Port Alpha
Port Alpha is the Martian settlement where John Evans lives before travelling to Earth. It is a place of pressure glass, buried utilities, trams, shared meals, and constant machinery.
Daily life
[edit]Life-support systems operate on Mday time, while off-world communication can use Earth time. A scheduler that applies a conversion twice becomes an early clue in the book.
Community
[edit]John’s neighbours gather around a table made from a retired pressure door. The settlement records who leaves, what knowledge goes with them, and who will carry their work.
Departure
[edit]Fusion tugs, docking systems, and departure windows connect Port Alpha to the wider transport network. Safety depends on agreeing which clock a procedure follows.
In the book
[edit]Chapter One, “The Shape of an Mday,” and the opening departure sequence.