Captains Log #2 - Stardates 14 - 4808.10.2002 -- The Tin Can in the Space continues to explore the unknown space Stardate 13 36;4692, noon Shift 38, As we're now in the normal space (presumably), we'll continue similar shift system than during hyperspace. We'll do full check of all systems. Location seems to be very close where expected. Fuel status; 4/5 full, which means that we can jump twice without refueling... Dick is bit hurt, but will tend himself. Shift 39, we'll have one full cycle of relaxation. Shift 40, preparation for next jump, everyone is on duty. Calibrating sensors to Arrasag; sensors fully functional. New sensor readings;
Shift 41, jump to 2402 Faghodh. Doctor Dick orders that usage of safety belts is mandatory at all times. Engaaaaaaaaaaaaaage! Jump activation seems to be successfull, though violent; the whole ship shakes violently at start up. Shift 42, Jose/Dhazharrou Captains orders;
Shifts
Engine check; a bit more than half of the 'gaso' is still usable. Shifts 42-49, normal; no exceptions from the start. Shift 50, Urrgae/Jose, a sudden general alert. Everyone will scramble to to combat positions. Urrgae's Report: Horrible fuel leakage. We're running out of fuel in matter minutes. Captain confirms that sensors seem to identifiate huge rip in the left side of the craft, but whole sensor system is on simulation mode. Jose confirms;"No danger, it's only a simulation". Reprimands to Urrgae. Shifts 51-58, normal. Captains note: Jose shows exceptional intelligence and suggest using of zero-g-suits during last hours of hyperspace. Change of standing orders; during last four expected shifts on-duty members are to wear vaccsuit at all times. Shifts 59-65, Normal. Urrgae shows inabilities to concentrate to mandatory studies. He's studying some private documents. Shifts 66-73, Normal. In the middle of shift 71 minor vibrations, some half an hour. Grey matter moves. No sensor notes. Shifts 74: Captain/Jose: Grey matter smoothly opens up and the ship returns to normal space quite peacefully. Captain gives an alert, everybody awake. Distance to brown dwarf 2 million km; to primary star, 9 billion km. One gaseous giant planet orbiting the brown dwarf, 150 million km radius (orbit 3), asteroid belt on orbits 1-2. Shift 75: Captain continues passive scanning of the solar system. Jose goes outside, checks hull consistency, also examines the status of ship's weapon turret. Turret seems loose. Shift 76: Jose & Captain go repair the turret. Urrgae and Dick on deck; both see ~10 blue dots in the general direction of the gaseous giant planet. After a few seconds, the dots disappear. Captain looks with his goggles, sees one large object (10x our ship size). Dick & Urrgae go to the turret. Captain returns to deck. Jose stays outside and finishes repairs & calibrates turret with Dick. Dick & Urrgae put on their vacc suit. Jose returns inside. Captain sends a pre-fabricated "hello" message. A reply comes after a few seconds. This is Captain Ligadus Aninkaa of the Heya Defence Forces Ship Ishilam. This system is currently under attack by Zodanis. We advise you to leave immediately. Captain: I presume this system is inhabited? Reply: There are 70 million of us. Jose goes to sleep in the shuttle without removing his vacc suit. Sensory reading: somebody has locked a target on us. Captain: As said, we are on a peaceful scientific mission and are not heavily armed. Captain accelerates towards the gaseous planet. There are "small" ships, 10x our size, seemingly attacking a bigger ship, which flees with 5g acceleration. The small ships go after it. Captain: Good luck! I hope we will meet again later in more pleasant conditions. A smaller planet is observed, orbiting the main star on orbit 8. Captain sends a narrow-beam message to the planet: This is Rarrgaegnal Arrasag. We come from an adjacent solar system and are on a peaceful mission. We require a refueling. May we embark for trade etc.? Reply: You should leave immediately. We are currently in an emergency situation and are not welcoming visitors. Thank you. We land on a small (4000 km) moon, now newly named "Dick", of the gaseous planet. Landing site is facing towards the planet. Local gravity is 0.16 g. All radio transmission switched off. Shift 77: Dick on duty, all others asleep. Shift 78: Captain on duty, all others asleep. Passive sensors show three large ships (1000x our ship) approaching the solar system. We remain silent. Ships seem to be Zodani battle cruisers heading for a refuel. Captain recalculates jump coordinates from the exact current position (on the small moon's surface) to sector 2303. Shift 79: Everybody awake and in position. Further observations: The Heya planet 8 has two moons and