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 something. Something to fiddle with. “Do you know why my books became so popular?” I begin.
“Of course. Everyone knows that. Your books crested a new wave of public consciousness, released j...
2023-07-08 23:24:11 +0000 UTC
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The 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 insist it probably isn’t serious, but after all the random biological surprises we’ve had so far on this ship it puts me, at least, on edge.
It seems like everyone’s on edge over something...
2023-07-04 23:48:11 +0000 UTC
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JOURNAL 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 launching a physical attack on the ship itself with an axe, which one would think would make the situation rather more stressful but I actually think helps. Ash, like most of the crew, has been wary o...
2023-07-01 22:53:34 +0000 UTC
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The 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. I’ll continue working on it in case something else of relevance pops up.” He’s thoughtfully marked the pages in the file that he believes are ‘relevant’, so I grab a terminal in Network and ...
2023-06-27 23:31:48 +0000 UTC
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“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 colonists. We shouldn’t even be in a position where I have to explain that attacking crewmates for being rude to you is simply not permissable.”
“Yes, sir.” Tinera’s voice is completely ...
2023-06-25 00:09:59 +0000 UTC
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2023-06-24 02:29:53 +0000 UTC
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The 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 forces of zombies! The whole practice is completely unjustifiable!”
“Unregulated, yes. Many technologies are dangerous when they’re unregulated. But it does have its uses – look at our Frien...
2023-06-20 16:30:01 +0000 UTC
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My 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 maintenance drugs you pump into a person, it’s hard for a body to recover completely from several months comatose in a chronostatic field.
I should count myself lucky that I didn’t lose any organs....
2023-06-17 16:30:01 +0000 UTC
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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
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“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 takes a sip from his cup.
“Alone? Hanging out in one of the creepy rooms where you can expect people not to be, instead of in a chair or a garden or something?”
“I just got a bit lost ...
2023-06-13 23:18:30 +0000 UTC
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I 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 – it’s not like I have important work to do today. Work is cancelled.
I stare up at the ceiling, and wonder which member of the second crew had this room. I wonder if they died in here, and...
2023-06-10 23:30:01 +0000 UTC
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Do 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’t know. Have yours? People are people.
What would be your ideal way to spend a rest day?
I used to be really good at beer pong, which is very messy in lunar gravity.
...
2023-06-08 13:52:04 +0000 UTC
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Everyone, 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 time.”
We all immediately relax a little, especially the affected crew members.
“But,” Lina continues, “I should warn those affected that you’ve been engineered to a greater degre...
2023-06-06 23:30:47 +0000 UTC
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Despite 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 of revivals goes ahead (they only wake four, since the doctors are still somewhat busy monitoring Celi’s recovery), and it is, blessedly, boring. An unfortunate wave of bad luck this time, which we...
2023-06-03 23:08:40 +0000 UTC
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“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 Celi and the two doctors are taking long showers with medical soap. Even I know this is overkill; this isn’t the atomic age, it’s not like they’re going to lay the patient down and slice kes abd...
2023-05-30 23:27:04 +0000 UTC
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Captain 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 what we learned in Denish and Aspen’s external inspection suggest that he died in the process of tampering with CR5. From where he was, we think he died right after installing a bacterial source afte...
2023-05-28 00:12:59 +0000 UTC
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2023-05-26 06:31:39 +0000 UTC
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Captain 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 the doorway. Alone. “How can I help you?” I ask.
“You’re upset.”
I shrug. “It’s nothing important. I’ll get over it. Can you grab those syringes over there?”
He fetc...
2023-05-23 23:22:26 +0000 UTC
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“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 in favour of computer terminal access. I look up from my terminal.
“We’ve solved the Rynn-Hatson mystery,” I say. “Mostly.”
Most of the crew look at me, startled.
“Oh?” ...
2023-05-20 23:47:39 +0000 UTC
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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
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“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.”
“Did you look at it under a microscope?”
“I don’t know how to use an electron mic – ”
“No, a normal microscope.”
“Um. No? You can’t see molecules under a li...
2023-05-16 23:22:12 +0000 UTC
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The 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 understand how it works and I don’t need to, but I did study pictures of it to prepare for this mission, so Richard Rynn-Hatson’s alterations are obvious.
The connection between the condenser and t...
2023-05-13 22:12:06 +0000 UTC
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How 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 humidity, and how well fed I am. If I didn’t do these things I would start taking damage at around fifty or sixty degrees celsius, and start to become dormant at around four or five degrees celsius. I am...
2023-05-09 23:34:08 +0000 UTC
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With 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, it’s in the chronostasis fluid of CR5 and, presumably, the long-ejected CR1. Apparently, attempting to purify the chemical for analysis is much easier if she can take it from the actual fluid rather...
2023-05-09 23:26:05 +0000 UTC
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“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 wider apart and arms raised higher. Ke switches back and forth rapidly between the two images.
“Skeleton dance,” ke explains.
“R-right. Is… is that what you wanted to show me?”
2023-05-06 23:31:46 +0000 UTC
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I 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’t like me, do you?”
I blink. This is not where I’d thought this meeting would be going. “Sir?”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to lie to me. It’s not a job requirement to like...
2023-05-02 23:25:04 +0000 UTC
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I’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 captain.
As logistics officer, I’m also the second in command, and part of that job is backing up the captain, enacting his wishes when he isn’t around, and generally trying to keep the runn...
2023-04-30 00:14:36 +0000 UTC
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2023-04-29 00:30:00 +0000 UTC
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The 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 bunch of magic spells, but in the five years since that day I had mostly recovered. Mostly. My hands were steady and my body did what I wanted it to, except when it didn’t, with muscles occasionally...
2023-04-28 23:29:43 +0000 UTC
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The 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 sort-of-mostly-successful attempt at making mead, and explain the situation. He’s surprisingly quiet through the explanation, although his intake of alcohol does seem to steadily increase with each p...
2023-04-25 23:29:19 +0000 UTC
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