  /\
 ====                      ~O R E S T E S~
 |  |         .                                           .        |
 |  |                         *           .                       -*-
 ====                                                              |
 XXXX                                              *
 |\/|
 |/\|            ##|##    .                              *
 |\/|              |                 .
 |/\|              |
 |\/|              |
 |/\|------------==|
/____\ \ \ \ \ \ \                     \*/
|    |           |                     / \   *
|    |   ____    |                     \ /   \       /*\
      \  |  |    |            __/..-----*----/--_____\_/___
_________|__|____|______----____-                      --------


Orestes is an outpost located on the planet PFG 70c in the HD219134
planetary system.  

It is serviced by the Arsinoe ship which orbits the system,
maintaining two additional outposts. 

According to the inhabitants of the outpost, the ship has not been
heard from for two earth-years now.

The planet is desolate with a prolonged day/night cycle. Its
terrain is mountainous and rocky. Its only distinguishing feature,
and the reason for the existence of the Orestes outpost, are a
series of crystalline structures which populate a small portion of
its surface.

The base is manned by three members who will remain anonymous. 

Systems maintenance and communications tasks are performed by the
Werner H. Young Terminal Emulator A.I.

NOTICE!! - For anyone coming across this old story and wondering
how it ends:

I've lost interest in this story. I wasn't too happy with its
direction so I stopped posting the entries on Cosmic Voyage. I've
uploaded the remainder of the story at the following locations:

https://spool-five.com/fiction/orestes/

At the outset, I tried to imagine a story reminiscent of Tarkovsky
movies (Solaris and Stalker). There was going to be some kind of
communication between the planet and its inhabitants via
hallucinations. I didn't really pull it off though, I lost sight of
that goal. The rest of the entries are mostly in draft form, so if
you do want to see a rough sketch of the ending, go to one of the
locations listed above.

