We have archived the following messages as per your request:
Bill Withers: Captain Santiago, sorry to bother you, but do you have a minute?
Captain Santiago: What is it Withers? It’s four in the morning.
Bill Withers: Well, sir, there’s been an accident with the computer core.
Captain Santiago: Oh, for the love of… what sort of accident?
Bill Withers: Well, we were extracting the drive modules from the computer core, and we dropped one of them.
Captain Santiago: That shouldn’t be a problem, those storage modules are solid state. Nothing could happen.
Bill Withers: Well, we used a neodyme magnet to lift it off the ground, and well, the magnet damaged the drive.
Captain Santiago: ARE YOU KIDDING ME! WHY DID YOUR TEAM USE A NEODYME MAGNET! SON, LET ME ASSURE YOU, HEADS WILL ROLL!
Bill Withers: Well, we could recover some logs, sir.
Captain Santiago: Some? Great. Wait, can’t you just retrieve the missing files from back up?
Bill Withers: Oh, about that.
Captain Santiago: I can tell already it’s bad news, Christ, I need a drink.
Bill Withers: Do you need a minute, sir?
Captain Santiago: It’s a figure of speech, son, which will soon be real. Ah, just give me the damn news!
Bill Withers: Well, the backup servers stopped working six months into the Arugula’s mission.
Captain Santiago: Now I need some pain pills, alright, back to the module you dropped. Tell me you have some good news.
Bill Withers: We’ve recovered what we can, but it is a powerful magnet, sir.
Captain Santiago: Yeah, but that’s no excuse! Fine, give me the good and the bad.
Bill Withers: We could only recover some logs and the dates; well the dates are on average a week apart.
Captain Santiago: You mean to tell me you could only recover logs that are a week apart?
Bill Withers: Well, you see yes and no…
Captain Santiago: Son, spit it out. Don’t mince words with me!
Bill Withers: Well, most of the logs are about a week apart. Only a few are in order.
Captain Santiago: You mean to tell me that some of these logs are a week apart?
Bill Withers: That is correct, sir.
Captain Santiago: Ugh, fine, just give me what you have, ok?
Bill Withers: Will do. Is there anything else, sir?
Captain Santiago: No, but I have one thing to say, Pluto Station needs a couple of technicians. You and your cohort fit the bill. What I’m trying to say is, I will ensure that you and your cohorts will be on the next shuttle to Plato Station.
Bill Withers: Of course, sir, I’ll pack now.
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Date: September 2, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Technician Juan Gonzalez
Laura and I went down to a planet to help fix one of our shuttlecrafts. To be honest, I’m excited. It’s been months since I’ve been on an away team.
Once we landed, Laura and I successfully identified the problem. A fuse in engine two had blown, resulting in a short circuit and the damage of sensors. After I replaced the circuit, Laura told me she could handle the rest, and encouraged me to take a walk.
As I was walking, I came across a river; it was hot out and I was thirsty. I scanned the water and did a quick sample analysis. No harmful pathogens or viruses. I didn’t have time to purify or boil the water, so I drank it. As a precaution, I set my scanner to alert me if I get a fever.
Once I got back to camp, Laura was done with repairs. We headed back to the Arugula and she and I talked for a while. I’m glad she agreed to see the ship’s counselor. It would be good for her.
When we get back to the ship, I’m going to have a nice cold hibiscus tea. Afterwards, I might head to the rec deck. Laura’s been bugging me about the VR room, and I might give it a try. There is an art gallery program I want to check out.
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Date: September 2, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
So the away team that crash-landed on the planet below is fine. The shuttle commander reported the coildrive was malfunctioning, which caused the engines to run at fifty percent efficiency. From the reports I read, the shuttle crew said the descent was bumpy, and they felt like they were on a roller coaster. Juan and I are part of the relief team going to the planet. Honestly, I could use some fresh air.
Once we landed, I walked outside of the shuttle and breathed in the fresh air. Then twitched when I heard some clatter. Lieutenant Holmes, the commander of the downed shuttle, told me it was squirrels. They think they are friendly but have kept their distance.
