Author's note:

I have decided to give a name to the planet that the Hammond spectre factory is built upon. As it was a referenced location in the game – there's an actual map there – but the name of the planet isn't mentioned, I wasn't going to name it. But calling it "the planet" is boring. So, from now on, the planet shall be called "Hephaestus".

Second note:

Shit, I forgot to proofread this one. Sorry for those of you who had to pick your way through my notes and annotations. It's fixed now.

"SPYGLASS!" Blisk yelled, sprinting onto the bridge. "How long till we can warp to Outpost 207?"

"14 hours, Commander."

"What's the period of our orbit about Hephaestus?"

"Twenty hours, Commander."

"Position of sun relative to Outpost 207?"

"176 degrees from Outpost 207. I don't see your point, Commander."

"Spyglass, if we wanted to, we could warp to Solhephaestus in four hours' time, aye?"

"Yes."

"Spyglass." Blisk looked into the robot's optical sensor. "I'm going to need you to trust me."

First there was the heat, and now there was the decontamination chamber.

To ensure that no viral or bacterial plagues were brought from one planet to another, most planetary governments employed a two-part defense system.

One, at the very least, orbital railguns above every city or settlement and clear borders around said cities and settlements. If the government could afford it, they'd fill the skies with railguns. These railguns would enforce a no-atmospheric-entry zone above the planet, or at least above settlements, thus forcing starships to request permission to enter the atmosphere and land at a spaceport. Should a starship try to enter the atmosphere and land anywhere other than a spaceport, the railguns would blow it out of the sky and any contaminants aboard would burn up with the ship during re-entry. If the planetary government couldn't afford a sky full of railguns then they would protect major settlements with railguns and send bombers to destroy starships that land illegally.

This ensures that all immigrants to a planet must go through a spaceport. At spaceports, the second defense system would take place – the decontamination chambers, one of which Aisling had just entered.

"Please remove all clothing and jewelery and place in the basket provided," a voice said, and Aisling complied. The basket disappeared into a hole in the side of the chamber.

"Your clothing is now being radiation-treated and will be returned to you momentarily," said the voice. It seemed to be prerecorded. "Decontamination will commence in a few minutes. Even if you have visited Venice 3 before, please pay attention to the following video – our policies may have changed since you were last here.

When the decontamination begins this chamber will be flooded with a blue liquid. Don't worry, the liquid contains oxygen. When it covers your mouth and nose take a deep breath and let it enter your lungs like you would with air.

The liquid contains smart antibiotics that will search for and destroy all bacteria that are unknown to Venice 3's department of biological security. You may feel a slight tingling sensation; do not be alarmed. This is natural.

The liquid also contains antibodies that will be absorbed into your bloodstream through your lungs. These antibodies will kill off any viruses that are unknown to Venice 3's department of biological security.

The process will take roughly 30 minutes, during which you should try to ensure that the liquid enters and cleanses every part of your body. Please raise your arms to allow the liquid to clean your armpits, ruffle your hair to ensure your scalp is completely cleaned, and spread your anal cavity and genitals if possible."

Aisling blushed at the last one.

"When you are done you will be supplied with a vaccine microneedle to immunize you against our local microorganisms.

Should anything go wrong, lift the glass and press the red emergency button.

Do you have any questions?"

Aisling thought for a moment about how much she didn't want a full-body enema, and then selected "No" from a list.

"Very well. Remember, breathe the decontamination liquid as if it were normal air. Tingling sensations are perfectly normal. Decontamination will now commence."

A blueish-green liquid that smelt vaguely like alcohol started trickling from holes in the side of the chamber.

"The enemy fleet is breaking away and pulling ahead of us," called Spyglass. "Our orbit is bringing us out of Critical range in three, two, one, mark. It is now possible to dodge enemy fire."

This didn't stop the fleets from lobbing railgun shells at each other, but it did allow ships to anticipate and accelerate away from most shells by mere centimetres.

"Alright, Spyglass. How long till we're pointed at Solhephaestus?"

"Two hours, Commander."

"Very well. Commence jump when our orbital acceleration brings us on a 0.02 degree bearing with Solhephaestus."

"Commencing jump preparations, Commander. How close do you want to arrive?"

"To low orbit. We're going in deep."

"Commander -"

"Trust me, Admiral. This is going to work."

