#17
12 Sep 2021MoonSeeker2020
Arrived at Sothis. Not sure what I expected, but Newholm Station was nice. The planets look pretty inviting too, although I've nothing to base it on, never having set foot on terra firma. It was a fairly lightning jaunt from Almagest, via Robigo and Ceos. Handed over the data sticks as planned along the way, and was even invited to see the Station Manager at Robigo for tea!Re supplied the Long View in dock at Sothis, ready for the trip back to Lembava, only to be met by one of the Corporation 'Account Executives'. Very attractive lady, professional and friendly. Young, and obviously going places in the organisation. Introduced herself as Ms Roberts. She handed me a briefing pack and told me to read it, input the flight plan to my nav computer, and meet her for lunch in one of the station cafes. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, after all, its not every day the Corp pays for your lunch! Joking aside, the nav plan is pretty out there, but more about that later.
Lunch was nice, and the Exec was fairly good about answering my questions. Apparently there is something going on with strange unknown and ancient artifacts showing up in deep space (ahem, not that I've seen one before, shhh, don't tell anyone!), and they are recruiting pilots with the 'mental strength' to take on deep space recce missions to investigate. Is that 'mental strength', or 'lack of imagination', I asked. That actually raised a smile from her - I think I like her better than my Business Manager!
Reconnoitre and Return.
These are the watchwords of the mission. I asked if I should drop my AFMU in order to pack a cargo rack, but she said no, my role was to report back. Other units would intercept anything I might find. I get the feeling that this thing is bigger than I had originally thought.
So, off I went at the end of the afternoon; Ms Roberts even accompanied me to the dock and wished me luck... is that ominous? Or was she simply being polite?