a thick belt. Captain recalculates jump coordinates to orbit 6. Orbits 12, 13, 14 each contain a gaseous giant, each also having several moons. Shift 80: The three battleships have been refueling for 5 hours. Seven "small" (2x our size) Zodani ships come into view, and after them, three Arrowheads (10x our size). Several small Zodani ships emerge from the battle cruisers. A short but vigorous battle ensues. After the battle, the Arrowheads no longer exist. The battle cruisers continue refueling. We stay immobile and silent. Shift 81: The battle cruisers leave at 2g acceleration, apparently towards the inhabited planet (Heya 8). Shift 82: Dick on duty, others asleep. The three battle cruisers still going towards Heya 8. Shift 83: Dick asleep. Others in vacc suits on duty. Jose goes aboard the ship's boat and starts the refueling operation, which will last about 12 hours. Shift 84-85: Refueling continues. Captain takes a walk on the moon's surface, performs an ad-hoc geological survey, ie. collects 10 kg of random rock samples. Shift 86: Jose returns. Fuel tanks are now almost full (enough for two jumps). Captain on duty, others asleep. Shift 87: Captain on duty, others asleep. Shift 88: Jose leaves for a second refueling. Shift 89-90: Refueling continues. Shift 91: Jose returns. All fuel tanks are full. Captain launches the ship along a meteor-like trajectory away from the solar system. Observation: somebody is scanning us actively; we scan back, see just an object going away at 2g. Shift 92: Everybody unanimously decides for the following plan: we jump near the Heya 8, arriving there before the attacking battle cruisers, and will seek a contact with the Heyans. After this, we should be heading home. Jump proceeds quite smoothly. While in hyper-space, Captain orders everybody to take the computer-generated exam on the subjects that were randomly assigned some time ago (some did the studies, some did not). Subjects: Urrgae: Sensory ops. Excellent result. Jose: Vargr language. Low result, but passed the test. Captain: Chemistry. Below-average test result. Dick: Ship tactics (according to the Arrasagian tactics guide). Fails the test miserably. Shift 93: Captain on duty, others asleep. Shift 94: Dick, Jose. Shift 95: Jose, Urrgae. Shift 96: Captain, Urrgae. Shift 97: Captain, Dick. Shift 98: Captain, Dick. Shift 99: Jose, Urrgae. Shift 100: Captain, Jose. Shift 101-: Normal duty cycle. Shift 126: Dick, Urrgae, vacc suits on. Ship smoothly slides to normal space. Everybody on deck. Two Arrowheads very close, immediately start approaching us very fast. Captains sends a message. This is R. Arrasag. We are on a peaceful scientific and trade mission. We have come here to inform you that there are three Zhodani battle cruisers approaching you. We have some data on them that you might find interesting. You are seriously violating all space travel regulations. Why is your transponder off? We come from the third innermost planet of the solar system whose coordinates are ... First, at those coordinates, there is no planet by that name. Second, at those coordinates, there is no inhabited planet. We are also perfectly aware of the Zhodani threat. Please prepare for immediate embarking. But we have been there for 800 years! This is our first ship ever. BTW, What is a transponder and are you humans? Yes, we're humans and now we're taking over your ship. As said, we're not shielded and virtually unarmed and we have nothing to hide. Welcome to R. Arrasag. Captains log entry: We have now made the first contact -- but it may have been a mistake. Whole crew waits by the airlock (with vaccsuits) while the other ship is embarking on us. Open the airlock. Captain opens the airlock. 5 persons come through airlock; 4 warriors and administrator. "Hello! I'm Captain Dhatzarrou, what can I do for you?" The Administrator walks toward Captain:"I'm Captain Kikapu, of Heya II" Your planet is named "Korfu", not Arrasag. You have come in a bad time. The third imperium is at war with Zhodani. This fifth borderwar was started ~1 mo ago. Zhodanis have attacked to several borderline planets. After short conversation the crew with the exception of Captain went to the bridge with two Heya warriors. The Captain, Kikapu and two warriors went to search the ship. How did you know about the Zhodanis, as you just jumped here? "Well, we actually jumped from the Brown Dwarf. We have been here for over a week" We kind of expected something bad, when we saw the Zhodani fighters Kikapu produces a map of this sector and gives it to the Captain. Captain studies it with great wonder (while trying to act calm) and notices how close Arrasag is to the Zhodani border. Indicates that Arrasag would be