Dear Investigator,
As you may already know, we have completely lost all contact with Exchange Station 7. All attempts to hail the station have failed, and any ship sent to investigate has not returned, even probes. I must admit, I am at a complete loss as to what to do. Worryingly, disappearances have been reported at other stations now, even, I hear from the Chief Halcyon Sector Defense Secretary, military outposts.
While The Prospector is still out at Exchange Station 7, we are still able to work through data recovery since the team was able to extract the computer core before we lost contact with the station.
I truly hope we can get to the bottom of what happened soon. Perhaps it might provide some insight into our current crisis.
Respectfully,
Margaret Aurelius
Director of Deep Space Mining Initiatives and Exploration
Frontier Dynamics Corporation, Interstellar
Mission Day 53
Executive Officer Kazuhiro Inaba
Something is wrong. We lost contact with the Lander about half way through it’s descent to the surface. We aren’t even picking up the positional beacon, and that’s supposed to be able to cut through pretty much any kind of interference. Sensors show that the ship is intact, in fact, we can see that the excavation equipment has started to be deployed. So, thankfully nothing happened to the crew. It’s just that either something happened with the comms antennae, or there’s some kind of interference down there that we’ve never seen.
I’ve got Scarlett trying everything she can to establish contact. She had an interesting idea of modifying a pigeon drone, like we use to send emergency messages back to the company, as a relay. But that’s going to take awhile to see if that’s going to be possible.
I haven’t seen Meredith since the argument with Cap. Can’t believe she was dumb enough to sleep with another crew member, much less the Captain. I heard she’s still interviewing people about the murder. So that’s good, at least. Cap seems pretty dismissive about the whole thing, which is really… well, odd. But, then again, he’s been off this whole mission. He’s been especially short-tempered, stand-offish, and that whole disappearing act just made no sense. I don’t understand what’s going on with him.
Mission Day 53
Sanitation Technician Chip Ross
Jesus Christ, that woman can talk forever. Don’t know why Mere thought I’d be involved with that whole murder biz, but after an hour of hearing her yap, poke, and prod, on, and on, and on, asking the same question over and over in different ways. Don’t know how hard it is to understand that I was fixing a sewage processing line leak that night. Lady can’t get it through her head that I spent a night covered in shit. Fuck, if I did anything, the stink would have lingered for a week.
The processors for the recyclers are starting to wear out with all the strain they are under. They are supposed to be used here and there, or in an emergency, not every day. On top of that, we’re getting less and less back each recycle. Already down to 25% what it made when all the food went bad.
Gotta talk to Harlan about rationing.
Mission Day 53
Communications Specialist Scarlett Regan
I still can’t reach the Lander, or the E-Team. I’ve tried boosting the signal as high as I can without blowing the main antenna array, but all we got was static. Either the transmission isn’t getting through, or they can’t cut through the interference to reply. The good news is, if that’s the problem, they have a stronger comm tower they should be able to set up to boost their signal.
I’ve got Travis looking into modifying a pigeon to act as a relay just in case. He’s got my specifications for what I’d need done, I just don’t know if we have the parts and stuff to do it.
Cap says he wants to see me again tonight. I guess I really made an impression last night. Wish FD would let us bring more than the standard service jumpsuit to wear. I have a little black dress at home that I look so good in, though, lets be real, I probably wouldn’t have it on for long…
Mission Day 53
Quartermaster Harlan Green
Dear god it feels so good to be out of that holding cell. I know Meredith had me in there to keep me safe, but being stuck in the same four walls that long gets really old really fast.
It looks like our supplies haven’t been raided too badly, given no one was overseeing requisitions and rationing while I was gone. We’re going to have to ration alcohol on the way back, but hell, given our luck so far, I expected far worse.
Of course, well, it is worse. Chip just told me about the state of the recyclers. That’s the last thing I wanted to hear. I was hoping they would be able to take the increased demand till we were half-way home. Obviously, that was overly optimistic.
Fuck. I swear, if I make it home, I’m going to take the early termination clause in my contract. I don’t give a shit if I have to work off my early term fee on the docks, or whatever. I’m done with Exo-mining.
Mission Day 53
Security Personnel Meredith Andrews
I was going over the roll call for the Lander, and I noticed that James Wade isn’t on it. Why would he not be there? He’s the newest excavator on the team. Did they forget to log him in, or… is he still somewhere on the ship?
No one I’ve spoken to so far has seen him since before Madsen was killed. Where the hell is he? I don’t even see ration logging for his ID since the night before. So, that means he hasn’t taken any food or water for two whole days, well, at least not through the dispensers.
Looking into his file I’ve found, well, find probably isn’t the right word, that his file is mostly blank. Education is there, prior residences, employment, what you would expect at a glance. But, the details aren’t there. No disciplinary records, no grades, or performance reviews, no accomplishments, citations, even work or travel license renewals. How did this make it through the FD screening process? This stinks of a false identity. I also found that he hasn’t made a mission log since his first one. Where did this guy come from? Who the hell is James?
I’m going to go talk to Cap. He needs to know about this.
Thank you!
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the dark future of The Bones of Night. What do you think happened to The Prospector? Let me know in the comments, or on social media! Don’t forget to spread the word, and share the site with your friends!
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