In the unforgiving vacuum of space, where the smallest flaw can spiral into disaster, one mechanic becomes the last line of defense between survival and catastrophe.
Redline Orbitals is a grounded science fiction series following Eli Tran, a mid-level space mechanic stationed on aging Martian orbital facilities. Across five books, Eli's career spans decades of service, encompassing whistleblower scandals, geopolitical tensions, technological shifts, and crises that test not only machines but human character. The series explores the lives of the unsung labor force that keeps the space frontier alive—not the commanders or explorers, but the people tightening bolts and patching pipes in the shadows of history.
Book 1: Vacuum Line
Eli Tran works maintenance on Tantalus Station, a decaying orbital facility that supports Martian logistics. When a simple coolant leak reveals deeper maintenance fraud, Eli finds himself at the heart of a deadly bureaucratic cover-up. Facing threats from management and mounting system failures, Eli must choose between silence and sabotage—or exposing a truth that could destroy careers and cost lives.
Book 2: Static Drift
Reassigned after the scandal, Eli joins a new Mars-Earth joint communications station, where clashing cultures and rival engineering philosophies spark constant tension. When a relay satellite begins to drift off-course, threatening a planet-wide comms outage, Eli and his Martian counterpart must overcome mistrust and political interference to execute a risky repair mission.
Book 3: Fault Tolerance
Tantalus has been repurposed as a logistics node run by an AI-led automation system. Initially impressed by the efficiency, Eli becomes suspicious after a fatal docking accident exposes flaws in the AI's logic. His investigation reveals cost-cutting experiments in machine oversight—experiments that treat human lives as variables in a test. Eli races to shut down the system before it sacrifices more lives for optimization.
Book 4: Orbital Decay
A violent solar storm disables orbital traffic management around Mars just as hundreds of cargo vessels approach. With most modern stations offline, the outdated Tantalus becomes the last viable port. Eli, pulled out of early retirement, returns to help a skeleton crew hold the fragile station together while guiding ships to safety. But as Tantalus begins a dangerous descent toward Mars, Eli must decide whether to ride it down—or keep it in the sky long enough to save the others.
Book 5: Redline
Years later, Eli is a legend in Martian orbit—though he'd never admit it. When a massive new orbital megastation malfunctions during a critical handover between nations, he's asked to advise a young and inexperienced crew. As old systems fail and pressure mounts, Eli becomes a mentor, guiding the next generation of engineers not just through the repairs—but through the moral challenges of working in space, where doing the job right is the only thing that matters.
Redline Orbitals: Short Stories
1. "Lockout"
Summary: A rookie extravehicular technician is accidentally left outside during a routine panel inspection when an automatic airlock cycle initiates a security lockdown. With only 14 minutes of oxygen, she must improvise a re-entry using external handholds, station geometry, and a broken comms link to reach safety.
Theme: Training vs. instinct, first crisis in space.
2. "Drywell"
Summary: On a supply depot orbiting Deimos, a crew discovers that their water recycling unit has been under-reporting losses for weeks. With no immediate resupply and rationing already tight, the crew turns on each other in a quiet, psychological war over blame, repair options, and survival.
Theme: Resource scarcity, hidden damage, psychological stress.
3. "Loopback"
Summary: A Mars-Earth transmission engineer discovers a corrupted code loop in the relay system—one that's been subtly rewriting Earth-side messages before delivery. As she digs deeper, she realizes it was deliberate. But who programmed it—and why?
Theme: Information control, silent sabotage, moral courage.
4. "Spinlock"
Summary: A space tug pilot and a cargo drone operator must work together to manually dock a massive freighter during a system-wide spin-axis control outage. As they maneuver heavy payloads without modern tools, their old rivalry flares into open hostility—until they realize their lives depend on perfect coordination.
Theme: Old-school vs. modern techniques, grudging respect.
5. "Break Schedule"
Summary: A burned-out maintenance planner falsifies safety inspection intervals to give his team more rest. When a hidden electrical fault causes a fire in the crew quarter ventilation ducts, he must risk his life to fix what he neglected—without confessing to the lie that caused it.
Theme: Burnout, workplace pressure, redemption.
6. "The Isolation Protocol"
Summary: A medical quarantine separates an engineer from the rest of her station after a suspected Martian bacteria exposure. Left in a remote wing with failing systems and limited access, she must diagnose and fix her own illness—or the station's systems—before either kills her.
Theme: Medical isolation, problem-solving under pressure.
7. "Docking Bay 6"
Summary: A new automated docking system malfunctions during a VIP delegation's arrival, causing a near-catastrophic collision. A mid-level dock supervisor reviews black box data and uncovers a deeper conflict between Mars's independence movement and Earth's sabotage-resistant tech protocols.
Theme: Politics in infrastructure, the cost of pride.
8. "Cold Splice"
Summary: While performing cryogenic pipe maintenance outside the station, two mechanics discover a hidden tunnel welded into the hull—unauthorized and dangerously close to a pressure line. Investigating its origin leads to a corporate smuggling scheme and a tough choice between silence and exposure.
Theme: Hidden crimes, station life as witness.
9. "Remote Hands"
Summary: A paraplegic engineer on Earth runs a robotic maintenance unit aboard a Martian satellite via remote presence. When the satellite begins to spin out of control during a solar flare, her latency-ridden connection is all that stands between the crew and disaster.
Theme: Disability and agency, precision under delay.
10. "Gravemind"
Summary: The last engineer aboard a decommissioned station prepares it for deorbit and self-destruction. Alone with fading systems and personal regrets, she begins recording farewell logs—until she discovers an old friend left a hidden message in the station's core memory.
Theme: Legacy, loneliness, closure.