Page 11 of Atlas: Colony: Nyx #5(Intergalactic Dating Agency)

ELEVEN

As Atlas explained how to use the observatory computer system, Peri found herself nodding like a bobble head. The system was almost exactly the same as the one she'd worked on back on Earth, with some significant upgrades to both the telescope and the processing power. One look at the specs told her that if the comet felt inclined to sunbake naked in its private courtyard, she'd be able to get clear pictures of the regrettable tattoo it got one drunken night that no one else had ever seen.

Well, Peri could moon the comet with her own mistakes, if it came down to it. She'd gotten it before she knew that only bogans and white supremacists got tattoos of the Southern Cross, and while she was neither, she hadn't bothered to remove it, either. It'd been her last night on Earth, and she'd had a few drinks with some of the other FarmStars girls for someone's birthday and someone had suggested they all get matching tattoos. Peri had volunteered to go first, but by the time hers was done, everyone else had looked a bit green and had no desire to go next, so they'd headed back to the dorms.

Dorms not unlike the one here, at the Colony Observatory she hadn't even known existed. On top of a mountain she hadn't known about, either. There was a whole lot about the Colony that hadn't been part of her training, that was for sure.

"Do you think you can handle that?" Atlas asked.

She probably should have been listening to the rest of his spiel, but she'd tuned out. Well, she'd handled most things at Dad's observatory. This couldn't be much harder, especially as he didn't seem to expect her to be capable of more than pushing the occasional button. "I keep an eye on the screens, and if the computer beeps or if I see anything interesting, I take a screenshot and record a video."

Atlas nodded. "Good. I'll be back to relieve you at the beginning of the next day cycle, for the start of my shift. If you need me, I'll be in the orchard, or up in my quarters." He pointed, then headed in the direction of the orchards.

Peri blew out a breath. She was tired, and starving, and cold...but the computer called to her, like a mythical siren in a story. She took one look at the star-studded night sky above, then grabbed the manual and went to work.

After fifteen minutes, she put the manual down, and after an hour, she hadn't picked it up again. Atlas had collated all the data he had on the comet, but he hadn't yet set the computer to mapping out its probable path. It was a dark comet, so the first pings were all just proximity alerts on various sensors. She'd helped her dad track a couple of them back home, so she knew it was best to use every detection tool in the book, not just the visible spectrum and her limited Human vision. Of course, back home, all the observatory's equipment had had competing demands, so she'd best check if any other tasks had a higher priority than Atlas's comet.

She checked the schedule twice, to make sure she hadn't made a mistake the first time. The very, very empty schedule. How was it possible that no one else but Atlas wanted to use the facility's telescopes right now? It beggared belief.

Well, she wasn't going to question it. If she pointed every conceivable detector at the comet now, they'd get a whole lot of early data, which made determining its composition and predicting its path something this computer system could cope with. Back home, Dad would've had to book time on one of NASA or the Defence Department's supercomputers to do the job. Here...well, there was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

Her fingers flew across the keys, pointing everything she had at the comet. The telescopes on the ground. Several arrays in orbit. Cameras and sensors capturing every moment in the highest possible resolution formats. Then she directed the data to the server room in the heart of the snowy mountain. She waited a moment, expecting it to reject the flow of the digital firehose, but the servers just took every drop, as if they'd been waiting for this since the day they were first initialised. Maybe they were.

Peri gave it another minute, folding her arms across her chest as she suppressed a shiver. It really was cold in there. No wonder Atlas had worn a space suit. She should probably find something warmer to wear herself.

She turned the computer volume up to its highest level, so she'd hear any alert or error message, and ambled into the bunkroom to see what there was. The cupboards along one entire wall held enough clothing and bedding to outfit an army – including enough space suits to outfit...she counted the beds. Yep, the entire dorm, if there'd been a full staff, instead of just her and Atlas.

The suits were as bulky as she remembered, and they definitely wouldn't fit over her skirt and petticoat. Not to mention there'd be some serious chafing with her lack of underwear. Even the uniforms Atlas had mentioned wouldn't be comfortable without knickers. She wished she'd thought to wear her ordinary undies, but it was too late now. After her shift was over, she'd head back to Star Farm to get more clothes, if she was going to be stuck here for a few days.

In the meantime, she selected a heavy coat, the sort of thing she might have worn skiing back on Earth. When she put it on, it hung down over most of her skirt, which would have to do. It definitely helped with the chilly atmosphere in the observatory, she decided, as she checked the computer for alerts. Everything seemed to be working fine, so she decided it was time for dinner.

Fifteen minutes of looking at the food fabricator's menu made her head spin. Half the dishes she hadn't even heard of, and the rest sounded way fancier than the sort of food she'd eaten at home. What part of a lobster was its thermidor, anyway? If this was what Titans ate every day, she had to wonder why they'd ever left their planet.

Finally, she just selected the chicken dish Atlas had recommended. It turned out to be a sort of cross between garlic bread and fried chicken, which wasn't half bad. When she was done, she went back to the computer. This time, she did need the manual, because she'd never been the first person to document a comet or any other celestial phenomena before, and mapping something's orbit for the first time was something even her father had never done, though he'd wanted to.

Now she got the error she'd been expecting – a message telling her the observatory servers were not enough, an alert she'd seen countless times at home. Then, her father had had to fill out the paperwork for NASA or Defence, and wait. Tonight, there was a different message on the screen.

SUBMIT DATA TO COLONY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ACCESS TO FURTHER RESOURCES?

Wait, the Colony Management System still existed? She'd been briefed about it back on Earth, but when that Titan lawyer had talked to them, he'd said they couldn't mention it. For it to appear here on the computer...she hit the YES button, which made the window vanish, only to be replaced by a second message.

ACCESS GRANTED.