Ship’s Log

Log 1 - Maiden Voyage

Captain’s Log GD 28.2.21045

This is the first entry into the Captain's Log of The Pandora by Captain Mayrina Midwinter. Yes, I am a captain of my own ship now! It took many years of hard work and lots of buttering people up, but I finally got awarded the Galactic Research Federation's New Class Grant. The Grant money was just enough to purchase my own research ship and install a few extra systems, like a laboratory.

Getting a crew was a bit trickier - so few sapients are willing to fly under a first-time captain - but I did eventually manage to hire 3 crew members:

The first one I met was a helium based lifeform called a Yan'ie from Windsong, which communicates through a display of bioluminescence. While I could try to transcribe the exact colours and patterns of their name, it isn't exactly convenient. Thankfully they agreed to me using the nickname Iri (short for Iridescent.)

Next I found a Krerkel called Kitskos. He is in his adolescent years and has the unfounded confidence that comes along with that. He has already caused some hard feelings amongst the crew with his insistence that he knows how to do everything better than everyone else.

And finally we have our only aquatic crewmate, Vrizzi. She is a Rephoill from Wavecrest, a shy species which are known for their colour changing skin. The original purpose of this is for camouflage, but they can also create colourful displays that make them popular performers. Another added bonus is that she produces a steady supply of roe which is a nutritious source of food.

With my crew sorted I went straight to the Unity Planetary Mission Board to pick up my first mission. There was only one I was qualified for:

Mission Type: Research (Geology) Class F

Client: Sirbu Jenkins

Data Required: 3

Reward: 30 Credits

I require someone to collect samples of coboltite and test for the presence of coboltine. If found, please bring samples to me.

Excited to get my career started, I accepted the mission and The Pandora set off on its maiden voyage. As the cycle came to a close, I opened up a bottle of Fizz and had a celebratory drink with the crew.

On a side note, it was fascinating watching Iri consume the Fizz. They extended a proboscis into the liquid and drank it like they were using a straw. The bubbles from the carbonated wine were visible bouncing around inside the translucent being’s body.

Captain’s Log GD 2.3.21045

We have been in interstellar space for 5 cycles now. We have already depleted the plant based food. I looked up the prices of restocking and calculated that it is going to cost us 495 credits in expenses… for a mission paying 30 credits.

Kitskos assures me that he is an expert at bureaucracy, especially on Ruin as it is his home planet, and that he will be able to reclaim the expenses somehow. I hope that this is true because he claims to be an expert at a many number of things. For example he claimed to be good at mechanics and that he could improve the Babelphones we use to translate communications between Iri and the rest of us. All he managed to do was break them. Thankfully it was only one set, and I had a spare, but the others were especially annoyed with him for the next cycle.

Captain’s Log GD 4.3.21045

We have arrived at Ruin. The docking fee is thankfully small on this planet. It was quite late in the cycle so we decided to rest for the evening and start our research the next day. Kitskos invited us to his family home and we had a pleasant meal there. Seems like Kitskos gets his abrasiveness from his father, he was just as boastful as his son.

Captain’s Log GD 5.3.21045

We took our gear and hiked out to a spot Kitskos said that he remembers seeing the glowing blue rocks that are likely the coboltite we need to find. We found a large quantity and collected as much as we could carry. Once we got back to the ship, I took the samples to my lab and started grinding it into fine powder. I made a solution with the powder, put it through the centrifuge and finally into the spectrometer. The client was correct, coboltine is present in coboltite.

Extracting the coboltine from there was a simple, but time-consuming, process of crushing and separating it out with the centrifuge. Once I had collected what I could, I packaged it up and called the client.

We arranged a place to meet and I took the coboltine to him. He welcomed me into his office, where he took the coboltine and added it to the artefact sitting on his desk. It began to project a hologram of a tablet covered in text in a language I don’t know. The archaeologist got very excited and passed me my payment. In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to extract as much coboltine as I did. We were then shooed out of the office by the client who was eager to get started deciphering the text.

