SID 23112.16

KEINMOND-CLASS MINING PLATFORM KEINMOND II

PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1

CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

Graeme saved my ass this week. Yeah, I know - it's hard for me to believe, too, but he did. He totally saved my ass. He saw me struggling at work the other day and was all, like, "Dude, what is wrong with you? You've been, like, totally drag-assing lately. Why are you so gakking zoned-out?" He asked me these questions in his usual jerk-ass way, but, for some reason, I thought I detected a note of (I don't know what else to call it) concern in his voice. So, you know, I pretty much told him the truth.

I told him about my trouble sleeping, I told him about my nervousness, my paranoia, my tremors, and he's all, like, "Yeah, well one thing that might help you is if you stop drinking so much gakking coffee. I think I've seen you drink, like, 5 cups so far today already," which was true. He had seen me drink 5 cups, and he had not seen me drink 4 additional cups that day. Yeah, I was at about 3 liters for the day by the time he pointed my coffee abuse out to me, and then it was suddenly so blinken obvious: I was pounding the java to overcome my sleep deficit, when, in fact, my sleep deficit was caused by all the java I was pounding. Vicious circle and all that, and the whole thing exacerbated by all the cheap june I was drinking in the evenings to help me fall asleep.

So, right then, I quit drinking coffee. Switched to herbal tea for the rest of the day. At the end of my shift, I went back to quarters, cranked up the Enya, put on my special t-shirt, and settled into my rack. It took me awhile to drift off, but I stayed in bed, focused on the Enya, and, eventually, I was gone. I slept for 12 hours that night. Woke up a little groggy, but I stayed away from the joe, and by mid-morning I was fine. Better than fine, really. I was calm, alert, rested. The next night, I slept for fewer hours, but I woke up feeling even better.

Today, I woke up feeling like I could tap and re-seal an entire crate of gas canisters, recalibrate a turret-mounted diaphone, and still have the energy and patience to sequence and key two-weeks worth of drill reports- and it's good that I woke with that feeling, because those are the very tasks I had to complete to prepare the plasma drill for tomorrow's big test. So, again, thank you Graeme, you big jerk. I owe you one.

SID 23112.08

BLACK LEGION STATIONS 02V1 & 16K2

BL7 AGT GRAYSHIFT SEVEN

PERSONNEL AUDIT LOG PAL-ASCT2

SUBJECT ARMIN SHALE, CT2

Standard audit initiated SID 23108.15 following protocols IPAP-201 and IPAP-307 and in accordance with Imperial Memorandum IPA-DOC 1.01: So You'd To Audit Your Support Personnel. Audit record follows.

-SID 23108.19 Gunstar Vengeance. Personnel Audit, Section #1: Observation Period A.

Subject Armin Shale, human male from Redchili City, Anbarium Prefecture, Kasmakani III. Birthdate SID 20110.22. Height 1.9 meters, weight 82 kilograms. Brown hair, balding. Unmarried, unattached. Jessegaronic by birth (Western Synod, reformed), but no longer practices the faith. Severely myopic, but allergic to retinox 5, so must wear corrective lenses (spectacles, Imperial-issue, tortoise-shell browlines). During off-hours enjoys classical music (Air Supply, Night Ranger, Mr. Mister), literature of the scintilli-nosferatic school, and Kismiti cuisine.

Survey of IPE-Ts from previous 5 duty cycles finds that subject scores well within the blue echelon for the following evaluation categories: Knowledge, General Competence, Handwriting, Cleanliness/Neatness, but also finds that subject scores in the lower reaches of the taupe echelon for the categories of Teamwork and Spirit. Further observation of subject will be required in order to locate the source of this chromatic dissonance in subject's CRE chart.

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-SID 23109.10 Gunstar Vengeance. Personnel Audit, Section #2: Stress Testing A.

Item IPA-STEC.4 Environmental Control Adjustment Module TKU98 introduced to the EC system for subject's cabin. As a result of installation of ECAM unit, actual control of temperature and humidity levels in cabin was passed to IL station 02V1. Over subsequent 14 hour period, constituting the entirety of subject's off-shift, temp was increased in cabin by 14 deg Celsius and humidity was increased by 19%. Subject first noticed temperature and humidity changes at 24:17, spent subsequent 6 hours attempting to determine cause for these "spontaneous" environmental changes. Subject stress levels monitored by station 02V1 during this period. Subject managed to bypass ECAM unit at 05:19. Subject then slept until 06:45. Subject arrived at work assignment at 07:45, 15 minutes late. Stress Test A result metrics collected, compiled, published, and distributed as directed by Imperial Personnel Audit Protocols IPAP-201, IPAP-202, and IPAP-307.

