The Bones of Night #20 What Remains

Kazuhiro has made it to the Lander now he needs to find out what happened to the Excavation Crew.

Dear Investigator,

I have the rather strange duty to fill in for Ms. Aurelius as she has apparently gone missing, much like so many others have. To tell you the truth, I am very much so out of the loop here, and trying to catch up as best as I can. I was the Deputy Director of Exo Mining Ship Maintenance until this morning. The fact that they had to go so far down the totem pole to get to me taking up the reins of this role is frankly terrifying. There should be at least fifteen people in the line of succession in front of me. But, here we are. Now I understand why all my repair requisitions have gone unanswered…

I’ve been reviewing Ms. Aurelius’s notes on this incident, and while there’s a lot that is locked behind an encrypted data vault, it seems like she was convinced that something in these crew logs would reveal what is behind these disappearances. She has references towards something called Operation Whisper here, but those seem unrelated to the disappearances. She seemed to think this set of logs held the key to what is happening.

I really hope this helps. I’ve heard these disappearances have even started on Earth. Hopefully, wherever you are, you are unaffected by what’s been happening.

Garret Folley
Acting Director of Deep Space Mining Initiatives and Exploration
Frontier Dynamics Corporation, Interstellar

Mission Day 57 – Supplemental
Executive Officer Kazuhiro Inaba

I’ve just made it to the excavation site. It’s a ghost town here. Machinery and equipment are sitting like whoever was using them just walked away. The utility bay for the excavation lander is wide open with kit half-unloaded. Looks like they started taking out the surface comms tower, but the first crate for the base is just waiting on a loader.

I’ve got this feeling, like a pressure and ringing in my ears, that I can’t shake. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a suit, especially for this long. Probably just nerves…

I’m stepping in the airlock now to see what is going on in the hab and command module of the lander. I’ll keep the log recording as I go in.

<LanderOPS Vsight OS voice preset 2A> Standby. Beginning Atmosphere Cycle.

Well, the ship at least has power.

<air hisses in the background as the rustling of what sounds like clothing is audible>

Air lock and decon is working properly. I’ll keep my suit on in case there’s an issue inside, in accordance with rescue protocol.

<audible metallic clicking, followed by a low rumble>

Alright, I’m inside. The life support control panel indicates there is stable atmosphere in the module, so that’s a good start. Looks like all the crew suits are sitting in their lockers. Confirming now on the status screen… right, all suits accounted for. So, unless someone learned how to breathe in a near vacuum, everyone should be here.

Entering the main hab now

<LanderOPS Vsight OS voice preset 2A> Securing airlock door, Standby.

<audible rumble followed by metallic clicking>

Jesus, the suit sensors read that it is ten below freezing in here.  Did something happen to the environmental controls? Everything has a thin layer of frost on it. I don’t see anyone in the common space… yeah, no one under the table or anything. Kitchen is clear, but all the cabinets and drawers are open…

I’m walking over to the bunk room… they are all still rolled up and stowed on the walls. At least a third of the twelve crew members should be here resting for their shift. Where the hell is everyone?

Checking the head. No one there. No one in the shower either. Fuck, are they all in the control room?

<LanderOPS Vsight OS voice preset 2A> Command Access required, please give your Access Code.

Inaba Tango Kilo 421 Execute.

<LanderOPS Vsight OS voice preset 2A> Command Access Recognized, welcome XO Inaba.

<audible metallic clicking, followed by a low rumble>

Alright, door is open, looks like just the ambient lighting is on… ah, there’s the switch. There we go. What the… fuck, there’s no body here.

All the consoles are off. Looks like the flight key is gone, so even if I wanted to turn the console on, they wouldn’t even work. But, fuck. Where the fuck is everyone?!

Damnit, I can’t even switch on the personnel locators if the flight key isn’t in.

Fuck…

Ok, think…

Right, there’s storage for supplies for the crew, and the life support and engineering bay. I can’t imagine everyone squeezing in there but…where the hell else would they be?

