Entry 13

December 29th - Sector Q247 - MSR2 Nora Greene

The Zephyr IV has been chaos. Because of the fluctuating morale of the crew, CRAVE and the Captain have taken it upon themselves to create all sorts of activities for us. At one point just before Christmas Morning, we had a cultural holiday breakfast, with a kosher dinner served in the mess hall that evening. (I am constantly amazed by the calibrations of our food processor.)

After that, a couple of the crew got together and meandered around the ship singing every carol they could remember (Including not-carols, like Dreidel, Dreidel.) The Marines tipped them in cigarettes. The nurses tipped them in colorful band-aids and we techies tipped them in origami analysis printouts made from scrap paper.

Mickey was singing, and surprise, he was pretty good! The greatest voice of all however, was Sargent of Communications, Wesley Hadley. He had that sort of deep, booming voice that demanded silence and awe. I haven't hung out with him really, but he is a little intimidating. His dark skin is perfect, his eyes are mysterious and piercing, and he's also about 6'6". So he's flipping tall.  Zee trailed around with them too, and by the end he was humming along too. Very harmonious.

Masaru played the Violin.

The Marines are hosting a weekly poker night, bargaining and betting on chores and cigarettes. (We can apparently smoke in one of the airlocks. They have atmo-cleansers in it so the smoke is flushed out when they're done.)

Christmas itself was nice. CRAVE changed the font and color of the analysis displays to red and green and There was always some sort of minty, festive dessert in the mess hall. And cookies. SO many cookies I could die. I think the sugar content alone made people feel better. Gift giving was sparse, obviously because where were we going to shop for anything? But... I did get hand made cards from people, and I sent out some CoreComm e-mails filled with cheer.

Lin is hosting a craft night. Julia wants me to go with her this week.I told her no originally, then Lin came up and asked me too. I'm thinking about it. Besides. I can't be in this crappy mood forever. I have to get over myself (and them) sooner rather then later. I'm going to be on this ship FOREVER so I may as well start now, right?

Apparently there is some fancy New Years Craft Thing they're doing. Julia is super excited, and she's contagious when she gets that way. (Except to Junpin. Junpin is immune.)

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 12

December 17th - Sector Q247 - MSR2 Nora Greene

I really messed up.

I just got back from my first ever hour-long session with Doctor Hynes. Other then the monthly psyche evaluations he gives out of course. You see, I had a bit of an incident yesterday.

No, no, don't worry it wasn't anything like Royce. I didn't try to, you know.... But I shouted my head off in the mess hall for everyone to hear. It was the strangest thing. First thing was I was collecting my processed food in line like everyone else and as I was headed over to sit with Julia, Lin comes bouncing up to me.

"Hey Nora! I have a question."
I'm pretty sure I shrugged in a noncommittal manner.
"I was going to make something for Rex for his birthday and I need your help."
I think straight off when she called him 'Rex' I could feel the twitch at the corner of my left eye. And then when she decided she apparently needed my help with something for him It got my blood sizzling a bit. So I said something along the likes of, "Why do you need MY help? I don't know 'Rex' half as well as you do."
And Lin smiled at me with that chipper, happy, genuine nice-ness and said something like, "Well I know how well you two get along and thought you might want to help me make him something nice."
At least I think that last bit was what she said. I really only remember 'well I know how you two get along-'
Then I think I dropped my tray of food.

It was the weirdest sensation, like my fingertips went numb, and my face was hot and I felt like everything was blurry and moving in slow motion, and then words just started pouring out of my mouth. I can't even remember half of it, something along the lines of 'how can I get along with him if I never see him because you're always with him, and do you think anyone on this ship actually knows one another? Do you think we're all happy here like you and 'Rex'?'

When I snapped out of it, the world sort of pitched and I fell over and then I remember waking up and Julia was hovering next to me like a nervous hummingbird.

Dr. Hynes diagnosed me with mild C.D.A; or Compact Dwelling Anxiety. He told me not to worry that there's at least a dozen of us that have light symptoms. He told me to take it easy and try not to get stressed out and I won't have an 'episode' again. Julia suggested that I go talk to Lin and Masaru to straighten things out. Mainly so I don't worry about it anymore. Gatta be honest - terrified to do so.

In light of these events, CRAVE has seen fit to remind us what season we're in. All the screens are showing pretty Winter scenes and the temperature dropped a bit so we're all wearing sweaters and drinking hot coffee and cocoa. I think Lin and the others have been making garlands, because there are paper-ring strings hung everywhere.

