The Citadel
an excerpt

The slowly revolving structure seemed to go on forever, when in reality it was only a few hundred kilometers in diameter. Even that was relatively small by the standards of man-made planets; most of the commercially-produced Oribtons were about half the size of the moon or larger. But Orbiton: Citadel was special, unique in its design. The architectural teams had taken decades to design and perfect the blueprints, and then several more decades had passed before the structure became inhabitable.

Generations of laborers and scientists had contributed to the project, and now, eight years after its premiere launch, Citadel was the single most popular space structure in orbit around planet Earth. Its diminutive size was deceiving; the floor plan was designed so efficiently that Citadel actually had the largest maximum occupancy level of its class of Orbiton. It served as a very large city for its inhabitants, though its main purpose was personal dwellings for the middle classes of society.

The secret to the design was the incredible use of the Orbiton’s inner space. All other Orbitons were shaped similar to a barbell, with extremely large, rotating discs that held the living spaces, while the connecting beam and its offshoots contained the dining, entertainment, and working places. Citadel, on the other hand, was shaped like a gigantic sphere, only made up of a closely-spaced grid, giving each corridor a spectacular view of outer space and the millions of other softly-glowing gridlines.

Detailed maps were extremely vital, considering the structure’s mere size and maze-like hallways. In addition to the physical maps posted on the walls, each occupant was equipped with a tracking device, which they could access from any of Citadel’s computers, to both figure out where they were and find the nearest restroom, eatery, shopping arena, etc. The Orbiton’s dense spherical shape made it ideal for businesses, specifically software companies, to both house their headquarters and their employees, and still be in close contact with competing companies and their Earthside manufacturing plants.

Citadel functioned like a satellite planet unto itself; it was entirely self-sustaining, and could survive, even thrive, if it drifted out of Earth’s gravitational pull and into its own orbit around the sun. Though a few of the newer Orbitons could do the same, Citadel was unique in this area as well. Most other satellites depended on Earth for routine check-ups, occasional food and supply drops, and computer hardware updates. Citadel produced its own food in a centrally-located greenhouse wing, housed its own maintenance employees, and had the resources to build new equipment if the situation called for it. Citadel’s low orbit meant that it didn’t have to do such things, however, and, while still in its early stages, it still depended on Earth’s shuttle-loads of supplies and people.

The only thing Citadel did not have was weapons. The onboard police were equipped only with badges and handcuffs; guns, both those with physical projectiles and those using electricity, were strictly prohibited and anyone found smuggling them onboard would be immediately deported back to Earth, where they would then serve a prison sentence.

The things Citadel did have were impressive, though: a leading medical research facility; a fleet of plasma-powered jets, for short trips to Earth, the Moon, or other Orbitons; no less than four complete software companies, along with satellite branches of six more; an entertainment studio; and the third-largest shopping arena in existence (France and Japan claimed the first two spots with their shopping-only satellites).

Each sector of the Citadel’s grid housed a carefully planned number of dwellings, offices, and conspace (short for consumer-space, which was a name for everything that wasn’t a dwelling or office). In effect, Citadel was a planet, with each sector as a city unto itself; the cities couldn’t survive independently of each other, but inhabitants in the cities could live without ever visiting another sector of the grid.

Dominic Monaghan was not one of those people. He had, in fact, been to every corner of the space station. Over the course of almost seven years, anyway.