787 lines
36 KiB
XML
787 lines
36 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><atom:link href="https://cosmic.voyage/rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
|
||
<title>Cosmic Voyage</title>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage</link>
|
||
<description>Messages from the human stellar diaspora</description>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Hoffnung - all systems nominal</title>
|
||
<author>kensanata@cosmic.voyage (kensanata)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Hoffnung/001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Hoffnung/001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2018 21:07:02 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
-+-+-+- Regular Report -+-+-+- C51.204 -+-+-+- Green -+-+-+-
|
||
Dr. med. Herbert Wullschlegel reporting on the first scheduled
|
||
inspection. The passenger status in cryo sleep is nominal. We have had
|
||
no failures. My companion for this round is Dr. astr.-phys. eng.
|
||
Philomena Auerbach. We've spent the first two days reviewing the logs.
|
||
This is the third day and we have had a good time running the long
|
||
corridors of the ship. Philomena did go back to sector C in order to
|
||
inspect a minor hydro leak. Nothing unexpected. As for myself, I'm
|
||
taking advantage of the cryo break to eat some solid food. It helps
|
||
with the teeth reconstruction. I'm happy we managed to get the newer
|
||
cryo berths with the slow shaking to strengthen bones and to maintain
|
||
muscle tissue. With so many years spent in cryo, even the very slow
|
||
metabolism of space sleep changes the body. Sometimes I wonder what
|
||
ships built after us would offer. Hoffnung did not get the latest
|
||
Shrinivasan-Ramapattnam drive. We could not afford them. And with that
|
||
I'm going to close this cover letter for the full technical report. In
|
||
two days we're going back to sleep for another fifty years. Peace.
|
||
-+-+-+ End of Report -+-+-+ Signed HEWUSC -+-+-+
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Franciscus - A wing and a prayer</title>
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||
<author>jabooty@cosmic.voyage (jabooty)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Franciscus/navlog001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Franciscus/navlog001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2018 03:58:51 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
-- INCOMING MESSAGE --
|
||
Holy Missionary Ship Franciscus
|
||
Coordinates: UNKNOWN
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Heading: UNKNOWN
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ORIGIN DATE: UNKNOWN
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||
|
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-- MESSAGE START --
|
||
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Navigator Log 001
|
||
|
||
Blessed greetings, all.
|
||
|
||
Communications systems are clearly up and running aboard the
|
||
Franciscus. This is heartening news. I see that we are not
|
||
the only ship out there that has experienced some problems.
|
||
Melchizedek's message has arrived, and we are glad to say that
|
||
you are not alone in being awake. Though, it appears as you
|
||
are also not alone in being alone.
|
||
|
||
Navigation systems are slowly coming back online. I have
|
||
been working tirelessly with our Chief Engineer to repair
|
||
not only nav, but other necessary systems.
|
||
|
||
If only I knew where we were... surely we're not *that*
|
||
far off course...
|
||
|
||
We have managed to get video monitors functional, so we
|
||
can see what is happening outside the ship. Initial inspection
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||
shows no damage.
|
||
|
||
Looking outward from the ship, we were able to determine that
|
||
we are within the vicinity of a small solar system, but it
|
||
does not appear to have the same planetary make-up as our
|
||
original destination.
|
||
|
||
Acolyte Alba has placed a priority on restoring full power
|
||
to the High Temple deck. He seems to think that the way out
|
||
of this mess is prayer.
|
||
|
||
I'm not opposed to it. I am a keeper of The Faith, after all,
|
||
and I chose to join this mission for the very purpose of
|
||
ministering to our colonies.
|
||
|
||
But still... prayer?
|
||
|
||
I'd prefer a star chart.
|
||
|
||
-- MESSAGE END --
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Voortrekker - Made it...</title>
|
||
<author>alexis@cosmic.voyage (alexis)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Voortrekker/1-made-it.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Voortrekker/1-made-it.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2018 02:58:27 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
From: System Account <tty994@com2.pri.sv14417>
|
||
To: sam <sam@recoveryinstitute.org>
|
||
Delivered-To: sam <sam@l1.luna.recoveryinstitute.org>
|
||
Received: from relay4.qec2.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
|
||
by mta3.recoveryinstitute.org
|
||
with ESMTPS id x124so177123a067 for <sam@recoveryinstitute.org>
|
||
Received: from relay1.qec7.ganymede.earthsys.gov
|
||
by relay4.qec2.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
|
||
Received: from qec4.helio.earthsys.gov
|
||
by relay1.qec7.ganymede.earthsys.gov
|
||
Received: from qec.sv14417
|
||
by qec4.helio.earthsys.gov
|
||
Date-Local: 17 Mar 2419 19:33:47 +0000
|
||
Date: 19 Mar 2419 04:54:32.119 +0000
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||
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf8"
|
||
Subject: Made it...
