Chapter Text
INTRODUCTION
Picture this. The year is After Colony 185. In ten years’ time, the world order will be thrown into a period of conflict and chaos, but for now, a peace (of sorts) prevails. The Alliance rules supreme, confident in their own invulnerability, and you are just a civilian living your normal life on Earth.
Well, you were.
Unfortunately, your town has just been selected for the next wave of clearance; that is to say, the forced colonisation of space. Too bad, but overpopulation is a massive problem and your ticket is up. 1
As a single adult, you’ll be relocated to a new colony, from which you’ll be obliged to start your new life as a Spacer. It’s a Stamford Torus type colony; wheel-shaped. It measures some 18 kilometres (11.2 miles) in diameter and four kilometres (2½ miles) in cross-section, with a habitable area of 225 square kilometres (87 square miles or 22,500 hectares or 55,600 acres). 2
Some of your new neighbours will also have moved from Earth, willingly or otherwise, but you can also expect to see Alliance military and the other movers and shakers of the system: Sweepers, transporters, and bold immigrants from other colonies who have managed to hop the fence. In your new home, you’ll be allotted an apartment, but you’ll need to fend for yourself in all other ways.
As you take your seat in the shuttle and watch Earth recede away below you, you wonder how you’ll survive. What jobs will be available to you? What will your neighbours be like? What should you wear? What languages will they speak? How will you shop, and date, and have fun?
And most importantly, what’s for dinner?
This volume can’t help you with anything except the last question. With it tucked in your pocket, you set your face to the stars, confident of only one thing -
The food will be literally out in a world of its own.