

"Storage locker B-9. There's a whole bunch of it."

"Remind me to vent storage locker B-9 next time we pass a brown dwarf." I quipped.

"Aww, fine.. I'll stop popping it."

"So, cards?"

"Sure. I know a few games, but, I've never played with actual cards, just digipads."

"It's not that different, except... well, it feels different. It feels... real. We have so much technology all around us, all the time. Sometimes it's nice to just.. put it down for a while, actually DO something."

Sai scratched her head, and looked a bit quizzically.

"I guess. Never really thought about it."

I dealt the cards, 10 to each of us.

"So what's the game?"

"Rummy, do you know it?"

"Sirius Rummy? Leesti Rummy?"

"Just plain, old fashioned Rummy."

"Yep, wow.. that's pretty simple though."

"Simple isn't always a bad thing. We live complicated enough lives, we could all use a bit of simple now and then."

We spent the remainder of the day playing cards, making idle conversation about nothing in particular, and sucking on tubes of ration paste. I'm almost certain Sai was having just a little more fun that I was.

 

[Chaparral]

+1 and bet you can't rhyme something with that first planet.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day 62
Location: Still in Lyra's Song

After a week of nothing but single, double, triple, quadruple and quintuple star systems, or the occasional ball of ice, ball of rock, or particularly plain ball of gas, I suppose I can see the appeal to these Earth-like worlds. At least they break up the scenery nicely.

Of course, water worlds do too, just without all that land.

It became necessary to set down for a while. A recreational break was badly needed. Though Sai's piloting abilities have improved a good deal, long treks through pretty much nothing have started to take a toll. We're both restless, so some rest is required. Turns out Sai's actually quite good at racquetball even in low gravity. I'm sort of curious to see what it would be like with some moderate gravity. A rematch is definitely in the works.

Ok, so with not quite as much land, these things are basically water-worlds with large islands. I suppose that's not too bad.

This gas giant isn't all that interesting itself, but the distant rings around it, now that's pretty neat. I've seen a couple of planets like this, but they usually don't have quite so dense a ring system.

And from time to time, these high metal worlds that are nearly identical to Earth-like worlds turn up. I wonder how many like this may be home to lost or more likely failed colonies from some of the earliest explorers.

Even I have to admit, this little red planet with its massively spread out rings was an impressive sight. That, and it was almost nice to hear Sai squee again. I think the break did us both some good. Either that, or I've acquired a tolerance for her antics. I suppose I might have been just about as excitable at her age. Well, maybe not.

The end of the first day of week 7 find us, where else, in orbit of a water world. A pair of massive storms joining forces provides some interesting entertainment. As I made ready to sleep for the night I pulled up a collection of audio recordings, one of which just happened to be the sounds of storms. It should make for an interesting listen.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day: 65
Location: Lyra's Song

"6.02*10^23 bottles of beer on the wall, 6.02*10^23 bottles of beer... you take one down, pass it around, (6.02*10^23)-1 bottles of beer on the wall...."

I had long since conceded the vastness of space, the emptiness of space, the vast emptiness of space, but this portion of this trek has underlined, highlighted, and put big glowing signs around it.

One star

Two star

Red star

Blue star.

By my calculations, we're still around 40-some jumps from the next sector.

(6.02*10^23)-1 bottles of beer on the wall, (6.02*10^23)-1 bottles of beer, you take one down, pass it around, (6.02*10^23)-2 bottles of beer on the wall.

We'll see how we hold up in this last stretch, or if the beer runs out first.

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

i think you need some of this;

nice pics

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day: 70
Location: Tenebrae

We finally crossed the border, and as I suspected, nothing spectacular happened. We did, however, happen upon a few systems that were not just stars or stars and balls of ice.

A few interesting distractions - various geological formations to break up the whole lot of absolutely nothing here.

Few dozen more jumps, and we happened upon a pocket of something other than stars and balls of ice.

While not particularly colorful, this Class IV Gas Giant fits the description of not-a-ball-of-ice.

These twin red rocks brightened Sai's disposition.

A plethora of colorful water worlds brightened mine.

A gas giant teaming with ammonia-based life makes for a nice change of pace.

This massive canyon gave us a bit of a distraction, as I turned Sai loose in her favorite fighter and gave chase with room to spare.

Spent the night in orbit of yes, "yet another ball of water." as Sai put it. I slept well, listening to another audio file - 10 hours of surf. I simply must make a point of actually seeing it, up close, for myself at some point.

