We set ourselves up at one of the nearby picnic tables. We still have a couple of hours before everyone crowds in for lunch, and from the table it’s easy to see if anyone comes close, so we should have some privacy.
I tap my fingers against each other, wishing I’d brought a coffee or so...
2023-07-08 23:24:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe old crew don’t move into Habitation Ring 1 that day. I suspect they’re dawdling to keep Tinera company for as long as possible. Also, around midday their Public Universal Friend suddenly takes ill and ends up in the medbay with some kind of full-body muscular complaint. The other doctors ...
2023-07-04 23:48:11 +0000 UTC View PostJOURNAL 2
Day 11823 – Ash Dornae [Renn’s note – senior maintenance officer]
Given the highly distressing nature of the situation, Ash is handling matters fairly well. According to the AI, the situation was caused by Joshua ...
2023-07-01 22:53:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, Renn announces that his translation of Keiko Kinoshita’s notes is ‘about as reliable as it’s probably going to get’ and gives us access to his files.
“It is far from finished,” he says, “but I believe that I’ve gotten all of the immediately relevant parts. ...
2023-06-27 23:31:48 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m sure I don’t need to explain how serious an issue this is,” Captain Sands says, pacing back and forth in front of Tinera and Heli. “We simply cannot have physical violence on this ship. Our lives depend on each other every single day, not to mention the lives of the chronostatic co...
2023-06-25 00:09:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe other five of us – me, Adin, Tinera, Captain Sands, and the non-doctor Public Universal Friend – all stare at Renn.
“You cannot be serious,” Tinera says. “Lyson projects are outlawed for a reason. They used brain damage to control ‘uncontrollable’ kids! They made work forc...
2023-06-20 16:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostMy arm feels normal again by the time our little holiday is up. It still moves a little clumsily, which is probably a sign that I’m getting too old for this shit, if one night of wrong sleep can hurt my arm for days. Or maybe it’s a lingering effect of chronostasis. No matter how many mainten...
2023-06-17 16:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
ID chips were implanted into colonists shortly before stasis for recognition aboard the ship and new colony, but during the training, accommodation and boarding process, it was more convenient to use these paper ID cards.
2023-06-14 23:30:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Hi, Captain,” I say cautiously. “Everything alright?”
His expression clears quickly, so quickly that I might almost think I’d imagined it. Almost. “Completely fine, Aspen. How are you?”
“Also fine. What are you up to?”
“Just enjoying a quiet coffee.” He ta...
2023-06-13 23:18:30 +0000 UTC View PostI wake up the next morning with my arm all sore and tingly. I sit up in bed and try to rub some normalcy back into it. Through the flimsy walls of the bedrooms, I can hear the rest of the crew (the non-convict half, anyway) getting ready for the day. I lie back down and wait for everyone to leave...
2023-06-10 23:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostDo you like Aspen calling you Tiny?
It’s the obvious nickname I always end up with.
You seem like a pragmatic/straight forward person, have you always been so, or have life circumstances had more of an influence in shaping you this way?
I don...
2023-06-08 13:52:04 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone, of course, stares.
“First things first,” Lina says. “We don’t know the full knock-on effects of these genetic changes, but we… don’t think that they’re immediately bad. Nobody’s going to drop dead tomorrow, and we can keep an eye out for progressive problems over t...
2023-06-06 23:30:47 +0000 UTC View PostDespite the captain’s paranoia, Celi’s recovery seems to go just fine. I still can’t believe that Lina and the Friend managed to pull off a rootrotting liver transplant with no apparent trouble, despite not being surgeons. We have the best doctors.
A week later, the next wave...
2023-06-03 23:08:40 +0000 UTC View Post“Aspen, can I see you a moment?”
I look up from the book I’m reading. It’s about an hour until Celi’s scheduled operation; a corner of the medbay has been completely sterilised and blocked off with long sheets of plastic, a solid steel bench laid with sterile operating paper, and ...
2023-05-30 23:27:04 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Sands gestures his companions forward to explain. Sunset, eyes glittering, drops a stack of identical computer printouts on the table. We all take one.
“The chronostasis pods we sampled can be divided into three groups,” she explains. “The position where Rynn-Hatson died and w...
2023-05-28 00:12:59 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Sands had said ten minutes, but I really want to get to the bottom of this mess, so I go to grab supplies from Laboratory Ring 2 immediately. I’m pulling a box of sample containers off a high shelf when I hear Renn behind me.
“Aspen.”
I turn around. He’s lingering in t...
2023-05-23 23:22:26 +0000 UTC View Post“Okay.” Captain Sands claps his hands together and surveys the crew. “Let’s talk about progress. Anything to report?”
It’s the morning after I found the bacteria. We’re all in Network and Engineering Ring 1 for this meeting, abandoning the usual Recreation and Medical Ring 1 i...
2023-05-20 23:47:39 +0000 UTC View Post
ID chips were implanted into colonists shortly before stasis for recognition aboard the ship and new colony, but during the training, accommodation and boarding process, it was more convenient to use these paper ID cards.
2023-05-18 05:21:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Lina!”
Lina looks up from fiddling with Zale’s life support. “What?”
“The chronostasis fluid. How are you studying it?”
“The fluorescent element is really easy to concentrate. I just don’t know enough molecular chemistry to get a better idea of what it is.”<...
2023-05-16 23:22:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe condenser is a large rectangular block about twice the size of me, lying flat against the outer wall of the pressure vessel above. It’s the same non-reflective grey-white as the wall to which it’s bolted, and several black tubes lead into it, all along its length. I don’t really underst...
2023-05-13 22:12:06 +0000 UTC View PostHow well can you withstand heat or cold? (I promise this isn't with intent to put you in a freezer I just like biology facts)
I can resist temperature changed by generating either friction or airflow inside so this question depends heavily on other factors such as the humid...
2023-05-09 23:34:08 +0000 UTC View PostWith all our recently acquired information and the full help of a more widely experienced crew than we’re used to, investigation on the brain hijacking phenomenon progresses rapidly. Lina’s further scans for luminescence give her the results she expects; whatever the fluorescent chemical is, ...
2023-05-09 23:26:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Aspen!” Tal calls from behind the computer terminal as I enter the medbay. “Come check this out!”
I head over. Tal has one of kes own x-ray scans up on the screen. Ke’s standing in the image, arms raised slightly. Ke skips to the next image; another x-ray, with legs slightly wide...
2023-05-06 23:31:46 +0000 UTC View PostI follow Captain Sands into Storage Ring 2. He leads us a little away from the path between airlocks, to a spot where nobody’s likely to interrupt us accidentally while moving about the ship, and fixes me with one of his usual easy smiles. “Aspen”
“Yes, captain?”
“You don...
2023-05-02 23:25:04 +0000 UTC View PostI’ve done a lot of jobs on this spaceship. Technically, I’ve done all the jobs on this spaceship. I’ve been pretty bad at most of them. I’m an okay gardener, but I broke several bones playing engineer, avoided being the psychologist as much as possible, and probably wasn’t that great a ...
2023-04-30 00:14:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe sun shone high overhead our jeep, cruising through the Thar desert. In the passenger seat, I sipped from my water bottle and rhythmically squeezed a stress ball in my left hand. Clench, release. Clench, release.
I’d been nearly paralysed after turning my body into a charter bus for a ...
2023-04-28 23:29:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe Public Universal Friend, me, and Tal are selected for the mission of briefing our captain. It seems like the group best suited to give the maximum amount of information with the minimum amount of freaking out. We sit him down at the table in Recreation Ring 2, pour him a glass of Tinera’s s...
2023-04-25 23:29:19 +0000 UTC View Post