30140325 - Personal Log - Captain Aliyn Flynn
I still can't get his face out of my mind. His eyes are penetrating enough to tear past your layers and see every ounce you wished to hide from the outside world. Strange eyes, violet—I've seen nothing like them in my lifetime. A voice like silk, impressive enough to steal my breath and leave me gasping for air when I awake, sweat damp on my cheeks. The touch of his fingertips, grazing my skin with a tenderness and a touch of something more, like a spark igniting in its wake. I don't know who he is, or why I dream of him, but I remember when it all began. It started when we brought that derelict ship home after that salvage trip last year.
Her name is Ardent, and she is mine.
The renovations to her are almost complete. The result transcended what I could ever have hoped for the piece of junk we lugged back. She was nothing more than a shell back then, filled with broken debris and the dead memories of those who left her behind. They scavenged anything of value long before we arrived to find her floating idle and eerily in space, orbiting a planet we always knew to be inhospitable to life.
I remember being mesmerized by the angry surface of the frozen gas giant Plenare, which loomed before us as we neared the tiny heat signature on our radar representing our prize. It was a faint blip, like a beacon in the daunting emptiness of space. The planet was intimidating in its massive size, the swirls of noxious purple gas creating depth and shadows that were deeper than we could imagine. The distant star Plenare orbited shone brightly, its dwindling size giving away the massive expanse of space that loomed between it and its purple child.
Plenare's gravitational pull was phenomenal, and we had to approach our salvage with caution to avoid losing our prize altogether. The giant pulled asteroids, space debris, and dust into her orbit with ease. Avoiding a direct hit from any of these took careful planning and dedication.
I was not about to allow space rocks to prevent me from getting a salvage from the most dangerous and unpredictable region of space in this system. Plenare's violent orbit likely caused the ruin of the spacecraft. There were always rumours of ships going missing in that area of space, only to be found in ruins, or never seen again. Some say Plenare is alive, cognizant, but how can a planet be sentient? It must be rumour and paranoia.
We experienced none of the rumours, getting our salvage and exiting the system with nothing more than a few well-executed flight maneuvers—well that and some colourful language. An asteroid three times the size of your ship coming head on is enough to make you change your pants.
At this point, the only thing left to complete is to connect the main life support system to the rest of the ship. Since she was nothing more than a shell, she was easy to outfit with the most current technology. Despite her age and history, she has that 'new-ship' smell. We've decorated her with many favourite artifacts gained over years of salvage. She is full of memories of our past, and we hope to fill her with many of our future.
Her maiden voyage is less than a week away, and I've been scrambling with the preparations for her launch. We're to move beyond our former classification of a salvage vessel and into a more investigative role. Some strange activity in Plenare's system has prompted an investigation, and since we returned unscathed, that duty has fallen on our shoulders. All we have to direct us is this old book someone found on a mission conducted two years ago on the other end of that system.
Upon being put under contract by Local Intelligence, a government organization on Earth, we were told it was an investigative mission. Only one survivor returned in a ship that was barely functioning. He died clutching the book to his chest a week after his return. Local Intelligence halted all exploratory missions to Reso, declaring it unsafe for travel, although that sure as hell didn't stop mercenaries from attempting it. The government kept the book hidden because no one had heard of it until now—until we returned alive.
Although the pay is too good to refuse, I'm not sure how I feel about working for the government. I suppose it is what it is.
The book is peculiar, and it was strange to run my fingers over the paper. It's been so long since I touched the texture of a page. They somehow give the words life that the screen is lacking, a tangible window into what was written. I found nothing close to a language I recognize within its pages, but I suppose that will come with time.
The ship is a step up from what we had before. If you're going to fly into the dark, dangerous, and unnerving areas of space, it's best to go in style.
End of log.
***
"Well," a female voice echoed. "How do you feel, Captain Flynn?"
Aliyn Flynn pivoted from the window of the Ardent, leaving the endless clear azure skies of Earth behind her. She inhaled, the smell of the steaming mug of coffee on her desk wafting up to her nose. "Lill, you know I hate it when you guys call me that."
Lillian laughed, reaching a gloved hand outwards to pull a chair out from beneath the desk. She flopped down and crossed one leg over the other. "Well, since we seem to be working our way up in the world, you may need to get used to more formality."
Aliyn studied Lillian's bright face for a moment. The woman's fiery red hair was tied back in a short ponytail that stuck out playfully at the back of her head. A multitude of freckles covered her pale skin, and her face carried its usual devil-may-care expression. Bright green eyes twinkled as she watched Aliyn with amusement, and after a moment, she let out a chuckle.
"We're all equal in the dead of space, Lill." Aliyn offered her a small smile. "If we need to act formally when we come back to Earth, then we will. Although," she paused for a moment, raising a brow, "someone may have to give Corin a lesson or two."
"You can give Corin all the lessons in the world and it will do you no good. We can dress him up, but we can't take him out, so to speak. Well, we can take him out, but we'd have to tape his mouth shut." Lillian tugged on the zipper of her jacket. "So, where are we headed, Cap't?"
"Stop calling me that." Aliyn snorted, pulling a strange leather book from a drawer in the desk. She slid it across the chrome surface towards Lillian, who grabbed it in her gloved hands. "We're headed back to the Reso system."
"What?" Lillian clutched the book, her eyes darting up to Aliyn. "We almost didn't make it out of there alive, Aliyn, and we're supposed to go back?"
"It wasn't that bad, Lill. Corin's a good pilot. That mess was nothing more than a game to him."
Lillian grunted as she opened the book and gazed down onto its pages. "It was only a game to him because he's lost his flipping mind. What is all this anyway?"
"They found it at the other end of the Reso system, aboard another derelict vessel. No one can tell me how old it is," Aliyn mused, pressing the palms of her hand onto the cold surface of the desk.
"It's old." Lillian sighed, flipping through the brittle pages. "I don't remember the last time I touched paper in a book, maybe when I was a kid. Can you read it? It all looks like scribbles."
"No, I can't." Aliyn shook her head. "I suppose before we get too deep into this, we need to find out what the book says and where it came from."
"Sounds dangerous." Lillian uncrossed her legs and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. An excited smile brightened her face. "Well, at least you won't worry about going grey over it." The redhead smirked, directing her gaze to Aliyn's hair.
Aliyn touched the bun of white hair that rested on the skin of her neck. Of her entire head of hair, only one black streak remained above her right eye, the rest had faded into white many years ago. Her eyes were almost as light as her hair, only touched with the briefest hint of ice blue and grey.
"Are you ever going to tell us why it went white at such a young age?" Lillian probed, watching Aliyn.
"I've told you a million times." Aliyn frowned, folding her hands in front of her. "No, I won't."
"It is what it is, I suppose." Lillian sat upright, pushing herself from the chair and sliding it back to its place beneath the desk. She tossed the book on the surface of the desk and zipped up her black jacket. "Well, I best stop procrastinating on what I need to get done. We've only got a few days left in port before the launch, and I have a bottle of a nice Earth red with my name on it."
"Yes, you best. I'm not sure when we'll return." Aliyn watched her, tapping the pads of her fingers on the desk.
"Catch you later." Lillian exhaled, raising both eyebrows and turned, exiting through the mechanical door that opened as she approached. "Have a glass or two, Flynn. You need to lighten up."
As the door slid shut, Aliyn reached out for the book, focusing her gaze on the gem embedded in its leather surface. She ran a finger over it, her eyes studying the opalescent veins in the crystal with interest.
What on earth are we getting into?