The Beaded Tapestry

Dear Victoria,

Ahh!, A perfect beverage for the initiation of my travel correspondence with you. The dispensary on board the Infinity has Grecian mountain tea available on the menu, which was a pleasant surprise when I perused the choices. I now sit, with a warm cup in hand at one of the breakout areas, ready to start our one sided conversation. This sage based tonic became one of my favorite finds during a trip to Crete. Since that time, it has become my go to drink when I feel a drop in my immunity. My internal barometer told me it might need a little help with its defense system over this next leg of the journey. Being surrounded by hordes of people, trapped in a confined space for the next six weeks with no chance of escape to fresh air does not give me confidence my system will hold up intact. So I listened to this instinct and sought out an immunity booster. As I sip the fragrant liquid, the atmosphere of Greece returns to my mind. The scent of the full sun baking my skin, mixed with the feel of gentle waves gliding over my bare feet, comes back to me from that island adventure. The pleasant memories mixed with the natural healing properties of the tea’s ingredients, hopefully will give my system the boost it needs for the next few weeks.

The Infinity is picking up speed as we head for the outer planetary limits of our solar system. I also notice as you did, that the vibrations caused by the ship’s acceleration has a calming effect on my nerves. Luckily this effect comes at an opportunist moment. The vessels occupants have just been through the orientation for the hibernation protocol that is set to begin in a few weeks. For this reason I needed something to distract me from all the complications bombarding my brain. I knew of the risks before, but to sit on a ship with no chance to back out is a lot different than reading case studies in the safety of my lab back at Oxford. Hearing that you may not awaken from stasis at the end of the journey, no matter how slight the probability, while experiencing the vibrations of the ship’s build up in speed is a whole different experience. Families with young children mumbled worried phrases around me, acting as if they had never heard the details of the process before. They frequently glanced down with concern at their offspring playing on the floor of the orientation room as the ominous words were spoken by the medical staff spokesman. I also know how they felt since I began to realize the full impact of these risks for the first time.

So I sit here with my beverage, hoping against hope that some magic lies within its depths, sending molecules of healing to my cells. It is a lot to ask from a few leaves, but since it is the last refuge of the original herbal genus and also a location of one of the bee colonies of Professor Simone, I am placing a great deal of responsibility in these Crete origin ingredients. It somehow all ties in with my current situation. My secret traveling companions, the healing goal of our finished product and my connection to the Anomaly all contribute to my destined future. There must be some distinct possibility that all things combined will sway the universe in our favor and steer a smooth course to our ultimate goal. This sounds so ridiculously philosophical and almost mystical, but I must find come type of solace where I can. Normally you are my source of positive energy, but since I have been robbed of my muse over the past year, I must search for it elsewhere. If that indeed is in the fate and power of the universe (and a small gathering of leaves) than so be it. So, as I said at the beginning of this correspondence, I will put a little faith in my tea. It may be that each element has an equal sway in the grand scheme of things.

I hope your sleep is peaceful.  It gives me hope that mine also will be.

Love

Annalis

Dear Victoria,

As I await my fellow travelers, my mind focuses on the predicament of the Earth. With all the new restrictions on migration, I wonder if the administration who has initiated these new rules has forgotten the past woes of our species. The property wars of the last century and the near extinction of our elders in the decades of the pandemics all lead to asking ourselves the relevant question. How can we block out the memory of the thirty years of evolving epidemics that plagued the beginning of the twenty-first century? The genocide of an entire generation of individuals, unable to defend themselves from a geriatric killer. So much knowledge lost forever when disaster slowly enveloped most of the post 70 population. I have reread these histories as I await my embankment and wonder why the government has again set the Earth up for overpopulation. It makes no sense to me, unless the actions are but a power struggle to control the masses. I believed this type of attitude was well behind us, but it seems history continues to repeat itself; washing away the pain and tribulation of long ago as if they were pages in a fictional novel.

I spent many hours staring at the distant Earth as I await our departure, asking myself these questions; frustrated by the delay. The planning administrator wearies of my constant status checks. It does not help that there is little else to occupy my mind since the data centers on the transfer station are limited to general information and advanced engineering and station operational programs. Our three day delay has now stretched to six and there is no favorable news to lighten this predicament! The only bright event today was the arrival of a few more travelers in my area of the station. They are also bound for the Infinity, so this supplies me with some additional likeminded company. We still miss over a third of the allotted passengers, but at least some are receiving their permissions to leave Earth. The planning officer did inform me that the ship’s crew is complete, so at least there is some positive news.

