[Chapter #1.1.1 - Star Gazing]

The Captain stayed behind at the bridge with James. He gestured towards one of the monitors for James to take a seat.

"Your skills are exactly what we need. Tell me, where are you from, Mr James? You seem well spoken and educated." He asked, waiting for James to get ready. The bridge felt quite empty and quiet with only the two of them in it, but, in a way, that was relaxing in its own right.

The Captain would take a seat next to James before accessing the map files for James to take a look at. The map itself would show that they appeared to be in an empty spot in space, without any planets they could feasibly reach nearby. James could either focus on locating their position in the grand scheme of the universe or instead focus on the current immediate area around them that they could feasibly reach.

"let's see...."

James would take a seat at some of the monitors and starts typing away. He began referencing star maps with current scans in order to find out the position of the ship. However, he was able to multitask as well, so holding a conversation didn't seem to be difficult. James understood why the curiosity about him would still be left to gauge, he did sneak on their ship during trying times. He had no reason to hide anything, but he didn't know how they would react to him either. There were aliens on the ship with what he saw, so maybe it wasn't too bad.

"Tatooine, maybe you haven't heard of it. However, it's a planet with low technology so most things achieved, like me conversing with you, takes studying and whatnot. But at the same time, because we haven't distressed out planet's resources with a massive amount of foreign machinery, as well as the fact that our unique appearance can give birth to the replenishment of such resources, it continues to remain bountiful. However, some tribes do practice extremism of some sort in regards to the argument of who Tatooine belongs to. With the war on the planet and the resources that we have, I suppose that's the reason why The Empire of Humanity has been visiting my planet so frequently. Or maybe our abilities attract them the most? What would you think if you saw someone similar to me that was covered in flames?"

It was a moot point, but he did wish that the conflict on his planet would end.

"I've been off the planet before, traveling with trade ships as a part-time navigator for safe passage. I also served as a sleuth on my home planet, but you would do anything for an honest day's work besides participate in the struggles."

But he was curious about one thing.

"You have an interesting crew. They do diversify, but I won't pry in regards to your motivations or intentions. "

Picking QAS Option 1

By referencing the star maps, James would find out that their current location was near the border of the area held by the Empire of Humanity, meaning they were only a couple of galaxies away from Earth itself. If they could restart their engine properly, they could reach Earth fairly easily. However, that would also mean intruding on the area of the Empire, which may yield quite a large quantity of problems in itself, be they simply administrative or even outright hostile. SS Philemon seemed to have found itself within a solar system similar to that of Earth's. However, the planets in said system are all listed as uninhabited and/or uninhabitable. There was no real chance to locate a planet with any intelligent life nearby. At best they could mine for resources to rebuild the engine, but that would take a very long time, especially with them still recuperating from the losses of their crew.

"Tatooine? I must admit I haven't heard much about it, perchance simply stumbled about it in writing or passing." The Captain replied, standing next to James. "You know, we would need a good trained eye of a navigator on this ship. As you've noted, the crew here truly is colorful in more ways than one, so no one would mind another new face. And indeed, I reckon the Empire finds your kind's form alluring to say the least." He gave a slight, courteous laugh.

"Is that so? Well, once I manage to get us out of this bind, perhaps we can form an arrangement. Even though you offered to send me home, I have no interest in returning to my home planet anytime soon. You need a navigator and I wish to see the stars that I've studied in real-time after so many years. It sounds fair, I mean no harm beyond that, and I have no intention of getting into negative altercations with your comrades."



Choice 2

The Captain kept smiling. "I see, that is fortunate, then."

Focusing on the ship's immediate surroundings, the first object that would come to James's attention would be the dust cloud. By looking at the star map of the area, he'd be able to take note that the dust cloud seems to be focusing around a single point, rotating around it in circular motions in a radius of a size slightly smaller but comparable to Earth's. Normally such dust would be drawn to a planet. Having such a large amount of dust focused around  a point wouldn't be possible, as the dust particles are very small and tend to float through space drawn by gravity.

"Almost done, just give me a moment. "

James would say this as he continued to press away.

Choice 1

Apparently, the dust cloud is positioned around this system's star at a distance that would allow for the temperatures to sustain life, based on the Solar system's data. This system has 9 discernable planetoids in it and all of them have at least some dust gathering around them. It would seem feasible that this system is younger than the Solar system.

"Speak of the devil, and he will appear...."

Maybe it sounded cryptic at first, but once James got up, his eyes narrowed as he made eye contact with the captain of the ship.

"Unfortunately, we seemed to have found ourselves in a bind. When I cross-referenced our current location, I found that we were near the border of the area held by the Empire of Humanity. I know nothing of your relations with the empire to intrude on earth,  It really does depend on your level of desperation if they act. Earth might be off-limits, or maybe the last course of action. Besides that, I propose that we make a wager on a particular finding that I noticed. There is a dust cloud that is surrounding a particular planet, the orbiting motions are quite similar to that of a planet it revolves around. Perhaps it's the planet's natural way to stay hidden from a glance? Either way, surrounding dust particles are the norm for this particular solar system. "

James did a brief pause before he continued.

"With the cross-referencing in regards to the earth's solar system and where we are right now, there is a high chance that we could be near a planet that can sustain life. We can ask for help, look for resources, it truly does depend. It might be worth using the fuel  to check out that planet if possible. But once again, these are only suggestions that you can or don't have to take into account. What do you suggest that we do, captain?"

The Captain placed a hand on his chin after hearing James's report. The findings were truly interesting and likely something only an experienced cartographer would be able to find. "I see, so the dust cloud had obfuscated the planet's existence. Fascinating." The Captain said.


[Chapter #1.1.1 End]