Nokara Orbit

Nokara Orbit

The Six Silver Sisters were a familiar visage in the evening and dawn sky for the sixteen hundred years since Plaguefall brought down the Empire. We knew they were satellites of some sort, but even our best telescopes resolved nothing more than dark reflective spheres. After the first few shakeout flights, the lowest orbiting Sister was the obvious first objective of the space program. We hoped we'd find some lost hightech that survived the Mech Plague, something we could salvage. We were right and we were wrong...

"Strange, I can see myself reflected, but I can't see my shadow."

"That doesn't even make sense, Kando."

"I'm just reporting what I see, Lars. We'll let the brains on the ground figure out what it means. Going in closer now."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No. Haul me back if something bad happens, will you."

"Sure. Not sure it's a good idea for me to hold onto the tether right now, though."

"Wimp."

"That's why I'm the one in the cargo bay and you're the one out there."

"Cut the chatter boys."

"And why they're on the ground. Okay, I'm within a meter now. Closing. Still no detail. It's just a black shiny -- contact.

"Kando?"

"Yeah, still here. I bounced back a bit. Perfect elasticity. I think I know what this damn Sister is."

"Stasis shell?"

"Has to be. That sucks. Could flick off tomorrow..."

"Could flick off in six billion years."

"Yeah, haul me back will you?"

-- Flight 4 of the Argotann, Nokaran Transatmospheric Service, 130-6321 CE (OC)