I spent the rest of the cycle restocking our food supplies and fuel. Kitskos snatched the receipts from my hands, scribbled the figures on to the forms that he had made a start on while I had been working in the lab. He then dragged me to the local Administration Office telling me that it would be closing soon. We got there in time, and to my delight, our request for reimbursement was approved. Kitskos just saved me 495 credits! Plus on the way back I nearly tripped over an elaborate artefact which looks a bit like a key. It might be useful so I stashed it in my pocket.

When I returned I found Vrizzi in the middle of a performance. It was stunning. She was so popular, in fact, that she earned 120 credits in tips. To my surprise, she gave them to me.

“I noticed that our payment wasn’t nearly enough to cover the travel expenses.” She had said to me. “I wanted to help out.” She was as thrilled as I had been to find out that Kitskos had managed to get that money back, though she still refused to take the money back.

“Money for the ship, home improvement funds.” Was all she said. I was touched that she already considered The Pandora home.

Log 2 - Ruin to Harvest

Captain’s Log GD 6.3.21045

Seeing how quickly the food and fuel costs add up, I realised just how hard it is going to be to make money. I spent the day looking for new jobs for us. The Mission Board at the Admin Office had 8 missions available, half of which were above my class level. There were four F Class missions though.

Mission Type: Bounty Hunt Class F Target: Rhabal Dezit, Gang Leader Reason: It’s none of your concern Last Seen: Shadow Reward: 4,000 credits	Mission Type: Sales Class F Essential Element Essential oils Amount: 9 units RRP: 20 credits Deadline: 30 cycles
Mission Type: Cargo Class F Destination: Harvest Cargo Personal Belongings, 3 units Deadline: 23 cycles Payment: 270 credits	Mission Type: Pursue Class F Client: Zuzana Souku Instructions: Follow a suspicious spouse Target: Otakar Souku Location: Forge Payment: 200 credits

I was disappointed that there were no research missions.

I’ll admit, I was tempted by the bounty, 4,000 credits sounds amazing. However, I know from experience that Shadow, as fond as I am of my home planet, is a rough area. Flying there in a ship with no shields or weapons would not be advisable. Therefore I decided that the cargo mission was the simplest to accomplish. I accepted that and left Iri in charge of showing the carriers to our cargo hold.

To gain us a bit of extra money, I also took on the sales mission as this could be completed along side the other. I returned to the ship with the products and found Iri directing the carriers into place with flashing light signals through their flagella. It reminded me of the air traffic controllers at space ports. Yan'ie would be great at that, I wonder why there aren't more of them in that profession?

I spent the rest of the cycle planning the journey. Based on current prices, it will be better to travel back to Unity, restock and stretch our legs before continuing on to Harvest.

Captain’s Log GD 10.3.21045

All that money we spent restocking food has just gone straight out the airlock, literally! One of the crates must have been infested with Veemhon worms which then spread through most of our food supply. I’ve had to dispose of three quarters of it!

Thankfully Vrizzi had produced enough roe that we should have enough to keep us fed until we get to Unity assuming nothing happens to the rest of it.

No! I didn’t Just say that!

Pandora, delete that from the log!

What?

What do you mean I can’t delete parts of the log?

To make it harder to hide illegal activity? That’s ridiculous! I’m going to have to go perform every superstitious ritual I know to prevent bad luck now!

Pandora, do we have salt onboard?

Captain’s Log GD 13.3.21045

Vrizzi and Kitskos are not talking. It has become evident that Kitskos likes to collect things to decorate his bunk, and it doesn't seem to occur to him that not everything he takes a liking to is ok for him to take.

He tried to take a 'shiny bauble' off the wall in the aquatic chamber. This 'bauble' was, in fact, the heating element for the pool. Thankfully Pandora cut the power going to it as soon as she detected the tampering, so the shock he received was little more than a residual static shock and not more serious. But now the heating element is broken , the pool is too cold and Vrizzi is furious.

I have confined Kitskos to the mess hall for a time out and have asked Pandora to give him a lecture on property laws around the galaxy - with a test at the end. He will be allowed out only if he gets an adequate score on the test, if not, he has to sit through the lecture again.

That seemed to satisfy Vrizzi.

Thankfully we arrived at Unity shortly after and I managed to get someone in to repair the heating element, so at least Vrizzi will be a comfortable temperature tonight.

