The United Space Coalition Saga - Book 1: Starfall

Prologue:

2445

Stepping out of the spacepod, Third Class Engineer Mike Mayfair lugged his toolbox out of the small transportation module and onto the roof of a massive structure. The hulking, mammoth block was like an island in the sky of black speckled with stars.

As he made his way past groups and teams of other engineers, he took his time to admire the beauty of the huge building. Normally, unless it was a starport or base, most buildings resided on planets. But this was a project like no other.

The mass of refined metal that he was standing on was no other than the Grand Central Station: the nexus of the InterPlanetary Multi-dimensional Rail Network. It was a long rectangular prism bisected with multiple smaller rectangles perpendicular to it, with rippling curves and sharp edges along its side.

Shiny, thick tubes stuck out of it at the shorter sides of the smaller rectangles, giving it an appearance not unlike a centipede. Except, instead of terminating a few thousand kilometres from the station, the tubes stretched out into the vast blackness of space, some turning slightly before shooting off, others straight and unbending.

Mike's eyes travelled along one of the tubes, his gaze following its length until he couldn't see any further, it's end seeming to have fallen into a black hole. He savoured the moment for a while, enjoying the tranquility of space. Whenever he got the chance to be assigned to working up on the roof, he would always make sure he arrived a little earlier than his shift: just to stand on the edge and look down into the void.

Of course, he knew that behind the scenes, there were numerous forces keeping his fragile body safe. A force field was keeping all the harmful radioactive rays and other debris away and the air in, giving him the ability to breathe. Gravitational waves were keeping his feet firmly planted on the floor. Structural integrity fields were making sure the station didn't tear itself apart from all the stresses of sub space effects. If any one of those broke down, him and everyone on the exposed roof would most likely die horribly.

If one thought too hard about that, one could actually get scared, pondering all the different ways one could die. So, Mike elected not to think too much. Either way, today was a big day, and as he pivoted back, walking towards a small table, he could feel it in the air.

"Mike!" A gruff but jovial voice said, and a heavy hand clapped him on his shoulder, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Done daydreaming?"

The voice belonged to his superior, his group leader, John Merrimack. His English voice was always a joy to hear, and he responded. "Yes sir!" Laughing together for a moment, the pair attracted confused looks from other engineers and smiles from those in his six-man team.

"Well, you had better enjoyed it. Today's the big shindig!" he boomed, making several engineers jump and others clap and whoop with joy. At this, Mike smiled. Yes, today was the day. The final date of completion had at first seemed like another lifetime away: then slowly it edged closer, until today it had come knocking at the door.

The span of this project was almost unimaginable: a total of three generations and more than 12 species and countless worlds had worked together for this project, and today was the last day.

The inaugural test of the first train ride carrying the president, vice-president, all the chiefs of staff and representatives from every world in United Space would be travelling on the James Watt StarTrain. It was less a train than a gigantic cruise, with every single amenity and facility you could think of.

Everyone did their best to look busy; doing final tests and tightening bolts over and over again, but Mike noticed everyone checking their clocks every 5 minutes.