Time to Orbit: Unknown

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next The trip to the Stalwart was uneventful. We had to put the braces back on and everything for the docking procedure, since we hit the Stalwart and nearly the same velocity that we left the Dish with, and after Miya gave us a quick inspection we tottered out … Continue reading 65: Charm

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next It was difficult to stay gloomy when boarding HEX-107, because as we were buckling in for the journey back to the Stalwart, all I could think about were the capuchins. We’d be spending a few weeks on the Stalwart before taking the Ironstock back to the Courageous, and … Continue reading 64: Transport Economy

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next The historians stayed in a pretty good mood for the rest of our time on the Dish, and I couldn’t blame them. But a few days before leaving, as the historians and I ate in the mess, Hali stared wistfully at the walls, barely picking at his food. … Continue reading 63: Keep Going

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next “And then you catch the arm on the twirl – yep, you got it!” Other Haken said as I took her arm and halted my spin. “That’s pretty good for someone who doesn’t live in zero pull.” “I played a lot of markball on Hexacorallia,” I said. “The … Continue reading 62: Hamelin

Previous --- Next After the presentation, we were each taken into a small room by the dissector one by one and given a thorough inspection. From the way it rubbed at my flesh, checking for hard shapes beneath, and inspected me for tiny unexpected holes, it was obvious that it was looking for ovipositors. That… … Continue reading Inner Life 3: Crew

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next One day, I found myself in a view port, looking at the stars. The Dish, being a zero pull ship, didn’t have seating in their tiny viewports, but they did have safety handles to hold onto so you could stay in place without thinking about it; I had … Continue reading 61: Cousins

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next I couldn’t stop thinking of the map for the rest of the day, or all night. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much. There were a lot of colonies; I already knew that. They were very far away and we didn’t have a whole lot of … Continue reading 60: Population Instability

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next We had some dense nutrient loaf (which tasted delicious and not at all like feet), then Gara took the historians off to show them some files or computer systems or something, and Old Teeth gave me another big, toothless smile. “Do you want to see something interesting, child?” … Continue reading 59: The Tyranny of Distance

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next Starlight did eventually get boring. Nothing really happened on Starlight; or at least, nothing that we guests got to see. The staff could be doing all sorts of interesting things where we couldn’t see them, but that didn’t matter to us – we were just waiting around, making … Continue reading 58: The Dish

First -- Prev -- Archive -- Next While putting together a message for Tikka, I figured it out. I figured out why capuchins couldn’t leave the Stalwart. It was pretty obvious, if you stopped thinking about the ship and started thinking about the fleet. I was telling Tikka about the staff on Starlight, and thinking … Continue reading 57: Human people