I have arranged and rearranged my quarters at least three times during my time here. I hope with the new additions the time will pass quicker, but without any indication how long this delay will be I am at my wits end. If we miss the launch window at the outskirts of the solar system, what will that mean? Can the ship make up time like a delayed flight on Earth? So many questions without any answers and this does nothing to relieve my mental status. I was never one to be idle for long, so this forced inertness is frustrating. I wish at times like this I had your ability to self-entertain. I could attempt to create something artistic, but you know what a disaster that would turn out to be. I guess I will continue to release my frustrations out on the historic blunders for our ancestral government and also the current ones. At least it gives me someone to blame.

Love

Annalis

The surrounding space is black as ebony when our travels begin. The abyss of the cosmos awaits our call, to travel beyond our native world. Adventure beckons as we board our ship, to leave all behind and head beyond into the great expanse to create a new epic.

Dear Victoria,

It is always pleasant to start a journey with a Homeric poem, so here is an attempt to capture in words how I am feeling at this moment. We are finally aboard the Infinity after a long arduous delay of eight days and the relief of being underway to our destination is releasing. The quarters assigned to me are not much bigger than on the transfer station, but they are better designed for long term occupancy. The research library included with my travel package is very thorough and I will be able to stay occupied during the six week travel to the outer rim. I still retain access to the university database while in the vicinity of Earth, but I will lose that connection a few weeks out. This short time span should allow me to wrap up the last few things for Oxford before I am out of range. After that, I can concentrate on general research in anticipation of my arrival on the Phycodurus. We will also be utilizing the jump location near Pluto for our Gambel process as your ship did, but with the current coordinates of Mars, we will not be privileged with a view of that planet as you did during your journey out of the solar system.

The ship is very luxurious and I feel privileged after the sparseness of the transfer station. There are many communal areas to explore and in the three days since we boarded I have explored many of the options. The talk among the passengers in these areas has centered mainly on the immigration fiasco over the first few days, but now the discussions have evolved into the much more relevant topic of New London. It is interesting to hear all the different reasons people are leaving the Earth and heading for this new undertaking. There are as expected many research fellows such as myself, hoping to find new insight into the Anomaly, but there are also families and individuals searching for a new life. Maybe they are hoping for a fresh beginning under the influence of the creature occupying the space in the Alpha Centauri system or just a new prospective on life. A few artists have been utilizing the community areas also and I have tried to engage then in conversation when encountering them. This is probably an attempt on my part to find a substitute for your missing influence, but I am also curious what goals they are striving for once they engage with the creature. This has not been a very successful endeavor, since most of these individuals are very closed to any type of interrogation about their purpose. I have received only a few snippets about working with New London’s native color variances or light studies, but nothing more specific than that. I guess we all hold our dreams and aspirations close to our chest, fearing a possible encroachment on our ideas. I know I also have side stepped a few enquiries about my own plans once I reach our destination. I only mentioned my first stop off at the Phycadurus, since it will be no secret that I am leaving the Infinity once we reach that point in the journey. Strangely two passengers that were involved in this discussion seemed to know this point already and jumped at the chance to interrogate me further. The research duo seemed to be traveling to the station themselves, but only for a short stay before traveling on to New London when their business was accomplished. What that business was and what the purpose of their trip was they did not disclose. They both brought up knowing I would accompany them on the transfer shuttle between the Infinity and the space station, before I mentioned my itinerary. Very strange, but it was never a secret I would be destined for that location once our deep space portion of the trip was accomplished. I only wonder when and where they overheard this piece of information. I did not supply them further information even though they evidently wanted more.

So I am at last beginning my journey after a year delay. Let us hope the process moving forward goes as planned. I only need to get past the possible complications from the stasis procedure. I assume my decision to have a full regeneration of my missing limb, instead of a prosthetic, will turn out to be a good choice.

Write again to you soon.

Love

Annalis

There is some debate on this one. The pattern said it is a bird. Everyone else sees a sea horse.