Author: Derin

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next The Stalwart doesn’t have viewports. I’m not sure why; I didn’t want to ask anyone in case it set off a rant about inefficient weak spots in the hull or something. After the historians left, I changed the projector view to a view of space, and stood in … Continue reading 39: Foreigner

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next Plia and Tima were waiting for us in the cafeteria. They saw us approach through the window and strode impatiently out into the hall to meet us. “So what’s this oh-so-great discovery of yours?” Plia asked. Hali grinned. “Oh, you’ll see.” He lead us down a series of … Continue reading 38: Relaxation

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next Actually, I’d wanted to ask about Hexacorallia. After the whole capuchin thing it seemed like a bad idea to get all my information from reports and educational videos, and if there were any more surprises on the next ship being hidden-but-not-really, Ella might know and be able to … Continue reading 37: Manners

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next “What do you mean?” Plia asked. “We got the idea from Arborea Celestia,” Ella explained. “Arborea is a ship with design problems. Just so, so many design problems. I mean, right from the fleet’s obsession with ring-shaped habitats… but more importantly, their whole ecological structure results in a … Continue reading 36: Perfect Plans

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next “What’s the deal with the capuchins, do you think?” Tima asked at breakfast. Plia shrugged. “Just what Fari said, I’d imagine. They seem to be really big on efficiency here. If you can keep your mass and your food and oxygen cycling down when supporting the huge force … Continue reading 35: Efficiency

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next I rushed out into the hall and almost ran right into the historians. “Taya!” Plia threw her arms around me protectively, glancing around for trouble. “What happened? Are you okay?” “Structural issue?” Hali asked, rushing over to my door and checking that it was sealed. “I’ll call Fari,” … Continue reading 34: Tikka

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next The next ship on our itinerary was the Stalwart. I’d looked it up before our journey, and it was quite strange. It had normal inertial pull, like the Courageous and the Arborea (phew), so you’d think it would be a nice sensible ring shape, or maybe several rings, … Continue reading 33: Stalwart

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next The next day, being so put off by the Dawn Festival felt silly. All the stuff they’d been chanting was just the fleet mission, sort of. They didn’t think about it like we did on the Courageous, and we’d definitely never describe ourselves or our mission like that, but … Continue reading 32: Moon Mysteries

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next The people of the Arborea Celestia are all farmers, but they don’t think of themselves as farmers. They work three hours a day at some other job and farm in their “free” time. Once I talked about looking after the forests as working in Farming, and the Arborean I … Continue reading 31: Dawn Festival

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next “You’re super young to be exiled,” Strawberry said one morning as we ate some big round fruits for breakfast (not all Arborean food needed to be cooked; these were raw). She sounded impressed. “I’m just accompanying my sister,” I told her. “We thought that if I came now, it … Continue reading 30: The Dreamspeaker