"Ugh..." Aisling groaned, stumbling out of the decontamination chamber. She reached for a towel, dried the thick liquid off her body and it formed into a gelatinous puddle on the floor, oozed into the drain.

Then she collapsed onto the ground, vomited the contents of her lungs and stomach.

"Please note," the speakers said, "feeling sick and/or vomiting during this time is a normal part of the decontamination process. Do not be alarmed."

"Thanks for the warning," muttered Aisling. "Huughh -"

She heaved again, the contractions of her stomach making her feel as if she was tearing her body apart. Which it was. Half of the cells in her body were now dead.

"Bacteria beneficial to your body will soon grow back and recolonize your body. Until then, bacterial supplements will be available."

She found her clothing, pulled her panties up, hooked her bra on and pulled her cargo pants and t-shirt over top. She could still feel the bluish slime on her body and made the mistake of running her hand through her hair - her scalp was thick with the bluey ooze.

"Uh, voice, is there any way I could have a shower or something?"

"Key word detected. Did you say: Shower?"

"Yes, shower."

"Once you exit the decontamination chamber, take a left down the corridor towards the women's bathrooms. Courtesy showers are provided."

"Thanks, voice."

"Are you ready to exit the decontamination chamber?"

"Yes."

"Please look to your left. Vaccines to local bacteria and antibody supplements have been dispensed. Please wrap the microneedle patch tight around your left arm."

Aisling did as she was told, wrapping the fabric around her arm, tingling as the microscopic needles injected doses of self-replicating antibodies and vaccines into her bloodstream, immunizing her against local diseases. Viruses and bacteria would evolve differently on Venice 3 from other planets, so a vaccine and artificial antibody top-up was necessary for keeping her healthy away from home.

"This health patch is from batch 10.0.9 and grants protection from all bacteria and viruses in the Venice system. If you shuttle elsewhere in the Venice system aboard a ship that has not been out of the Venice system within the last two kilohours, you will not need to take a decontamination chamber. The decontamination chambers' doors will now open. Please exit the chamber."

Aisling had entered one door as a walking colony of bacteria and viruses native to Brink and now left by the other door with 99.99% of said bacteria dead or soon to be.

"Well, look who it is!" smirked Evans. "Don't you look great?"

"Shut up, Evans," growled Aisling. "You don't look so fantastic yourself." Aisling turned to Baxter. "Can I take a shower?"

"Don't see why not." Baxter leaned in to Aisling's ear. "Missions are scheduled to start in 30 minutes." She stepped back. "Me and my girls are just headed down there now, come join us."

"Oi, where are you all off to?" asked Nathan as he dragged himself out of a decontamination chamber.

"Girl's showers," said Aisling. "I'd invite you, but -"

"Heh. I'd come," He winked.

Aisling punched him on the shoulder, slight smile on her face. "Whatever. Clean yourself up, you smell of decontamination fluid."

"Speak for yourself," Orion muttered, walking out of his chamber.

Evans dropped her clothes to the floor and sauntered into a shower cubicle without the slightest hint of shame.

"You alright, Aisling?" asked Baxter.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She walked into a shower cubicle, locked the door and undressed. Washed the gelatinous slime from her hair - and realized that here, the water fell at normal speed.

Almost.

The steam was filling the thin air now and Aisling felt her lungs work a little harder to suck the air down, like she was deep underwater and breathing the air through a straw.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," breath, "just give me a," breath, "second," she wheezed, slumped to her knees. Placed her hand on her bare chest, felt her ribcage expand and contract.

"Aisling!"

Baxter pulled the door open, still naked and dripping with soap. "What's the matter?!"

Aisling coughed. "Air," breath, "thin, steam." Breath. "Different on brink." Breath. She tried slowing her breathing, opened her lungs as wide as they could go, felt her heart beat with her right fist, propped her body up with her left. Baxter watched her for a second.

"So you're okay now?"

"Yeah. Just got to breathe slowly." Breath.

"Very well then." Baxter left the cubicle, shut the shower door and spoke from outside.

"Will you be able to go on? Y'know, to do your trading mission?"

"I'll be fine." Trading mission was the agreed codeword for each team's mission. Ashley Stone had insisted; there could be hidden microphones everywhere.

A few minutes later, Aisling dried her body and hair, slipped her clothing back on, and came back out to meet the rest of team D.

"Alright guys," Stone said from orbit into everyone's earpieces, "Your missions begin now. Good luck."