Day One: Silver-Lining

Posted on Tue Jan 12th, 2010 @ 1:08am by Commander Lucas Jackson

449 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: The Jackson Survey
Location: Bridge, USS Valhalla
Timeline: Current

"Captain's Log, Stardate 64635.89"

One day into our survey, everything seems as normal. The mission is, so far, uneventful; I am almost ashamed to have my name plastered to the survey. Due to the quick monopolization of the Tiberius System, there isn't much to survey; most companies/facilities are already conducting their own. It's hard to imagine that the system was only discovered three weeks ago. Now, it is practically an interstellar-highway. Everything is congested, with ships entering and leaving the system constantly.

I don't even feel encouraged to complete the survey anymore, but I know that I must. The USS Odin launched a probe into the system's sun a day or so ago. We rendezvoused with the Odin, collecting all of their information from the probe. Currently, that data is being implemented into our small Astrometrics Lab. That, along with information from scans of the other planets, will be transferred into the Typhon's systems when we return. I have decided not to launch any probes until are final days of the survey. I have a feeling that this area of space has more to offer than what meets the eye, so I want to save the probes just in case...

"END LOG"

An officer manning the Ops Station called out, "Sir, we're approaching the tenth planet. Scans of the outer edges of the star system indicate a wide interstellar medium, with a unusually thick interstellar cloud. Long-Range Sensors detect concentrations of helium and hydrogen throughout the cloud. Levels are not high enough to indicate the gas is produced within the interstellar medium, but...Beyond it..."

Lucas Jackson jumped up from his chair. He was half day-dreaming while the officer read him the report, but he was now very alert. "Hydrogen and helium: The main components of a star...And high enough concentrations of it can reach through the interstellar medium, so we can detect it?!"

The officer at one of the Science Stations butted in, "That is correct, Sir."

"Well, there must be something massive, most likely a star, on the other side..." Jackson looked around at his crew. "What do you guys think, should we trudge through?"

The simultaneous head nods from all of the bridge officers gave Luke the assurance he was looking for. "Alright, Shields and Deflectors: main power. Set a course through the medium, full impulse. And may I make this clear that I want absolutely none of this on record. Whether there is nothing or something, there is the chance of something...And I don't want whatever is out there to have the same fate as the Tiberius System..."

OFF


Lieutenant Commander Lucas Jackson
Chief Science Officer / Captain
USB Typhon / USS Valhalla

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