Branning - Fort Falling: Comments on a Life in Orbital Decay

Comments on a Life in Orbital Decay

By Darryl Branning

Copyright 2012 Darryl Branning

Smashwords Edition

ISBN 978-1-4661-7361-3

Thanks to Smashwords, Google+, Blogger, and the restof the internet. I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks toErik Larson and Brian Burrell for reading the original blog. Thanksto Jessica Ralston for sorting out some problems with grammar andpunctuation. And special thanks to NASA and the Cassini Missions,for years of inspiration, and the image I used on the cover(PIA12828).

This book is distributed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-No-Derivative License. Go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 to see a full description of the license.

You are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit)under these conditions:

Attribution: You must attribute the work as"Fort Falling by Darryl Branning. Copyright 2012 DarrylBranning," and you may not imply or suggest that DarrylBranning endorses you or your use of the work.

Noncommercial: You may not use this work forcommercial purposes.

No Derivative Works: You may not alter,transform, or build upon this work. You may, however, convert theelectronic text into different text formats. Any such conversionmust be distributed only under the same Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative License, making clear theterms by including a link to the Creative Commons web pagedescribing the license.

Nothing in this license impairs or restricts DarrylBrannings moral rights to this work.

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Author's Note:

In June of 2005 I started writing a science fictionblog as a simple exercise. It was, in part, inspired by the Cassinimission and the Huygens lander, but it grew into a years longproject which surprised me in many wonderful ways. At some point Ifelt like the story had out-grown the format, so I stopped workingon it.

Is it a complete novel? I'm not sure. It's just aseries of blog posts, written by a fictional character, talkingabout his life aboard a space station which orbits Saturn. It is,possibly, a space opera. Each post is self-contained, or at leastas self-contained as any random blog post, but there is aoverarching exposure of the world, and the troubles faced by thepeople who live in it.

I hope to expand on the story of Fort Falling someday, but until then, if you aren't enjoying it, please don't keepreading.

With Thanks

Darryl Branning

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Part I

# Jupiter System Alliance - admin - SS1-DE203413

Records from Saturn Station One data systems, pre-warera, were recently recovered by a team of historical experts usingnew quanta-drive technology. The following personal logs are fromStation Technician DeeDee Jackson, system name dzyjak, starting onSS1 Date Established plus 88646 days--314 years and 78.5 days ago,Earth time.

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# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88646

The OSA needs you!

They said, "Become a Station Technician."

While I was in training, they told me, "Station Techsget respect, and money, and power...and girls."

Now I live on the edge of space and spend my timewatching massive icicles swim around a giant ball of liquidhydrogen. In a year or two I'll be watching one of those ice chunkssmash into the station, and I'm not expecting it to go well.

The Space Safety Board (SSB) condemned Saturn's onlyspace station about four years ago, and then advised everyone toreturn to the relative safety of the Belt Habitats and MarsMetro.

"The station is falling," they said, and painted agiant warning on the hull. When it was discovered that repairs weretoo costly, someone painted the name Fort Falling over the warning.I'm not going out there to change it back.

The Outer System Alliance has relocated close to ahundred thousand people, but a lack of ships and resources leads meto believe the rest of us will be lucky to get off this heap beforeit gets scattered among the rings.

Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88647

Job Security

Chuck, my shift supervisor, started to lecture meabout how I should do my job. Like I don't know standard proceduredemands all mobile objects be secured before decommissioning anapartment.

I didn't want to listen to his lecture, so Iinterrupted him.

"If you can prove an imitation-stone beveragecontainer will do more damage than the rain of ice which is goingto knock it off the table," I said, "then I will swear on my lifeto keep better track of my coffee mugs."

He immediately declared, "I'm not going to put upwith that."

"Then don't," I said. "Fire me." Like he's going tolet me slack around until the end comes.

Two more years of this, and I'll welcome therain.

# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88648

Pest Patrol Reminder

I need to stop by and ask Doc Hester if she can takeany more cats. I'm not exactly sure what else she does for them,but they all seem healthy and happy living in that weird habitatshe made for them.

Flushing rodents and bugs into space is something Ido with pleasure, but doing the same to kittens ruins my entireweek.

# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88649

Bonus Oxygen

For you ground huggers, "Bonus Oxygen" refers to thatoccasional bit of luck which might make up the difference betweenlife and suffocation.

I salvaged three kittens from storage-baysome-stupid-number, and I took them to Doc Hester. She quietlyhummed promises of those words to them while she made the initialexamination.

Doc Hester is older than most people ever get. Sherefuses to leave with the other non-essential personnel because shewould rather die at home. She knows a lot about physics, biology,psychology and other things-I-can't-spell-without help.

Here at Fort Falling, Doc is our Bonus Oxygen.

# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88652

Terminal

Am I being too negative? Some days I feel as if Ihave a terminal illness, and soon I start remembering everyone isterminal...eventually. This leads to such questions as, "Whybother?"

Is it the occasional fleeting moment of peace andhappiness for maintaining momentum despite the time or the bloodand sweat? Is it enough?

Then I start to wonder about time instead.

We use time as a tool of measurement, but thatmeasurement only exists within the artificial constructs ofsociety. There is also the flow of time, which we understand bothas the eternal present, and as the device which gives us past andfuture.

We aren't sure how many more ships are coming, be weknow we have about 300 days to get off this station before it getscrushed in the rings.

# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88655

Success

I've succeeded in depressing myself thoroughly.Although, I'm not sure you can call it a success if that isn't whatyou were trying to do. I mean, you made something happen, so maybeyou could call it progress.

I suppose it's possible Doc Hester was politelytelling me to go away when she told me I would feel better if Iwrote it down. Depressed is not better.

But, if I start in on another one of my existentialrants again, I suspect she will just tell me to keep writing. It'sprobably easier to stop reading than to stop someone from rantingin your face...I suppose. So I'll write it down.

# Saturn Station One - dzyjak - DE88656

Perspective thoughts

Sometimes it's funny what you think about. When yourbiggest worry is getting the air cores blasted out before thetangent races begin, you don't stop to wonder if you have time towork on some things you've been putting off.

I've been wondering about things I've already done.Not much--which is why I get depressed.

So I think about kittens. Or that girl inhydroponics, Paula, who recently seems to have reversed her opinionof me. She was one of a reasonably small selection of women whohave told me, in one way or another, that I was repulsive. Usuallythey soften it up with words like, "We are too much alike," or "Youknow when two magnets are facing each other...?" But it mostlycomes down to, "I need to get away from you with mag-lev speed."Anyway, I got a date with Paula, and maybe I'll see if she will letme take pictures.