A sci-fi, space-based story

[stellarator]

Im user of a social webpage for readers called wattpad, where you can post your own stories. I post a story based on space called "Eisntein's cage" (on Spanish, sorry), but i felt a bit dissapointed when i saw that other "science-fiction stories" (firtsly and mots hated by me: the zombie's ones) got more famous than mine and more quickly, when i knew that my story (here's coming my egotistical mind) were better. After that, i had that conversation with myself:

"If the readers want zombies, should i give them zombies?"

"No, dani, you can't, you hate that topic. You cant do it"

"I hate the zombies stories of other people, but what about if i do my own story? Made a story that doesnt seem a zombie-like story, but that has them, and also had space, and all the pother things that made my stories mine".

"It could work. Now, think. If you dont want a copy of other work. You need a diferent scenario."

"A distant planet, with a little human colony"

"Okey, it should be enough. Think about the disease that changes the people into zombies, think about the zombies. They cant be normal zombies, they should be special."

"The Disease would be a virus of high complexity. The colonists would call it "Güestia"". the zombies wont be zombies, they will be "Heralds"".

"Now you need to mantain the story as you write others. You need spaceships. You need an explanation about spaceships, you need and explanation about the entire colony."

And after many thoughts, and a longer conversation, the base of my story appeared. Its short for now (i still writting, but it isnt the first time that i wrote an entire chapter, i read it and i say "it sint good" and i delete it. But im progressing. If you are interested on read it, here's the link: (If you speak spanish, theres also a link to the spanish version here)

https://www.wattpad.com/story/63567731-taranis-english-version

 

Also, i will be posting the chapters here, so the ksp community didnt need a wattpad account to see it.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by stellarator

[Spaceception]

I just read it on the website, it's really good

[stellarator]

We were the last. The Helium-3 mine was nearly depleted. There was only fuel for a low speed journey. My parents volunteered, along with many others, they were put to sleep. A long cold sleep of more than 100 years. A dream of hope, rebirth.... And they came here. Three sisters ships, the Insights. We arrived here, the new home. A new hope for humanity. Two of them landed, the third stills orbiting, it became our main source of energy, concentrating sunlight to us. Eight years after landing I was born. I was one of the last to be born. Soon after, no one had time for anything but survival. The cities were crumbling, the society that my grandparents worked so hard to establish was annihilated in three long and bloody months. It was an unfair battle. An unequal struggle against death. The plague, Güestia disfigured face of humanity. The Güestia was the punishment for all our sins...

My name is Antonio, Antonio Viriato Leblanc Wu, to be exact. The history of my family is long. My friends call me Vir. I am 17 years old and a graduate in marine engineering and biology from the University of Ascension, in Taranis ... Yes, inside the borders of Ascension, there aren't heralds. The Güestia has not passed the walls and the rugged peaks and cliffs surrounding Ascension. Here life goes on normally. Ascension is a special place. Here has landed the Insight-002. He was the first to fall. Across Taranis, Baikonur is located in a secluded island from the mainland. The Güestia not got there... It was the landing place of the number 1. There were a lot of minerals, iron, aluminium, even platinum. We believe that the island of Baikonur is the remains of a giant asteroid that hit Taranis thousand of years ago... Yes, we still care about those things. It was the end of the world, and we even worry about all that ... Here, the crisis disappeared too quickly. Everyone has forgotten the world behind the defensive walls and rugged peaks. They had almost forgotten disease, have almost forgotten mortal heralds... I can not do that ... The memory of my family prevented me to forget.

My parents kicked me out when the first symptoms appeared. The Güestia had revealed and everyone was hysterical ... They hadnt got time to change. Two heralds went home that night and they killed them. Security cameras recorded it all. I wear the data card around my neck, to remind me that I never, never should forget ... Never forget, nor Güestia or heralds... Forget means repeat, being so few of us, repeat it means extinction. Taranis is a cruel place, under that appearance of paradise, but still, despite the disease, despite the heralds that now populate the plains of this world, Taranis is still our home.

