Brave New Worlds, Part Two
28 Apr 2023Jacob Church
+*+ communications log +*+Tyy'sun Eson electronically signed the authorization tickets that appear on his desk back in his office on the AIRV Song Of Azura in orbit around New Azura. Inwardly the director is satisfied to see the former system evacuated for potentially calmer waters as it was nothing but a headache with constant malfunctions of equipment, abandonment by crew and staff, mysterious disappearances and regular rescue runs from the Capital. There was not much debate among the Tribunal either on the topic. Jacob C Church receives everything he needs in short order and an authorization for Azura Space Fleet assistance with tertiary operations in the move. After signed, Eson includes a note to Church himself, "Congratulations, Captain to you and your team. Should you conclude to colonize, New Azura or Pamantesc Terraforming colony are standing by to assist.
Jacob was scanning the first pages of the brochure being prepared to share around the guests on DH when a notification popped up on his console.
"Commander, there's a message from Tyy'sun Eson. Are you going to read it?"
Comp seemed eager...if an AI could be eager...
"What's it say? What's it say?"
"Calm down Comp, it's just confirmation that we can jump to where we've just jumped to, that's all. Gotta keep a paper trail for when the Pilots Federation make it this far out for an audit, get what I mean?"
Church returned to his work, swiping through photographs for a brochure (they never mentioned this in the job description...)
"...Jake...? Paper?"
++++++
Charles reads the notification authorization on his display, and dictates a response.
"Church,
Should your efforts require system security, Starpiercer Atmospherics can deploy vessels to your new holding. Keep us posted.
Regards,
-CHS"
+*+communications log end+*+
"Commander...I think you were a bit over eager with your brochure..."
"Huh? Comp, it's the middle of the night, can't it wait?"
"It could, I guess, but you'll probably notice that outside the window there isn't a water world any more. Alfredo has just jumped the carrier beca..."
"He's done WHAT?!"
"Alright, calm down!"
The shutters on Church's cabin windows slowly opened to reveal Distant Horizons was now orbiting an Earth-like world. "See? Well worth it. Please don't fire him out of the airlock, I've got used to him...oh, and see that in the distance? That's another ELW, less than three light seconds away. One of the scouts discovered them earlier, and Alf made the decision, seeing as how you were passed out off your tits on onionhead. Welcome to our new home. Oh, and by the way, we need to go to a carrier admin system to restock the shipyard. I don't know when, but someone bought all our ships?"
Church stood at the window, his jaw dropped at the beautiful view through the glass. "Yes" he thought to himself, "this would be the perfect place for colonisation. It would save a lot of work transporting water to a dry planet, now the refugees had a real home...two real homes"
+++++ Three days later +++++
Church returned to his quarters exhausted. A 48 hour run to Colonia and back to restock the shipyard and outfitting was tiring enough, so much so that his dreams consisted of the galmap and the carrier symbol bouncing across it. Today he had just completed a full detailed mapping of DHs home system, which also had included collecting samples of all the biological matter there and claiming the first footfalls on the bodies that allowed it.
He slumped onto his bunk, and as he drifted off to sleep, he smiled to himself as he watched the sun set behind Jörđ, the 9th planet from the main star.
"Goodnight Jake" Comp quietly said "Good job, Commander."
"Thanks Comp. You too"