Anyway, Juan and I discovered that one of the circuits was bad. I checked the repair logs, and I discovered that one, Fred Williams, was supposed to repair the shuttle. When I get back to the Arugula, I’m going to have to talk to Fred. I heard stories about how semi-incompetent he is.
Anyway, Juan fixed the circuit, and I told him to take a break. It took me a while to restart the sensors and replace the fuses. I finished as soon as Juan came back. We headed up to the Arugula, but he was complaining of stomachaches. I told him to see the doctor; he claimed he will.
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Medical Report
Dr. Henry Irving
Patient: Juan Gonzalez
Status: Deceased
Technician Gonzalez complained of stomach pains. I told him to lie on the bed while I grabbed my appropriate tools. I asked him what caused it, and after some back and forth, he admitted he drank some water from a river. But he scanned the water for all that did.
I told him he didn’t have a medical scanner that was more accurate on things biological. As a precaution, I activated an isolation field and scanned him. I was relieved that he didn’t have parasites and nothing was growing in his stomach. I don’t want a repeat of the ordeal Officer Hurt went through.
Technician Gonzalez was steaming up. His skin drooped down. I ran a scan. His entire molecular structure was deteriorating at an alarming rate. I couldn’t help him at this point. I gave him a strong sedative and watched him melt. Time of death, 1100 hours.
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Date: September 6, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
It’s my first day on the new shift. I’m replacing Technician Gonzalez. He passed away after drinking water from a river. I tried to introduce myself to my new lead, but she was cold to me. She told me to report to the Chief for assignment.
My assignment was to recalibrate the navigation computer. It turns out it needed a system restart. But somehow, during the re-initialization process, I set the location to Earth. The navigation software thought the Arugula was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The ship started spinning, and within a minute, it stopped. With the quick thinking of the navigator, and possibly trying to keep his lunch from coming back up, pulled the emergency stop. I almost threw up. Oh, and I had to stand on the bridge and apologize to the crew. That wasn’t fun.
I was just nervous; I wanted to make a good impression. No one listened except Isabella. I bumped into her while I was running from the bridge. She brought me to a small conference room where I could vent. All she did was listen. I needed that. Just someone to hear me out and not interrupt.
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Date: September 6, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
I nearly walked out of an airlock upon learning Fred Williams would be my new partner. The man, who is indirectly responsible for Gonzalez’s death, is now my partner. Lovey, great. I mean, did anyone bother to ask me? Oh well, I sent him off to Chief Saratoga for his assignment.
As for my assignment, well, I’m being assigned some light work. I replaced lights on Deck C and repaired door chimes in a couple of crew quarters. All that took half a shift. I was heading back to my quarters for a little breather. Afterwards, I planned on going to the library and read a book next to a window. But my plans changed when the ship started spinning.
So, Fred had to fix his mistake and guess who had to spend two hours supervising him? Yep, me. I notice something; he was doing his steps out of order; I had to correct him several times about that. I told him to breathe and calm down during the installation process. After my shift ended, I stayed behind to watch him clean the floors while eating popcorn.
After he was done, I almost gave him a pat on the back. I came to my senses and just gave him a thumbs up.
I’m not in the mood to socialize this evening. After my shift, I’m just going to watch a couple of movies in my quarter while sipping on a chamomile latte. Something to clear my mind from today.
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Date: September 13, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
I had to stand and apologize to the crew on the bridge. That wasn’t fun. I was about to be reprimanded, but a large sentient amoeba attacked the Arugula by firing some sort of energy attack on the ship.
After a brief skirmish, the amoeba attached itself to the Arugula and somehow possessed an unfortunate ensign. A tentacle snuck through an opening and attached itself to Ensign Willy. Xylax spoke through the ensign. It simply wanted to say hi and chat. We all had a laugh.
After a few hours of talking, we parted ways with Xylax. The chief assigned me to help repair the hull. I soldered the wrong connections, which caused three decks to lose gravity. Oh, I should mention, Ensign Willy collapsed and fell into a coma. The doctor expects him to make a speedy recovery.
