Going Walkabout: Journey's End
07 Nov 2020Seth Bradwell
I depart the Mermaid's Purse with one final shot of my ship and the moon I just lifted off from:
The finishing line is well and truly in sight now as I cross into the Inner Orion Spur:
I then take in one last nebula - the Cat's Paw, which really does look like a cat's paw:
Then, just under 5,500 Ly later, I arrive back in civilized space - in the system of Hugh Horizons in HIP 76982. I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I finally touch down, with no more worries about getting ripped apart in a neutron star jet or frying between a close-orbiting binary system. Here is my ship, now safely in the hanger:
She certainly looks like she has been out exploring. Just a few months earlier with fresh paintwork:
The repair crew here are going to be pretty occupied for sure:
Finally, a just reward for the many days I spent out there alone in the furthest reaches of the galaxy:
That marks the end of that particular journey, and on landing in the Bubble I was simply grateful to just return intact so I could record my achievements. Next time I go far beyond the Bubble I intend to pick a particular area of the galaxy to explore and focus on that, whilst taking in more key landmarks on the way there and back. I may even do things the slow way and get off the neutron highway, not because of the risk but more because of doing things at a slower pace. Anyway that concludes my quest to achieve a feat that relatively few pilots have managed, and more importantly, I got back in one piece this time.