Sigma/Star

Chapter 1: Clockstoppers

There was a pressurized hiss as a door unlatched and slid open. Its metal construction had allowed for the sealing of all air in between two rooms. These were everywhere throughout the orbiting space station, keeping those within alive and letting the computer life systems shift air flow from one room to the next, as to conserve it. It was a marvelous invention, a wondrous advancement that had contributed towards the ability for life to exist in space. So long as the station was trapped within the orbit of a planet it could survive on recycled air and the siphoning of elements from the space surrounding (which were impossibly scarce but still salvageable), alongside small biodomes for growing plants.

This particular station was stuck within Earth's orbit for much of eternity and served as a simple observation deck. It took readings of the atmosphere and, more often, would scan the land below to watch over the development of geography and of human growths. This one belonged to a group known as the Enian Federation, created in 2178 and launched into space, and each day it would watch the world below unfold with its myriad scanners and technological devices.

It was limited, though, to only observing those territories owned by the Enian Federation as the three other ruling groups on Earth had long since blanketed themselves with various signal jamming devices and so on. For this was not a peaceful planet, and it had not been for a long time. Since its division into the four major powers there had been ceaseless war as one side grew to higher power, only to be struck down by another or by a temporary alliance between the other governments. It was an endless struggle and it would be forever more, as each group strived to conquer all others.

A young scientist had passed through the metal door into the small biodome greenhouse to check upon the various vegetables growing there. All of these plants were hybrids now, modified in one way or another to adapt to different needs. Was there any original flora left on Earth? The scientist did not know. He had never seen any but every so often it was claimed and the specimen was placed in a museum but it was always later proven to be a hoax or error. The young man pressed himself against the glass of the station and peered down at Earth. It had never lost its grand beauty since man had first seen it from space and it probably never would. Not even the constant warfare of humanity could taint such natural glory. Behind the Earth, as though sheepishly peeking around a curtain, was the vibrant Sun, feeding the plants surrounding the scientist. It too held on to its image as the most brilliant star in the sky, forever more.

The intellectual watched a massive fireball spew off the surface of the Sun and, in mirror, a similar one burst off the Earth, so enormous he could spot it even from his celestial perch. It was created from a large bomb. War had broken out again. Battles would be fought and death would be rampant. In his effort to escape it all the young man had fled to space but even up here he could not avoid seeing it. He looked across to his left at another space station that had been launched into a similar orbit to his own. It was not an observation deck for scientific purposes though. It was a military academy and it always would be, because endless war required endless soldiers...

* * * * *

Porter was late. Again. Time after time he was late and he was scrambling through dull, metallic hallways on his way to class. His short, brown hair was sticking out in nearly every way as he flailed through the corridors, wind ruffling through his uniform and giving him a distraught look that was reflected in his chestnut eyes. The wind was self-generated though, only coming from moving so quickly, because this was space and these hallways were under pressured air locks. Like a big, fat, steel bubble.

The hurried teen, barely approaching manhood and the age of eighteen, skid on his heel around a corner, sparks shooting out underneath his foot and leaving a smoking black trail on the floor. But he couldn't keep it up and his balance snapped, turning him end over end and careening into a wall. He saw upside down students laughing at him as they walked past and headed into class. One of them, a short, blonde girl with massive blue eyes that seemed to consume her face and suck in your own, stopped and bent down in front of Porter's face.