The pressure is getting to me. I’m trying my best. When I work, I want to do well, but then I get nervous and lose focus. I shouldn’t have stopped taking my meds, or stop therapy.
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Date: September 13, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
It was near the end of my shift. I finished my repairs and my supervisor allowed me to end my shift early. I was on my way to play poker until my boss informed me that Fred screwed up again. So I had to stay and assist Fred with repairing his work.
Fred somehow fused the power coupling with the anti-gravity generators, causing a short. Several decks had little to no gravity. So naturally, no one was happy with Fred, especially the doctor performing surgery on Ensign Tomas’s vocal cords. The good news is that Ensign Tomas can speak again, but with a British accent.
I ordered Fred to shut down the affected coupling and clear the buffers. Next, I did a little rewiring and restarted the gravity emitters. Then we replaced some burned-out fuses, turned on the power in that area, and activated the gravity generators. My supervisor granted me an extra day off because I had to supervise Fred while he fixed his mess. So it wasn’t all that bad.
I should note that I spent my day on the recreation deck. Specifically, I was in the hot springs. Whoever installed a hot springs section with calming music being pumped into was a genius and should get a medal.
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Date: September 20, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
A comet attacked the Arugula today. I saw everything on my pad; I think it’s cool the crew can see what’s going on outside the ship on their tablets. Once the Arugula passed by the comet, its eye and mouth opened up, oh and tentacles sprouted from its body. We had to increase speed; the comet looked hungry, judging by the saliva coming out of its mouth. The Arugula fired at the comet; it split in two. They reformed into mouths, eyes and tentacles. The Arugula shot a wider beam at one of the comets, which disintegrated it.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Unfortunately, when the Arugula fired again, the beam malfunctioned and only disintegrated half of the comet. It flew around the ship and attached itself to the hull. The Captain sent a security detail to kill and dislodge the asteroid from the ship. Ensign Tomas and I drew the short straws and were part of the security detail. The comet nested itself on a power junction. Dislodging it could blow a huge chunk of the ship away. Ensign Tomas and I will make sure that doesn’t happen.
Ensign Tomas rushed in ahead of the security team and started blasting. Well, the comet latched onto Ensign Tomas and ate him. Security had no choice but to fight the monster. The asteroid was winning. Two of the five security officers got eaten by the asteroid. I knew it was up to me to act fast.
I used a nearby console to overload the asteroid, and I think I killed it. But as soon as I got back on board, the security team praised me while the Captain and the Ops officer chewed me out.
So apparently I was supposed to tell the bridge what I was doing. I guess quick thinking won’t get you anywhere these days. As punishment, I had to help repair the hull.
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Date: September 20, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
It was the end of a very easy shift; I was taking a walk toward the galley to get some ramen, and then the battle alarm went off. When I turned on my pad’s feed, I saw an asteroid with a massive eye and multiple tentacles descending upon the Arugula, mouth wide open with big sharp teeth. I swear I laughed for a minute straight. Then it flung golf ball-sized rocks toward us. At first, those little buggers tried to eat through the hull, but their tiny mouths couldn’t penetrate it. Like a school of fish, they moved in formation until they found an opening. I spent the rest of my shift going around the ship and frying those little pests.
After I finished, I heard Fred took action and destroyed the asteroid. But he didn’t inform the bridge of his plan. He should have known better. The first thing taught in engineering tech school is to check in with ship operations before you start your task. Especially if you choose to take matters into your own hands and play the hero. So, I had to help Fred again. As soon as I saw him, I gave him a thumbs up. Then I walked away.
We found some ore on a nearby moon. We also took precautions to make sure it wasn’t alive. Engineering modified the ovens in the kitchens to smelt the ore down. From what I heard, Chef Andre wasn’t thrilled. After repairing the hull, we went on our way.