|
||
|
||
God, Sam, how I wish you were here. Maybe you could help me. You were
|
||
always the best of company.
|
||
|
||
None of us ever really expected to find anything complicated. Proks,
|
||
maybe, if we were very lucky. More likely just smelly slurry that
|
||
might have been something someday if we hadn't showed up first. But
|
||
this? No. Never in a million years. Certainly not in twenty-five.
|
||
|
||
Sorry. I know I'm not making sense out of this. I'll try again. They
|
||
probably already have some of it from SCARS, but let me tell it to you
|
||
my own way.
|
||
|
||
What I heard, the midcourse corrections had us coming into the system
|
||
weird. Not so weird we couldn't make orbit, but enough that we had to
|
||
correct so the landing boats could reach Site One and back. Partway
|
||
through the correction, we hit something. Or something hit us - I
|
||
talked with one of the pilots before he died, he told me they didn't
|
||
catch it on radar and that shouldn't have been possible, not with the
|
||
damage it did. Had the idea it must've been directed, somehow. I don't
|
||
know if that makes sense, but either way, it holed us.
|
||
|
||
Holed us bad, and with the thrusters still firing. If they hadn't
|
||
been, the fuel system would've been evacuated - we might've stayed
|
||
up. But the blast gave us a vector we couldn't overcome on OMS thrust,
|
||
and of course we'd exhausted the primaries. It wasn't a surprise when
|
||
we hit the atmosphere. The surprise was that anyone walked away from
|
||
the impact site. Just under three hundred of us. Doesn't sound like
|
||
much of a miracle, but believe me, we were happy to take it until a
|
||
better one came along. Wasn't even that bad a landing site, for all we
|
||
didn't get to choose much - rolling sandy plains, some large body of
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||
water within eyeshot, maybe an hour's leisurely walk. We could do
|
||
something with the place, once we got our feet under us.
|
||
|
||
We didn't worry about the sickness at first. Barely even noticed it -
|
||
most of us were more or less beat up, and not everyone had made it to
|
||
a crash couch in time. We were all working thirty-hour days between
|
||
broken bones and soft tissue trauma, inventorying what we had left by
|
||
way of supplies, getting the worst toxic leaks from the wreck under
|
||
control, and trying to jury-rig enough of a hab to keep the weather
|
||
off - we hit smack in the northern temperate zone, and the climate
|
||
isn't too bad, but about three hours out of every day we get storms
|
||
you wouldn't believe. Fever, lower back myalgia, mild lower GI
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distress? We had two reactors still up, enough surplus power to run
|
||
the handful of heads left with intact sequestration systems. Plenty of
|
||
paracetamol and neoprox. We had so many problems trying to kill us, we
|
||
were just glad this one wasn't.
|
||
|
||
Then, all of a sudden, it was. Day Six, the sepsis syndrome caught us
|
||
completely by surprise. Thirty-four dead in less than half one of
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Ross's long bright days - onset to lethality in minutes, the medics
|
||
had never seen anything like it. The ones who died had been feeling
|
||
worst, but we all had it by then, and still didn't know what it
|
||
was. We found what tools we could for our one surviving biochemist,
|
||
and she set to work trying to isolate the causative agent - with a lot
|
||
of luck, maybe she'd figure out how to treat it before it killed us
|
||
all.
|
||
|
||
Probably would've been easier if she hadn't been hurting too badly by
|
||
then to sit up. But she got far enough for us to pick up when she had
|
||
to leave off. Light microscopy doesn't give you much structural
|
||
detail, next to nothing about life processes, but we could see well
|
||
enough what it looked like: something like an amoeba, sort of
|
||
polymorphic that way, but with a trophism like nothing we'd ever seen
|
||
and flagella it used like a mosquito uses its proboscis. We fed it
|
||
whole blood and watched it suck the cytoplasm clean out of two dozen
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erythrocytes at once. Leukocytes it just *absorbed*, we're still not
|
||
sure how - they'd hit the cell membrane and just, I don't know, just
|
||
melt into the thing. And then it'd divide, and both daughters would do
|
||
it all over again. We never saw the whole cycle take more than a
|
||
minute.
