Cosmic Narrative Part I: Uncharted Space

Note: For the safety of the crew of the Venture, their exact location and the name of the places they have visited have been removed.

47 Westing Street, Seattle, Washington, United States of America. Earth.

At 2 o'clock on a cold Sunday morning, most of the office buildings in the city of Seattle in the Northwestern United States were completely devoid of life. But one rather plain steel skyscraper was still lit up like normal. The scientists and other various brainiac inside paid no attention to the time - they were all focused on a single message. This message, however, had travelled over one hundred lightyears to reach them.

The office's Head Communications Officer, Frederick DuVant, ran his hand through his grey hair, pushing it away from his eyes. He was a shorter, stocky man, standing at about five-foot four, and looked a bit out of place amongst the other scientists. However, they all knew why the bosses appointed him HCO; he was the best of the best in his field.
"Harris, how's the decryption process coming along?" He asked one of the techs, his French accent evident, though not overwhelming.
"Nearly finished sir," Harris replied. "And... Done. Opening the file."
A series of windows popped up on Harris' computer, and a few seconds later on the large screen in the center of the circular room. In a momentary lapse of character, DuVant's mouth dropped open.

Encryption Code: Red-Alpha-Nine
Classification: A003-492D744
From: SNCO John Truman aboard EIMC Venture
Subject: Unto The Breach
To: Frederick DuVant; Kalvin Macintosh

The vessel has jumped out of system [CONFIDENTIAL] after picking up 4 (four) mining facilities. We have arrived in an uncharted sector, and are riding blind. Our plan is to change directional vector of the ship due East, and set course to the first habitable system in our range. The ship has enough fuel to make two more 10 (ten) lightyear journeys. Our plan, according to Captain Carter, is to set up mining operations at the next system, using our on-board fuel converter to extract fuel cells from the mined resources, then continue to our destination. Estimated time of arrival is three to four days, conditions providing. Please respond in a secure, yet timely manner, confirming the arrival of this letter and any follow up questions or concerns. As always, Good Fortune to Earth, and to the Corporation.

John Truman
Senior Navigation and Communication Officer aboard the EIMC Venture
Under Captain Rank III Desmond Carter

DuVant shook his head in awe. If they really do find what they are looking for, he thought, accidently resuming verbally. "Then this is going to be.. huge."

Aboard EIMC Venture, Location Unknown/Removed

Captain Desmond Carter stood resolute, gazing absently out the window of the hallway leading away from his quarters. Though the room was empty, it was still as if he commanded a strong presence. The thirty-seven year old man's exploits were well known by both Earth and the crew of his ship. The men and women under his command followed his every instruction, without hesitation. Standing at five-foot eleven inches, his regulation length jet black hair and cleverly trimmed goatee was in sharp contrast to his blue and gold uniform. The expression on his face, inscrutable, as he stared out at the stars.

The door at the other end of the hallway slid open, and John Truman entered. Seemingly the opposite of Carter, Truman was an eccentric man, always moving from one thing to the next. He never made time for himself to just relax. Carter broke his attention away from the window, and glanced toward Truman, who immediately stopped in his tracks and crisply saluted.

"At ease," Desmond said, in response to the formality. "What's the status?"
"Twenty minutes until arrival, sir, and then another fifteen before the Venture can begin surveying."
Carter nodded. They were almost at their first destination. The first of many destinations. The ship's anomaly detectors had picked something up in this system. It was faint, but Desmond chose to pursue it. He said he had a 'gut feeling', and both the crew and the corporation had quickly learned to trust Captain Carter's gut. The only question left, for the crew of the Venture at least, was whether that feeling would prove fruitful, or deadly.

***

Captain Carter watched from afar as the ship's mining retinue unloaded boxes of precious metals from their individual excavation vessels. There were only a few crates, but if the miners had extracted what the Venture's survey team had told them to extract.. They had struck gold. Better than gold. Gold was old news. The mineral they had found about tripled the price of gold.

The ship had arrived earlier than Truman's predictions, and had travelled to the system's large asteroid belt. Once there, the surveyors were sent out.. And came back with exciting news. They had found asteroids filled with various precious minerals - gold, platinum.. And osmium. Carter immediately ordered the four mining installations to descend into the belt. Now, over two hours later, this was the product of their labor.

A man detatched himself from the rest of the miners, and approached the Captain. Desmond knew him as Jack McCoy, the Venture's Head Mining Operator. The middle aged bulky man had open arms and a giant smile on his face.
"We've done it, Carter!" McCoy exclaimed, causing a number of miners to turn and look at him. "We're rich! Well, not yet, but when we get back to Earth! How long do we have to mine here?"
Desmond frowned a bit, and scratched his head. "Erm, I don't know Jack.. An hour?" The grin immediately disappeared from McCoy's face, instead replaced with confusion.

"An hour? What's this about, Desmond? You won't likely find a better catch than right here."
"We aren't looking for a 'catch', Jack. You know as well as I do that these minerals are going straight to the converter, not Earth. We need to keep going."
"Oh, But Carter.."
"Theres nothing I can do, Jack. We'll leave Installation 001 here, and take the others with us."
McCoy sighed. "Fine. d**n, Carter, I hope this goose-chase you're on ends with us landing on a planet made completely out of diamonds. Now that'd be the life..." The miner walked away, still muttering to himself about his fantasy.

The Venture left the asteroid belt an hour later, leaving Installation 001 to mine more osmium. On their way back to Sol, the Venture planned to link up with these miners and refuel, using the excess to sell on Earth. However, this plan relied solely of if they made it back at all..

***

From the personal journal of John Charles Truman, aboard the EIMC Venture

Things fell into a sort of pattern after we left the osmium belt. We travel further east until we hit a system, explore that system, and extract only enough minerals to make it to the next one. I've gotten quite accustomed to hearing the phrase "Richer than God" - McCoy gets pretty excited about his mining. But we never take enough to keep and sell when we get back to Earth, much to his dismay. Its almost as if Captain Carter wants to keep the bays empty for something. I didn't think this was a recovery operation, only exploration. But then again, we weren't told too much when we left Sol.

It's amazing, being so far away from Earth - so far away from Sol itself. Its nearly unfathomable. And excruciatingly unbearable; I miss my beautiful wife Charlotte. It may sound crazy, but it seems as if the further we fly away from Earth, the less clearly I am able to see her face in my mind. Its crazy to think that I felt so distant from her, when I had to attend that meeting in Beijing a few years back. Now, what I wouldn't give to be on the same planet as her.. I have a sickening feeling that this is going to be a very, very long expedition.

To Be Continued.

Feel free to post any comments or questions regarding the story below. I'll be updating this frequently!