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You find that what begins to ground you in the present is the bassy thrum of [[your craft]]'s engines as they climb down out of [[hyperspace]] to sub-light speeds.
(set: $inpresent to true)
Before you is a vast, rotating ring of light in the darkness. A space station with a [[Stanford torus]].
Your ship is a Type 28-2 //Roebuck// cruiser; it was once a [[security vessel]]. If not operated by [[law enforcement]], most ships of this type are [[stolen]], but they can be [[acquired legally]].
Most ships these days use an Alcubierre drive to warp space ahead of the craft - essentially shifting space rather than than the craft itself. Generally, the technology is seen as a vast improvement in terms of efficiency and safety over the old dimension-punch drives.
[[◀->In Present]]
Like anyone else that wants to get their hands on a //Roebuck//, you had to do so by...illegitimate means. That Fed [[never saw it coming]].
You purchased your ship from a junkyard out in the Phaedra Nebula - from an aging [[Trel]] who had written it off. But you nursed the craft back to health - and despite its quirks, it suits your needs.
You are drawn out of your reverie as the [[hailing alert]] bleeps.
(set: $honest to true)
A flashing [[message->Identify]] appears on your [[heads-up-display]]:
<h5>"Unknown vessel, please identify yourself."</h5>
Stars rush by as trails of light flitting past outside your [[cockpit->Deceleration]] windows.
You feel your body tense as the velocity dampeners kick in.
(set: $relaxed to false)
The trails of light [[reform]] into sparkling orbs.
The Stanford torus has emerged as one of the most popular space station design styles over the last century. Simulated-gravity habitats like this are dime-a-dozen; a good couple thousand families live here.
(if: $inpresent is true)[ [[◀->In Present]] ](if: $inpresent is false)[ [[◀->stream of information]] ]
All it takes is a [[good distraction]] or a [[pipe wrench]] these days. The Feds are getting sloppy.
She'd only been gone from the ship for about thirty seconds before you were on board. She hardly knew what was happening by the time you'd left orbit.
You are drawn out of your reverie as the [[hailing alert]] bleeps.
(set: $thief to true)
There's no bullshit when there's a pipe wrench involved. //Wham//. One smack to the back of the head whilst she was turned the other way and the ship was practically yours for the taking.
You are drawn out of your reverie as the [[hailing alert]] bleeps.
(set: $murderer to true)
<h5>"Confirmed, $name. Please hold for bioscan and ident check."</h5>
(if: $honest is true)[The [[veteran spacers]] have heard this script many times. And every time they enter space near a larger vessel or station, ever since they took their [[first flight]].](if: $thief is true)[This process is more than a little nervewracking. The bioscan is easy enough to pass - you're clean from pathogens - but whether the station detects that your ship is stolen is [[another matter]].](if: $murderer is true)[This process is more than a little nervewracking. The bioscan is easy enough to pass - you're clean from pathogens - but whether the station detects that your ship is stolen is [[another matter]].]
The monolithic [[towers->Towers]] of the inner ring sail past your cockpit windows. There aren't any lights on.
That's [[odd->Odd]].
These structures would've been built after the station was released from drydock.
Rising from the habitation ring, they house apartment facilities, in addition to malls, leisure facilities and public service offices.
[[◀->Past Towers]]
You glance at your on-board chronometer: 21:46[[UGST]]
Not exactly bed-time for [[miners]], office workers and engineers.
You release your thrusters as the landing lights guide you towards an [[open docking bay]].
//Unified Galactic Standard Time//. Since the Synchronisation, time in the galaxy follows an agreed-upon system based on Earth time.
[[◀->Odd]]
The 'colony' of Cherno Gamma is actually an asteroid belt in the Cherno system - located between the second and third planets in orbit of the star. The mineral-rich asteroids of the belt are vital to the galactic economy.
[[◀->Odd]]
You notice that the lights are flickering in the docking bay too.
You guide [[closer]] and your ship jolts as it's caught in the [[tractor beam]].
At this distance, it's not too late to [[abort]] docking.