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Personal Log
Laura Styles
Fred has been getting on my nerves, and I’m doing my best not to chew him out or even yell at him. I still blame him for the death of Gonzalez. If Fred hadn’t neglected his duties, then Gonzalez would have been alive. I should just have a long talk with Fred, and tell him how I really feel, instead of writing it in my log. I could use a drink right about now, but I need to stay sober.
My job was, look I can’t do this right now, I need to vent. That man needs a talking to. I looked up his record. I can’t even access his application and approval. Someone set it to private. Only a commander and above can view it. It’s odd, because his application is supposed to be public record. It’s a mystery how he got in. He must have had help. Alright, I could tell his heart is in the right place, arghh why is this man living rent free in my mind! Fine conscience, you win, I’ll have a talk with him. Soon. I promise.
You know, in the scheme of things, I feel as though I traded one vice for another. Drinking for working. To be honest, I sort of enjoy helping fix Fred’s blunders. It keeps the mind busy. It feels wrong, but I needed to admit this for myself.
I burned so many bridges back on Earth that I’m not surprised I don’t get any messages or calls. I assumed we would only last 6 months tops in deep space, but it’s been two years since we departed Earth. Science Fiction has always been pessimistic. To think, we only discovered faster-than-light propulsion thirty years ago. Back then, we terraformed Mars and mined the asteroid belt. Can you believe it? It’s been only thirty years since Earth first made contact with another species.
Despite the objections and threats of violence and occupation by other space-faring civilizations, humanity has spread through the stars. It’s astonishing that certain ‘enlightened’ civilizations threatened to invade and occupy Earth, thinking we were unprepared for the galactic stage. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and in the end, we got some help. I’ll give credit to the Canusians for helping us navigate the politics of the galactic stage.
When I think of humanity’s journey to the stars, I imagine it as this. Humans’ venture into the stars is as graceful as a bull in a shop, causing chaos and destruction. But then, when we get our groove, along with some scars, we rise like a bird into the sky and never land again.
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Personal Log
Fred Williams
I got transferred to another shift, again. This time to replace Technician Gonzalez. And once again I’m learning on the job. Back home, I was in dire straits. My wife left me, she said she met someone else. Oh, and I got let go at the plant, well, because of my former father-in-law. Two days later, I got angry letters from the boys at the plant. They didn’t like me at all; I suspect it’s because my former FIL put me in a supervisor role, even though I had no experience as one.
But Uncle Steve at the fleet pulled through. Uncle Steve Harrison, he’s a vice-admiral in the fleet. He could help me secure this gig. He told me I could learn on the job. Well, what good did that do?
It didn’t help that my lead and trainer, Lieutenant Harrison, died when the ship was under attack by The Illusionist. So a brief recap, The Illusionist, tricked people and warped their minds. If I walk down the hallway, I’d enter a forest. I could eat spaghetti and it would turn into a plate of snakes. In reality, the hallway still exists and the plate of snakes is only spaghetti. It took the mental energies of the entire crew to defeat it.
After Harrison died, I asked for training. Chief Patel told me that resources are already buckling, and he doesn’t have the personnel to train me. I would have to learn on the fly and watch the training videos. So that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.
I’m doing my best, I really am. I know I should think things through, but if it feels right, should I go for it? Just like how I pursued Isabella. (Isabella here: I had to make the first move, he was too shy.)
Isabella told me to make sure I talk to Laura. She told me that if I talked with Laura and have her hear what I have to say, then she might open up and train me to be a proper technician. Ah, Isabella, she’s the best thing to happen to me. She’s not turned away from my past. She comforts me and gives advice when I need it. Whenever I’m feeling down, I like to place my head on her thighs as I let out what I want to say. She is my saving grace on this ship.
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Date: October 4, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
An away team visited a planet for a survey, but the shuttle landed on a flower bed, angering the locals. During the ship wide announcement, the captain had the Chief Anthropology Officer, Dr. Henderson, give some insight into the situation. Dr. Henderson explained this grove is sacred to the local population, due to them being this protective. She told the Captain we must give an offer, like food or clothing.
