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Message Incoming...
Source Melchizedek.0294
Approach β Hyi
Ascension 00h 25m 45.07037s
Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
Distance 24.34ly
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
Year 3782, QEC adjusted
[Autotranslator enabled...]
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master
:::
I am serving the following packet in parsable envelope over QEC
for intercept and transmission to the Idjani family. Due to our
time dialation, I am not sure this will reach his father,
descendents or ancestors. Local data-authority intervention
requested. If anyone out there can help get this into the right
hands we will owe you a debt.
ENVELOPE 001 START
:::
Dear Mr. Idjani and extended family of Moussa Idjani:
I regret to report that Doctor Moussa Idjani, ship physician to
the Melchizedek and a personal friend, is deceased.
Men of your son's utter dedication to the cause of life are rare
and the loss of such a man is humanity's loss.
In the years of close confidence and friendship that has grown
between us, I have ever been impressed by the strength of his
spirit and his cool confidence in the success of our program. He
was a leader who shared his strength and faith with all who knew
him. By his courage, skill and dedication, he has guaranteed
future generations a place in the universe and a chance for peace.
The work we do and the role Moussa played in it can not be
overstated. It is to him that we owe our lives and hopes in the
future.
Your sacrifice is beyond measure, but I hope you can take some
comfort from your knowledge that your pride can be without limit.
I mourn with you as we pray for God's blessing.
Millions share our debt to you for giving Moussa to man, and
inspiration to mankind.
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master, Melchizedek Covenant Arc
ENVELOPE 001 END
:::
I have, much to my great pride, never in the past been faced with
a situation of having to report on the death of one of my crew.
I admit to have borrowed heavily from history for the format of
the letter. I hope it offers his family some consolation in this
dark time.
What I cannot offer them is an explanation for what happened.
I have watched the video recordings, listened to the QEC
transmission, interviewed the crew, and all that remains is more
questions.
Prezzi would suggest a logical review: carefully considered inputs
and value measurements, a systematic approach to variable
limiting, and absolute, brutal precision in analysis. Had I her
training from the Ecclesia, I would use it to cut loose, to stop
seeing his face in my dreams, and to stop the incessant questions
nagging me. Why didn't I agree to wake Kroups? If I had, would he
be gone instead? Why did I allow it to begin?
Moussa was my conscience and confidant. He knew this didn't make
any sense, but I pushed him regardless. We're so close to Beta! We
just need to stretch a bit further and we've done it, the
impossible task. But the cost.
Moussa was my friend. I owed him more.
I owe his memory more.
At 24.542041, our doctor was attacked by a mutated arabidopsis...
Entity. The violence of it--it began in what appears to be
a reaction to an ultrasonic probe making contact with a small cell
sample. The sample was in isolation in a mechanized microscopic
recording device called a SAM3 (I'm not sure what the designation
stands for). The remaining arabidopsis was contained in a secure
section of the fore-botany bay, isolated by translucent graphene
sheeting and reinforced self-sealing biofilm.
The moment he--the moment it happened the separate arabidopsis
plants, individually, broke through the secure enclosure and
attached themselves to Mou--Doctor Idjani's unprotected skin
around his hands, arm, and face. The plants moved independently,
and with incredible force. The graphene sheeting alone can
withstand nearly as much force as the hull crush-plating. Our food
production requires the utmost care and safety, which it seems
did us no good at all.
I don't know how to describe the movement. I've been watching the
video on loop wishing the QEC had the bandwidth to encode it and
send along. I imagine there will be those back home who won't
believe the reports no matter how carefully I present the
evidence. Plants don't move like that.
Arabidopsis is a common plant, or was when we left on our mission.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is closely
related to spinach or mustard greens. It grows well in a wide
range of conditions and environments. Those aboard the Shin-Salyut
replica orbital station may be familiar with it. If memory serves,
it was the 6 or 7 Salyut that flowered the first arabidopsis in
space, making it the first human space-plant. It flourishes today
(or when we left) on the lunar colonies as leftovers of the
original Chinese bases. I believe it has been adapted to Martian
soil now, and it is one of the standards for botany labs on
Visscher craft.