Pulling sharp on the flight stick, you arc up ...(if: $veteran is true)[past the docking antennae to [[escape]] the pull of the tractor beam.](if: $veteran is false)[and [[clip]] one of the docking antennae.]
The technical name for tractor beams are Zero Point Energy Field Manipulators; they project gravitational force in a conical beam, allowing for stations to take control of the docking of a ship rather than leave it down to a pilot's skill.
[[◀->open docking bay]]
It's probably just an electrical error. You [[proceed]] into the docking bay. Your ship's headlights automatically turn on.
The nearby mining colony of [[Cherno Gamma]] is the primary source of mineral oil.
This station serves as a backup refinement facility, so a contingent of miners is permanently assigned to maintain the systems.
[[◀->Odd]]
To you, the words are almost meaningless now. You've heard them so many times over the course of your hundreds of journeys.
(set: $veteran to true)
You close on the [[docking towers->Past Towers]].
You yourself haven't needed to hear those words many times. This is only your twenty-third journey into deep space.
You close on the [[docking towers->Past Towers]].
The augmented-reality interface you see before you is projected onto a paper-thin sheet of clear polymer descending from your helmet.
[[◀->hailing alert]]
These snub fighters have very little in the way of cargo storage. They're small and fast, but intimidating thanks to their dual anterior 30mm [[mass-accelerator cannons]].
[[◀->your craft]]
This region of space is monitored by the East Dromedan Defense Force - a subdivision of the Greater Dromedan Nebulae Security Detail. The have a reputation for being...a little lax with their application of the law.
[[◀->your craft]]
Weaponized mass-accelerators are only authorized for use by law enforcement vessels. Following the [[Boer Disaster]], use by commercial or civilian pilots was made illegal; they have only recently been reclassified as safe-for-sale.
The Boer Disaster of 2586 remains humanity's largest diaster by death toll. Before Boer, only natural disasters had incurred similar numbers of casualties.
Eight million were killed when a Dreadnought-class ship fired it's 1500mm ventral cannon - designed as a 'nuclear option' for use against enemy capital ships in deep space - without a proper firing solution. The resulting shot missed the intended target and continued through space, hitting a colony on the edges of the systems.
[[◀->your craft]]
You'll never get used to this sensation. It makes you feel sick. The faster-than-light speeds do something to your head. To ease the symptoms, you decide to wait a few moments and open up your computer. A [[stream of information]] comes pouring out in hologramatic form.
(set: $recovered to false)
A tense moment passes.
(if: $relaxed is true)[ [[Green light]].]
(if: $relaxed is false)[ [[Uh oh]].]
As you drift into the cavernous hangar bay, the sound of the magnetic lock affixed to the floor reverberates through the air.
Your ship drifts rapidly downwards. Time to [[deploy landing gear]].
The Roebuck coasts to the floor and clunks as it makes contact. It will be a few moments before you can exit the craft as the pressure difference normalizes. You [[look around]] the hangar.
The [[veteran spacers]] have heard this script many times. And every time they enter space near a larger vessel or station, ever since they took their [[first flight]].
A red light. The Station must have [[received word]] of your theft of the Roebuck. [[Shit]].
<h5>"$name, your record indicates that you are in violation of Galactic Law."
Please proceed to dock.</h5>
(if: $murderer is true)[<h5>"Lethal force is authorized if you do not comply."</h5>]
This isn't good. It's time to either [[run]]...or [[face the music]].
(put: (prompt: "You type out your name...") into $name)You [[wait->callsign]] a few moments for the reply.
To hell with this. You engage your thrusters and pull on the flight stick. Your engines scream as you swerve up to pull a one-eighty.
Just as your yaw settles, a red light fills your cockpit and an [[alarm]] sounds. A missile lock.
You're not getting blown up. You set your transponder to friendly, signalling that you will comply and send an additional message to the system just in case.
You power up your thrusters and proceed into the [[inner ring->Past Towers]].
