Time to Orbit: Unknown

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The next day is an awkward day of inactivity. It’s frustrating, but there’s not all that much we can really do. We consider going for another look around the settlement, but it’s much more productive to wait until we can go out without the suits and … Continue reading 140: GAMES

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We discuss various possibilities of what, if anything at all, is strange about the colony, but it only goes in circles. The only thing we can all (except Tal) agree on pretty quickly is that we probably didn’t stumble onto a planet with abandoned alien tech. … Continue reading 139: SURGERY

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We get back to our dome and desuit, and Captain Klees starts pacing back and forth, agitated. I also want to pace, but two people pacing seems weird, so I sit at the table all tense instead. “We’ve been through a lot of weird bullshit,” Captain … Continue reading 138: QUESTIONS

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Max shows us the central meeting area, which is exactly what it sounds like – a huge dome that’s apparently for meeting up and conducting business. A town hall, I suppose. Some benches are lined up along one edge with plastic crates piled on them; a … Continue reading 137: RADIO

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> One thing to be said about the Hylarans is that they work quickly. Even as we eat, we can hear people moving around outside the dome, doing something around the door. By the time we’re finished, there’s a hastily assembled decontamination chamber there. Well, it’s a … Continue reading 136: DOME

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Captain Klees is the last of us to get checked over; whether by accident or design, I’m not sure. He stomps into the living dome we’ve been assigned, pulls his helmet off, and drops into a chair at the cast plastic table we’re all seated around. … Continue reading 135: LUNCH

<<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