I haven't really been to see anyone yet, I've been sticking to my basic duties, my bunk with Junpin, Gilda and Julia and the medical facility. This morning, when I was in the Server IV chamber, CRAVE spoke to me. Got me thinking.
"MSR2 Greene. May I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"I understand the symptoms and qualities of space-born illness, but i cannot compute the emotional triggers behind them. Why did you shout at Flight Engineer R3 Yang?"
"Well... I happen to like Pilot Hamatsu. She was spending a lot of time with him and I was not. So I got angry."
"Please explain."
"Well when people like someone they want to spend time with them. But if someone else is, I guess people feel awkward about being around them if they are a couple."
"So you feel awkward around them because they are a couple and because of this you yelled at Flight Engineer R3 Yang?"
Sigh. "Yeah. I guess."
"When you say couple I assume that you mean mated pair."
"Geez, CRAVE I don't know if they're mating."
"Do you believe Flight Engineer R3 Yang to be unsuitable for Pilot Hamatsu?"
"....No."
"Do you believe that Flight Engineer R3 Yang is inferior to yourself or someone else aboard the Zephyr IV?"
"No, CRAVE."
"Is there a more feasible reason for you to be angry with Flight Engineer R3 Yang?"
"No."
CRAVE was quiet for a moment. I was too. I wasn't sure how to explain jealousy to an AI, but I didn't have to. I was working it all out in my head.
I'm such a jerk.
"I do not understand certain nuances of human culture."
"I don't either CRAVE, its all right."

You know, the fact that I'm out in space and not on an inhabitable planet doesn't really bother me.  At least, not that I'm aware of. I think maybe it's the emptiness of outside that does.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 11

December 8th - Sector Q247 - MSR2 Nora Greene

I know. I know. It has been over a month. Everyone has been telling me to update my stupid CoreComm entries like its going to help. I'm only doing it now because Junpin, Mickey, Julia, Royce and all the other cook staff threw me an intervention. Even Archie was there. They sat me down so I couldn't escape and tried to get me to talk to them, but I didn't want to, so they demanded that I update my CoreComm.

I only agreed because they said they would leave me alone. I was probably being a little hard on them but... I just haven't felt like it.

Anyway... so we made it out of Border Space last week. With the mapping program we have, apparently we are in Q247. In layman's terms, its takes into account the infinite span of space and lays out segments of it like chunks of a sphere, bubbling out from our known space. We are in Q247.

Ok, so I've been in a really crappy mood. Remember that nonsense at the Halloween thing? How I was too embarrassed to talk to Masaru, and how I may have sort of gotten drunk to the point of no-memory? Well, I finally got over myself enough to go talk to him. I have Junpin and her critical snarkiness to thank for that one. I hunted him down after dinner only to find him holding hands with Lin watching some sappy movie as she cried into his shoulder. They were all snuggled up and everything, so I left.

Man I haven't felt so crappy since high school drama. I guess.... I just got really upset, you know? Here I am, crushing on this super talented, nice guy, out in space, alone with a small crew and nothing but stars and processed food, and there he goes picking Lin: the happiest, most upbeat and kind and pretty and talented and smart and -

Whatever.

So yeah. I should have known after seeing them dance on Halloween. She knows about classical music and opera and stuff like that and so does he and frankly they belong together and I wish them the best of luck.

I have analysis to run.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 10

November 3rd, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

What a Weekend.
I know that weekends in space are different, and that we all kind of work all the time, but this counts as a bonafide weekend.

It started with me and Julia trying to figure out a costume. We weren't the only ones, either. We ended up spending a lot of time with Lin Yang, an engineer who works with Archie. She's sort of the total opposite of Junpin, is always happy, and loves, loves, loves her work. She was hot-gluing scrap metal and broken bits of spare machinery together and said she was making herself into an android. (She was a lot of fun at the party too.)

Julia and I thought up all sorts of really dumb costume ideas. We were going to turn our jump suits inside out and make paper name tags to pretend to be garage attendants.  Another idea was to put medical tubing in our hair and being a pair of gorgons. The final decision was using our bed sheets as togas and going as a pair of muses. We did each others hair (or rather, Julia did mine, and I valiantly attempted to do hers. Junpin fixed it.)

