Time to Orbit: Unknown

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> I go first. I want to see more of the colony. “So,” I ask over radio as Max leads me from the vehicle bay towards a nearby dome while the Friend tries to impress upon Hive the importance of disinfecting the vehicle bed we’d been in, … Continue reading 134: DOCTOR

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Before we can respond, Max dashes forward and shakes our hands one by one, their thin digits dwarfed by our bulky space suit gloves. They speak into their own right hand to talk to us – those rings must have microphones and radio transceivers in them. … Continue reading 133: COLONY

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> There is the slightest shake as the arms release us, and then the complete cessation of gravity. Nothing moves us. No sounds come from outside our pod. We can’t see anything out there. It’s just this small drop pod, and us, and nothing else. The illusion … Continue reading 132: DROP

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a space suit, and nothing good ever happens when I put one on. So it’s with some trepidation that I fire up the electronics and start the suit systems check. Around me, the rest of the … Continue reading 131: BOARD

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s not movie night. It’s off-schedule, as Tal would be quick to point out if anyone were to call it movie night. Movie night was four days ago. But it’s our last night together, the last night before the drop, and everyone is hanging … Continue reading 130: EVE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “This had better be the colony or I’m eating my own liver,” Tinera says as everyone tries to crowd around the terminal in the Habitation Ring. “Don’t do that,” the Friend says. “Transplants are risky.” “You did Celi’s with no problems. One hundred per … Continue reading 129: PREPARE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Captain Kae Jin’s wheelchair is properly outfitted, and the astronauts hold the funeral for their dead the next day. I don’t want to go, and nobody asks me to. Nobody asks any of us replacement crew to. They gather in Pod Launch Ring 2 … Continue reading 128: CODE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Xanthe’s issue turns out to be some kind of hormone regulation thing. “A synnerve,” the Friend explains, “has grown into the amygdala and, while it’s inactive, has interrupted Xanthe’s adrenalin regulation.” “Is it dangerous?” Captain Klees asks. “It’s… difficult to say. It puts a … Continue reading 127: HERITAGE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Two days later, and after enough failed revivals to convince me that going under chronostasis at such an advanced age did indeed have effects on the crew’s revival chances that the system didn’t pick up, Captain Kae Jin and Asteria are joined by Earl … Continue reading 126: ASTRONAUTS

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Captain Kae Jin asks that the conversation be recorded. “I’m still sedated,” she points out, “and if the story is half as complicated as you’ve all made it sound, either give me a copy I can refer back to or endure being asked to … Continue reading 125: WIPED