They were the remnant of a Fleet, against a widespread power which had inexhaustible lives, and supply, and worlds, and they did not.

There had been a time when the dream of the old exploration ships had drawn her into this, a dream long revised to the realities the Company captain’s emblem had come to mean. Long ago she had realized there was no winning.

The Fleet went it alone, without merchanter or stationer support, as they had gone it alone for years before this.

— Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh

Transcendence was influenced by dozens of books, movies, and games, particularly those I experienced growing up. Some of the influences are obvious and hardly unique: if Star Wars had never come out, I don’t know what Transcendence would have looked like, or even if it would have been made at all.

Other influences are just as strong, though less well-known. The Commonwealth Fleet and its battle against the Ares were inspired by C. J. Cherryh’s tour-de-force novel, Downbelow Station. And when I say "inspired by," I probably should say, "shamelessly lifted from."

Published in 1981 (and winner of the Hugo Award in 1982), Downbelow Station is a complex and detailed novel, featuring dozens of characters and spanning multiple star systems. It is hard science fiction that reads more like future history than space opera.

The opening scene is one of my favorites. Norway, a Fleet carrier commanded by Signy Mallory, winks in to Pell Station’s system. Ten lumbering freighters jump in behind her. They are refugees from doomed Mariner Station, the latest casualty in the Earth Company’s war against Union. Mallory has to convince Angelo Konstantin, Pell’s stationmaster, to make room on Pell for the refugees the convoy is bringing:

"You do it," she told him. "You clear that section or we do. You start now, strip everything of value or hazard, down to the walls; and you put those doors on lock and weld the access panels shut. You don’t know what we’re bringing you. And if you delay us, I may have a shipload dead; Hansford’s life support is going. You do it, Mr. Konstantin, or I send the troops in. And you don’t do it right, Mr. Konstantin, and you have refugees scattered like vermin all over your station, no id’s and ugly-desperate."

Cherryh paints a stark, though nuanced, universe filled with helpless and dying stations, a feral Fleet preying on friend and foe, and free-spirited merchanters who refuse to pick a side. And through it all Union only gets stronger. With its genetically engineered population, unlimited supplies, and advanced technology, Union continues to expand. Will Pell Station fall?

There are many characters in this saga, but for me, the two most memorable are Signy Mallory and Conrad Mazian, the brilliant commander of the Fleet. The conflict between the two is one of the most compelling in the novel and served as inspiration for the rift between Antarctica’s Captain Helios and Admiral (Conrad) Decker.

Downbelow Station is not for everyone—its focus on larger historical forces can be a strength if you like history, but not if you’re looking for a sitting-on-the-beach page-turner. Nevertheless, if you’re hooked by this novel you’ll be happy to know that Cherryh wrote several other books set in the same universe. Many are told from the point of view of the independent merchanters who fly between the stations. The Hugo-winner Cyteen is even set in Union-space.

Transcendence would not be the same without their influence.