It was nearly a year ago when a group of explorers left us to go to the Elysium Cluster. Without knowing if there was a way to return, they travelled into the void across what is now known as the gap at point decision. Only the spotters and supply ships stayed on this side of the gap to return home and bring us news.
What is not widely known is that shortly after the group jumped to the Elysium Cluster, there was received a signal from the other side. It is apparently a communique regarding a “head count” after the jump was complete.
BEGIN TRANSMISSION
At the time of this recording, there is no known way to get back from this cluster. I send this out in hopes someone on the other side receives it and knows of our fate and remembers those lost.”
END TRANSMISSION
After this message was received, rescue ships were sent to the systems around point decision. Some of the lost were found. Some straggled back to Maia on their own. A year out and neither wreckage nor any sign of the Stellar Pearl has been found. The rescue operation was deemed complete.
This writer has heard stories, however, told in bars and from patients recovering in station hospitals. Told by those who came in, low on supplies having been lost or severely damaged while out in the black. Always with the same theme. At the end of their rope, having not the resources to rescue themselves, a ship appeared on their scope just long enough to show them the way home. That ship? CMDR Margaret Mason’s Stellar Pearl.
Take those stories, dear reader, for what you will.
What is not widely known is that shortly after the group jumped to the Elysium Cluster, there was received a signal from the other side. It is apparently a communique regarding a “head count” after the jump was complete.
BEGIN TRANSMISSION
Log entry from Elysium Starfire
“We made it and it is as beautiful here as one might imagine. It is so serene, so peaceful. Yet not everyone made it.
Some time ago, I met a woman named Margaret. She and her husband traveled the stars. They weren’t necessarily prolific explorers, rather they would travel to war torn systems where she, as a nurse, would treat the wounded and comfort the dying. On one of their expeditions, her husband died and she was left alone with the ship they once roamed the stars in. It was after this time that I met her. She would leave the station pad so slow, I would often tease her by declaring she was the notorious loiterer Margaret Mason, flaunting the law at every station but never caught.
As I said, she wasn’t a famous explorer but for some reason when this chance to go to Elysium came up, she wanted to join. She isn’t on any of the official rosters as she came along without signing up. There were more than a few of those.
Being a bit of an engineer, I helped her prepare her ship for the journey. I have some influence with Farseer at Deciat, so getting her FSD adjusted for the jump at point decision was fairly easy. We replaced some of the ship construction with lighter materials and removed what wasn’t necessary. Her ship, Stellar Pearl, was ready.
The day of the jump came and we all left Maia heading to Hades. I like the old songs, so I had a song called ‘I see fire’ on the PA while landing. It seemed apropos. It occurs to me that using a place called Hades as a rally point to reach a place called Elysium is ironic. Once everyone arrived, we left the star kissed surface to begin the climb to point decision. There things did not go as smoothly.
It was discovered that some specialized software we had all installed for fuel calculations had a bug, but not until the group had started the jump across un-scoopable stars. In addition, fuel use is not linear for some ship configurations, such as my own. Luckily I discovered this fact and was able to compensate.
During the jumps from point decision to Elysium the common radio channel was filled with chatter, some panicked, some calm. Finally, we made it across the gap.
Most of us did anyway. A headcount had showed a few missing. Among the missing was the Stellar Pearl. The last I saw of her ship was at the second star coming across the gap, where most of the confusion had started. Her ship disappeared from the scope leaving a jump wake but apparently never arrived at the other side.
Over the expedition period, I scanned and cataloged my assigned systems always keeping an eye out for my friend or any of the others who didn’t come across. They never appeared.
Some time ago, I met a woman named Margaret. She and her husband traveled the stars. They weren’t necessarily prolific explorers, rather they would travel to war torn systems where she, as a nurse, would treat the wounded and comfort the dying. On one of their expeditions, her husband died and she was left alone with the ship they once roamed the stars in. It was after this time that I met her. She would leave the station pad so slow, I would often tease her by declaring she was the notorious loiterer Margaret Mason, flaunting the law at every station but never caught.
As I said, she wasn’t a famous explorer but for some reason when this chance to go to Elysium came up, she wanted to join. She isn’t on any of the official rosters as she came along without signing up. There were more than a few of those.
Being a bit of an engineer, I helped her prepare her ship for the journey. I have some influence with Farseer at Deciat, so getting her FSD adjusted for the jump at point decision was fairly easy. We replaced some of the ship construction with lighter materials and removed what wasn’t necessary. Her ship, Stellar Pearl, was ready.
The day of the jump came and we all left Maia heading to Hades. I like the old songs, so I had a song called ‘I see fire’ on the PA while landing. It seemed apropos. It occurs to me that using a place called Hades as a rally point to reach a place called Elysium is ironic. Once everyone arrived, we left the star kissed surface to begin the climb to point decision. There things did not go as smoothly.
It was discovered that some specialized software we had all installed for fuel calculations had a bug, but not until the group had started the jump across un-scoopable stars. In addition, fuel use is not linear for some ship configurations, such as my own. Luckily I discovered this fact and was able to compensate.
During the jumps from point decision to Elysium the common radio channel was filled with chatter, some panicked, some calm. Finally, we made it across the gap.
Most of us did anyway. A headcount had showed a few missing. Among the missing was the Stellar Pearl. The last I saw of her ship was at the second star coming across the gap, where most of the confusion had started. Her ship disappeared from the scope leaving a jump wake but apparently never arrived at the other side.
Over the expedition period, I scanned and cataloged my assigned systems always keeping an eye out for my friend or any of the others who didn’t come across. They never appeared.
At the time of this recording, there is no known way to get back from this cluster. I send this out in hopes someone on the other side receives it and knows of our fate and remembers those lost.”
END TRANSMISSION
After this message was received, rescue ships were sent to the systems around point decision. Some of the lost were found. Some straggled back to Maia on their own. A year out and neither wreckage nor any sign of the Stellar Pearl has been found. The rescue operation was deemed complete.
This writer has heard stories, however, told in bars and from patients recovering in station hospitals. Told by those who came in, low on supplies having been lost or severely damaged while out in the black. Always with the same theme. At the end of their rope, having not the resources to rescue themselves, a ship appeared on their scope just long enough to show them the way home. That ship? CMDR Margaret Mason’s Stellar Pearl.
Take those stories, dear reader, for what you will.
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