Derin Edala

102: BED

We settle into a new routine surprisingly quickly. Lina’s still processing samples from her previous braindead patients (now in the freezer) and the Friend is slowly picking through Captain Kinos...

Patreon ID bonus -- Lina's Javelin ID card

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 conve...

101: GRIEF

The structure of a Texan funeral is jarringly unfamiliar to me in practice, but I’m well versed in the theory. Death rites tell you a lot about a culture, and there’s probably no sociologist al...

100: CAPTAIN

While I wait for my next client, I grab a notepad and run some numbers.

There are two thousand, nine hundred and eighty six colonists still in chronostasis, out of an original five thousand. ...

Ask Me Anything -- Lina chisolm

Who first started the discussion to deactivate the kill switches amongst the crew?

The Friend brought it up to me while I was still recovering from chronostasis, so I assume ...

099: TAL

The medbay is empty except for me, Tal, and the two of Lina’s comatose science projects who survived the problems of the computer shutdown and subsequent transfer to this ring. Tal sits on the en...

098: LOBOTOMY

“What do you mean, you told her to?” I ask.

“And why now?” Lina asks.

“She did it now because she couldn’t before. I restored her proper environmental controls and ...

097: STABILISE

I’m still at the keyboard, so Captain Klees turns to me. “Where is everyone? Is anyone in CR5?”

I check. “Nobody’s in CR5. Well, except all the chronostatic colonists, I guess. Deni...

Behind the Keyboard -- Keldin Sands

096: REVIVE

I wake up in a bright room, littered with IVs and monitoring equipment and with an oxygen mask on my face. I carefully reach back to disconnect the cerebral stimulator from the port in my skull. 2023-08-29 23:30:41 +0000 UTC View Post

095: DEFUSE

I stare at Tal for a bit, but no further explanation is forthcoming. “I don’t…?”

“You too, Aspen! All of us are so fucking stupid! I have to try something! If this actually works I�...

094: IDENTITY

I wake up in my own bed, and for a moment it seems blatantly obvious that the recent confusing events were a strange nightmare.

Then I look down, and realise I’m still in my clothes. There ...

093: DESPERATION

Captain Sands backs away behind a bed, but I’m faster. He’s almost within reach before Heli shoulder-checks me directly into the metal frame of the bed. Pain blooms in my hip as I drop to the f...

092: GUILT

“Excellent,” Captain Sands says. “If we’re lucky, we might be able to avoid any further unpleasant business.”

I watch him leave the room. “I think I hate that guy,” I remark. 2023-08-15 23:18:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon bonus -- the Public Universal Friend (the other one)'s Javelin ID card

ID chips were implanted into colonists  shortly before stasis  for recognition aboard the ship and new colony,  but during the  training, accommodation and boarding pr...

091: DURESS

“Heli has been disciplined,” Captain Sands informs Adin in our makeshift interrogation room. “And after we’ve solved this murder, I’ll be able to deal with her more thoroughly.”

�...

090: MANAGEMENT

Captain Sands listens carefully to my explanation, frowning at the computer. He pulls out a notepad and runs the numbers manually himself. Then he frowns at the computer again.

“It’s a co...

Ask Me Anything -- Keldin Sands

What were your initial thoughts upon being woken up and told you're the captain now?

For a solid week, I was dead certain that I was dreaming. I mean. I went to sleep under t...

089: TRUMPS

Lina, Denish and I gather at a small table that had been set up near the laundry room for Arborean Trumps. Denish makes the obligatory joke about me having a natural advantage by being Arborean, Li...

088: RIFT

I watch the footage several times, as if that will somehow make it make more sense. It doesn’t. There’s no reason for Heli not to be involved, I guess, I just… why? She’d been awake for les...

087: ACCOMPLICE

Sunset’s eyes widen, and I regret my words immediately. They’re correct,  but the immediate aftermath of a murder in a confined space probably isn’t the time to be reminding people not t...

Behind the Keyboard -- the Public Universal Friends

086: CONFESSION

We head for our temporary interrogation room. The Friend collapses onto the bed and puts its head in its hands.

“I’m going to be up-front with you, Friend,” Sands says. “You don’t l...

085: DRUG

“You saw Adin?” Captain Sands asks. “Making his way in the direction of Renn and the Friend, right before the murders?”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t going to NEAR 2,” Tal says. “He wa...

084: INTERROGATION

“So you guys didn’t find any bloodstained clothing, then?” I ask. “Any signed confessions? Nobody broke down crying and explained why and how they did it?”

“Not yet. They are, ver...

083: SCENE

The six of us – Heli, Sunset, Sam, Celi, the captain and I – stare at the scene in Network and Engineering Ring 2. It’s exactly as I’d left it – the Friend (the non-doctor one) sprawled f...

082: ALIENS

It’s movie night.

And for once, it’s fairly sparsely populated. Seven of us gather in Network and Engineering Ring 1 to play Sunset’s favourite computer game about twelve hours after my...

081: ANTARCTICA

“Um,” I say, intelligently, like the seasoned intellectual that I am. “What?”

“Aspen, do you know why the Javelin Program took off in the first place?”

“Of course. With th...

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Ask Me Anything -- Denish

How did you become a space pirate?

Is family business. We acquire stranded ships, no registration, or follow distress signals where crew in distress does not answer. Very oft...