Blueshift
()
About this ebook
Alone.
On a space station designed for millions, First Lieutenant Elín Hallsdóttir is alone, with only her memories and the other four members of the shut-down crew.
The station orbits the planet, turning from darkness to light to darkness again. Solar storms are growing, the station is dying, but life continues on. Or does it?
Elín's past rides with her, and with every rotation of the station her future seems more uncertain. And then the unthinkable happens.
Can Elín say goodbye to her past before it's too late for her and her companions to have a future?
Read more from Grace E. Robinson
Mrs. Jones and the Midas Train: A Jazz-Age Decopunk Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Three Merry Friends of Ettingswimple: A Christmas Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMrs. Jones and the Radium City: The Adventures of Mrs. Jones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Blueshift
Related ebooks
Acts of Love in Faraway Places: Faraway Places Trilogy, Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPandora’s Eyes: The Alex Cave Series, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fourth Planet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Manless Worlds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Einstein Code Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForce Cantrithor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cradle of the Deep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlory on Mars Colonization Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMorning Star: A Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStar Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Weapon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGalactic Patrol (The Lensman Series Book 3) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Day of Captain Lincoln Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Uncivil Service Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chronicles of Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lighthouse of Kuiper: The Heliosphere Trilogy, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Weapon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHemi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Weapon Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Firebird Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPortals of the Grave: The Keystone Islands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAssignment on Venus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShip: Forgotten Worlds, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlpha Seven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe War Of The Firstborn - Eden's Guardian Vol. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Weapon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Wall of Endemo: Matti-Jay and Dub Adventure, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaster Than Light: The Fallen Goddess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAthena Setting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Science Fiction Analogue. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firestarter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with Rama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time and Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Blueshift
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Blueshift - Grace E. Robinson
Blueshift Grace Robinson
BLUESHIFT
By Grace E. Robinson
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
© 2017 Grace E. Robinson
Chapter One
Standard Day Cycle 1, 11:32 Galactic Standard Time (GST)
The last cargo ship left the Ring. First Lieutenant Elín Hallsdóttir pressed the key to close the outer airlock door.
The computer monitor in front of her showed numbers and graphs tracking the course of the ship as it traveled away from the Ring. Across the room, the gray door leading to the airlock was sealed tight, its tiny window showing barely a glimpse of the vastness beyond.
The final ship is away, sir,
Elín said, glancing down again at the monitor. It should reach the hyper-driver transport in two minutes. The transport is online and ready to depart once the cargo ship is attached.
Very good. Thank you, Halls.
Bards stepped up next to her. We did a good job. Six months on this Ring Array and we got every last crew member and piece of equipment sent out on schedule.
Elín looked up at him. His dark face was round with a smile. Yes, sir,
she said. She couldn’t bring herself to smile. They had done their job; they stayed on schedule. And now the Ring Array was empty, with only the five of them remaining.
Bards tapped his wrist-gear. We’re done, people. The last ship is away. Timms, Kit, Chang, get in here. Time to give our final report before we shut down the uplink.
On our way,
came Timms’ voice over the comm.
Elín took one last look at the monitor. The cargo ship was docking with the hyper-driver. The engines were bright, and in a moment it would be gone. One hyper-driver transport remained, parked in orbit around the largest moon, engines cool in standby mode, waiting for their own ship to leave the Ring. Not much longer now. Only eighteen more standard days, and Elín would leave the Ring Array forever.
Timms came into the control room, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his blue-gray jumpsuit. He leaned against the console nearest the doorway. So it’s just us now, huh?
That’s right,
said Bards.
Elín felt Bards looking over her shoulder at the console. The indicator light for the cargo ship and its transport flashed green, then vanished.
So, can we celebrate by having a day off?
asked Chang.
Elín glanced up to see Chang sauntering into the room with her usual confidence, as if she owned the universe and was satisfied with her place in it. Elín envied her.
And do what?
said Timms, looking at Chang. All the R&R sectors were stripped and shut down weeks ago.
Sorry, no day off,
said Bards. We’ve got a little over two standard weeks to complete the final phase of the shutdown. Now that the last of the crew has gone, we’re shutting down the uplink to Command. Once a day we’ll turn it on to report to Command and downlink any news or updates. You ready, Kit?
Kit had come into the room behind Chang, quiet as always. He dipped his head, his shaggy bangs falling over his dark eyes. Ready to record on your mark, sir.
Bards nodded at him and Kit tapped his wrist-gear.
This is Commander Solomon Bardens of the Dyson-Vanderklein Habitable Ring Array, Epsilon Omega System. The final stage of phase one of the shutdown is complete. My crew are present and reporting in.
Bards looked at Elín. She swallowed before speaking.
First Lieutenant Elín Hallsdóttir, reporting.
The others reported in.
Second Lieutenant Adam Timmins.
Second Lieutenant Jessica Chang.
Junior Lieutenant Mitsuo Kitagawa.
Bards nodded at Kit. Send that with the time stamp, then shut down the uplink. Now let’s all get back to the main control room for this sector. It’s time to start cutting the power.
They boarded a transport tube for the seven-minute ride to the main control room for Sector 68. Gripping one of the support poles, Elín stood with the others in the empty tube cabin. The removal crew had taken the seats out of the tubes, so there remained only the structural poles and the inertial compensators to help them keep their footing as they traveled.
Bards disembarked first, Elín close behind him. Five pairs of boots echoed on the metal floors as they walked the corridors from the tube bay to the main control room. Elín looked around as they walked; the cold gray walls spoke of lifetimes of whispers,