Edge of the Known: The Hunt for the Lucky Star - Comet Hunter

At the frozen edge of the Known, where abandoned outposts crumble beneath dying suns, a lone explorer arrives with a singular purpose—to catch a comet no one has ever reached. But fate has other plans, and a chance meeting ignites a partnership that may uncover secrets older than the stars themselves.

**Characters: **
Plato - young adventurer
Light seeker – the leader of the group Speed of Light

Comet Hunter

The small vessel streaked through the black sea of stars toward a small grey moon. The vessel was long and white and stood out against the dark background behind it. The vessel fired retro blasters to slow its speed as it made its approach to the surface below. The ship slowly landed, long strut coming out and embracing the uneven terrain below.
The moon was at the edge of “The Known” which represented the furthest place man has explored. It was a research base on a far-off moon that was once supposed to usher in the next stage of exploration in the area. However now, in its derelict state it was just a series of frozen out buildings, unprotected by the elements outside. The moon had a very small amount of atmosphere, not enough to survive in but enough to look like it was not subject to the vacuum of space.
The ship powered down, exuding solar panels to catch the light that hit the moon to supplement its internal drives. A ramp descended from a porthole which then opened to reveal a solitary figure. The spacesuit clad individual climbed down the ramp, pausing momentarily as they set foot on the bleak lunar landscape.
The figure walked, taking out a small device that scanned the surrounding area. A strange light emanated from the machine, flowing over everything around, naturally occurring and organic alike. The field seemed to be reacting to something, something out of place nearby. The figure walked over, opening a large metal door in the derelict structure. The astronaut took pause as the door slowly went into a decompression cycle. There was power and air inside. The figure let the airlock cycle to safe air and he took off his helmet. He was young, with long black hair. He carried his helmet with him as he went further into the facility.
Inside he found both signs of long forgotten neglect as well of signs of new activity. Eventually he found himself in a small galley where another man in a space suit looked through the supplies.
“Hello.” The newly arrived astronaut said to the man searching. “I thought this place was abandoned.”
The other man turned, he was older with a neatly cropped beard and thick goggles. “It is…for the most part. Who might you be?”
“I am Plato.” The young space adventurer announced. “And you?”
“Many call me the Light Seeker.” The man replied. “Though you can just call me Seeker if you like.”
“Well met Seeker.” Plato responded with a nod. “I must say that I am surprised to find anyone else out here. Can I ask what led you here?”
“An accident mostly.” Seeker admitted. “I was coming back form an expedition, a rather unfruitful one when my ship began to malfunction. I am confident I can repair it but I need some supplies in the mean time. There is not much here but what is definitely for the taking. Care to join me?”
Plato nodded in agreement as he sat down. Seeker began to fix some suspended animation rations into workable meals. Plato looked around the place. “What can you tell me about this moon?”
“It was once thought of as a crown jewel of sorts.” Seeker began, still focusing on his work. “There was an asteroid field near here, one filled with riches that seemed infinite, the area was called the Golden Valley for all the ore, resources and trapped gasses that were here. It was thought that this was just the edge of a new frontier of riches and anyone who could get a foothold here would become richer than the stars themselves.”
“Seems fairly short-sighted.” Plato admitted. “As there seems to be little of value here now.”
“When something of value is found that is too plentiful to be hidden many flock to it.” Seeker continued. “They set up colonies on the other end of this system, built just to mine the asteroid field. They took and took and grew better and better at it. At one point, there were ten thousand mining vessels pulling rocks in at any moment. And every day new bases were being established to do deeper and deeper into what they thought was an unending supply of wonder.”
“But it wasn’t unending.” Plato commented. “The riches this system offered.”
“It is easy in space to believe things are infinite.” Seeker admitted. “When faced with a seemingly unending sea of stars, the thought that something would be forever is easy to muster. But no, the asteroid field proved in fact quite finite and rather suddenly, because of the speed of the mining, it had to stop. The bulk of the operation required a high yield and as it became clear there was nothing beyond this outer reach it had to be abandoned and sold off rather quickly. This base, the one thought to breath life toward the next fortune was abandoned so fast there is still equipment, food, and even fuel here. This now serves as the marker, the reminder of the edge of known space that humanity has no reason to surpass.”
“They assumed there was nothing out here because they could detect nothing of value.” Plato added. “No ore or exploitable bodies so they moved on. There were other sectors, other things to be found.”
“You think there is something out here?” Seeker asked. “Something worth finding in a place where nothing seems to be left?”
“Indeed, I do.” Plato replied. “Have you ever heard of the Lucky Star?”
