Backhaul
01 Feb 2017Tuts
*** Aries Dark Region IX-S b4-3, deep space, Stardate 01.22.3303 ***I can't remember the last time I hauled cargo that made me feel such a sense of disquiet. Of course I am traveling through the region of space where the Encounters have reportedly taken place, but that's not what's bothering me. For the dozenth time, I feel compelled to leave my chair and double-check the hold with my trusty old Mark I Eyeball.
The Lateralus' cargo hold in this configuration has a respectable 192 tonne capacity - in my experience I would call that "cavernous". The thrumming of the frameshift drive reverberates through the nearly empty cavern as I kick off the forward bulkhead and sail towards the stern, where one solitary canister has been lashed down with quadruple redundant tie-downs, clamps, lag bolts, and even honest-to-god organic rope. I wasn't taking any chances with this stuff. Meta-alloys are still only partially understood and beyond humanity's ability to replicate. I am basically hauling a metric ton of spooky alien goop, just so Felicity Farseer will strike a deal with me.
The fasteners and tie-downs look good, and the rope is as taut as when I left Maia. Reassured (for the moment), I do a zero-g flip and fly back towards the cockpit. At least this 800+ly round trip is giving the new drives a good breaking-in. It took a few hundred tons of precious metal mining to afford them, but now Lateralus can manage just a hair over 20 light years per jump - not bad for a vanilla python.
Why the name? It's from an ancient Earth ballad, for some reason it just felt right. The last verse of the song goes something like this:
I'm reaching up and reaching out,
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going, going...