I've spent a lifetime with this plant, and whatever the hell
killed Idjani was not that. Something changed when we were in
cryo, and the DNA pasting doesn't account for it. The plants, the
way they moved, it reminded me of Cephalopoda. I've seen videos of
the aquatic creatures when they reach land and fling themselves
around with flailing limbs. Arabidopsis, or what used to be
arabidopsis, moved like that. It was animal movement and unnatural
to witness.
The plants shot across the room so fast, the camera had to be
slowed to see it clearly. The graphene just crumpled inward and
they piled through. There are scrapings of plant remnant on the
edges that were identified prior to purging the compartment. The
things didn't seem to care that they were shredding their
own...flesh...bark? I don't know how to classify any of this. We
need to come up with new terms. A-rabids? I don't know.
Anyway, as unnatural and difficult to explain that part is, what
comes next challenges us all. If Eva hadn't witnessed it
first-hand I don't know that I'd trust the cameras, frankly.
There's only so much you can take in at once.
The arabids attached to Moussa's skin. This part I watched
clearly. They didn't touch a piece of clothing in the act. They
knew exactly what parts were him and what weren't. Almost as soon
as they connected, the buds sort of burrowed into him. The growth
rate was inconceivable. A whole root system shot through him and
sort of affixed him to the spot. It was like someone told him to
freeze in place and he acted like a tree, except he was a tree.
The image of it won't leave me. I know Eva feels the same. She
can't go near botany anymore. I can't blame her.
Eva Hämäläinen deserves some mention here. I believe our situation
would be significantly more dire without her immediate action. She
has asked that I forgo sharing some of the details of the event
out of what I believe to be embarrassment, but I must decline. To
leave anything out of the encounter is a disservice to her bravery
and undermines the intensity of the critical moments.
As the arabids affixed and rooted into Moussa, they did not kill
him instantly. As best we have theorized, the root system was
attempting to work symbiotically with his own circulatory system.
While he was unable to move or communicate as normal, he was very
much alive. The recordings show him struggling against it at
first, but after a few minutes he seemed to settle into place. We
couldn't make out the words clearly beyond a reconstructed phrase:
"Together we grow, together we grow, together"
He repeated it softly as Eva arrived. She saw him and what it was
doing, and it...saw...her as well. You can hear her reaction on
the QEC as she saw the scene. Eva screamed like a banshee and
vomited simultaneously. The later I mention despite her
reservations because of the importance to her own survival. The
surface growths on the doctor moved toward her as she screamed.
They were so fast, I believe they would have reached her before
she could react. However, the aribids did not seem to be able to
distinguish between her and her vomit. The plants splashed down
onto the floor for a brief moment, giving her time to act. The
emergency containment and isolation systems were already in place,
but breached. Melchizedek's systems were on high alert, so when
she pushed the hot-release button, the whole fore-botany container
detached instantly.
Were we in normal space and not under gravity-sheer, Eva would
have been pressure ejected into vacuum between the plates.
Instead, the atmospheric isolation was enough to hold her position
as the emergency crush plating dropped into place. Fore-botany hit
the grav-shear wall a moment later and was broken into subatomic
particles instantly.
We had no opportunity to examine Doctor Idjani's body or any of
the affected plants in fore-botany. The doctor's active samples
were all included in that compartment when it jettisoned. Despite
the value of the food stores and the scientific questions raised
by the events, I am glad it's over with. This nightmare cost me
the life of my friend. We must proceed without our doctor. Our
questions have no answers: neither scientific or from faith.
Prezzi would suggest I proceed logically, and I will do my best.
The food shortage is our most dire problem and we're unequipped to
deal with it. I'm thawing out Xavier and Kroups immediately.
I need fresh minds who know the science to get us through this.
We will get through this. Humanity is counting on us. We have paid
a dear price but it will not stop our mission. I will be as clear
as I can to all who read this whether traveller, scientist, or
crew: I mean to seed Beta Hydrii with the gift of life, the
blessings of God, and make a home for our people in the stars.
I will see that through even if it costs us every life aboard. We
will pay the price.
.

23
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Message Incoming...
Source Starbloom Communal Distributive Projection
Approach γ Aquarii [Lucky Homes]
Ascension 22h 21m 39.37542s
Declination –01° 23′ 14.4031″
Distance 178.211ly
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
Year 2445, QEC adjusted
[Autotranslator enabled...]
