Personal Log 78: 9th - 15th November, 3301
04 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
9th - 15th November, 3301As I've already mentioned elsewhere in my logs, I have no head for politics. Sam told me a lot more about the Homeland elections, but I'm afraid most of it went right over my head. Maybe I'll look it up one day in Galpedia.
Jenna and I indulged ourselves in a pamper session at 'Roomazz', one of Stephenson Base's top beauty salons. I noticed Jenna looking wistfully at wedding dresses in a catalogue-slate. Sam had told me that there were no plans for Jenna and Andrew to marry, but the look on Jenna's face suggested that she wished there was.
Over the next few days I accepted a few delivery jobs. One contract, to take water purifiers from L26-27 to Te Uira, netted me over 82,000CR! Other jobs included taking coffee, fish and explosives to L26-27, Zeta Tucanae and Minmar respectively, making me another 62,000CR. Further sales of astrocartography data brought in 2000CR. Money had never been my main motivation since leaving home, but I began to see why it was the driving force behind so many pilots.
Returning to Beta Hydri I was attacked by one such pilot. I was dismayed to see that my assailant was flying a Federal Gunship, but fortunately for me its pilot, one Matthew Escher, was Novice-rated. In the ensuing battle I reduced his hull to 88%. Commander Escher evidently decided that he didn't want to be beaten by a girl, and made a hasty exit into witchspace.
I rarely stop to investigate signal sources. Sam seems to do it a lot, and just the other day he found five escape pods. Now, with a signal source appearing on my HUD, I gave in to temptation and decided to take a closer look. Dropping out of supercruise I found myself approaching a funeral ship procession. As I watched the solemn formation I offered a silent prayer to Gaia, then continued on my way to Stephenson Base.
*****
The next day, November 15th, I took on a job to deliver mineral oil to Veroandi. My route took me through LHS 531, where I found another weak signal source. It turned out to be five escape pods, nestled among the charred wreckage of what looked like a Diamondback. I scooped up the pods and took them to Nelson Terminal.
"Thank you for your help, commander," said the starport medicentre admin. "This is the fourth trade ship crew we've received this week. I think we have a pirate problem!"
After leaving Nelson Terminal I was delighted to receive an incoming call from Nathalie. My dataslate had already reminded me it was her 26th birthday.
"Happy birthday to you, honey!" I said. I was sad that we couldn't be together to celebrate, but Nath was busy competing in the CQC championships. She was making good progress, too.
"You can take a look at my simulation round tomorrow, if you like," she said. "The access code is CQC-AGF-3301."
Just then Sam hailed me, and explained he'd been caught in an ambush while bounty hunting in LP336-6.
"My hull integrity was taken down to 5%," he said, "and my canopy was completely destroyed. I'll tell you now, getting into the station when your emergency oxygen has less than 30 seconds left is a harrowing experience." I could only agree.
After a flight path which took me through Eanric, Fergus and Weir, I arrived at Gromov Orbital in the Veroandi system and unloaded the shipment of mineral oil. The payment of almost 93000CR must surely have been my highest to date!
The recipient of the cargo was especially pleased, and invited me to have a drink with him in one of the station bars. Gromov Orbital is a civilian outpost, which meant having to wear magboots and drinking out of pouches through a straw. But I accepted his kindness; we spent a pleasant couple of hours in one of the outpost's bars, after which I booked myself a single room for the night.