Monday, February 2, 2015

Jump Log (Day 24): Time

The cost of being a galactic explorer is "time." It takes time to travel, time to scan, time to observe, time to record, time to refuel, and time to plan. And not necessarily in that order. Yesterday I found a rare jewel hanging in the black. A small blue nebula with a single neutron star at it's center. It was out of reach. I spent hours of "time" looking for a plot. Up, down, left, right, forward, back, any plot would do that would let me retrieve this treasure. There was no route.

Disheartened, I turned the Daydrinker back towards the closest star. How would I get there if not for a direct route? The Galaxy Map showed there to be an adjacent system and it was closer but still out of range. It would have to do.

I pointed the Daydrinker towards the adjacent system and jumped into supercruise. If my calculations were correct I would cross her jump threshold with just enough fuel to reach the adjacent system. At 2001c I closed my eyes and slept.

I awoke three hours later to discover that I was coming up quickly on my jump point. A scan of the instruments and minor adrenaline surge showed that my calculations had proven correct.  One more fuel transfer and I would have my range.

The Daydrinker's frame shift drive can dump a maximum of 5.00 tons of fuel in any one jump. In this jump, she would dump 4.98 tons. A close margin to be sure but she has made this jump many times in the past. This "time" was different. This "time" something went wrong.

For the first "time" in our voyage the Daydrinker had failed. She insisted on dumping more that 5.00 tons. It was as if she thought we were back near the main star. Try as I might, I could not coax her to jump. She refused. It was an anomaly and this "time" we would fail. Anger. The margin was thin. I knew it would be. But now, I was running out of fuel.  With the Daydrinker's refusal I had no choice but to jump her out to another nearby system 17 LY away. It was over.

I wandered onward in near shock at the failure. Interstellar travel has rules.  We had obeyed them and failed. What went wrong?

Despondent, I plotted a random course along the wall. Slightly down as I recall. Didn't bother to record my path. The blue jewel was lost to me and my motivation for continuing on was faltering. The faint whisper of Home was beckoning.

A new random system, a new plot. Scanner has something so back to work. It's a promising candidate. The detail scan shows it to be small, but it's Earth-like... and beautiful. A photo for the reel. I really should land. As I pull away to make my next random jump I see the jewel again. Was it calling now? Why here?

I pulled up the Galaxy Map and zoomed back out to find the nebula. It was a long way off. Over 300 LY. And there, spiraling out towards it from this tiny Earth-like planet hung a tiny filament of stars leading right to it. This "time" I would not fail.

