Halfway To Anywhere
15 Mar 2018Namita Pear
It's an old Earth saying: "If you can make it to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere." I think the last time it was said in earnest must have been over a thousand years ago. It's a haunting reflection, really, and it's not even true anymore. We have drives and propulsion the likes that those old countries couldn't even dream of in their wildest science fiction. But, I still see something that I can get out of this phrase. 'Halfway to anywhere'... I'm always halfway to somewhere, from someplace, and in order to do the things I want I have to first prove that I can even make it halfway.Which brings us to, well, Earth. I'm staring at her now, from the most brightly-lit station I've ever been in, Mikhail Gorbachev. Trying to route to Sol after I had taken YIAH (Yes I Am Happy) for her test drive I learned that you needed a Federal permit just to warp there. It makes sense, Fed capital and all, but damn if it didn't take a few days of near-bribery and errand-running for the Aeternitas authorities to convince them to let me and my copilot get into the system. The tobacco smuggling itself was especially stupid - I nearly skewered my cockpit on the guide-lights as I tried sneaking in to Houtman.
Wade Alexander is my aforementioned copilot. I picked him up off of a station in Arigens, I think, during my Cobra days and he helped keep a second eye on systems while I was busy trying to outmaneuver pirate fighters. He really does deserve a special mention, now, because he's signed up for my crazy exploration venture. I learned from when I hired the guy that he wanted a greater adventure, and to see the stars just like his mother did - she served in the Federal Navy. As for himself, the man's a blonde, handsome-looking fellow who keeps me company, and I suppose that's what he'll do from now on. Maybe I can make him cook for me. Time will tell.
The guy mentioned that he never thought he would be able to visit Sol. His Mom did as part of her job but she died a bit back, and his job never let him take advantage of her permit while she was alive. In truth, I never thought I would, too. But kill a few pirates and send enough booze to depressed scientists, and anything's possible. We warped in after only three jumps (!) from Aeternitas (I always thought we were backwater!) in our freshly-painted Explorer; after that it's a haze of supercruising from planet to planet. We landed on Mercury and skimmed the moons of our ancestral gas giants, scanning every tourist beacon on the way. We even saw capital ships - the FNS Trander was anchored over Africa, and one called 'Starship One' was in orbit of Mars... that other pale blue dot. Who the hell names these things?
I went to Sol not out of tourism, however, even though the fact that I've made a pilgrimage to my species' birthplace makes me feel a little happier about this idea. I'll need to go out where it's desolate and keep my nose to the sensor readings, sit through jump upon jump and grab every valuable bit of data along the way. If I wasn't able to make it to Earth orbit, I wouldn't be able to make it anywhere. Now, at least, I have confidence, a ship, a camera, and a list of places to start out:
Sol- The Coal Stack
- Witch Head Nebula
- Barnard's Loop, which includes:
- -Orion Nebula
- -Horsehead Nebula
- -Running Man Nebula
- California Nebula
It's more than I had a long while ago. In the morning we'll wake up, do our last (surprisingly lucrative) courier job to Alpha Centauri, and start off. Still smiling.