A local punched an unfortunate ensign after the poor ensign offered them an apple. From what I read, the ensign wanted to offer the apple as a peace offering. Sounds reasonable if I’m being honest. The away team retreated to the shuttle. Unfortunately, a massive thunderstorm damaged the onboard translator. Last I heard, the away team is trying to repair the translator.
For my assignment, I was helping to fix the engines. It turns out the problem was in Dr. Kroeger’s creepy lab. Something about him makes me shudder. From what I was told, Dr. Kroeger was experimenting with bacteria that emits sonic waves.
I got curious, so I walked past his lab. There were a couple of security guards outside, and I heard a lot of shouting. I recognized the guards from poker night. They motioned me over and filled me in on account I don’t tell a soul.
So, Dr. Kroeger has been working on some classified assignments for Fleet Command. On the condition that he won’t use the ship’s resources for personal projects. He broke that condition. Supposedly, Fleet Command ordered the captain to put Kroeger in stasis until we get back to earth. He has experiments and prototypes that violate half the treaties and not to mention moral and ethical concerns.
Today, the Arugula passed by a black hole. Of course, we kept our distance but left as soon as we felt some effects from minor waves or some such. But it was nice to observe it with Isabella.
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Date: October 4, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
Wow, so an away team landed in a flower grove. Dr. Henderson speculated it was sacred to the local population. It turns out it was some dude’s flower garden, oh I need to explain this.
We sent another away team to the surface and talked it over with the local population. The owner of said flower garden thought we were intruders, which we were. Oh, and the flower garden wasn’t some sacred holy garden, it was a healing garden symbolizing a war that ended two years ago. Dr. Henderson is in her quarters and refuses to come out. Good, I didn’t like her, anyway.
My boss told me the power went out on Decks C and D when the ship’s engines were idle. So I knew it was Fred’s work. Turns out I was partially wrong. Dr. Kroeger has been running experiments, and one of them was disrupting the electrical conduits. But, after inspecting what Fred did, he did a sloppy patch job on the engines.
Luckily, I had help from a couple of engineers. We determined that Fred had rerouted power from decks C and D, which caused a power drain when the engines were on. So we, along with Fred, fixed the engine power lines and correctly rewired the power lines.
Some might call it pettiness or spite, but I had Fred run the wire from one end of the decks to another. Did I mention he had to make twelve connections, which would have made his job more manageable with a wire runner?
Fred told me what Kroeger was doing in his lab. To be honest, I don’t care. To me, Dr. Kroeger seems like someone to avoid. I stay away from his lab and him.
Today the ship stopped in front of a black hole, well, far away to not feel its effects, or so we thought. It was fine until everyone looked a little wavy. Time seemed to slow down. It took a while for us to realize we were slowly being pulled in. Science officer Pinkerton explained over the comm that we should have not felt the effects of the black hole this far away.
It turns out it was a rare, double black hole. Two black holes collapsing on each other. Which explains why we were experiencing time delays and pauses. The Arugula moved farther away and through filters saw the DBH. It’s as if they were dancing? Some say it looked like a heartbeat. Heh, no.
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Date: October 11, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
Today, my original assignment was to fix some computer issues on Deck B. Some consoles were acting slow. It wasn’t until I dug deeper and found no one cleared the memory buffers and someone had twelve programs open at the same time. Next up, I was supposed to be working on the sensors, but the ship had an emergency.
What happened was an ensign from the away team smuggled a plant aboard the Arugula. The plant bit the ensign, causing the ensign to fall unconscious. The plant changed itself into the ensign and put it in some sort of plant cocoon. Then it produced other plants, which bit and became clones of the crew. Within two days, half the ship was plant-clones.
Now, a confession. Last night, Isabella and I made love for hours. After we were done, she tried to attack me with a plant. So I escaped with just my pants on. In retrospect, during our private time together, I felt something wasn’t right. I should have listened to my instincts. Oh well.
Oh right, I forgot to mention one thing. These plant-clones grew weeds and vines all over the ship. So I had to run around and torch the plants and spray pesticide on the resilient trees. The captain negotiated with the plant-clones. Oh, and on a personal note, my, um, privates are turning green and um a couple of flowers are growing.
