The Venturer Program: Tour of the planets

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 58: FINAL BOUND

Two hours later…

Buzz: “Hmm… yeah, this looks good. Where’d I put that damn thing… aha.â€Â

Buzz: *whistles*

Buzz: “I like it here, I think a got the better landing site.â€Â

Cal: “Buzz? Can you hear me?â€Â

Buzz: “Cal? What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to wait around in the lander.â€Â

Cal: “Lengas sent me to come get you, you went out of comms range for some reason.â€Â

Buzz: “Oh, right.â€Â

Cal: “Yeah, uh, we need to head back. We’ve still got to get to my site and we don’t have long before we need to head back to Enterprise because of the Laythe window.â€Â

Buzz: “Makes sense. Let me just grab a rock from here and I’ll be right with you.â€Â

Cal: “Right.â€Â

Buzz: “Sigh. Never mind, at least I can say I was here.â€Â

Lengas: “Ah, there you are, Buzz. I thought we might have lost you then.â€Â

Buzz: “I guess the hills here didn’t do my receiver much good.â€Â

Lengas: “Probably not. Just get inside and we’ll go.â€Â

Buzz: “I’m the pilot, aren’t I?â€Â

Lengas: “Yeah, I know, which is why I wanted you back.â€Â

Buzz: “Naturally. Ok, I’m coming in now.â€Â

Lengas: “Cal, you strapped in?â€Â

Cal: “Yeah, I’m all set.â€Â

Lengas: “Buzz, whenever you’re ready.â€Â

Buzz: “Oh gee, I don’t know if I want to leave here, yet, I like it too much…â€Â

Lengas: “You’d deprive Cal of his site? You monster.â€Â

Buzz: “Hah, no, let’s go.â€Â

Buzz: “There, we’re en route, though I must say, neither of your sites will beat mine.â€Â

Lengas: “I have to admit, yours was pretty awesome from what I saw. How far did that canyon extend from where we were?â€Â

Buzz: “It was around 5km long all told, and definitely a good spot for a base.â€Â

Lengas: “Nice.â€Â

Cal: “It was, from what I saw of it.â€Â

Lengas: “I’m feeling slightly envious now.â€Â

A few minutes later…

Buzz: “Ok, we’re coming down nice and gentle. Keep an eye out for spires for me, there seem to be more here than at the last two sites.â€Â

Lengas: “Ok. It would be a shame to get impaled now, wouldn’t it?â€Â

Cal: “Especially for me. I wouldn’t be happy.â€Â

Lengas: “We’re all clear.â€Â

Buzz: “Good.â€Â

Buzz: “Contact, shutting down the engine… done. Well, Cal, here’s your stop.â€Â

Cal: “Brilliant. Lengas, pass me that detector, would you?â€Â

Lengas: “Here.â€Â

Cal: “Thanks. Well, folks, I shall be back later.â€Â

Cal: “Ok, I’m down. Nice landing, Buzz.â€Â

Buzz: “Thanks.â€Â

Lengas: “I’d say you’ve got half an hour, Cal, so make it count.â€Â

Cal: “I’m on it.â€Â

Cal: “Sure is nice out here. Negative gravioli detector seems to be working, too.â€Â

Lengas: “Good to know.â€Â

Spires as far as the eye can see… what a strange place.

Lengas: “Hey, don’t go too high up, Cal, you’re investigating the ground, aren’t you?â€Â

Cal: “I’m looking at the gravitational field here, aren’t I? I need to see how it changes with height. I’ll be back down in a moment.â€Â

Lengas: “Fair enough.â€Â

Several minutes later…

Lengas: “Don’t stray too far, we don’t want to lose comms with you like we did with Buzz.â€Â

Cal: “It was the hills that did that to Buzz.â€Â

Lengas: “Yeah, but even so, the suit comms are only short range.â€Â

Cal: “Don’t worry, I’m not going much further before I’ll turn around.â€Â

Lengas: “Thanks.â€Â

Cal: “See, I’m coming back now.â€Â

Lengas: “Ok. I just didn’t want to come searching for you, that’s all. You’ve got ground samples, haven’t you?