Susan, Speaker Elect of Cheer Systems, 14th Pod
:::
Merry Meet to all of our friends in this wide, beautiful 'verse~
Tonight we would like to share a very special message from Pod
14's secondary communal education initiative. Our schools have
selected a few bright and passionate students to share their
talents in our festivites. What better way to welcome new friends
to the Lucky Homes than with a showcase of the arts!
These children have worked so hard!

199
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From: Adam Crozer <crozer.adam@lunalines.com>
To: Underway Reporting <quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com>
Received: from relay4.local.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
by int-03.lunalines.com
for quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com
with ESMTPSA id d6aY341Pf3
Received: from qec.lrpf107
by relay1.qec3.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
Subject: Final report, LRPF Quetelet
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf8"
Date: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
Date-Local: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet on the regular Ganymede-Luna
run, reporting to headquarters Luna Lines. A complete log dump,
including current ecliptic coordinates (ref. WAS94) and projected
vectors to intercept, will promptly follow this report as
transmitted.
Our situation is dire, with no realistic prospect of relief. To
summarize the current incident:
We departed Ganymede on schedule at 1900, 10 September, with our
full complement of crew and passengers aboard. Per instructions
from home office, shortly before departure we also embarked Amelia
Nine, Earthgov expedition support director for the Voortrekker
project, and Joel Kenyon Fredericks, a deputy military attaché
rotating home from the Ganymede mission.
Our run was initially uneventful; we passed through the outer
system and transited the belt without incident, finding Ceres
Hollow traffic control no more than ordinarily
unprofessional. While the treaty announcement of 13 September
raised tensions among crew and passengers alike, no mishap ensued.
At 1533 on 14 September, our navigation surveillance systems
reported a probable Earth naval combatant with a heat signature
indicating a hard burn to match our vector. At 1612, we concluded
that the as yet unidentified ship was shaping to match our vector,
and would intercept us well short of any circumlunar approach
lane. We adjusted course to maximize time to intercept, and the
unidentified ship adjusted her own burn to compensate. We estimated
intercept within approximately twenty-six hours.
At 1644 on 14 September, we received a hail from the ship,
identifying herself as ENS Kearsarge under Captain John
Whitlow. Whitlow instructed us to cease acceleration at once and
heave to for boarding and the arrest of the passenger Amelia
Nine. Whitlow further instructed us to send no transmissions for
any reason, whether via QEC or conventional emission, and that he
would fire into us if we did not immediately comply with his
instructions.
Given Whitlow's apparent readiness to engage in hostilities against
an unarmed civilian vessel, and further considering his highly
atypical instruction to make no transmissions, I concluded that
surrender was not in the best interest of Quetelet or her
complement.
I informed Mr. Fredericks of the situation, and asked his
advice. He at once volunteered to send and sign a message to
Kearsarge, demonstrating his presence aboard Quetelet and claiming
her under secondment to the Foreign Affairs Office, thus protected
by diplomatic immunity under the definition established by the
Earth-Luna Memorandum of Consular Understanding, 2397. We
transmitted this message at 1732 on 14 September. We have received
no response.
In following discussion, Mr. Fredericks confirmed my appreciation
of Whitlow's probable intentions. Mr. Fredericks further noted
that, in light of the recent treaty of alliance, we could at best
expect to be interned following a surrender, and that, considering
the no-communication order, he personally thought it more likely
none of us would long survive such an action.
At 1749 on 14 September, we went to maximum emergency acceleration
and again adjusted course to maximize time to intercept. Kearsarge
again adjusted to match us and further increased her own
acceleration.
Kearsarge has continued to close us, and as of now we project her
no more than four hours thirty minutes from extreme weapons
range. We have no reason to doubt that Whitlow will fulfill his
prior threat at the earliest possible time, and we have no ability
to defend ourselves from such action.
We do not know with certainty what has driven Whitlow to so
contravene the accepted usages of interplanetary law and custom,
but - following further discussion with Mr. Fredericks and Amelia
Nine - I strongly suspect his orders are, by any necessary means,
to prevent certain information now in the possession of Ms. Nine
from reaching Luna. Therefore, at the request of Mr. Fredericks,
and with the consent of Ms. Nine, I include the following:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
I am Joel Kenyon Fredericks, most recently the deputy attaché for
military affairs in the Ganymede consulate of the Luna Free State.
