4-046: Zebulon Station

Oliver will be able to obtain the following information from the basic station introduction information transmitted to the ship and available at the end of the docking tube.

Zebulon station is built as a giant cross, with four habitat sections extending from a central hub and docking struts running between the ends of the habitats. 

The station uses grav plates and so there is no need to spin it for internal gravity, making docking comparatively easy. 

Zebulon Station Plan and Elevation Views

The Habitats are designated as P, B, T and D.  Each habitat has three levels designated as Centre (C), Mirror (M) and Up (U).  Layout and gravity direction is shown in the diagram below.

The Hub has a central section (H) that adjoins each of the habitat C-sections, most of which is filled with twisting transfer corridors where the gravity drops in stages down to 0.8G between sections.  The Hub spires are designated HL and HR (if you are standing in PC looking toward H then HL is on your left and HR is on your right.  Levels within HL and HR are numbered as they rise away from H.  HL and HR are restricted areas.

The Docking Struts are designated as K, G, F and V.

Zebulon Station Gravity and Layout Diagram

Sections PU and PM seem to be restricted areas for station administration and residences for senior personnel and VIPs.

Section PC is semi-restricted with shopping, attractions and an up-market hotel.  As an F and possibly a Vizierate contractor, Oliver can possibly get in there if he wants to try. 

Section BU contains the local Vizerate Offices, section BM the local Legion offices.  BU and BC also contain general Dominion administration and Bureaucracy.

Sections TM and TU seem to be local residential.

Section TC seems to be a mix of various businesses and also some residential and a general overflow are for when things should be elsewhere in the station but there isn’t enough room.

Sections DU and DM seems to be the main areas containing visitor accommodation, with DU apparently more upmarket than DM.

Section DC seems to be the main visitor shopping and tourist attraction area.

The Snark is docked near the B-end of Strut K.

The physics of grav plates and economics of construction tend to mean that the ceilings in the station are relatively low and the floors long and wide, braced with a network of narrow pillars internally.  These pillars are where the internal ight sources of the station are located, containing vertical rows of lights.  If he visits any of the U or M sections, he will see that there are transparent view windows overhead, apparently capable of being shuttered.  There are similar windows at the edges of the C-sections where they are wider than the overhead U-sections.  Travel between C- and U-sections is mostly by escalator or elevator.  Travel between C- and M-sections is usually by a circular or twisted staircase or escalator where you spend a small distance in zero-G while changing orientation.  In each section there is also a zero-G transfer area for large items (basically a big hole in the decks with no grav plates).

The station is oriented such that Hub L is pointed toward the moon Paitchonia and Hub R points out to the stars.  Zargonia itself may be seen in various locations through the view ports, as can the star Fit, depending on where Paitch is in its orbit around Zargonia and the station in orbit around Paitch.

Based on Oliver’s to-do list:

• a place where he can acquire what he needs for his glasses – probably section DC, perhaps some of the more interesting retailers in TC, might be high-end things in PC
• purchase items and perhaps a spare of anything that might be breakable/corruptible – as above
• stop at a food court of some kind and have some type of meal that’s beyond his standard fare on the ship – there are a couple of cafes in BC, most of the visitor’s food is in D-section.  There are any number of local vendors in TC of unknown quality and the best food is in PC.