Saturday started out like a normal day; we all did our work, I checked the systems and found no out-of-place anomalies. When it approached 1900 hours Julia and I got ready and we all piled into the hanger. They did a pretty good job for last minute, like the Space Prom. People had made little cut-out pumpkins and skulls and things, and there was more punch and snack foods, and we even had a bobbing for apples. (They were totally fabricated - no stems, cores or pits!) The Captain didn't want us wasting our real fruit on a game, but I think the fake ones were actually MORE challenging.

Masaru was there, of course. He had on a Phantom of the Opera mask. (I don't watch or listen to musicals, so I had to have Lin explain it to me because she seemed to be the only other one who knew other then Archie.) His dress uniform ins in black, so he just had some artfully cut and pinned bits of paper to hide his name tag and serial number.

I remember that he asked me to dance once. It was very nice until I tripped on the end of my toga and almost flashed the rest of the crew. Julia helped me flee to fix my garment, but when I returned, Masaru was dancing with Lin and then had to leave.

I managed to pass off my disappointment with some more fermented/processed/ punch stuff. It was fun I think, until that point I can't remember.

Ugh.
Sunday was a total loss. I woke up in our bunk, told CRAVE to do a system scan and to let me know if anything goes wrong. Nothing did. Julia came in from time to time and fed me. CRAVE fabricated some vitamin juice for me (as well as several other people, mainly marines I was told.)

Monday was the I'm-going-to-do-my-job-so-that-no-one sees me. Julia was convinced I should go talk to him. But c'mon. I don't THINK I made a scene, but how can I be sure? Julia says I was fine bur... If you haven't figure it out yet, I'm a bit self conscious.

Today was a lot of the same... Man I am so gutless. I'm out in space with all of these people, and I can't even muster up the courage to laugh at myself.

Oh God I hope I didn't say anything TOO humiliating.

------- End Trans.-------

Entry 9

October 22nd, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

Good news on many fronts, today. Firstly, I am no longer sick with Space Flu, which is nice. I don't have to wear a face mask, and I am no longer contagious! I'm still a bit congested, but Julia says it should pass in a day or two. Good thing, too! This brings me to Part Two of my Good News Bulletin:

 The morale aboard the Zephyr IV has improved at least tenfold since the party, so much so that Dr. Hynes has been able to get ANOTHER party approved! Considering the time of year (Earth time, anyway) It is a Halloween Party! There was a brief announcement from Captain Peterson about it this morning. She also went on to say that we have extra free hours this week so that we can use the recreation rooms to do crafts or make things for our costumes. (Don't ask me, I have no idea. I didn't bring trick- or- treating gear with me into space. I'll have to wing it just like everyone else.)

CRAVE has assured us that she will be able to handle all the minor subroutines, and that if she comes across any issues she will immediately alert us. Not much danger out here in Border Space, except of getting lost. Luckily, our Prime OS and CoreComm connections are still a-ok, so no risk of that happening any time soon.

But, even though I'm not horribly creative, I can fill you in on some ideas that he others have had. Mickey is going to go as a Mexican. He brought one of those great colorful ponchos with him, and apparently he plays the guitar. He's going to borrow the Sombrero that one of the Marines has hanging in his room if he can. (The fact that he's Samoan seems to make it funnier for him. Funny guy.) Junpin said she's going to go as a nurse. (Ok, that's not creative, but we all joked around that she would be a HAPPY nurse. Even she laughed.)

Lets see, Royce and Maria said they're going to try to make chef hats in the rec room out of paper and an old pillow case, and they'll wear the aprons. (They were going to be covered in red food coloring goop, but they had yet to clear violent costumes with the Captain. I mean, we're all adults here, should be fine, right?) Archie is going to paint his face like an owl and be the grumpy owl from the Disney Sword in the Stone. Julia and me are going to try and come up with something to do together. Three days to go and no effing clue.

On another note, I had a great discussion with Zee the other day. We were walking towards the Mess hall to eat dinner, and he asked me what Halloween was. It surprised me, because he's really up-to-date on a lot of our culture and history. At least, historical figures, and politics and (most) social nuances.

Anyway, I told him that it was a holiday that started off about the spirits of the dead, and turned into pretending to be something you aren't and getting candy.

He was quiet for a second then said, "I do not understand where the costumes come from."