|
||
|
||
We had plenty of antiparasitics, of course - med bay wasn't what you'd
|
||
call intact, but the starboard-aft hold had most of the backup supply,
|
||
and enough came through the crash to supply we who were left for a
|
||
long time. Nothing we had touched them, though. Not even the really
|
||
exotic stuff that hadn't been approved for human use yet, and we just
|
||
brought because who knew what we'd run into? They didn't even seem to
|
||
notice. We weren't equipped any more for blood filtering or that kind
|
||
of complex intervention, and supportive care was the best we could do
|
||
- try to keep the fever down with ice packs and neoprox, keep the
|
||
kidneys and liver and heart and lungs going, and hope some of us would
|
||
start to pull out of it before the last of us up and about weren't up
|
||
and about any more.
|
||
|
||
I don't really know what happened after I went down. I think it was
|
||
Day Ten? Eleven? There weren't many of us still up by that point. Just
|
||
over a hundred had died, I think. One thing, we'd just gotten Eve
|
||
shifted to a new pallet and I was trying to clean up the mess of the
|
||
old one and keep her from getting too hot, both at the same time, and
|
||
next thing, I was here, flat on my back in what's left of Main
|
||
Control. Nine days gone, just like that. I didn't even know we'd
|
||
gotten any power back on in here - I don't think we had, when I went
|
||
down. Don't know why I'm here, either. We saw enough delirium before I
|
||
went down, there may not even be a 'why'.
|
||
|
||
I don't feel bad at all. I can see I've changed; whoever put me here
|
||
put me in a gown first, and there's not as much of me under it as
|
||
there would've been a couple weeks ago. It fell right off my neck when
|
||
I tried to stand up. That didn't go well. I think I should be hungry,
|
||
but I feel full, like I just ate. I wish I knew if anyone else was
|
||
still here. I've been awake a few hours, I think, but I haven't heard
|
||
anyone. I don't hurt, though, and I'm not burning up. Right now I'm
|
||
still mostly okay with that.
|
||
|
||
I really hope someone else is still here. I don't want to be alone
|
||
like this.
|
||
|
||
Getting up in the chair at the sender console was hard, but I did it,
|
||
and I can still use a keyboard well enough. I thought it was important
|
||
to try to let someone back home know what happened. I don't know if
|
||
the followup expeditions launched on schedule, I don't remember
|
||
hearing before and not much of the mission log made it through the
|
||
crash. If they did -
|
||
|
||
I was going to say, tell them to make turnover early and go anywhere
|
||
else. Even back home would be better than this place, with its barren
|
||
vistas empty of vegetation, its anonymous sea we never even found the
|
||
time to try to name or go and see up close. Smeared along half a mile
|
||
an arrowhead stain of ship debris, at its apex a shallow crater
|
||
centered on the shattered remains of all our hopes and dreams, and in
|
||
a nearby shanty village, rows of corpses - decaying? mummified? Who
|
||
knows if anything else can eat us here? - whom no one had time or
|
||
strength to bury. Go anywhere else but this ball of death and deceit
|
||
whirling around its lonely star. There is nothing for you here.
|
||
|
||
...is what I was *going* to say. But - really, I don't know. As I sit
|
||
here I can feel my strength returning to me, and with it grows the
|
||
conviction that it really isn't bad here. Look at what this planet's
|
||
done to me already! - and yet I survive. I still remember myself. And
|
||
soon I'll be up and about again, able to see what may be seen and do
|
||
what need be done. Yes: many of us died. People I knew. Friends I
|
||
remember and mean never to forget. No few closer than friends - spend
|
||
so many years closed up with only a thousand or so people, sooner or
|
||
later those with whom you were recede in memory, making room for those
|
||
with whom you *are*.
|
||
|
||
Not you, Sam. I've never felt that way about you. How I wish you were
|
||
here! But maybe you will be. If the third expedition hasn't launched
|
||
yet. I know we talked about it. Well - fought about it. I've never
|
||
stopped regretting that, and I hope while I've been gone you might
|
||
have come to understand why I had to go. Maybe we could see one
|
||
another again. I would like that very much. I think you could help
|
||
me. And you were always the best of company.
|
||
|
||
But what worse can this planet do to me than it has already done? What
|
||
worse can it do to any of us who still survive? We came here not
|
||
knowing what we faced - only that it could hardly be worse than what
|
||
we left behind. And even still I feel that very strongly to be
|
||
true. We could never be together there, Sam. Here, who'd be to stop
|
||
us?
|
||
|
||
I know it sounds frightening, what has happened to me. It *was*
|
||
frightening. It was scary and painful and frequently disgusting, and
|
||
that's just what I remember! But I don't hurt any more. I'm not sick
|
||
any more. And I'm not afraid any more. You don't have to be,
|
||
either. It's really not that bad - the body never remembers pain, you
|
||
know. I remember that I hurt, but I don't remember *hurting*. Does
|
||
that make sense?
