Detours
18 Dec 2020Elkyri
Betancourt Base3306.12.15
"Not that far from here," Skeeter had said. Turns out "not that far" equated to six hundred light-years. I suppose it doesn't seem that far to crusty explorers like Skeeter. He probably looks at a five thousand light-year journey as a short trip but to a trader who thinks a long haul is three or four jumps to get from loading to unloading six hundred light-years isn't "not that far."
I suppose it wouldn't have been too bad. I had traveled almost that far just getting from Fox Station to Betancourt. But it turned out I had to work a detour into the flight plan making it an even longer trip. I was missing an essential piece of gear not availalbe at Betancourt.
Skeeter and a few others I approached for advice all strongly recommended mounting a point defense system on the ship. I know some traders carry them to protect their cargo hatch from pirating limpets but I had never seen the need. "Not optional," one of the old-timers told me. "There are these robotic drones that will turn your SRV upside down with missles if you go without one. Once you're upside down you won't be able to move or use your cannons. You'll be a sitting duck. Let the ship protect you."
I let the voice of experience persuade me and got on the 'net and used EDDB to find one. The nearest was three hundred light-years away at Oberth Dock and, of course, in the opposite direction. "Not that far" had turned into a thousand light-years just to get there, but get there I did.
Learning about something second-hand pretty much puts you in the tourist role following in the footsteps of the discoverer so when I opened the FSS I wasn't surprised to see that everything had been previously recorded and mapped. What I was surprised at was the return showing biological signs on the planets nearest the second star in the trinary system. I'm sure they are known to others but just never mentioned, paling in significance to the nearby ruins of an ancient civilization.
Are you one of those people who saves the best part of dessert for last? Or do you dive into your favourite part first and leave the rest for later? I'm in the former camp so in spite of being anxious and excited about getting to the guardian site I decded to see what kind of life existed there. I was not disappointed -- brain trees. I had heard of such things. I had seen the photos. I knew they existed. But seeing one up close and in person is a very different experience and here was a whole forest of them. I harvested what I could from them, taking my time and enjoying my own personal discovery while getting better acquainted with operating the SRV's turret and cannons. I was later glad I had taken that time.