In the Black: First Sheffield Compilation

Transcripts from captain’s log on the Soothsayer [civilian science vessel, 3^rd generation]. Speaker is presumed to be captain Ariana Sheffield, British astronaut and solar radiation specialist from the 24^th century. Voice and video data were received by satellite outposts on Charon over a 2-month period during September, 2512. The Soothsayer disappeared while in close solar orbit on May 31^st, 2358. Transcripts herein document the events that followed, and the presumed fate of the Soothsayer’s 6 crewmembers.

 

Audio Clip #1:

“Sss..something happened. We were collecting data on a fairly standard solar flare… and then it was just gone. It was all gone, the sun, Earth, Mars, the Milky Way. Gone. At least that was what we thought at first. Then Jorge called all of us to the observatory deck. The stars and landmarks weren’t gone, they were wrong. It was us who disappeared.”

*no talking for 37 seconds. Audible crying and sighs of grief from Captain Sheffield.

“We were calm, in those first few hours. Jorge and Mike cross-referenced the stars and constellations imaged on our scopes with the databases we had stored on board. The closest star, still about 20 billion kilometres away, they identified as Gamma Draconis from the Draco constellation. Or what would be the Draco constellation on Earth. Then the panic started to seep in. We began to feel lost, and trapped. Jorge and Mike started drinking. Liz was inconsolable. Lin and Olivia would not believe it and kept going back and forth between ops and the observatory, double checking and making subtle course adjustments.

“Regardless, we are over 150 light years from home… means whoever is hearing this hasn’t been born yet… and everyone else will be dead without any idea what happened to us.”

*sobs.

*whispering. “I am so sorry Dave. So sorry. It’s just so [redacted] awful.”

*audio clip ends after 11 seconds of silence.

 

Audio Clip #2:

“Captain’s log. Sheffield again. It has been 36 hours since we … uhm … left Earth’s system. We have set a course star-ward, dropping down the gravity well of Gamma Draconis. I let the pilots decide. Maybe Lin and Olivia are right. There could be a planet out there for us. Our new home. Or maybe it is just human instinct to chase sunlight, to escape the darkness… Anyways, it gave us a shimmer of hope. I’ve been trying to keep morale up: getting the boys off the liquor and everyone back on their normal duties, Jorge imaging the universe from our unique perspective, Mike maintaining the Soothsayer in tip-top shape, Liz analyzing background radiation in our new neck of the woods. It is all a facade of course. Convenient lies to keep the lights on inside.

“We were stocked with air and food for a 6-month round-trip mission. Mike says if really squeeze the food and thin the oxygen we could last 8. So that is our new normal. One meal a day, a single bottle of water, and as [redacted] little oxygen as we can muster.

“Onwards and outwards. Out of the black, I hope. Sheffield out.”

 

Audio Clip #3:

*audio clip begins with muffled activity and incoherent mumblings of the crew, presumably Captain Sheffield, Jorge Reynolds and Elizabeth Stone.

“Hi future Earthers. Sheffield here again. It has been about 2 weeks since we appeared in our new system. I am recording from the observatory with Liz and Jorge. We made a few discoveries. One exciting one, and one … peculiar one. Our scopes detected a potentially life-supporting planet orbiting Gamma Draconis. A little closer to the star than Earth is to our, your, sun. But there is a possibility of life there. It is currently our only hope.”

*excited shouts in the background.

“So, Jorge and Liz just discovered something else. Our peculiar update. There appears to be some sort of fluorescent debris, of sorts, surrounding our ship.”

“Wavelengths are in the 520-nanometre range for peak excitation.” *presumably said by Jorge Reynolds, muffled and in the background.

“While monitoring background radiation, Liz noticed subtle changes specifically in a 20-metre radius around the Soothsayer. As we got closer to Gamma Draconis the radiation levels increased. Our scopes pulled no visual changes though. Then Jorge reworked our short-range communications laser, which we definitely do not need anymore, to shine light outwards, progressively changing the emission wavelength, and then we saw… them. I have attached video data to this message. It is truly marvelous.”

*Video Clip #1: 17 seconds of video data attached to Audio Clip #3 from Captain Sheffield of the Soothsayer. Video is of the space immediately surrounding the outer hull of the ship. Large yellow fluorescent flag-like objects [approximately 2 metres x 0.5 metres x 100 millimetres; 14 in view covering approximately 60% of the hull], rippled along the surface of the Soothsayer, weaving in and out with each other.

*audio clip ends with an ecstatic, almost euphoric Captain Sheffield. “See. Aren’t they beautiful? Our guiding lights, protecting us from the dangers out here in the black.”

Image from: https://images.nasa.gov/details-GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000710