The Starship Aprilis: Derelict

This blogpost is part of the A to Z Challenge which begins on April 1st. The goal is to post every day (except Sunday) in the month of April. Each blogpost will be associated with a letter of the alphabet. Check the A to Z Challenge page for more information.

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The Starship Aprilis was a common and unremarkable transport ship built on Earth, back when humans were still bipedal and mostly organic creatures. The ship travelled between the many human colonies that were established at the time throughout the galaxy and served as both a cargo carrier and passenger transporter.

The ship finally met its end when it was stuck in a crushing gravity field off of Taurus Baqara C, which killed all who were aboard and destroyed all the on-board data and most importantly, the ship’s log. Of the ship only a small section survived, which was discovered quite recently several million light years away, in a slow decaying orbit around a black hole.

The remains of the ship offers no clue as to what really happened to consign the ship to its fate. The only document that could be salvaged from the remains is a travelogue, believed to be written by an unknown crewmember. The travelogue offers a glimpse of what life was like for a traveller of the stars in those heady days, thousands and thousands of years ago. Most importantly, it gives us a glimpse of many different planets and what they were like during the time.

The following entries are excerpts from the travelogue. May you find amusement and enjoyment from reading them.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M

N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

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Derelict

A bit of mystery today. We chanced upon a derelict ship on the way to Lepus Lupus via Quadra Outpost 453. The captain sent in a scouting and rescue team but they found no one on board and no clue at all as to what had happened to them.

They left nothing behind – no clothes, no food, no records. It was as if somebody built a ship, didn’t bother to staff and stock it and then left it here in the middle of nowhere.

The ship is a somewhat recent model of the Granadus Cocellator with optional Avalon engines (according to my copy of Ebernexer’s Complete Guide to Spacefaring Vessels) so it is not a cheap ship to be snuffed at either.

We wondered if this was the celestial version of the infamous Mary Celeste but many of my fellow crewmembers refused to discuss it, citing superstition.

I, for one, am not superstitious but I also do not want to tempt fate and so this is all I have to say of the matter.