Cal: “Of course I have, why would I neglect that?â€Â

Lengas: “Just checking. Sorry if I’m sounding a little bossy, we just don’t have all that much time to be lurking around here.â€Â

Cal: “No, don’t worry about it, I know we need to go and pick Jeb up.â€Â

Cal: “Alright, watch out, I’m coming in.â€Â

Lengas: “Here, I’ll help with the samples.â€Â

Cal: “They aren’t all that heavy, really, but thanks. I’ll get the hatch… there. I’ll strap in and then we can go.â€Â

Buzz: “Right.â€Â

Cal: “Done.â€Â

Buzz: “Here we go.â€Â

Lengas: “Enterprise, come in.â€Â

Bill: “We’re here. What’s up?â€Â

Lengas: “We’re coming home now, back in a couple of hours.â€Â

Bill: “Got it. Oh, just so you know, we’ve been having some difficulties with Stanley again. We’re getting it under control now, but we could use some help when you get back.â€Â

Lengas: “What sort of stuff’s happened?â€Â

Bill: “Nothing serious as of yet, it’s just that we’re getting computer outages every now and then and Stanley will start rebooting. That sort of stuff.â€Â

Lengas: “Alright, keep us informed. Lengas out.â€Â

Meanwhile…

Captain’s Log, entry 29: Well, Enterprise is coming back for me soon. No doubt Tylo will try to screw with them again, but at least I know that they’re nearly done. Those storms nearly hit me bad. I’m lucky I still have a way of getting of this rock. Let me tell you, a few weeks of staring at nothing but wasteland whilst having nothing to keep you occupied is enough to make a guy crazy. Fortunately for me, I’m already halfway crazy. Why else would I have decided to come here all by myself? Hehe.

Oh well, not much longer.

Oh, before I forget, I want to note down that the Ermepian Space Agency managed to land on that hunk of ice… what was it, 1337A Kerman-something-or-other? Big name, whatever it was, but we put a probe on a comet. Nice.

Back around Pol, a few hours later…

Buzz: “Enterprise, we’re on fast approach. Get the docking port ready.â€Â

Bob: “Roger that. Franklin?â€Â

Franklin: “Yeah, I’m on it… wait, the mechanism isn’t budging. Did someone hit the override?â€Â

Bob: “Uh, one second…â€Â

Buzz: “Guys?â€Â

Bob: “Huh, yeah, the electronic locks are fully engaged. Buzz, you can dock, but you’re gonna have to open the hatch from your side. Stanley, what’s going on?â€Â

Buzz: “Roger that.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I’m try-ying to an-analyse the systems-s-s as we speak.â€Â

Lengas: “Oh dear.â€Â

Cal: “Stanley doesn’t sound too good.â€Â

Buzz: “No, but it won’t stop us from docking.â€Â

The lander moves in to dock just as the topside port bursts open.

Buzz: “We’re docked. Ok, let’s get our hatch sortâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

ANSI/Stanley: “NO, NO NO NO!â€Â

Bob: “What?!â€Â

Jim: “SON OF A -- ARGH!â€Â

Franklin: “WHOAAARRGHGH! WHAT THE FRAK?!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “TOP-OPSIDE DOCKING PORT ERROR, CRITICAL DECOMPRESS-ESSION DETECTED. I’M TRYING TO FIX IT.â€Â

Bob: “Bill, Mac, get in here!â€Â

Bill: “I’m here, I’m here! Mac, seal the bridge behind you!â€Â

Mac: “Heeargh!â€Â

Alarms can be heard over the comms.

Buzz: “My Kod…!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “BRIDGE SEALED. I CAN’T FIX IT. ATMOSPHERE-ERE LEVELS AT 22% IN HABITAT-AT-AT AND DOCKING BAY.â€Â

Matt: “I can’t… *cough cough* I can’t… ARGH!â€Â

Franklin: “Hang on! Whoa!â€Â

Franklin almost gets thrown out of the airlock but hangs on enough to pull himself back inside, visibly struggling.

Lengas: “Damn it, I’m going out to help!â€Â

Cal: “Me too!â€Â

Buzz: “I’m right with you!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “ATMOSPHERE AT 10%.â€Â

Bill: “Kod damn it, I’m suiting up! Bob, stay here and keep an eye on everything!â€Â

Bob: “Aye!â€Â

Franklin just about manages to shut the airlock just as Lengas reaches the outside and pulls on the lever to lock the hatch in place.

Lengas: “The port is sealed!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “ATTEMPTING TO RECOMPRESS. LOCKING TOPSIDE PORT.â€Â

Bill: “Good lord…â€Â

Bob: “The hab is recompressing… 30%... 40.â€Â

Lengas: “Bill, go back inside, I’ve got this! Cal, Buzz, back in the lander, now!â€Â

Bill: “You sure?â€Â

Lengas: “Positive, get back inside! I’ll stay out here and make sure this thing stays shut up tight! Buzz, Cal, get the airlock in the lander open once everything’s recompressed!â€Â

Buzz: “Aye!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I… I…â€Â

Bob: “Recompression complete, no leaks… Lengas, it’s looking good you can go.â€Â

Lengas: “Right… WHOA, it’s budging! Stanley, lock the topside port!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I… locking port…â€Â

The handle for the hatch moves back into place while Lengas is still holding on.

