Commander's Log: Julian Date 2928325.625
19 May 2019Urania Minora
Arrived at Explorer's Anchorage. Not too shabby for the galactic core. The bar could use a better drink selection though!The Sagan is a little beat up. Some minor hull and powerplant damage. Nothing the dock workers couldn't quickly repair though.
My passenger seemed pretty laid back about it, saying:
"These things happen in deep space. Micrometeoroids, cosmic rays, micro singularities, I've seen them all. I'm happy we didn't run into Thargoids!"
In the same breath, though: "I don't appreciate being scanned. If it happens again, I'm cancelling the contract".
Good thing I just turned in over a hundred million credits worth of exploration data.
Still though, I should probably keep this client happy since they are paying almost fifty million credits for this trip.
Much as I enjoy this little Dolphin, it's becoming VERY clear that it does function best as a "vacation" ship, and not a deep space exploration vessel.
Certainly I'm not the first person to take a Dolphin this far from the "bubble", but there's definitely a reason you don't see many this far out.
Sure.... the ship is SUPER comfortable. Nice soft beds instead of a hard titanium couchbed, a kitchenette stocked with real food instead of algae paste and protein powder, you get the idea.
There's only so much you can strip off the ship, and the glass can't be replaced with standard hull materials without significantly compromising hull integrity.
Coincidentally, there's a shipbuilder expo here on the station. A bit odd this far from the bubble, but whatever. I spoke to the Faulcon deLacy rep, and put a down payment on a brand new Anaconda.
There went seventy million credits, and probably about two hunded million more out the window when I get to LP 726-6 / Vesalius Gateway to pick the ship up.
The sales rep said I'll get fifteen million trade-in value for the Sagan. I think though, I'll keep her, and park her at Sothis.
A new paint job, a few more passenger cabins, and she'll make a fine "science cruise" ship.
Might be able to keep reeling in credits from wealthy sightseers who want to see binary stars, nuetron stars, or brilliant nebula.
Gotta make sure they aren't scared of a ship scans, or a couple dents in the hull along the way.
Tomorrow it's off to SGA*, then my passenger's destination. After that, a long haul to Cannonia, then back to the bubble.
For now, a few more drinks, then some sleep. That is, if the guy at the end of the bar would shut the hell up about Painite and Void Opal mining.
I guess he's a regular, and has his own reseved stool. NEVER shuts up apparently....