Can’t get more south than this!
22 Nov 2024Hig Hurtenflurst
Well, here we are. Amundsen’s Star. The furthest accessible southerly point in the entire galaxy. You don’t know it but I’ve just taken a photo of you. I turned the bow northward and snapped a shot of the entire Milky Way galaxy. I think it’s a fair bet to say that you were in the frame. There’s some rare stellar phenomena here and thankfully a hand full of fleet carriers to off load some data and more crucially, get some repairs done. There’s a little story attached to this that you can read in my previous log entry.
After taking the shot I pause to take it all in. A bright yet short shaft of light crosses the view in front of me. Within it is every action and every thought of every human being right now, in the past and the future. And I don’t even need to turn my head to encompass its entirety.
An astounding vista, the longer I stare the more profound the moment becomes. Before me is all the humanity that ever was, is and will be. All the peace, all the war, all the love, all the hate, the cruelty and kindness of humanity is there. And yet I perceive nothing but stillness. It seems to me that the only life and activity in the galaxy is here on board this ship. The background hum of the ships systems slowly becomes a cacophony that sits in stark contrast to the apparent serenity I see before me.
Then a thought comes to me. I lean over to the system’s panel and begin to switch off the modules and systems one by one, only stopping at life support. The cockpit is plunged into darkness and silence and almost in an instant the galaxy outside seems to grow larger and closer. It seems that one of the starboard attitude control stabilisers needs calibrating and is out of sync with its counterpart. The happy result though is that the ship is now slowly turning just slightly off its longitudinal axis. And as if on a stage the Milky Way starts a slow and gentle ballet with me as its singular private audience.
The serenity, the peace of this moment. I felt a need to be closer to home again, to somehow travers the thousands of light years in an Instant. Reaching for the systems panel again I switch off the grav plates and gently push myself forward. Floating now with my face against the canopy I can place my hands against the surface and hold the spiral arms from east to west without effort. I stayed like this for several minutes until I became aware of the continued drop in cabin temperature. The sharp bite of the ice as it crept across the glass sent my consciousness snapping back.