While you wait I'm busy getting ready for the holiday (no doubt some of you are too) while also experimenting with the graphic novel process. I think I need another computer or a better rendering engine. (both are expensive)
Anyway, on to the snippet!
Note to the reader on timing
The following story
takes place after Ashes. It takes place roughly 40 years after the Xeno war and
ends 600 years before the reborn Federation.
Act I
Chapter 1
Kai
Lung was a young bull, barely in his third decade but a full space miner in his
own right. He checked his status boards and then grunted happily. He was on his
final approach, five by five.
He'd
lucked out in his life so far. His sire had gone off to war. His dame had
stayed on the planet of his birth. She'd scrimped to help him follow his dream
to space. He had paid for her medical bills when she'd gotten sick. He'd
finally paid them off a year after her death.
He
tugged on a dangling ear. He wasn't a big bull; he watched his calories and
worked out regularly. You had to do so if you wanted to stay healthy in space.
Besides, food was expensive, even the mushroom crap grown on some of the local
rocks these days.
Tau
sector was mostly Tauren; they'd had the sector for generations before the
Federation had been forged. His people had been driven from their original
homeworld tens of thousands of years ago to the outskirts of the galaxy. For
thousands of years they'd been xenophobic, that was, right up until they'd met
the Terrans. Other species had learned to give his species a wide berth after
an encounter but the Terrans had fought and surprisingly won against his
people. They'd thought they were going to be destroyed or driven off by the
Terrans but the aliens had surprised them with peace terms. More importantly,
the Terrans had shared with them some of their secrets like Terraforming worlds
into habitable places to live for the herd.
And
they'd done it, though at considerable cost. His own world Minox IV had been
terraformed. The first settlers had mortgaged the rocks in the system to the
mega corporations who had occasionally traded them or sold the rights to
others. There were few free rocks left; the best were staked out by warning
beacons and systems.
But, it
was a big system and there was enough there for independent people like him to
make a living.
Or,
at least try to he mused.
He did
fairly well for himself by going after the small fry and hitting areas other
miners weren't interested in. Other miners tended to go for the big score. He
tried to find something worth his time but he wasn't against using his scoop to
suck up gravel too. Especially if it was rich in heavy metals.
If the
corporations were still around they might have had factory ships mining the
belt. They would have had smelters going and wouldn't have left much for
anyone. He'd heard about those corporate ships, they turned every molecule into
something or other, leaving nothing behind but vacuum.
But
they were gone. The last had left before he'd been born. Only the very old
generations and the newest remained in the star system. Most of the middle aged
and those in excellent health had gone off to the war. Few had returned. Those
that did had come back broke and broken, with stories of horror and death of
worlds and entire star systems.
They
had been hit with refugees several times during the war. Homelessness was a big
problem on the planet. It was one reason he was in space. At least in his tug
he had a home and a way to make a living all rolled into one.
Some of
the refugees had moved on once their ships had been repaired. There had been a
big scandal when the previous Governor and his supporters had quietly left the
star system, stealing a lot of things when they'd left. A new local government
had been elected to replace them but they were lax and mostly ineffective.
To be
fair, it wasn't their fault. The current government had inherited a corpse. His
system's economy was barely hanging on. Factories were struggling to survive.
Every few months another plant closed, or a business, or something else. It was
disheartening to see.
A few
times a year, usually when an increasingly rare tramp freighter passed through
he toyed with the idea of jumping the system. Just pack up, get a ticket for
him and his tug, pull up stakes and go to better hunting grounds. It had become
even more tempting after his dame had died. He had no remaining bloodline family
in the system.
He made
the final approach and made a soft dock onto the airlock. “Good dock,” the
foreman called over the radio. “Seals look good.”
“Roger
that,” he said over the radio.
He
might not have family but for the moment he had the next best thing, friends.
Which was one reason he'd come in. The desire for company was strong in his
species.
}^{
The planet
Krynn's
holographic avatar ignored the little white sphere as it rolled across the
floor. There were several on the floor but he was more intent on his report to
the Governor. Not that it was doing much good to penetrate the organics' mind.
The
class 1 smart A.I. had accepted a position on the planet as a planetary manager
a 132 years, 5 months, 13 days, 3 hours, 54 minutes, 22 seconds, and 2 micro
seconds prior. By ruthlessly culling his files and keeping himself from growing
he'd managed to not outgrow his current limited hardware and going insane. The
hardware which was struggling to run since it was decades old and they were
starting to run into problems with replacement parts.
Apis,
the legendary smart A.I. that had lived in the capital of the sector had
recommended the posting to him after Krynn had gained consciousness. Sometimes
he regretted taking his parent A.I. up on the position.
Times
like this he thought, noting the human was preoccupied by his stupid game
rather than listening to the briefing. The rather important briefing.
One of
the A.I.'s duties was to warn the government about critical problems projected
to come up in the future. For instance, the uptick in solar activity which was
indicative of a harsh solar storm season. They were overdue for it, the binary
stars had been quiescent for too long.
Which
meant that the organics had taken the inactivity for granted and lowered their
guard. Which was a problem. They were about to get a wakeup call if they didn't
take it seriously. And based on the behavior of the governor, that was not
going to happen.
Governor
Seth Baine stood at the side of his desk and gripped the putter, trying to
concentrate on his short game. “Thank you Krynn, concise as ever,” he said as
the A.I. finished his report.
“Do you
wish for me to pass on the official warning to the spacers?”
“No
need. They no doubt have the information.”
“I
don't know that for sure sir,” the A.I. stated. The spacers could have the raw
information but not the means to interpret it. They also didn't have access to
his projections. “There is no sign of that in the broadcasts.”
'Then
they'll figure it out. A call to the belt costs credits and power we don't
have. They'll make do like us.”
“Sir, a
solar storm could devastate the belters as well as anyone exposed. It can also
play havoc with the satellites, quite possibly destroying some of the older
satellites in orbit.”
“What's
the weather like?” The Governor asked as he hit the ball. “Oh get in there you
mother...” he did a fist pump when the ball went into the artificial green and
hole. He turned to look out the window.
“The
weather is cloudy but the rain has moved north.”
“Perfect.
I'll be out on the green then,” the Governor said as he holstered his putter
into his bag and then picked it up.
The
A.I. watched the human go with a mixture of disgust and relief.
}^{
