The Starship Aprilis: Enderby

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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Enderby

We have docked at Quadra Outpost 453, a fuelling space station that orbits an unnamed ringed gas giant in an equally unnamed system. Of course, the planet and the system have code names, but I do not have the patience to memorise the endless strings of characters that the authorities associate with them.

The most notable thing about this space station and its ringed planet is that it is claimed that this is where the famed poet, Enderby, wrote one of his most famous poems, “The Ringed Body”. To those who have read this lyrical and masterful poem, it is obvious that Enderby was clearly expressing his thoughts and love for this lovely ringed gas giant.

And no wonder! Enderby’s planet is a sight to behold. Several times bigger than our own ringed planet, Saturn, and brighter and infinitely more beautiful in how the colourful gas clouds twirl around in its atmosphere. I will not repeat what Enderby has written in his poem, but if you are curious as to what the planet looks like, I suggest you find a copy of the poem* and read it for yourself.

Then, if you get the chance, visit this wonderful spot in our galaxy. There is already a petition running on the station to name the planet after the poet. It goes without saying I have already added my name to this petition. Planet Enderby is a perfect name for the famed Ringed Body, I must say.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Unfortunately, the poem as well as other works of the poet Enderby has been lost to time. Planet Enderby was eventually destroyed in the Five Hundred Race War.