|
||
|
||
You can come here. Join the third expedition and come find me
|
||
here. Come sooner, if you can. There might be a research ship. I miss
|
||
you, and I hope you miss me. We can be together here, and though I'm
|
||
feeling much stronger now, I still wish you were here to help me. I
|
||
still can't hear anyone, and I don't want to think I'm alone here. Not
|
||
forever, anyway. Besides - once I get more of my strength back, make
|
||
up for what I've lost in the last little while, I think you might like
|
||
seeing me. I think I do. And I'm sure I want to be close to you again.
|
||
|
||
Well. That's enough for now, I think. I'm sure I'll have more to say
|
||
later, but once you get this you'll know I'm still alive, and even
|
||
though we couldn't send our landing report, there's really no reason
|
||
not to send the followup expeditions. Not really. Some won't make it,
|
||
but enough will. And if we weren't going to take that kind of chance,
|
||
why come out here at all?
|
||
|
||
I'm going to send this, with all the power the transmitter will
|
||
take. It'll get to you eventually. Then I'm going to try to stand up
|
||
again. I think I can manage it, now. It'd be easier if I still had
|
||
legs, I suppose. But four limbs shouldn't be *that* much harder to
|
||
manage than two, and I'm still enough of a biologist to remember how
|
||
muscular hydrostats work. I think it's just a matter of figuring out
|
||
which impulses go where...oh well. By the time you're here, I should
|
||
be all finished embarrassing myself with them, I hope.
|
||
|
||
I never stopped loving you, Sam. Please don't have stayed angry with
|
||
me. I hope we'll see each other again. In the meantime, I'll see if
|
||
anyone else is still alive. And with whoever's left, I'll start
|
||
preparing for those who may come after us. By the time they get here,
|
||
if they do, we'll be ready to make our new settlers a home.
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Melchizedek - The dark and cold</title>
|
||
<author>tomasino@cosmic.voyage (tomasino)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/003.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/003.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2018 01:26:46 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
Message Incoming...
|
||
|
||
Source Melchizedek.0294
|
||
Approach β Hyi
|
||
Ascension 00h 25m 45.07036s
|
||
Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
|
||
Distance 24.33ly
|
||
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
|
||
Year 3781, QEC adjusted
|
||
|
||
[Autotranslator enabled...]
|
||
|
||
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master
|
||
:::
|
||
I can report with some satisfaction that all conscious crew have
|
||
regained enough muscle mass to return to full duty. This is no
|
||
small feat so soon after abbreviated cryo and it reflects the
|
||
excellent personal character of each of our officers. Adeyemi, in
|
||
particular, deserves special acknowledgement. I previously
|
||
remarked that her own specialty does not provide appropriate
|
||
experience for our present circumstance; which, as it seems, only
|
||
belies my own ignorance of her training. Prezzi Adeyemi is an
|
||
accomplished chef--a byproduct of her training for the Rhetorical
|
||
Ecclesia--which has helped us to identify our fungal infestation
|
||
in the cryo bay. Having a fully trained exo-mycologist could not
|
||
have helped us any more.
|
||
|
||
The stow-away is a form of acrasidae, a slime mold. Our best guess
|
||
is that a few spores found their way through decontamination
|
||
procedures at launch. The lengthy darkness, ambient heat, and
|
||
condensation on the surface of the pods created a fertile
|
||
environment for it to flourish. The best news of all is that the
|
||
slime is harmless and should be easily cleaned away in short
|
||
order. Adeyemi is consulting our database to see if there's any
|
||
use for the biomass before we eject it. Perhaps we can salvage it
|
||
for nutrient use in our hydroponics.
|
||
|
||
Speaking of hydroponics, here Dr. Idjani has more concerning news.
|
||
Our systems are automated and the harvesting of organic matter
|
||
from the botany systems should be relatively straight forward.
|
||
These systems have been used commercially planetside and in
|
||
long-distance relativistic travel for centuries even prior to our
|
||
own launch. What we're experiencing is, to use the doctor's words,
|
||
"unique."
|
||
|
||
Of our dominant crops, arabidopsis and radishles (a fruiting
|
||
hybrid) have both shown unexpected mutation. There is an abundance
|
||
of nitrogen in our atmosphere as a result of whatever processes
|
||
they have undergone; we haven't pinned down exactly what that is
|
||
yet. The ventilation systems need to be purged and oxygen recycled
|
||
back in a more appropriate mix. I had failed to mention the crew's
|
||
experience of headaches in my last message having assumed it
|
||
related to early thawing from cryo, but now it seems suspect.
|
||
We're all taking in extra oxygen during rest to avoid additional
|
||
issues. The doctor says it's good that the full crew were not
|
||
brought out at once. The oxygen levels would have been dangerous
|
||
for that many conscious crew at once. We got lucky.