Almost 40 more jumps of nothing in particular before this world happened. While it may not look like much, it does hold a surprise.

Hi guys, haven't seen you in a while! Life. Microbial life in crystalline spires, ancient by all accounts. Who knows how long it took to raise these structures, or how long they've been here. Had I better equipment, I might be able to answer some of these questions, even find more questions to ask. But there is something comforting in the familiar.

And then this - deep within a proto-lagrange cloud, this massive, slowly rotating crystal form, given shape by microbial life, not entirely unlike the microbial life that forms the forests of crystalline cities I had come to recognize. Perhaps this is the microbial version of a space station?

And no so far away, in the same cloud, another. Similar, yet different. The coloration is obviously different. The crystal structure a bit different. Might these be the microbial versions of Federation and Imperial powers, vying for control of the infinite vastness of space? If only these microbes realized just how tiny they were. Of course, the same could be said of us.

Scattered about, these strange pod-like structures. Might these be the ships of the microbes that crafted these floating citadels? Or perhaps they are the remnants of powerful weapons of some microbial war? They seem largely inert, uninterested or unaware that I am even here. Perhaps they are something entirely different? Some other form of life unrelated to the microbes, sharing the same tiny speck of the infinite void. Perhaps they all coexist peacefully. Perhaps they are more clever than we, as we've yet to find a means to do this.

Perhaps these conic pods are not as inert as they seem. They are luminous when viewed from the right angle. Some manner of bioluminescence? Or a power source? A reaction to my presence? Not that I can tell. These husks just drift and spin, like something long abandoned, or forgotten. Or perhaps they simply lie dormant - seeds of life yet to bloom.

They are certainly seemingly far less interested in me than I in they. They are also impressively large, and while I do so long to know what lies beneath their surfaces, my sensors can only provide me with so much data.

The gentlest of nudges, and still no reaction. Perhaps it is something long dead, left to drift in the eternal night.

I'll leave it in peace.

Only a short distance from this cloud is another, with similar, yet different still crystalline structures. Perhaps these are great transports of the microbal life that I've seen sprouting on various worlds. Surely not as spectacular a theory as these being microbial space stations, but a bit of active imagining is good exercise for my tired mind.

Yet another similar, but different crystalline structure. The color is quite striking. I suspect the coloration has more to do with the materials that make up these crystals than anything of any greater significance, but being limited by my equipment, speculate is the best I can do.

Speculate, and be a bit awestruck at the same time. Even Sai was stunned to near silence at this incredible sight. It appears to be damaged, as fragments of at least one of the larger crystal spires floats very near to it. Even the vaporous cloud around it seems to be made up of similar materials. Sai and I would spend the evening in the company of this mystery, idling speculating, theorizing, and simply admiring it. I felt at peace for the first time in quite some time, deeply so, perhaps more than any other time I can remember.

Turns out this might be the last bit of peace and comfort I would know for some time. I spent the next two solid hours coming up with the same solutions. There was simply no way to proceed any further. The stellar density this far out on the edge simply did not give me any routing solutions to move any further ahead. I resigned myself to making a rather large lateral move, inward from the edge, nearly 4000 light years inward, to a region of greater stellar density in hope of finding a passage that would allow us to continue on our way.

When Sai came to relieve me, she brought me something she'd found stored away. It was an ancient Earth story, some 1300 odd years old, that told the tale of a group of explorers seeking the Earth's frozen northern most pole. My sour mood nearly lead me to dismiss Sai's offering, but I reigned in my mood. I do have a particular interest in ancient things, and despite the gap of many generations of ancestors of my own not hailing from the Earth, it is where we all started out, long ago, so I let Sai's offering improve my mood and pique my curiosity.

The story must have come from the ship's library, perhaps the archives section, as it proved not to be one of the more modern styles of audio stories, but a much older style, more subdued and somber. I think I'd listened to nearly a third of it before losing the battle to sleep.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Day 112:

Since the discovery of the curious life forms I’ve been at a bit of a standstill observing them. If they do actually do anything more than drift through space they do so at a pace beyond perception. I have detected no emissions, recorded no indication of any interaction or awareness of any sort. Though I fully admit my equipment is terribly limited, even with Sai’s efforts to improve their efficiency, nothing more I suspect will be learned here. We’ll refuel before we jump out of this system, and bid farewell to our crystalline companions.