Captain’s Log: Faster Than Light

I am intensely glad that Zephyr convinced me to buy her.  Even if she botches the next landing and we both crash and die (note to self: hire actual trained pilot) I will die with the satisfaction of knowing that I was one of the first humans to travel faster than light.  Not instantaneously travel, like grandfather did, but in many ways this is much better.  The Gateway system is limited to planets advanced enough to read the instructions and build their own Gateway – as such, it is still limited by the sub-light speeds of ship-based transportation.  But for exploring out into the galaxy?  This ‘enchanted’ drive is potentially far more potent than the Gateway technology ever could be.  (And, of course, geometrically more potent in concert.)  And I was the one of the first.  Possibly the first civilian human, if you follow Zephyr’s insistence that she does not count.

The Astral Zephyr.  She insists that she merely a mind transferred over into a ship intelligence system.  However, I have never met an AI as… alive as her.  I understand that early AIs used brain emulation, and I have to assume it is something along those lines.  She is, however, very vague as to the actual mechanisms of her transfer, or who she was before she became a ship.  She is, however, very insistent that she is a ship, and not a human.  I will reserve the right to consider her very much a person, though, no matter her form.

Speaking of people, I now have to hire a number of crew.  Zephyr has quarters for 6 crewmembers, currently, assuming we don’t want to convert the cargo bay to quarters (which is possible).  For most travels via the Gateway system, I would be comfortable with only having a pilot and an engineer – at a constant 1G acceleration, it’s not a terribly long way to and from a Lagrange point.  However, this journey is possibly much longer.  I would very much like a doctor of some sort, and possibly a life-support specialist.  Zephyr seems insistent on a first mate.  Thus the crew compliment would be a pilot, an engineer, a doctor, possibly a second engineer, the first mate, and myself.

It is a pity that we cannot advertise that we have FTL capability (still cannot get over that).  Furthermore, we can’t disclose our business plan, so paying a percent of profits is also untenable.  I will likely be spending my life savings on the supplies needed, and so I’ll be promising a normal commission, and hoping we can convert to paying in shares once they are made aware of our intentions.  Also not sure how to hire a doctor on short notice for work on a spaceship.  (And a doctor doesn’t exactly come with medical equipment.)  Not sure about hiring in general, really.

I am also concerned that our hiring practices are unethical.  We won’t be telling people that they are going to travel far, far away from any of the Linked Systems, and we can’t let them off without leaving a vital position empty, and possibly spreading rumors of us being a FTL human ship.  (Which Zephyr is understandably nervous about – the government would probably commandeer her, if pirates didn’t get us first.)  Zephyr seems to think it is fine, though, and, in my opinion, she is ultimately in charge.