Book one of the Onyx Black series
<aside> ➡️ The plot notes and general structure of the novel can be found here. This includes ideas and side notes.
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<aside> 🔻 Warning: This includes all plot points, so be wary of spoilers in this view.
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ISPD Detective Morgana Terry Atwood and her partner Chase investigate a series of seemingly unrelated suicides of cybernetically augmented people. During their work, an act of war throws the galaxy in disarray. Together with Fillion, a war veteran from Envilles, and Charlie, a young augmentation designer with a mysterious past, Morgana uncovers a conspiracy that's much larger than anyone could have ever foreseen.
Galathea Station, formerly known as Research Platform Navareo (RPN), is the second biggest public space station after Arcology Six. It is a vast space station complex that's about two kilometres in length and one in width at the widest point. Using plasma thrusters, the station pushes against the gravity of the black hole below, providing a usable gravity of about .2g at the lowest and .15g at the highest point.
It's home to about 200 000 people and it supplied with water and food synthesis materials from several private hauling companies. Water is provided by hauling large chunks of ice harvested from asteroids, while food, especially fresh produce, is provided by colonies like Airesem and Ten'serrat. Both of these are Navarean colonies and were chosen for their close proximity to the station. A full haul providing food for the entire station lasts about one week and can be transported in two to three days.
Galathea station is being powered by a fusion reactor that runs mostly on interstellar hydrogen collected through several arrays on the lower areas on the station. The reactor is placed at the bottom of the station, providing power through the entire station's power grid. It is rated at 250 MW, which is barely enough to power the infrastructure and systems Galathea station requires in order to function.
The station was originally built as an ambitious research task, experimenting with the effects of isolation in a low-gravity environment. Just one week after the experiment was started and RPN was sealed with a crew of 2000 and 150 000 test subjects, society began to break down and the heads of research were killed in armed riots. After this, the test was quickly stopped and RPN was put up for auction.
In the year 52, it was bought by an anonymous Navarean woman who had inherited a large sum of money who is, to this day, only known as The Director. After the acquisition, RPN was gradually transformed into Galathea Station, expanding the spartan interior with luxurious living spaces, holographic simulators, a real hydroponic garden and an expansive arboretum that would simulate planet-side living with holographic displays overlaid on top of the night sky of outer space.