0166

0167

0168

0169

0170

0171

0172

0173

0174

0175

0176

#DISCCODETYPE#DISCCODETYPE
23,510.02LY Traveled (Total)9ELWEarth-Like World (Human Breathable)25WBLWater-Based Life (Gas Giant)
26.60LY Average Jump35TWWTerrestrial Water-World19ABLAmmonia-Based Life (Gas Giant)
1.09%Systems with ELWs35TCTWWTerraforming Candidate Terrestrial Water-World1WGWater Giant (Gas Giant)
241Total Discoveries103TCHMCTerraforming Candidate High Metal Content0WDWhite Dwarf
29.14%Odds of Discovery7TAWTerrestrial Ammonia-World5NSNeutron Star
2TCRTerraforming Candidate Rocky0BHBlack Hole
Jump #SystemLY JumpScanJournal EntryDisc1Disc2Disc3Disc4Disc5Disc6PhotoPhoto Caption
884HYPOAE AEC EU-Q C18-324.10
883HYPOAE AEC FI-J B36-130.80
882HYPOAE AEC XV-M B34-134.20
881HYPOAE AEC YD-K D8-2628.80
880HYPOAE AEC UX-L D7-1528.90
879HYPOAE AEC IX-T B30-021.50
878HYPOAE AEC PV-X C14-026.40
877HYPOAE AEC YP-X B28-024.20
876HYPOAE AEC VJ-Z B27-031.70
875HYPOAE AEC QR-N D6-327.50
874HYPOAE AEC JR-E B25-027.00
873HYPOAE AEC GL-G B24-030.10
872HYPOAE AEC NL-P D5-1833.30
871HYPOAE AEC VS-L B21-031.90
870HYPOAE AEC SM-N B20-023.40
869HYPOAE AEC OG-P B19-021.60
868HYPOAE AEC TK-I C9-228.60
867HYPOAE AEC FJ-U B16-032.00
866HYPOAE AEC FZ-S D3-1121.70
865HYPOAE AED KZ-X B14-021.00NEW SECTOR
864HYPOAE AEC RV-Z B13-024.10
863HYPOAE AEC NP-B B13-020.50
862HYPOAE AEC JJ-D B12-032.60
861HYPOAE AEC ZF-R C4-133.30
860HYPIAE AED UE-R C4-121.40
859HYPIAE AED LD-K B8-033.70
858HYPIAE AED RY-S C3-133.20
857HYPIAE AED EG-Y D732.70I am out of the dust cloud. The core is bright again.
856HYPIAE AED JM-W C1-026.50FUTURE EXPLORATION: HYPOAE AIHM AA-A H0 (Type O star).
855HYPIAE AED AA-A D818.70FUTURE EXPLORATION: HYPOAE AIHM XH-H D11-6 (Neutron Star)
854HYPIAE AED AA-A E124.70
853HYPIAE AED AA-A F030.70
852HYPIAE AED AA-A D419.00NEW SECTOR
851SCHEAU HYPE XV-C D431.50DETAILTCTWW
850SCHEAU HYPE SW-F C030.90NEW SECTOR
849GONGUE OZ-O E6-025.10DETAILSeveral T-Tauri's orbiting this A class. There is a captured planet at 18k Ls that looks interesting.TCHMC
848GONGUE NA-D C29-030.30
847GONGUE LF-D C29-015.20DETAILK class star.TCTWWTWW0176Wonderful large island world.
846GONGUE EK-C D14-133.10DETAILTWW
845DRYUAE AIP VI-X C28-033.90
844DRYUAE AIP RC-Z C27-027.80
843DRYUAE AIP IO-Z D13-422.00
842DRYUAE AIP IO-Z D13-133.20
841DRYUAE AIP OM-Z C27-016.90I am finally out. That was a long trip back but soooo worth it. I think now it is time to head home. Lots of data and more to collect from Rosetta and Seagull.
840DRYUAE AIP QH-Z C27-033.10
839DRYUAE AIP FI-B D13-528.60BACKTRACK
838DRYUAE AIP NB-B C27-031.60BACKTRACK
837DRYUAE AIP PW-A C27-024.50BACKTRACK
836DRYUAE AIP OB-B C27-022.60BACKTRACK
835DRYUAE AIP GI-B D13-331.40BACKTRACK
834DRYUAE AIP RW-A C27-033.00BACKTRACK
833DRYUAE AIP QB-B C27-032.50
832DRYUAE AIP HI-B D13-426.90DETAILG class star.TWW
831DRYUAE AIP HI-B D13-020.80BACKTRACK
830DRYUAE AIP XC-Z C27-028.40BACKTRACK
829DRYUAE AIP LO-Z D13-532.10BACKTRACK
828DRYUAE AIP TW-A C27-027.90BACKTRACK
827GONGUE KT-G C27-028.70BACKTRACK
826DRYUAE AIP UW-A C27-029.70BACKTRACK
825DRYUAE AIP ER-N E6-019.90BACKTRACK
824DRYUAE AIP QQ-C C26-028.10BACKTRACK
823GONGUE FN-I C26-031.70BACKTRACK
822DRYUAE AIP PQ-C C26-031.50BACKTRACK
821DRYUAE AIP DC-D D12-526.60BACKTRACK
820DRYUAE AIP KK-E C25-030.40BACKTRACK
819DRYUAE AIP JK-E C25-027.60BACKTRACK
818DRYUAE AIP NQ-C C26-020.60BACKTRACK
817DRYUAE AIP DR-N E6-020.60Nebula with neutron star. This was a dead end trip from the begining. So now I must backtrack.NS0168- 0175Blue all around. It is beautiful.
816DRYUAE AIP NQ-C C26-027.60Just 1 jump from the nebula and neutron star within.0167I call it the "Eldrazzi Nebula" a beautiful blue jewel hanging in the black.
815DRYUAE AIP JK-E C25-030.40
814DRYUAE AIP KK-E C25-026.60
813DRYUAE AIP DC-D D12-531.50DETAILClass A star.
812DRYUAE AIP PQ-C C26-031.70
811GONGUE FN-I C26-028.10
810DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
809DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
808DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
807DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XXDETAILNEW SECTORELW0166Small ELW number 9 near a K class star.
806DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
805DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
804DISCOVERY CLAIM: SYSTEM HIDDENXX.XX
803DRYUAE AIP HI-B D13-030.20
802DRYUAE AIP HI-B D13-220.90DETAILTWW
801DRYUAE AIP OQ-C C26-015.10
800DRYUAE AIP GI-B D13-532.60
799DRYUAE AIP RW-A C27-031.60
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)