Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/12: 2-4 Air Force is here. They're our home and home opponent but they won't be next year. They have a couple of guards with minor injuries. This is a game we should win easily.

We're #10 in the rankings.

2/13: Early lead but they come back. Up 3 after 10. A run puts us up 16 at halftime. 14, 5, 3 for Craw, 7, 7 for Dunk, 8, 2, 3 for Buck.

+5 RBs. +18 in the paint. Shooting about twice as well as they are. Up 28 with 10 left.

101-62. A real yawner but our fans loved it.

26, 10, 3 for Craw who has been on fire lately. 21, 5, 7 for Buck at PG, 11, 14, 4 for Dunk.

+22 RBs! 9 TOs. +21% shooting. +42 in the paint!

“If I may Madam Chair, we'll phase these dining areas in gradually. We can open the Indian and the Italian as soon as renovations are complete, and perhaps the East Asian as well. The others will open as soon as they're ready.”

[Wayne23]

12/15: At 3-3 Wisconsin. I don't think they can score enough points to hang with us, but it's a road game.

12/16: Close early. Down 6 after 10. Big run puts us up. Up 9 at the half. 12, 5 for Dunk. 2 TOs. +10 in the paint. They catch up. Then we go on a run. Up 15 with 10 to play.

86-55. Terrific D!

24, 6, 3 steals for Craw. 16, 9 for Dunk.

10 TOs to 24.+14% shooting. +26 in the paint.

That solar system we chanced it through much of the rock zone for has just been picked up by our forward probe.

We're 9-1, NET #6. Ranked #7.

[Wayne23]

12/19: 6-3 Kentucky is here. They're good outside and when the threes are falling it can be trouble. Their 3 losses came to top 7 ranked teams, 2 of them on the road.

12/20: “Stop the three.”

Close early. Up 2 after 10. Up 4 at the break. The numbers are close but we have the edge inside. But Dunk and Rude have 3 fouls
each; not good! Up 10 with 10 to go.

85-70. We ran away from them late; led by as many as 25.

18, 4 for Doli, 14, 8 for Hosi, 14, 6 for Craw. Dunk fouled out in 14 minutes.

+12 RBs. +10 from the line. +14 on 2nd chances.

[Wayne23]

12/22: Heading for the Hoops tourney. #2 seed. We play #7 Belmont, 3-6. This won't be pretty.

12/23: Big early lead. Up 12 after 10. 54-25 at the half. 11, 6 for Dunk, 9, 4, 3 for Doli, 9 for Demi. +13 RBs, 5 TOs. +25% shooting. 70-
30 with 10 minutes to go.

87-55. 19, 10 for Dunk, 13, 10 for Craw, 12, 6, 3 for Doli, 12 for Demi. +17 RBs, 9 TOs. +14 in the paint.

“It's been really nice.”

“Yes it has, Hali. I'm so glad you're living here.”

“Me too. I wasn't 100% sure but it has worked out so well.”

“And June is crazy about you.”

“She's one of the best parts.”

[Wayne23]

12/24: We play #6 seed Mississippi, 6-3, in the semis. This shouldn't be much tougher than the Belmont game was.

Game time.

Back and forth. Up 6 after 10. Up 17 at the break. 12, 5 for Dunk. +6 RBs, 6 fewer TOs. Outshooting them. +9 on 2nd chances. Up 15 with 10 to go.

77-70. They made a late charge; got it to 4 with the ball.

20 and 9 for Dunk, 12, 3, 7 for Buck, 10, 7 for Jaco.

9 TOs. They shot better but we took 15 more shots. +12 on 2nd chances.

3 planets and 4 moons in the Goldilocks zone of the system we're approaching.

[Wayne23]

12/25: It's #5 seed george Washington, 10-1, for the title. They beat the #4 seed then the #1. They do their scoring outside. They're #1 vs. ranked teams beating #8 on the road, which is impressive. We think we're a little better in every category.

Game time.

Up 3 after 10; it's a battle. Up 6 at the half. 15, 8 for Dunk. +6 RBs, 5 TOs. +12 in the paint. Up only 2 with 10 to play.

99-78. Another strong finish.

34, 11, 5 steals for Dunk; huge game! 15, 11 for Craw, 15 for Doli, 13 for Rude.

+12 RBs, 11 TOs to 22. +17 from the line, +30 in the paint, +15 on 2nd chances.

[Wayne23]

12/26: Our last pre-conf game is at 5-7 West Virginia. We score 25 a game more than they do.

We're ranked #4, which is a little too high I think.

12/27: They stay with us early. Tied after 10. Up 5 at the half. 12, 2, 3 for Buck, 8, 8 for Craw, 9 for Demi. +5% shooting. Both teams are sloppy. We get the lead to 20. Up 22 with 10 left.

99-69. 21, 3, 10 for Buck. 18, 14, 4 steals for Craw, 15, 4 for Doli. Good bench play.

+11 RBs, 11 TOs to 22. +14 in the paint.

We have a week and a half off.

1/1/2043: We end per-conf play at 14-1. Ranked #3, NET #3. 6 games against ranked teams in the Big East, including 2 with #1 Georgetown, so that will tell us how good we really are.

+20.2 PPG (2nd in PPG), +6.4 RBs, -8.0 TOs (10.4), +4.7 assists, +3.9 steals. Dunk leads us with 17.7 points. 2nd in RBs with 8.1. Craw is #2 in points with
15.0, #1 in RBs with 9.0. Buck gets 12.9 with 6.3 assists.

We're at the outer edge of the solar system. This system seems to be teeming with life.

[Wayne23]

1/5: #20 Vermont, 12-2, is here. Their 1st big off the bench is out for the season. They shoot well, they play D, they don't hit the boards very hard. 1-0 vs. Top 25 teams, a road win by 16 over then #9.

1/6: They take an early lead and we come back. Down 4 after 10. 38-50 at the half. They're shooting 68.2%, which means our D is awful. The refs are calling everything, 26 whistles in the half, which is ridiculous. Rude has 3 fouls, as does their C. -6 from the bench. 12 TOS! They have 10. Pretty much a terrible first half.

“Wake the hell up! You're missing your assignments on D!”

Down 5 with 10 left. We're back in it, barely.

76-78. We took our first lead with just under 5 minutes left and it went back and forth. We missed an open 15 footer at the buzzer.

17, 12, 4 for Dunk, 12, 9 for Craw.

-5.4% shooting. +8 in the paint.

Truly not good to lose the home opener.

People all over the ship are talking about the new dining halls. None of them will open until late March or early April but people are excited. There are lots of limitations when one lives on a ship in space. Food is one thing that becomes a focus of great interest and importance.

[Wayne23]

1/9: At 9-6, 0-1 ST Johns. We score 22 more per game. They don't hit the boards and they turn it over.

We fall to #5. I think we're a Sweet Sixteen level team, MAYBE and Elite Eight level.

1/10: Back and forth. Down 1 after 10. We're warming up. Up 7 at the break. 11 for Dunk, 8, 2, 3 for Buck. 6 fewer TOs. They're shooting much better but we've taken 12 more shots. Up 15 with 10 to go.

64-52, but they got it to 3 twice.

15, 9 for Dunk. PG Kev Buck had 10 TOs! Believe me, we'll talk. 13 for Jaco from the bench. 18 TOs but they had 24. Not our best effort tonight.

1/11: “Greetings to the ship. You are in our protected area of space. Please explain the reason why you are here and advance no farther.”

“We have halted the ship at your request. We come in peace. Our mission is to explore the galaxy, to grow, to meet other sentient beings and to learn from them. We hope to be allowed to learn from you and perhaps to teach you in some small ways.”

“Remain where you are. We give you two options:

“First, leave our area of space. Second, submit to examination of your personnel and all of your devices by our robots. We will harm no one and nothing.”

“We welcome your robots. We have nothing to hide.”

“Prepare to be boarded.”

We were boarded and inspected thoroughly. Then the robots left.

“You have weapons.”

“We have devices to break up comets and space objects that would damage or destroy us if they struck our ship. They have never been used as weapons and never will be but they are essential to opur safety.”

“We will ponder and discuss...”

Some time later:

“We accept your explanation. Please send your leaders to the 2nd moon of the 3rd planet where we will greet you. The atmosphere is equal to that in your ship.”

“We must, of course, conduct our own tests of the atmosphere there before landing.”

“You do not trust us?”

“We know our atmosphere better than you ever could. We must conduct our own tests.”

“We will ponder and discuss.”

20 minutes later:

“Do your testing. When you have verified that our conclusions are correct. Send leaders down to the surface.”

[Wayne23]

1/12: We travel to 9-6, 1-1 Seton Hall. We win our games by 18.4. They win theirs by 3. We shoot much better. We think we have a big advantage inside.

I went down to the surface with Hali, as our psychologist, and Tong Wang.

We met with three of their people. There were some interesting differences in appearance. They are about 20% shorter. Their skin is a pastel green. They have six digits on each hand and presumably on each foot. They have 4 eyes and 4 ears. The eyes are … well 2 are about where ours are and the other two are on the sides of the head, toward the back. Oh, they're hairless. Ears... two on what would be our forehead, pointing outward. Two on the back of the head in similar configuration. Their clothes are a simple unisex dress/toga type garment. The moon has a very comfortable temperature so they don't need a lot of clothing.

“We feel that we should begin to know each other at this meeting. We can have serious discussions at future meetings. We are aware that your people will wish to be on your ship after a limited time. Is the atmosphere comfortable and fitting to your requirements?”

“It is. And yes, we should stay for a limited time before going back to our ship. We can meet daily, however. As Captain of the ship if there is any sort of crisis on board, I must stay on the ship.”

“Crisis?”

“At times one of our systems malfunctions. Until it is fully operational I am needed.”

“You repair malfunctioning equipment?”

“No. I supervise and make plans to ensure the safety of all on board.”

“Ah.”

We spoke for quite some time. Just “Getting to know you” kinds of things. More on that later. Oh, they are the Wixx.

1/13: We fall behind early. Down 4 after 10. Tied at the half. 16, 10 for Dunk, 8 for Craw. +5 RBs. +5.4% shooting. +20 in the paint. -6 threes, -6 at the line. Craw has 3 fouls.

“You're making a crappy team look good!”

Up 6 with 10 left; Dunk is unstoppable.

73-65. We're really not playing well so far in the Big East.

27, 18 for Dunk- WOW! 18, 6, 3 for Craw. +14 RBs, 18 TOs; they had 18. +8.4% shooting. +30 in the paint.

The Wixx family unit is composed of 3-5 adults and anywhere from 1-3 children. They limit population. The adults are usually but not always of both genders; doesn't seem to be an issue though. Parental duties are shared. They tell us that 1-3 of the adults are usually identified as the most competent parents, and they do most of the parenting. The other 2-4 adults work.

They are a very tech heavy society and most jobs are in tech. They have robots, as we discovered early on, but they are mostly used for two things, mundane jobs around the house and workplace, and potentially dangerous work- as in inspecting a foreign ship.

The people all work at challenging jobs, or so we're told.