The Journey, Part IV - Here There Be Dragons

[IndigoWyrd]

Three stars here, two stars there, 8 balls of ice, 9 balls of rock, single star, single star, 52 balls of ice, rock and gas, half a dozen brown dwarfs, some with balls of ice or rock, some without, a few forests of Pedunkle trees and runaway pods, and what's the first interesting thing we find?

"Oh, look, boss, a ball of water. Pink water at that."
"It's not really pink, Sai, it's more a champagne color."
"Nah, it's pink, like the bubbles in my bath tub, which reminds me, I really want to take a bath."
"Then take a bath."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because we're in space, and the water doesn't stay in the tub, it sticks to you and tries to swallow you into a blob of water, because we haven't landed anywhere with more than an after-thought of gravity in... I don't know how long."
"Fourteen days."
"Yes, fourteen.. wait? Has it been fourteen days already?"
"Yes, why?"
"I'd lost count. But your ball of water is still pink."

'He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.' -Tsun Tsu

It has been said countless times, by countless people, in countless ways, but the words of Tsun Tsu have never rung more truly than when it comes to dealing with the female of the species. This particular high-metal world, rich in water, with an almost entirely nitrogen atmosphere, 3.44 atmospheres of pressure, and .87 G of gravity would make for an ideal spot to set down so Sai could have her pink bubble bath and I could have some peace and quiet. While I appreciate the energy of her youth, it can become exhausting for me.

"Sai?"
"Yes?"
"In all your wanderings, have you seen a black case about...", I gestured the approximate size, "this big, with a mark on it that looks like a W and M superimposed on each other on it?"
"Hmm.. I... I'm not sure. Maybe? Why, what is it?"
"It's mine, but I don't recall if I brought it with me, or if I left it on my other ship."
"You have another ship?"
"Yes, several actually."
"Woah. Several?"
"Yes, several, docked at different places I tend to turn up."
"What kind of ships?"
I took a slow, deep breath, and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
Sai leaned forward on her chair, staring at me with a certain intensity I recognized. If I didn't give her an answer, she would pester me until I did.
"A freighter, a mining ship, and a passenger ship."
"Let me guess... a Type-9, a Keelback and...", she twisted her lips into an almost diagonal smile, indicating that she was thinking with a great deal of force, "...a Dolphin?"
"Right, on all three accounts."
Sai clapped to herself and giggled. "I knew it! We're going to have to renegotiate my salary."
"We will, when you actually do something.", I teased.
"Oh! Like fixing the route plotter? Or finding your helmet for four-millionth time? Or how about...."
"How about deploying a fighter directly into a tree pod? What is that now, three we've lost?"
"Oh, that's not fair... you left the lights on an scared it directly in my way, and you know it."
"Ok, I DID leave the lights on, I'll take the blame there."
"Darn right you will. So what's this bag you want me to find?"
"I didn't say I wanted you to find it, I just wondered if you'd seen it."
"I don't know, maybe. But what is it?"
"If you find it, you'll find out, if not, you might not ever know."
"Knowing you, I'm probably better off not knowing. It's probably a Xihe Biomorphic arachnid or something just as creepy."
"Trust me, if I had a Xihe Biomorphic arachnid, I'd have trained it to hid under your bunk by now."
Reflexively, I ducked, as a small, bluish puff shot past me.
"Oh, by the way, we're just about out of these blue algae puffs."
"Oh, by the way, those aren't blue algae puffs, they're insulating foam pellets."
"No, they just taste like it."
We both laughed. At least one of us was right, I just wasn't going to admit which.

Among the stars, among the trees - I can't help but wonder if there isn't some pattern here I just can't see.

There is something to be said for these dense forests, something inspiring, but the words escape me.

We crossed a vast expanse of brown dwarf stars, nearly depleting our fuel before we happened on this magnificent high-metal world. I promised Sai I'd put us down for a while, so she could have her pink bubble bath. I have to admit, I was looking forward to feeling some gravity beneath me as well.