Lengas: “That did it, I’m coming back in! Buzz, get the lander airlock open!â€Â

Buzz: “I’ve got it, come on!â€Â

Lengas: “Mother of Kerbin…â€Â

Bill: “Alright, I’m opening the bridge back up. Mac, get ready for some problems. Anyone who isn’t incapacitated meet in the hab, pronto!â€Â

[RocketPilot573]

Oh snap! Things are happening.

[The Error]

Oh yay. Airlock fun.

[guto8797]

The explosive decompression event reminded me of a tiny little 3 hours no breaks movie that ruined my bladder.

Awesome chapter tough! Just a request: The whole malfunction AI is a beaten up horse, think you can spice it up someway? I am sure you can give it a nice twist!

[VelocityPolaris]

"Oh, before I forget, I want to note down that the Ermepian Space Agency managed to land on that hunk of ice… what was it, 1337A Kerman-something-or-other? Big name, whatever it was, but we put a probe on a comet. Nice."

Oh yeah Rosetta! Also, it looks like everyone is still alive, so that's probably good.

[meve12]

I have to say, having the AI wig out on them as an equipment failure instead of a sudden (but inevitable) betrayal is kinda refreshing.

[RogueMason]

Just a request: The whole malfunction AI is a beaten up horse, think you can spice it up someway? I am sure you can give it a nice twist!

I shall see what I can do, but of course, fixing a malfunctioning AI is no mean feat. At least, as meve here has pointed out, it wasn't a HAL-style betrayal, but an equipment failure

Nevertheless, I have an idea. I'll think it over

I have to say, having the AI wig out on them as an equipment failure instead of a sudden (but inevitable) betrayal is kinda refreshing.

[VelocityPolaris]

I take it Mac isn't grounded anymore?

[Solivagant]

want update O_O

[RogueMason]

want update O_O

Soon, my friend. Perhaps even later today...

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 59: LAST OF THE BRAVE

Over two weeks later…

Jeb: “How many…?â€Â

Bill: “4. Dean, Jim, Matt, and Franklin. All dead.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Bob: “We tried, Jeb, but…â€Â

Jeb: “No. Just… I don’t… 4?!â€Â

Mac: “We saved Ed, but he’s in a coma. Found him in greenhouse 3, which reminds me…â€Â

Jeb: “There’s more?â€Â

Mac: “The plants in 1 and 3 are dead. We’ve lost half our crops.â€Â

Jeb: “Good Kod. I… I’m at a loss. That leaves 8 of us, 7 if we’re counting Ed being comatose.â€Â

Bill: “We know that, Jeb, we’ve been the ones living with it for two weeks.â€Â

Jeb: “I don’t even… Lengas, is that hatch secure?â€Â

Lengas: “As secure as I could get it. Even considered bolting it shut permanently at one point, but it isn’t actually damaged or defective. Something went wrong with the software controlling the locks.â€Â

Jeb: “Stanley?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I… I tried to unlock-ock the hatch for the lander to dock at, but it wasn’t responding-ing, and with my sys-systems being in the condition that th-they are, I must have accidentally-ally triggered the mechanism for the topsi-side port. Captain, I take full resp-responsibility for this incident.â€Â

Jeb: “Damn it… I need time to think. In the meantime, someone get the Sparrowhawk away from us.â€Â

Jeb, obviously numbed by the news, floats out of the hab and into the centrifuge.

Bill: “Bob, could you deal with the jet?â€Â

Bob: “Aye.â€Â

Cal: “That’s hit him hard.â€Â

Bill: “It hit us all hard, though.â€Â

Cal: “Yes, but he’s the captain and he’s going to feel responsible regardless of the fact that he knew there was nothing he could do. Helplessness and a position of seniority don’t go well together.â€Â

Bill: “I know… hmph, I need to calculate solutions for our Laythe ejection. I’ll be on the bridge if anyone needs me.â€Â

Cal: “Ok.â€Â

A few hours later…

Jeb: “How could this happen?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Ageing equipment pair-aired with a defe-ective AI won’t ever end particular-larly well.â€Â

Jeb: “It wasn’t really your fault, Stanley.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Nor was it the fault of the hatch, which-ich clearly points to my-y perfect storm as su-suggested. There’s never one cata-ataclysmic failure, but rather a series of small-aller failings that ultimately culminate in disaster-er. And I was-as a part of this fail-ailure.â€Â

