Dear my love, Maria
I met the craziest man today. He came storming into my office late Thursday afternoon, introduced himself as Russ Hubermun and then demanded a report on a couple of Element 430 canisters I had sent to the generator. His frizzled black hair stood on end and he had such a crazy stare in his blue eyes, but he also seemed extremely well put together and refined. It was kind of uncanny seeing two different people in one. He wouldn’t stop screaming about how they needed to be monitored carefully and how he thought they were probably a danger to everyone in the settlement. I need to respect him as annoying as it is since we wouldn’t make it through the winter without these cannisters. I doubt anyone would be as crazy as Hubermun has to be to bring these to us up here in the notorious Delpha mountains.
What do you think of the matter? Director Hanz just told me to insert them and forget about it, but Russ was very insistent. In the end I sent them to our resident mechanic Wess to hold them until operator Harold could look at them, he’s to give me that report Russ asked for any minute now.
How are the children, do they miss me?
Love Dan Tember
Pilots log: Russ Hubermun, Vanir-97a planetary date 3000, September 43rd, year 500 / Earth Year 5030
Pilots log encrypted (reason: classified Information) … Enter code: *****
Success
Today was the longest day, it doesn’t help that the days here in Delpha last fifty percent longer than those on our home world. Could you imagine someone from the time my plane was designed reading 3000 on my date log, they’d probably think I had gone crazy. At least its constant, and I don’t have to worry about the time exchange changing.
After my little incident a couple days ago I was very afraid that those canisters had been damaged, they were glowing red once they had finally cooled down enough for the firemen to take them out of the plane, I think my hull might even be a little warped from the heat they emitted, what you can’t see doesn’t hurt right? The company hadn’t given me any new orders yet, so I was hanging out, and I don’t want their generator going quantum irregular while I was still here. I had seen pictures during my short time on board the International Space Station of what happens to people who stand too close to a quantum irregularity. Unfortunately, here in space information gets around physically, so during my short time in Sol I took full advantage of the internet. I find it hard to forget this one picture of early experiments where a researcher had his whole body morphed with the side of an old timey generator, and the look of twisted horror the metal had, with limbs jutted out every which way like thrown darts. I visited the settlement Overseer that afternoon to make sure those cheapskates followed up on those canisters and made sure they were in working order.
“R-Russ Hubermun, I have that report.” The Overseer burst through swinging door to the bar I was enjoying myself in, keeping the barkeep company. The settlement didn’t have many civilians, it was mostly company workers and settlers who only had the chance to drink on the weekends as they had to be fully prepared for the day’s work. If there was one thing Vio-corp didn’t skimp out on it was their drug tests. The Overseer looked around feverously, spotting me sitting at the bar. “There you are you must see this.” The Overseer said. “let me see it then.” I thrust out my arm quite annoyed from having been interrupted in the middle of my drink.
The report was clearly not being handled correctly as I had obviously been the first person the Overseer had seen. I read the report incredulously, The Overseer looking down at me seemingly expecting something. My eyes skimmed over the words, Canisters missing. “It says here that the mechanic did not receive the canisters you sent to him.” I said looking up at him questionably. “If I had told you the canisters were damaged, why did you move them?” The Overseer started pacing in front of me. “We must find those canisters; it is extremely important that we find them! If the Director figures out they’re missing, I will be in a world of shit!” The Overseer exclaimed, ignoring my question. “I have a mission for you in the meantime however.” “Oh? You’re missing three of the most expensive resources in the galaxy and you think you have enough money to pay me for a mission?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I finished off the rest of my drink and asked the bar tender for another. I hate the taste of alcohol but I wanted some fun after that super crazy approach. Then I got up from my seat at the bar and began to make my way upstairs to the balcony, the Overseer followed. “I want you to steal some from Unpo, they would have gotten their canisters from Michisuku the same time as us, they may have not used them yet. As soon as I saw they were missing I looked to see if I could order some more but there won’t be another shipment until spring.” I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face the Overseer. “You want me to steal from Michisuku? Do you understand just how much that would cost you?” The Overseer grinned, clearly seeing that it wasn’t an issue of morals or safety for me, but of cost.
I made my way to the balcony with my drink and looked down at the bustling settlement, as men and women moved from one building to another, carrying materials and working hard. This settlement seemed to be focused on mining, but it was hard to make out where the mine was in-between all the crimson red trees and foliage. Their workday was almost over. I noticed a group of children playing an old game called hide and seek, one had opted to hide behind the skirt of a woman who was clearly not interested in allowing the child to stay there. If these people don’t have heat for the harsh winter, they won’t make it. The Overseer and I started negotiations.
Michisuku is a family-owned rival company to Vio-corp. The Michisuku family goes back thousands of years to an old yakuza that ran drugs in the north part of Japan, before the Russians nuked the Mariana Trench to cause a global earthquake in World War 3. They failed to move the tectonic plates in the way they wanted to, and Japan fell into the sea. Both companies are focused on colonization and are currently fighting in Delpha over a Council contact. Unpo is a nearby Michisuku settlement, and it is quite a large one at that. The Human Council is a galactic organization that runs kind of like a space government. It is made up of factions put together by the previous 5 earth governments, made after the first planetary colonization effort in 3080. Each government funded a faction and seats one representative each. the Discussion Leader who basically controls the Council is the representative for the faction named the UWC after the United Western Continents. They controlled the largest area of Earth, so they were seen as efficient conquerors and were appointed as the Discussion Leaders. The other four are from the EU (European Union), SAE (South African Empire), the RS (Russian Consulate), and the OR (Oceanic Republic). Its pretty obvious that the RS is controlled by the Michisuku family. No doubt they never forgot what happened to their homeland. That is why stealing from them is a such costly deal, Id rather not have a grudge with them.
The sum we agreed to Thursday night was ridiculous, I can’t even imagine someone having that much money just to throw away. I obviously made sure he was good for it, and he was. It made me wonder how someone got that much money and I ended up pondering it for a bit. I figured that he decided to sell the broken canisters at a mark up to some sketchy black-market dealer, and I was only receiving a small amount of the cut. Why would he put himself at risk of freezing without a power source over the winter? Why sacrifice the whole settlement over it? My explanation unfortunately didn’t make any sense. I had no proof for it anyway so reporting him wouldn’t do me any good, and I wanted that money. The big issue was getting to Unpo undetected. I slept on it.
I spent Friday relaxing in the hammock I sling under the wing of Alpha One planning my approach to Unpo on my Vio-pad. Unpo has a runway, but it would be unwise to use that runway in my clearly Vio owned airplane. Instead, Vio satellite data showed small field to the north of Unpo settlement, approach would be sketchy, and my landing will be rough, but I didn’t see any other way. I will make the flight early tomorrow morning, around 300, and I’ll probably arrive sometime around 400. A cold front had moved in Thursday, and has now passed allowing tonight to be clear. Clear skies meant that any latent heat in the atmosphere would be lost to space. Consequently, a cooler morning meant greater performance for Alpha One, and a great visual for that sketchy approach I will be making. It’s just a shame it will be night time, there,s no getting around using bright lights to illuminate my landing. After my approach I would adorn a Mikisuku uniform that I will have to find and mingle inside the settlement until I could locate four canisters. Three for the Overseer and one for me. If I was going to put my life at risk here, I was going to get as much out of it as I could. Friday night I loaded 12 cooling pods into my plane. The idea was that the Overseer would think I will be changing the pods four times on my way back, but instead I will only be changing them three times. I never learn from my mistakes. Wish me luck.
End Log