Science Fiction Smack Down 2017

For Fun 1.1

Author's Note:  For this fun challenge, I used all of the images provided for inspiration.

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My personal transport pod floated through the polluted haze of the industrial zone. Lights on the structures cast cones of visibility through the dust but did little to lift the darkness present everywhere under the factory plumes. Cranes lifted loads of supplies into the bulky rectangle shapes of the cargo haulers before the ships took to the skies, slowly gliding away to deliver their raw materials to factories and production facilities elsewhere in the industrial zone.

The neon sign for the Villetard Corporation caught my eye as I changed course and directed my pod higher. I relied on sensors only as the view out the forward cockpit showed only thick cloud cover for the few minutes it took me to rise above the industrial wastes in the atmosphere. Breaking into the sunlight, I cruised atop the clouds, heading for the downtown districts.

The pollution level became decidedly less as I approached the hub of the city, thanks in part to the increase in filtration centers and the newly established atmospheric restriction fields. Lanes for aerial vehicles, marked along their invisible edges by anti-grav buoys, formed long lines of traffic in a multilevel web over the city. The large cargo haulers were regulated to the outskirts to keep the inner lanes free for civilian transports.

Holographic signs were everywhere, trying to get the attention and credits of anyone willing to look and consider spending money on what was offered. Among them was a martial arts fight between four robots. A number running along the bottom of the billboard told where the entirety of the fight could be downloaded and when the next venue would be live. Another billboard offered the latest vehicle. A 2217 model Mustang hovered over the pavement in gleaming silver and blue trim. A row of neon blue lights just under the edge of the hood showed the car possessed the new voice activated autopilot computer. A blue horse in a tan jumpsuit and baseball cap leaned back on the car with his front legs folded across his chest in a decidedly human stance.

I chuckled slightly in amusement. Advertising had realized they could get more attention by either being clever or absurd as they were both memorable.

Following my course, I exited the main flow of traffic and took a mostly unused lane in a sharp ascent. My craft sailed upward until the blackness of space surrounded me, and my projected flight led me straight to the massive station in high orbit.

Constructed of gray metal, the orbiting station resembled a secondary moon with a ring near its equator. The ring, slowly rotating around the station, housed the agricultural and environmental areas. The ring provided all the food and oxygen those on the station required. The movement of the ring was necessary as artificial gravity wasn't as effective when it came to growing plants as their size and life expectancy were diminished outside a natural gravity field. Scientists were still working on finding out why.

I touched one of the holographic controls hovering over my console, the glowing orange button depressing slightly as the computer analyzed my movements and adjusted its position accordingly. The docking sequence was fully automated, and once I started the program, I had only to sit back and wait.

A pair of doors, massive next to my small pod but diminutive in comparison to the overall size of the station, parted and allowed my ship to land in one of the many bays available. Other ships came and departed from the station in a flurry of activity. If not for the glowing blue rim around the landing area, indicating the atmospheric barrier field, the bay would've required depressurizing and repressurizing before and after every launch and arrival. The field kept the air inside the bay and allowed the ships to come and go without delay.