When I'm in the city, I live in a small white house in greek style on one of the ridges of the Central Mountain, just below me, 30 meters below, is the beach... Yes, we have beaches. It is a gigantic beach, of more than 7 km long, with which they founded Ascension. Across the ridge, it is the port of Ascension. Yes, the place is perfect, I'm close to my work, near the beach, and have excellent views...

And I do not live alone. The house is mine, yes, but as rarely'm in the city, I share it with my friends, Isabella and Cornelius. Their case is more strange than mine, really. Twins, an Italian father and Brazilian mother ... They had such bad luck like me ... Maybe worse. Her parents changed. They were one more of the many heralds that lived on the plains of Taranis until five years ago, an expedition ran into them ... and followed the standard protocol: "If you see an herald, kill him before it kills you, or worse, it changes you." Unfortunately, that's the first lesson taught in school, the second was "Making sure that you are not infected." That is our life ... And frankly, I'm not complaining, it could have been much worse ... If Güestia had appeared before, we would not have had time to build all the stuff  that is keeping a few of us safe...

All these thoughts that come to my mind does not come in the quiet of my home in Ascension ... These thoughts come to my mind before falling asleep, in my laboratory -as I said, I am a biologist-, at the home of my parents ... I don’t came here as joy or punishment, I come here because this site is now safe ... I have a perimeter fence, have a surface car to scape... And the research performed here cannot be made within the limits Ascension. It is forbidden to take samples of heralds into the city. It is a concern that no one needs...

-love, I'm going to sleep. The microscope is giving me a headache...

Yes, I have a habit of talking to myself. I put the analyser to work and I go to sleep...

[Spaceception]

I've already read this on wattpad, but excellent job

[stellarator]

1 minute ago, Spaceception said:

I've already read this on wattpad, but excellent job

You didnt let me tiome to post rest of chapters!  Thank you

[Spaceception]

4 minutes ago, stellarator said:

You didnt let me tiome to post rest of chapters!  Thank you

Do you know why followers were disabled?

Edited May 1, 2016 by Spaceception
Double quote/content :p

[stellarator]

Chapter 1

 

-Oh, S**t! - I get up and the thunderous sound of the alarm is increasing. The protective field is committed. There heralds trying to cross the fence...

 

Training rules, and before I knew it I got dressed and got the safety gun (all citizens of Ascension get a gun at age 16, when you fulfil your-law of age) charged. I approach the microscope and grab the data. I know the protocol says that the main thing is to stay safe, but damn, it took me many years to isolate the sample of Güestia to leave the analysis here... I look out the window ... there are two heralds next to my car ... excrements, Plan B.

 

I open the cellar door and close it behind me, I close too the blast door installed when this place became my laboratory. Then, I pressed the emergency button. Maybe in 2 hours Expeditionary Force agents will be here... I have nothing to do, so I turn on the light in the basement, and I begin to see the report. Upon reaching the third line, I just can’t believe it... And what's worse, there's an explanation to the situation outside... This is even worse. I cannot do better, so I check manually with the help of my pocket calculator all the data...

 

Again I woke with the sound of gunfire ... The trouble is that I cannot believe it's the expeditionary force, there is another frightening possibility ... Finally, the voices from behind the security door make me to open it.

 

-Damn it, Vir, I told you that one day this would go wrong-says Cornelio, screaming to me.-You should do this in the city.

 

You know I cannot, laws are very strict ... Now, please, call the Ascension’s Coast Guard and say I need a boat to travel at 311 Clarke Avenue. Priority 1.

 

Very surprised, Cornelio uses his intercom to call the Command Station and we get into the armoured SUV. During the trip, I cannot stop looking to Cornelius. just two years ago was no more than an apprentice bricklayer ... Expeditionary Force has changed his life ... and the expeditionary force has changed my life just now ... Were it not for the military ...

