3 Repair Delay

We could not leave the service station today because our navigation system failed the escape velocity diagnostic. Our drone vessel uses this essential navigation component to escape from a black hole event horizon during the complex gravitational slingshot acceleration procedure.

Although it is possible to manually escape the strong gravitational pull of a black hole, navigator Jake tells me that the provability for success would be less than 5% without the navigation system assistance. On the other hand, when the navigation system is working properly, the vessel can automatically accelerate up to the escape velocity and yield a success provability of 97.5% at worst.

Since the cargo for our next mission is bound for the colonized planet X-37 in the Vega system, we will have to use the gravitational slingshot procedure near the event horizon of three black holes along the way there. It can't be helped. We must remain on Earth for at least another day in order to repair the navigation system.

I got permission to use the downtime and take a transport shuttle to Easter Island. Once there, I will be able to sunbathe on the isolated white sand beach at the southern shore of the island.

Even historians like me need to relax from time to time.