08 August 3310 Personal logbook of Dr. Ptolemy
08 Aug 2024Claudius
Some time has passed since I left my well-paid job as a research manager, but I had my reasons. I am convinced that if things are bothering you, you have to make a change instead of just putting up with them. Since I started my career as a pilot with a SideWinder a few years ago, I have found myself in a whole new world that I didn't realise existed. I have to admit it's an exciting world where you live amongst the space and cargo docks, meet other pilots and it's a bit rough at times, but it's all about the credits and the next cargo you can earn them on.
Some of the pilots belong to the "Elite", a rank awarded by the Pilots Association, a secret organisation that oversees and represents the independent pilots of the galaxy, almost all of whom are licensed members and hold the title "Commander". Imagine, I too now bear this title. One from the pilots' association and the other for academic reasons. The Federation itself is "politically neutral", but this seems to me to be more of an oximoron, because nothing in this galaxy, including the Thargonids, is "neutral". The local branch of the Federation of Pilots controls LHS 3447, Asellus Primus and the headquarters of Shinrarta Dezhra, and the Federation of Pilots administration controls the Federation District of Pilots, which is reserved for newly-licensed commanders. It also operates the ubiquitous GalNet data network, its main source of income, which is certainly politically "neutral" - yes, some ironic comments are necessary.
So I've been in the cockpit of my spaceships for some time now, trying to reach important ranks and engineers. It's interesting that before the work comes the work - but from an academic point of view, this is nothing new. Nevertheless, there is something meaningful about it, unlike my old job. I sit in the cockpit and steer my ship among the stars. And there is still a lot to see and discover out there, just as there is in science.
At the moment, however, my job is extremely boring. An engineer by the name of "Hera Tani" will probably only invite me to join her when I have reached the rank of "stranger" in the Empire. To get this rank, you have to go to a spy station in Ngalinn. Once there, Imperial agents literally step on each other's toes, with ever new assignments for the willing subjects who need one of these ranks, for example to obtain a ship, access to a system or, as in my case, to become an engineer. "Gods of reason!" I could shout, holding my hands above my head as a symbolic gesture for utter nonsense. Anyway, you can understand it - but you don't have to. At the end of the day, this stupid rank is what counts. Funnily enough, some contemporaries who are a little "simpler" in terms of intelligence seem to assume that these "ranks" have some kind of meaning. I must admit that I am amused by these simpletons. As if anyone in the Empire would actually care who does the dirty work here. It's like the military, there are always young, single, willing, career orientated - who are single and nobody will miss them afterwards. Well, never mind. And I've just received the news that the lady's imperial rank isn't enough. No, it must now also be 50 units of Kamitra cigars. What can a medic say here? Oh, I've got something from Friedrich Nietzsche that fits perfectly here! Yes, dear people, I bring you education and the finest of it. So, that concludes my logbook entry, with Friedrich Nietzsche and "Thus Spake Zarathustra - On Woman:
"In your love be your honour! Little else
woman otherwise understands honour. But this be your honour
honour to always love more than you are loved,
and never be the second.
The man is afraid of the woman when she loves
loves: there she makes every sacrifice, and every other thing
is of no value to him.
Let a man fear a woman when she hates
hates: for man, at the bottom of his soul, is only
evil, but the woman is bad there.
Whom does woman hate most? - So said
the iron to the magnet: "I hate you most of all,
because you attract, but you are not strong enough to attract
to attract."
The man's happiness is called: I want. The happiness
of the woman means: he wants.
"Behold, the world has just been made perfect!"
- So every woman thinks when she obeys with all her
love obeys.
And woman must obey and find a depth
to its surface. The surface is the woman's
mind, a mobile stormy skin on a shallow water.
shallow waters.
But man's mind is deep, his stream
rushing in subterranean caverns: the woman senses his
power, but does not comprehend it. -
Author's note:
"That cigars, especially Kamitra cigars, are unhealthy! And yes, I am a doctor and have a doctorate! So, do what the doctor says and stop smoking, woman!
"