Challenge #04909-M160: Treasure in Strange Places

An old treasure is found by a space salvager. A locked case full of old diaries, music boxes, books, and photos. And a letter that reads "This was my life among the stars. I lived happy here, I died of old age happy here. Solitary is not always lonely, and being with others TOO much is not always comfort." -- Anon Guest

There's a lot to find in Sargasso systems. Stellar objects that had no natural satellites, so varying civilisations dumped their old, stellar junk there. Pirates sometimes lurk, if the Sargasso is near a shipping lane, and dump their leavings amongst the wrecks.

After all, if you have interstellar travel, you have a post-scarcity society. Everything you need can be mined, synthesised, manufactured, or grown.

And if a Sargasso is too far away or too inconvenient for Pirates, you get Scavengers. Whose motto is: If it isn't worth historical value, someone needs it for their molecular printer. Which has served many a Scavenger very well indeed. Most have a direct line to the nearest Archivaas Enclave, because they know historical interest and, if the item is interesting enough, will be the first to call 'dibs'.

The Scavenger Community scores points based on how quickly the Archivaas swarm and how many are within said swarm.

Scavenger Meint set the record with their find of an intact Scavenger ship from three centuries before the accepted Human Incursion into Known Space. Because, according to Meint's scanners, the mummified pilot's corpse on board was that of a Human.

Their swarm was actually an entire Archivaas enclave, towed there by half of another one. They thoroughly intended to set up there and study the entire Sargasso and what remained within it. As well as thoroughly scanning the area for more wormhole 'soft points' so they could find anything else new and interesting.

They were already planning to build an entire new wing around Meint's find with Meint's printer scrap. Intact, for historical accuracy and for a talking point.

It's no surprise that a majority of Archivaas are Human. They are just that mentally disbalanced.

For the Archivaas, it was a treasure trove. An astro-archeological discovery that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

For Meint, it was a pain in their buttocks.

Now they had to clear everything they found with the Archivaas before doing anything.

[Photo by Iván Díaz on Unsplash]

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