Pete's Ancient and rarely updated
D-land Journal

The above sort of summed up our thoughts on your world during our initial surveys. This was donated to me by my housemate, who claims to be a reptilian extraterrestrial with some form of minor godhood on this world. Okay, so he's delusional and confused... he pays his rent and amuses me with his antics and his cartoon discoveries.

Anyway. Hmmm... what to write about.... ah, the old guestbook once again prompts me! Many thanks, KC.

The tale of how I found myself traversing the stars? Ah, now there is a tale full of excitement and derring do!

As I mentioned previously, I grew up Surface Side watching the shuttles and lesser starships arrive and depart from our spaceport daily. My home city happened to be the largest starport city in the hemisphere (altho only second largest on the planet) and so there was a great deal of traffic.

Imagine living in a port city... watching the ships arrive, one after another. Filled with people and things (which were often also people) from distant places with completely alien cultures! Imagine talking with them, hearing of the wonders of their homeworlds and the sights they had seen in their travels. And then imagine watching those ships leaving again... bound for the stars and adventures untold!

Well, who could resist the lure? I dreamt, I fantasized, I became obsessed with seeing the universe! It was a passion that filled my every waking hour.

I'd like to tell you that I worked my tail off in school and managed to get into flight school based on my grades. I'd like to. But my grades were awful, I partied like any bad galaxaversity student, and my tail is gone because I lost a bet while drinking Rigellian Icy Shots. Such is life.

No, instead I did what any irresponsible but determined young college drop out would do, I stowed away on a ship. I managed to sneak aboard a light freighter taking Spüue to the Rimward Expanse. Sure, it smelled like Hell and the Rim isn't exactly the hoppingest part of space, but that was actually a plus for me. Since the Rim is not terribly attractive, it has a hard time attracting good help. In fact, they have a hard time getting lousy help. So, anyone willing to work there for a time is able to get trained (a relative term, I assure you) in the field of their choice.

I spent nearly 10 Terran years learning to pilot ships as small as a one-being fighter to a heavy cruiser, from freight shuttles to planetoid tow vehicles. I got into many legal entanglements but swiftly discovered that if I could fly better than they could I had fewer entanglements. So, I got to be the best on the Rim (which I admit is not saying much). started finding jobs that would take me Coreward and to greener pastures. Ah, the future looked bright.

That was 36 Terran years ago. As you might have guessed, I haven't made it too terribly far. I got a sweet contract to fly a team of primatologists to this world to check out the local monkeys. A little booze (okay, a heck of a lot, in fact) and a small, insignificant collision later (darned planet came out of nowhere!) and I am stuck!

Eventually I may get off world, but the Rim has a lot of void between worlds and this little mudball is well off the beaten track. So my wait is likely to be quite long (not that it hasn't already been). But it's recently become far easier to hang out here, so I'm content.

So, no... no Roddenberrian Federation, no business contract, just an irresponsible youth well spent! Hee hee! Oh, as for my parents... well, my brother says they were vexed, and sent him out to find me shortly after I left. Of course, he took the opportunity to follow in my footstpes rather than track me down. We've H-mailed a few times (well, before the crash) and they are annoyed, but they've had a couple more clutches and so having us out of the house is good... more room for our younger siblings. I think there are eight now. Wow. I'll have to meet them someday.

Well, that's the story of my getting off world. Not terribly exciting, but true. One day I will start detailing some of the more notable adventures... I can do that, I think... I need to check to see if the statute of limitations has kicked in and I am now exempt from prosecution for those... adventures. We shall see!

-WtW