SID 23112.01

KEINMOND-CLASS MINING PLATFORM KEINMOND II
PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

Still having troube sleeping. Still worried about that book. Tried to relax tonight, had around 4 (5?) finger of june to try to reelax and calm down. Well, still worried but soo relax. Probbaly too relaxed to type this log entry but, whatvere. I can't be bothered by every liyyl;e little misspelling and puntuation error. Hey, man I'm doing the best I can.

Maybe I'm being paranpoid, but I swear I'm being watched. I feel like eyes on are me all the time. Can't single out any one party thopugh, more just a feeling that I am being observed. So, yeah, drunk, sleepless, paranoid. Ignoring spelling errors and punctuation mess ups. Great time and place to be me, whooie!

SID 23111.19

KEINMOND-CLASS MINING PLATFORM KEINMOND II
PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

I'm tired as all gakk. Tired, exhausted. Can't seem to fall asleep, though. Been up and down for hours now. Tried to sack out around 22:00, but, no luck; tossed and turned, then finally gave up and dragged myself out of bed. Poured myself a finger of june, plopped down on the settee, threw on the holovid, and tried to zone out. Now it's 24:35, I'm exhausted, dizzy, and bored from holographic infomercials, but I still can't fall asleep.

Why? Well, I'm worried. Worried, worried. Found a little book in my locker today. Have no idea how it got there; the lock is keyed to my thumbprint and retina pattern. Someone'd have to dupe both sec-prots to get into the locker, and why would they go to all that trouble just to leave me a little book?

Yeah, about that book. Brothers & Sisters is the title. Little short hundred page story, about a close-knit family and its trials and travails. Greeting card garbage. But there's something about the writing- strange turns of phrase; sequences of words repeated multiple times throughout the story; endless, obsessive descriptions of hemp-based foods- that leads me to think the book must be some kind of coded text. From the Communion. I think they're trying to recruit me. I think I may have unintentionally signaled some kind of interest when I went into that weird hippie store those weeks ago.

Great. They think I'm a closeted Brother of the Book. All I know is I have to get rid of it. I need to dump it, but I need to dump it in a way that doesn't look like I'm dumping it. Eyes are watching everywhere, I know. Leave it in a stall in the gents? Maybe. Let someone else deal with it. I'm just worried that the Communies will continue to try to reach me. How soon before Black Legion catches on? I know there's gotta be some onboard. Those IL folks don't play around; they'll airlock you as soon as look at you. Gakk, I think I need another finger of june...

SID 23111.04

KEINMOND-CLASS MINING PLATFORM KEINMOND II
PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

Gax, it's cold here. I crank my CC up and up, but it never seems to get warm. Must have something to do with the cooling system for the plasma drill; it keeps the drill cool, sure, but it makes everything else gakking cold, too. As an old climate control engineer, I gotta admire the efficiency and effectiveness of the cooling matrix, but c'mon man. I'm like a gakking pengu in here.

Thank the Imperator for double-layer coveralls, I guess.

Still getting acclimated (hee hee) to the new assignment. Lots of meetings and training sessions. Lots of amazing opportunities for embarassment. Turns out that a plasma drill isn't as much like a plasma cannon as I had been let to believe. Really made an ass of myself on my second day, when I mentioned something about ejecting the antimatter capsule from the fuel chamber. Which you must NEVER DO with a plasma drill, because the antimatter capsule in a plasma drill is not jacketed. So, a big "NO" to ejecting the antimatcap, unless you want to obliterate two star systems and a large orbital mining facility. Sheesh.

At least I have the beaches of Kismy Prime to look forward to, right? Sorry, bub, but the ol' KP is all booked up. Festival of Gama Gesh, and all that. All month long, of course, because the Kismiti Concordians never met a minor religious observance that they couldn't turn into an excuse to miss work for 5 weeks. In the Western Synod, Gama Gesh Day means we get to take the afternoon off, maybe go see a movie. Have a nice turducken for dinner.

