Looking in the Mirror
# Chapter 9: Looking in the Mirror _July 3'rd 1993 21:00 Hours London, England_ I slept in a hotel that evening. The idea of spending a night in the Kennel sickened me. The hotel was not high class. It was, at best, middling, the type of...
Can a Band-Aid Fix A Reactor Leak?
# Chapter 3 Can a Band-Aid Fix A Reactor Leak? What in the name of all the gods was going on? The face of James Madford swam in and out of my vision, the drugs he'd just pumped me full of left him in washed out hues of yellow and brown. He was...
First Mate Crit Is A Bugger
# Chapter 2 First Mate Crit Is A Bugger My mind nearly froze at the thought that I could share Wilkson's fate. Death by vacuum was not listed among the more pleasant ways in which to leave this existence. Not only did one asphyxiate, but one's...
James Madford. Mechanic, Third Class
# James Madford. Mechanic, Third Class "Hand me a hydro-spanner?" I yelled, waving my arm out blindly in Wilkson's direction. I could only hope he was still back there. I had my head stuck through a maintenance panel in the roof of the...
Election Night
# Chapter 14: Election Night Max hadn't been kidding when he'd said shaking hands and kissing babies. Our first stop was Queen Elizabeth Park. A fitting destination considering that English was in the lead. It looked like they had everything...
Well, One Thing Is Still Working
# Chapter 6 Well, One Thing Is Still Working There was nothing else to do, not a single sign of civilization, so we began walking inland. Hopefully we'd encounter some patch of vegetation, of life. The planet had been registered as 'In progress...
And Not A Drop To Drink
# Chapter 5 And Not A Drop To Drink We'd only planned this to be a quick exploratory mission, not to land here for good and ever. We hadn't even bothered to pack any supplies. I was suddenly glad I hadn't left my backpack on the ship. Not that...
A Rough Passage To The Surface
# Chapter 4 A Rough Passage To The Surface Crit seemed to have ratcheted the 'won't let you out of my reach' instinct down a bit now, returning to something closer to his normal 'I'm above you all'. Though he still wouldn't back off more than a...
Back in 'Civilization'
# Chapter 10 Back in 'Civilization' The walls of the city had been a gleaming white once, no expense spared for the main base of a planet wide terraforming project. I could hardly see their original colour now, they were covered from foundation to...
Damnit Crit, I'm a Mechanic, Not a Killer!
# Chapter 9 Damnit Crit, I'm a Mechanic, Not a Killer! We made it the rest of the way around the pool without any more creatures surfacing from its depths. A stream cascaded down from the wall was fresh and clean, its crystal clear water that...
Why Hide When You Have All the Space In the World?
# Chapter 8 Why Hide When You Have All the Space In the World? Watching Crit flounder around in the shallow pool was enough to release at least some of the stress that had been bunching at the base of my neck. He still hadn't seemed to have...
Food. Food, The Problem Is Always Food
# Chapter 7 Food. Food, The Problem Is Always Food James and I spent that night at the plant, after first gulping down all the water we could hold and ransacking the place for anything of value. The first was just short of heaven, the second...