Message inbound...
Space Cruiser Excelsior
Destination: Unknown
~~ TELEMETRY SENSORS 1 AND 5 DOWN ~~
Stardate Beta Epsilon 7 Epsilon
[REDACTED AS PER PROCEDURE [REDACTED]]
[autotranslator on]
Corporal Sam Arnold, Systems Administrator
---
To Captain [romanization: Kiu Sercas] of the Malkonkordo:
I guess I was mistaken for assuming the Dekaoso are honorbound. I duly
apologize.
One thing the events on Hoffnung have made me think about is: I could do the
same thing. I am the only one awakened, as per Procedure [REDACTED]
requirements. If I really wanted to, I could kill everybody else on the ship
right now. One simple command in the terminal, and 500 people die in the
blink of an eye. The only thing separating me and the extremists of Hoffnung
is my honor. I would much rather fight a bloody battle than simply "squash
the head of weakness beneath their feet" as you claim the Hoffnung extremists
have.
At the same time, you continue your agression against me and the Excelsior.
Perhaps I was unclear: you will not find us anywhere in any star map.
In our desperate attempt to leave Terra for another inhabitable planet, we used
every last piece of technology to augment our Astroviator and ensure our safe
egress. When I said, "[we] have flung ourselves far from its reach," I was not
joking in any sense.
Normal procedure calls for an Astroviator to spend one whole day cycle in
warmup mode. This allows the systems to boot correctly and ensure a perfect
launch. However, given the circumstances, we were willing to accept a
less-than-perfect launch, as speed was of the essence.
After loading the Excelsior with all salvageable tech, we launched ourselves
with a high-powered cannon. Where to? We didn't particularly care at the
moment, as we were more concerned with fleeing. By the time we entered
cryosleep 8 days later, the Excelsior had fully booted and we selected a
patrolling program to find us an inhabitable planet once our speed ran out.
1252 Terran years later, and we still haven't even burned off half of it.
You can try to find us. You're certainly free to try.
Even the Dekaoso's supposedly advanced starmaps cannot find a target moving
faster than light.
And to the Melchizedek: vitamin deficiencies suck. If it weren't for the fact
that the Excelsior is moving so fast, I would send some spare supplies from our
medbays, which would include vitamin supplements. I hope that the issues you're
describing don't turn out as bad as it seems. Good luck.
-- TRANSMISSION END --.
gemini://cosmic.voyage/Excelsior/004.txt