Captain's Log GD 14.3.21405

We sold the first of the Essential Elements Essential Oil stock this cycle. The streets were crowded so I had hoped to sell more, but the majority of the crowds were mechanical sapients from Cog (wrong type of oil for them). I had completely forgotten that the Coggone Vote was happening this cycle.

The law makers of Cog have been campaigning for Cog to leave Galactic Union for months. They have been arguing that they are paying a lot of credits for a membership to the union just to be forced to implement policies created with bio-sapients in mind.

I can see their point, there are many policies which don’t apply to mechanical sapients, like the climate control laws. Until the campaigns started, I didn’t even realise that planets had to be kept within a temperature range that can sustain the biological population. The citizens of Cog have been fighting the GU on this saying that their optimum operating temperature is lower than the accepted range. They acknowledge that bio-sapients require more warmth, but they argue that they should be able to set the thermostat on their planet lower so they at least have one planet they are comfortable on.

However not only would that violate the climate control laws, it also violates the immigration laws which allows any citizen of the GU to live and work on any GU planet. It would be considered as an attack on immigrants by creating a hostile environment. If they leave, they’re no longer bound by this.

Even as I create this log I am staring out the windscreen of my ship at a screen displaying the picture of B0-R15, Cog’s Great Intelligence, posing in front of the infamous “Lets fund our MHS instead” spaceship.

Wow, that was a bit of a tangent! My point was that it wasn’t a good cycle for selling skincare products and we only managed to sell the one, even with Iri using their best marketing techniques.

Captain's Log GD 15.3.21045

We woke up to the results of yestercycle's vote, Cog will be leaving the GU.

We also decided it was time to leave. The repairs were done, we were restocked and we had a deadline to consider. We continued on our way to Harvest.

Iri came to see me shortly after we departed. We had a long discussion about the Coggone vote. They had been in favour of Cog leaving the GU. This surprised me, most people I had spoken to were hoping that they would stay so trade routes wouldn't be affected.

Iri explained that Yan'ie also had issues with the climate laws. The constant manipulation of the climate on Windsong to keep it within the accepted range, causes unpredictable weather patterns in the higher altitude areas that the Yan'ie call home. The storms that result from this, cause lots of damage to Yan'ie settlements. They said that the climate controls are fine for the majority of species, but there are a few that are negatively affected and have no choice but to put up with it.

I asked if the environment on the ship was to their liking, and assured them that I would do everything I could to make our home comfortable for everyone. Iri thanked me and, to my relief, said the ship was comfortable as is.

Captain's Log GD 22.3.21045

That was a rude awakening! I was woken up in the early hours of the cycle by a frantic Kitskos. He said that a critical system failure warning had popped up on the screens for the environmental control system. Worried that we had an issue with our life support, I ran up to the bridge, only to find everything exactly as it should be.

I checked the screen for the environmental control and everything looked fine. Relieved, I asked Kitskos what exactly it said. He told me that it had started flashing red and a message saying that it was shutting down was displayed on the screen. It was at this point that I noticed the time and everything clicked.

There hadn't been a problem at all. The alert was saying the system was shutting down for maintenance, like it did at this time every cycle. It only shuts down for a couple of minutes while the air filters go through their self-cleaning program.

I explained this to Kitskos, pointing out that it was set at to do it at this time because that's when we are usually all asleep. There's less risk of the air quality dropping to a dangerous level while we are sleeping as we breathe slower.

It was hard to get back to sleep after that. I made sure to go through the emergency procedures with the crew and asked Pandora to run through the system alerts so we all knew what to look out for if something really did go wrong.

Captain's Log GD 24.3.21045

After 10 cycles in deep space, I am so glad to be back on solid ground. Not that I dislike being on The Pandora, but being confined to such close quarters with the crew can get a bit tense at times. I think one cycle more, and fights would have broken out.

Kitskos was, once again, in the rest of the crew’s bad books after they had to sit through my safety briefing. This was a bit unfair, as I think it was an easy mistake to make. I pointed out that if there had been an emergency, Kitskos probably would have saved our lives. Thankfully nothing was wrong but where important systems such as the Environmental Control System are concerned, I’d rather we erred on the side of caution.

