Personal Log, 15 October 3303
15 Oct 2017User78245
I had a disturbing encounter in HIP 19055. The scanner caught a distress signal and a starship signature of non-human origin. I hustled to the source but the distress signal winked out before I could get there in time. When I exited supercruise, I got eyes on a cloud of wreckage, one of those Thargoid probes, and one of their ships. No escape pods. I had heard they were scooping up escape pods, but to see it in person... If only I'd seen the distress signal sooner.Not that I could've done anything with a mining laser and a couple of heat sinks. I barely got out of there with scan data of the ship as it is. Someone will have a use for this I hope.
The rest of the trip in was quiet, watching the California Nebula get ever larger the further from Hermitage I got. There's an old Earth story about a bird made of flames, it reminded me of that. I can't remember the details right now though.
I flew into Mic Turner Base toward the end of their second shift, exhausted. I seem to remember the trip to Shapley 1 being a lot easier than this. I was walking out of the Cartographics office, about to find someplace to get some rest, when I heard someone scream my name from down the concourse. Not just my name, but the first syllable of my first name. Only a few people knew me well enough to get to call me that.
"Campos?!" I said, barely recognizing her. Lilac hair, violet eyes, fuchsia Remlock suit, flight jacket made from Banki amphibious leather. She always was one given over to flashiness out of uniform. Guess what her favorite color was.
Campos is an old friend from the 351st. She was my sponsor when I arrived from flight school, and about my only friend there, closer than a sister. She's from a wealthy trading family over in Tionisla, but because she's the youngest child out of 6, she got none of the family money after she turned 18. So she joined the ADF with the express purpose of learning to fly a starship and strike out on her own after her contract was up. She left the unit 8 months before I did, and in fact it was her experiences that gave me the idea to go the direction I did. We'd lost touch after she left and that's probably my fault.
We spent that night catching up in the Pilot's Lounge, cleaning the bar out of its Lavian brandy supply and probably irritating the other customers with our snickers. The majority of Mic Turner Base is underground, but the bar is in a wing off the above-ground sector, with spectacular views of the Nebula and Barnard's Loop. She's been running a lucrative contract for the base, bringing in food and parts once a week aboard her Type-6. In fact, she's due to leave in a couple days for the next run. I filled her in on my own activities, glossing over the reasons why I left. I never did tell her the reason why I joined in the first place, and it's not important anymore.
I was woken up in my rental by the announcement for first shift. Campos must have helped me, because I didn't remember walking here. I went to clean up in the head and saw I was the proud owner of a stupid haircut and an eye tattoo. She always teased me relentlessly about my eye implant.
That Campos, she was a prankster alright. I checked her location via the base's infonet so I could give her a ration of crap. No rental in her name, and her Type-6 wasn't parked anywhere. Did she leave early? No matter, I think I have her callcode saved somewhere. I went over to the infirmary to get my hangover, my hair, and my tattoo fixed, in that order.
"How are you feeling today?" the nurse had asked.
"Fine, I guess."
"Are you sure? Is there anything you would care to talk about?"
"No, why?"
"A couple of customers in the lounge had some concerns. I understand you had to be helped to your room earlier?"
"Probably mad we drank all the Lavian brandy..."
"Are you aware that your Pilots Federation insurance covers three visits to the local station infirmary per docking? Occasional special arrangements can be made as well..."
"Yes, that's why I'm here-"
"Fair enough, occasionally we have to remind the members of their health care benefits. We're here if you need us."
I think it's time to get back into space. Mic Turner's a strange place.