999 OCTILLION SOULS, May 25, 2024
I FLIGHT
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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:The following information is derived from Information Seed 40 and received by the Gravitational Wave Observatory. I and AI performed a frequency analysis on it. IE edited certain parts to make them more 'readable'. (He might have overdone it.) Please feel free to comment.21
Two silent Wugums prodded Legume and Charlotte forward on the Ore Seeker. Not the brig, Legume thought. Please not the brig.
Every inch of the Ore Seeker screamed functionality. Corridors were narrow, lined with flickering control panels and pressure doors hissing with recycled air. The metallic floor plates were worn smooth by countless boots. Harsh fluorescent lights cast a utilitarian glow, leaving no room for decoration or creature comforts.
The heart of the ship was the massive Furnace Room, a cavernous space dominated by a roaring furnace that pulsed with an orange glow. Here, asteroids hauled in from asteroid fields were melted down, separating precious metals from the rocky waste. The air hung thick with the metallic tang of the process.
The crew bunked in cramped, utilitarian pods stacked like beehives. Each pod contained a bunk, a personal storage locker, and a nutrient dispenser – a machine that synthesized bland but nutritious meals. Privacy was a luxury non-existent on the Ore Seeker. The officers enjoyed proper rooms, but they were not much better than the pods.
cap_mal: such is life
The nerve center of the ship was the Captain's Deck, a circular room dominated by a holographic map. From here, Captain Tligg and his crew monitored mining operations, plotted courses, and communicated with other Wugum vessels. The two Wugums pushed Legume and her daughter inside.
Legume held her daughter Charlotte close, the little girl's wide eyes mirroring Legume's fear. They stood in a metallic chamber, the sterile air heavy with the hum of the ship's engines. Before them, towering and broad-shouldered, was Captain Tligg, a Wugum whose single, hideous eye scanned them with cold disdain. His exoskeleton gleamed an ominous blue under the harsh fluorescent lights.
—Stowaways,— Tligg said in accented Galactic Common, his voice like crunching gravel. —Another waste of my time.—
Charlotte whimpered, and Legume instinctively tightened her grip. —Please, Captain,— Legume said under the pressure of Tligg's gaze. —We just... we needed to get home.—
Tligg scoffed. Wugums, known for their rigid adherence to rules and regulations, had little tolerance for lawbreakers. —The punishment for stowing away is well known. You'll be dropped off at a freighter bound for Wugum, on her scheduled resupply route.— Tligg gestured to a burly guard. —Take them to the brig.—
Legume's heart sank. Wugum freighters were notorious for their cutthroat crew and cramped quarters. Being cooped up with them would be a nightmare. And what would happen on the Wugums’ home planet?
Think Legume, think! What can you offer, beh? Nothing.
—Wait,— Legume blurted, desperation lending her voice strength. —There must be something we can do. We have skills that could be valuable to your crew.—
By Urt, a gamble, but it's our only hope.
Tligg considered this for a moment, his eye narrowed. —Skills like what?—
Legume's mind raced. —I can make a barren asteroid belt yield something edible. And my daughter’s a prodigy with recycling tech. She could fix your malfunctioning atmospheric filters, Captain. We can be assets.— These were lies of course.
Tligg's eye flickered for a moment. The malfunctioning filters were a thorn in his side, causing discomfort for the crew and jeopardizing future missions. He grunted, considering.
Legume held her breath, praying her gamble would pay off. In the tense silence, even the hum of the engines seemed to hold its breath.
doc_T: another change of POV, back and forth
uk_gwo5: bad writing
—Need to travel a Wugum day to at this speed to reach a freighter lane,— the Captain said. [UNTRANSLATABLE]
—The wormhole generator is broken, Captain,— a Wugum officer said.— It stopped halfway en route to the lane.—
translator: they send a small shuttle ahead at relativistic speeds when they’re at a spaceport. it creates a series of wormholes that let them skip over a million kilometers each time with wormhole particles
ru_mikhail: fantasy particles
prof_sparky: particles with negative energy
—Let’s pick up the generator.—
—Aye, Captain.—
The Ore Seeker skipped through the wormholes, each of the skips faster than Legume could blink. The light of normal space and the dark of the wormholes alternated too many times for Legume to be able to count the hops. Finally, they stopped. The Wugums called the shuttle and waited for it to arrive.
Legume took a moment to steady herself, the disorientation of the rapid travel still lingering. The silent blackness of space stretched around them, punctuated by distant stars. The shuttle, a sleek vessel designed for maneuverability and speed, soon entered the docking bay of the Ore Seeker.
—Any nearby interphase points?— Captain Tligg asked.
IE: interphase points are points in spacetime allowing for one-time wormholes. they can be naturally occurring or the decaying remnants of generated wormholes.
us_gwo: yeah, right
—Eight. One of them seems suitable.—
Captain Tligg nodded. —Send a probe. See how far it gets.—
The light probe was a bit bigger than Legume’s head. It carried enough antimatter to reach high speeds. The first attempt yielded mediocre results. A second attempt followed without much improvement. But the third time, the Wugums struck gold. Another series of skips followed.
—Three kiloseconds until we reach the freighter lane,— a Wugum officer said.
The guard seized Legume's arm, his grip firm. As they were marched down the narrow corridors of the Ore Seeker, Legume's mind raced. The thought of being at the mercy of the Wugum freighter's crew was almost unbearable. Stories of their brutality and lack of compassion had circulated among spacers for years.
The brig was a small, sterile room with a single bunk and a dim overhead light. The door clanged shut behind Legume and Charlotte. The hum of the ship's engines was the only sound.