On the evening of September 13, I was approached aboard Quetelet by
Ms. Amelia Nine, a citizen of Earth, with a request for political
refuge under the terms of the Lunar Declaration on Human
Rights, 2354. Being empowered to respond to such a request on
behalf of my government, and having judged Ms. Nine's reasons for
so requesting to fall within the relevant terms of the Declaration,
I proceeded at 2054 on September 13 to grant Ms. Nine's request.
Following this discussion, Ms. Nine disclosed to me information held
by her government in extreme confidence. Specifically, she advised me
that Earth's heavy spaceborne industry has recently achieved the
ability to construct armed combatant vessels equipped for superluminal
travel.
Ms. Nine substantiated this statement with copies of documents
obtained by technical means from the archives of the prototype
project. While Ms. Nine's collection does not describe that project in
complete detail, the engineering drawings and correspondence therein
suffice, in my judgment, to confirm her statements.
Based on examination of those drawings, I would provisionally classify
the prototype they describe as a corvette or gunship type. Due perhaps
to constrained generation capability, she is described as mounting no
power weapons, and only four frigate-class kinetic bombards. Her
internal spaces include eight large launch bays, each equipped to
support four LCA(H) 1180 or compatible landing shuttles.
Based on known capabilities of similar types, this ship most likely
can deploy mechanized formations, in battalion to division strength,
within two hours of arrival in orbit. However, such landings could
only take place unopposed; this ship's weakness as a combatant renders
her largely ineffectual in reducing defenses of any strength.
In particular, a ship of this type could not hope to approach within
weapons range of Luna, even via FTL drive, without being engaged and
destroyed by our planetary defenses. Should she survive long enough to
launch her boats, they would meet the same fate, inflicting minimal to
no damage on our installations in return.
However, the existence of a working Earth FTL prototype is nonetheless
frightening. I most strongly recommend this matter be discussed among
the parties to the new treaty, and that no effort be spared to obtain
dispositive information regarding her full capabilities, and the
current state of Earth's naval construction programs, particularly in
their Ganymede yards.
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If preventing this disclosure is indeed Whitlow's purpose, perhaps
he will desist when the transmission of this report proves that his
mission has failed. But I am not optimistic. Therefore, in the
interests of simple humanity, I have advised our passenger
complement of our current situation, and made available our QEC
sender for brief personal messages. We will append these to our log
dump, to be transmitted following this report.
In a similar vein: Thecla, I know you'll see this. I'm sorry to ask
it, but will you please bear the news? I'd rather it came from a
friend. Give Tim and Bertie my regrets and my love, and tell
Susanna and Marigold I'm sorry I couldn't make it home for their
birthday and they'll always be my favorite little squirrel butts.
Kearsarge is now within two hours of firing range, and continues to
ignore our hails. I will transmit this report momentarily, followed
by our log dump and our passengers' personal messages.
Of note: Ms. Nine has requested that she be placed in a lifeboat
and the lifeboat then jettisoned, in the hope that Kearsarge might
be satisfied with her capture alone, or might be diverted long
enough for Quetelet to reach safety. Given Whitlow's apparent
intentions, and the certainty that Kearsarge carries launches
capable of overhauling our own boats, I declined her request: we
all have to go, looks like, but none of us has to go alone and
afraid.
All the same - she was clearly terrified at the prospect, but she
fought for it anyway, and made us convince her it wouldn't help
before she'd concede the argument. I think that was the bravest
thing I've ever seen anyone do. Her people deserve to know that.
Finally, I wish to state for the record that my crew has performed
admirably throughout this ordeal, and I confide they will continue
to do so, right up to the end. Almost everyone is downship in the
passenger cabins right now, looking after the souls who've
entrusted themselves to our care. I didn't order that; my people
decided on their own to do it, and set to with a will. For all that
I regret we've come to this, my people could not have done me
prouder.
Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet, signing off.

