The Altimer

by Samuel Isaacson

  “Alright,” he says, “I’m no magician so I can’t help you become more friendly or anything, but I can help you understand foreign languages.” He shows you how to activate the interpreter, and you slip it into your pocket.

  If you are ever presented with someone speaking a foreign language, you will be able to understand them. Instructions on how to use your interpreter will appear in the text. Now you can talk to the team if you haven’t already (turn to 139) or you can board the ship (turn to 201).

  221

  It takes you longer than you thought it might intended to search through the disgusting mess that is this room, as everything needs digging out of a mound of something that the word “gloop” could have been created for. You do manage to find an interesting snow globe with an inscription on it: “To Jack, on the occasion of your retirement.” You may take this with you if you like. Now turn to 76.

  222

  For the first time since awaking from cryogenesis, you manage to feel a little comfortable; the benches have straps connected to them to allow you to relax in zero gravity, and being surrounded by trees makes this a pleasant spot indeed, in spite of the incessant alarm. You may restore you SPIRIT to its initial level.

  When you are ready, you leave through the door opposite the one you entered by. Turn to 135.

  223

  You awake the next morning feeling refreshed. You may raise your SPIRIT to its initial score, as well as gaining 2 BODY points and 1 MIND point.

  You are in a building clearly recognisable as a hospital, although the view out of the window is like nothing you’ve ever seen. Giant buildings connected to one another in a latticework of walkways and large tubes surround you, to the point that you are not sure whether you can see the ground at all. A nurse comes to check on you and explains that she understands you’re free to explore the city.

  As you lie there, you think back on what happened on the Altimer. You have no idea what happened. You have to write off the idea that something simply malfunctioned, because the autopilot had been switched off. Could it have been someone on the team? Who would do such a thing? And where did the creatures appear from?

  You feel a need to do some proper thinking away from this hospital bed. If you would like to go for a walk around the city, turn to 55. If you would like to spend some time sitting in the lounge area of this hospital ward, turn to 270.

  224

  You float down the corridor, which continues straight for some distance and then ends. It doesn’t take long to see that there is a subtle handle set into the dead end, and you imagine that this is the reverse of another secret door, closing off this hidden part of the ship. You open the door and float through to the other side. Turn to 78.

  225

  The New Gaia central market is sprawling, set across multiple floors of four connecting buildings. It contains everything you might expect, and a few items particularly catch your eye. Unfortunately, your bank accounts were all closed decades ago so unless you have come across some Martian Credits (M₡) you have no cash available, although you may be able to sell some items to generate something to spend.

  You may sell any of the following items for the prices stated in brackets:

  Altimer commemorative coin (10 M₡)

  Bookmark (19 M₡)

  Communications device and battery (25 M₡)

  Drone remote controller (2 M₡)

  Hammer (6 M₡)

  Kitchen knife (4 M₡)

  Mechanical wrench (5 M₡)

  Visual receptor-enhancing monocle (75 M₡)

  Power armour (175 M₡)

  Power screwdriver (18 M₡)

  Snow globe (1 M₡)

  Swiss army knife (4 M₡)

  Thermometer (2 M₡)

  You may buy any of the following items for the prices stated in brackets:

  Smart suit (100 M₡)

  Swiss army knife (6 M₡)

  Battery for communications device (20 M₡)

  Loaded dice (6 M₡)

  Cord (3 M₡)

  Torch (5 M₡)

  Fake identification papers (75 M₡)

  Adrenalin shot (6 M₡ for one; you can buy up to four)

  If you buy adrenalin shots, you can use one in advance of making any check and it will allow you to add one to the number rolled.

  When you’re finished here, leave by turning to 29.

  226

  You turn into this side opening in the alleyway and tumble down a flight of stairs you didn’t see was there. You get a bit bumped about on your way down (lose 2 SPIRIT points) but manage to land on your feet and would keep running forward except for the fact that you’re in a dead end.

  You’ve landed on a surface similar to many you’ve seen in New Gaia, something artificial that could be some sort of plastic covering over something more solid, which ends just before it reaches the buildings. There’s a window to your left that opens just under the level you’re on, so that’s not an option, and then there’s a ladder to your right that’s been raised to prevent unauthorised access.

  You hear the footsteps approaching behind you and use all of your might to lift yourself up and over the slim gap, and just about manage to grab hold of the ladder. You are just swinging your leg up too when you hear a ping and it starts to fall; the person following you must have shot the mechanism holding it up. You fall down with the ladder and your legs crunch under you as you land; lose 3 SPIRIT points.

  “Really?” comes the voice of a young lady from under the hood as she approaches you. “Easiest gig ever.”

  You think she is pointing a finger at your face, and then everything snaps into blackness. Having never stared down the equivalent of a barrel of an energy pistol you didn’t even have time to be afraid.

