Time to Orbit: Unknown

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

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next Arboreans don’t have harems or nuclear families or orphanages like we do aboard the Courageous. Instead they live in ‘clusters’, where a group of grown ups live together in the trees with their kids. Grown ups can move between clusters however they feel like, and they take their kids … Continue reading 29: Arborea Celestia

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next We had nothing to do the whole next day except travel closer and closer to Arborea Celestia. The historians spent a lot of their time arguing with each other, which seemed to be their favourite hobby. “All I’m saying,” Tima was saying, “is that the Smallest Possible Loop doesn’t … Continue reading 28: Jessies

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next I wasn’t sure what to say about Hali’s story, but luckily I didn’t have to say anything because right then came the warning that we were about to start moving toward the Arborea Celestia. We stowed our bags safely in a locker and Plia helped me figure out the … Continue reading 27: Rodge

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next Through the door was a much more normally sized corridor, and in the corridor was a brennan wearing a cleaner and less worn version of the type of jumpsuit the woman wore, waiting for us. Ke smiled and gave us a little wave. “Welcome aboard the Vanguard,” ke said. … Continue reading 26: The Smallest Possible Loop

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next My friends were, of course, not happy that I would be going away for so long. “I’m going to miss you so much!” Arai wailed, throwing her arms around me. Hitan gave me a stiffer, tighter hug. “I’m so jealous,” he said. “You’re gonna have to message us all … Continue reading 25: Vanguard

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next Medical was a pretty interesting jaunt. Kids can’t do real Medical on their jaunt, of course. There’s not too many Medical jobs that the hospitals want to trust us with. And it’s okay for kids to mess around sorting scraps or cooking food but running around a hospital getting … Continue reading 24: Growing Up Fast

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next I tried to find Yamin again for a really long time. The Courageous wouldn’t tell me where he was very often. It would sometimes say he was ‘at work’, but wouldn’t tell me where he worked. (Working in admin and wearing a jumpsuit to work probably meant he worked … Continue reading 23: Plia

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next “What do you mean by that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “What? Nothing.” “Don’t lie to me. Don’t treat me like a little kid. What do you know about my grandma?” He looked surprised. Maybe he didn’t know anything. Maybe I’d read his expression wrong. “Nothing. I’m sure she’s … Continue reading 22: The Flaw in the Plan

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next Epilepsy? I’d never heard the word. I shook my head. “That’s not surprising. It’s been incredibly rare for a long time, as we identify more of the genetic risk factors involved, and we cure it whenever we do find it, because it’s so dangerous. Epilepsy is a neurological condition … Continue reading 21: Mental Structure