“The Lucky Star?” Seeker asked. “I have heard of it, everyone here has heard of it. It is a legendary comet that appears once every ten years or so. There have been reports and witnesses for over a hundred years but no one has been able to actually catch it.”
“I will be the first.” Plato bragged. “I intend to catch the Lucky Star.”
“A bold mission.” Seeker agreed as he handed Plato a tray of reconstituted food. “Why is it you have ended up here then?”
“I am tracking its route.” Plato replied. “Or more accurately I am reverse engineering it’s route. I believe that it cannot be caught by chasing it but only by predicting where it will be and waiting for it.”
“And you have records of it being witnessed here?” Seeker asked.
Plato nodded. “It obviously comes from deep, deep space and its course is likely dictated by any number of gravitational and celestial forces. I have gone to over a hundred location of previous sightings and logged all of the information in order to make a simulation.”
“How is that even possible?” Seeker asked. “I would imagine at least half of those sightings are either fake or mistaken identity. How could you possibly track such a route?”
“It was not easy.” Plato replied. “I too realised that not all of the reports were completely genuine. So, I focused on collecting all of the reports and tested them to see if there were any patterns. The simulation came up with six possible combinations of routes. I then removed pieces, seeing which ones affected the routes to find the best one. This place is the lynchpin. A mining foreman on this very moon not only recorded a sighting but he got a picture.”
“I recall that.” Seeker commented. “It is considered one of the most genuine sightings of the comet ever recorded.”
Plato nodded again. “With that in mind I was able to remove any route that did not intersect with this region. The golden valley being the Platotta stone used to decipher the routes. That left me with two possible routes.”
“Can you try both paths?” Seeker asked.
“Both lead into uncharted space.” Plato admitted. “The effort and resources needed to check one is almost higher than I can muster. I cannot do both.”
“You might be right.” Seeker admitted. “I took an exploration expedition out into uncharted space. We searched for months, found nothing and were forced to turn back. I was on my way to see if I could get another expedition together when my ship encountered trouble.”
“I have a ship, a good ship.” Plato admitted. “What I do not have is a crew. Few believe in the validity of the Lucky Star, even fewer thing it can be found or caught.”
“What if we combined forces?” Seeker suggested. “I have access to resources and could out a crew together. We could go out together and find this wonder once and for all.”
“You would be interested in doing that?” Plato asked. “I cannot guarantee that it would lead to any significant discovery beyond the comet.”
“I seek the crystal road.” Seeker admitted. “The birthplace of stars and likely the source of all antimatter in our galaxy. I have tried and failed to find it. This comet might prove to be related or at least serve as a stepping stone to that search. I am willing to focus on the comet with that possibility. If it works out then fine, if not, at least we found what was thought could never be found. That isn’t too bad either.”
“Then it is settled.” Plato replied. “I would love to team up on this endeavor.”
“Good, good.” Seeker replied. “Just one problem first, how do we find out which route is the correct one? Even I do not think we can do two expeditions to check them both?”
“Well I did have a plan for that.” Plato offered. “There was more than one sighting out here at about the same time. There was a deep space mining vessel at the very edge of this system. It was marked for the task of finding more asteroids but when it failed it was abandoned in space, all hands returning back on smaller vessels. This ship reportedly tracked the comet but it got lost in all that was happening. If I am able to find it I would be able to add the last piece to the route and be able to follow it.”
“The Star Cross.” Seeker replied.
“You know of it?” Plato responded with surprise. “Do you know how I might track it?”
“The ship did have a beacon but it would be too far away to track from here.” Seeker replied. “But luckily for you, I know where it is.”
“You do?” Plato asked. “How do you know?”
“We detected it.” Seeker replied. “At the end of our expedition we tracked a light beacon from the ship. We did not have the time nor resources to go to it at that point but I remember where it is. It is dead in space but if we boarded her we should be able to get its databanks online.”
“Do you think they might be intact?” Plato asked.
“I can almost guarantee it.” Seeker replied. “That ship was abandoned rather quickly. They ran it until the fuel ran dry and it was cheaper to evacuate it and pick up the men then to bring her back. She is there and anything non-essential, including the databanks are still there. We just would have to power them up. To find out.”
“We need that information.” Plato replied. “The ship is in a sector that is the diversion point for the two routes. If we can find the direction and trajectory of the comet than we can predict where it came from and follow it from there.”
“Then that will be our first stop.” Seeker replied. “Let me get some things from my ship then we can leave. We can go to Tango base and I can call the rest of my team. We are known as the Speed of Light and if any crew can help find this thing it is them.”
“Agreed.” Plato said as he offered his hand to seal the deal. “We will find the Lucky Star.”
“And reopen the infinite sea of stars.” Seeker said as he clasped hands.

