Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) by Mark R. Healy

looked up again.  Now she could see more.  There were two bright, thin strands emanating from either side of the object like glinting spider webs, stretching out horizontally into the darkness of space.  As she watched, the object began to rapidly fill her window, and now she could make out the number ‘31’ stencilled across the bottom of it in large print.
    “Hello?” she said, thumping the display panel desperately.  “I’m not su pposed to go to Habitat Thirty-O ne!  I don’t even know what that is!”
    The woman reappeared on the panel.  “Docking in thirty seconds.”
    Ursie experienced a moment of sheer terror as a notion formed in her head.  She’d been drugged and placed in cryosleep, then shipped off to one of the outer colonies without any idea of what was happening to her.  This wasn’t even Earth anymore.  It was some other space elevator–
    Calm down , she told herself, taking a deep breath.  That’s not what happened.
    She looked down between her legs at the giant blue sphere far below.  She’d never before seen Earth from above, but regardless, she was pretty sure that this was it.  She couldn’t think of anywhere else in the solar system that would look quite the same – the darkness of night below her, and over toward the horizon , the glint of blue beneath murky clouds.
    She’d been asleep for a few hours, that was all.  There had to be some other explanation for what was going on, and a perfectly reasonable one at that.
    She felt the harness that was keeping her in the seat pressing more firmly against her body, and she realised that the railcar’s momentu m was slowing.  Habitat Thirty-One was huge now, blotting out the blackness of space above and filling the window over her head.  She had the odd sensation that the railcar was motionless, and that the habitat itself was descending upon her like some monolithic bird of prey, ready to take the diminutive craft within its claws.
    A broad slash appeared in the underbelly of the habitat, gradually widening as the railcar drew near, and Ursie could see that there was a sizeable cavity within, large enough to accommodate the entire vehicle, she figured.  An airlock?
    She had no more time to theorise about what was happening.  Suddenly they were inside, and the railcar shuddered to a halt.  Ursie white-knuckled the arms of her chair as a series of loud thunks and jolts shook her capsule.  They sounded like massive bolts being withdrawn and inserted into the bowels of the railcar.
    “Rotating,” the woman on the screen said with aggravating calmness.  “Please remain seated while the OrbitPod achieves the correct orientation.”
    There was another loud grinding noise, then the railcar shook as it began to turn slowly on its axis.  Out of the corner of her eye Ursie could see the airlock doors closing, and then, sickeningly, the whole airlock seemed to turn around her.  She felt her stomach churn and thought she would surely vomit, felt it rising up her throat, but somehow she held it in.
    The railcar finished rotating 180 degrees and then shuddered again as it was locked into place.
    “Pressurising airlock.  Please wait.”
    “Go to hell,” Ursie muttered, fighting back nausea as she hung there upside down, wondering how she was going to get out of this capsule with her feet pointed at the ceiling.
    “Good evening, and thank you for travelling with Himura.”
    The woman disappeared for the final time, and then the transparent petal-like sheaths of Ursie’s capsule door slid apart, and a waft of cool air from outside swept across her body.  She realised that she’d been sweating profusely, and that her armpits and neck were drenched.
    A door in the airlock opened and, shockingly, two men in white jumpsuits began walking into the chamber upside down like a pair of acrobats performing some gravity-defying feat.  Ursie watched them curiously for a moment, and then her harness suddenly disengaged.  She cried out and