Time to Orbit: Unknown

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I watched the people on the bridge very carefully for some time, wishing I could read their moods properly. A lot of them were definitely afraid of me, but some of the drakes especially seemed… well, they glanced at me a lot, but when they did, … Continue reading 10: Housekeeping

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The Hypati launcher grows. New shuttle parts are constructed. I spend far more time than I want to loading and unloading tiny battery-operated trucks with huge chunks of metal and plastic to be bolted to other parts of metal and plastic up at the base of … Continue reading 178: SOLUTION

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I listened carefully to Glath’s story, stopping him several times to clarify key points. I wrote the whole thing down, then read over it, then asked more questions to fill in some of the more obvious holes and address any conflicts. Then, confident that I had … Continue reading 9: Every species walks alone

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The letters are written, read and discussed by the crew, read and discussed by the Leadership, rewritten, checked carefully for inconsistencies, rewritten again, and eventually sent. Captain Klees receives a stern letter back informing him that all orders related to major colony decisions should be confirmed … Continue reading 177: DESTINATION

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> It’s hard to get a full story out of someone who’s acting cagey and scared of you. It’s even harder when you don’t properly share a complete language, or even the same cultural criteria for story structure. But this is, to the best of my approximation, … Continue reading 8: Singers and Dancers

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “We need to convince Antarctica to give us an AI,” Tal says one day at breakfast, not looking away from the computer as ke talks. “We’ve tried everything else and it’s impossible. Mama can’t do it. Amy’s dregs won’t work without brains, and I think we … Continue reading 176: DISCOVERED

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> There weren’t even any lasers. I suppose there was excitement, in its way. For instance, as the airlock opened into space it suddenly occurred to me that if the ship jolted again before my safety line was attached, it could simply jerk me out into space … Continue reading 7: Space battles are boring

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Gatekeeper Rault to Capt. Klees Hylara has been ordered to continue to refuse supply drops due to possible infections. Be informed that this population may have undetected weaknesses in their immune systems. Provide further information on what health issues your ground crew have and we will … Continue reading 175: DEVELOPMENT

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> You’d be amazed how hard it is to find information about human nutrition that some random imbecile like me could understand. Thing is, food isn’t really a problem for humans on Earth. Oh, sure, there were societies where poor people starved, and there were issues when … Continue reading 6: Food is complicated, and so is the law

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “I don’t like it,” Celti tells me later. “Trading that tech gives her actions legitimacy. We could have a civil war on our hands.” “Over a couple of unsanctioned unethical science experiments?” I’ve been an unwilling test subject enough times that I barely remember feeling the … Continue reading 174: CONTACT