|
||
|
||
The food that arabidopsis and radishles would normally produce is
|
||
suspect as well. We're on rations already since we shouldn't be
|
||
awake yet, but this will be an added complication and something to
|
||
address. Finally, the mutation was not caused by replication error
|
||
as in normal mutation. It seems that several specific protein
|
||
readers were adjusted in similar ways across the genome of both
|
||
plants. We've also found similar markers affecting four other
|
||
species which did not result in a visible mutation. Whatever
|
||
happened to our greens was done en mass and with precision. We
|
||
haven't ruled out human interference, possibly by some saboteur
|
||
before launch. Honestly, I hope that's the cause. I don't want to
|
||
think of what it could mean otherwise.
|
||
|
||
In terms of navigation, Hämäläinen and Janssen have plotted
|
||
a gentle course correction that will have us back on track over
|
||
the next three weeks with only minimal impact on our energy
|
||
reserves. The reserves are precise; however, and the energy must
|
||
be balanced elsewhere. As much as it pains me, I've placed orders
|
||
across the ship that habitat lighting and heating be kept to
|
||
a minimum. We will have to use personal heating and lighting
|
||
equipment for the next three weeks. Solar lamp time is manditory
|
||
for all five of us to avoid psychological impact, and Idjani has
|
||
distributed a vitamin mix to help augment our diet.
|
||
|
||
The cold and dark are nothing new, but such an extended period may
|
||
cause feelings of isolation and depression. The crew is paired up
|
||
for the duration at my order: Hämäläinen & Janssen, Idjani
|
||
& Adeyemi. As warrant officer, I'll be treating the QEC as my own
|
||
confidant. May the stars see us through this safely.
|
||
.
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Franciscus - Lost Shepherds</title>
|
||
<author>jabooty@cosmic.voyage (jabooty)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Franciscus/log001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Franciscus/log001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Wed, 28 Nov 2018 05:04:37 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
-- INCOMING MESSAGE --
|
||
Holy Missionary Ship Franciscus
|
||
Coordinates: UNKNOWN
|
||
Heading: UNKNOWN
|
||
ORIGIN DATE: UNKNOWN
|
||
|
||
-- MESSAGE START --
|
||
|
||
Acolyte Log 001
|
||
|
||
Blessed greetings to whomever this message reaches.
|
||
|
||
My name is Stefanus Alba, First Acolyte of High Priest Matteus, and
|
||
Captain of HMS Franciscus.
|
||
|
||
We have awoken from cryosleep early. Fortunately, the High Priest's
|
||
and the 75 passengers cryopods function manually, to ensure that
|
||
the crew has adequately prepared the ship prior to awakening
|
||
and ministry. The passengers have also remained in cryo stasis
|
||
for the time being.
|
||
|
||
Our Most Holy Doctor has evaluated the passengers and crew and with the
|
||
unfortunate exception of two passengers whose pods appeared
|
||
to have malfunctioned at least 25 years ago, based on the rate of
|
||
decay in their pod (may their souls encounter eternal peace), the crew
|
||
has awoken with minimal side-effects. The High Priest's pod is
|
||
functioning at peak efficiency.
|
||
|
||
As our engineers struggle to find out what happened to pull us
|
||
from our sleep early, our navigator is desperately trying
|
||
to determine exactly where we are. Initial reports indicate that
|
||
our coming out of cryo early is just (hopefully) a final malfunction
|
||
in what has been a rolling series of system resets, reboots, and
|
||
flat-out shutdowns. Our nav and chrono systems are out of sync.
|
||
It is proving to be difficult to determine when and where we
|
||
currently are.
|
||
|
||
We are attempting to discern whether we have the ability to
|
||
re-enter cryo, how far off-course we are, and, barring any
|
||
unforseen additional problems, how we shall continue on our mission
|
||
of ministry.
|
||
|
||
Until we figure out where we are, I ask that anyone receiving
|
||
this message who follows The Faith, please pray for us and our
|
||
mission.
|
||
|
||
I will transmit again once we have made sense of our situation.
|
||
|
||
Blessings upon you all.
