Excerpts from the diary of Mrrnala Riar, daughter of Marettan pioneers
Febrruarry 21st, 2333
Dear Diary,
We are traveling through outer space! The sun has gotten smaller and smaller ever since we took off, and now it looks no different from any other star! My teacher tells me to call it Fierias now, because we will have a new sun when we land: The red sun of Maretta. That still looks like a star now too, and I have to check the astronomical charts to figure out which one it is. The star straight ahead through the viewport is called Reticuli, and they say it is green up close. Imagine, a green star! There will even be people living there. The colony ship that left two years ahead of us should have a base all set up and ready when we get there, so our ship can refuel and we can spend some time with the colonists there. I hope I meet a friend there ... but even if I do, I'll be going on to Maretta. I don't think there's anything I can do to make my parents agree to stay. They say Reticuli 4 is big and cold, and Maretta 3 is a beautiful world covered in glistening oceans, but what good is the beach when you don't have a friend to share it?
Maybe there will be someone at Maretta before we get there. Maybe even a Sakkra! Nobody else wants to talk about them anymore, but I saved the news clipping in my scrapbook. I've kept it safe for four years now.
That's the first big news I ever remember. My parents say we had a big technological breakthrough just the year before - something to do with ecological restoration - but I was still too small a kitten to know what was happening then. Anyway, if the Sakkra have six star systems already, and maybe more since then, maybe they can find Maretta too, and I can make friends with one of them. I wonder what Sakkra children look like. Or Darloks too. They say a Darlok colony ship was chased away from Maretta sometime last year. My parents are very worried. They think the Darloks might attack us, but I'm not afraid. Darloks are probably just another kind of people like us and maybe we can be friends. Besides, we'll have protection: More than a dozen Minutecat laser fighters are already getting ready to join us, just in case.
I have to go now. It's time for school again. Please wish for someone to be friends with me, dear diary.
Love,
Mrrnala
Aprril 5th, 2335
Dear Diary,
I have been silently thanking our Propulsion engineers every single night. Everyone has been complaining about how much funding they're getting when they just come back with failure after failure, but for me it means a little bit more time here playing games on the steppes of Reticuli 4 with Shanria.
It can't go on much longer though. I keep hoping the best scientists will get involved in something else instead of working so hard on something that might get solved soon even without them, but getting us out to Maretta seems like a huge priority. As soon as they develop Hydrogen fuel cells for our ship, my whole family will have to get back on board and leave Shanria behind forever even though she is the best friend I ever had!
Wish me luck, dear diary! There has to be some way I can stay here with my best friend!
Love,
Mrrnala
Septemberr 16th, 2335
Dear Diary,
Shanria had another black eye today, and also a little cut right on her jawbone. She said she walked into a door again. The doors must be very dangerous at her house. When I asked her, "Again?!" she said, "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty clumsy," but she doesn't seem clumsy at all when we're playing games. Her parents should move to a less dangerous house. I noticed her father was hurt today too: He had a bandage over the knuckles of his right paw. I thought she could introduce us, but she wanted to play spies instead. It is a game she is good at, like hide-and-go-seek, and it has lots of sneaking quietly and quickly running and jumping in it. It is a very fun game.
My parents are still talking about all the colonists coming up to join us here from Xudax - the ones I wrote about last month, when we heard there'd be seven million aboard new transports by the end of the year. That's more than three times as many people as live on the planet now, but it's nothing close to the thirty-four million still on their way since last year! Every time I remember that number, it seems more impossible, but if we can just hold out until they get here, Reticuli will be like a regular home! I'm even used to the green light from its sun. It will be weird to reach Maretta and look up every day to see a glowing red ball in the sky. It's night now though, and even if the stars are in different places, they'll still be the stars. Good night, dear diary.
Love,
Mrrnala
Marrch 29th, 2336
Dear Diary,
Everybody's excited about the news from our explorers: They met another Darlok scout at Berel, the farthest star we've ever been able to reach, and guess what they found there!
It's an amazing jungle world, with even more space than here on Reticuli! Maybe someday Shanria and I can move there and be together again. How many times have I cursed the new hydrogen fuel cells already? Not enough times.
Maybe Shanria will know what to do. Maybe we can plan to go to Berel together when we grow up. Send your best wishes, dear diary; we're going to need them!
Love,
Mrrnala
Januarry 3rd, 2336
Dear Diary,
Everything is wonderful in the whole world! Actually it's not a world, it's just a ship, but I mean in the whole galaxy! I can finally tell you my secret I've been saving up for months! It was all Shanria's idea, and it worked completely! We finally made the jump to hyperspace, with all of the fighters escorting us, and nobody knew I was secretly sneaking food to her when she stowed away onboard! Shanria is going with us to Maretta, and now nobody can stop us from being best friends forever and ever!
Good night, dear diary. I hope you're always as happy as I am today!
Love,
Mrrnala
Januarry 24th, 2338
Dear Diary,
We all got a big scare today when the Darloks attacked our scouts up at Maretta! Their colony ships weren't armed, but they had three Venom destroyers!
They fired missiles at our scouts, for real and not pretends, and one of our pilots was even killed when they blew up her ship! Luckily, they ran out of missiles and two of our scouts survived, so they had to run away, but I'm really glad we have our Minutecat fighters to escort us now.
Be safe, dear diary!
Love,
Mrrnala
May 28th, 2340
Dear Diary,
The big landing went off without a hitch ... almost! We came in on the night side and dropped some landing beacons to guide us in and record our arrival. Well, somebody forgot to update the landing beacon calendars, so the film all shows the date as last year! Don't worry though: We haven't been travelling in time. It's just a glitch, and everything else about the landing went fine.
Maretta 3 is spectacularly beautiful, and the light of the red sun dancing on the waves at sunrise is just breath-taking. I haven't decided yet if I like the red light in the daytime, but I'm going to make an effort at least! I could use a nap right now, and there's a perfect way to get one: Shanria and I are going to hit the beach! Reticuli 4 was a cold, cold world, and apart from its steppes, I've been living on a spaceship since I was just a kitten! We're none of us kittens anymore though, and I figure, as long as we're resting from all the work getting things set up last night, we might as well do it in such a way that certain tomcats we know will find themselves wandering out of their way, and then find themselves dreaming - awake or asleep - about Shanria and me.
Sweet dreams, dear diary.
Love,
Mrrnala
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NEXT: The Battleground
