Quote:I've thought about that. I can't really go into a detailed reply, since I need to leave for the airport in about...20 minutes.
So, you've got the island. It's an enormous chunk of ground with internal handwaved gravity, some sealed warehouses, and a bunch of space dug out below. It's got parking lots up top for folks to land on. The cars are human-habitable, the buildings aer human-habitable... but I don't see how the space in between is human-habitable. How do you traverse the gap and/or mate environments? SUVs are not generally fitted with standardized airlocks.
But in brief, here's what I thought up for the Island.
There's three ways you can land and disembark. One applies to large vessels, and it hasn't exactly been used yet, since there aren't very many big ships around. Yet. One of Eric's crew rigged up a docking tube in a fit of enthusiasm - the "universal connector" at the ship end is really a big suction ring, it simply fits OVER whatever airlock the ship has.
Then there's the two ways, if you're flying something small. If you've got some sort of spacesuit or airlock, you can park on the Island's surface for free, get out, and walk in.
If you don't have a spacesuit or any way to go extravehicular, you need to taxi along the Island's surface - or fly low or something, depending on how you land and move - then head into one of the big hangar bays with a vehicular-scale airlock.
There's a parking charge, though the rates follow a complex and Byzantine scale depending on a) how large your ship is, b) the duration of your stay, c) if you're a regular, and d) how much Island ATC likes you. No, it's not fair, but Simon (the station's AI), has intervened on at least one case where a fan was grossly overcharged...simply 'cause he flamed a forum thread started by an Island staffer.
Bay One is topside, occupying about half of Module B (the biggest warehouse block). It's essentially a parking garage. Module B doesn't have that many conversions for human habitation. It's sealed, but it's still definitely a warehouse - but that's fine. Parking space. And good for conventions and such. There's probably other uses for lots of big open pressurised area that I haven't thought of yet.
Bay Two is attached to Module A (the smaller of the two main blocks, essentially a shopping mall/motel). That one's meant for deliveries - "official use only".
Bay Three is downside, along the belly of the Island, with direct access to the various "underground" bits that have been hollowed out. When Eric lifted the place, he and his collaborators went down as far as they could go. A lot of Fen like that one, because it really feels like flying into a station or asteroid or something.
As a side note, there's a decent amount of aboveground structure aside from the warehouse blocks. Original bits of road and surface parking lots. Some of the Island surface has also been taken over by new construction - there's a couple of domed-over hydroponic gardens and the like.
Then there's solar panels, so on.
I'll probably elaborate on this more, but the Island's big. I haven't decided how large yet - my grasp of proportions and math is notoriously bad. I have a vague idea, but not sure how that translates in real terms.
(Well, I did advanced math courses in high school, and did well. I hated them, though, but back when I was entertaining vague thoughts of a computing or engineering degree. Nowadays I avoid numbers far as possible.)
Anyway, though...the disruption the Island caused when lifting, and the hole in the landscape it left behind... probably the only reason why Eric and his original crew aren't in more trouble with Mundane authorities was, well, they boosted from a developing nation. Haven't decided which one...but they had to buy the property, after all. So, it made sense to, y'know, go further afield where land was cheaper...
-- Acyl