Eparkhos
Well-known member
I came up with an outline for this one over the weekend. In short:
A mysterious nebula forms in nearby space, basically popping into existence in less than a year with no visible cause. Humans send a ship to investigate, and this ship disappears with all hands as soon as it enters the nebula. A second expedition is decided on, seen by most of the high command as a suicide mission, and the unfortunate Captain P (for protagonist) gets roped in to head it. P leads the expedition into the nebula, gradually losing ansible and all other contact with the outside world, and before long they find the wreck of the last ship, perfectly intact but irradiated and missing all of its crew. P--due to personal reasons I'll explain later--becomes convinced that there are survivors from Ship 1 who escaped further into the nebula, and rather than immediately fleeing he presses onward.
Hang on, I just had an idea for how to work this into a bigger plot.
A mysterious nebula forms in nearby space, basically popping into existence in less than a year with no visible cause. Humans send a ship to investigate, and this ship disappears with all hands as soon as it enters the nebula. A second expedition is decided on, seen by most of the high command as a suicide mission, and the unfortunate Captain P (for protagonist) gets roped in to head it. P leads the expedition into the nebula, gradually losing ansible and all other contact with the outside world, and before long they find the wreck of the last ship, perfectly intact but irradiated and missing all of its crew. P--due to personal reasons I'll explain later--becomes convinced that there are survivors from Ship 1 who escaped further into the nebula, and rather than immediately fleeing he presses onward.
Hang on, I just had an idea for how to work this into a bigger plot.