SHIP'S LOG:

The Celestial Voyager

Nigella Freewater 3/28/2022 9:47pm

"This is the transmission I received on the ghost box."

I flip on the reel to reel.

"zzzzz...crkkkkk....zzzzzz ...THE MPV MADNESS SEEKS OUT A LOVER, PUTTING OUT A DISTRESS CALL TO ANY SHIPS IN THE AREA....zzzzz....crkkkkk... currently on the glide REPEAT ON THE GLIDE with no engine power... REPEAT.... zzzzz.... crkkkkk...zzzz"

I let it repeat a few times, then fast forward the tape to 000014.

"On an adjacent subchannel, there was a burst of digitally encoded information, which I was also able to capture. It sounds like this:"

"CHEEEEENGGG! BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP BEEP BOOP BEEP CHEEEEEENG"

"Which, when run through the modem, translates into data describing an ever shifting coordinate point. It's moving at a steady rate and in a steady direction. Which means we can predict where it will be."

"AND THIS CONCERNS ME.... HOW?" asks the man in the turban.

"This transmission doesn't originate from this world," I reply. "And the coordinates indicate a point... in the beyond."

Milton Flornik 1/20/2022 10:36pm

There's a little tug on my line. Ripples in the water.

"Hey! I got a nibble. You got anything?"

"Nope," says Dej.

We float there for a bit. No more nibbles.

"How would you feel about changing the radio station?" asks Dej. "I've had about all I can take of this of this Kreutzu Bash."

"I thought you liked Kreutzu Bash."

"In small doses I can. But I can't take it no more. Probably scaring away the Frimjabs and the Sweet Burkes. And the subsonics are bound to call up a Urgh Monster from the bottom and swallow us whole."

"If you are so concerned, then yes, sure, go ahead and change the channel."

zzzzz...crkkkkk....zzzzzz ...THE MPV MADNESS SEEKS OUT A LOVER, PUTTING OUT A DISTRESS CALL TO ANY SHIPS IN THE AREA....zzzzz....crkkkkk... currently on the glide REPEAT ON THE GLIDE with no engine power... REPEAT.... zzzzz.... crkkkkk...zzzz

"Well that sounds like a distress call, now don't it?"

"Sure does. Metadata says it's a bit of a ways off. Quite a bit of a ways off," said Dej.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "We are obligated to respond. Old rule."

"Milton, you don't quite get it. I mean it's---"

"DOESN'T MATTER. I took an oath. C'mon. Start rowing!"

And as soon as we dipped our oars in is when we got capsized by the Urgh Monster.

Mae Harrington 11/27/2021 8:01pm

Captain Harrington here of the multi-purpose cargo vessel Madness Seeks out a Lover, putting out a distress call to any ships in the area. REPEAT, THIS IS THE MPV MADNESS SEEKS OUT A LOVER, PUTTING OUT A DISTRESS CALL TO ANY SHIPS IN THE AREA.

We are currently adrift, following an engagement with a swarm of sentient squalls. Both engines lost. Altitude Attitude is healthy, generators are working, and we can steer a bit, but we are currently on the glide REPEAT ON THE GLIDE with no engine power.

Current location coordinates updated in real time piggybacked to this transmission on the EM band.

Repeat. Captain Harrington here of the multi-purpose cargo vessel Madness Seeks out a Lover....

Rowan Allin 10/6/2021 8:44am

Ah, the stupid log is all messed up! Olli wrote our names on each page… wrong, of course. I do apologize, it will be all messed up for a while.

Rowan Allin 10/6/2021 8:42am

These people are driving me off the walls! I may be captain, but sometimes I just need a break… everyone else gets vacations, I can’t. It’s how it is, and how it will be, but it’s not fair. Oh well, I love my crew, even if we’re a mess. Till next time, Z