She bounced across the surface of the bare rock in her armoured vacuum suit, each step exaggerated by a slight blast from the suit's propellant.
"I don't know," said Armand, his voice crackling in Chao-xing's ears. "This looks like any other asteroid."
"Fine," she said. "Let's look at the next one."
Chao-xing tethered their suits together with a line and launched towards a larger rock.
"How big do you reckon this one is?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, fifty, maybe sixty kilometres across. It's difficult to judge."
They sped along the Lunar Band as smaller rocks drifted and tumbled around them.
"It looks pretty bare," said Armand. "I'm starting to think this is a lost cause. Those documents might have been old stories - tales to scare children."
"No, look." Chao-xing pointed at a series of deep straight grooves on the rock's surface, her wide-open mouth hidden by the reflective surface of her visor. "They don't look natural. See, look at this." She detached the tether line and opened her propellant. "They're perfectly straight. And look down there," she pointed. "Their bottoms are perpendicular to their sides."
Armand bounded over her as he jumped into the nearest trench.
"I'm still not convinced," he said. "I agree they're not natural, but this could have easily been done by mining drones." He flew out of the trench and hovered above Chao-xing for several seconds.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Follow me," he said
She opened her propellant and followed Armand as he sped far above the landscape. He swooped down to the surface with a sharp jerk. She followed his sudden descent.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Look," he said, pointing to a rough line of bricks poking through the rock's surface. Chao-xing estimated they were half a metre wide and ten metres long.
"This is your evidence," Armand said.
Chao-xing sensed the excitement in Armand's voice and grinned.
"These must have been the foundation for something," he said. "They're pretty worn down, but there's no way they're natural and they're too uneven to have been made by drones."
She crouched next to the wall then ran her hand over the rough line of bricks. "I can see it," she said. "It's like they've been joined with some kind of sealing agent."
"What do you suppose this is?" asked Armand. He bounced over to a crumbling rectangle of rusted iron screwed into the brickwork. She rose, leaping across the rock to join him.
"I'm shaking," she said. "This is something else." She leaned down to examine the object. "I'm sure I saw something like this once in the Insularum Museum. I can't remember what it's for - it looks very ancient."
"It's really quite crude, but it's definitely machine-made. It might be some kind of hinge."
"You know what this means? Do you know what this is?"
"Earth," said Armand.
Chao-xing continued her search of the rock, but found nothing else. She was desperate to find more evidence - something to prove the line of bricks weren't a fluke.
"It's so sad," she said.
"What is?"
"This was our world and look at it."
"Don't talk like that. We don't know that."
"Oh, come on," Chao-xing snorted. "We live sealed up in domes and on orbiters, on platforms and ships. We rely completely and absolutely on machines and trade-lines to sustain us. This was our world, and we destroyed it."
"You don't know that."
"Yes. I do." Her eyes filled with tears, but she had no way of wiping them away.
With their suits connected, she led Armand across the fragmentary remains of Earth. There were more foundations and a line of concrete that stretching into the distance, curving with the changes in the landscape, cracked and mottled by time. There was a steel frame, wilted and bent into itself, coated in a thick layer of dust and thin strands of silica.
They rose high over the fragments. They moved further away from the Occulto, which was hovering a few hours away in a stationary orbit on the edge of the Lunar Band.
"What are they?" gasped Armand as halted at the edge of a ninety-kilometre fragment.
Chao-xing moved to the edge to see a group of what she estimated to be around one hundred mining drones. "They're fucking huge," she whispered.
"The drills must be at least five kilometres in diameter," said Armand. "They're insane."
Scanning the dull, metallic surfaces of the drones, Chao-xing squinted at the glare of sunlight. They were dented and coated in dust.
"I didn't know anything about these," she said.
"They're Yao, aren't they?"
Armand reached out and touched a drill bit. A thick layer of dust became a cloud bobbed around his hands.
"They couldn't be anyone else's, but I've never known Yao drones to be this large," she said.
"The only thing I can think is they're for mining large asteroids, moons, planets perhaps," Armand said. "You could gut a planet the size of Lunar in a few years with these."
Chao-xing blinked away a tear as a wave of sorrow passed through her. "I imagine something like that has already happened."
# # #
Janis: Private Quarters, Titan Orbiter, Saturn
15/06/6,544, 21:04 (IST)
"Hey, are you okay?"
Janis snapped out of a trance as Mataes placed a hand on her bare shoulder. She forced a smile. "Honestly," she shook her head, "I feel terrible."
"Come down to the common room, join us," Mataes said as he perched on the edge of the bunk.
"I can't. I feel so--," she closed her eyes and let out a deep, trembling breath, "--numb."
"You're a hero, Janis," he said, stroking her arm. "You saved us."
