The trip to the Throughkelt crash site was uneventful, even if the others stared out the windows and at the monitors in amazement. I admit, it was fun and I had to resist gawking, because I was doing some of the flying. Though, when Kel relieved me, I found myself staring out the window as well. It really was amazing, flying in the module, to realize that I was controlling it's flight by modifying the shape of invisible force-fields. With all the repairs we have done, the module glides through the atmosphere perfectly. The lift from the force-fields, the push from the drives. We took our time to get there, running at high altitude and doing deep scans that will take months to analyze. Our high detail, down to a few centimeters, and a depth of 100 meters, assuming the soil allowed it, is 15 kilometers wide along our path. Resolution of about a meter and depth to about 20 meters goes out as far as 45 kilometers. After that, the resolution goes down, but we can at least get the contours of buildings and larger structures out as far as 100 kilometers in both directions from our path. Thus why it'll take months to analyze. Once we got there, we did some deep scans at moderate resolution to pick a landing site. Kel wanted to make sure we were well clear of any of the crystal that might be at the site. We picked up a lot of it, essentially encrusting the entire drive section of the ship and any other thruster port, based on what Yelt said. Still, we landed several kilometers away. Just to be safe. I don't blame Kel for being paranoid, I did most of the work to remove the crystal from the Module's drives. That stuff is no joke, and we still don't understand what it really is or why it grows the way it does. Once we were down, I used the shuttle to determine the best path to the Throughkelt. It was almost sunset, and we have several days of night or twilight, so Hearl and his team will be using the same technique used to make the road from the village to Sanctuary. That way we have a sure, secure road to drive to and from, and one where we hopefully, won't pick up any crystal that would then try and attach itself to the ship. Kel did a full diagnostic once we were landed, after using some of the weapons to create a hard landing surface and staging area for us to use. He modulated the Lasers through a polorized force-fields to spread out the beam energy. He essentially created a massive glass and basalt slab. It is actually pretty smart. I saw Kel standing on the top of the crater rim, as the Throughkelt lays in the belly of a large crater. It almost seems like a shallow volcanic caldera. It isn't very tall, but it is the right shape for it. I'll have to do some additional scanning to be sure, and make sure it isn't active. He was standing there just looking out to where the Throughkelt is, with two of the nearer moons in the sky and the last rays of the sun fading. It was just such a perfect picture, so I captured it, and am so glad I did. It really is striking. Actually, as I have nothing to do right now. Clar is working on her projects, Kel is supervising and going over data, Merd is helping with the data review as well. Although, given some of the sounds coming from their room... Well, they're reviewing something at least. I'm going to take the shuttle back up and do some additional surveying and see if I can confirm if this is a volcano or not. My people were supposed to have lived here for decades before that first tide, so surely there is some sign of that.
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Scribblings and Random Thoughts
The ramblings, writings, and scribblings of a writer and unabashed Mega-Nerd
Welcome to my little corner of the universe.
I am D.C. Ballard.
Author. Tabletop Game Master.
Husband. Father. Pet Papa.
Certified and Proud Mega-Nerd.
I write Sci-Fi/Sci-Fan, and Sci-Fi Erotica.
Any NSFW posts will be clearly marked, and any of the NAUGHTY stuff will be after the fold.
Here in this blog I will share with you, oh weary wanderer of the Internets, some of my creative endeavors.
There will be at least two ongoing, if not always regularly updated, stories. I will also post the occasional teaser and snippet from my other work, including published, and not yet published work.
>> All Content is © D.C.Ballard 2019 <<
>> All Images are to my knowledge, CC0 and are sourced from Pixabay.com unless otherwise noted. <<
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