The Great Orion Odyssey - Day 3 (12/11/3301)
13 Nov 2015Jim Beaumont
Today started as the start of the return home, via a Neutron star and then Betelgeuse. As a man once said in old 20th century folk lore, "The best laid plans Of Mice and Men". 2000 years later, and it still rings true.Now surely to god, any god will do, well anyone actually, someone must be able to conjure up a nav computer that will a) store a route planned, even when you close down for the night. We have had capacitors for millenia! and b) plot a route beyond 1000Ly.
Anyway, nothing you can do about it now, so not writing it down before closing down for the night was a slight error. It had been a long day yesterday. So with a rough idea of where to look I scoured the map, but couldn't spot it, dam it. Oh we'll go there instead. A Black Hole. Worked the route back to the 1000 limit, hit plot and off we go.
Seeing the band of the galaxy bend and stretch close in to the hole was a weird and wonderful sight. Half the stars light sliding and bending, the rest motionless as always. Weird.
Wow, have I carved my name across that 1300Ly with discovery after discovery. 2 Waterworlds, my first and first to discover. 1 Black hole, and another 4 Neutron stars in total, but they had been seen before. Still, worth a few cr when I return from the right buyer of such data.
After about 6 hours of smashing it with racking up system after system, planet after planet I make the big turn and head for Betelgeuse. It's almost a parallel line between the Orion/Running Man nebulas and the bubble. Only another 1200 Ly to Betelgeuse. As the systems tend to have been logged before from here on I believe and from what I have seen, it should be a bit quicker than todays movements.
Still, been a grand day out. And I have to say, the good old Asp is 100% ticketyboo. Even the paintwork is in top notch, the odd burn from scooping but not a flinch when visiting the Black Hole and the Neutrons.
Cmdr Beaumont (knackered)