The same technology that allows vehicles to travel at faster-than-light speeds has also recently led to the discovery of a near-instant messaging service. So-called 'hypertexts' are being touted as revolutionary according to some sources.
[[◀->Uh oh]]
(if: $recovered is false)[Luckily, what truckers call 'hyperspace lag' affects memories more than motor skills. You ponder what to search. Maybe the [[history and symptoms]] of your current condition, [[your destination]] or [[something completely different]].(set: $inpresent to false)](if: $recovered is true)[You shift your focus to the controls of your craft. You feel better, but maybe a moment to [[relax]] wouldn't hurt before you [[push on->In Present]].]
Some reports from the early days of hyperspace flight give accounts of cosmonauts losing their memory and never remembering who they were ever again.
(set: $recovered to true)
A smidge of amnesia is standard faire for each jump - but five minutes or so memories return. You feel much better for knowing that.
[[◀->stream of information]]
You open up your starmap - a three-dimensional hologramatic display of the local system. It reads you at [[Boucher Station->Stanford torus]].
[[◀->stream of information]]
<p style="text-align:center"><iframe src="http://www.omgcatsinspace.com/" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="700px"></iframe></p>On second thoughts, maybe you should concentrate.
[[◀->stream of information]]
There are no other ships in the hangar. Despite the flickering lights - which persist - the place seems relatively normal, if a little desolate. Ahead of you is a [[corridor]] leading off into the station.
The impact sends your ship off balance and you begin spinning.
You panic. Shit. //Fuckfuckfuck//.
In your alarm you accidentally fire your vertical thrusters. Just a slight shift of the hand, but it's enough to send you [[crashing]] into the side of the station.
Like a leaf on the wind, you pull your ship round in a one-eighty and throttle up the engines. You pass by the towers again - still dark.
Something here is wrong - and you'd (link:"rather not find out why")[(goto:"Game Over")].
This is it. Hull breached. No oxygen left to breathe. Your ears pop from the sudden change in pressure, then the rest of you.
You die an excruciatingly painful (link:"death")[(goto:"Game Over")].
The various lights and displays on your dashboard reactivate and your cockpit is filled with light. They appear first as blurry spots as you struggle to [[re-orientate]] yourself; then as you turn your head, as streaks of light like a long-exposure photograph.
<h5>"Repeat, lethal force authorized. Please proceed to docking bay for processing. A Defence Force ground team is en-route."</h5>
Last chance, either way - to [[freedom]] or [[imprisonment->face the music]].
You're not letting them take you in. Full power to thrusters - you're getting [[out of here]].
<h5>"Final warning. Return or risk immediate sentencing."</h5>
No turning back. You're hurtling back the way you came. The station is suddenly behind you as you begin punching in coordinates for a faster-than-light jump.
A new notification on your HUD: [[missile incoming]].
(if: $thief is true)[You instinctively fire off your [[chaff]].]
The Trel are a highly adaptable species of bipedal humanoids. They lack distinct facial or sexual characteristics. Humans made first contact with them in the 23rd century and they were the eighth race to exchange diplomatic representatives.
[[◀->acquired legally]]
<h3>Station</h3><h4>by Alistair Westwood</h4>
<h3>[[begin->Start]]</h3>
You hardly have time to deploy chaff.
Your cockpit bursts into flame, searing your skin in an instant before the glass shatters and the flames [[die->crashing]].
<h3>Thanks for playing!</h3>
<h3>(link:"Start Over")[(gotoURL:"station.html")]</h3>
Breathe in. Breathe out. That's better. You flex your fingers and grip the flight stick. Muscle memory kicks in. [[You've got this->In Present]].
(set: $relaxed to true)
A figure emerges from the corridor. A bassy, synthesized voice fills the hangar.
<h5>"Welcome back, $name. A lot has changed in your absence."</h5>
You raise your cockpit canopy and stand, looking down at the mechanoid. (link:"//What?//")[(goto:"Game Over")].
The missile takes the bait and veers off, giving you just enough time to engage your hyperdrive.
(link:"Not today")[(goto:"Game Over")].