Soon things began to escalate faster than Plato could ever have anticipated. At the space station, Seeker was true to his word and arranged a large crew of enthusiastic space adventurers. Everyone moved around, working hard and preparing to go where they needed to go in order to figure out their journey. Plato stood on the bridge to his ship and looked out. They were all stocked and soon would disembark onto the beginning of the crew’s mission and the next phase of Plato’s.
The ship undocked from the space station and began to move, heading deep out to space and toward the uncharted.
Plato went over his findings and let their new pilot, a young man simply known as Jet move the craft through the sea of stars, however, Plato was not long at work when he was summoned back to the bridge. Ahead was a myriad of metal, hulls of ships, pieces of satellites and all manner of man made scrap.
“What is this place?” Plato asked. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“It is a spaceship graveyard.” A young girl said walking toward the screen. She was young with long red hair.
“What can you tell me about it Greta?” Plato asked, hoping he got the name right. She had a sister Angie who was an engineer and was down below in the engine room. She also had red hair but was much shorter.
“Well you know space travel has had many booms.” Greta replied. “Times where mankind struggled to keep up with the demand of space travel. However, with such booms there are also lulls. This is a place where ships that were once prominent and unique are laid to rest.”
“Is it dangerous?” Plato asked. “We could plot a course around it?”
“It isn’t with a good pilot.” Plato responded, looking back from the con. “It would also take several days to go around. Going through is the best option.”
“Then let’s do it.” Plato agreed. “We cannot hope to gain the greatest reward in the history of space exploration without risk.”
“Agreed.” Seeker said as he came onto the bridge. “There are things I have seen in my travels that would make many people hide on colony worlds.”

The travel through the space graveyard was slow but uneventful. In order to safely maneuver through the junk, the ship had to slow. Though there were fields protecting the vessel it would put a strain on the engines should too many pieces of space debris come into contact with the vessel. Plato took time in his quarters, contemplating his mission, however this contemplation was abruptly interrupted when a beeping indicated an incoming video call. Plato snapped out of his daze and sat next to the terminal and powered the screen on. On the other end was the familiar comforting face of his father.

“Plato so glad to have gotten you.” Plato's father said with a smile. “Contacting ships out so far is so troublesome.”

“Only you would label such a miracle troublesome father.” Plato replied with a smile. “We are literally beaming images of our faces and the sound of our words through the void of space in real time and you think the delays and mis-coms are too much?”

“I suppose when you put it that way it is rather absurd.” Father replied. “So, how are you? Where are you?”

“I am fine.” Plato replied. “As to where...a much more interesting question. We are in a graveyard of ships and moving toward uncharted space.”

“Uncharted space?” Father asked, concern growing on his face. “I can’t say I am encouraged. Too many things disappear out there. Can you not just wait for the comet somewhere closer?”

Plato sighed, tired of his father refusing to see his side of things. “You know how fast the comet is when it comes through this sector. We need to get ahead of it when it is slower in the outer reaches. I found another explorer and we have a great crew now. I trust my crew and this ship. We will be fine...seriously.”