This was hard for me to answer because well, I'd been raised in the 'wear-costume-get-candy' age, and a lot of the earlier stuff was lost on me. So I told him that, "I think that people used to dress up to scare off evil spirits, because back when it was All Hallows Eve, it was supposed to be the day that the dead could come back to life or something. Now, since we aren't as superstitious as we used to be, it just turns into dressing up and running around. Although, a lot of it is trying to be scary, too."

He looked at me sidways - which was his eye stalks rotating 90 degrees to look at me - and said, "We believe that he spirits of those passed are always nearby. You just need to be skilled enough to speak with them."

That got me thinking about it for a bit, slightly creeped out by his intensity. I was going to joke that he's already gotten into the Halloween Spirit, but I could tell he was being serious. When we got to the mess hall, everyone else contributed in describing the nuances of Halloween. And then HE came by.

Masaru Hamatsu.

He said that kids dressed up in Scotland in the 1800s and called it 'Guising' for the disguises they wore. They carried carved out turnips to scare away spirits, and trick-or-treating came from these same kinds memorizing jokes or riddles or songs to perform door to door, which is how they would get their sweets. Something also about getting all the goodies to bring home for their soul party where they would set sxtra seats for the dead.

That helped Zee a lot, he liked that. Then Masaru smiled at me. I'm pretty sure I smiled back, but I was a bit dazed at the time and now I can't remember. Oh God I hope I smiled back. I'll ask Julia later.

Julia asked Masaru what he was going to be for Halloween and he just kept smiling and shook his head. I guess that means it will be a surprise. He seemed excited about the idea. He asked what I was going to be, and I think I made the face of a fish gasping for water, so Julia rescued me with some obscure comment about it being a secret.

I've decided that I'm going to ask CRAVE to fabricate some pumpkins for us in the food processor. We'll see if they don't come out like pumpkin pie filling.

And now for Rec Room Time - C'mon Julia, lets come up with something good!!!!!

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 8

October 22nd, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

 Border Space is such a drag. Its so bland out here. You would think, with how impossibly fast we're actually traveling, that we would pass something, like an interesting space-landmark I could tell you about, or an alien spacecraft, or even a meteor. Hell, I would have been thrilled to jot ANYTHING down. My normal journal is even worse, filled with eating habits and meal schedules, and a list of 'socially acclimatizing activities' for our doctors to review once a week.

But something interesting HAS happened recently. This past weekend (If you can call it that.) A whole bunch of fun stuff happened.

Well... I suppose I should record the not-so-fun stuff. Our friend Royce had... well an incident. He hasn't really spoken about it, but they had to restrain and treat him several weeks ago. From what Julia is allowed to say, he was depressed and felt anxiety and well... he tried to hurt himself. Zee has been spending a lot of time with him, the Zed are super spiritual. Julia says its doing Royce a lot of good.

He's doing much better, by the way. But the incident spurned the whole medical team into a sort of frenzy. They met a whole lot with the Captain, and planned things. They started utilizing the food processors in fun ways, trying to incorporate some of our limited additive supply to spice up the food. They have music available in all the major lounge areas 24-7 now, and they gave us extra social time. And on top of that - they planned a party.

At first everyone was kind of grumpy about it (for whatever reason) but naturally, we girls got all excited to gussy ourselves up, and wear our dress uniforms. The main launch bay was decked out in streamers and the lights were all flashy and spiny, and there was a bowl of punch and well... it was surprisingly festive. Like space-prom. CRAVE was our DJ and I'm pleased to say she did an excellent job.

I got to meet all the crew again, refresh on some names, and I even danced. Junpin and Mickey danced a lot (adorable) and even Julia got to dance with Royce. (Cute kid, looks so sad, but I swear he is doing so much better. Julia spends a lot of time with him, and I've never seen him smile so much as when he danced with her at this thing!)

Regardless of Archie's marital status, we did dance a few times, but it was very friendly. Besides - I got asked to dance by someone else. Masaru Hamatsu, the Pilot of the Zephyr IV. THE pilot.

I was by the punch bowl, chatting with Julia about Royce. I tried to put my hair up, and Julia had helped me, doing some sort of bobby-pin encrusted french braid to contain my short-ish hair. She had just asked me if I thought Junpin and Mickey would make it official when I got a tap on my shoulder.

