Djibarh’s note: For those unfamiliar with the saga so far, Audrey’s first letter and second letter are available to read by clicking the links in this sentence. I sincerely hope you enjoy.
My Love
I am sorry it has been so long since I last wrote you a letter. I have somewhat grave news for you, but to that in a moment.
First off; I got your radio message. That morse code class I took in 1895 really seems to be coming in handy. It was a clever idea of the Venusians to locate the Starship Jefferson and bounce messages to me from it. I fear, though, that this practice may disturb Ellis- she is somewhere inside it, probably still alive but very unwell in the head.
A person like Ellis might be very clever; but she is scarcely equipped for a life spanning hundreds of thousands of years. For you and I, the passage of time is just something that happens, and it doesn’t matter overmuch. It slips by, like a silk curtain on skin. But for unfortunates like Ellis, who break out of thier natural lifecycles, time slips by them less like silk and more like sandpaper; rasping away at the mind forever. For them, the only consolation is routine. By routine a thousand years can pass inflicting the misery of only a day.
So, leave Ellis her routine. Radio signals, tiny rumblings, will only shake her out of it. For such people, waking life is the nightmare.
~
Anyway, it seems that I got your message a mere 500 years after you sent it, so perhaps my responses will arrive in time to be helpful:
I understand it’s not easy being married to an eternal intergalactic explorer with a different perception of time and a tendency to act on a whim. I know you waited thousands of years for me to come home, only to have me leave again. I know that that would have taken a lot of dedication or some other human quality I don’t quite have the capacity to understand. But it means a lot to me. I love you.
And it’s because I love you that I understand where you’re coming from. Everyone (especially a person as deserving as you) needs…closeness. To converse with a loved one; to lie in a warm, safe pair of arms. However deep and constant my love for you is, I can provide you with none of this while I am lightyears away.
So the answer to your question is yes, of course. I’m glad you’ve settled in on Venus (the alps are very nice, congratulations), glad you’ve found a Venusian girlfriend. You treat her right, ok? The rest of the planet might make trouble if you didn’t! All silliness aside, I never want to be like a ball and chain. I miss you, but I think it will be a while before we meet again.
Now, I would ordinarily refrain from mentioning sex in a letter which might be read by anyone- but you’re in for a treat. The Venusians are fantastic lovers; It’s what they do instead of watching TV.
~
On to my grave news. Please copy the next section of this letter and forward it to the Venusian Department of Science and Exploration (VDSEx), along with my request that the Jefferson no longer be used as a radio relay.
After parting ways with the Starship Jefferson, I followed the trail of micro-debris left behind by the drifting hulk. I reasoned it would lead me to the system the colonists had settled in before gutting their starship and casting it away. I kept thinking that Ellis must have really been a huge threat to them for them to waste so much good metal disposing of her.
The trail ran more or less dead just by a small star visible from the Sol system. The Venusian name for it is ‘Taf-Kaa 14′ (14th distant star of the north). It was such a relief just to see light again. The star had a few planets around it; so in I went to investigate.
Already I seem to be getting into a bad habit of hitting or being hit by spacecraft. In space, you can’t hear anything coming. I was passing a dusty, rocky moon when three small craft zipped out from behind it. It was too late for me to change direction (Inertia is a real party-killer in space) so onto the windshield I went. Smack.
Mildly stunned, I sat like that for a few moments, just peering inside. Humanoid. Huge helmet. Eyes looking at me in utter bafflement. After shaking his or her head a bit, the pilot regained composure and began to buck the little craft wildly, Shaking me off. I was flung free and felt myself pulled towards the moon. I kicked out and rallied all of my energies to escaping and following the three mysterious craft.
Whatever engines those things were packing, they were a lot faster than anything I’d seen before. They had a distinctive red livery and were unmistakably fighters of some description; gun barrels everywhere. I continued to follow them.
Something shimmered out of the corner of my eye. Distorted outlines, following us. The red fighters seemed to sense that something was amiss- suddenly breaking formation and flitting around in random directions, like poisoned insects.
There was a dizzyingly intense flash of light. The shimmering outlines vanished, replaced by five more fighters. Larger, and blue.
