Exobio expedition cut short
07 Feb 2023Ember Lacson
Here I am at Niven Dock in the Xinca system. It was named for Larry Niven, one of my dad's favorite authors from the twentieth century, and I can definitely say he was influential for me as a writer. Now, my stuff will never see the light of day, and not even Nicole has read it—though, once I get back to the Morningstar she'll probably be clamoring for it. I was planning on selling the wealth of organic data I have in storage, which is comfortably over fifty mil, but this place is barely a truck stop, as Uncle Rogier would say. There's a bar, where I'm sitting to write this little the, as well as a Pioneer Supplies, an Apex office, and I think that's it. They have tiny rooms, but I need a nice hot shower. I never did make it to Ipet before I stopped the other day; I was too damn tired, so I flew to the dark side of the moon and parked. Eden said I was asleep within two minutes from the time I closed my eyes.I'm still sore from all the skirmishes. Nicole mentioned in the edit she made to her entry that I would never admit how severe my injuries were, and she's right. So I'll prove her wrong. I went down at least four times. Lost consciousness. Woke up in a field hospital each time. They pumped me full of drugs and sent me back out. I don't know what the hell they gave me. I'm still on some pretty strong pain killers, but thankfully my suit has the prescription, and the side effects are minimal. No drowsiness or inebriation, at least. The biggest downside is I think the damn things are going to get me addicted. I've caught myself watching the clock at least once, eager for the next hit. This is why I try to drink as little alcohol as possible. This is why I don't eat junk food. One step over the edge and I will plummet. Though I don't know this from experience, I'd rather not find out. And considering how awful an addiction to pain killers can be...I really don't want to find out this particular way.
So tomorrow morning I'm going to toss the remaining drugs in the nearest incinerator, take one and a half times the recommended dose of my usual over-the-counter stuff, and hope for the best. It worked when I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled, so it'd better work now. But this expedition is getting too long. I've been on it for...jeez, I've lost count, at least a week now. I've made hundreds of millions. But so help me, if I have to traverse jagged mountains and search for a landing spot for half an hour just to get one tiny fungoida setisis specimen.... Yeah, I think I'm losing my mind. I have a little bit of an itchy trigger finger.
As soon as I get back I'm going to do a quick and dirty AX build for Meershaulk, which I didn't want to do, but I'm dying to try out those Azimuth shard cannons and maybe one of their stabilizers so that I can go to town on some Thargoid scouts and some Cyclopes. I'll make sure to check with the AXI to see where I'm needed. I'm also planning on getting some refugees out of those ports as well, since that is always helpful in the war effort. Some of the stuff I need is only available at the rescue megaships, too, IIRC.
Anyway, it's late, I'm tired, and I need some good sleep if I'm going to keep going without these drugs. I've decided to cut my expedition short and scan only life forms estimated at two million or more. I'll lose less than ten percent of the estimated total payout that way, and it'll take me a lot less time to get back. I have only a week and change before Nicole takes off for Dromi again, and I want to spend as much quality time with her as I can.
We're going to start a shared channel where we vlog about the goings on in our lives. We'll call it Lacson and Wolff (original, I know), and I'll link you to it when it goes live. But that probably won't be for another couple weeks. Now, barring anything else exciting, I'm going to be pretty absent until I finish this expedition.
o7 everyone, and fly dangerously.