Gravport

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  11. Gravport

  

 

  

Overview

Gravport itself is a sprawling series of flat habitat blocks, each 5 to 10 metres thick and about 50m on a side and suspended from an array of dirigibles and propellers.  Each block connected to its neighbours by flexible tubes to allow transit of people and goods, and connection of power and communications cables.  Gravport floats in the sky about a kilometer above an atoll, which is surrounded by rolling seas as far as Lia can see in any direction.  The city appears to be connected to the small patch of ground by several cables, and Lia can see pods moving up and down along them. 

Unlike most high-tech enclave cities in the Dominion, Gravport doesn’t have a Travel Pod network.  The nature of its architecture as grid of loosely-connected floating slabs makes that impractical.  Instead, small electric carts can be hired for self-drive, provided one has passed one’s local operators test.  It seems that there is a small industry of local operators that can be hired to take people places.

Their first interface between blocks is an interesting experience:  A flexible tube with a flat floor, curving ceiling above and viewing windows dotted along it.  The floor sections show small but definite signs of movement as it adjusts to minor position changes between the blocks that it connects.  Out of the viewing windows Lia can see a long alleyway between blocks, perhaps 10m wide and hundreds of metres long, crossed with transit tubes and smaller cable runs along its length.  Above, propeller masts and balloons and below, various pods and rigging, and the ocean.

  

Layout

This block seems dedicated to handling passengers and cargo from the Airdock alongside; Kwint and Lia make their way past the usual concourses and areas dedicated to such things.
The second block contains various shops, and the third and fourth dedicated to hotels and visitor accommodation.  There are two blocks that seem residential, then a trip through a featureless corridor with only a single four-way intersection, at which Kwint turns left, to break the monotony.  Next seems to be a recreational precinct for the locals, followed by two sets of offices, almost all of which are closed, as it is Red Shift.
After the offices is a much more down-market shopping precinct, in which Kwint follows a series of obscure turns, past a lot of closed shops, occasionally checking his PDA.

  

Retail Locations  

Gravport Airdock Shoeshop

Just outside the airdock is a shoe shop specialising in gecko shoes.

  

Parda’s Second Hand Books, Videos and Bric-a-Brac (we do cash transfers too!)

Inside, shelves are stacked ceiling high with hardcopy prints of books, both professional and hand made; various bits of obscure equipment and household goods are grouped into categories on shelves and tables, the latter usually because they have some artistic bent, even if hideous.  One one wall, storage widgets are glued to cards that describe their entertainment content, and a stand-alone computer promises a larger catalogue for viewing. 

In a corner of the shop, a thin man in a crumpled jacket seems to be carefully looking through a collection of model spaceship kits.

As the enter a middle aged woman near something that is probably the service counter, but is difficult to tell apart from the rest of the shop, looks up and turns off the vid she has been watching.

Meanwhile, the store attendant is moving piles of printed books to get at the one she wants, eventually returning to the counter with a large folder.  It is about A3 in page size, about 7cm thick, and bound with thin metal office stationery covers.  Clearly someone has printed this off on their printer and put a cover on it.

If Lia wants to convert money between cash and card, she can do that here (fee is ʄ5 or 0.5% of the transaction, whichever is greater).

  

Observation Deck Restaurant

Situated along the starward edge of the city, the Observation Deck is a block with large windows above, below and along the side.

When Lia and Kwint present at the entrance, a liveried server guides them to comfortable chairs at a cloth-draped table set with expensive-looking glassware and cutlery. Given the lateness of the shift, the restaurant is quiet, and so they have one of the best tables in the house.

They are on a peninsula-like outcropping of floor, windows above, on two sides and over-and-below.

The brief glimpse of the view from the transfer tunnel earlier did not do this justice. The star is still low in the sky, its rays scattered visible beams poking through the dark clouds. The storm that threatened earlier is in the process of arriving, Lia and Kwint can watch it blow in over the ocean far below, see it stirring the stillness of the waters near to the city gradually to heaving, slow-rolling white-caps.

 

 

   

 

  

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