  227

  Crouching down, you explain that you think all of her papers are gathered up now. She pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and looks deeply into your eyes. You’re taken aback for a moment by an indescribable sense of deep connection with her, which she then breaks by glancing down at the floor.

  “I’m sorry,” she says earnestly, in her casual, lilting accent. “When I fell, a contact lens came out and I’m struggling to see. I don’t suppose you can see it? It can’t have fallen far.”

  Indeed, it takes you less than a minute to retrieve it, and soon the two of you have neatened up her pile of papers and she can see again. The two of you stand and manage to join Mel, James and Sand in the lunch queue.

  “I’m Catalina, by the way,” she says, stuffing her considerable belongings under her arm and extending an hand for you each to shake. “I’m not normally as scatty as this, I promise. I’ve just been so excited!”

  The other three immediately warm to Catalina, and you find yourself sitting next to her while having lunch. She explains that her upbringing was a hard one in rural Spain, having been brought up by a single mum and acting as homemaker while her mother was out at work. The more that she speaks, the more you warm to her, and you are glad that you decided to help her out. As the lunch break comes to an end, the five of you stick together and find seats in the lecture hall with one another. Turn to 182.

  228

  You are surprised to get an audience with the culture minister quite quickly.

  “You have five minutes with her,” says the professional lady as you are ushered in.

  “Hey, I know you,” says the culture minister when you walk in, a plump thirty-something who insists you call her Ade, “you were on that ghost ship. The Altimer? Listen, let me tell you something. I sort of expected to see you all at some point. I’m an amateur astronomer, you see, and a couple of weeks ago my instruments picked up a strange message from someone who said her name was Mel – or I think that’s right, it wasn’t that clear to be honest. She said something about the Altimer and ‘he can’t be trusted,’ but there was no way to respond. Hang on, she wasn’t talking about you, was she?”

  At that point the short lady walks in with the minister’s next guest.
Ade gives you an expression of curiosity mixed with fear as you walk out.

  Now, would you like to meet the prime minister if you haven’t already (turn to 208) or the military minister if you haven’t already (turn to 23), or would you like to leave and return to the city centre (turn to 165)?

  229

  Leaving the books behind, you float back towards the door, when a colourful bookmark catches your eye from under a book on the side. You can’t help yourself but grab it as you pass, but it shifts the book it was under as well as those around it, and suddenly you are flying through a cloud of heavy books, one of which catches you right in the eye. Lose 1 BODY point.

  You pull yourself towards the door and can keep the bookmark if you wish. Turn to 192.

  230

  It takes you far less time than you anticipated to get over the smell caused by the disgusting creatures, and you appreciate the rest. Restore your SPIRIT to its initial level. Turn to 76.

  231

  You state your case and she suddenly lunges at you, knocking you back into the balcony.

  “I don’t believe you!” she explains as she lifts you with a strength you can’t explain and tips you over the edge.

  The sight of the ground approaching is more terrifying than anything you have experienced so far, and you are unable to appreciate it for long before you connect with the ground and everything goes black.

  232

  You find it difficult to hide your excitement, and as soon as you express some of that to the General, the rest of the team join you in saying they can’t wait to get moving with things.

  The General is clearly pleased with your response.

  “That’s the spirit!” he says, “Too many new astronauts try to take this whole thing too seriously, you know. It’s refreshing to have a team who’s actually up for it and not ashamed to admit it.”

  Turn to 276.

  233

  You leave a respectful amount of space and indicate with your hand that it’s ok for Pauline to step in front of you.

  “Ha!” she laughs right in your face. “You need your girlfriend to stand up for you? I hope your bags are packed, because you won’t be around for much longer.” She turns her back, and Mel takes a step forward as if to demand an apology, but you put a hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s ok,” you say.

  “No, it’s not,” replies Mel. “She’s what makes the exclusiveness of this place so awful. And besides,” she adds, a smile breaking out on her face, “you’d never have a chance of getting me as a girlfriend.”

  At this, James cuts in: “Mel, wait until you have some interest shown in you before you start turning people down – when the two of you are trapped in space and the human race has made itself extinct, the both of you may have no other choice, then we’d all be doomed!”

  You all laugh and continue forward to get your lunch. Turn to 85.

  234

  You try to open the lockers but can’t get into any of them. Turning to the new door, a glint under the bench catches your eye, and you crouch down to see what it is.

  You reach underneath and pull out what looks like a communications device. You have no idea how it would have got here, and can’t figure out how to turn it on, so conclude the battery must be dead. You can take it with you if you like; perhaps you will find a battery for it at a later stage.

  When you are ready, go through the door (turn to 97).

  235

  You close the door and wander down the street. You are about to turn a corner when a dark figure leaps out of the shadows and swipes a knife at you. You must defend yourself.

  Assassin

  BODY 6

  SPIRIT 7

  If you lose this battle, turn to 168. If you win, you may search the body if you like (turn to 194) or get away from here and return to the centre (turn to 165)?