He's probably as tall as me, a pretty average 5'6", kind of willowy with a kind and shy sort of smile. He bowed his head, and asked me to dance in a sweet Japanese accent. He is very soft spoken, and has this pony tail of downy soft black hair that makes me shiver in envy. His skin is this flawless, sunkissed tan, and even his teeth are perfect. He has a narrow, pointed chin with a razor's edge of a jawline, and almost  Elven cheekbones. (Dorky, I know. I read Tolkien, all right?) I mean when I looked at him, up close and not just a wave from across the room at assembly, my knees got all jello-y...

...How many people read this, anyway? Guess it doesn't matter.

Anyway, Masaru Hamatsu is gorgeous. And he asked me to dance. And he was very very good at it. As is my custom when talking to attractive people, I promptly clam up and nervously titter, and answer whatever questions. He asked if I liked the music - I said, "Sure, yeah it's all right."

He asked if I preferred other music. (His English is impeccable.)

I shrugged and said something like, "Oh I like all kinds of music, mostly the wordless stuff, things that help me focus on work and that I won't get distracted by with singing along OH MY GOD I'm sorry, was that your foot?"

He smiled and made polite conversation while we danced and then he excused himself, and Julia rushed over to give me the Interrogation. I downed a glass of fabricated red wine (not bad for processed beverage) and mumbled something about his face while she giggled about how delightfully red I was.

Then Captain Peterson got up and made the announcement that a member of the crew would like to perform for the rest of us. Julia and I exchanged furtive glances, knowing that it HAD to be our elusive violin player. And sure enough it was.

Masaru Hamatsu, the gorgeous virtuoso, got up in front of everyone and played us a breathtaking Sonata by heart. And when he finished, he gave a shy little bow, smiled over at us, and then vanished.

Julia and I retired shortly after, breathless from wowing and sighing. She determined that I HAD to ask him to sit with us at lunch, at LEAST so we could return the page of music we found. She also chastised me for not following him after he fled the impromptu dance hall. (I told her I was tired and surprised, and it happened so fast, blah blah. Honestly, I don't know what I could have said. What do you say, 'Oh hi, I've been stalking you without knowing that it was you for the past two months or so. You're so very hard to catch!'? Nah.)

And then the next morning I got sick.

Julia said it was Space Flu, common for long space voyages, and now I have to wear a crappy doctor's mask until I stop coughing. And of course, NOW is when I see Masaru EVERYWHERE, so I have to avoid him so he doesn't see me all gross and sickly.

GOD I hate Border Space.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 7

September 30nd, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

Another two weeks in Border Space without an update. Trust me, if there had been something interesting out here in the space between stars I would have recorded it as soon as possible.  As it is, I'm only really logging in because of two things:

Firstly, Corporal Adam Hynes said it was important for our continued mental well being if we took the time to record our daily activities. (He's our mental doctor. Nice guy, rounder then I imagined a military doctor to be, with beady eyes and a smile that seems too big for his face. Jolly is a good word for him too. As well as bald.)  Just so everyone on CoreComm is aware - I don't plan on recording daily events HERE. I sincerely doubt that you want to know what time I woke up, what I had for breakfast, or how many bowel movements I had. (That LAST bit was requested by Seargent Louisa Byrne, our physical doctor.)

I would like to keep this particular record reserved for special things, main events, things like that.  Speaking of which, this brings me to the second reason for an update today:

I have received my first REAL clue! Other then whoever it was plays violin very, very well, and is obviously on good terms with CRAVE in order for her to be in league with them, I managed to find a loose piece of music paper! I had sprinted down the hall at top speed when Iheard the music that night. I ended up oversleeping, so maybe it lured them into a false sense of security when I didn't go looking for them right away last night. Anyway, in their haste to escape, a piece of music paper must have slipped loose, and I recovered it from underneath the music stand!

Now I don't know the first thing about sheet music, other then there are lines and notes on it. It had a page number on it - '3' and a name scribbled on the bottom right corner.

"Rex."

Now if only nicknames were listed on the Roster of the crew members, eh? So now me and Julia are going to do some super sleuthing, and I think we even convinced Junpin and Zee to get in on it. Hopefully I will be able to share the results of my search with you soon!

On a side note, I didn't realize how much Zee appreciated good classical music. Apparently he's heard the music since it started, and was afraid to intervene for fear of 'hindering the auditory experience.' Junpin says that their 'ears' are different from ours, and far more sensitive. Which is weird because... well... I've never seen their ears. Maybe I missed something.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 6

September 15nd, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

Another week or so gone by since my last entry. A lot of little things needing to get done before we hit border space. For those who don't know, Border Space is the belt around our Galaxy that divides our space from the space of other known alien species. We were in hypersleep for the trip to the edge, and before we hit it we had to wake up and make sure everything works. AND we had to run all sorts of drills and things in case of emergencies.