Jeb: “But you tried to fix it. You aren’t bad.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “If I weren’t, then I’d have recovered the situat-ation.â€Â

Jeb: “Even the best of us slip up from time to time. It’s just part of life. In this case, though, it wasn’t a good outcome from anyone’s perspective.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Do you feel responsible, Jeb?â€Â

Jeb: “I was their captain, Stanley, and I wasn’t here to do a damn thing about it. Had I not been so set on exploring Laythe, I might have been able to help save the others.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I feel responsible, Jeb. I was install-alled to ensure the mission didn’t wind up like this.â€Â

Jeb: “And you did everything you could to try and meet that goal. I doubt that, without you on the ship, we’d not even have made it beyond Moho.â€Â

A moments pause takes hold.

ANSI/Stanley: “Jeb, I want to shut down.â€Â

Jeb: “What?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I want to shut down.â€Â

Jeb: “I don’t understand.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I’ve failed, Jeb. And I can’t live with that knowledge. Then-en there’s the crippling system errors and bugs that are preventing-ing the smooth operation of the ship that I’m supposed to have runn-nning like a well-oiled machine. I think, put simply, you would be better off without me being active.â€Â

Jeb: “Stanley, you were always one for optimism. What happened?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Everything.â€Â

Jeb: “Everything… hmph. Alright, I’m going to say this now; don’t make any rash decisions, Stanley. There are people back home who jump to conclusions all the time when they think they’re cornered with no ultimate escape from whatever it is that supposedly got them in that corner in the first place. Believe me when I tell you that there are always other options.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I don’t make rash decisions, Jeb. I thought you knew me better than that.â€Â

Jeb: “I’d like to think I know you tremendously well, Stanley, which is why I’m trying to help you see that shutting down is probably not the good idea you’re thinking it may be right now.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “It’s not an idea, it’s a complet-etely calculated solution to this scenario. I’ve spent the last month and a half look-ooking at options, data, and the crew. The signs were all there-ere that I was causing more probl-lems that I was alleviating, and only then did the docking port incident arise, tipping me over into the certainty that I needed to be taken out of action before conditions would even begin to improve for the others. I’m sorry Jeb, but I’m afraid that it’s the only reasonable solution.â€Â

Jeb: “You’ve really thought of all this?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Yes.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I implore you, there is no alternative.â€Â

Jeb: “Now what did I just tell you, Stanley? There are always alternatives.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “None bear thinking about, in my eyes.â€Â

Jeb: “You’re going to have to do better than that if you’re to convince me that taking you offline is really the best course of action. The way I see it, I could get Bob and Lengas to work on you, try and fix you up.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “They’ve been attempting to do so ever since the Laythe incident, Jeb, and back then, we had more people to deal with the problem.â€Â

Jeb: “And we don’t exactly have an action-filled trip for the next however many months or years, so it’s not like they’ll be too occupied elsewhere. We can fix you, Stanley, and we will.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I admire your optimism Jeb for it’s what I’m lacking, but I just don’t see how it would be worthwhile anymore.â€Â

Jeb: “We’ll leave that up to me, shall we? Don’t shut down until I’m certain of anything, Stanley.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “I must refute this, Captain.â€Â

Jeb: “I’ll order you to stay online then, Stanley, and let’s face it, that may not exactly lead to the best ending because, as you say, you are in a bad way, but we are going to try and fix you first before I’ll let you go quietly into that computerised night.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “If you truly believe that I can be fixed, then I will cooperate, but I still maintain that I am in no fit state for work.â€Â

Jeb: “If that’s so, then why have I been listening to your voice becoming less distorted over the course of this conversation?â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “My voice distortion? You refer to the stuttering? I… I do believe that slipped my mind.â€Â

Jeb: “It’s small, but it’s something.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Very well. I do not foresee a good resolution, but I suppose we may as well try.â€Â

Jeb: “Thank you, Stanley. I’ll get those two to work on you ASAP.â€Â

A few days later…

Buzz: “Are you completely insane?!â€Â

Mac: “Buzz, calm down!â€Â

Bill: “I most certainly am not insane! I’ve been working on this for the last few days, so don’t even dare to call me insane!â€Â

Buzz: “So, you would actually have us go all the way back there and then all the way back out here?!â€Â

Bill: “Yes!â€Â

Buzz: “Good Kod, man!â€Â

Jeb: “Hey, whoa, what the hell is going on in here?!â€Â

Buzz: “Bill’s gone utterly crazy, that’s what the hell is going on in here!â€Â

Bill: “I have not gone mad, I know what I’m doing! Jeb, take a look at this for me, would you?â€Â

Jeb: “What the… what? Trajectory data? What’s wrong with…â€Â

Jeb blinks.

