A Fleet Newscast Educational Podcast

  Hi! I’m Kristi Carter and thank you for listening to this podcast produced by the good folks here at Fleet NewsCast.

  This podcast is designed for use within the Fleet Educational Curriculum, and should be listened to, or watched on holo, in line with your education providers.

  This podcast can be automatically translated into all Fleet languages by accessing the systems menu. Your education provider can help with that.

  First. The big question. Why are we here? And I do not mean biologically! For that podcast or holo production please access the menu listings.

  The fleet exists because our home planet, the planet Earth, where our species evolved, was destroyed by a meteor over one hundred and twenty years ago.

  That meteor was discovered just under sixty years from the point of impact. Sixty years sounds like a long time, right? But in terms of what the people on Earth had to do, it was a very short period.

  First, the scientists on Earth looked to the stars in search of a new home. Various solar systems that were thought capable of having a planet that could sustain life had been discovered. They built probes and enormous telescopes and all manner of incredible instruments. For that podcast or holo production please access the menu listings.

  Unfortunately, all of those places they thought were able to sustain life were proven to be no good. I know right? Talk about bad luck!

  It still meant that in order for our species to survive we had to get off the planet Earth.

  Some intrepid souls set up colonies on Mars. Another planet within the same solar system as Earth. For that podcast or holo production please access the menu listings.

  The other thing they did is they built our fleet. The fleet you are now in and are now a part of.

  That’s right kids. We are all part of a fleet of over forty vessels, and you are very special because you are one of the very few survivors of our species. No, I get what you are saying. It doesn’t feel like you’re special, right? I mean, look about, there’s people everywhere. In fact, this whole fleet has millions of people. But remember this, over fifteen billion people did not survive the meteor impact. That makes us a fraction of what we once were, so yes, you are very special!

  Some of the vessels within our fleet are called Worldships. For the podcast and holo production on the individual vessels, please access the menu listings.

  Most of the Worldships were financed and constructed by countries on Earth, or by groups of countries working together in alliances.

  Some of the other vessels were financed and constructed privately and contain much smaller numbers. Others are for science research.

  Seven ships within the fleet were financed and constructed by corporations who gave money and resources in exchange for passage and the right to continue trade. They were called the Virtue Fleet. Sadly, three of those vessels collided as the fleet set out, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people. For that podcast or holo production please access the menu listings.

  That leads me to the next question. How are we moving? And how are so many vessels, all of different sizes and shapes all moving at the same speed?

  Well, because of the devastating loss of three Worldships, the fleet decided that every vessel should be navigated by a central computer system located on The Ark. That system is what keeps us all together and moving as one, and only that computer can make us all move. And by the way, we’re moving all the time. We’re travelling at a speed that will boggle your mind. We’re also constantly changing direction as our probes detect anything in our path that could hurt us. We just don’t feel it, as every change is done gently because who wants synth-cola spilled down their clothes? Am I right?

  But hey, I hear you, we know where we came from, but what we really want to know is where are we going?

  I hear you, but sadly, right now, we do not have a planet to aim for. What we do have are probes that we send out to search for what we call trace particles or signals, or anything in space that might tell us there is a planet out there. We find trace particles all the time, so we know eventually, we will find somewhere. We just don’t know when.

  Our most famous probe is the Shuttle Gagarin. She is the fastest most advanced thing ever produced by our species, and I’m telling you kids now, if we ever do find a new home, it will be because of that plucky little probe.

  Now, I’m sure you will have a ton of questions and you go right on ahead and ask your education providers anything else you want to know. You can also access our menu listings for further podcasts and holo productions.

  Before I go, let me say this: Don’t worry! Our fleet is capable of producing everything we need to survive for a very long time. Just don’t waste anything! Remember that. Waste is a crime!

  I’m Kristi Carter and you’ve been watching a Fleet NewsCast production.

  You take care now folks.

