Rogue Orbit: The Book before Book One - The AtomSpheres Legacy

By Steve Exten

The AtomSpheres, the ultimate holiday resort, swept serenely through its orbital loop high above the giant planet of Mejjas Major. For over two-hundred years the Atom has been the go-to holiday destination. But age, fatigue, and the annual footfall of millions are taking their toll on its fabric. The Atom is getting old. Age though, cannot be helped; it comes to us all.

 

But is there more to it than that? Are the daily reports of disappearances and beacons mysteriously sliced off the result of age, or is the resort under attack? Are there bugs in the system or dark forces at play?

 

Whichever it is, be it from inside or out, one way or another the AtomSpheres has serious problems…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Exten
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393480976

Steve Exten

I am just an ordinary guy who enjoys writing and artwork, mechanical things and riding motorbikes. I wasn’t great at school, and I left without Os or As or Ologies. My first job was apprentice gardener, now I write technical manuals for Rolls-Royce Aerospace. It is amazing how circumstances change as the years go by. Club 5 Eight Zero 6 is Book One, and Rogue Orbit is the Book before Book One. Steve lives with his wife (and his motorbikes) in South Gloucestershire, England.

Book preview

1

The AtomSpheres

––––––––

The AtomSpheres, the ultimate holiday resort, swept serenely through its orbital loop high above the giant planet of Mejjas Major.

For over two-hundred years the Atom has been the go-to holiday destination. But age, fatigue, and the annual footfall of millions are taking their toll on its fabric. The Atom is getting old. Age though is a curse that everything suffers, but is there more to it than that? Are the daily reports of disappearances and beacons mysteriously sliced off the result of age, or is the resort under attack? Are there bugs in the system or dark forces at play?

Whichever it is, be it from inside or out, one way or another the AtomSpheres has some serious problems...

2

Five and Equator

Rawlins!

What!?

Shit! Where?

Keep down you idiots, hissed Vinny Raulch.

It was too late. Their meerkat heads had given them away. Ted Rawlins, the Chief-Tech, their boss, was working his way towards them across the crowded square. They shouldn't be there. It was strictly against company rules, but here they were. Caught red-handed. Drinking at the best table in the best restaurant - Brindall's@Five; at the most prestigious junction in the galaxy - Five and Equator.

Eat with the Stars amongst the stars is the restaurant's tag line. It is the ultimate 5 star eatery and not where you'd expect to find a maintenance crew taking lunch. But the first place Ted Rawlins thought of when looking for Jonah Fahl and Team 15.

Where is he? In the 'heads'?

No, Ted, Vinny answered before the rest of the team could offer an opinion. Jonah and Hobbs are still out. They were further out than the rest of us. Vinny turned to the others and signalled them to keep quiet, then added, Hobbs called in about five minutes ago.

Hobbs?

Andy Hobbins, the engineering intern.

Oh, of course, Andy Hobbins, Ted acknowledged.

Nice lad, said Vinny, trying hard to shift the conversation away from Jonah's tardy approach to safety. They were all at fault, though. They should have waited and come in together.

Ted though had turned to scan the faces in the square and wasn't really listening. He nodded unconsciously, Yeah, he is.

It'll probably take him another five minutes to get to the hatch, could be ten, Vinny continued, venturing a bit of small talk to fill the silence. We're having a drink whilst we wait.

Ted waved him down, Never mind Vinny, it's lunchtime. We all need a break. Ted's own troubles were far too big to bother with the corporation's pedantic staffing rules, or Jonah's safety record, Take it easy, he mumbled, then more urgently added. I have to speak with Jonah. Need to right away, Vinny. Get someone to find him, will you? Chivvy him up. Then I'll be out of your hair and you can finish your lunch. Ted's cellfone bleeped, and he moved away.

Sheesh, that was close! Vinny sighed.

So what, it's lunchtime, we're entitled, muttered one of the team.

Really? Why then are you lot hopping foot to foot like kids caught sneaking cookies then? Huh? Yeah, of course we can stop for lunch. Just not here. It's only 'coz of Jonah that we get away with it. The boss and Rawlins go way back. Now where the hell is he? Vinny was anxious. He turned to Rik, You and Janey, go find him. Then we can get shot of Rawlins. Go on, quick as you can.

Team 15 are skin-skippers, Peripheral Maintenance Technicians, members of the three-hundred-strong squad that keep the outer surfaces of the AtomSpheres clean and serviceable. To the public they are gods, and restaurants like Brindall's will fight bitterly for their patronage. Jonah Fahl is a legend in his own right. An AtomSpheres poster boy. Jonah has been on the skins for years and is the longest serving of all of them.

Rawlins moved into the square, then stopped to listen to a message from the control room. The square was busy, noisy people everywhere, and he had to press a finger into his other ear as the crowds broke around him like a rock in midstream. Calls were coming in thick and fast now, and problems were flashing up on the cell-screen quicker than he could read them. Yeah, Jimi, what have you got?

A complete load of downed systems, Ted, his assistant's voice crackled out of the cellfone. An.....oblems in comm....ications too, by th.... ound of it, she added.

You're breaking up, Jimi, he told her and raised his voice. Spher'rios again, I suppose?

Sorry Ted, not this time. There're faults everywhere!

What! Ted blurted. And he let out a frustrated yelp that startled a young couple as they brushed by. No, Jimi, can't be, he snapped! Surely not? At that moment a shadow rippled through the busy junction, as system after system stopped and started off on and away in nanosecond. His cellfone flickered too! Whurr, see what you mean, we just had one at Five! But the micro shutdown had swept through the junction unnoticed and the shoppers continued oblivious to Ted's problems.

A sudden rush of air on the far side of the junction stirred the palm fronds that hid a camouflaged door. The door slid silently open and a few seconds later another two skin-skippers stepped into the melee of Five, parting the crowds like prophets. Each wearing an orange one-piece void-suit over a thermal-inner, and both walked with the acquired gait of those who spent their working day on the outer surfaces. Safety harnesses loosened for comfort, suits unzipped to the waist, they strode purposefully across the square. It was the halfway point of their ten-hour shift. They were hot and sweaty and desperate for a cool drink, a sit-down and a shower. Whispers preceded their progress and, as if on cue, the milling shoppers parted, save for a couple of small children unaware of the illustrious company in which they found themselves. But