But enough of the boring stuff - my hunt continues. Almost every night I would leave my room and hear the violin playing somewhere in the ship. All my attempts to hound down the mysterious virtuoso have failed. Why? I think CRAVE is helping them to remain anonymous.

It's fascinating, really, how much of a personality CRAVE has been able to adapt from the crew. I've heard her say 'Cool' at least a dozen times, and the other day, I am 100% certain she was being sarcastic at me. I had a cup of coffee with me in the Aft Duct Cross Chamber for my morning analysis, and of course being half asleep and anxious for some brew, I took a big ol' sip and scalded my tongue. Naturally I let out a slew of curses. CRAVE blipped in to ask if I was all right, and I said I was fine but the coffee was super hot.

She responded, "I imagine that's why it says 'hot' on the cup."

Pretty spectacular!

CRAVE and Zee get along the best I think. Sometimes I catch them talking in Zee's native language, which sounds really cool, like a cross between popping bubbles, purring, and someone clicking a remote control at lightspeed.

Where was I getting at? Oh that's right - the Mystery Virtuoso. I told Julia about it and now we both get up to scour the ship. This morning over coffee she told me that she's convinced that whoever was practicing was in Starboard Rec. Room, and then CRAVE would give them a heads up in time to escape being seen. We're devising a plan to corner them on the way back to their bunk.

It's the little things that get me through the day, you know?

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 5

September 2nd, 2163 - Quadrant 34-8-12 - MSR2 Nora Greene

I've been functioning in space for about a month now! Happy anniversary! Today is Mickey's birthday! A bunch of us got together and made him a ridiculously large card. Almost everyone signed it, too, except some of the muscle. (They haven't been very social as a rule. Except with each other.) Also, instead of singing Happy Birthday, we all sang 'Oh Mickey, you're so fine.'

Oh. Right, Mickey is Kevin Michaels, FER2 Shuttle Operations. He's the one who will pilot our escape pods if something happens to the Zephyr. He's been kind of bored lately, considering that the shuttles were the first systems I checked after the primaries. (Thats protocol.) Let me tell you about Mickey: He's about 6'2" and looks Samoan. He's a densely built kind of guy, and if you didn't reach out and poke him you would think it was more fluff then muscle. He's always complaining about how when he was enlisted for the project they made shave off all his hair.

He showed us a picture of him from before and he looks like a caveman! I felt bad for him, too after that. I was jealous of those luscious locks.  Every once and a while we catch him staring forlornly into the mirror. Anyway, he's really nice, funny, jolly kind of guy with a wicked sense of humor and has the demeanor of a guy who will always listen if you need to talk. He and Junpin get along quiiiiiiite well. (Wink wink?)

Oh, by 'We' I mean Julia, Royce, Maria and Myself mainly. It would seem we've built a small group for ourselves, nurses and lunch ladies with the one analyst. I like it, its diverse.

And now for the big news - There is a mystery afoot!

Last night I got up to get myself a drink and as I was walking back to my bunk I heard music. Violin music. I kind of stood there in a half-asleep daze and listened to it for a minute before I decided to go see. CRAVE told me what room the music was coming from (The Starboard Rec. Room) and sure enough, as I went the music got louder. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard - a slow, nostalgic sort of melody that gave the whole walk a dream-like quality. But by the time I reached the Rec Room te music had stopped and there was no one there.

What is more interesting? CRAVE refused to tell me who was playing.

So naturally, I am determined to discover who it is. Lets see if they play tonight!

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 4

August 24th, 2163 - Quadrant 34-8-12 - MSR2 Nora Greene

Another ten days in space, and all is well! All the systems checked out in the green, and we even had our first crew-wide 'staff meeting.' It consisted of a brief introduction to the officers we may or may not have met yet, and a refresher of our mission statement.

It's funny to me that they waited so long to have a meeting like that. But I suppose attending to our main duties aboard the Zephyr held priority over introductions and making friends. Thinking back on when I woke up I really only had my analysis on my mind. Maybe the rest of the crew was fueled by theat compunction too.

