Family Ties

[Knucklehead]

Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log

Quite an eventful day. Just before I got to the New York system on the tail end of my run from Naha, I got a message from HQ that Curacao needed some Luxury Goods pronto. So I made a detour to Manhattan, unloaded my H-Fuel and loaded up with the needed goods.

When I pulled in to Curacao, the boys in the main office told me I had earned myself a promotion for all the hard work I've been putting in. I thought maybe they meant a little pay raise. Maybe a nicer chair for the bridge of the ship.

Boy was I wrong.

Turns out they had heard from the captain of the Shetland how much I was impressed with the ship. They decided it was only fitting that I be given command of my own, brand new Luxury Liner.

This is easily a dream come true for me. The chance to take people to see the exotic sights of Sirius. Places of unique beauty, excitement, and mystery.

Turns out I was only part right. There's a lot more to consider when flying such a large vessel. Routes that were previously barely passable become nearly impossible to navigate. Simple things we pilots take for granted like tradelanes and jumpgates take extra consideration. To say nothing of providing for the protection of your passengers.

I found this out the hard way during my shakedown run. Just getting from Curacao to the Shetland for my regular Oxygen run proved difficult. Those rocks out there near the shortcut from Manchester to Leeds can send you on a ride more dizzying than anything in the onboard amusement center. Good thing these big boys come with such beefy shields and inertial dampers.

At any rate, as I pull into range of the Shetland, a Gaian pilot by the name of Marburg, who happened to be sitting just off the Shetland's stern, gave me a good long look. He didn't seem to want any trouble, and I was happy to oblige him. I swapped my supply of Oxygen for a supply of Prisoners to take to Baden Baden. We swapped a few more polite words with each other as I headed out for the Leeds system. One thing he said did stick with me though. Said something about "This is my home." Not sure what he meant by that, but I had a run to make and no more time to think about it.

I should have realized the experience in Manchester wasn't going to be unique, but I continued along my usual shortcut through to the Omega 3 system. Now I know what those "Pinball" things they have down in the arcade feels like. (I still can't believe I've got an arcade on my ship...) The rest of the trip was a comedy of errors, as I ran into more rocks than I care to think about, and the autopilot seems to have a few bugs to work out in regards to the tradelanes.

By the time I got to Hawaii with the Luxury Food I picked up in Stuttgart, I decided this ship isn't cut out for the supply runs. As I made my way out of the Honshu gate, some joker commented on seeing a ghost liner. (Remind me to book someone funnier for the comedy lounge.)

As you can probably tell, the trip through the rocks has me a bit agitated. Of course, it didn't help that the boys in corporate thought I should familiarize myself with the route Cambridge Research Institute would insist on taking for their special job they've got coming up.

Long story short, all those rocks make for one nervous wreck of a captain. I did get to show a bunch of VIPs some of the more exotic (and dangerous) locations in Sirius. They seemed rather impressed, but did not enjoy the rocky ride (pardon the pun) any more than I did. We finally pulled into Manhattan just before another of those weird Ion Storms hit.

Maybe one day I'll figure out how to get through those rocks more smoothly. But in the mean time, I need some sleep.

Good night everyone.

PS. Maybe I'll come up with a name for the ship at some point.

Eman Modnar, signing off.

End Transmission.

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It's official, I have too few ships now...