|
||
|
||
-- MESSAGE END --
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Garnet Star - Danger evaluation and decisions</title>
|
||
<author>timotheus@cosmic.voyage (timotheus)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Garnet%20Star/000.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Garnet%20Star/000.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Sat, 24 Nov 2018 01:25:34 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
-- MESSAGE START ----------------------------------------------------
|
||
SECKEY:jxQA6hMXG%3#r9nfh%tdxo!REj%uGz
|
||
.......Accepted
|
||
|
||
Date: _____ _ ____
|
||
EY 2265.04.23.15 |_ _| __(_) / ___|___ _ __
|
||
| || '__| |_____| | / _ \| '__|
|
||
Ship: | || | | |_____| |__| (_) | |
|
||
Garnet Star _|_||_| |_| _ \____\___/|_|
|
||
/ ___| _ _ ___| |_ ___ _ __ ___ ___
|
||
Location: \___ \| | | / __| __/ _ \ '_ ` _ \/ __|
|
||
8.26y out, sys LTS-1483 ___) | |_| \__ \ || __/ | | | | \__ \
|
||
|____/ \__, |___/\__\___|_| |_| |_|___/
|
||
User: |___/
|
||
TIMFLETCHER44@TRICOR
|
||
|
||
:: BEGIN ::
|
||
|
||
It's always a hard call, deciding if it's safe to pull the family out
|
||
of cryo. I was fortunate that the AI determined this anomaly to be
|
||
minimal risk and didn't prio-thaw me. I've heard horror stories from
|
||
Kell, the Lead Scientist aboard. His first tour out to Bernards
|
||
Star.. the things that went wrong on that bucket. It's why I chose to
|
||
sign up with TC, they pay less than everyone else but at least they
|
||
spare no expense on the goodies on board. With this being an 46.2y one
|
||
way trip, I feel much better knowing everything is state of the art.
|
||
|
||
Oh right, my family. Everything is tip top, so I initiated the thaw
|
||
about four hours ago. Just ten to go until process is complete. If
|
||
I'm going to be out for four weeks, I'd love to have them with me.
|
||
In my spare time I'm still looking into cryo optimizations. There's
|
||
got to be a short cut between wake cycles that the system could
|
||
handle.
|
||
|
||
Anyway, part of the reason I'm sending this; anyone else running into
|
||
the same issue? Our onboard long-range sensor array is giving us data
|
||
on LTS-1483 that is very, very different from what the probes sent
|
||
back. Granted it was over 35 years old, but still. How did it miss an
|
||
entire planet? All the orbits are different from what we thought.
|
||
Kell is sweating bullets that III (our intended home) is off enough
|
||
that it may be not viable.
|
||
|
||
Not much I can do about it. Definitely no reason to wake the Captain
|
||
or Governor yet; we're following our protocols for this. Worst case
|
||
scenario, we go back to cryo, and when we're closer we wake again and
|
||
use closer scans to determine if we go to one of our other choices.
|
||
|
||
Tim Fletcher
|
||
Chief Engineer @ Garnet Star
|
||
=TRICOR034615734=
|
||
|
||
-- MESSAGE END ----------------------------------------------------
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Excelsior - Systems Admin Report - Beta Gamma 51 Epsilon</title>
|
||
<author>khuxkm@cosmic.voyage (khuxkm)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Excelsior/001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Excelsior/001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Nov 2018 22:20:10 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
Message inbound...
|
||
|
||
Space Cruiser Excelsior
|
||
Destination: Unknown
|
||
~~ TELEMETRY SENSORS 1 AND 3 DOWN ~~
|
||
Stardate Beta Gamma 51 Epsilon
|
||
AUTO TELEMETRY: DOWN
|
||
BIO-MED SENSORS: GOOD
|
||
H2O->FUEL CONVERSION: GOOD
|
||
H20 RESERVES: GOOD
|
||
CRYO SLEEP: WARN
|
||
|
||
[autotranslator on]
|
||
|
||
Corporal Sam Arnold, Systems Administrator
|
||
---
|
||
Hello world!
|
||
|
||
The computer on board the Excelsior has removed me from cryosleep pursuant to
|
||
Procedure [REDACTED]. Our automated telemetry sensors are down (see the systems
|
||
report above) and our cryosleep chambers appear to be experiencing overvolt as
|
||
a result. I think I will wait at least a week before re-entering cryosleep.
|
||
More transmissions will follow after this one.
|
||
|
||
Jerome, I feel for you. It's sometimes staggering how long these missions
|
||
take. Just looking at the instrumentation here on the Excelsior, we seem to have
|
||
been in transit for [unit translation = 1252 years].
|
||
|
||
Geralt, it's nice to hear from you and the Adrestia. Glad to know your mission
|
||
seems to be progressing smoothly.
|
||
|
||
We set out with our charter and ship around Alpha Beta 2 Beta towards a better
|
||
tommorrow. We set course for the nearest inhabitable planet and the Excelsior, a
|
||
first-class SpaceCorp Astroviator Mark 3, took off. We entered cryosleep around
|
||
Beta Alpha 10 Beta and set the Excelsior to power-conservation (hence the incomplete
|
||
systems report).