2
gopher/listing.gophermap
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@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
0Voortrekker - Final report, LRPF Quetelet /Voortrekker/16-final-report-lrpf-quetelet.txt
0Melchizedek - Casualty report /Melchizedek/012.txt
0bio station 72 - Assistance required within South Serpens cluster /bio station 72/000-assistance-required.txt
0K-231 - Message 42341f: Fixed! /K-231/message_42341f.txt
0Oleander - Sister Asiya /Oleander/004-sister-asiya.txt

428
gopher/rss.xml
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@ -2,6 +2,434 @@
<title>Cosmic Voyage</title>
<link>gopher://cosmic.voyage</link>
<description>Messages from the human stellar diaspora</description>
<item>
<title>Voortrekker - Final report, LRPF Quetelet</title>
<author>alexis@cosmic.voyage (alexis)</author>
<link>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0/Voortrekker/16-final-report-lrpf-quetelet.txt</link>
<guid>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0/Voortrekker/16-final-report-lrpf-quetelet.txt</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2019 12:52:46 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[
From: Adam Crozer <crozer.adam@lunalines.com>
To: Underway Reporting <quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com>
Received: from relay4.local.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
by int-03.lunalines.com
for quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com
with ESMTPSA id d6aY341Pf3
Received: from qec.lrpf107
by relay1.qec3.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
Subject: Final report, LRPF Quetelet
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf8"
Date: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
Date-Local: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet on the regular Ganymede-Luna
run, reporting to headquarters Luna Lines. A complete log dump,
including current ecliptic coordinates (ref. WAS94) and projected
vectors to intercept, will promptly follow this report as
transmitted.
Our situation is dire, with no realistic prospect of relief. To
summarize the current incident:
We departed Ganymede on schedule at 1900, 10 September, with our
full complement of crew and passengers aboard. Per instructions
from home office, shortly before departure we also embarked Amelia
Nine, Earthgov expedition support director for the Voortrekker
project, and Joel Kenyon Fredericks, a deputy military attaché
rotating home from the Ganymede mission.
Our run was initially uneventful; we passed through the outer
system and transited the belt without incident, finding Ceres
Hollow traffic control no more than ordinarily
unprofessional. While the treaty announcement of 13 September
raised tensions among crew and passengers alike, no mishap ensued.
At 1533 on 14 September, our navigation surveillance systems
reported a probable Earth naval combatant with a heat signature
indicating a hard burn to match our vector. At 1612, we concluded
that the as yet unidentified ship was shaping to match our vector,
and would intercept us well short of any circumlunar approach
lane. We adjusted course to maximize time to intercept, and the
unidentified ship adjusted her own burn to compensate. We estimated
intercept within approximately twenty-six hours.
At 1644 on 14 September, we received a hail from the ship,
identifying herself as ENS Kearsarge under Captain John
Whitlow. Whitlow instructed us to cease acceleration at once and
heave to for boarding and the arrest of the passenger Amelia
Nine. Whitlow further instructed us to send no transmissions for
any reason, whether via QEC or conventional emission, and that he
would fire into us if we did not immediately comply with his
instructions.
Given Whitlow's apparent readiness to engage in hostilities against
an unarmed civilian vessel, and further considering his highly
atypical instruction to make no transmissions, I concluded that
surrender was not in the best interest of Quetelet or her
complement.
I informed Mr. Fredericks of the situation, and asked his
advice. He at once volunteered to send and sign a message to
Kearsarge, demonstrating his presence aboard Quetelet and claiming
her under secondment to the Foreign Affairs Office, thus protected
by diplomatic immunity under the definition established by the
Earth-Luna Memorandum of Consular Understanding, 2397. We
transmitted this message at 1732 on 14 September. We have received
no response.
In following discussion, Mr. Fredericks confirmed my appreciation
of Whitlow's probable intentions. Mr. Fredericks further noted
that, in light of the recent treaty of alliance, we could at best
expect to be interned following a surrender, and that, considering
the no-communication order, he personally thought it more likely
none of us would long survive such an action.
At 1749 on 14 September, we went to maximum emergency acceleration
and again adjusted course to maximize time to intercept. Kearsarge
again adjusted to match us and further increased her own
acceleration.
Kearsarge has continued to close us, and as of now we project her
no more than four hours thirty minutes from extreme weapons
range. We have no reason to doubt that Whitlow will fulfill his
prior threat at the earliest possible time, and we have no ability
to defend ourselves from such action.
