Into the Black
04 Apr 2023Rawnu
Saying goodbye is always the hardest. Selene was even more bubbly than usual and showed me some of her new alien seeds she intends to grow in one part of her garden. And of course the dreams, always the dreams. I met her way back in my time with the "Screaming Firehawks", the Alliance special-ops team I was part of for a few years. We always had this "organic" connection, she with her gardening obsession and me the agricultural communist. I've always checked in with her and like to think that she likes it, bringing her all kinds of exotic seeds from various markets. But most likely she's just professionally nice. I'm not good at this anyway. It's just there's always this hint of something lingering in the air that can't quite materialize itself. Yeah, I guess "can't quite" is the operative phrase to describe it best. 
The ship's ready, my new Orca, the "Gudrid", named after that remarkable Viking woman who ventured to North America with her husband and birthed the first European on American soil. A good name, a tall name. A promise and also a burden. Quick, a Shepard's prayer: let's not screw this up! I've planned to venture to Sagittarius A* via Hawking's Gap, the Norma Expanse, and the Arcadian Stream. This is going to be a long journey with hardly any traffic coming my way. What I need after all of that trade hassle and hustle of the past months. Glad that I won't see the Bubble for a while. And I'm also looking forward to seeing one of my old "Firehawks" afterwards, in Colonia. If he's still there, good old Zeb, the biggest, ugliest and yet cuddliest human being I've ever met. But that's five steps ahead, let's focus on the here and now. Saying goodbye.
And as with all Commanders, as soon as you're in your ship, the heavy heart is unburdened and your spirit lifted to the black heavens. The journey is ahead...