In an instant, I was caught in the crossfire. Something hit me that I can’t identify; plasma, lightning or a high-powered laser, maybe all three. It was hot and bright, burning through my clothes where it hit me. Something exploded nearby and the wave of debris hit me while I was still blinded. I let the space junk carry me along, powerless to do much else.
My vision returned, blurry at first. I felt something tug at my arm. Dazed, I looked around, seeing only floating bits of twisted metal. The tugging became more urgent. I looked down, found the source. The same pilot, in red uniform, strapped to an ejector seat with a tiny oxygen bottle.
I floated around to grab onto his other arm. I looked intently through the visor and found a pair of watery-blue eyes staring wildly out at mine. Inside his helmet, he was screaming, hyperventilating, trying to tell me something, then breaking eye contact completely to thrash and flail in an orgy of pure distress.
I gripped his arm tighter and pulled myself closer, touching the side of my head to the helmet.
…I couldn’t make out his language. I don’t know why I was expecting to. I experienced a strange sinking feeling as I heard the pilot repeating something to me, like a question or a prayer I couldn’t answer. I began to scream myself, vocal chords useless in the vacuum:
‘What is this? Is this war? Why is this happening!?’
I could feel my throat move, but hear only silence.
Suddenly the pilot let out a yelp and tightened his grip, nodding at an approaching blue fighter. It swooped nearby, dropped something, cloaked and vanished. My companion and I looked around; space had gone still again. Nothing was left except for us and three fighter’s worth of space junk, floating in silence.
And of course the smooth blue sphere, dropped by the outgoing fighter. The pilot seemed to know what it was, drawing me closer and shutting his eyes tightly. I watched the sphere hang in space for the longest time. Nothing changed. Just dead space and a doomed astronaut and I locked in an embrace somewhere in it. Time passed. His grip on my arm weakened slightly as he began to run out of air.
A floating piece of a shattered hull drifted closer to the blue sphere. Touched.
Space filled with fire. I felt the grip on my arm simply evaporate and I was falling towards the surface of the moon, ears ringing, head about to split apart from pain.
At this point, it’s important to mention that anything destructive enough to harm me even temporarily must be, by necessity, very destructive indeed.
I came to in a thick bed of dust, on the dark side of the little moon. After coughing up some of the dust, I took a look at myself. The remains of my clothes were spackled with a fine mist of blood, some of which had gotten into my nostrils.
I felt a new sensation. I think it’s nausea, but I’m not sure, having only ever read about it previously. I decided to permit myself a further nap, the day having been quite the sensory overload already. I am pleased to report that afterwards, and since, I am entirely recovered.
Something is deeply amiss here at Taf-Kaa 14. Perhaps the humans have encountered a hostile spacefaring species (the blue fighters) and are trying to repel them. It seems so desperately unlikely, but I can’t think of any other way to explain what happened.
In accordance with my natural curiosity and my established role as an explorer, I will proceed further into the Taf-Kaa 14 system, with the objective of discovering what the matter is.
~End communication to VDSEx~
So, my love, it looks as though I have once again made only brief contact; but this is promising. I will find the descendants of those colonists; and ask them what that horrible business was all about. I’m sure a solution will be forthcoming.
Just between you and I, I admit to having a nasty feeling, in my chest somewhere, worsening slightly all the time.
Always thinking of you, please don’t forget me
-Audrey
PS. I realise this arrangement might become complicated in future, but don’t worry. We can cross any bridges when we come to them. And never forget that whatever the circumstances, I will be absolutely fine. That’s what makes me me. So take care of yourself, my dear.








I’m not sure what I was intending to type as comment to this picture. It doesn’t need it.
I feel like writing today, but I don’t really have anything burning on my mind. I’m a real airhead. However, what might be enjoyable would be to write a list of points about things that are enjoyable and interesting. Maybe even intruiging. Hamm.





I’m sorry, but is that a pubic hair I see stuck in my keyboard?
I know most of you don’t share my enthusiasm for Australian new wave music, But I’m going to put it there anyway. Find a good device to listen to it with, like proper speakers or a headset, and press play.