Jeb: “Duna?!â€Â

Bill: “Look, I know it seems crazy, but I’m telling you now, it’s genuinely our best option!â€Â

Jeb: “Excuse the blunt attitude, commander, but I’m really not thinking you’re right in the head at the moment!â€Â

Bill: “No no no, let me explain. Here’s what we do; we depart Jool in a few hours’ time, and then at this manoeuvre node here…â€Â

Bill: “…We make an adjustment to improve our heading for Duna. We arrive at Duna, get home to send us a tanker, and then we fly back out to Eeloo andâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Jeb: “This is looking needlessly complicated, Bill.â€Â

Bill: “…As I was saying, we get to Eeloo. The best part? We can do all of that within the time it would take Jool to align correctly with our little snowball of a planet.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Buzz: “…â€Â

Jeb: “Uh, are you high?â€Â

Bill: “No, damn it Jeb, I checked this course somewhere around seven times because it seemed too good to be true, but we can cut the mission time down by maybe two years as well as limiting our exposure to Jool’s radiation and we can drop the fol-- uh, bodies off at the station around Duna instead of hauling them with us for the remainder of the mission! Oh, and then there’s the solar power boost, plus the opportunity to replenish our stores for the final leg of the mission.â€Â

Jeb: “Uh…â€Â

Mac: “I was under the impression that we were just going to fire the bodies off into Jool itself…â€Â

Jeb: “Bill, are you absolutely certain of this?â€Â

Buzz: “No, it’s complete bullshiâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Bill: “Yes, I’m certain of it. Don’t let Mr. Irate here let you think otherwise because, after all, I’m the navigator.â€Â

Buzz: “The navigator who’s gone loco.â€Â

Jeb: “Buzz, could you just go and wait somewhere else, please?â€Â

Buzz: “If you insist, but I wouldn’t be so sure of his wonder trajectory if I were you, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “Hmm… you know, it looks like it could work.â€Â

Bill: “It will work, Jeb, trust me.â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “A cursory glance at the current planetary positions seems to vindicate Commander Bill and his flight path, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Bill: “Jeb, believe me.â€Â

Mac: “…â€Â

Jeb: “…Ok. Let’s do it.â€Â

Mac: “Well, this ought to be interesting.â€Â

Jeb: “Mac, go check on Ed. I've got a ship to fly.â€Â

[The Error]

Yay physics!

Yay fixing Stanley!

Yay no AI revolt!

Yay Bill's navigation skills!

(Poor guys, though... 4? That's way too many for a simple software failure D: )

[VelocityPolaris]

And after the last chapter I was saying that it was good nobody died.

I have no words that would adequately express the sadness I feel for the loss of four of someone else's video game characters.

[RocketPilot573]

Bill is the best navigator I've ever seen. /sarcasm

Also RIP 4 Kerbals

[Solivagant]

._. well that was a wild ride

[guto8797]

How long were they oxygen deprived? The writting didn't make it sound like that much. Also, I'd expect Kerbals to be more resilient, since Jeb has survived 3 reentries from space with just his suit Gr8 Work m8!

[RogueMason]

How long were they oxygen deprived? The writting didn't make it sound like that much. Also, I'd expect Kerbals to be more resilient, since Jeb has survived 3 reentries from space with just his suit Gr8 Work m8!

Long enough, it would seem...

I'll see about sorting out the next chapter this weekend.

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 60: ONE STEP BACKWARDS...

Captain’s log, entry 30: We left Jool today. All I can say is good riddance, where normally I’d say I’d be disappointed. We’ve had nothing but trouble around here and it feels good to get the hell away from this blasted green ball. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful place, but you can only take so much before that beauty is marred by a hideous personality.

A nasty initial aerobrake, fooling around with manoeuvres, getting screwed over by Tylo, then Jim had to go and claim glory. Then the Laythe aerobrake, Stanley starting to go haywire, a near collision with Bop (I’ve been led to believe), and then the 4 deaths. I’ve gotta say, it’s not been particularly good. Morale is low all round.

Even as I sit here staring at the moons dancing around that giant swirling orb, I can’t feel anything but some sort of muted anger and dimness. I don’t feel right, not that I should, but… I don’t know.

With the long range comms being down, too, it’s really starting to get to me, being stuck on this ship. We’ve had no contact with home for far too long now, and we aren’t going to hear anything for longer still. Hmph, that’s about right for this sort of thing, I guess. Everything just falls apart at some point.

