Five years ago, a disaster left low-Equus orbits swamped with orbital debris. The husks of dead ships careened through the aether, threatening any that might try to leave the planet. But now, it’s under control. Debris trawlers roam the skies, picking up those husks and carefully gathering smaller shards. Thanks to their efforts, bit by bit, space is becoming usable again.
Mesonox is a newbie on one of those trawling crews, recently hired to fly on DT Heavenly View. She’s aced the sims. She knows her ships. She knows her tools. She knows her techniques. And her crew just got assigned to grab a typical wreck. It’s a straightforward job: clean up the small debris, get the large debris under control to haul back to the scrapyard. The perfect task for a rookie like her.
Time to get to work.
Well isn't this interesting? Always good to see something in this early-spaceflight genre, rather rare it is.
Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
The sleeping bit bugs me a bit as she seems to be having more issues with sleeping in space than people that already sleep in space with less options.
Sleeping bags, tie downs, velcro?
They even have the awesome artificial gravity which they can turn on and off.
If they can turn it on and off why not run it at a different setting?
They could set it at like 1-10% gravity and get most of the relaxing quality without the floating about bit.
If you wanted weighted sheets you could get really heavy weighted sheets that would be normal at your prefered gravity setting.
Assuming weight isn't cost prohibitive to get into space in your verse anyway.
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Was thinking about the sleeping bag myself. I suppose one answer might be that pegasai/thestrals just really hate being tied down/confined, and so that option might trigger the claustrophobia?
As to the gravity, it's probably SMR, or Stupid Magic Rules (technical term) mandating that there's either gravity or there isn't. Think about early air conditioning technology used in movie theatres, people would go at the height of summer in their t-shirts or whatever, but bring winter coats because the cooling systems couldn't be made warmer than like 40 degrees or summat.
Fascinating setting. I haven't seen too many works of fiction with a concept like this.
Eagerly awaiting to see where this goes.
Now this kind of setting from you? It's a fic all-too perfect for my tastes. Looking forward to this a great deal.
Have you ever seen the anime Planetes? It's some of the best hard sci-fi I've ever seen.
You and your space stories. Last one was pretty sick; I'll keep an eye on this one, too.
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That is an amazing bit of history I had not heard! What decade(s) was/were that?
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Unfortunately I can't remember where I originally read it, but I can tell you that the technology got its start in the mid 1920's and Mr. Carrier the inventor picked the theater industry as the first group to pitch his invention to.
Yeeesss, more ponies in space.
Quartz glass wouldn't be my first choice for a window in space; it's transparent to hard UV. < <;
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I was just thinking "Ponytes", myself.
I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this!
A little pedantic but this isn't strictly true. Things that are hard to move in gravity will be equally or more difficult, and probably more dangerous, to move in microgravity. They've still got the same mass and momentum's a pain. Hauling crates and turning wrenches will be roughly as physically intensive. Using a spacesuit, depending on it's design, will likely be very difficult and exhausting to use. So being physically fit is of great utility. Of course tech and magic could make all of this irrelevant. If all your crates haul themselves, there are no wrenches to turn, and drones do all the hazardous work physical capabilities become far less important.
Though this could be a neat little detail indicating Glen is one of a few or the only terrestrially born and raised crew members. Maybe he isn't all that short or muscular, but just seems like it relative to all the spacers since he grew up down a gravity well.
Anyways, pretty interesting start to a story. Looking forward to see were this leads.
Oh, I like this. This is the kind of sci-fi I can appreciate, where the lens starts close and gradually pulls back to give the broader context. And I’ll always applaud stories that can stand up with a cast of engaging original characters while still delivering a story that feels grounded in the source material. I’ll be watching with interest!
Soundtrack for the story.
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Yes! I certainly agree there.
(For future SIG: in the event that the video gets Memory Hole'd by Youtube, the video is the Hardspace: Shipbreaker OST)
Coheed and Cambria's The Hollow would also fit for that initial preparation and suiting up bit before they deploy
Fine atmosphere you've got going on here, enjoying every moment of it.