Anyway, Kismy prime WAS a no-go, so I settled for a quick trip to Kakalak I in the Sebarti system. It was okay, I guess. The beaches were fine, but I don't think Kismy has anything to worry about. Plus, it rained most of the trip, so I spent a lot of the endweek poking around Viabos City, trying to find some good battos, maybe pick up a book to read. I wandered into this funky shop, started poking around. Pulled a book off a shelf, read the title - The Communion of Free Beings by Lister. The Book. Holy gakk! I had never seen it in person. I didn't even think you could buy it openly. In fact, I'm certain you can't, so I figured the book was a plant. If I pulled it off the shelf- blammo: a strike team of Black Legion comes bursting through the windows and carries me of to be "re-educated". No thanks. I spun on my heels, calmly walked out the door, the jogged all the way back to my lodge. Stayed in my room the rest of the trip.

So, yeah, won't be going back to Kakalak anytime soon.

SID 23110.22

STARCOACH-CLASS TRANSPORT PROPRIETY
PLASMA DRILL TECHNICAL TEAM KTT-1
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG

Just settled into my quarters for the trip. I’m on a Starcoach, and a newer one at that, so the room is HUGE and still in pretty good nick. Big bed, fairly large vid (not holomac, though), nice shower/convenience station combo (with three sonic heads!). Lots of drawers and cabinets and such. All in all, not too bad, especially compared to that Starbus I took last Spring to Deytuni Prime. My room on that boat looked like someone had been using it as an abattoir.



I’ll probably run down to the food center in a minute or two and grab something, maybe a turrico if they have any for sale (surely they do on a Kismiti transport!). If I can’t find a turrico, I’ll hit the machines, see what they have. After dinner, guess I’ll spend the rest of the evening studying up for tomorrow.



Oh yeah, tomorrow. See, just because it takes two days to travel to Kismy Prime doesn’t mean that I’m not expected to work during those two days. No way. I’ve got meetings and training sessions all day tomorrow and into the next day. Gotta get up to speed on the plasma drill, gotta learn about load ratios and plasma collection ports and gamma inducer coils. Yeah, fun.



Still, I’m pretty excited about the new assignment, I’ve gotta admit. It’s a high-profile gig, and it'll be good for my career. Plus, Kismy Prime is right there, so every endweek will be be a mini-vacation, with all expenses covered by the Imperium. Hey, maybe I'll even meet someone. You never know; it could happen. I'm just hoping Graeme doesn't hang around. Ever since he learned that I was being transferred with him, he's decided we're buds. I have tried to be nice (don't know why), but the fact is I just want him to leave me alone. I thought we had decided that we don't like each other. I'm not sure that I'm quite ready yet to change my mind about him.



Hmm, that's my stomach. I think I'll check out the food court now. If they don't have turricos, then maybe a couple of battos. Hmm, yeah, battos...

SID 23110.18

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERCEPTED AUDIO FEED
MEETING OF SUSPECTED COMMUNION CELL
LOCATION VIABOS CITY, BANARGO DISTRICT, KAKALAK I PLANET, SEBARTI SYSTEM

inaudible section

"...thank Carol for the pastries; you really outdid yourself today, Carol! Ok, well on to business, I guess. Let's see, um, well, we received a package today from our Brothers and Sisters of the Book, and they advise us to keep the faith and ask us to keep our tools at the ready, because the Harvest is upon us and the time of Reaping will soon be here..."

inaudible section

"...hemp can also be used in baking. Hemp flour is derived from the seeds of the hemp plant, which, by the way, are delicious themselves, whether toasted in a pan or just eaten raw. Anyway, I worked out this recipe for hemp-based pilot bread, which I'm sure will come in handy in the next few weeks, fingers crossed..."

inaudible section

"...because we know that the rights of man are derived from nature, and aren't handed down to us from 'the mountaintop' by any Imperator or Vizier of High Gouverneur. These rights are natural, as natural as bird's song, or a clear, rushing stream, or a field full of green, fragrant hemp..."

inaudible section

"...and as we hold hands, we affirm the value of all human beings, and we make our solumn vow to show all those who would be shown the way to Communion, as we have been shown. And so now, as we close, let us sing our hymn of freedom and inclusion, please join me, won't you..."

inaudible section

"...freedom, love, and righteousness, upon our common struggle bless! When all the worlds are free at last, and all our struggles long have passed, then will we see communion's light, as Terra's sun..."

end transcript