  Chapter One

  A vibe in the air of the fashion store within the lanes and walkways of the level 30 retail zone on board the Worldship Humility. Early morning but it feels like everyone is out to see the new range, rushing in and out of the shops and stores to bag something before the workday starts proper. People gathering to eat breakfast and drink synth coffee. The benches within the public spaces already filled. News channels displayed on walls and glowing up in 3D holo. Showing old footage of the Gagarin coming back from previous journeys, but a greater amount of the footage is given over to the new fashion range released on board the cultural centre of the WS Humility. A tradition within the fleet that was once done to mark the return of the probe, and now takes over as the primary news source.

  Yasmine smiles at the assistant with a roll of her eyes at all the fuss before moving on to select some sexy underwear in shades of peach and pale greens. She smiles again, coy and shy, while thinking how her boyfriend will love to see her in something like this.

  She finds a slinky dress for that event they have planned, then some normal bras and underwear. Not ultra-expensive. Not ultra-cheap. Mid-range. She gathers more garments, sportswear, casual tops and such like, draping them over her arms while moving at a certain pace to project the persona of a busy working woman with a day off who wants to buy nice things to impress her partner and co-workers in whatever crappy office she works in. She projects that image and so does not draw any attention.

  Of course, she needs to try them on. She doesn’t earn a fortune and she doesn’t want to waste time taking them home only to bring them back again another day.

  Into the changing section and she heads to a self-sealing drop-down cubicle, her arms laden with clothes. She hums to herself while thinking about what they will eat tonight and hangs the garments on the hooks before voicing the command to seal the cubicle, smiling at another customer walking past.

  The smile fades as soon as the door closes, and Yasmine drops to a knee and moves fast with well-practised movements, pulling another wristband from her pocket to activate the interface. A qwerty keyboard hanging in the air. She enters the password to activate a second screen showing a red scanner within a green field. And master thief Yasmine Emile Dufont sets to work.

  Every garment is tagged with an invisible code that’s only deactivated when the item is purchased through the store interface.

  Unless you have this highly illegal hacking programme that cost a ton of credits and a heap of favours owed, plus the risk of a prison sentence served on The Ark if she’s caught with it. Not that Yasmine knows how it works. She has no clue as to exactly what it does, only that she has to follow a set sequence.

  She selects the first item and scans the lingerie into her system that displays the deactivation code. The problem is the system is old and outdated, meaning she has to manually input the code into another screen. She can’t even drag it across but has to type it, which is painstakingly slow– but then everyone has things in their jobs they hate, and if shoplifting was easy then everyone would do it.

  She undresses to bra and knickers. Wincing at the sight of the old bruises on her body from the voltage-sticks. She deactivates the lingerie then puts it on over the ones she is already wearing. Another set the same. A couple of t-shirts. A thin pair of running leggings. A pair of shorts. A long sleeve shirt. That’s all she can risk for now. She dresses in her own clothes, feeling bulky and constrained but only looking a bit bigger than she was.

  ‘Show me,’ she says quietly as a 3D mirror image of herself appears. She studies herself quickly, looking to see if she is too big or bulky. ‘Turn…’ the image rotates.

  A minute later she walks out with the clothes she didn’t want and passes them back to the assistant with a wry smile. A neat trick of always taking too much in, so you have something to come out with.

  ‘I’m bigger than I thought.’

  ‘Aw, I’m sure you’re not,’ the assistant says. ‘Want me to get bigger sizes?’

  ‘No, I’m fine, but thank you so much.’

  She goes out into the packed walkways and into a luggage store. Purchasing the cheapest, largest holdall she can find before walking to the public toilets behind one of the main stairwells, aiming for the last cubicle on the left.

  She goes in, closes the door and undresses. Stuffing all the stolen clothes into the bag that is then hidden behind a service panel popped out from the wall at the back of the cubicle.

  A few minutes later and Yasmine walks empty handed back into the walkways and lanes of the packed level 30 retail zone on board the WS Humility.