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Date: October 11, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
Does anyone check the away teams’ bags when they return from a planet? So Ensign Draco brought back an unknown plant, and after said plant bit him, he went into a deep sleep and this plant turned into a clone of him. I thought there were protocols to deal with this type of nonsense.
Today was supposed to be my extra day off. My plan was to go to the hot springs, then read on an observation deck. But no, the universe had other plans.
Within two days, the plants replaced over half of the ship’s crew. But thanks to Doctor Sanchez and the science officer, they could create a serum that would disable these creatures and determine who’s an imposter.
The device is a modified UV light that, when shone on the skin of a doppelgänger, will reveal the real, leafy skin. And when I spray compoundWK, the creatures pass out. So I ran around the ship, shining the light on crewmembers and chasing plants with a spray. It’s been a while since I had this much fun. OK, I’ll admit I was smiling and laughing the entire time.
Once we started fighting back, the plants had no choice but to call surrender. The captain talked them down from taking over the Arugula and negotiated a transfer back to their home planet. If you’ll excuse me, I will take a much-needed long bath.
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Date: October 18, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
So, I had to take over Laura’s job. She had to help the engineering team with an emergency. She explained the assignment and clarified that I should not mess up. After she left, a different technician tapped into the comms and we discovered what was going on.
An away team landed on a planet of sentient cats. By cats, I mean house cats. They call themselves the Ibix. Several Ibixes started talking to our away team in this cute voice. They tricked an ensign into falling to his death and ate him. The away team rushed back to the shuttle and was safely aboard the Arugula.
The Chief engineer put me on a team to help recalibrate the sensory array. But I typed in the wrong command and performed a reset on the entire sensor grid. Poor timing, because an Ibix snuck aboard the shuttle and the cat got out when it docked.
The Chief had to, in his words, gave a raincheck on chewing me out. He did, however, supervise me while I fixed my mistake. Laura was busy on cat chasing duty. Lucky her, I wish I was on cat chasing duty.
You know I’ve always liked cats; they keep to themselves and need little attention. If I catch this Ibix, I might play with him for a while.
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Date: October 18, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
One of the engines was on the fritz, and the Chief needed as many competent technicians to help, so I left Fred to work on my repairs. It’s simple, really. All he had to do was flush the sensor cache and recalibrate the aft sensor grid.
One of the major modifications to the Arugula during the retrofit process was the removal of most of its armaments. An exploration vessel didn’t require being armed to the teeth, but I’m glad the conversion team didn’t touch the hull. The reinforced hull saved our hides too many times out here. I will never understand why the conversion team didn’t replace or overhaul the engines. They are inefficient and old, and they require a ton of maintenance.
Which brings me to my problem. The engines are on the fritz again, and guess who has to repair them? Me, and well, six others. Every other week, without fail, an engine malfunctions and needs repairing.
You know what? Let me be frank. It was asinine to retrofit old warships into exploration vessels. There was political pressure to send out as many exploration vessels as possible, but they could have stripped down the old ships and used the materials to build new ships. Oh my, what a concept!
Fred messed his repair up and shut down our sensor network. We were blind. Unfortunately, that meant a sentient feline escaped the away team’s custody. I laughed so hard when I heard the story of the members of the away team desperately trying to catch the Ibix. It’s extremely agile.
Normally I would fix Fred’s mistakes, but I’m on cat hunting duty. I’m going around the ship with a personal scanner. I heard some other crewmembers said, “Here, kitty, kitty,” which caused me to bust out laughed. This, honestly, has been therapeutic. Now time to find this cat, but first I’m going to pet it.
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Date: October 25, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
As soon as I finished fixing my mistake, I headed back to my quarters and just collapsed on my couch. Then I felt a tap on my leg. It was that cat from the cat planet! He appeared slightly larger than a typical house cat, and just as cute! He introduced himself as Vi’shik, but I can call him Vince.
Vince has been hiding out for several days and he said he has been observing the crew. He chose me as his friend. He then ran off for a while. When he came back, he had a drumstick in his mouth.