 

The expeditionary force was created after the closure of Baikonur and Ascension, to protect those who chose to live outside the walls of Ascension (a few hundred) and a few scientists like me who have to investigate outside of the city, for experimenting with elements contaminated. Dr. Smith is dedicated to observe the behaviour of the heralds in their habitat, Dr. Mugler which investigates the intellectual capacity of the heralds, I, and finally the Pavlov doctor, in whose research I will not go into details, just dissects and experiments with heralds of the most frightening ways. Unfortunately, all came to the same conclusion, the change is irreversible and eliminate Güestia globally, which we cannot do, kill the heralds.

 

Two hours later, I cross the great wall of the city and Cornelio leads me directly to the port ... Ascension lies on the edge of an arched bay, with one very steep mountain in one side... Right in front, 15 kilometres from the beach, there is a small island of 5 square kilometres where the citizen bunker is located, also the presidential palace and the anchorage for colony boats. Cornelio leads me to the transfer boat used by the expeditionary force ... An hour later I am anchored in the island, heading to the office of president of Taranis ... I climb the stairs of the House of Spanish style, to look for on the so dazzling landscape that I could have seen: the Leviathan, the largest colony ship sailing the oceans of Taranis ... Supports thousand people. Thousand people who can live in safety at sea, and not behind the walls of a fortified city ... I worked on it in its final tune-up two years ago, now it's it first stop in Taranis, after going and return to Baikonur on it one year trip (solar panels works but that thing weighs a lot and we will not use non-renewable energy) ... New people coming on board, and who could not withstand life at sea is returning to the city... We have functioned by that way since the outbreak of the Güestia, colonize the sea was the only secure.

 

After five minutes looking at the huge ship, their farms and their small animals (a couple of cows and sheep here and there) someone puts his hand on my shoulder.

 

-Mr President! I scared shout, I hate it.

 

-Call me again president and I give you a campion, you are warned.

 

-Excuse me, grandpa-I say with a laugh. I've missed you.

 

-And I you, Vir ... Now tell me, you asked a special transport to come here ... Why.

 

-I've managed to isolate a sample of the Güestia within an infected brain. The results are very worrying ... It's not natural, grandpa.

 

-You mean it was created?

 

-I can’t say it for sure, but it looks like it is.

 

-Those Earth stand-up guys...

 

-It was not the earth, grandpa; the virus was already here before we landed the ships...

 

-A Biological weapon? Whose?

 

-I have no idea, grandfather, but hopefully they are not still around...

 

-This is too important to let it go... Can you give me more information? What do you need?

 

-It's impossible; any instrument we have made here has enough capacity. Our industry simply isn’t capable of do that-

 

José Antonio Leblanc turned his back for a moment to his grandson, and watched the landscape that stood behind the window. The summit of mt. Ascension, covered with snow throughout the year, was visible from there.

 

-Maybe not here, Vir, but we still have old Earth technology. The Albatross takes off tomorrow. I want you on it. The number three has everything you'll need.

 

-Really? I will be able to go?

 

That could not be happening, very few people have the privilege of visiting the number 3 ... Especially since the Albatross trips are restricted to occupants of the habitat.

 

-Yes... I also need you as a link up there, the No. 3 is demanding more and more resources... I need someone to tell them what really is happening to those who have never suffered the dangers of Güestia.

 

No. 3 ... is the perfect opportunity, Could I...?

 

-I'll need an assistant, grandfather...

 

-Take her, for God's sake, when you are planning to tell her?

 

-When the time comes, grandfather, when the time comes.

 

Im running down the grand staircase, leading to the Mondragon street, on the ridge of Mt. Ascension. Isabella lies on the sofa asleep ... there will changed again the shift at the hospital. Without thinking twice, I throw myself on the couch to try to wake her. I succeed and the poor girl almost fell to the ground.

 

-You'd better be relevant-says to me angry.- I came home three hours ago.

 

-It is, Isa, it is ... we have seats in the Albatross tomorrow. We go to number 3, we go to space.

Edited May 1, 2016 by stellarator

[stellarator]

13 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

Do you know why followers were disabled?

Dont know, sorry

[Choctofliatrio2.0]

This is a really neat concept! Let me just get this straight:

2 cities, formed around where 2 of the ships landed: Ascension and Baikonur. Is that right? And then is Taranis the planet? Or am I way off?