26 Mar 2173 (1622-D Apishat)

It has been a busy week since I last logged in.  We have been scurrying over the ship getting ready for the jump to Altair and let’s just say I already see many improvements that I can make to the ship.  I wish I had two months to work on her in a proper shipyard as I see many areas that can be improved.

I was able to shoot off a quick email to Megs.  I hope it gets to her soon.

27 Mar 2173: Transit from 1622-D Apishat to 1522-E Altair

We have arrived in Altair without any incident.  I did get to spend the week tuning the engines a bit.  My Assistant Engineer’s name is Susan and from what I have seen so far she may work out ok.

Our mission in this systems is to drop off supplies at a research station that is orbiting a moon orbiting a gas giant.

04 Apr 2173: Arrived at Station

We arrived at the station today, but have been unable to make contact.  We are getting ready to board her and assess the problem.  Initial scans show micrometeorite damage to the hull and elevated radiation levels most likely related to a leak in the core.  It’s orbit is also in decay, but it has a few weeks left before it is in any danger of reentry.  There are 3 lifeboats missing and presumed to have been used before it was too late.

05 Apr 2173: Repairing the Station

We spent most of yesterday repairing the core of the station.  As we thought, micrometeorites caused widespread damage to the station.  The damage was swift and unexpected as many computers were still logged in.  We discovered 5 dead on board including one in Engineering.  All bodies were recovered for later return to whomever is in charge of the station.

06 Apr 2173: Finishing Repairs to the Station

With Susan’s help I was able to finish repairs and stabilize the station’s orbit.  The station has been put into a stable orbit and been placed in an automated station-keeping mode until such time as here owners want to return.  After the station was repaired we used the station’s sensors to locate the life-pods.  All three had landed in relatively the same area on the moon below.  The moon has an atmosphere, but it is hostile in nature and requires supplemental air to survive for any length of time.

07 Apr 2173: Rescue Mission

We were able to find all the survivors on the moon except one who had perished during the landing of his pod.  At the first pod site we ran into these huge beasts that were a cross between potato bugs and elephants!  There were four of them and I almost killed myself trying to get back into the air raft.  Four times I slipped and banged against the hull while trying to get back in.  Finally one of the crew was able to give me a hand and pull me in.  Thank God I had my biosuit because I was covered, head to toe, in muck from constantly falling down.

After getting in I quickly grabbed my rifle and helped to dispatch the charging creatures.  The rifle’s low recoil is normally fine, till you’re covered in muck and sliding around the raft.  Every time I fired, I moved back a bit.

After the creatures were stopped we were able to track, thanks to Mr Matthews’ bio-sniffer, the rest of the survivors who had gathered in a cave.  On the way there we found the above mentioned crash victim.  After getting everyone aboard the Emerald Monarch, we set up a quarantine area as several of the survivors were showing signs of infection.  It will take us a few days but we are going to take the life support equipment from the station’s shuttle and create a self-contained environment in the cargo bay for all the survivors and members of our crew who were exposed to the infection, in order to isolate them and negate a strain on the ship’s life support systems.  I had our crew transfer bunk-beds from the station for the survivors to sleep in for the trip.  There were a total of 10 survivors and 6 bodies recovered.  Before leaving the system we look them back into the station in order to retrieve any items they wanted to bring back.

08 Apr 2173:  Transit from 1522-E Altair to 1622-D Apishat

The trip back was uneventful.  The doctor released the quarantine as he deemed the virus as non-threatening.  I had some time to look at Jenny II (still in the crate) while in the cargo hold talking to the survivors.  Maybe next week I will have some time to work on her.

We arrived in Apishat on 15 Apr 2173.