Galactic Pathways 1: Jacques
25 Feb 2017Tarm Wallunga
Tarm leaned forward from his seat and turned the video recording equipment off. With the data sufficiently compiled and attached to the recorded message, he simply entered a series of commands to tight-beam the data into the local communication grid, along with the appropriate encryption, of course, and blasted the message back towards the Bubble and a specific system therein. Satisfied with that work, he leaned back and then reached over to the little makeshift cooler he kept next to his pilot's seat. It was always a custom job that he had added after the purchase of any ship, mounting a small cooler next to his seat that was just big enough to keep up to a six pack's worth of beer chilled, or other drinks if he felt the need. Flying through the galaxy, after all, was thirsty work. Sure, his personal compartment further amidships was more well stocked, but there was always a chance to get up from his pilot's seat to restock the mini-fridge next to his feet while he waited for more data to come in from the extensive array of sensors ringing his ship. He popped open another drink and sucked down several ounces before setting it down, followed by a series of loud, long belches before he turned his attention to the next task.The trip to Colonia had taken just over ten days to complete, but the data he had acquired ever since leaving Rhea had more than doubled the finances he already had, though doubling 5 million wasn't really doubling a whole hell of a lot. He smirked to himself as he reviewed the situation, and then thumbed through his data files to the series of exchanges between himself and his father.
"Father," the first letter he had sent opened, simple, succinct, no special modifiers or identifiers needed, "I hope this letter finds you well. I know it has been a long time since we last conversed, but I felt the need to, at a minimum appraise you of what I was doing. I have left the bubble, possibly for a very long time. While I am sure this might alarm you on the surface, understand that there is a plan in place here. I want to see what Wallunga Corporations possibilities may be out in the Colonia region. Barring that, I am also considering paving a way through the galaxy that may be of interest to the WallCorp's sciences divisions. Possibly even the trade and passenger liner divisions as well. I don't know yet. I will know more once I get out there, and I will be sure to let you know." He had closed that first letter with little more than his name.
His father's reply had been a very short and rather dry comment: "Good luck." Then again, Tarm hadn't expected much, and had shrugged off any initial thoughts on the matter when he received the mail, somewhere near the far edge of the Sagittarius Gap. His next letter back home wasn't the most helpful, either, he thought in retrospect.
"Father," he had typed, "Perhaps I wasn't clear. This is an opportunity that will likely allow WallCorp to expand in an extensive manner. By expanding, we will assuredly see rather hefty profits over the next few years. I am not sure what you mean by a simple, "good luck," but if that is all the response - or support - that I will receive from you, then so be it. My next message will be sent from Jacques Station."
"As you wish," was the only reply he received, and that had finally caught up with him somewhere along the Scutum-Sagittarii Conflux. This time, Tarm had lost his temper. With a firmly set jaw and decided he was going to press onward, regardless of what his father thought. If it came down to it, this whole venture would be entirely his own undertaking, and that only meant he would reap the most benefit from it, not anyone else. Not his father, not WallCorp, not anyone. Just himself. And he was perfectly fine with that.
The beer had ran out several hundred light years from Colonia, and so it was replaced immediately after docking with Jacques Station. Two beers were downed in the time it took to record the message he sent to Marra back in Tjakiri, and two more were downed before he started typing the letter he had promised to his father. This was the fifth one he had opened, and he pulled more from the bottle before he opened the letter he was going to send off.
"Father," he began, "I have made it to Jacques without incident. I will be sending back a data packet detailing the astronomical data I compiled along the way here. I will be establishing, if all goes to plan, a network of coordinates and star systems that other explorers and travelers of all types - mercantile, passenger liners, explorers, colonists, etc., - will be able to use throughout the galaxy. I have already noted a number of worlds that may be beneficial to the corporation to establish outposts, not to mention a multitude beyond counting of star systems that the resource extraction agencies of the corporation can take full, unhindered advantage of. The time to take advantage of this data is now, before others take it and use it for themselves. If Wallunga Corporation is there first, we can take the profits before any competition arrives. I leave that choice up to you, however. I, on the other hand, will continue charting new routes through the galactic mean, and will report periodically on what I find. If you decide to ignore my accomplishments thus far, as your previous communiques have indicated, then so be it. I will take the profits for myself, and you can be damned."