CMDR's Log, Dec. 26th 3301: The Search for Snow (and Canyons.)
27 Dec 2015Mr Yar
This is an excerpt of my journeys and explorations, presented in my own fashion. To some this will be informative, yet to others it will provide entertainment. Regardless I am writing this to exercise my power of writing and of storytelling.I hope you enjoy.
All events mentioned in these logs actually transpired.
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CMDR's Log, the 26th of December, year 3301.
Current Ship: The Queen of Trades, a Viper Mk IV.
Log Begins.
Christmas Day is one of the oldest traditions of the Galaxy, preceded by Hanukkah and followed closely by the dawning of the New Year. Some Pilots decorate their dashboards with festive trees, synthetic replicas of those found on the terrestrials of the homeworlds, others practice the giving of gifts to follow the Goodwill Toward Men clause of the doctrine. Thus it could be said, however coincidental it may be, that my gift from the Pilots Federation was the approval of my application for Planetary Hangar purchasing.
Despite being a relatively old practice (men had strode upon lifeless husks of planetoids for hundreds of years by now) the Pilots Federation's efforts to standardize and modularize exploratory vehicles for use by the Pilots had only just reached fruition. Having heard of this and seen photos of other explorers and their ships upon airless moons and hearing their experiences I wished the same for myself.
So here I sit in the Queen with a brand new SRV hangar freshly installed. All I need is a suitable goal.
I think back to the pictures I've seen. What immediately strikes me is white. White soil, white crystallized water. Christmas is also often associated with the winter clime on many planets. While pulling up the galaxy map to start plotting my routes it occurs to me that it is a rather mundane goal. Crystallized water and other elements are relatively common in space after all. I am then reminded of a particular photo I saw in passing: that of an Asp Explorer and it's Pilot's SRV sitting in a deep ravine.
Snow and Canyons then.
I start my search from a place I have already been: Alrai Sector BK-R A4-3 (the layman in my head deciding to interpret the numerology as 'Burger King Royalty All For Three.') I knew the system had three Icy Body planets but I had not taken a closer look at all of them. Fortunately it is a relatively compact system with no planets being more than 2,200 light seconds out. Alas, all three icy planets were of a ruddy red nature, their frozen elements being more of soil and dust rather than water.
Onto Burger King Royalty All For Four then.
Initial scans were promising, two more Icy Body planets, the fourth and fifth planets out. What luck! These planets were snow-like enough for my tastes. Yet the fourth planet was too uniform, carrying only craters. The fifth planet however... What are those ruddy red scratches upon it's surface?
As I drew closer and the planet grew more detailed my heart sank. These were not canyons, they were merely patches of red strewn about the landscape, as if feathered on by a brush.
Still it's scratched exterior did intrigue me from far away. Lesson learned: appearances are deceptive.
...
Ross 769 is my next stop. Plenty of contacts none farther than 1,600 light seconds out. However unlike the Alrai sectors, Ross 769 is inhabited, and at war.
Seems that some lawful types from Carmentia are having it out with a local group. The fighting seems to have been going on for a long time and both groups are rather desperate, not only for relief but for more weapons.
Overall I am not to impressed with the system or the state of the war, but a sudden message and the thump as my Frame Shift Drive is interrupted causes me to reconsider it. I fight the interdiction for a minute to judge my opponent, he's clearly more maneuverable and faster than my Viper IV which suggests a small, agile ship that I should have no problems with. I submit to the interdiction to get it over with.
Yet again, I am surprised. This Andy Brazier is in a Vulture, the one ship that is both small, maneuverable and a problem for me. He's not a complete idiot.
Just a dead one.
...
Little has happened since then. It seems likely that Andy never managed to get a distress call out or the rest of the Justice Party knows of my prowess, or affiliations, to temper their lust for combat against me. Even still, Ross 769 is beginning to bore me. Binary planets are always interesting at least.
...