OH something I hadn't realized until the meeting - and no one thought it would be nice to warn me in advance - we have an alien crew emmber! One of the Zed is our ZEHT operator - which makes sense, considering the tech itself is alien. His name - as copied from the crew roster - is Xilin Cthi Linzdar. At least, thats what it is spelled like using our alphabet. I'm pretty sure they could have come up with an easier phonetic spelling, but who knows. From what I gathered, its kind of pronounced like Zee-link-tee Lynn-zar.

Julie introduced me to him after the announcements were made and we had some time to mingle with the rest of the crew. He isn't slimy, or scaley like people say they are, regardless of the tentacles. His skin is actually like a cross between elephant-hide and a stingray. But even when he's all bound up to look like a bipedal being he's pretty tall and lanky. Its sort of like he saw a picture of a human once, and tried to mimic its shape from memory. So his limbs are too long, and his face looks wierd, and where knees would be (I guess?) they bend backwards instead. But hey when nature gives you like thirty noodly tentacles instead of arms and legs, you make do with what you have, right?

Oh. He said that we could call him Zee. 

Also met a guy named Archimedes - what a great name! He looks like a bookworm, but he's really funny and very personable. Now, if only he wasn't married. (Darn!) He's a Flight Engineer, general maintenance. I didn't really get a chance to talk to too many other people, though I think I saw all the crew in one place for the first time. We're a funky bunch of people. But so far everyone seems to get along well enough!
Lets hope it stays that way - I have more blips and beeps to check.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 3

August 13th, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

I was watching some of the Mission Specialist do their exercizes, and realized it had been a few days since I updated my Logs. At least I know I'm not slacking the most - I don't think Gilda has even looked at CoreComm since she woke up. Seems like she thinks the whole Log projects is too close to keeping a sissy diary.

Heaven forbid she acts like a sissy.

Anyway, their drills were fun to watch for a while, but now I'm bored and figured it was as good a time as any to update you. It has been about 9 days since we all woke up, and so far no terrible things have befallen us! I watched a lot of space-movies when I was growing up, so trust me, I was prepared for calamity.

Oh geez, I haven't really described myself. I don't know if thats a thing or not, because I figure the LAST Log people are going to want to read about is the System Analyst's account. But oh well. I'm average height, certainly not tall, but not short either. I've got light brown hair that I keep pretty short so it stays out of my face, and I have hazel eyes and what my mom calls a 'button nose.' I'm an only child, raised by a single mom and I went into military school as early as they would let me.

Now that the personal bit is out of the way, let me tell you how the Zephyr IV is doing! All systems are in the green, and the cryo-tubes are at 38% capacity. (They have to recharge before they are used again.) CRAVEII seems to be taking ahold of the secondary systems with ease - things like CoreComm transmissions, inner-ship comms & atmosphere generators (like the windows that have scenery in them, or the temperature regulators.)

Speaking of which, CRAVEII (Crave for short,) is a really well programmed A.I. She's comprehensive, and takes direction without fail. Her imperatives are pretty basic - preserve the crew then the mission, etc... but she understands a lot of nuances of the language which I didn't expect. Liek 'cool.' I'm used to A.I.'s making some comment like 'Oh, I apologize if the temperature is not to your liking.'

But Crave, instead of commenting about temperature, acknowledged the slang. It was neat.

Well, Julie's here, and its time for Lunch, so I'm going to wrap this up. So far, so good! Signing off.

------- End Trans. --------

Entry 2

It has been a hectic few days out here in Border Space. I've been busy doing system checks almost non stop. In the server core its really hard to tell how much time goes by. At least in the halls the lights change so it at least FEELS like a different time of day.

I've been eating my meals (When I make it in time) with the two RNs in my bunk room, Junpin and Julia. Me and Julia (Excuse me, Julia and I,)  are getting along great! We both like the same music, and had alot of similar hobbies back on Earth, like biking and kayaking and outdoors stuff. Junpin looked at us like we were insane, then asked us why the hell were we on a spaceship if we were outdoorsy people.

Me and Julia just looked at each other, and she said exactly what I was thinking: "Because we're going to find NEW outdoorsy places, and we're going to experience them FIRST." As an afterthought, you know, when the giggling stopped, I added that our mission was important, and that we could do a lot of good out here, and the fact that I may not see a bicycle for a few years isn't that big of a deal.

Junpin muttered, "Not yet."

