Personal Log 79: 16th - 22nd November, 3301
04 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
16th - 22nd November, 3301Another week, another round of delivery missions for The Last Thing I Do to perform. The first was to take food cartridges to Sugrivik, for which I was paid over 62,000CR.
The next job, to carry biowaste to Gliese 868 brought a scary moment; my course from Sugrivik took me through LFT 1, a white dwarf star system. I forgot my golden rule of cutting the throttle to minimum after entering witchspace, and upon dropping down on arrival I found myself hurtling towards the star. The failsafe mechanism cut in and took me out of supercruise, but The Last Thing was already beginning to overheat due to its proximity to the white dwarf. Engaging FSD only sent the heat level rising again.
"Is this it?" I asked myself. "Is this how I die? Through my own stupidity?"
The choice was simple. Either stay here and burn to death as my ship slowly spiralled down towards the star. Or, risk an FSD dash towards the escape vector and hope that the heat wouldn't reach the fatal level. No choice, really. I pointed the ship in the right direction, and engaged.
"Warning!" said the ship's computer. "Heat level critical!" It was already at 95% and rising fast. The four-second countdown began. The heat level had exceeded 100%. I closed my eyes and prayed to Gaia.
Then came a sudden, sickening lurch, accompanied by the sound of reality being torn apart. I opened my eyes, to see normal space turning into the familiar bubbling chaos of witchspace. The Last Thing had held together. Every single one of her systems had taken minor heat damage, but she was still in one piece. Repairs cost a mere 111CR. A ridiculously small price to pay for my life.
*****
The next day, November 18th, I received a k-cast recorded message from my father, Edward Harvard. He said he had completed the alcoholics clinic residential course, and was now on a schedule of weekly visits.
"They'll review my progress after six weeks," he told me. "Then after that, who knows? I'm thinking of getting out of Koyans, make a fresh start somewhere else."
Later I had a call from Sam, bounty hunting at LHS 531. I told him about father's message. "He promised me he would keep in touch, Sam," I said. "Well," Sam replied, "I hope things work out for him."
I set course for Beta Hydri, which, I suddenly realised, I had begun to think of as my second home. On the way I was hailed by MK Potter. He told me he was now setting up some contracts with Federation suppliers, and asked me how I was doing with my trading.
"I'm doing all right," I replied. "I'm not as rich as many pilots, but wealth has never really been an important thing to me. After a lifetime of being penniless, I find it hard to come to terms with having so much money now."
MK remarked that it does cost a lot to maintain a ship. "I hope your personal missions are going well?" he asked.
"I have none at the moment," I said, adding that I was sure something would be waiting for me in the near future.
"Jem," MK said. "Do you believe you are jinxed to always have something occur?"
I laughed. "Jinxed might be too strong a word," I said, "but the things that have happened to me in the last year have been... traumatic to say the least."
My reunion with Sam at Stevenson Base was cut short on November 20th. Sam was called away on Naval Medical Reserve duty. A massive explosion in one of the refineries around Miller Depot had caused hundreds of casualties, bringing a wealth of problems for the starport's overstretched medical facilities. The emergency was likely to last a few days at least, so Sam wouldn't be home anytime soon.
Meanwhile I kept myself busy with delivery jobs to destinations including Avik, Ross 584, NLTT 8662 and ending up at Groombridge 34. My credit balance had now climbed above 3,000,000CR.