Re: IC: Insystem Espiaux Day 003-008/5742
In reply to Jacques Keveloh (msg #20):
Gypsy Moth streaks through the 500,000km deep predicted area where Suzain might be. Nearly every workstation on the ship is manned by a crewmember desperately scanning surrounding space for a sign of the distressed Pathfinder.
The seconds drift by and turn into minutes. Gypsy Moth clocks past 100,000km into the zone. 200,000km. Optimism turns to worry, then doubt. 300,000km. Could they have made a mistake somewhere? Is the plot wrong? Did Suzain get deflected however slightly off course? 400,000km. The growing fear gnawing in the pit of the stomach of every space onboard becomes a cold hard rock deep inside as the far boundary of the search zone approaches. Suzain may be lost, her crew doomed to drift alone until the end of time...
Just then an elated shout from lower engineering. Hayden furiously adjusts his controls to focus more tightly on the merest ghost flitting across his scan. He narrows it down and locks on. Suzain, cold and dark, hurtling through the void. A scant heartbeat and Suzain is past, but Hayden got a track and that's what matters.
Reacting to Hayden's contact with seemingly superhuman speed, Danica begins pushing Gypsy Moth's drives to their limit to turn and match vectors as Suzain streaks by, from left to right. Gypsy Moth overshoots, no way to avoid it at these speeds. Elation turns to frustration as the ship has to spend long, grindingly slow hours clawing back, but Danica's skill keeps the vector matching to hours, not days.
By 2300, Day 008, Gypsy Moth has matched course and velocity with Suzain and is holding a position a few hundred meters from the stricken vessel.
Optical sensors show Suzain's bow is thirty degrees up and to port as she tumbles slowly. Suzain's launch is visible, barely, nestled below her nose. There are no visible signs of damage, and Suzain's turrets appear stowed like they would be for normal flight. All hatches and iris valves appear closed and there are no gas bubbles, debris, or frost on or around the ship. Her Pathfinder markings are clearly visible.
Infrared reveals a very slight amount of ambient heat in the forward, port part of the ship. Otherwise Suzain's temperature is similar to that of background space. There are no signs of power or heat from her engineering areas and all her lights are extinguished.
Suzain is cold, dark, and quiet.