Personal Log 125: 16th - 22nd May, 3302
24 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
16th - 22nd May, 3302In the days leading up to its departure for Beagle Point, Jaques Station became a hive of activity. Ships had arrived from all over the bubble, their pilots, crews and passengers eager to witness a moment of history in the making.
The starport's market did a roaring trade in Jaques Quinential Stills. These exclusive items would be sure to fetch a tidy profit somewhere or other, so I decided to join in the action by buying eighteen of them. This purchase cost me over 150,000CR. I was well aware that we were only some 60LY from Archon Delaine space, so I hoped I would be able to make it out of Gliese 1269 with my investment intact.
Just as Sam had promised me, Jaques Station announced its imminent departure with a series of warnings for all unauthorised vessels to leave the starport. All would-be stowaways were swiftly dealt with by security personnel. Sam and I moved out to join the dozens of other sightseers outside the starport's exclusion zone, and we waited for the countdown to begin.
It was really a bit of an anticlimax. At the appointed time Jaques Station began to move, rapidly accelerating to the velocity required for its jump into witchspace. The mighty engines, soundless in the vacuum of space, were represented by The Last Thing's external sound simulator as a deep, ominous growl.
The flotilla of observers followed at a safe distance, jockeying with one another for the best photo opportunities to prove that "I was there".
Then, just ahead of the starport, came the familiar sight of a high wake spatial anomaly. It was far, far bigger than any I had ever seen, and quite frightening in its intensity. Jaques Station powered towards it.
And disappeared.