We do not know with certainty what has driven Whitlow to so
contravene the accepted usages of interplanetary law and custom,
but - following further discussion with Mr. Fredericks and Amelia
Nine - I strongly suspect his orders are, by any necessary means,
to prevent certain information now in the possession of Ms. Nine
from reaching Luna. Therefore, at the request of Mr. Fredericks,
and with the consent of Ms. Nine, I include the following:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
I am Joel Kenyon Fredericks, most recently the deputy attaché for
military affairs in the Ganymede consulate of the Luna Free State.
On the evening of September 13, I was approached aboard Quetelet by
Ms. Amelia Nine, a citizen of Earth, with a request for political
refuge under the terms of the Lunar Declaration on Human
Rights, 2354. Being empowered to respond to such a request on
behalf of my government, and having judged Ms. Nine's reasons for
so requesting to fall within the relevant terms of the Declaration,
I proceeded at 2054 on September 13 to grant Ms. Nine's request.
Following this discussion, Ms. Nine disclosed to me information held
by her government in extreme confidence. Specifically, she advised me
that Earth's heavy spaceborne industry has recently achieved the
ability to construct armed combatant vessels equipped for superluminal
travel.
Ms. Nine substantiated this statement with copies of documents
obtained by technical means from the archives of the prototype
project. While Ms. Nine's collection does not describe that project in
complete detail, the engineering drawings and correspondence therein
suffice, in my judgment, to confirm her statements.
Based on examination of those drawings, I would provisionally classify
the prototype they describe as a corvette or gunship type. Due perhaps
to constrained generation capability, she is described as mounting no
power weapons, and only four frigate-class kinetic bombards. Her
internal spaces include eight large launch bays, each equipped to
support four LCA(H) 1180 or compatible landing shuttles.
Based on known capabilities of similar types, this ship most likely
can deploy mechanized formations, in battalion to division strength,
within two hours of arrival in orbit. However, such landings could
only take place unopposed; this ship's weakness as a combatant renders
her largely ineffectual in reducing defenses of any strength.
In particular, a ship of this type could not hope to approach within
weapons range of Luna, even via FTL drive, without being engaged and
destroyed by our planetary defenses. Should she survive long enough to
launch her boats, they would meet the same fate, inflicting minimal to
no damage on our installations in return.
However, the existence of a working Earth FTL prototype is nonetheless
frightening. I most strongly recommend this matter be discussed among
the parties to the new treaty, and that no effort be spared to obtain
dispositive information regarding her full capabilities, and the
current state of Earth's naval construction programs, particularly in
their Ganymede yards.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.12 (GNU/Linux)
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If preventing this disclosure is indeed Whitlow's purpose, perhaps
he will desist when the transmission of this report proves that his
mission has failed. But I am not optimistic. Therefore, in the
interests of simple humanity, I have advised our passenger
complement of our current situation, and made available our QEC
sender for brief personal messages. We will append these to our log
dump, to be transmitted following this report.
In a similar vein: Thecla, I know you'll see this. I'm sorry to ask
it, but will you please bear the news? I'd rather it came from a
friend. Give Tim and Bertie my regrets and my love, and tell
Susanna and Marigold I'm sorry I couldn't make it home for their
birthday and they'll always be my favorite little squirrel butts.
Kearsarge is now within two hours of firing range, and continues to
ignore our hails. I will transmit this report momentarily, followed
by our log dump and our passengers' personal messages.
Of note: Ms. Nine has requested that she be placed in a lifeboat
and the lifeboat then jettisoned, in the hope that Kearsarge might
be satisfied with her capture alone, or might be diverted long
enough for Quetelet to reach safety. Given Whitlow's apparent
intentions, and the certainty that Kearsarge carries launches
capable of overhauling our own boats, I declined her request: we
all have to go, looks like, but none of us has to go alone and
afraid.
All the same - she was clearly terrified at the prospect, but she
fought for it anyway, and made us convince her it wouldn't help
before she'd concede the argument. I think that was the bravest
thing I've ever seen anyone do. Her people deserve to know that.
Finally, I wish to state for the record that my crew has performed
admirably throughout this ordeal, and I confide they will continue
to do so, right up to the end. Almost everyone is downship in the
passenger cabins right now, looking after the souls who've
entrusted themselves to our care. I didn't order that; my people
decided on their own to do it, and set to with a will. For all that
I regret we've come to this, my people could not have done me
prouder.
Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet, signing off.