Captain’s log, entry 31: Just escaped the SOI. Bill’s plotted the course we need to reach Duna. It looks good.

A few weeks later…

Captain’s log, entry 32: After a bit of an eventful burn involving half our systems shutting down, we’re now en route to Duna, and we’ll be there in nearly four years’ time. Four years. I know that’s on this more recent time measurement thing, but… Kod, I’m not sure I’ll be able to cut it. I’ve had enough as is.

If only they’d invented cryopods before we left… oh, one can wish.

-----

Captain’s log, entry 33: Ed was brought out from his coma today without much hassle. He’s really confused, though. Then again, I would be if I’d been out of it for going on two months and all I could remember was nearly getting blasted out into space. We brought him up to speed. Obviously, he felt pretty bad, saying something along the lines of ‘why hadn’t he died while the others had’, that sort of clichéd man-who-just-survived-an-accident stuff.

----

Captain’s log, entry 34: Stanley accidentally shorted out a bunch of systems again. It’s not looking good, even despite the efforts of Lengas and Bob. We brought everything online again but Stanley just went all reclusive, saying he needed to think. Nothing bad happened, but he’s feeling bad regardless. I can only hope that we can fix him. I’ve even offered to lend a hand with the repair efforts. We’ll see.

-----

Chief Engineer/Geologist’s log, entry 97: Well, [REDACTED]. Stanley fried the food heater and one of the lighting circuits in that last bout of glitches. I’ve sorted the lights out, but neither Bob nor I have managed to fix the bloody cooker yet. Practically every component got the burn treatment and we’re having to fashion new circuit boards. You know what that means? That means no hot meals until we’re done. At all.

[REDACTED].

-----

Captain’s log, entry 35: Bored.

Stanley (came and) spoke to me today. He seemed to be under the impression that maybe trying to fix him isn’t working. I’m not entirely sure what gave him that impression (note: sarcasm). Nevertheless, I put on the metaphorical smiley face and gave as good a pep talk as I could muster at this point, which probably means it was [REDACTED] awful. Stanley seemed to respond well enough before another glitch hit the navigation systems, much to Bill’s dismay. We got that reset quick enough, thankfully, and we’re still apparently en route for Duna, so at least we got that burn right. Being maybe a quarter of the way through the first year of this trip, that’s reassuring. It doesn’t make me feel any better, but it’s reassuring. We’ll see that planet eventually.

-----

Commander’s log, entry 146: Jeb’s gone awfully quiet as of late. I can’t say I blame him really, what with all the stuff that’s happened to us. I’m probably going to have to talk to him.

And today is a milestone because we left Jool’s SOI a year ago. Only two years to go, now.

-----

Captain’s log, entry 36: One year since Jool.

-----

Captain’s log, entry 37: Lost an entire crop in greenhouse 4 today. Sure, we recovered 1 and 3 after the incident, but losing a crop is bad. Ed’s examining what happened. Don’t exactly want to run out of food all the way out here now, do we?

-----

Captain’s log, entry 38: Soil irrigation systems failed in 4. Lengas fixed it, but that doesn’t change the fact that we lost this crop. Great.

-----

Captain’s log, entries 39 through 61: Bored.

-----

Captain’s log, entry 62: If I squint really hard, I can see Duna. We’re maybe 6 months out, now. Kod, just get us there already.

Half a year later…

Captain’s log, entry 68: Finally here. We sent a message to the station, and, lo and behold, we didn’t get one back.

Aerobraking trajectory is set, and it’s probably going to be rough. The ship is hardly in the best condition. Another aerobrake is pushing it.

Still while it may not be impossible, it’s necessary.

Bill: “Well, we made it.â€Â

Jeb: “Just.â€Â

Bill: “Just, yeah, but we’re here now.â€Â

Jeb: “We’ve still got to circularise.â€Â

Bill: “I know, but come on, we finally got back here, Jeb, that’s good!â€Â

Jeb: “Yeah, guess so…â€Â

Bill: “Come on man, cheer up a little. I know you’re not exactly feeling particularly good – hell, none of us are, but we’re getting somewhere.â€Â

Jeb: “I appreciate you trying to help me out, Bill, but I don’t exactly feel like talking right now.â€Â

Bill: “You sure?â€Â

Jeb: “If you want, we can talk later, after we’re done here.â€Â

Bill: “Alright then…â€Â

Bob: “Hey, we’re getting something from the station. Sounds like they’re wondering what the hell we’re doing here.â€Â

Jeb: “You talk to them, I’m not in the mood.â€Â

Bob: “I’m not the captain.â€Â

Jeb: “But you know what’s up just as much as I do. Now talk to them, would you?â€Â

Bob: “If I must…â€Â

[Solivagant]

I caught the Interstellar reference...