On the vast plains we spotted fuming vents of sulfur dioxide. I opted to take the fighter out for a change, and let Sai pilot the Singularity for a while, while I scouted the plains and located a suitable spot to bring the Singularity down for a while. A precision telepresence hand-off put Sai in control of the fighter to dock, while I maneuvered the ship into position to land.

It took a good deal of effort to set down, and I nodded to Sai when we were down.

"Bath time, Sai."
"Oh you know it, boss."

She slipped from her seat with an almost feral grace, and crumpled to a pile on the floor. It took an enormous effort not to laugh.
"I... can't.. move...", Sai struggled.
"It's the gravity. Give yourself a minute to adjust."
"How.. much... gravity?"
"Not that much, 1.65 G's."
"Easy.. for.. you.. to.. say. You're.. a.. mutant..."
Now I laughed, and slipped from my seat, making my way to Sai, to offer her a hand up.
"I am not. I just grew up in much higher gravity."
It took minimal effort to lift Sai, and it took her a moment to steady herself.
"How about next time, you warn me first?"
"What, and miss out on a little entertainment? Of course, you could have checked the display while you were tailing me."
"You're right. I should have."
"It's alright, it's been a long what, two and half days now?"
"Has it been that long?"
"It has. Now off you go. I'm going too, but I'll pass on the bubbles."

A few hours, and a few dozen jumps across another expanse of brown dwarf stars, and a T Tauri Type star, and we found this little gem, venting pink plumes of iron rich gasses.

And a few jumps later, this vast plain of roiling iron magma.

On the way out, we stopped in the forest, a peaceful enough place to spend the night, and get some much needed sleep.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

About half-way through the 36 week mark, and what do I have to show for it?

More trees. This part of the "soupy region" is just heavily forested. That's fine and all, but I'm getting a real strong desire to find something else out here now.

Decided to break things up with a ring-surf around this gas giant.

Followed by a fly-through of a rather massive ring system around a rather small moon.

Then a fly-by of another gas giant with a rather large ring system, and some nice contrasting colors.

Right before I find more trees, just outside the rings of this gas giant.

And just before a near-miss with this crystalline formation at the edge of the forest. I'd almost forgotten about these turning up among the trees. This helps.

So do some nitrogen ice geysers. I thought of flying through them to clean my ship, but I've worn the paint down past the primer lever.

So maybe I'm not quite as treed-out as I thought. Finding a thick forest like this, within the icy ring of this gas giant was satisfying in its own strange way.

Sai asked to take a little time off, which I was perfectly fine with, as most of this leg has been largely empty systems of brown dwarf stars, a few balls of ice, and a whole lot of empty. At first, I thought her request was kind of strange. This trip is about as close to "time off" as it gets. But then I thought about it, and it actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. I rather think I like the thought of just lounging around this ship, doing not a darn thing for a couple of days. After all, this liner is in the top 0.1% of all liners out there.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

It's been quite some time since anything of note turned up, and this uncommon Type IV gas giant is certainly notable.

The rings of this gas giant are massive, and riddled with Serendibite and Musgravite.

Weighing in at 3,538.3435 Earth masses and a radius of 65,661 km, 33.38 G of gravity, a "surface" temperature of 936K and an atmosphere of 72.4% hydrogen and 27.6% helium, this giant is rich with resources. The rings have an inner radius of 116,244 km, an outer radius of 530,489 km, and a mass of 1,138,401,476,608 metric tons.

The "haze" that surrounds these pedunkle trees blocks a considerable amount of the nearby star's light. I suspect the concentration of trees in this region may be responsible for the "soup" throughout this region, though it's difficult to be certain without more sensitive scanning equipment or a means to collect samples.

This numbers among one of the most colorful planets I've seen.

And made for a good place to set down and make some necessary repairs. Malfunctions have began to crop up throughout a number of minor systems, as well as in the frame shift drive, but they are mostly just annoying at this point.

A few systems of nothing noteworthy later, and a very near miss with an A Type star, and I've opted to get some very much needed sleep. We're reaching the edge of Dryman's Point, which will mark the end of this leg of this trip, and the start of the next.