]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Melchizedek - Casualty report</title>
<author>tomasino@cosmic.voyage (tomasino)</author>
<link>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0/Melchizedek/012.txt</link>
<guid>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0/Melchizedek/012.txt</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2019 04:34:49 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[
Message Incoming...
Source Melchizedek.0294
Approach β Hyi
Ascension 00h 25m 45.07037s
Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
Distance 24.34ly
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
Year 3782, QEC adjusted
[Autotranslator enabled...]
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master
:::
I am serving the following packet in parsable envelope over QEC
for intercept and transmission to the Idjani family. Due to our
time dialation, I am not sure this will reach his father,
descendents or ancestors. Local data-authority intervention
requested. If anyone out there can help get this into the right
hands we will owe you a debt.
ENVELOPE 001 START
:::
Dear Mr. Idjani and extended family of Moussa Idjani:
I regret to report that Doctor Moussa Idjani, ship physician to
the Melchizedek and a personal friend, is deceased.
Men of your son's utter dedication to the cause of life are rare
and the loss of such a man is humanity's loss.
In the years of close confidence and friendship that has grown
between us, I have ever been impressed by the strength of his
spirit and his cool confidence in the success of our program. He
was a leader who shared his strength and faith with all who knew
him. By his courage, skill and dedication, he has guaranteed
future generations a place in the universe and a chance for peace.
The work we do and the role Moussa played in it can not be
overstated. It is to him that we owe our lives and hopes in the
future.
Your sacrifice is beyond measure, but I hope you can take some
comfort from your knowledge that your pride can be without limit.
I mourn with you as we pray for God's blessing.
Millions share our debt to you for giving Moussa to man, and
inspiration to mankind.
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master, Melchizedek Covenant Arc
ENVELOPE 001 END
:::
I have, much to my great pride, never in the past been faced with
a situation of having to report on the death of one of my crew.
I admit to have borrowed heavily from history for the format of
the letter. I hope it offers his family some consolation in this
dark time.
What I cannot offer them is an explanation for what happened.
I have watched the video recordings, listened to the QEC
transmission, interviewed the crew, and all that remains is more
questions.
Prezzi would suggest a logical review: carefully considered inputs
and value measurements, a systematic approach to variable
limiting, and absolute, brutal precision in analysis. Had I her
training from the Ecclesia, I would use it to cut loose, to stop
seeing his face in my dreams, and to stop the incessant questions
nagging me. Why didn't I agree to wake Kroups? If I had, would he
be gone instead? Why did I allow it to begin?
Moussa was my conscience and confidant. He knew this didn't make
any sense, but I pushed him regardless. We're so close to Beta! We
just need to stretch a bit further and we've done it, the
impossible task. But the cost.
Moussa was my friend. I owed him more.
I owe his memory more.
At 24.542041, our doctor was attacked by a mutated arabidopsis...
Entity. The violence of it--it began in what appears to be
a reaction to an ultrasonic probe making contact with a small cell
sample. The sample was in isolation in a mechanized microscopic
recording device called a SAM3 (I'm not sure what the designation
stands for). The remaining arabidopsis was contained in a secure
section of the fore-botany bay, isolated by translucent graphene
sheeting and reinforced self-sealing biofilm.
The moment he--the moment it happened the separate arabidopsis
plants, individually, broke through the secure enclosure and
attached themselves to Mou--Doctor Idjani's unprotected skin
around his hands, arm, and face. The plants moved independently,
and with incredible force. The graphene sheeting alone can
withstand nearly as much force as the hull crush-plating. Our food
production requires the utmost care and safety, which it seems
did us no good at all.
I don't know how to describe the movement. I've been watching the
video on loop wishing the QEC had the bandwidth to encode it and
send along. I imagine there will be those back home who won't
believe the reports no matter how carefully I present the
evidence. Plants don't move like that.
Arabidopsis is a common plant, or was when we left on our mission.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is closely
related to spinach or mustard greens. It grows well in a wide
range of conditions and environments. Those aboard the Shin-Salyut
replica orbital station may be familiar with it. If memory serves,
it was the 6 or 7 Salyut that flowered the first arabidopsis in
space, making it the first human space-plant. It flourishes today
(or when we left) on the lunar colonies as leftovers of the
original Chinese bases. I believe it has been adapted to Martian
soil now, and it is one of the standards for botany labs on
Visscher craft.