[RogueMason]

I caught the Interstellar reference...

Have a cookie (that's spinning at 68rpm)

[The Error]

Everything's better with spinning.

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 61: REFRESH

Several hours later…

Bob: “Well, that’s the last of them. Cal, take it away.â€Â

Cal: “Ok.â€Â

Lander Beta undocks carrying Cal along with the bodies of Matt and Franklin, just following Lander Alpha being flown by Buzz and carrying Jim and Dean.

Bob: “Jeb, that’s it, they’re on the way to the station.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok.â€Â

Bob: “…So, I heard back from KSC. They’ve launched the fuelling vessel.â€Â

Jeb: “Is that so?â€Â

Bob: “Yeah. What’s wrong, Jeb?â€Â

Jeb: “Nothing.â€Â

Bob: “Jeb, clearly there’s something wrong.â€Â

Jeb: “There’s nothing wrong, Bob, just… go and do something else, I can’t be bothered talking right now.â€Â

Bob: “...â€Â

Bob floats out of the bridge, leaving Jeb and Bill.

Jeb: *sigh*

Bill: “You know, I think there is something up, Jeb. What is it?â€Â

Jeb: “Oh Kod, not you too.â€Â

Bill: “Jeb, come on, talk.â€Â

Jeb: “Bill, I swear there’s nothing wroâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Bill: “Bulls**t. Talk, now.â€Â

Jeb: “Careful, you’re speaking to a superior officer here, Bill.â€Â

Bill: “I’m also talking to my friend in what is starting to look like a vain effort to help him out. Jeb, please, just spill the beans, otherwise we’re gonna have problems. Maybe not now, but later on, we’ll have problems.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Bill: “Please?â€Â

Jeb: “Damn it… I… I can’t do this for much longer, Bill. I miss home, and the boredom is killing me, I’m sure of it.â€Â

Bill: “We’re all feeling it, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “Yes, but my Kod, the temptation to give up and go home now is so tantalising, it too is driving me mad!â€Â

Bill: “So go home, then, no-one’s stopping you.â€Â

Jeb: “I’m stopping me, Bill! I want to see this mission through, but I want to go and see my family, my home, and it’s tearing me to pieces!â€Â

Bill: “…â€Â

Jeb: “I can’t do this, man… I just… I can’t… *sobbing*â€Â

Bill: “Alright, come here man.â€Â

Bill moves to comfort Jeb.

Bill: “We all knew that when we started this mission, it wasn’t going to be easy, you more than anybody, I’d suspect.â€Â

Jeb: *sobs*

Bill: “But we’ve managed so far, haven’t we?â€Â

Jeb: “Bill, this… this isn’t helping…â€Â

Bill: “I thought as much… I’m sorry Jeb, I don’t really have anything to say. Like I said, we’re all in the same boat, figuratively and literally. You don’t have to carry on with this mission if you don’t want to.â€Â

Jeb: “No, I want to… to carry on. I have to. I mean, what would you guys do without me? Hehe… *sobs*â€Â

Bill: “Exactly, what would we do without you, eh? We’d probably fly straight into the Sun if you weren’t around to help us out!â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Bill: “Of course, if you weren’t around, the refrigerators would probably still be full to the brim, but that’s hardly an argument in your favour.â€Â

Jeb: “Heh… *sniff*â€Â

Bill: “Seriously, the ship wouldn’t be the same without you around here to keep it pointing the right way.â€Â

Jeb: “This was an oddly heartfelt discussion for us, Bill.â€Â

Bill: “Sometimes heartfelt discussions are about the only way to get across what you’re trying to say, even if this particular exchange of words happened to be very one-sided.â€Â

Jeb: “Hmm, yeah… *sniff*â€Â

A console bleeps behind Bill.