|
||
|
||
I will begin procedures to fix the overvolt in the cryo systems and to fix the
|
||
auto-telemetry systems.
|
||
|
||
Sam Arnold, signing off.
|
||
|
||
--TRANSMISSION END--
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Melchizedek - Crew and assignments</title>
|
||
<author>tomasino@cosmic.voyage (tomasino)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/002.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/002.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:25:14 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
Message Incoming...
|
||
|
||
Source Melchizedek.0294
|
||
Approach β Hyi
|
||
Ascension 00h 25m 45.07036s
|
||
Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
|
||
Distance 24.33ly
|
||
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
|
||
Year 3781, QEC adjusted
|
||
|
||
[Autotranslator enabled...]
|
||
|
||
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master
|
||
:::
|
||
Doctor Pierro Idjani led a full crew evaluation on the pods over
|
||
the last twelve hours. His recommendation for remaining awake
|
||
stands, unfortunately. The four of wardroom officers, myself,
|
||
Doctor Moussa Idjani, Prezzi Adeyemi, and Eva Hämäläinen, along
|
||
with Specialist First-class Stephanie Janssen, represent conscious
|
||
crew on the Melchizedek for next four months. We have a series of
|
||
course corrections to execute, some minor issues in hydroponics,
|
||
and what Adeyemi describes as "ick" growing over a quarter of the
|
||
cryo-pods. It is most likely unattended fungal growth, but we'll
|
||
investigate further.
|
||
|
||
Our ship is a Vos 144A from Visscher, sporting a pair of the
|
||
more-than-capable Peterse 773 Overtreffen Motoren. When launched,
|
||
the Melchy was a damn-fine ship, if I say so myself. She's held up
|
||
admirably while we slept.
|
||
|
||
We were commissioned in EY 2480, and set out on mission just three
|
||
years later. RS001 timestamps on my last transmission suggest that
|
||
just over 1300 years, relative, have transpired since we set out.
|
||
|
||
1300 years.
|
||
|
||
It's what we signed on for, of course. We all had the training and
|
||
the psy-evals to prep, but there's still that shock when it hits
|
||
you. There's no undo, no reset. Everyone we knew is long gone.
|
||
Hell, the Earth itself is long gone, at least in the way we knew
|
||
it. Adeyemi says she has a cousin who set out on a long-haul
|
||
colony support freighter at about the same time as us and their
|
||
star is only a few light-years off schedule from ours. She doesn't
|
||
remember which direction, but it's possible she's got people out
|
||
there somewhere. The math always gets away from me, but it's
|
||
possible some of my own anscestors' family could be thawing out
|
||
from craft launched before I was born. Oh, and don't even get me
|
||
started on reality-drive mechanics. Who knows how many blended
|
||
universes we've stirred up with that monstrosity. I can only hope
|
||
humanity learned their lesson and banned it while I was dreaming.
|
||
|
||
To the Speaker Elect of Cheer Systems, Susan, aboard the Starbloom
|
||
Communal Distributive Projection goes our many thanks. If the
|
||
disconnection of time weren't jarring enough, the silence that
|
||
awaits one's first lonely transmission is infinitely more terrible
|
||
for all its brevity. Your words, blessings, and spells are a salve
|
||
bringing healing. I queried Janssen about your ship designation
|
||
but nothing in our databases aligned. Based on relative time-debt
|
||
adjustments, it seems you may have set out long before us. We hope
|
||
your time has been peaceful.
|
||
|
||
I'll be setting a daily ordo and assigning work duties following
|
||
this transmission. Getting our hands busy will ground the
|
||
ineffible incongruity from reality that's rattled everyone. Our
|
||
navigation issues are of primary concern, so Hämäläinen and
|
||
Janssen will bear the brunt of that work. Doctor Idjani is the
|
||
closest crew member we have awake to a botonist, so he'll be
|
||
investigating our sensor abnormalities in food and air
|
||
circulation. No alarms were tripped, so we're hoping it's just
|
||
a mutation in one of the algae tanks or something equally trivial.
|
||
The cry-pod growth will fall to me, with possible assistance from
|
||
Adeyemi, though she has very little background to be of use.
|
||
Unless the fungus starts talking, I don't see how Adeyemi will
|
||
have much of anything to translate or negotiate. She's probably in
|
||
for a boring four months.
|
||
|
||
It's time to get moving. Our shifts will be light until muscle
|
||
regeneration reaches 60% and the doc clears us for full rotations
|
||
again. That's probably for the best. We'll take things slow.
|
||
.
