fletcher and Denika, take two
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It should have been fine, she did everything right, but according to her readings it's... not. At all. The ionic damper on her hyperdrive is leaking; the good news is that she should be able to get one more jump out of it, if she acts fast; the bad news is that she'd have to disassemble half her drive to replace it via servo; she can do it, if she's careful, but getting everything back together and checked and calibrated is going to take months. If she had a brawn it'd be simple, of course, they could get at the damper no problem, this kind of thing is half of what brawns are for, but - well, she should have been fine without one. (She had the damper stress-tested before she left Earth, even; it's right there in the logs.)

Well. Should and a credit will get her an audio file; there's nothing for it. And there is one other bit of good news; she scouted out an inhabited planet just a couple hops ago, close enough that she should be able to get to it with one jump unless her luck is really terrible - she cycles her internal lights in a superstitious warding gesture at the thought - and then she'll at least have something to do while she waits for help to make the trek out to her.


A couple days later, the news is still mostly bad. The damper is in warranty, and she has the upgrade that covers delivering it to her; what it doesn't cover is installation, so her options are to hire an engineer to come out and install it, or do it herself. On top of that, it's going to take six to eight months for her new damper to get to her, following the mapped path she took to get here; the remaining portion of her scouting loop is much shorter, but without that portion of the path mapped, no delivery ship is going to be equipped to go that way. It also means that if she wants an engineer to come out and install the damper, she'll have to pay for a year of their time, at least, to get to her and back.

At least the planet looks promising. She'd only taken a cursory look, the first time through, enough to see that she wasn't going to be able to get very close without being spotted: they don't look fully spacefaring yet, they don't have an orbital station or any settlements off of their planet of origin, but they're close, with a handful of satellites and other signs of a mature tech base.

She's not going to get any further fighting with her hardware supplier; they've put in the delivery order and they'll have tracking information for her in a few days. She might as well stop hiding behind this gas giant and go see what the planet makes of her showing up in their orbit.

 

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She isn't expecting a response when she hails the planet, cautiously broadcasting a standard first contact message on multiple EM frequencies. But after a few hours, her console lights up with an incoming transmission. After a long silence, a bewildered male voice comes through.

"Unknown vessel, this is Central Command of the Allied Nations of Terra. We...have received your transmission. Are you in need of assistance?"

Her pulse quickens. First contact, and with a government authority, no less. This could go very badly, or be her salvation. She takes a deep breath and transmits on the same channel, keeping her tone friendly but professional.

"Greetings, Central Command. I am an independent long-range explorer. My ship has suffered drive failure and requires extensive repairs. I humbly request permission to enter orbit around your world while replacement parts are delivered. I come in peace and mean you no harm."

There is another long pause. She hopes she sounds non-threatening enough. Her ship is well-armed, though she has no intention of using any of its weapons. Finally the reply comes through, sounding stunned.

"Explorer vessel, you have permission to enter orbit. Do not deviate from the approved trajectory. We will dispatch a ship to rendezvous and escort you in. Welcome to Terra."

She lets out a shaky breath of relief as she receives orbital approach coordinates and a flight path. Fortune has smiled on her today. But as she sets course for the planet called Terra, she wonders uneasily what else this unexpected detour might bring.

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On the way to orbit, she sends them a bit more context, explaining first that she's a brainship, a kind of cyborg with a spaceship for a body, housing a living human mind. She would usually have an assistant - called a brawn - for them to interact with, easing the awkwardness of this unfamiliar situation, but she's opted not to, having not expected to be interacting with anyone like this; they'll have to make do with audio and video transmissions.

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The Terran ship that meets Denika in orbit is sleek and silver, though not nearly as advanced as her own craft. As it pulls up alongside, a video feed flickers to life on her console, showing the bridge. A stern-looking woman stands at the helm, regarding Denika pensively.
"Explorer vessel, this is Captain Anthropic of the TSS Hawking. We will escort you to a stable orbit. Our orders are to monitor your ship closely during your stay here. I trust you will cooperate fully with any requests we make?"
Though phrased as a question, it's clearly not meant as one. Denika inclines her head in assent.
"Of course, Captain. I am at your disposal. My goal is only to repair my ship as quickly as possible so I may continue my journey."
The captain nods curtly. "Very well. Follow our lead, explorer. We will show you to your allotted orbit."
The sleek ship turns smoothly and accelerates, Denika's brain humming as she matches its course and speed. She can't help but admire its graceful lines, even as her unease grows. It's been a long time since she's been at the mercy of any government or military, let alone that of a new alien world. But she has little choice if she wants her hyperdrive repaired.
As the Terran planet looms huge before her, Denika steels herself for whatever may come next in this unexpected detour

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