Kotth, Lurr, and I came out of jump and were doing .998c. Just flying. Took a week to slow down properly, but that brought us to a system with several worlds in a pretty normal looking galaxy, homed in a pretty normal looking universe. Not huge, but not small like Trost either. I'd like to call it average, if I knew what that meant. I just don't have enough data.
There are three worlds that can support life in this system. We picked the middle of the two, a nice comfortable world. Has the beginnings of life, but these are all new, younger worlds. The one we chose actually has a moon, or more of a sister world, as they orbit each other. It isn't as big, but it is also inhospitable. Still, makes for a beautiful view as it can be seen beyond the clouds in the image.
We've been on world for two days. The Viteză Furie proving again what an amazing ship it is. We landed near the shore, and I have been able to start the repairs fully, also taking advantage to do additional work and checks. I expect we will be here for a month or two while I work.
I have set up a small mining drone to extract some raw materials, along with a few other things to pull in other resources. Taking our time doing it, as we can afford the time. I have checked, and we are only a week in jump from the signal source. It is near, just beyond really, the gravitational edge of this universe. So close. But I want to be fully stocked in case we need to stay near it for an extended period of time for study.
I really don't know what I am expecting to find. I have no expectations really. I've got lots of wild, baseless, speculations I have done since leaving Home. But nothing beyond the signal itself, which at this distance is pure and clean. It could just be a device, left beyond by someone, like a signal. "I was here." And who are long since vanished. Considering how far out into the void it has traveled, and that the gravity waves don't travel any faster there than in a universe. It might be a massive space station. It could be a collection of the Dark Life laying a trap to draw in the curious. I have no way of knowing until I get there. It is however on the far side of the Galaxy that I am in, so I will just have to wait to get a look. Long range sensors aren't going to help me here.
I have found some damaged outer hull plating I am waiting on the printer in the garage to complete. As well as some scared plating from the weapons blasts from the hostile race. Seems they scored a few glancing blows I didn't know about. Got some parts that need replacing on the mains. I have full maintenance protocols running through all of engineering. None of this stuff has been done, and I really should have been doing it. I need to take care of the Viteză Furie if it is going to take care of me.
Checking the temporal deflection against Home, I'm still about a positive thousand years from when I entered the Universe Nebula. So there is that at least. I cannot see the Universe Nebula from here, but the sensors still pick it up easily. Now that I know what I am looking at. Which also terrifies me. Just like the signal of a newborn universe when I saw Trost born, allowed me to detect and interpret other signals I was seeing for what they were. This too is such a signal. Only, I am not detecting tens of thousands, or even just hundreds of the rifts that create the Nebula Universe. I am detecting four distinct rifts, or their remnants. One is so big that it's signal is something I don't want to believe. It is old though. Old enough that it might not even be active any more. No way to tell that from this distance. Still, it is a terrifying prospect, as it is larger than the Universe Nebula by a factor of a million or more. The system is having a hard enough time computing the size of the Universe Nebula. This new signal is giving it fits.
Well. Break time is over. Kotth and Lurr are hungry, and I need to check on the garage printer.