I met a few more crew members - honestly, its a bit fuzzy because I've been so focused on my work. I remember a few pretty specifically. There's Archie - Short for Archimedes, how cool is that! - with a last name I couldn't even try to spell, so I'm copying it from the crew roster. Triplozenski. He's a Flight Engineer, and a really funny guy. He and Gilda knew each other from before, and she introduced us. He's a slender kind of guy, with one of those long faces and really bouncy eyebrows that look like they pop right off of his head when he looks surprised. He has really long arms and hands, and a genuine sort of smile.

Then there's Sargent Morris Baxter and his Ensigns, Maria and Royce. He's the chef, and the other two are his peppy little lackeys. They're pretty chipper people, which sort of alarmed me the first day or two. Me and Julia hypothesized that they had something special in their Cryo-juice. Apparently they're just peppy. Which is hilarious, because the Sargent is this ex-drill Sargent Marine who seems like he'd be more comfortable shouting orders in a war zone then serving processed steak to researchers.

I like them though - They drive Junpin up the wall with their pep, but I think it's nice to see happy faces. I'm just an optimist like that, I suppose.

Well, I'm going to look over more read-outs of system schematics. Hope I'm doing this transmission thing right. Nothing of super note has occurred yet, but the Cap still wants us taking notes.

------- End Trans. -------

Entry 1

August 4th, 2163 - Border Space - MSR2 Nora Greene

Captain Peterson has encouraged all of us to make good use of the Travel Log program that CRAVEII provides. Each of our rooms has a console with a digital keyboard for our use. Apparently it was one of the updates from our latest overhaul. She told us that it was imperative to record the events of our trip for the pursuit of knowledge and science, or something.

I wish I could be more cohesive, I just got out of cryo ... hours ago, after briefing and eating. My brain still feels like there are ice chips rattling around in there. (I know that's silly, and it doesn't work like that, but the feeling is still there.)

Anyway, I've never had to do this before, so I guess I will just start with my name. I am Mission Specialist Rank 2 Nora Greene, System Analyst for the Zephyr IV. I was recruited by Captain Peterson after touring with her on the UFW Reginald. (That stands for United Forces Warship.) I thought it was really nice of her to think of me, especially on a ship so huge. I was one out of 12 other Analysts, so you could imagine my surprise. We had a few interactions before she asked me, most of which were just work related. Every once in a while she would sit with the techies for meals, maybe she remembered me from that.

Or maybe she just liked my resume?

Anyway, Captain Peterson never struck me as a big military enthusiast, so I'm glad she got to Captain a Zephyr. (She was always looking for the peaceful way out, which is nothing like I would imagine a high ranking UFEC officer to respond to ANY situation. No offense.)

In any case, I obviously agreed, and here I am. I have some bunk mates - three other women in this room at least. One is Gilda Pearson. She's a Mission Specialist too, I met her before Cryo, but she's more a gun-toting marine then anything. She sticks to herself, or hangs out with the other Combat-oriented meat-heads. Sharing my space is Junpin Chen. She's a nurse. And her name is pronounced: Yoon-Pin, not 'jumpin'. (She and Gilda aren't going to get along.)

The last one is Julia Peters, also an RN. Sweetest lady I've ever met. She's really friendly, and we're already talking about going to the mess hall and seeing if we can find snacks. As a matter of fact - here I go.

Oh, CRAVEII updated the crew roster, too, so you can take a look in case you don't know who I'm talking about. I was able to indicate which one is me! But I'm sure whoever is reading this knows their way around a Prime OS. The display through CRAVEII is super flashy and I needed a minute to figure it out, here in my cryo-brained delirium. All the Zephyr information is on the left side there.

Welcome to the Zephyr IV. I'll be sure to obey the Cap and put in some more entries. For now - Snacks.

------ End Trans. -------

Initializing

CRAVEII Login Accepted

Boot-up...

Approved

Initializing Subroutines...

Accepted

Booting Primary Functions...

Approved

Booting Secondary Functions...

Approved

Gravity Generators Go

Life Support Systems Go

Initializing 'DeFrost' Procedures...

Accepted

Initializing Intercom Interface

Accepted. Proceed.

We have reached Border Space. Please use caution when exiting your cabin. Cryogenic Systems are in shut down mode, please do not touch the displays. Please continue to your lockers. They are located down the left hand hallway by my interface module on this level.

Welcome to the Zephyr IV.