Personal Log 108: 14th - 20th March, 3302
13 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
14th - 20th March, 3302 I had not forgotten.
I had not forgotten the ten women before me on the Harem List of John Graham.
I had not forgotten they had all met with horrible, brutal deaths.
I had not forgotten the twenty-three women's names which followed on the list.
I had not forgotten that they were all in danger of falling victim to a sadistic, psychotic killer.
And I had not forgotten that the next name on the list was mine.
*****
Sam and I made more runs to Kushen for computer components. When the appeal ended on March 18th, I collected 400,000CR reward for my efforts. Sam had also managed to find time to visit Homeland with his sister, Jenna. There they heard the maiden political speech of Jenna's husband, Andrew, which had, according to Sam, had "gone down a storm".
After making a trade run to Minmar, I accepted a courier mission to bring two canisters of wine back to Beta Hydri. On the way to Stevenson Base I was interdicted. I was horrified to see my scanner showing not one but two ships with weapons deployed.
Strangely, only one of them opened fire on me. It was a Cobra III, flown by a Dangerous-rated pilot named Matt Jeneson. I returned fire, but Jeneson's aim was good, reducing The Last Thing's hull strength to just 24%. Then, just as I thought it was all over for me, the Cobra blew up.
A message came though on my comms from the pilot of the other ship; "I had fun, commander. You can go."
Too surprised to thank my unexpected ally, I engaged my FSD and headed for Stevenson Base as fast as I could. I owe a debt of gratitude to that pilot, whoever he was.
Once The Last Thing was repaired, I set off again on more trade and courier runs. At Arangorii I found Zhen Hub starport being fired on by a Federal Corvette. The starport defences made short work of the attacker, but then had to deal with another onslaught from two other ships. I realised I had flown into a civil war battlezone. I managed to land amidst the carnage, complete my business, and take off again.
Back at Stevenson Base I upgraded The Last Thing's shield generator and power distributor, as well as installing some extra cargo space. My final courier job of the week was to take a consignment of clothes to Olsen Bastion in the LHS 3836 system.
Sam, meanwhile, had found himself in trouble again. Beta Hydri had slid into a civil war, and Sam, whilst collecting supplies at Matteucci Enterprise, had been shot and wounded.
"Oh Sam," I said as I held his hand in the Stevenson Base medicentre. "You do seem to attract a lot of trouble!"