"At what price?" she asked, her voice faint, absent.
"You can sit here racked with guilt or you can think what would the price have been if you hadn't had helped us. You were the only person we could trust who had access to those cleaning stores. And you did so brilliantly."
Janis sighed and stared at her open palms - pale, small, wrinkled - the hands of a killer.
"Look at me," Mataes said. His skin was rough as he hooked her chin with a finger.
She met his gaze and blinked.
"The higher-ups were keeping the stores for themselves," he said. "They'd locked us out. Hundreds of us would have starved. If they had done the right thing, kept things running, fed the workers - well, we wouldn't be where we are." His word were slow and deliberate, pronouncing each syllable in a careful monotone.
Janis's brow creased. "I know," she said. "But have you ever--," she paused, hesitating as she ran the words over in her mind. "You've never had to do what I did," she said.
"All you did was mix some chemicals and programme some drones. It's what you've always done - nothing different," he said, scratching the back of his neck.
Janis laughed bitterly. "Don't play me for a fool. I know what I did and God will judge me for that. I poisoned eight people - people I've known for all of my life." Mataes held her. After a moment of tension and trepidation, she leaned her head onto his chest.
"Think of it like this," Mataes said as he stroked her hair. "If someone was going to open the airlocks on a platform and the only way to stop it was to kill that person, what would you do?"
Janis didn't respond.
"It's exactly the same. You saved many lives. What you did was difficult, but you were so brave. That's why-- that's why I love you Janis Parvo."
Surprised, Janis sat up and regarded Mataes. "You what?"
"I love you," he said, looking away.
Mataes reached out and stroked her cheek. "I've loved you for a long time and, well, when you kissed me before you saved us all, I knew then I wanted you. I wanted to be with you."
Janis blushed. "I don't know--." She shook her head as her lank hair fell over her face.
"Please say you feel the same," he pleaded.
"I do," she whispered, smiling. "I really do."
"The
n be with me, Janis. I'll help you, I'll be there for you. We can do this - together."
She leaned over and kissed him. They held each other. Pulling away, Janis smiled, then gestured for him to join her in her bed.
"Do you want me?" she asked, slipping off her underclothes.
"Fucking yes, I want you," said Mataes, his breath getting heavier as he threw off his coveralls. "I want you, Janis."
# # #
Natsuki: Kurosawa household, Insularum 3, Lunar
21/06/6,544, 14:24 (IST)
Natsuki Kurosawa dabbed her eyes in front of the mirror. She adjusted her loose white mourning gown, breathing deeply as she exited her bathroom.
She hated the pitying looks and well-meaning words she'd heard since Hayao's death. Walking into her reception room, she scanned the understated richness of the room with its hand-crafted furnishings and ambient lighting - for what? Dust? A memory? Natsuki wasn't sure.
Forcing a smile, she welcomed the friends and colleagues who had come to pay tribute to her husband. The memorial was a drab affair, she knew, but it was tradition, and tradition was important.
She walked with soft steps to the image of her and Hayao taken during their honeymoon on V5. He was young and wearing a brightly coloured suit - they were both so happy then. Natsuki bit her lip and gripped her hands together, stopping herself from shedding yet another tear.
"Friends," she said, lifting her eyes. "I wish we could be together under happier circumstances, but it seems fate has not been kind to our family.
"Hayao was my husband. I loved him dearly, but he was also a father to a beautiful girl--," she gulped and breathed out as her lip quivered and chest tightened. "He was a son and a friend. He was a good friend to many people--," Natsuki began to sob. Her father, put an arm around her. His warmth gave her comfort.
"I'm sorry," Natsuki managed.
"Hayao was a good man," said Wynn. "I think we can all agree on that."
The attendees nodded and mumbled in agreement as Natsuki turned and smiled. "Thank you, Wynn," she said. "Hayao always spoke highly of you. He always said you were one of the few people on the Assembly he could trust." She reached out and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you," whispered Wynn. "Genuinely. that means a lot. Honestly, if you ever need anything - anything - please--."
There a knock at the door. Natsuki dropped her hand.
"I'll see who it is," said Wynn. He walked over to the outer door then opened it. Before him, holding a small gift under his arm was Lunar Secretary Takeshi Ozu.
"What the hell are you doing here?" snarled Wynn. "Do you have no shame?"
Takeshi smiled. "I have come to let Madam Kurosawa know that there are no ill feelings between us."
Wynn shook his head. "You are joking, right? This has to be a joke. It's sick - you're sick."
"You should watch your tongue Representative Efans. Treason can be defined in many ways." Takeshi shoved past Wynn and entered the reception room. Wide-eyed, Natsuki felt a chill travel down her spine. