[Ice and snow have obliterated the date and first few lines of this journal. The following words are still legible.]

...and at last, we'll realize the dream that has kept us going these many years, months, and days: Nexus! A new home beyond the Fringe! Never thought I'd see the day that Nellie, me, and little Tyka would have a real home of our own with a garden, a roan or two out back, a good dog, maybe a used bot to help us with the chores. A lifetime spent on those cold, leaky rustbuckets is too long. Now Tyka will get to grow up on a real world with a sky over her head and ground beneath her feet.

And to think we wouldn't even be here if Nellie's mother hadn't been lost in that mysterious engine explosion. I'd never wish such a dire and terrible thing to happen to my beloved bride ever again, but I have to admit - the little inheritance her mother had set by is the only reason we were even able to do this. We managed to scrape together just enough to pay the Protostar real estate man for a nice little plot on the ground. Not one of their fancy floating houses, that's just the sort of thing little Tyka would plumb walk right off. Sure, we spent all we had on the deed, and I'll have to take a few extra jobs here and there to get by at first, but the little green man promised us Nexus is the planet of new beginnings and prosperous lives. And who can argue with that?

And now here we are on board. We just departed the launch bay, and I've been given permission to head to the forward cabin to grab us a few refreshments. I'm leaving Nellie and Tyka all buckled in to their seats, and I'll be back in two shakes. Nothing could possibly stop our dreams now!