Void Heart (1/X)

HAB-1 was put into low Earth orbit at the end of the year 2121. HAB-1 was no different than any other space station, except for its record setting size and ability to generate artificial gravity. The large spire was adorned with two rings called GravityWalk's. (very descriptive name I know.) At full capacity it can house five hundred crew with the ability to serve as a small staging port to the lunar and martian bases. For the most part, HAB-1 was a corporate scientific facility with the main goal of studying exotic materials that can't be studied on Earth. Now though, HAB-1 has become the place where rookie nauts come to learn how to do space shit before moving to the outer rim bases or HAB-2. (Freshly constructed with an even cooler name too!)

HAB-1 is being decommissioned after ten long years of service to NewGen. NewGen is the main space corp. from Earth. They took over the space agency NASA in the late 2100's after a few billionaires lobbied to privatize space (still trying to figure out how one can privatize space but hey, I am just a lowly scientist what do I know.) Like most corporations, NewGen only cares about one thing -- profit. There have been plenty of scandals around work deaths, horrible work conditions leading to death, and poor accommodations for their employees that (you guessed it) led to even more deaths. Fortunately, some politicians on Earth grew a pair when NewGen proposed the HAB station. Having a giant space needle that could fall to Earth with the same force as a nuclear bomb (gravity is awesome) made a few people a little apprehensive about the lack of government oversight of NewGen. That means the HAB is one of the most refined posts of any NewGen gig. Only the best can work here and given its the safest too, there is a lot of competition. Lucky for me though, my mommy works here.

I am sure you are disappointing I am a nepo-baby. To you I say, "go fuck yourself". I still had to go to MIT and Princeton for physics and work at CERN for five years. (That place is such a dump now.) So, I would say I am pretty qualified to do some bullshit material synthesis work on a dying station being put out to pasture. My mother, Erisia, is a doctor. Worked out of Boston most of my youth either At MGH or teaching at Harvard medical school. (We lived in Waltham but we tell everyone we're from Boston.) My mother always pushed for me to use my brain and pursue science. I wanted to be like my father and pursue music. After my first guitar lesson though, I made the executive decision to try science out. I actually ended up liking the world of physics by the time I started applying to colleges, and my mother really liked the fact I somehow got accepted into MIT. She even called her hair dresser to tell him.

My father was always supportive of whatever I wanted to do. Makes me wonder how a free spirit like him got with such a stiff-dick like my mother. (Something tells me a lot of drugs were involved, given the amount of Grateful Dead records my dad had.) Dad died when I was about fifteen. Some idiot kids stole a car from his university's student parking lot one night. Dad had just finished up teaching a night lesson for his classical guitar students. Those assholes didn't even stop. Cops told us the car was torched the next town over. First time ever I saw my mother cry. I had to move into the dorms the next day. They never ended up finding those asshole kids but I have three Phd's now so who's really winning now?

The shuttle up to HAB-1 is... janky as shit to put it mildly. My mother had done this trip half a dozen times but still prayed on liftoff and docking. I may have said a prayer or two myself. Docking went smooth, deck hands guided us to the spire lift in zero-g with impressive efficiency. I bounced off a few walls on the tube to the spire lift. (It was fun being a human pinball). My mother made one swift leap from the shuttle to the lift, looking at me as if she was about to scold me. "Stop acting like a child Zoey" she said through gritted teeth. (That made me shit myself a bit but my face didn't show it -- I think.) We rode the lift to the main GravWalk, about halfway up the almost kilometer long central spire of HAB-1. The lift opened to a long rectangular hallway with ladder rungs on opposite sides. Climbing down(up?) the ladder was a strange feeling as I could feel my body get heavier as we approached the bottom (top?) of the passageway. We both stepped directly onto a platform, being lowered down on essentially a service elevator once we both made contact.

- - -

The bridge of HAB-1 was our first stop after getting deconed getting off the lift. (I can still smell the Neutro-Spray on my jumpsuit and boy does it not smell like "fresh linen".) Captain Bron stood in the center of the bridge with his hands clasped behind his back. His jumpsuit was a little nicer than the main crews adorning a few strips down the side of each shoulder and buttons instead of zippers and Velcro. He turned as the heavy bulkhead doors slid shut behind us. "Ladies, welcome to HAB-1. I am Captain Bron, it is a pleasure to have you both on board as we make our final rotation." My mother reached out to shake his hand first, "It's an honor, sir. I was the first doctor on HAB's first rotation. It is truly sad to see the old girl go."

"Sad indeed." Bron let his head drop for a moment before turning to me, "You must be our new science officer, correct Ms. Smith?"

"Ms. Smith is my mother, please call me Zoey, sir. It's an absolute trip to be here for the first time!" My mother shot a glare at me. Bron just smirked and let out a soft chuck as he shook my hand, "Pleasure to have you aboard, Zoey. Martin over there will show you to your quarters and give you the grand tour. The HAB has seen better days so try to be careful and listen to Martins safety brief like your life depended on it." Bron let slip a devious smirk and then motioned towards Martin who was just behind us, getting up from his display station. As we began to part ways with Captain Bron a massive tremor shook the bridge violently. Display surfaces blinked sporadically and the sound of groaning metal was almost deafening. I almost went to the floor, as well as my mother. Bron somehow stood more steady. He barked over the yelps and sounds of groaning metal, "Status!" A young woman yelled in response, "Green sir, CMP-12665 test just finished. Looks like an aftershock from the labs. Hull is green, life support green. All other systems coming back online now!"

"Good." Bron said, letting out an almost invisible sigh of relief. The groaning subsided slowly as displays began to stop flickering. I steadied myself on a nearby railing, "What the fuck was that!" I yelled.

"That, Ms. Smith, is why we are all here." Bron smirked again. Martin ran over to my mother and I, "This way ladies." He said in a a monotone low voice. My mother and I shared a glance. (Not a glare this time at least.) Bron turned back to the main display, clasping his hands behind his back as we left the bridge.

This is the end of what I will expand into the prologue of Void Heart. This is a very rough draft after not written anything since high school. Please point out any errors and leave your comments/suggestions! I hope to release a draft of parts of this book regularly. (A few times a month hopefully!) Thank you for reading!

-Massimo (the author I guess...)