Deadline: September 1st, 2024
Payment: $25 (US) or two copies of the book, if you’re local to me (Maryland, USA) or the shipping is reasonable.
Theme: Science fiction short stories that take place in a shared universe (details below) that feature a mysterious space station, strange aliens, and more!

Enigma Station is a ShareVerse anthology featuring a mysterious space station, strange aliens, and more! Planned for publication in late 2024 or early 2025.

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General Setting information

Situated in a solar system lightyears from Earth, the Banahatti Station is home to thousands of humans and aliens of several different species. It lies on a convenient path between several major planetary systems, and the solar system it lies in is home to mineral rich asteroids, seven planets and their moons (none habitable without environmental domes).

Nominally under the Earth Republic’s jurisdiction, its location means little oversight. The Earth Republic keeps one destroyer-class ship, the Antioch, docked at the station, but the administration of the station itself is handled by a security force (basically police) at the station.

The station has shops, ship repair, medical facilities, hydroponics for growing food, ample living space, even a few areas where people can raise animals such as chickens or pigs. The space station still has unused areas that haven’t been converted to human (or alien) use.

However, a few adventurous explorers have reported strange happenings throughout the station, particularly in the unexplored areas. Strangely-shaped objects appear, change shape, then disappear. Rooms and hallways change their shape. Unexplained signals of energy – far below the level that would endanger anyone – burst into existence, then vanish. Some inhabitants also report feeling strange sensations within their body, but cannot find an explanation. The news has spread throughout the Earth Republic and the alien civilizations, and more superstitious folks think the place may be haunted.

(Think of the space station as a combination space-truck-stop, mining town, and trading village, with a touch of X-files thrown in).

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Setting History

Humanity has expanded throughout a portion of the galaxy, thanks to the invention of the hypermeson drive a few centuries ago. The hypermeson drive enables faster-than-light travel and communication by transiting through a different dimension of space-time (basically warp drive and hyperspace mixed together).

Now, humans live on multiple worlds, some earth-like, and some in domed cities. A few worlds are undergoing terraforming, but it’s a slow process.

About five years ago, an explorer named Santosh Banahatti was prospecting mineral-rich asteroids in a solar system when he discovered an abandoned space station. Apparently constructed by an unknown alien civilization, the space structure was several kilometers in size, large enough to form a space-city.

He took advantage of lax rules about space salvage and claimed the station as his own, and invited people to settle there. Now, he functions as the de facto mayor of the small space-town. People travel to Bahahatti station for a variety of reasons – seeking their fortune or escaping unpleasant situations.

Santosh didn’t restrict his offer to humans, and now about a third of the inhabitants of the station are non-human aliens of several races. Each race has their own language, but most learn the human tongue too (or the languages of other races). There is no universal translator though.

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Station Structure

External shape of the space station is TBD (probably dependent on whatever I find for artwork). Most of the station is made from a mysterious material that resembles both plastic and metal. Strangely, it seals any holes cut or drilled into it after a few hours, so internal structures are frequently attached with adhesives rather than by bolting them. Enough exterior gaps existed when Santosh discovered the station for him to build airlocks, cargo loading doors, and such.

Some sections of the station have wide-open areas; many of these have been turned into hydroponics and food-production areas. Several mercantile zones exist, including an undercity-style dark-market where questionable goods can be found.

People live in smaller apartments in different sectors of the station. Since Santosh claims ownership of the entire station, he leases apartments to individuals and families for a modest rate. He’d prefer to encourage the station to grow, so he keeps living costs as low as he can.

About a third of the station is off-limits and considered haunted. A few intrepid people have ventured into those areas, but encounter inexplicable events. Santosh has a few trusted individuals he trusts to explore the areas, but they haven’t discovered anything yet. (Note: this mystery will be revealed in the final story of the collection)

The primary docks section of the station lies near the largest mercantile area, and it can hold up to 20 ships. The Antioch lies at one end of the primary docks. The station engineers have added one other docking area (up to 8 ships currently) and are working on a third. (note: the third docks zone IS functional, but used for illicit activities)

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Characters

Writers are free to use other authors’ characters listed here in cameos, but do nothing drastic or controversial with them. Use other people’s creations with respect.

	Santosh Banahatti A human man in his early 30’s, a savvy and charismatic man of Indian descent. Originally an explorer and prospector, he discovered the derelict station and claimed ownership of it. He exploited his extensive connections to encourage people to relocate to the station. He has enough money to be comfortable (thanks to fees and taxes), but is always looking for new opportunities. He lives on the station with his wife Kalyani and three children (8, 5, 3)
	Clunox A krelkin who has an honor debt to Santosh, and works primarily as bodyguard and muscle. His mustard-yellow fur is crisscrossed with scars. Despite his species’ smaller size, Clunox is one of the most ferocious beings on the space station.
	Captain Sumalee Chao Captain of the Antioch, the Earth Republic destroyer assigned to patrol the system. A woman of Thai descent, Sumalee Chao was a rising star in the Earth Republic space fleet, but she resents her assignment to the Banahatti station. This attitude causes some friction with Santosh and Jacob Brower. However, the admiralty actually assigned her to guard the station because they consider it of strategic importance (she doesn’t know this, but Santosh does).
	Jacob (Jake) Brower Chief of Security on Banahatti station. A retired space marine, he has known Santosh for many years. He’s savvy enough to look the other way for some illicit activities, but has limits to the amount of corruption he’ll tolerate. His apparent lax attitude rubs Captain Chao the wrong way.

