Entry 005 – Date: 09.03.3206 – Location: Sol Naval Academy

It turns out that carefree times never last long. Yesterday I got the news all of us graduates are waiting for.

In short: I got my assignment.

I got the message just as I was leaving for lunch. Obviously, I didn’t immediately know the contents, but it was flagged by command which meant that it is important. So, I sat down to review the message.

I’m getting assigned to the patrol cruiser Avalanche. The ship just finished a major system’s overhaul and now it needs a new crew roster before setting off on patrol again. During its downtime, a good part of the crew got either promoted or transferred. Their, now open, slots are going to be filled with the freshly graduated ensigns, including me.

I have to report to the Avalanche for introductions at 9:00 SST tomorrow.

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Ever since humans had developed the ability to cross half the Earth within a day, time zones have been an issue that plagued travelers with sleepless nights and missed meetings. The colonialization of other planets magnified that issue a hundred-fold. Take Jupiter for example. A full day there equates to about ten earth hours. There

Differently timed planetary rotations don’t just mean different times when the sun goes up, but also how long it stays up. This doesn’t even consider spaceships where the day-night cycle is artificial at best and non-existent at worst. All of this wreaks havoc on a human’s biological clock.

So, people went looking for a solution.

That solution’s name: Sol Standard Time, often abbreviated to SST.

It was introduced in the middle of the third millennium and has been used alongside local time ever since. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a unified clock and calendar that keeps the galaxy synchronized no matter what your local sun is telling you.

As a navy institution, the Academy’s day and night cycle runs exactly at Sol standard and, as a navy ship, the Avalanche should be the same. That’s good because getting used to a new timeframe is always annoying.

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While I was reviewing my orders, messages from my friends were already trickling in. They too had received assignments. At this point it was just past noon and none of us had eaten yet. So, I proposed meeting for lunch to discuss our futures.

We decided to grab some East-Martian takeaway and headed to the privacy of Greyson’s dorm to eat. Everybody was excitedly discussing the news, so it didn’t take long until I was caught up.

Jake and Miranda will be joining me abord Avalanche as part of the replacement crew. But there are some problems.

Because Lennard wasn’t part of our section, it was unlikely that he got the same assignment as the rest of us. He is part of a group that got assigned as new aides for naval HQ. Nobody liked it, but we had time to mentally prepare ourselves for the possibility that we would take separate paths.

The thing that surprised us all is that Miranda and Greyson wouldn’t be joining us either. The two are going to be staffing a monitoring station for one of the shipping lanes in Sol.

This obviously dealt a huge blow to our mood. The excitement was still there. Only now the upcoming adventure also signified the unexpected parting of friends.

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After lunch had finished, we said our goodbyes, but Eve and I stuck together. We spend the rest of the day walking around the station. Visiting places that are important to us. Talking about what was and what will be.

Slowly the mixture of disappointment and excitement settled squarely on melancholy.

Following my father’s footsteps by getting on a ship and seeing the wonders of the universe was and is still my goal. For this, my assignment is perfect. The role of a patrol cruiser is the visit the systems where a permanent fleet presence isn’t economical and deal with the local problems.

Evelyns role similarly fits what she has hoped for. Work for the monitoring station lets her do her duty without having to leave Sol. She can stay close to her family and use the eyes of visiting traders to experience the wider galaxy.

Both of us are happy with where we got assigned. The major downside is just that it means leaving each other behind.

When we started dating Eve and I ware aware of the possibility that we would get different assignments upon graduation. We just hoped for the best.

Now we were facing reality and had to make some decisions.

Continuing the relationship would be difficult when we wouldn’t be able to see each other for such a long time. Not knowing where the navy will send us in the future means that it could be years until we were in the same system again.

After talking it over we decided to put the relationship on hold.

Coming to that decision was a lot more difficult than I expected. I have had breakups before, some even rather spectacular. But none where I was still in love with the person leaving, like I still am with Eve.

Maybe that’s why, even as I’m about to fulfill my lifelong dream, the melancholy from leaving her shows no sign of fading anytime soon.

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I have just finished packing my personal things. Leaving for the Avalanche now means that I can grab breakfast on the way there.

Change always means excitement for the new and sadness for leaving the old. I’m currently feeling equal amounts of both.

Logging off