“I know I can be annoying.” Father replied. “But it is my job to worry. Things have been so...tumultuous lately. I know it was you and your grandfathers dream to find the comet. I am happy that you are honouring him and his ship…I just worry that is all.”

“As my father that is your right.” Plato said with a smile. “But you will have to trust in me, trust in my findings and my abilities.

Father laughed. “It is hard to see someone who used to bounce on my knee in charge of a spaceship blasting away from known space. Old habits die hard I suppose.”

“You know I can't turn back now.” Plato added. “This is my dream and I have already committed so much to achieve it…it is almost within my grasp…I can feel it.”

“I am not calling to change your mind.” Father replied. “I may not always be on the same side of your adventuress but that doesn't mean that I want to interfere. I always admired your passion.”

“That's not what you said when I was younger.” Plato said with a laugh. “You did everything to keep me in the colony.”

“Your grandfather was much like you.” Father replied. “He always saw the stars as opportunity and wanted to find more and more. There were months where I did not even hear from him.”

Plato sighed. “I suppose there is something to be said for stability and building something in one place. I admire what you have built father and there will be a time where I settle down…this is just not that time.”

“I am willing to accept that.” Father retorted. “Though I will look forward to that time.”

“First I need to focus on the here and now.” Plato added. “There is still so much work to be done.”

“Well on that we can agree.” Father said with a smile, his tone growing lighter. “Wherever you go your dreams are never easy.”

“Is there anything else you needed?” Plato asked, looking back to his work. “I am a bit distracted at the moment.”

“I suppose I just miss you.” Father replied, his tone growing nostalgic. “Though I am sometimes your keeper and your opponent, first and foremost I am your father. I have not seen you in too long and wanted to see your face.”

Plato smiled. “You will see it again before long. When I return I will come see you...in person.”

“I will hold you to that.” Father responded. “I will let you get back to your voyage and not bore you with takes of home.”

“I miss home.” Plato said with a sigh. “How is mother?”

“She is where you last saw her.” Father replied with a sigh. “Thank you for asking though.”

Plato's discussion was interrupted as a message for him to report to the bridge flashed onto the screen.

“I am sorry father I have to go.” Plato said, clicking acknowledgement to the message on the screen.”

“Everything is all right?” Father asked.

“It's a report not an alarm.” Plato said with a reassuring smile. “Talk to you soon.”

Plato hung up the vid-call and left his quarters in a hurry. He made his way down the long corridors to the bridge, passing other crew-members busy with their own tasks as he went. Thoughts of the discussion with his father still hung in his head but he forced them back, for when he was on the bridge, he preferred to be all business. The door opened to reveal Jet still at the con and Seeker standing over him with his arms behind his back. This gesture usually meant that he was deep in thought and still regarding something. Plato walked over and sat down in the captain’s chair. “What is going on?”

“We have received a signal.” Jet replied. “We think it's a distress call.”

“Think?” Plato asked in curiosity. “Aren't distress signals usually pretty cut and dried.”

“We are barely receiving the signal at all.” Seeker added. “It seems to be coming deeper in the graveyard and it is getting cut off. However, the frequency and the recycling seems to mean distress signal. It is definitely too weak to reach deep space rescue and I was considering suggesting diverting course to check it.”

“We are going to help, right?” Jet asked. “Is it not the duty of space vessels to respond to distress calls of other vessels.”

“Duty...perhaps.” Seeker added. “But in no way a regulation. It is ultimately up to the command of the ship to determine if it is safe to proceed. We must weigh this ship and crew against those in need.”

“Let's take a look at the situation.” Plato said as he went over the controls. The distress signal was coming from the general direction the ship was going and indeed was coming from a large debris field. “It is not unreasonable to believe that a ship might come into distress in a place like this. With all the metal and materials, it can make both navigation and communication difficult.”

“But what do you think?” Seeker asked. “Should we go check it out or not.”

Plato pondered for a moment. “Ultimately we don't even have to make that decision right now. We are still several minutes away and might learn more on approach. I suggest we change coarse to the area of the call but make the final decision form the safety of the perimeter.”

“Good idea.” Seeker replied with a nod as he sat in his chair off to the side. “We can make our course there at our best speed. In the mean time Greta, I need you to do you best to make an actual connection so we can find out what is going on.”

