by C. Litka
03
We swung over the dark waters of Chasm Lake to land on the wide gravel strand between the shore and the long, single line of log-built buildings with a dark forest directly behind them that was Chasm Lake, the town. As we arrived, we sent up a cloud of pale sea-birds who'd been lunching on the shore. The dark lake was barren of boats, and as we rolled to a stop, there was no one in sight along the long street. Here and there a few lights glimmered in the houses and shops - we had either arrived in the sleep watch, or the town was mostly deserted. It proved to be the latter. It seems at least one of the aircraft had found Chasm Lake, so they'd learned that they were sitting on the doorstep of a golden mountain, and most of the natives had abandoned their boats, their shops, their wives and kids to "find them some of that gold."
Chasm Lake is as close to night as you can get on Daeri. The narrow lake is located in the heart of the shadow lands and being surrounded by high, steep ridges that hide more than half of the twilit sky. The sky glowed pale yellow near the upper edges of the mountains, fading to a faint purple overhead. Chasm Lake was forever on the edge of slipping into night, and on stormy days, it managed to achieve it. As much as I missed the orderly succession of days and nights, the never-ending twilight seemed eerie.
KaRaya and I swung down to the deck from the deck house, unshipped a section of the railing and roused our weary passengers. After spending a full round jammed together with their gear on a cool open deck, the passenger's excitement had faded a bit. Most were dozing when we arrived. Stiff, sore, sleepy or groggy from the lack of sleep, they gathered their large packs, jumped down onto the gravel strand and began to take in Chasm Lake. They drew a big cool breath of Lake Chasm air - tasting of rotting fish guts on the shore, smoked fish from the smokehouse down the way, along with a hint of the pine forest, cold lake water, and cook-stove smoke thrown in. They staggered up the strand a little ways and stared around them. The complaining sea birds were settling down again amongst the rotting fish guts on the shore where the fishermen processed their catch - or had, before they abandoned the lake for gold in the hills. They looked up the wide pebbled beach towards the dark, brooding town, a single line of buildings, built high enough above the lake to avoid being swept into it by some serrata driven wave. And beyond it, the towering, nearly black pine trees, that rose to the pale sky so high that you had to crane your neck way back to see the sky above the little gold mountain.
The skipper jumped down to the gravel and called out to the slowly drifting mob. 'We'll be here for a round to catch up on our sleep, so you've got some time to reconsider your decision. You paid for a round trip ticket, so if any of you come to your senses and decide to go home, it's already paid for.'
A couple of the hardier folk attested to their determination to get rich and lead a rather tentative cheer.
'Well, good luck to all of you then. Gold in your pouches or not, you've paid for your ride home aboard the Shadow Bird. Hope to see you all safe, sound, and rich, sooner or later.'
They gave her a cheer, and started trudging up the strand.
The skipper looked around and said, 'No fish this time, I'm afraid. Litang, you have the first watch, Raya the second. We'll sail after everyone has had some bunk time. More fools are no doubt impatiently awaiting our return.'