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Starbloom - Pleasant vibes and best wishes</title>
|
||
<author>tomasino@cosmic.voyage (tomasino)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Starbloom/001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Starbloom/001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Nov 2018 13:24:50 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
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 2444, QEC adjusted
|
||
|
||
[Autotranslator enabled...]
|
||
|
||
Susan, Speaker Elect of Cheer Systems, 14th Pod
|
||
:::
|
||
Hi there, Jerome.
|
||
|
||
We read you loud and clear out here in the lucky homes. We're all
|
||
really sorry to hear about your drift problems. Our Pod 14
|
||
non-denominational coven voted to cast a spell to help you on your
|
||
way! Blessings and hope.
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>adrestia - awakening and approaching</title>
|
||
<author>demosthenes@cosmic.voyage (demosthenes)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/adrestia/hello.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/adrestia/hello.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 2018 06:49:23 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
bablefish transcript:
|
||
|
||
adrestia /---\
|
||
approaching Ł332 gue sector 8 / u u \
|
||
xxx telemetry redacted xxx \_ /
|
||
ansibel yr 4823 \__/
|
||
|
||
[transcript follows...]
|
||
|
||
geralt regis riavande, first writ scribe
|
||
---
|
||
status nominal. all values within acceptable norms.
|
||
cleared to begin final approach.
|
||
|
||
our 150 year journey from í54 re is finally coming to a close. over the
|
||
past 10 days, the crew has been slowing awakening from their second-longest
|
||
slumber (the longest being 50 years during the middle of our voyage).
|
||
|
||
i've just awoken today; my head still spins. sea legs seems an appropriate
|
||
term, grabbed from the annals of history: a time when humans still traveled
|
||
by boat and ship across the former oceans. somehow, the atmospheric
|
||
conditions generated large waveforms on the water's surface, creating a
|
||
rocking motion aboard the boats that could range from largely imperceptible
|
||
to catastrophic. in any case, i'll be looking for the caffeine supplements.
|
||
|
||
the rest of the crew seems to be in similar conditions, catching up on their
|
||
latest ansibel messages from family and friends. a handful will be staying
|
||
at Ł332 gue, while the rest of us carry on after a refueling stayover of 4
|
||
rotations.
|
||
|
||
expect another update from the station.
|
||
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
<item>
|
||
<title>Melchizedek - Cryosleep interrupted</title>
|
||
<author>tomasino@cosmic.voyage (tomasino)</author>
|
||
<link>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/001.html</link>
|
||
<guid>https://cosmic.voyage/Melchizedek/001.html</guid>
|
||
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Nov 2018 02:44:15 GMT</pubDate>
|
||
<description><![CDATA[<pre>
|
||
Message Incoming...
|
||
|
||
Source Melchizedek.0294
|
||
Approach β Hyi
|
||
Ascension 00h 25m 45.07036s
|
||
Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
|
||
Distance 24.33ly
|
||
Equinox J2000.0 SOL
|
||
Year 3781, QEC adjusted
|
||
|
||
[Autotranslator enabled...]
|
||
|
||
Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master
|
||
:::
|
||
Cryogenic stasis was interrupted for wardroom officers and
|
||
Specialist Janssen as of 0430. We have drifted slightly off
|
||
planned course due to unexpected thermal radiation from
|
||
a celestial event the crew is monitoring. The β Hyi system has
|
||
been increasingly active in recent months and Janssen believes the
|
||
solar radiation has unbalanced our infrared venting, causing
|
||
a 0.002° drift. Over the intervening time, this was enough for
|
||
autopilot to raise the alarm.
|
||
|
||
Melchizedek is quiet and in good working order. Her full crew of
|
||
44 are stowed safely and all systems are green. Lower-fore botany
|
||
systems show some minor abnormalities which are marked for
|
||
follow-up. Bot arrays all read nominal with no traceable
|
||
degradation in standby power.
|
||
|
||
We have slowed our descent to just over 1G in anticipation of
|
||
work-shifts. This will put us slightly ahead of schedule if we
|
||
remain at present deltas. Still, we're just over four months from
|
||
system and there is some debate whether it would be advisable to
|
||
reenter cryo this close to the destination. Our food-stores are in
|
||
good order, especially for just the wardroom. Doctor Idjani
|
||
suggests we remain out of stasis for at least two weeks before
|
||
being reassessed regardless.
|
||
|
||
QEC has been adjusted for our drift and seems in working order,
|
||
though we haven't received any new transmissions from relay one in
|
||
quite some time. If the crew do remain awake in the months ahead,
|
||
you can rest assured of further updates. Anyone awake out there?
|
||
.
|
||
</pre>]]></description>
|
||
</item>
|
||
</channel>
|
||
</rss>
|