Ship malfunction in the galactic center
12 Apr 2020Thunktone
3306-04-04 09:00,Juenae KG-Y E3754,
Strangely refreshed.
Wait, is that right? No, it's 3305-04-04, why is my ship showing me the wrong date? And out by exactly one standard year, that can't be a coincidence. Camilla must be playing some weird joke on me, a belated April fools perhaps. Anyway...
Distant Worlds finished for me about three weeks after my last log entry, after we built Explorer's Anchorage in Stuemeae FG-Y d7561. I just couldn't face the journey out to Beagle Point, let alone the longer route back to the bubble. So I've been plotting my own route back home, some distance from the Colonia Highway. I'm still scanning plenty of neutron stars that no one else has seen, and there's no great shortage of water worlds either. I should get a good paycheck when I return to the bubble.
Ah, dammit! My ship's controls are all messed up! Nothing is working the way I like it. If this is Camilla's idea of a joke I swear she's going out of the airlock. We're too far from civilisation for this kind of prank. I'd better go talk to her.
3306-04-04 11:46,
Scheau Prao YK-P e5-3549,
Confused
The ship's comms are down too. I'm pretty sure I can fix them as we have plenty of materials on board. But until I do that I can't get any help analysing the clock. I did at least sort out the controls. Fortunately I kept my notes from the first time I configured them so it "only" took half an hour.
Camilla swears she didn't mess with anything and she's convincing enough to still be breathing. I'm trying not to think about what else might have caused the errors - delayed sabotage? Guardian malware? alien stowaways? All seem impossible so Camilla isn't above suspicion just yet. I had already scanned Juenae KG-Y E3754 and I swear there was nothing unusual about the system. We've agreed to keep travelling as any inconsistencies in the galmap will be too small to affect the hyperdrive and these systems are all uncharted anyway. I just have to remember to correct the exploration data when we get the clock working. I just hope that it's still worth something and they don't just reject it as corrupted.
I think the nearest station must still be the one we just helped build, but even that is far enough away now that we might as well continue. If the ship can make it to Explorer's Anchorage then it'll make it back to the bubble. The escape pods are fully operational so if worst comes to worst we'll be going home the less profitable way.
3306-04-05 09:15,
Athairk ND-V c18-1251,
Empyrean Straits,
A little bit frightened.
I put the ship down on a little moon last night and set to work fixing the comms. I have spoken to a few people back in the bubble and - unless the whole galaxy is in on the joke against me - the clock isn't wrong, I just slept for a whole year. I don't know how it happened, how I survived, how my ship What is Home? still has any fuel, or why Camilla thinks I'm going to pay her a year's salary for hibernating. I suppose I could just pay her, it's peanuts compared to what I'm earning out here.
There were no strange phenomena in Juenae KG-Y E3754 so the most likely scenario that I'm left with is ridiculous. Aliens - I can't think of any other explanation than that we've just been messed around by aliens. Could the Thargoids have done it? They've shut down my ship before but only for a quick scan and they've never knocked me unconcious. And they don't get you in your sleep, they pull you out of hyperspace. Besides, if there have been reports of 'goids in the center then I haven't heard about them. The Guardians are dead and I don't think this is anything to do with the Skaudai ruins. How could they have known a Type-10 would exist, let alone how to hack into one? So is this something new?
Or something old? There are stories of aliens messing with people on Earth, before we got into space. Lost time is part of those stories. But now I sound crazy.
Focus on the now, and on the positive. That's all I can do right now. My ship's softare has been upgraded and the FSS is easier to use now. I don't have to control it using the flight stick anymore and it's telling me much more quickly when possible indicators of life are present. I already stumbled on some sinuous tubes in Wepiae HM-V e2-8900. I took some samples for science and some Ruthenium rich phloem for, uh, whatever Ruthenium is for. Well if I can't use it then the materials traders will know someone who can.
I just passed through a neutron star system that had already been explored, but otherwise I'm still in uncharted space, including most of the neutron stars I'm boosting from. My FSD is down to 86% integrity but there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to boost as I get closer to the bubble so I'll probably continue to make the most of it while I can.
Speaking of the bubble, there was some interesting news. Everyone's buzzing about Brewer Corporation's plans to sell "fleet carriers" to private owners. I have half a billion in the bank but I'd need ten times that to buy one, and even more to keep it in the skies. It sounds like ARRC will be getting a few though, and Fleetcomm want to put at least one in every sector of the galaxy. Good luck to them. I guess for me it will be like having a few more stations to dock at, incuding some conveniently placed for whatever ARRC are up to. And presumably some very inconveniently placed by our rivals.
3306-04-06, 17:00,
Ongaihn VQ-U c16-350 2 d a,
Annoyed
I was just pootling about on this tiny little ice moon looking for some decent geysers. Got one mediocre SRV jump and then they all went lifeless. So I called for the ship, and guess what? Camilla's gone and dented it. Cost me a scarab too because she just couldn't land the ship to collect it. If there were a station within 1,000 light years she'd be out of a job by now. Truth is I've been making mistakes myself. Jumped about half a dozen times with a malfunctioning FSD when the AFMU is working just fine and I just put a teaspoon of salt in my vicious brew. I think whatever stole a year from us has addled our brains somewhat. Not good when we're so far from civilisation.
3306-04-11, 21:00,
Floadue HZ-M d8-60,
Fine, I guess.
Speaking of mistakes... Camilla's dent seems rather less significant after what I just did. My mistake was extending my landing gear too early on approaching a planet's surface. I don't even know what posessed me to go down there. Silicon magma? It's not that rare. It wasn't that big a planet - 1.2g or so - but I'm rusty. I really did miss out on a year of practice. I was going down too fast, so I pitched up, put throttle and upwards thrust to full, and hit boost. Then crash, I hit the surface and nearly wrecked the ship, you can't boost with your gear out. I shouldn't have cut that corner just to try to save a few seconds.
After I had collected some samples, I had about 10 minutes to mess about in a Condor while the drones repaired the damage. I wondered if the medicomp could repair my damaged head, but it says there's nothing wrong with me aside from my fitness. Was I this flabby before the big sleep? I thought I was in pretty good shape. Camilla's been bugging me to work out with her, I think I'll take up the offer.
3306-04-12, 08:15,
Floadue HZ-M d8-60,
Feeling good.
I totally misunderstood what Camilla meant by working out together. I think we'll be doing a lot more of it on the way back to the bubble and I'll just try to get back to my old exercise habits. The nice thing about bringing such a large ship out exploring is that there is plenty of room for things like the gym and there are even a couple of corridors where I can sprint - I never did like treadmills.