Vince has been following me around. Somehow, he seems to evade anyone we pass by. Like cats at home, he can be illusive. While working at the console, I needed to step out and use the bathroom. When I returned, Vince was at the console, typing. I noticed his paws were now hands. As soon as he saw me, his hands reverted to those cute little paws. I asked him what he was doing, but all he did was purr and rub against me.
Throughout the day, he was helpful in being my assistant. He had a knack for all this technical stuff. I even let him into the secondary computer room, and then he ran away. I searched for him, but I couldn’t find him. After an hour of searching, I received a message from him; he told me not to worry about him and he will be back soon.
Oh, and I’m happy to report that the rash is gone. I’ve been telling Isabella that I’m too busy or tired to spend time with her. I can’t keep it up. When we met up, she made a joke about me getting rid of the plant STD I got. It turns out she knew everything; she wanted me to admit it. After some laughs, we had a wonderful evening.
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Date: October 25, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
We had an emergency ship-wide all-hands meeting. Security Chief Zapheleon informed the crew that the Ibix stowaway sent a transmission to his home planet. He could bypass the proper security measures. We can’t scan for the Ibix. Sensors refuse to pick up any feline signatures. So now the security team is going deck by deck with proximity scanners to scan for our intruder.
When I got off my shift, I expected the Captain to ask me to fix Fred’s mistake again, but he didn’t. I almost feinted when I was told Fred didn’t make any mistakes. The Chief himself checked Fred’s work and found none. But, I mean, a very incompetent crew member can’t change overnight, or can he?
Ah, as for my shift. I had to repair- ah, nuts, this is too weird. I’m going to play some poker tonight. It’s my birthday, no one knows. I stopped seeing the ship’s shrink after Gonzales’s death; I was tearing down the walls around me. Someday, I might open up again one day.
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November 2, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Junior Technician Fred Williams
I had a wonderful time with Isabella. We had a fantastic date, observed a lovely nebula, ate a candlelit dinner and shared a special moment in the cargo bay. It was a lovely evening. I feel like I’m a million bucks when I’m around her.
Meanwhile, Vince took care of my work. He could repair the sensors and told me he fixed some bugs in the navigation computer. This guy is smart! I even feed him. The food synthesizers can make cat food. However, when I fed him cat food, he spat it out and asked for some meat. I had to get raw steak from the galley. In exchange, I have to help the chef clean out an oven.
I like Vince, he’s a good kitty. Vince told me we would return to his planet soon, and he would reward me. I like rewards. He said they would make a feast in our honor. He was licking his lips for some strange reason.
The Arugula received a distress call from the USS Carmack. Odd, we should be the only ship in this sector. We sent an armed away team, Laura and I included, down to the surface to investigate. We tried looking for survivors, but there was no one on board. When we headed back to the shuttle, it blew up when we got near.
Now, we’re stuck on this rock. I feel as though something is watching us, something terrible. I don’t like this ship; something doesn’t seem right. I want to return to the Arugula and be with Isabella. But, hey, at least Laura is here. She can help get us home!
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November 2, 2107
Ship: USS Arugula
Contributor (s) to log: Senior Technician Laura Styles
At 0800 hours, the USS Arugula responded to a distress call from the USS Carmack, a Jupiter-class starship. Strange. We should be the only ship out here, and the Carmack was being built when the Arugula departed.
I was part of the team to search for survivors and investigate what downed the Carmack. The away team, I should note, is larger than a standard one. To me, a twenty-five-person team is a bit too excessive.
We realized the crew was gone after entering the ship to search for survivors. Santiago ordered us to leave Carmack. However, our shuttle got destroyed, so Santiago ordered us to re-enter the Carmack.
I’m scared, and I got the shakes. None of the Carmack’s crew is onboard. We can’t even access several areas on the ship. Stevens swore he heard laughing in the bulkheads. I need a drink. But I can’t. I just can’t. I was about to lose it until Santiago came to me and whispered into my ear, “one day at a time.”