I saw everyone’s spirits lift as soon as the airlock opened and a rush of fragrant, fresh air flowed in. The lethargic crew perked up and sprang into action, quickly locating the delivery address for our cargo.

Kitskos wasn’t as successful in reclaiming our expenses as our mission didn’t meet all the criteria, but still, we got paid. Most of these credits were invested into stocking up on food while we have access to the lowest prices in the galaxy. We still have some of the essential oil stock to sell, so at least there’s more that we can earn.

The rest of the cycle has been allocated as a well earned rest.

Captain's Log GD 26.3.21045

Iri and I spent yestercycle and this cycle trying to sell oils as we walked around. The farmers we encountered didn’t show much interest. I was just about to give up and suggest trying on another planet, when a young Mophiel lad ran over and asked if the oil was good for fur. He wanted to get a gift to give, Nepeta, the prettiest girl in his tribe, and exotic oils from off planet sounded impressive. The information leaflet said that it was suitable for use on hair and skin to hydrate, so I told him there was no reason that it would be any different on fur.

He was so excited to give this gift to try and win her affection, I hope it goes well for him, he seems really sweet.

Captain's Log GD 27.3.21045

If the customers we encountered this cycle were anything to go by, Nepeta liked her gift. A couple more young, Mophiel men came to find me, asking to buy the oil for their partners. By the sounds of it, they were jealous of Nepeta’s gift, so the boys had promised to get them some too.

I managed to get some gossip too. Galum, the Mophiel from yestercyle, had shocked everyone in the tribe when he presented the gift to Nepeta and asked her to be his partner in the middle of a feast. After she had sniffed the oil, she smiled and nodded. From what I could gather, it seems that Galum is not considered to be physically attractive by Mophiel standards, so for him to land the most attractive girl, was very unexpected.

Regardless of the comments on his appearance, I am happy to hear that he got the girl.

Captain's Log GD 28.3.21045

Another group of Mophiels came to see us today. Both lads and lasses. I sold one more gift and two to the girls who wanted soft fur like Nepeta’s for the festival. Those two are my best advertisement so far. Galum actually came back to thank us later in the cycle. He had a big grin on his face, even if I hadn’t already heard the good news, it would have been obvious that things worked out.

He told us that there was a huge music festival happening tomorrow and that He, Nepeta and a few others of their tribe had been invited to perform with Allamah, yes THAT Allamah. She was born in their tribe and wanted to incorporate them into the performance. All of the tribe got free tickets and Galum and Nepeta had enough spare for my crew and I to go. I was touched.

We spent the rest of the cycle aboard The Pandora, celebrating the one month anniversary of the ship’s launch.

Captain’s Log GD 29.3.21045

Wow, what a great cycle!

What do you mean, I don’t need to shout? I’m not shouting!

Yes the music was loud, why do you ask Pandora?

Anyway. I met Napeta and she’s lovely. Her and Galum make such a sweet couple. She even confided in me that she liked him before he gave her the oil.

…[indecipherable squealing]…

He had caught her attention because he was always so sweet to everyone, but she thought that he didn’t return the feelings because he didn’t flirt with her the way other boys did. It was so heart-warming how happy they both were.

Allamah’s set was amazing! The choir of Mophiels backing her up gave me goose bumps. So different from the usual vibe of the songs.

We also saw The Ladies Three, Beyond Ruin and Astro Astro. One of the earlier acts, a band called Serendipity, caught my attention. Their Astro-swing music was quite catchy.

Ooh, while I think of it, Pandora, please can you add music by Serendipity to my playlist?

…[indecipherable singing]…

Captain's Log GD 30.3.21045

We had many more Mophiels come looking for oil this cycle, unfortunately we only had two left. There were quite a few disappointed customers. One the bright side. We sold all the stock!

Another successful mission for The Pandora and her crew.

There were no F Class missions available when I checked, but I did see a notice that one of the local farmers were looking for help with their kinsappet crop. I know from experience that kinsappets are an extremely finicky crop to grow. They require just the right levels of nutrients in the soil or they won't flower, and therefore won't fruit.

I contacted them and offered my services, they were very excited to hear that I was a researcher trained in botany. I said that I'll head over to their farm at first light to help.

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