<< BACK TO RS001 LOG Message Incoming... Source Melchizedek.0294 β Hyi, 3rd Planet Ascension 00h 25m 45.07037s Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″ Distance 24.37ly Equinox J2000.0 SOL Year 3782, QEC adjusted [Autotranslator enabled...] Stephanie Janssen, Specialist First-class ::: Doctor Nguyen (the medical one, not the biologist) thinks I'm crazy. No, seriously. She actually said that in our session today. So, either I'm certifiable or she's the worst psychologist on the planet. Actually, it's probably both. She's only one of five people on the planet after all, and the only psychologist, so that makes her the worst one. Yes it also makes her the best, shut it. According to the worst doctor on the planet it's not okay to break things or throw things at doctors when you are angry. That's apparently a problem, which I think is just ridiculous. I mean, they have special hospitals and stuff back on Earth for people like that and I bet those doctors get things thrown at their heads all the time. And I'll bet they don't call their patients crazy and run out of the room. I mean, seriously, it wasn't like it was a knife or anything. A microscope can't hurt that bad. She's such a drama queen. So in good news I have this habitat to myself now. In the bad news category I'm not allowed to leave it without an escort. I'm not sure how that's fair to the escort, though. I mean, it's going to be Eva cause they make her do everything where I'm concerned and Eva didn't do anything wrong at all. She's perfect. And what sort of punishment is that for throwing a microscope, anyway? "You, stay in this tent and you're only allowed to spend time with this hot science lady on this totally foreign world where there's like nobody around. No duties, just private tent time." Okay, I think I might like the sound of this, actually. Jerome, though. First Dr. Idjani and now Jerome and that cold-hearted bitch won't even go look for him. There's something out there eating our crew and she just wants to mess around with a machine that sprays man juice all over the ground. If you ask me, she's the one that's sick in the head. That's like totally an Oedipus complex, or Odysseus complex or one of those old Greek dudes that was into spraying man juice all over. I dunno, I'm not a historian. Yeah, we're here to bring life to the galaxy, awesome. And what's the count on that so far? OH, NEGATIVE THREE!? No, this is all wrong and I'm going to fix it somehow. I've got to get off three and over to four, though. All the equipment is on four, unless I'm going to laser-measure my way into saving Jerome from an interstellar octopus or whatever is out there. Range-find him right into oblivion, yeah. No, for real, we have actual stuff on four that could help. Probes and whatnots. We don't actually need to risk a ship! I told her this and still she pulls this rank-and-file shit as if there's some echelon of command waiting to check in on us. THEY ARE ALL DEAD! YOU ARE ALL DEAD! Or might as well be. 1300 years? Yeah, is the Rhetorical Ecclesia even around anymore? We haven't heard a peep out of Earth since we woke up. Plenty of sad sappy screaming from all the other ships out there, though. This universe hates us and wants to kill us all and I am the only one who wants to god-damn fight back! Eva. She's with me. Or, well, she's like physically with me. She's sleeping on the cot right now and I snagged her tablet to write this. I'm encrypting this shit too, so it doesn't echo back to the rest of the team. One-way QEC messages, bitches. Didn't know you could do that, did ya, Prezzi? Yeah, the fascists forgot I'm actually on this mission cause I know shit. At least when I'm not drunk. And I'm sober as anything right now. Oh my god, Sandy. Holy shit, I'm a horrible person. Jerome is like my ship dad or something, so I talked about him and I totally skipped over Sandy. She's a gem. I met her before she started transitioning and it has been the best decision ever. She's a god-damned inspiration. Live your truth, be who you are meant to be. She deserves better than this, not just from me. I'm not going to let her down, or Jerome. They're out there, I know it. "Oh Stephanie, that's nonsense. You read the transcript, something happened to them. They were hallucinating. Bullshit bullshit bullshit." No. I've heard it all. Prezzi's logic is Right and Just and Holy and it's utterly wrong. I HEARD the recording when I read it. I can feel it and hear it in my head. I know the sound those alarms make. I know the voice of the computer speaking and there's no way to confuse that with Dr. Idjani. There's no way the captain would confuse it. And even if he did, even if both of them heard some crazy stuff or their nitrogen mix was wrong, the transcript finished. It came through! "Autodisconnect after 5 minute silence". That's what it says. That's what it did. Something happened and they stopped talking for five full minutes and THEN the ship relayed the message. That shuttle is out there and they need us. They need help, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave them to the black. Eva will help. She knows what's at stake. I trust her, but I need more. If I do this, whatever this is, I'm not jumping in without a plan. The Vos 144A has 6 shuttles and they can peer-dock without an umbilical, but only if someone is awake on both sides to link the seals. That's a problem. Also it sounds like Jerome was doing his funny math to backtrack to the spot we lost the doctor. I'm a fair whiz at maths but those sort of transverse orbitals accounting for stellar drift will need a proper navigator. Lucky me I've got best navigator for 20 light years drooling on my pillow. So gross. So cute. What else? Oh, right, I'm on the wrong planet. That's not so bad, as far as plans go. Get Eva, get others, get a ship, get to four, get more stuff, find Jerome and Sandy, bring our people home, punch Prezzi in her dumb face, make out with Eva. This is doable. I can do this. We can do this. Please let me be able to do this. .