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Chapter: Chapter 3: History

  • As Talita works on the frontloader arm, the digital wall clock behind her hits 14:00. The arm of the frontloader vehicle taps her on the shoulder. Frontloader: Hey. Talita: Just a second, Cal— Talita freezes, staring at the hand with her mane feathers standing on end. Frontloader: Who’s Cal? Talita: Bip?! How’d you get that frequency!? Bip's avatar appears on the wall clock screen, pointing accusingly at the minute digits. Talita looks on in alarm. Bip: Hey, don’t deflect. You’re 3 minutes late to a very important discussion!

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 94

    Nov 09, 2024

  • Talita: But in my experience… their style of intervention makes things worse.  Talita inhales deeply, and her pronounced forearm and upper back muscles tense as she lifts the cutter attachment off the frontloader's nose rig. Tod watches in bemusement as she puts it down on the hanging chains. Tod: Maybe you should just fling your temps back into orbit. Talita: Har har. So what’s up with the housing project? Tod: You’ll find out eventually. Talita: …You too, huh? Tod:  See you around, Talita. Tod walks away, waving over his shoulder. Talita works on repairing the suspended cutter arm alone.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 93

    Nov 07, 2024

  • Talita picks up remote control and drives the broken frontloader towards the vehicle workshop, stomping angrily alongside it and muttering to herself. Talita: “Doesn’t fit in the vehicles.” Yet SOMEHOW I’m still a more competent driver than you pricks! Mel and Tod are in the vehicle workshop when she arrives. Mel: Oh! Talita! Are the temps still behaving themselves? Talita: Uh… Yeah! Mel: Great! Tod, I’ll see you at the housing project tomorrow! Tod looks knowingly at Talita as she begins to disconnect the cutter arm attachment from the frontloader. Tod: You don’t tell Mel much, do you. Talita: They mean well… 

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 92

    Nov 05, 2024

  • The crew take their suits off at the lockers, and Dominic looks nervously over her shoulder at Talita before whispering to the other temps. Dominic:  Are they mad? They look so mad! Phoebe: I can never tell with centaur faces. Dominic: Aren’t they a predator? Do you think we look like prey to them? Talita grimaces and rubs her neck, not looking at the temps, who are unaware she can hear them. Adam: Don’t tell me you’re scared of that stripey sock puppet just because it eats meat. He smirks and mimes a sock puppet talking with his hand. Dominic: I’m not scared! Phoebe: Ha! You’re funny, kid. Adam: Some diversity hire, too. They don’t even fit in the vehicles. Talita's face bristles and she grimaces even harder, focusing intently on tying her shoes. As the temps walk away, she shoots an angry glance at their backs.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 91

    Nov 02, 2024

  • While Talita looks off in the distance, Phoebe and Dominic are in the modular front loaders. Dominic moves the cutter arm around dangerously close to Phoebe's vehicle and one of the hydraulic lines catches on a sideview mirror. Phoebe: Watch it, Dom! Dominic: Is the arm broken? It won’t move. Talita: Dominic, ease off. Let me make sure you’re not about to— Dominic moves the arm up and the caught hydraulic oil line snaps. Talita: …break something… Later in the workday, the crew and their vehicles re-enter the airlock of the recycling plant. Dominic: I—I’m sorry—About earlier— Talita: It’s fine. Those hydraulic lines were due for replacement, anyways.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 90

    Oct 31, 2024

  • Talita puts on a sprayer can backpack and talks to Yao, who is also holding a sprayer. Talita: Only mark metals today. Big intact chunks. Dominic: Oh! Oh! Can I take the cutter today? Talita: Remember not to point it at anyone. Taltia and Yao walk around, marking different kinds of salvage with paint. Talita gets distracted by the Runaway off in the distance, sit at the base of the berm wall below the launchloop that fills the sky. It's over 20 kilometers away but her enormous eyes can make out enough details on the ship to start making observations about possible repairs. Text overlay with arrows pointing to different portions of the ship: Fuel tanks: empty, may have hidden transport damage. Crumpled radiator pair: extensively damaged. Replace structural frames. Extendable solar panels: dust abrasion damage. Structural spine: appears undamaged? Emergency boat intact. Puncture in habitat module: • severed electronics • replace plating and shielding • damaged plumbing Old Whipple shield: may be due for replacement.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 89

    Oct 29, 2024

  • The vehicle procession continues along the transport rail, passing a dozen empty foundation pits where mining operation buildings used to be. Talita: Jovians bought the place after it got stripped of most of its rare metals and heavy water. Most of the old infrastructure on the dark side got salvaged ages ago. Clayton: But not the electrolysis plant? Talita: Well… She looks at the huge semi-cylinder shell of the the plant where it sits next to the transport rail. Eight large fluid tanks sit to its right. Talita: It's not making deuterium fuel anymore... It’s just storing leftover heavy water for wetting down the regolith dust around the worksite… Clayton: That's some expensive mud. Talita: Ehh... There's not enough icecap left to turn a profit on export. They arrive at the slag field. Twisted chunks of metal stick out of the regolith substrate. Talita: Yao, you’re marking with me. Everyone else, uh, your choice of vehicle.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 88

    Oct 26, 2024

  • The vehicle procession drives deeper into the junkyard, away from the launch loop berm. Dominic: So the slag field is just... Stuff dropped right off the skyhook? Into the ground? Talita: Yeah. Only salvageables and expensive junk gets a ride on the launch loop. Inset panel: Slag is shown being flung directly off the skyhook into the ground. Salvageables are shown being dropped off gently onto the launch loop rails. Dominic: Is that safe? Phoebe: Cheapest way to deorbit junk. Clayton: The cheapest way to deorbit junk is to keep it in orbit. Where DID this piddly operation get the cash for a launch loop? Talita: Oh, this used to be a Tiiliitian mining operation.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 87

    Oct 24, 2024

  • Adam: You’re a GMH? Phoebe: Excuse me!? I’m in the typ genepool with you, twerp! Clayton: Where do you find these people, boss? Talita: I’m not in charge of hiring. Most of the crew has suited up and loaded into the personal transit buggy. Talita fusses with Dominic's suit. Talita: Dominic, you forgot a helmet latch again. Dominic: (unintelligible) Talita: And your radio. They exit the airlock and go back out into the barren landscape of the junkyard. The protective berm looms to the right, and behind it the launch loop stretches through the sky and disappears over the horizon. The tall plant buildings dwarf the procession of vehicles exiting it, which appear only as a string of lights.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 86

    Oct 22, 2024

  • The crew puts their exosuits on. Yao takes xer horns off their pedicle implants with a click. Adam grabs one out of xer hand. Yao looks shocked. Adam: Why do you wear these dumb things to work? Yao: Hey!! Give that back! Adam holds the horn out of Yao's arm reach. Adam: What, no “please?” Talita leans over the two of them, casting a long shadow. She grins mirthlessly to show her sharp, beak-like teeth. Talita: Adam. Could you not? Adam: Whatever. I’m sure Yao has a great reason for wearing xer expensive surgical jewelry to a job that requires a HELMET. He drops the horn and Yao catches it. Adam: At least it comes off, I guess. Phoebe, why’d you get your ears replaced? He is referring to Phoebe's long, goat-like furless ears. She looks up from donning her suit torso, offended. Phoebe: Do I LOOK like a biomodder? These are an artificial gene from my pa’s side.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 85

    Oct 19, 2024

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