Author: Derin

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> When Lina takes my arm to insert the needle, I stiffen automatically. She hesitates. “If you’re uncomfortable with me, the Friend can do this,” she tells me. I shake my head. “I’m sure you won’t kill me for my organs on a spaceship.” I … Continue reading 109: NORMAL

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s mostly dark. Dark enough that, as I lay on my back in my sleeper nest and stare up at the branch above, I can’t quite out make the ceiling behind it. The light’s not quite right, but I can almost, almost pretend it’s … Continue reading 108: GROWTH

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The process of explaining the issue takes long enough that the designated time for Movie Night ends partway through. Captain Klees sheds random costume paraphernalia as he paces back and forth in the Engine Ring. “Everyone stay calm,” he says in a tone that … Continue reading 107: IMPLICATION

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s movie night. It’s Tal’s turn, and ke has insisted on doing some preneek tradition called ‘talk like a pirate day’. This involves adopting some specific vocal affectations that ke has provided instructions for. This also involves, for some reason, dressing like a pirate. … Continue reading 106: PIRATES

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “Antarctica?” I ask. “Our resident fatcat’s family fortune is tied up in research labs in Antarctica?” “Does this mean that Captain Sand’s nonsense conspiracy theory that you told us about was actually right?” Tinera asks. “It couldn’t be. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s … Continue reading 105: DOR

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s a special day on the spaceship. We all gather around the little table in the medbay while Lina sets down a small incubator and places three perfect little chicken eggs inside. “That one’s named Omelette,” Tinera says, pointing. “And that one’s Quiche, and … Continue reading 104: SHELL

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We all gather at one of the picnic tables, cups of coffee in hand. Denish begins his explanation without preamble. “The engine was damaged on Day 789. 32 days later, Senior Engineer Ovlo Astur declared it irreparable. This is the first thing that did … Continue reading 103: IRREPARABLE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We settle into a new routine surprisingly quickly. Lina’s still processing samples from her previous braindead patients (now in the freezer) and the Friend is slowly picking through Captain Kinoshita’s notes to see if we’ve missed anything of note in there, but on the … Continue reading 102: BED

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The structure of a Texan funeral is jarringly unfamiliar to me in practice, but I’m well versed in the theory. Death rites tell you a lot about a culture, and there’s probably no sociologist alive in any society who doesn’t understand how to bury … Continue reading 101: GRIEF

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> While I wait for my next client, I grab a notepad and run some numbers. There are two thousand, nine hundred and eighty six colonists still in chronostasis, out of an original five thousand. That includes the survivors of the original crew. They have … Continue reading 100: CAPTAIN