<< BACK TO RS001 LOG Message Incoming... Source Melchizedek.0294 Approach β Hyi Ascension 00h 25m 45.07036s Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″ Distance 24.33ly Equinox J2000.0 SOL Year 3781, QEC adjusted [Autotranslator enabled...] Jerome Somerset Pasani, Warrant Master ::: Our good doctor has reminded me that I agreed to communicate via QEC for social-wellbeing in the face of our environmental situation. Despite the workload restoring the Melchizedek to full working order I must admit the darkness has been affecting me. Encounters in common areas are done in whispers, eye contact is minimized, and the crew all seem to drift into isolation as a matter of course. The pairings are essential. The news of the Hoffnung Incident has caused a stir as well. Janssen has an egalitarian sensibility and is rather vocal in support. Meanwhile Prezzi Adeyemi has reacted quite somberly. Records say she lost family in the Ioruba People's Revolution of '33, so I can't blame her. Granted the situations weren't the same at all, but I don't think we'll find a champion of the common man in her any time soon. So far we haven't had any real arguments over Hoffnung on board. I suppose we have the dark to thank for that after all. It's said that the narrative of the stars works in cycles, but the only stories I'm hearing from the 'verse are those of horror and cryo failure. With the cold creeping in and nowhere to go we sure could use some light to warm our hearts. When we left Sol 24 (or 1300) years ago there was such hope in the dream. β Hyi has so many habitable or near-habitable worlds we are all but guaranteed success. What a thing to imagine! Shoot off into the stars and sleep and when you wake it is to usher in a new world or worlds of humanity. We may not live to see the full fruits of our labor, but the seeds we plant and those we raise will ensure the longevity of our species and of intelligent life. What a brilliant crusade! O Heavens, we come home to you to begin anew! But now the depths of infinity surround us and we are untethered from our people. I have heard nothing from Sol. We have no news of family or friends. We read the tragedy and fighting, the sickness and violence across the 'verse and worry mounts. Is that all that waits for us at the end of this dark road? Will our new start end as the first? Is there hope in a beginning? There is fear. Four months becomes three. I stare at our 39 frozen friends and hope they wake with the passion still kindled. If the road is long and dark, our destination will be harsh and brutal. The land does not welcome us. We must tame it. Hope can make it something beautiful, but what will fear make? Another Hoffnung? Another Ioruba? Another Pakistan? We dwell in infinity. What chance have we for peace? .