Other Roles to be filled

• Other crewmembers from the Antioch
• Head of the mining/prospecting guild
• Planetary exploration teams
• Head engineer(s) of the station (possibly different ones with specific tasks and specialties).
• Doctors, merchants, and other roles necessary for a small city in space (teachers, porters, etc.)

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Aliens

Each alien race has its own planets and territory, and there have been some wars among the different races. However, this is a (relatively) peaceful time for humans – the Earth Republic isn’t at war with anyone.

This is a partial list of alien races; authors are free to create their own.

Krelkins

Krelkins are small humanoid creatures (about 4′ tall) vaguely resembling stout goblins (from the Harry Potter movies) crossed with a wolverine (in both appearance and attitude). They come from a higher-gravity world, and are much stronger than they appear. They are actually the most warlike species of the ‘verse – technologically savvy, quick to offend, fast breeders, and stronger than humans. Humans fought several skirmishes with them, but right now, they aren’t causing problems.

Nasty bastards, they fight with shredder pistols, power glaives, and their natural claws. Most wear light but functional armor. They have patchy fur on their body, usually yellow, gold, or brown.

Not commonly known is that the Krelkins have encountered another hostile race (on the far side of their territory) that they’re currently fighting. They don’t want a war on two fronts, so they’re playing nice to humanity… for now. They’re still nasty bastards.

Creator’s Note: The Krelkin are basically the klingons of this setting – warrior mentality and such. I thought it would be an interesting twist to have the warrior race actually smaller than humans.

Zautans

Zautans resemble thin, eight-foot-tall lizard-like aliens with four arms and a turtle-like shell covering parts of their bodies. They have three eyes (the middle one differs from the other two, and senses infrared light). Zautans have a philosophical outlook, seeking to understand the other races and each other. They even venture into mysticism.

A poorly-kept secret of the Zautans is that they’re cannibals. Part of their philosophy includes understanding something by eating it. They claim they can absorb the thoughts of whatever they eat (whether this is true or not is unknown). They don’t wantonly eat everything though – consumption of another is a solemn occasion. They have eaten other sentient species too (including humans). The Krelkins are terrified of them, but try not to show it.

Despite their size (and cannibalism), Zautans are generally peaceful and sedate.

Creator’s Note: the cannibalism is a twist on the “benevolent elder race with a touch of mysticism” like we see in the Minbari from Babylon 5.

Miclites

Miclites are an Arthropod species vaguely resembling a solifuge (camel-spider). They have four dedicated legs (from their abdomen section), four limbs that function as either arms or legs (from their thorax section), and two dedicated arms. They can raise their thorax section up into a posture resembling a centaur; they have eyes on both the underside and top side of their head (the underside eyes let them see ahead of them when they’re in the centaur posture). They have the distinctive four-jaw structure of solifuges (see the wikipedia page).

Male miclites are only about three feet long; females are about four feet long. They can climb walls and are fond of traveling through the station on the ceiling. One of the more recent intelligent aliens humanity has encountered, the Miclites love to explore the station, including people’s homes. They have no sense of privacy.

Miclites are adept engineers, mechanics, and electricians. Santosh is trying to hire a few for engineering repair work on the station, but he’s having trouble getting them to focus on any particular task.

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Plot Ideas & Deadlines

A Few Story Ideas:

• Asteroid miners – claim jumping?
• Earth Republic military personnel rivalry with station personnel
• Establishing a domed city on one of the planets in the system
• Anything with one of the alien races – tensions with Krelkin, suspicion that the Zautans ate someone, etc.
• Black Market activities – alien goods as contraband?
• Corruption among the security personnel?
• A new alien race arrives?
• Merchant problems
• Something weird in either the asteroids or on one of the planets in the system

Note: I already have several submitters who are writing “weird things on station” stories. I’d love to see other ideas too.

Deadlines

• Deadlines for Initial Submission: Sept. 1, 2024
• Feedback to prospective authors by Sept 15, 2024 (if necessary)
• Author changes to organizer: Oct 15, 2024

Payment: $25 (US) or two copies of the book, if you’re local to me (Maryland, USA) or the shipping is reasonable.

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Editor’s Notes

Please contact me with your story ideas, and for access to the Author’s Only page. I don’t want too many stories with the same topic, so I may reject a story idea if I already have other authors working on something similar.

I will be revealing the actual secret of the space station in the final story of the collection, so do not have your characters solve it. If you want to use the bizarre occurrences on the station as part of your story, please let me know so I can tell you how to best incorporate them.

As editor of the collection, I reserve the right to edit for grammar, spelling, etc. I may also change names of minor characters in your story to mesh it with other stories in the collection. If I find problem with setting consistency or similar issues, I will contact the submitter about it.

3rd-Person Limited POV preferred. Keep material to PG-13 to R rating level. No explicit erotica or overly gory scenes. Adult-oriented material is fine, but don’t wallow in it.

I am still evaluating the financial element of this. I plan to publish through Amazon at this time. Each author who gets a story accepted will receive two copies of the anthology; for authors local to me (in Maryland), I’ll also allow you to buy more copies at cost.

Via: Edward Swing.