I'm hoping the plot picks up once they're in the Solar Wind. We basically have nothing but worldbuilding and character introductions so far.
I quite like the worldbuilding here, and I enjoy the paced-out information about the cascade very much. The world feels lived in, there isn't too much technobabble, and the characters are believable---although I don't really understand the reasoning behind having Knight speak in a difficult-to-understand dialect but then giving the direct translation right afterward. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool detail, it just seems extraneous without supplying something for the story. Maybe the translation software will break or something and the crew will have to figure out things around it alongside the reader.
Getting back to it, though, this is a very strong start! I can see the groundwork being laid for something being found aboard the Solar Wind and if all the talk of old parts being pushed to their limit for the sake of economical efficiency isn't foreshadowing for a chaotic breakdown, well that would just be a crying shame in my opinion. I'm excited to get to know the crew more, to find out more about the cascade, and I really can't wait to see what they find on board!
This is a great beginning to a story, and once the plot kicks off, that'll seal the deal for me. Looking forward to it!
Came here from "The Needle" and I'm really enjoying this story. You've done an excellent job of setting up the background and now we get to see what you've cooked up for us onboard the ship!
An update, excellent! This is some fascinating stuff, you've really gone deep into the worldbuilding, and it shows. Keep up the good work!
Man I am actually loving space salvage
the world ya built for it is certainly interesting and the characters aswell
I want more
~Reggie
This is pretty fun. So far it's been kinda slice-of-life-y, which I always appreciate, but looking at that [drama] tag… I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Nice update! The details about the world are cool, particularly this line:
The implication there is immense, and it really makes me want to know more about the cascade and the effects it had on people. I'm intrigued by the experimental ship, too. I can't help but feel like there's been a whole lot of guns put on the mantle so far, so I'm excited to see what the crew will face within the derelict. Keep it up!
Im not likin the possible implementation here, Its like hearing about Teachers KK drive, that impossibly work in a gravity well without becoming a singularity.
Experimental ships can have all Sorts of upsetting to the wrong people technologies on board.
Overdriving the debris filters to create a reverse wave flow on the generating ship sounds like an Impulse drive?
For the unenlightened:
Yeah, dot's why whenever you spot summat shifty in the wreck you're salvaging you speak up immediate-like.
'cause otherwise you end up doing a Dutchman and possibly fired on top of that, depending on how badly you just scuffed your boss's ship.
Least she didn't find a reactor to poke into going prompt-critical...
Uhoh. She couldnt recognise an Out Of Context problem.
That is, the engines were generating a hyperbolic geometry for FTL insertion when the power failed?
Worse case scenario, the resulting instability cascade conversion could vapourise a quarter of the debris field, and lead to a Very Bad Day for at least half the planet immediately?
Come on, that's like spotting weird ducts on the outside of a sunken submarine hooked up to turbines, feeding into a blinky panel on the engines. That's the point where you need stop and figure out why this thing is different than anything else, and whether you need to seal everything up to keep those turbines from spinning when you tow it.
So the crystals were some sort of local energy storge directly coinnected to the engines. And something just set them discharging.
Well… shit. Bet that grapple ain't gonna help here…
Weird space engines holding energy. I wonder how quickly this is gonna go south.
Ah, there it is.
Don't worry, Mes. I'm sure your crewmates'll figure something out and you'll be rescued in, oh, three to four months when the next chapter comes out. Either that, or there'll be a permanent perspective shift to match the emotional one.
Another very cool chapter. I'm fascinated by the Wind, and I can't wait to learn more about its mysterious testing mission. Keep up the good work!
Update When?
Gotta be one of the gutsiest things I've seen someone do in a while now.
Wow, saved by unconventional astrodynamics.
You know the music, it’s time to dance…
Beautiful, I really can’t get enough of these space stories. It’s phenomenal at how good this author is at describing danger and near-death experiences. Bravo!
