Arrival

3 days.


I still can't get my head around the fact that we were only in stasis for 3 days. In those 3 days, something wiped our databanks clean for 2 of them. A glitch, I guess, but one that means we can't find out how in the hell we traveled as far as we did in such a short time. Dunixi thinks we went to another galaxy, for the love of Christ.


Was it a wormhole? Rift in space? Event horizon? These are things that have been theorized in being able to aid space travel, but never proven. Hell, at this point I'm leaning towards pixie dust. It makes as much sense as anything else.


Thank God the crew took it pretty much in stride when I told them the situation. That's part of the reason I picked them - calm under pressure, not usually jarred by surprises. There will be time enough to sort things out, but right now we need to focus on getting our base camp set up and learning about the planet.


We landed early this morning. It went smoothly. No surprises. We're staying on board the ship while we take some readings and double-check the safety of the area.


I hate to say it, but this is going so well that I'm getting paranoid.

The Crew

I hand-picked my crew. With such a small crew, there's no room for error.

Gunner "Griz" Haines

I've known Gunner since we were kids. Gunner's his real name, but he never got any crap about it since he beat the snot out of any kid that teased him. By about 2nd grade, the kids knew not to mess with him. In fact, he'll pretty much beat the snot out of anyone, if he is in the right frame of mind.


That doesn't mean that Gunner's a bad guy - just that you don't want to piss him off or get on his bad side. That and he just likes to scrap.


Aside from being my best friend, I chose him because the guy knows everything there is to know about living off the land and survivalist techniques, everything from purifying water to being a field medic. I nicknamed him "Griz" after Grizzly Adams - that guy from the old tv show that lives in the mountains with the bear. It fits.

Zoe Rizzo

Zoe was the second person I chose to be on my team. If there is something that can be built, she can do it. She can repair an engine she's never seen before just by studying it. If I tell her I need some widget just using xyz parts, she'll find a way to design it.


Have you seen the movie Apollo 13? The scene where they dump a box of odds and ends on the table and tell the guys to design something to get the astronauts home using only what's in front of them? That's her. She could do that without even breaking a sweat.

Misha Richards

Misha is a horticulturist. Big fancy name for saying she can grow plants and knows everything there is to know about them.


I picked her because we'll need to be able to find and grow edible plants when we arrive at our new home. She'll be a huge help.

Kelti Gerlinde and Dunixi Jyoti

These two were a package deal, so to speak. Not that I'm complaining.


Both scientists, they are so smart they are borderline not even human, you know what I mean? Between the two of them, they have more degrees than an oven thermometer.


Both worked on the Exoplanet Target Exploration Program together, so the reason for bringing them along is pretty obvious.


They're dating/living together, so one wouldn't come without the other - not that I object to either one of them.

Jake Mitchell

And then there's me. I'm just a pilot. Piloting commercial shuttles, mostly, back and forth to the lunar and martian colonies.


I love old movies and music, in case you can't tell. Reminds me of a simpler time.


And I hope to God that I'm not leading us on a suicide mission.

Hypersleep

Captain's Log, supplemental

The mission went as well as could be expected. Months of planning paid off - we commandeered the ship and are aboard. I've set the coordinates and we're heading to the nearest exoplanet that might be inhabitable. "Might" is the key word. We're not sure what we'll find when we get there. If we get there.

The others are in hypersleep. I'll be joining them after a few more readings and planning scenarios.

When we wake - IF we do - we should have arrived on our new home planet.

New Earth.

Hopefully we don't screw it up like the original one.

Oh, and the crew has christened the ship with a new name: The USS Sovereign.

It seems....fitting.

A New Beginning

Captain's Personal Log
July 27, 2075


Holy Christ. I can't believe I'm about to do this, but I have no choice.

The Deepwater Horizon Event of 2010 was only the beginning. The explosion triggered the oil leak. The leak prompted the release of chemicals to disperse it. The leak couldn't be capped, so they resorted to nuclear weapons to try and stop it.

Twice.

It didn't work.

Then the Hurricane Season of 2010 proved to be one of the worst on record. Radioactive fallout fell along the entire Eastern seaboard of the US for months....then years. Cities abandoned as the hurricanes came...and wiped them off the map.

Then came the Pandemic of 2021. A pandemic swept across the planet, killing nearly one third of the population.

Then came the Oil Spill of 2035....the Chemical spill of 2039....the Nuclear Disaster of 2050...The Economic Meltdown of 2061.....the Famine of 2068...

The Earth is dying.

We can't stay here.

The technology we have is iffy at best, but to stay here is a surefire way to die. There is civil unrest and rumors of war. Another famine is looming. Another epidemic is raging, threatening to develop into a pandemic.

The time to leave is now.

I've recruited 5 others to help me commandeer a ship.

• a horticulturist
• an engineer
• 2 scientists - with different and complementary specialties
• a survivalist - best guy I know for living in a wilderness situation

We're commandeering a ship, setting the coordinates for the nearest exoplanet, and then entering hypersleep.

We'll find a new Earth....or die trying.

God help us all.