The next system on my trek is Huh. Yes. Huh. That is not an error. A staggering fifty-six contacts at distances of up to 17,400 light seconds away! I gird myself for the search ahead. I spy a couple outposts around the Beta star while scanning over the system. Perhaps it is more peaceful than Ross 769.
Alas, more war although of a more insidious sort. Two bit players on the system's scale fighting among each other for the amusement of the top dog perhaps. At least with the outposts being around the system's Beta I should remain unscathed as I catalog every planet and moon.
...
Now here's a treat, binary planets are interesting but binary moons are even more so!
I must get a closer look... That looks like a good spot!
Landing is quite easy, there's plenty of flat ground for me to choose from. As I look up at the second moon a smile creaks upon my face. Engaging my external camera I adjust it's positioning carefully. In spatial terms, you could practically reach out and touch it.
With that out of the way, since I'm on the surface now I might as well take the buggy out for a spin. Disembarking from the Queen I take up the slightly more cramped space in the SRV's cockpit and let the automated systems do their work. Buzzing out from under the ship I pause to listen to the wave scanner. The hard return from my ship will cloud it, so I dismiss her to orbit. Nothing to worry about on my part, she'll be fine.
Now with her gone I am free to follow my wave scanner. A nice, low tone not too far from here.
I punch up the throttle on the buggy and almost leap right off the moon, barely having to use my thrusts to feather my descent back to the surface. I had glanced at the gravity of the place but the jump bounced it right out of my head!
To some a wild bouncing buggy is a death sentence. For me, it's a delight.
After some minutes trekking and a few more minutes practically flying over the snowy dunes of the moon I come across my quarry: Mesoderite. Always sounds in low tones at the bottom of the scanner.
In another reminder to the slight gravity of the moon, the materials I shoot out of the rock take forever to fall. Fortunately they do not bounce, lest I had been forced to use my ship to scoop them up!
Turning in four quick bursts to get a 360 degree impression from my wave scanner I pick up on a... Rusty door noise? Intriguing. It's faint so it's quite far away. This will be a trek. I am fortunate to have quite the company on the road though.
...
Further along a clicking starts to distort the rusty noise. I am no stranger to Geiger Counters and that such a sound can only mean one thing: Bronzite Chondite. I eliminate those outcroppings primarily so I can focus on the rusty noise. If I had some lubricating oil with me you could say it was something of a sirens song. After a particularly bad spill falling off a particularly steep incline my buggy could certainly use some maintenance by now.
...
At last! It's close enough for me to properly pick out now: a hard return! It's not too far away now, just over these series of hills... There it is. The wreckage is old and weathered, half sunken into the chilly sediment of the plant. Wheels and thruster arrays one way, the broken shells of cargo capsules the other. In the middle lies the husk of another SRV, much like my own.
A sobering thought: to die so far out here. Was it because of the civil war? Sabotage of the cargo capsules? A thrill seeker enjoying the moon's low gravity to a solemn end? Or perhaps someone stranded here without a ship until entropy inevitably took it's due. Alas, poor buggy, I knew you not.
...
After picking a few motes of materials from some more Mesoderire and Bronzite I feel satisfied with my explorations. I call the Queen down. No, not there you silly lady! You're on the hill in such a way that I cannot squeeze the buggy underneath you! Perhaps I should cut your diet a bit. Or simply dismiss and recall you.
That's a good lady.
Anthropomorphizing aside it is a simple matter to return to the cockpit of the Queen of Trades. Take off and leaving orbit are as simple as always. Time to make my way to the Beta star and the two outposts. I still have another whole system to cover, one where all the action is.
...
Leaving well enough alone seems to be the word of the day. Akin to the silent reverence that I gave the buggy, the residents of Huh give me wide berth. I am not accosted nor do I see much in the way of traffic about the system, most of it being from the primary to the outposts around the first two planets of the system's Beta. Nor do any of the planets or moons tickle my fancy quite like those binary moons. A yawn surpasses my effort to stifle it and I check the time. It's late enough to consider heading to a more permanent berth.
Still, I am satisfied. I have found varieties of snow. The canyons shall be mine yet!
Log Ends.