Stepping out of the control room now. God damn, I wish that ringing in my ears would stop…

OK, opening storage now…

What the fu--

<Warning, incomplete file reconstruction. Unable to play back the possible 45 minutes remaining of the log.>

Mission Day 58
Flight Officer Dean Castillo

I’m happy I asked Cap to let me work a double shift now. It’s about an hour into B Shift, and the shuttle Kaz dropped down in just took off. It’ll take about fifteen minutes for him to get past where we lost contact with him during landing.

As happy as I am to see him coming back, there’s only a few things this can mean. None of them are good. I mean, the excavation crew still isn’t out working on the dig, and the lander isn’t taking off either, so… fuck. Something is wrong with the crew, or the ship, or both, really. Either way I think this gig is fucked. Even if the crew and ship are fine, they are now a week behind schedule.

Hell, I’ll be fine with all these readings and charts I’ve made, but everyone’s gonna be on the hook for a huge loss recovery fine, or late delivery fine. Neither of them are a great option. Most of the crew will probably be so deep in debt that they’ll become wards of the Collective, working for free for years while incurring even more debt for their living expenses. That if they don’t reach out to the Syndicate to buy up their debt. That’s just as bad. Most on the ship know that first hand, but not like there’s much choice. The Syndicate at least pays better.

Mission Day 58
Medical Operator Dr. Frederick Saginaw, MD

XO and one of the diggers made it back from the surface. Cleared decon. Need radiation treatment, especially Fisk. Must not have been taking his rad meds. Also has frostbite on his fingers, toes, ears and cheeks.

Fisk appears catatonic. Unresponsive to stimulus. Kaz had to carry him to the shuttle. Said he hasn’t said a word, or moved, since he found him.

Rest of the crew is missing. Kaz searched the whole ship, no sign of them.

Working on a cocktail for Fisk to see if we can snap him out of it. Need to know what happened. Don’t know if it’ll work.

Tinnitus is acting up again. Took some Fix Up.

Mission Day 58
Security Personnel Meredith Andrews

Jesus Christ, I don’t know what’s more disturbing, the fact that pretty much the entire excavation crew is just gone, or that look in Fisk’s eyes… Much less seeing Fisk dead silent. The dick never knows when to shut up, whether it’s starting fights with the crew, sexual harassment, or spewing some bullshit story about some monster haul he dug years ago. I have never seen him quiet.

God, it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. I fucking hate that asshole but…this just feels so surreal.

What the fuck did he see? Where the hell is everyone? Sounds like Dean is taking some more intensive scans of the surface to try to get some answers, but we’ve tried that before Kaz went down. What good will that do now?

Kaz has been strangely quiet since he came back too. I mean, it’s not like he’s a chatter box, but we always got along pretty well. He seems so… distant.

Basically, just said that Fisk was alone, he couldn’t find anyone else, and he carried him back. Otherwise he either ignores questions, or says he doesn’t want to talk about it. I listened to his log from the landing, and it sounds like normal stuff till he opened the storage room, then it just cut off. Did… did something happen in there?

I’m going to see if there’s any other scans or something Doc can do. Something is really wrong here. Harlan missing is going to have to wait.

Mission Day 58
Sanitation Technician Chip Ross

Just caught Kaz doing… I don’t know what, to be honest. He was just standing in front of a window outside of the Mess Hall, staring at the rock we’re mining. I tried to get his attention, ask him about what he saw, but he just… it's like he didn’t hear me, wouldn’t hear me.

Came back after I ate, and the guy was still there, hadn’t moved an inch. What the hell is that all about?

God damn, I must be getting too old for this shit. My head is killing me. I’ll check in with Doc once I give the recyclers a check.

Mission Day ?
Unknown Crewmember. Error retrieving personnel records. Please contact Frontier Dynamics Information Security Team.

When we stepped out into the stars, could we ever have known of what lurked beyond our sight?

It’s so dark here.
Shorn of light,
Even in memory.

Cold as bones,
Left to dry and waste,
Washed to nothingness
By boundless night.

How I wish to be
Something
Again.

Thank you!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the dark future of The Bones of Night. What do you think happened to The Prospector? Let me know in the comments, or on social media! Don’t forget to spread the word, and share the site with your friends!

Words cannot express how much I appreciate you for taking some time out of your day to see what I’ve been working on. I hope to see you soon!