A window to the past [The Planetskipper Chronicles]
30 May 2016Planetskipper
(Previous episode) - (Next episode)Elite Explorer.
Titus contemplated that from the recliner, lazily swirling his Laphroig as he watched ships gliding towards the mailslot above through the heavily reinforced window that was one of the walls of his new flat.
He finally reached Elite Explorer.
A sip from the glass.
He was now Double Elite so he had fulfilled the requirement for a "flat" when he inquired about what being what the new rank meant. His previous place was officially called a "room" and before that it was a "quarter" - all increasing in size but the main difference was the size of the window.
Two-thirds up the mountain wasn't bad, most CMDRs in the Pilot's Fed weren't close to his standing especially if you added in his standing with the Federation and Empire. He was allied with at least a dozen factions in very populous systems, had a small fleet, a nice apartment with a view at Jameson Memorial and all he wanted now was his Islay.
Another sip and an Eagle silently exploding after trespassing the mailslot.
"Elite Explorer," he whispered to himself with a small smile of satisfaction, "and I've never been to Sag-A."
It had been almost a year since his first two expeditions - a short trip "downwards" that ended prematurely when his grandfather's Cobra Mk. III "Joana_Prado" frameshift drive couldn't carry him beyond a field of brown dwarfs.
With his modest exploration earnings and days of cargo hauling, he pulled a few strings using his contacts at Irkutsk in Alioth and bought his first prize - an Asp Explorer he christened "Little A'Tuin" because it looks like a turtle.
After fitting the ship with the best equipment he could manage, which wasn't much, he headed towards and beyond the Heart and Soul Nebulas. Uneventful yet full of new discoveries he arrived at a great wall that, unknown to him, was supposed to be very hard to navigate around.
Not knowing it wasn't easy, he ventured forth.
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