willing to join the Empire, but Kikapu does not think Arrasag has much to offer. Captain asks for a favor -- some books or other material on current technology and science, offers to pay with whatever raw materials we happen to have on board. Also, wants to buy a transponder for the ship. (A transponder seems to be mandatory for every spaceship.) Kikapu says he has to consult their trade expert. Kikapu tells that Korfu has been a forbidden zone for a long time. Kikapu returns to his ship. The four soldiers stay on board. Both ships arrive to a man-made asteroid orbiting the planet, enter the asteroid through giant gates, and park in a mostly empty parking lot. Whole crew walks to the space station, gets desinfected, meets the trade officer, lieutenant Upama, at Kikapu's office. (Information: The whole military force in this solar system is about 500 persons, since this is a small border guard station.) Captain talks about buying the transponder, shows a few jewels to Upama, who looks somewhat interested; offers 4000 credits / liter. Thus, 12.5 liters will buy one 50000-credit transponder. Urrgae and Jose go and get 20 liters of jewels. Captain buys:
Also tries to buy shotguns; Upama informs that nobody uses such things, everybody uses lasers instead, but he cannot sell Imperial property, like laser guns. The rest of the crew scatters throughout the station. Captain gives permission to get 10 liters of jewels / person from the ship. Jose does some streetdeals with the goons of the station. Jose buys all old stuff he manages using booze as the 'money'. Jose also buys a speeder using only couple of liters of booze and two deciliters of jewels. (worth of ~1.000.000) Dick goes to talk with medical officer of the station, Udruuga. Dick buys from medical bay:
The administrator dealer of the station, called Shakabud, estimates that the crystals we have are roughly 3.000 cr/liter. After long debates we'll have very large amounts of stuff and the whole station is in evacation mode. We have considerable trouble getting the stuff inside of our ship. We'll program the transponder:"Rargaegnar Arrasag, from Arrasag known also as Corfu. 100 tons. On a peacefull exploration mission. This ship is privately held, but owned by the Arrasag Global Space Agency." After 30h nice little trip to the Heya Naval Base, we'll leave as a proud owners of a transponder and some other stuff. After the disembarking of the station we'll notice that Urrgae is not present at all and at the same time Jose notices that the inventory shows 200 liters of jewels missing. We'll inform Kikapu that two of his guards and Urrgae has stolen 200 liters of jewels. Captain tries to connect to Urrgae... Urgae replies: "I'm arranging papers, the bureuacracy takes a long while." Ship descends back to the station to pick up Urrgae. Urrgae returns while captain calls back to Kikapu apologing misunderstandings. Urrgae gives credchips with 500.000 cr/account, electronic cards & real papers of ship. After an hour of confusion, we'll leave again. Shift 0 of second trip. Ship crew continues to obey normal duties. Zhodani fighters closing rapidly. Calculating next jump point. After couple of hours of runaway trip, the Zhodanis are destroying the base in a way that it'll hit the planet soon. Target sector 2302, empty sector between Heya and Kinorb. Engaaaaaaaaage... very smooth exit. Wow! We're safe... ..for now. Shifts Jose/Dhazharrou Dhazharrou/Dick Dick/Urrgae Urrgae/Jose Shift 138, Jose/Dhazharrou Computer is training the crew during the flight:
Shifts 139-151 Jose notices that manouver drives require minor repairs. Dick & Captain starts installing new sensors. Everyone is very busy with new toys. Captain has to order everyone to take sleepturns also. Shift 152-160 Nothing really important. We have proceeded now 22 turns of new trip. Shift 161-163 The on-duty crew has to use new light duty zero-g-suits. Suits are much more confortable than the old ones; unfortunately suits are for humans, not Vargr's. In the middle of shift 163, gray hyperspace moves a lot, gentle shaking of the ship. Shift 164-170, Nothing to report. Expected entry to jump point at shift 174. Shift 174, nothing. This is longer journey than before. Shift 178, still nothing. This is much longer... Shift 182, We're still in hyperspace. There could be something wrong. ...luckily in the middle of shift 182, the ship gently moves to normal space. We're just in sector 2302 as expected. After full checkups engaging hyperspace drive again. Target sector Kinorb at sector 2202. Smooth entrance to hyperspace. And back to the normal procedures. Shift 183-210 Nothing. At shift 210 physical examination and physique checkups. Testing will take full shift.
