note: Here I am, operating a mining ship with a stolen ID to boot. I have to say
this is pretty much how I expected it to turn out, though I thought I would have
to wait for my ship, slowly inching my way towards being able to buy it. Blessed
be that rascal of a boy. When he left without saying a word, I was very worried.
note: Well, he is well, and he is actually helping me out. Now that I thought to
happen the other way around. I will expand on that, such notes are always handy, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. I am enjoying this.
log: An odd thing occured lately and I am still quite unsure what to make of it.
Following a trade route in my defunct mining ship (some laser capacitor failure)
I have stumbled upon a Temporary Autonomous Zoner ship. Well, I did not know all
that at the time - the things that made him stand out were his ship transponder,
proudly proclaiming his [TAZ] affliation and his greeting of "Kallisti, trader".
Kallisti? Now that brought back some memories. Back when I taught on Freeport 4
I was working with a fellow ancient literature professor, and tried to translate
some Greek myths about a goddess of discord - Eris. The work was hard, but quite
rewarding. Kallisti, Eris. The words keep surfacing in my thoughts at odd times.
log: I have managed to find me a Knuth house in this nuthouse of a space sector.
But - lest I forget - first, a record of what happened when I was multitooling a
radio malfunction away. Damned ship will be the death of me, but helps at times.
- "Wait, wait, whoa, stop- hold it right there, you tinkerer you. Keep it cool."
- "Uhwhat? Who is this? Why are you broadcasting at this frequency? Wait, what."
- "You silly twiddlebum - this is me. Now stand down with that multitool there."
- "The radio should be off. Oh damn, it is. Now let me solder this wire here..."
- "NOW LISTEN AND LISTEN BUT GOOD. You can hear me. So put those down, right'o."
- "*gasp* *wheeze* What. I, uh, I should not be talking to me-you. Not healthy."
- "Do not make me smack you over the head with a mystical spatula thing, sport."
- "*shrugs* Fine, then. What is it that you want? Nothing overly insane I hope?"
- "This is your goddess speaking. Now stand by for a set of primary directives."
A bright, playful light bathed my face. Well, to be perfectly honest, a blinding
spark followed, probably somehow connected to the fact that my multitool made an
additional connection or two, resting peacefully on a bare circuit board nearby.
Blind or not, I now know exactly what to do. It did not make sense. But when one
thinks abour our life in this second-hand set of dimentions, there was never any
reason to assume any sense to be made. As for about what followed - maybe later.
log: I would like to continue, but it happened again. Takes precedence, I think.
- "Ducky? Ducky. Wake up. Go forth and get yourself a NeuralNet signature card."
- "Awhat? Why would I need one of those? I never did. I never even liked those."
- "Ducky, you blasted poor excuse of an incumbent. And - what? I am not asking."
- "Well you did deliver me safely last time, so I suppose some slack is proper."
- "You cutting me slack? Ducky, do not test me, for I am quick to zap cabbages."
- "*sigh* My mistake, Eris. I will get right on it. Just after this cup of tea."
And so it came to pass that I am in the process of procuring a proper and kosher
signature card, for reasons I do not pretend or hope ever to understand. Smooth.
log: Again, I am unable to continue with my story, since more interesting events
demant relaying. First of all, I was on an Erisian Amulet trade run recently, as
per my instructions. While travelling along a trade lane, I was asked to stop by
an enterprising fellow bearing the "Saragosa.Steel" callsign. Now a quick glance
at his ship told me what I needed to know - a pirate. I casually reached towards
the ejection button and waited, sweat running down my head. Guns, he had enough.
And then came the break - the blessed man was waiting for someone to diagnose an
engine fault, of all things. I put my skills to use, but I would not know nearly
enough - he had a Junker-modified piece, and it simply was not operational. Them
Junkers sure know how to redline those. Long story short, I traded two pieces of
my cargo for the thing. I do like puzzles, and that engine was better than most.
log: Picking up the earlier thread of the story would be only proper at this log
entry. Well, I was instructed to meet Temporary Affiliated Zoners, a sub-faction
of the Zoners, based around the worship of Eris Esoteric. Those chaps were quite
overjoyed to have me join them, and their prophet - Mal, is definitely someone I
should be talking with more often. My fears were driven away, and I was ready to
do Goddess' work. I changed ships, miner no longer being at all suitable for the
line of work I had in mined. The TAZ were more than happy to assist me there, so
as of now, I am a proud owner of a Border Worlds Transport. I had to shop around
for a suitable set of weapons for the thing - not that I expect to use them, but
still, it never hurts to have them at hand. The ship handles very nicely indeed.
log: My new route, hauling temple's amulets and refugees to Pennsylvania, took a
wrong turn today. It would appear that the New York system was the playground of
some Xenos, and they were blowing up everything in sight - I barely escaped with
my life intact, and I wish I could say the same thing about my hull. I had to be
grounded for a whole day, while a group of paid technicians were fixing my ship.
day: 817/04/02
log: I heard from my young friend again - it would seem that he is arranging for
a hullful of electronics to be transported to Rochester, and he has requested my
help with making sure it gets there. I am to relay messages between him and some
professor setting it up. I have always had a soft spot for him. I agreed to help
him out - especially since I am led to believe that while the whole operation is
not entirely legal, it is for a good cause, and evens a debt of deep grattitude.
log: Fifth month. Must be that time of the year, The Goddess is getting in touch
again. There I was quietly partaking in a hot dog, bun included, and so it went:
- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
- "A screaming sausage? Now that is relatively new. But do quit fooling around."
- "Ducky, you're totally no fun when it comes to these things, -are those buns?"
- "Is it Friday? Well - actually - it is meant as a mind-broadening experience."
- "Pffrrt! You just like hot sausages, and on Fridays you can get away with it."
- "I will admit that my guts do say 'Maybe.' to that. What do you want, anyway?"
- "I'll note you changed the subject here. Simply said, you're going to Gallia!"
- "But, but, but I did see the pictures of Privas. Are the pictures not enough?"
- "They were quite enough as far as your early love life was concerned, but no."
- "Point one, screw you. Point two, how would I evade being blown to tiny bits?"
- "Point one, you did. Point two, you shall figure it out. Did I ever fail you?"
- "Point- oh, blast it. Except that one time with that girl in that bar when I-"
- "Still not over that? You did get it off with her in the end, now didn't you?"
- "And I did end up without my both testicles a few weeks later as well. I was-"
- "Yeah, you were still young, discovered a new hobby, and it all crashed down."
- "You do know that your distinct lack of repentance is not really helping out?"
- "Do get over it, Ducky. You came out ahead, trust me. *giggle* Oh, I'm sorry."
- "Why do I bother? But all right, I do not think I have a choice here, anyway."
- "See? Now you're finally making some sense. Hey there! Don't eat the sausage!"
The message and mission were clear already - so I chewed on, and why not indeed?
log: Oh snap. What was the exact wording of point one? It has to wait, it seems.
![[Image: ernestknuthcopy.png]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4737/ernestknuthcopy.png)