Just Getting There...

“Station Aires this is Archos Condit requesting port and docking instructions.”

“Copy Archos, we don't have a scheduled arrival listed, please state vehicle type and send a letter of purpose.”

“Copy Station Aires, we are an Aquapulse G6 Cruiser on the business of pleasure, letter in transit.”

“Copy Aquapulse G6, letter received, your ETA please?”

“Uhh, current distance twelve miles out, ETA five minutes.”

“Pilot Archos Condit of Aquapulse G6 Cruiser you are directed to Port 3, docking station 97, acceptable from three minutes out for a window of five minutes.”

“Copy Station Aires, see you in four, Archos Condit out.”

“Thank you Archos, Station Aires out.”

The cruiser moved swiftly, appearing as weightless over the water as a gull before the catch. It mimicked the coastline and turned sharply into the bay, glinting once before plunging into the shadow of Akron Bluff. Rising from the waters nearest the bluff were spires of black rock, Archos toyed with them, weaving in and out briefly before settling into an approach course. The bay narrowed and he found himself in traffic for the shortest of time. He switched to Autodock and merely observed the process.

“Marek! Hold on to something, it's a dry dock.”

The water-tuned hover-engines of the G6 strained against the solid ground and set the cruiser down with a mighty whump, as though it were a tired bull throwing itself down for a nap. Marek Tornac lost his grip on the front portal latch and smashed his temple into the bulkhead. He swore. Reaching for the med-kit he removed the Coag-Pad and applied it lightly to the gash near his hairline.

“Archos!”

“Yeah?!”

“A little help back here would be nice.” Archos turned in time to see Marek toss the bloody Coag-Pad into the Molecular Disposal Unit.

“I heard you yell, but I didn't know you were bleeding.”

“Yeah, well, I was, now help me fuse this, I can't see it right and you're better at it anyway.” Archos pinched the now dry wound and slowly drew a line across the seam, fusing the flesh instantly.

Marek examined the repair job in the mirror while Archos gathered their bags and opened the port. “Oh, smell the fresh.” he said to himself. They stepped off the G6 and onto the dock.

“Please move yourself and your belongings inside the yellow circle for a security scan, Station Aires and Marisabel care about your safety.”

“Ready and waiting.” Archos said, for they were already huddled within the painted yellow ring.

“Thank you for your cooperation. We hope you enjoy your stay in Marisabel.”

The foot traffic at Port 3 was light and the remainder of the space was occupied by conveyors and hover-lifts. They passed a hover-lift that looked nearly full and inquired of its' destination.

“Center of town, but I'm only half full right now, I'd give ya a lift if I could.”

“Oh. Well we were headed to Oceanwalk anyway...” Archos trailed off as he was interrupted.

“Sam'll take ya, Sam Whilt, station 37. Say Torrin sent ya, it'll save ya some cash.”

Marek lobbed a “Thank you.” over his shoulder as he lengthened his stride to catch up with Archos who'd already turned the corner toward station 37.

Docking station 37 was crammed in a back corner of Port 3, and looked as though the architect had added it as an afterthought. There was no sign of life in the poorly lit station. Archos stepped into the dusk and called out “Sam!?” Silence followed. Archos crossed from the dock to the ship. It was a medium sized air freighter, and it was covered in dry mud. He was halfway around the perimeter of the ship, looking for someone, anyone really, when he noticed a foot protruding from a portal. It hung limp and was bluish purple in color. Unable to see into the darkness beyond, he calculated the interior location of the door, walked back around to the main port, and let himself in. Marek followed, they crept through the freighter as quietly as possible. Boxes littered the central corridor, looking half stacked – half strewn. Archos opened the door that was his first guess and found that it was correct.

The room was lit only by the portal and the shaft of light that it admitted. It shone on a pile of belongings and it was immediately apparent to Archos that these were living quarters. He looked at the blue foot in the portal and followed the leg down to the limp form it was attached to. It lie face down in a hammock. It was a man and his right arm dangled from the hammock, grazing the floor. The fingers of his hand were loosely wrapped around a gun...

A Brief History of Atlas, pt. 2

We are the people from Earth.
Atlas is our new home.
Helios is our star.

- I am Colonel Bathurst, after my great grandfather who was a real Colonel on Earth. I am the governor of Marisabel, in the western coastal region of Cadruim. A fifth of Cadriums' oceanic food supply travels through Marisabel. We are the largest port on Atlas.

Welcome to Marisabel...
I will stand aside now and you may see my city for yourself...

- Twenty five hundred miles of The Great Ocean throw the light of Helios in innumerable directions, shattering the eyesight at some angles and illuminating the depths at others. Schools of Corpulox chase the uncatchable rays as they dive to the depths beyond light. The ocean rolls like the wheat fields of Earth, seemingly back and forth, right up to the edge where it mingles with sand and the toes of toddlers, teachers and theologians. Marisabel Bay is bounded by a bluff at the north and mild hills at the south. The River Akron follows the bluff for thirty kilometers inland where the bluff softens into the hillside of a valley and the river moseys deep, wide and almost lake-like.

- A tropical forest rises from the sands, it is a scarf that wraps the bluff and stretches from the Bay north until it becomes the Pioggia. The bluff rises from the treetops and it's crags are filled with life. At the upper edge of the bluff, a thin silver band stretches out over the air. This is Oceanwalk.

A Brief History of Atlas, pt. 1

I remember Earth.

- In the late centuries we finally managed to get along, and we somehow mustered a greater collective effort than had ever been and, through it, reversed the decay we'd doomed the planet to in our fossil-fuel burning years.

Earth was paradise, we even went so far as to name our capital city New Eden.
But we forgot one thing.
Our history.

It took only minutes for the whole world to know that our leader had taken his own life.
His unclear will left two possible heirs.
The war left earth terminal.

Still feuding, we left in two different directions.
I watched our dead planet as we loosed ourselves.
Tumbleweed in the void.

- We went fast and hard for a small system, nothing. Another, nothing, the third was close but there was no solid ground on the one planet that seemed habitable. The fourth system was huge, there were actually four planets sharing the life distance from the star, and eleven planets total. With moons the system contained a whopping 37 significant bodies. We soon found that all four planets would be suitable for human life, and chose the one that was the greenest.

It was our hope.
It bore the burden of our future.
We christened it Atlas.

- Atlas is as green as the Amazon had once been. It has 'two and a half' continents. They are Cadrium, Armial, and Boma (the ½ one). The Great Ocean has just half the salt content of Earths waters but supports a diversity of life greater than that of the entire old planet, and we feed ourselves from it without depleting species.

- Within a decade some groups were clamoring for settlements on the other three planets. Careful expeditions planned the colonies and Pond was humanized in 00021 A.Y. (Atlas Years)...