“I think if I reroute bandwidth from subspace I can make a signal strong enough to penetrate the field.” Greta suggested. “That way they can piggyback on our signal and they can tell us what is going on.”

“Sounds good.” Plato responded. “Do it please.”

Greta went to work, using her skills to reconfigure the console and the communications array. Within a few moments she had it online. “Establishing a signal now, it's audio only...they can hear us now.”

“Greetings.” Plato began. “We are checking to confirm you are sending a distress signal.”

“Yes, gods yes!” The voice on the other side of the communication. What vessel is this?”

Seeker paused and looked at Plato...both knew the potential dangers of giving out ship designations so deep out on the rim. Plato jumped in. “Space rescue and safety protocol deems us to be referred as asset one. Depending on the situation we may be able to deliver aid. Please tell us your current status.”

“Thank you, Asset one!” The voice responded. “We are a freighter...we left the shipping lanes for a shortcut. I realize this is illegal but we will deal with that later. We got off course and thought we could get through this graveyards debris field. However, we took several collisions and our ship is crippled. We are not large if you could tow us out that is preferable if not we will settle for evacuation.”

“I cannot make any promises about your cargo.” Plato added. “We are not specked to carry cargo we did not have registered.”

“With all due respect sir but damn the cargo.” The voice replied. “We got families back at colony five and we can worry about salvage. That's what insurance is for am I right?”

“Confirmed and affirmative.” Plato responded. “Please submit any telemetry on the are so we may plan the rescue.”

“Are you on your way?” The voice asked, with a tone of curious desperation on his voice.

“Stand by.” Plato said as he gave a signal to Greta to mute the audio.

Greta nodded. “Channel locked.”

“Concerns?” Plato asked.

“Call it a due process.” Seeker said. “Everything checks out but something about it doesn't line up.”

“They responded with their telemetry.” Greta added. “They have done and complied with everything we have said.”

“What is the vessel?” Plato asked. “Details.”

Greta nodded. “THX class freighter, about twenty years old. The designation is 1138 and the number is registered for an active trading license. Twelve crew on board and they are reporting no significant injuries.”

“Can we tow them?” Seeker asked, looking back to Plato.

“Unlikely.” Greta replied as she started to get a bigger picture on the debris field as the ship got closer. “Our ship is more than capable of navigating in and defecting potential debris from damaging us. However, we try to tow we lower it below acceptable safety margins.”

Plato put his hands behind his back. “I will leave this to a vote. This is both dangerous and risks our mission. There is a very high bandit risk out here and we have no way of knowing if this is not an elaborate trap. I am literally at odds but would tend to agree to send a subspace to deep space rescue and move on. However, I will weight your opinions toward my final decision.”

“They have families.” Greta added. “Is it not worth the risk to help them. These aren't soldiers, they aren't professionals. These are working class freighter workers. My vote is to assist.”

Plato turned to Jet. “Looks like you are the deciding vote. I will do what the consensus desires.”

Jet took a deep breath. “Given their location and distance from deep space rescue it would put their chances of survival at 22 percent should we not help. I think that is worth the risk.”

“Then it is decided.” Plato gave a gesture to reopen the communications to the stranded vessel.

“Channel is live sir.” Greta reported.

“Stranded cargo vessel.” Plato spoke officially. “This is asset one and we are heading to your position to take your crew off of your vessel and leave the debris field. Please confirm.”

“Thank you!” The voice responded. “We will be ready to evacuate as soon as you arrive.”

“May fate favour the merciful.” Plato responded as the communication ended. “Let's get to work.”

A few moments later the ship slowed to make its careful approach and incursion into the debris field. As anticipated massive stones of rock and metals floated precariously around, threatening to crush smaller vessels into scrap. Jet powered up the protective countermeasures and headed slowly into the debris. He piloted the best course through the field, allowing the ship to repel smaller debris while moving around larger ones. It was slow going but with the piloting skill he had at his disposal and with the help of the crew it was easy enough to do it safely. Soon the ship moved towards the co-ordinates of the crippled vessel and found the small ship floating in space. Greta pulled it up on the view screen and was surprised to see it dark as well as adrift.

