AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS? #3

Sevastopol: An Outpost of Progress?
By Julia Jones

A TROUBLED POPULATION

For better or worse, the right to bear arms followed us into colonial space. Alone, vulnerable and light years from law enforcement, who could deny our voyagers a way to defend themselves, their ships and their families? The flip-side of this argument is Sevastopol, where gun crime is rampant.

Endlessly turning circles in a neglected corner of space, its people are downbeat and disconsolate. Those who could afford to leave did so years ago, abandoning friends and neighbors among empty stores, creaking systems and the forgotten dreams of the Deep Space economic boom.

Sevastopol's people feel deceived – tempted here by corporations that refused to recognize the Deep Space bubble was about to burst. They are angry, desperate and increasingly divided. Recent Colonial Marshal clamp-downs on the black market have increased resentment. Every day it feels as if the station has edged a little closer to free-fall.