I've spent a lifetime with this plant, and whatever the hell
killed Idjani was not that. Something changed when we were in
cryo, and the DNA pasting doesn't account for it. The plants, the
way they moved, it reminded me of Cephalopoda. I've seen videos of
the aquatic creatures when they reach land and fling themselves
around with flailing limbs. Arabidopsis, or what used to be
arabidopsis, moved like that. It was animal movement and unnatural
to witness.
The plants shot across the room so fast, the camera had to be
slowed to see it clearly. The graphene just crumpled inward and
they piled through. There are scrapings of plant remnant on the
edges that were identified prior to purging the compartment. The
things didn't seem to care that they were shredding their
own...flesh...bark? I don't know how to classify any of this. We
need to come up with new terms. A-rabids? I don't know.
Anyway, as unnatural and difficult to explain that part is, what
comes next challenges us all. If Eva hadn't witnessed it
first-hand I don't know that I'd trust the cameras, frankly.
There's only so much you can take in at once.
The arabids attached to Moussa's skin. This part I watched
clearly. They didn't touch a piece of clothing in the act. They
knew exactly what parts were him and what weren't. Almost as soon
as they connected, the buds sort of burrowed into him. The growth
rate was inconceivable. A whole root system shot through him and
sort of affixed him to the spot. It was like someone told him to
freeze in place and he acted like a tree, except he was a tree.
The image of it won't leave me. I know Eva feels the same. She
can't go near botany anymore. I can't blame her.
Eva Hämäläinen deserves some mention here. I believe our situation
would be significantly more dire without her immediate action. She
has asked that I forgo sharing some of the details of the event
out of what I believe to be embarrassment, but I must decline. To
leave anything out of the encounter is a disservice to her bravery
and undermines the intensity of the critical moments.
As the arabids affixed and rooted into Moussa, they did not kill
him instantly. As best we have theorized, the root system was
attempting to work symbiotically with his own circulatory system.
While he was unable to move or communicate as normal, he was very
much alive. The recordings show him struggling against it at
first, but after a few minutes he seemed to settle into place. We
couldn't make out the words clearly beyond a reconstructed phrase:
"Together we grow, together we grow, together"
He repeated it softly as Eva arrived. She saw him and what it was
doing, and it...saw...her as well. You can hear her reaction on
the QEC as she saw the scene. Eva screamed like a banshee and
vomited simultaneously. The later I mention despite her
reservations because of the importance to her own survival. The
surface growths on the doctor moved toward her as she screamed.
They were so fast, I believe they would have reached her before
she could react. However, the aribids did not seem to be able to
distinguish between her and her vomit. The plants splashed down
onto the floor for a brief moment, giving her time to act. The
emergency containment and isolation systems were already in place,
but breached. Melchizedek's systems were on high alert, so when
she pushed the hot-release button, the whole fore-botany container
detached instantly.
Were we in normal space and not under gravity-sheer, Eva would
have been pressure ejected into vacuum between the plates.
Instead, the atmospheric isolation was enough to hold her position
as the emergency crush plating dropped into place. Fore-botany hit
the grav-shear wall a moment later and was broken into subatomic
particles instantly.
We had no opportunity to examine Doctor Idjani's body or any of
the affected plants in fore-botany. The doctor's active samples
were all included in that compartment when it jettisoned. Despite
the value of the food stores and the scientific questions raised
by the events, I am glad it's over with. This nightmare cost me
the life of my friend. We must proceed without our doctor. Our
questions have no answers: neither scientific or from faith.
Prezzi would suggest I proceed logically, and I will do my best.
The food shortage is our most dire problem and we're unequipped to
deal with it. I'm thawing out Xavier and Kroups immediately.
I need fresh minds who know the science to get us through this.
We will get through this. Humanity is counting on us. We have paid
a dear price but it will not stop our mission. I will be as clear
as I can to all who read this whether traveller, scientist, or
crew: I mean to seed Beta Hydrii with the gift of life, the
blessings of God, and make a home for our people in the stars.
I will see that through even if it costs us every life aboard. We
will pay the price.
.
]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>bio station 72 - Assistance required within South Serpens cluster</title>
<author>jchelpau@cosmic.voyage (jchelpau)</author>