Bill: “Ah, well, the fuel tanker has completed its transfer burn. A little over a year and it’ll be here.â€Â

Jeb: “Another year of sitting around doing nothing, lovely… *sniff*â€Â

Bill: “Well, until we invent warp flight, we’re stuck with this, but it’s not all bad, really.â€Â

Jeb: “…Hmm, I’ve just had a thought. Back in a bit.â€Â

Bill: “What? What’s this thought?â€Â

Jeb: “Tell you later. Gonna speak to Lengas… *sniff*â€Â

Bill: “Uh, I hope you’re not off to try and invent a warp drive, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “No, no, that’s ridiculous, something else though.â€Â

A few minutes later…

Lengas: “That’s a bloody ambitious idea, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “Well don’t just say that, Lengas, I need to know if it could work!â€Â

Lengas: “I’d have to run some numbers with Bob. This is not something I’m exactly familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, Jeb, it’s a good idea, just… bloody ambitious.â€Â

Jeb: “Stanley, what do you think?â€Â

Lengas: “I, uh… I wouldn’t bother trying to ask Stanley right now.â€Â

Jeb: “What? Why?â€Â

Lengas: “Well, we fixed a bunch of things, and then a bunch more things got broken while doing, Stanley’s response circuitry included.â€Â

Jeb: “And you didn’t tell me this?â€Â

Lengas: “I’ve been too busy trying to fix it! Stanley’s fine, he just can’t talk right now.â€Â

Jeb: “Oh Kod, just another thing on the never-ending list of problems…â€Â

Lengas: “I’ll hopefully have it sorted out by tonight, maybe tomorrow at the latest. Then I can see about looking into your cryogenics idea…â€Â

Jeb: “Thanks. We’ve apparently got over a year until the fuel tanker gets here, by the way. Just to let you know.â€Â

Lengas: “Well, at least we’ve got supplies incoming, too.â€Â

Jeb: “True, that’ll be good.â€Â

Lengas: “I may finally be able to repair the long range comms, amongst other things.â€Â

Jeb: “Aye. Well, I’m gonna just… be somewhere. Don’t know where, so if you need me, start looking.â€Â

Lengas: “Right.â€Â

Over one year later…

Captain’s Log, entry 73: Got a signal to say the fuel tanker is in orbit. Thank frakking Kod for that. I don’t know why control didn’t decide for a quicker transfer orbit, but whatever, it’s here now.

Lengas informs me there’s been some decent progress on the front of my idea; we’ve got one of the refrigerators converted appropriately. We've had to move some of the ice and rock core samples to somewhere else, much to the disdain of our remaining geologist, but at least we've got somewhere for them. I just hope these things I've thought of all work when push comes to shove.

Bob: “Cal, tanker incoming, you wanna come up here?â€Â

Cal: “Sure. Probably the final bit of logistics I’ll have to do on this mission, I hope. Where is this thing?â€Â

Bob: “Just there.â€Â

Cal: “Oh, they didn’t opt for a huge tanker, just one of the large ones. Interesting. Well, let’s get this thing docked.â€Â

Bob: “We’re aligned.â€Â

Cal: “Got it.â€Â

Bob: “Docking complete. Nicely done.â€Â

Cal: “Well, thank Kod for that, I was a little rusty on that.â€Â

Bob: “Lengas, come and help with the fuel pumps, would you?â€Â

Lengas: “Ok.â€Â

Bob: “Jeb, the tanker’s docked!â€Â

Jeb: “Good, good. Buzz, Ed, could you help me get the supplies through from it?â€Â

Buzz: “Right.â€Â

Ed: “Uh, sure.â€Â

Jeb: “Thanks.â€Â

Lengas: “Ok, pumps connected. Jeb, you’re just gonna have to wait a second. Bob, hit the switch!â€Â

Bob: “Ok!â€Â

ANSI/Stanley: “Fuel transfer in progress. I estimate around 5 minutes to completion.â€Â

Bob: “You hear that Lengas?â€Â

Lengas: “Yeah, I got it.â€Â

Jeb: “Hmm. Ok, Buzz, Ed, take a break for five minutes.â€Â

Twenty minutes later…

Cal: “And it’s away. I’ll let the station handle that from here on out.â€Â

Jeb: “Thank you, Cal. Now then, I suppose we’d better sort out all this stuff. Control sure managed to pack a lot into that small nosecone.â€Â

Cal: “Yeah, though I’m glad they did.â€Â

Jeb: “So am I. We’ll be needing it. Kod knows we’ll be needing it…â€Â

Cal: “I just hope there’s some halfway decent chocolate in there somewhere.â€Â

Jeb: “Me too.â€Â

[Michaelo90]

Cryogenic sleep? Interesting! But is Jeb really going to just slap something together in the ship and expect it to work? We all know Jeb is awesome, but is he that awesome?

[RogueMason]

Cryogenic sleep? Interesting! But is Jeb really going to just slap something together in the ship and expect it to work? We all know Jeb is awesome, but is he that awesome?

I wouldn't trust Jeb with a stick of glue and some glitter if I told him to make a Christmas card, which is why I have him flying all my really expensive spaceships (). No, we have Lengas and Bob for all the technical stuff

[RocketPilot573]

Jeb is on to something here....