When we entered the orbit of the planet Baytirus that day, we never expected the Ventura to be immediately destroyed. We didn’t know we weren’t the first people to find that planet. But, someone knew.” --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Logs of Master Engineer Wes Hagan, senior surviving engineering member of the Ventura's crew. Recorded on 26291010, over three decades ago, and stored in the data being analyzed. <<<>>> Barcus woke two hours early, as usual, before the Pal’s alarm. Pal was the personal assistant layer of the Ventura’s central artificial intelligence system. Nobody ever called them by those words, though. Everyone called them Pal and Caisy. “Good morning, Pal. What’s the plan for the day?” Barcus said, stretching, as he sat up in his bunk. At these words, Pal shifted the walls of the 3x5 meter room to a predawn mountain scene. It was majestic in its ultrahigh definition beauty. It also conveyed data. Barcus knew when the sun peeked from behind those mountains it would be time to go.