Shift 211-220 Nothing abnormal Shift 220, surprise exams, takes two hours.
Captains determination:
About an hour after the exam, the ship will exits violently to normal space. No wounds to crew members, though. Full sensor checkup; radio sensors are dead. Visual sensor inform that we're in the solar system where we were supposed to be. Captain and Dick goes to space to install the new sensors and to repair old sensors. Urrgae spots the radar antanna ~100 meters out of the ship. Captain goes to get the antenna. Dick installs new sensors while captain retrieves the antanna back to the bay. Jose fixes thrusters and checks the status of turret (ok). Shift 222, at end of the shift Dick finally manages to install everything. Captain sleeps during this shift. New and old sensors seems to be functional. Shift 223-224, sleep shifts for most. Captains flies toward gas giant. ETA 6,5h. During the flight captain uses all spare time to learn the new sensors. New sensors seem to be reading approximately 500.000 km's and the amount of information is amazing. Sensors read 5 moons around the gas giant. Arrival at gas giant. Captain lands the craft to a big rock (1200 km diameter). Shift 225-226, Dick/Urrgae Captain sleeping, Jose refuels the smaller ship. Shift 227, Dick/Urrgae New sensors pick up a transponder signal:"A small 200 ton trader, Darigash, homeworld Efate". Just jumped in and goes to refuel to same gas giant where we are. Captain goes out to test the new speeder. Captain's log note:"The new speeder is very sexy and accelerates rapidly. Constant gravity settings in the interior makes it very smooth and nice." Shift 228, Captain Dick/Urrgae sleeps, Jose returns and meets Darigash close by. Dives back to the gas giant´and returns after that. The other ship seems to skimming in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Shift 229, Captain The rest of the crew is sleeping. Shift 230-231, Dick/Urrgae Freetrader leaves from where he came. No contact what so ever. Jose goes to refuel. Shift 232, Captain Jose returns successfully. Shift 233, Captain The rest of the crew is sleeping Shift 234, Urrgae Training combat with gravbelts and shotguns by Captain & Dick. Shift 235, Dick Captain is sleeping, Jose crashes the shuttle in to the cargobay. Jewels are flying in the zero-g. Urrgae and Dick must gather the jewels and fixes the box. Jose manages to leave. Shift 236, Captain Urrgae and Dick are sleeping. Jose returns. Jose's flying like a dinosaur, he manages to crash the shuttle to the airlock of main ship. Emergency! Everyone to zero-g-suits. Pressure is dropping at center of ship. Closing of the cargobay door won't work due the fact that Jose's shuttle is still holding the door open. Jose: "Shuttle in place, close the doors". After the cargobay is closed the leakage is over. There's a dent in the inner airlock door. Captain: "Emergency report in 120 seconds at bridge!"
Vacc suit usage training. TL 12 PLS always with crew members. Jose to bed. Dick repairs the door. Urrgae makes the inventories jewels. Shift 237-238 Jose & Urrgae sleeps, Dick repairs the door well, Captain calculates flies to jump point and calculates jump co-ordinates to empty parsec 2203. engaaaaaage! A smooth entrance to hyperspace. Shift 239 Full physical chechup after which captain goes to sleep. Dick is in charge.
Captain installs retina scanners in the cargobay. Shift 240-284 Nothing. Shift 285, Captain/Dick Smooth exit in the middle of shift. We're where expected (2203). Preparation for next jump. |