A Ship Built for Generations
10 Nov 2019Gatimũ Kamau
CMDR’s Log, 3305.11.10, Sol Calendar; They told me it was there. And if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it; despite the Galnet validating/reporting the find.We heard it through "the grapevine" that an intrepid commander had stumbled across another of the fabled generation ships that was dispatched from Earth over a thousand years ago in the long years before frame shift technology in an effort to colonize the stars...then they were all but lost to humanity. (Thank the Goddess for listening posts.)
Of the supposed thousands that were dispatched from our planet, only 15 have been found. And among these discoveries, ALL of them have been found dead........until now.
The Generation Ship Golconda was found drifting through the Upaniklis solar system where after she'd became effectively unable to continue to propel herself under her own power and she began to broadcast a distress signal. After centuries of interstellar travel, her people have found themselves in a bad way. But despite the chatter among the Pilots' Federation, we had no idea exactly how bad off they really were until we encountered the ship ourselves.
The gargantuan vessel has been operating long past its intended life span.
It's planet-side equipment which was once meant for initial planetary colonization has been all but bastardized in the interest of keeping the ship moving and they no longer have the supplies and equipment to repair old systems.
There aren't enough raw materials on board to synthesize/produce new equipment.
The ship's reserves of foodstuffs, fuel and medicines are all but exhausted.
And to top it all off, some form of super-contagion has apparently spawned a deadly sickness that has led to the ship's crew enacting a quarantine. People are dying.
And if all that weren't enough, the denizens of the Golconda have been so insulated and so self-sufficient for so long that many of them are extremely resistant to any type of outside help regardless of how badly they need it. So much so that their leadership had to force the issue via mandate lest sickness, starvation or eventual exposure turn the vessel into a ship of the dead.
If there's a silver lining to this cloud, its that humanity has found a lost piece of itself; its history. This "ship out of time" represents a lost piece of our collective soul and it's too precious to let die. To that end, this discovery has also had the added effect of refocusing humanity in a way rarely seen these days. No longer are the superpowers fighting for dominance (however temporarily). The Thargoid scourge is no longer the primary focus of our collective efforts. It's helping our once lost people. The Federation, the Empire and the Alliance have all decided rather unanimously that getting the Golconda the supplies and medical expertise that they need to continue to survive (and maybe even settle if they're receptive to it), is priority number one for all who are able to support the initiative. And the Pilot's Federation wholeheartedly supports this course of action.
Na'Kimuli and I have already committed the Skies of Afrika (and our personal savings) to the effort and have started transporting basic and advanced medicines to Fozard Port under the flag of [REDACTED]. We could do no less. Even under penalty of death should our actions on behalf of [REDACTED] be discovered by our superiors in the Empire.
Regardless of the whether-tos and why-fores, we can't turn our backs on these people. We won't turn our backs on these people. One way or another, we will do our part to ensure that the Golconda, and her people, have a future.