Keep forgetting the name of the Arthur C Clarke short story wher they had to do vaccuum traversal of entire ship crew without suits doe to combat damage, which is the trick used in the movie 2001 to get back in the ship from the pod.
Good line to follow.
I absolutely ate this up with a knife and fork while killing some time, and found myself absolutely captivated. Holy heck, this is amazing...
... and it also makes me want to start up Hardspace: Shipbreaker again.
...huh. I'd forgotten that space was filled with Aether in this setting. A peculiarity which definitely saved Mesonox's life there. Though it does make me wonder, if space is filled with a gas, why do the other gasses cluster around planets? Is the drag from Aether why the sun and moon have to be kept in motion manually? But if so, why don't other planets? Or do they?
Oh, THIS was a pleasant surprise to see update! The pieces are falling into place~
Geothaumic reactor?
Is that a harmony Crystal Tree equivalent of the natural nuclear reactors?
Those crystals all over make some form of regular crystaline attay when certain mathematical transformations are carried out relative to the power flows of the gnerators, drives and thrusters?
Caught up on the last two chapters, and wow! Finally, the other shoe drops! I loved the immediate panic and the struggle to handle the situation. I want to see more desperate problem-solving, you've written it so well here! I especially love Gimball's dread as she analyzes the situation and her fear of losing somebody on the crew.
I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed that the disaster passed with so few apparent problems. The crew's all OK, their ship is livable, and there's no active threat to their lives. Their bank accounts and reputations are in danger, yes, but not much more... at least, that's how it seems. Comparisons to Apollo 13 jump to mind - the immediate, explosive danger, the slowly dawning comprehension of just how much trouble the astronauts are in, and the looming specter of running out of breathable air all add to the tension that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I'm absolutely not saying this is a vital problem for the fic, just that I believe more dire circumstances would make the story more engaging. My immediate thought is to give the crew a few more injuries. A broken bone or two for Pawn. Some kind of aether sickness for the rookie from her little lifesaving trick. Maybe even a concussion for King, the captain and decision-maker of the crew. I think that would add a little extra spice for sure.
If I were going for a more drastic and dramatic restructuring, I'd say gut the Heavenly View (the ship) entirely. Irradiate it, fill it with aether, rip it in half, whatever. Forcing the protagonists onto the Solar Wind would both put them on a knife's edge between life and death and push their knowledge and abilities to the absolute limit. I think that'd be really exciting!
Obviously, I'm suggesting these without knowing the rest of the story, so y'know, I don't know if they won't work with it, but whatever. Who's to say things won't get more dire yet? And even if they don't, I'd love to see some good old-fashioned problem-solving in space. Seeing these characters work together to get themselves out of this mess is gonna be fun no matter what.
I love Mesonox's guilt and imposter syndrome. On a re-read, I also thought it was a little weird that she didn't at least mention the crystals, but the explanation you gave - that she's trained to only work on a specific set of ships - flies well enough. She definitely doesn't give herself enough credit.
Can't wait for more! Keep up the good work!
Only a few yards difference on something large? Something is really sensitive o relative locations. Going to take them a while to map out various locations, like for placeing drive pods for towing etc, and then they have the problem of what if the places start moving themselves?
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It'd be very energy expensive, but technically you could compensate by blasting a bit of heat into the chilled room.
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I think the implication was that water dwelling makes you use your voice differently, and results in being harder to understand for ground dwellers. The "translation" is just the crew getting used to it. Narratively doesn't do anything, just flavor I guess.
Ah, there's the drama
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I think it was said Aether acts as a super fluid with very little, if any, drag. It made the fishing for debris part very strange.
Hmm, maybe they were testing FTL drives
Love this! Keep up the good work
Well that's curious. And Mesonox is asking the good questions here! How does magic ignore, bypass, or deal with equal and opposite reactions? Especially when moving titanic objects.