“Greta are you picking up anything from the ship?” Plato asked. “It looks dead in the water to me with no power.”

“I am getting no signals from the ship.” Greta replied. “No power, no life signs, nothing.”

“Can it be part of the debris field?” Seeker asked. “Could we just not be able to get any signal?”

“The signals are getting interference but we should be getting something.” Greta explained. “There seems to be legitimately no power coming from the vessel at all.”

“Are we too late?” Seeker asked. “Did their systems fail?”

“Do a hull temperature reading.” Plato ordered. “Even if their power has gone out the air inside should still be running close to internal ambient.”

“It's cold.” Greta replied. “As cold as the rocks.”

“We are about to be attacked!” Seeker said urgently. “This is a decoy vessel and the signal must have come from another ship.”

“Bring us about!” Plato stated urgently. “Get us out of here!”

As Plato manipulated the controls and the ship began to turn two vessels emerged from deep in the debris field and began to close in on the ship.

“Two unidentified craft.” Greta replied. “They are powering up their weapons.”

“Evasive action!” Plato commanded, opening up the weapon controls on his panel and bringing them to bear. “This ship does have some weapons. I will buy us as much time as we can, continue the retreat.”

Plato tried to compartmentalize what he had to do. He knew that Jet and the others were capable as well as the other crew. However, the large ship was at a disadvantage in the debris field as it needed space to fight and manoeuvre to fight at full capacity. This was literally the best trap the raiders could have set and their smaller vessels were on the ship immediately. Plato could feel the weapons in the ship powering up and firing but the small raider vessels were well practised in the space terrain. As shots were fired only small asteroids or pieces of debris were hit, greater adding to the chaos.

“I can't pinpoint the shots.” Plato replied. “The targeting computers aren't shooting straight!”

“It is a side effect of the field.” Greta confirmed. “Unless we calibrate to it we can’t get a clear shot!”

The ship was rocked from a torpedo hitting a nearby piece of debris, causing the bridge to shake and warning lights to come to life one after another.

“No damage.” Greta reported. “But if we take a direct hit we are done for!”

“They can hit us!” Plato responded. “How can they fire so accurately in here?”

“They had time to compensate their equipment.” Gretta offered. “They probably have this all figured out.”

“We aren’t going to beat them with weapons.” Seeker suggested. “We have to get out of here. In the open we are faster we just got to get clear.”

Another explosion shook the ship, a second torpedo slamming a nearby derelict ship.

“Jet this is on you.” Plato said as he turned to the young man on Con. “I know you can get us through safely but you now need to do so fast.”

“Normally I would say no.” Jet responded. “But death by collision seems to sound better then death by torpedo.”

“Plato?” Greta said as she turned around. “If we can get to the outer field we can punch it to full speed, we will lose them for sure.”

“Our lives are in your hands Jet.” Plato responded. “I believe in you.”

Jet nodded, taking the controls and lurching the shop to motion, he fired thrusters which made the shop move faster than any sane pilot would try in such a circumstance. Pieces of debris bounced off of the shielding and threatened to shit it off. The pursuing raiders stopped firing, focusing more on following at the unsafe speed. One of them clipped a nearby cruiser, the damage causing it to bank off and come to a stop. The other ship proved less willing to give up, following closely. It was gaining, matching the ship turn for turn. Plato did not have to ask to know they were lining up a shot. However, as he looked forward he saw the ship lurch again, revealing something simple but in this case miraculous…open space. The ship shot out of the ship graveyard and kicked in it’s engines. The raider ship was forced to stand down, returning to the debris to wait for it’s next victim.

“Well done jet!” Plato replied. “That was an amazing feat of flying.”

“Well we aren’t dead.” Jet offered. “So, I will look at that as a victory.”

“Damage report.” Seeker commanded. “Are we alright.”

“All minor.” Greta replied. “Nothing that we can’t fix as long as we take it slow for a bit.”

Plato smiled. “Sounds good to me…once we are sure we are not being pursued by the raiders we will slow down and do repairs…after that we continue on and find the vessel that will be the next piece of the puzzle.”