  236

  The door is slightly open and you throw yourself through it and into the darkest corner you can see. A young man dressed in a pale green robe is sitting at the other end of the room and stands as you enter. He looks at you and seems to give you a surreptitious nod, then raises his eyebrow and walks towards the door.

  It opens slowly, and the figure you saw enters and removes the hood, revealing a young woman with a scar down one side of her face.

  “Good afternoon,” the priest says, “how can I bless you?”

  “Where’s the one that just ran in here?” she demands.

  “Oh,” says the young man, looking flustered. “He went through this way, but there’s nothing there.” He indicates a door at the back-left corner of the church and steps as if to get in her way.

  “Do not play with me,” says the woman threateningly and runs through the door.

  The priest allows a few minutes to pass in which he sits down and reads. He bows his head reverently and then makes his way over to your corner.

  “She’ll not come back,” he says. “The warren of alleys through there will take her time and by that time you will have escaped. And you don’t need to worry about me, I know her type. More superstition than sense – I don’t encourage that of course, but it keeps people like me alive sometimes and that means I can do more of my good work.”

  You thank the priest and step out into the plaza again. Turn to 200.

  237

  As soon as you start to search around the gardens, you notice that the trees include pear trees, and some of them are in season! Ignoring your disbelief that trees like this can survive in zero gravity and without sunlight, you are grateful for the advances in science that have made it possible, and you may take up to two pears with you.

  You may eat only one pear at a time, and may eat one during any section in which there is no combat. Eating it will restore up to 3 lost SPIRIT points without taking you past your initial score.

  When you are ready, you leave the gardens through the door opposite the one you came in by. Turn to 135.

  238

  You are on one of the many walkways on the sixth floor, steadily finding your way back to the city centre, when you get the feeling that you are being watched. You pause for a moment, pretending to look out at the sight of the city around you and you catch a glimpse in your peripheral vision of a hooded figure dashing behind a corner. So, not the most experienced of trackers but a potential threat, nonetheless.

  You continue along the walkway and down a public staircase built into one of the buildings that takes you down a level. As the staircase makes a U-turn you flash your eyes upward and confirm that the figure is definitely following you. Approaching the bottom of the stairs you see an opportunity.

  The walkway extends out from the final step and across the chasm connecting this building with the next, a state of living that you still haven’t got used to. You think you could make it halfway across the bridge before your pursuer reaches the bottom of the steps. Otherwise, a slight opening in the side of the building looks like it would give you access to an alleyway, although you have no idea where that would lead.

  If you would like to make a run for it directly over the bridge, turn to 39. If you would like to turn into the alleyway and then start running, turn to 250. If you would like to turn into the alleyway and immediately turn around to confront your pursuer, turn to 180.

  239

  You look around the bay, and quickly find a toolbox containing a set of mechanic’s tools. You can’t imagine that it would be sensible for you to try carrying the toolbox around with you, but you think you could probably stuff two tools into your pockets. If you would like to take anything, you can take two of a mechanical wrench, a power screwdriver and a hammer.

  Now make a MIND check at difficulty level 12. If you are successful, turn to 128. If you fail, turn to 295.

  240

  You remain still and quiet, listening as the group moves around the bridge, constantly speaking to one another in clipped tones. You hear the steps of someone new entering, and the other voices quieten.

  “Well?” comes
a lady’s voice in an accent you can’t make out.

  “Doesn’t look like there’s anything here ma’am,” replies one of the group. “The threat outside has been neutralised.”

  “Nothing in any of the chairs?” says the lady with an air of disbelief. “How the hell did they land then?”

  A moment of silence, then you hear feet shuffling towards the positions; you are about to be discovered! Do you stand and attack the intruders (turn to 164), or do you call out that you are in the navigator’s chair (turn to 52)?

  241

  You try to open the door, but it is tightly shut. You don’t think it’s locked, it feels jammed instead, so you think you should be able to force it open. Would you like to try to force the door (turn to 57) or leave it and follow the corridor around the corner instead (turn to 84)?

  242

  You push open the door, and the shapes reveal themselves to be the team. Catalina immediately floats forward to give you a hand down, and Pauline and James also turn to look at you.

  “You ok?” asks James, and you nod. You feel fine, although you’d love the alarm to quieten down.

  You look around. “Where are Mel and Bartu?” you ask, seeing their pods are open. The team all shrug.

  “We all only woke up a minute or two ago,” Catalina explains.

  Turn to 113.

  243

  “With respect, captain,” he says to you, “Pauline is right. You should know better than to question an officer who outranks you, particularly in front of your team, and particularly on your first mission, where you have no track record to know what is a good use of resources or not – however justified that position is.” Your heart leaps into your throat; lose 1 SPIRIT as your motivation has just taken a knock.

  You don’t like the thought of disagreeing with the general, and yet the low risk of collision and the sheer cost of sending you all, let alone the fact that you’ve never done anything like this before, makes you continue to question whether it’s the right thing to do.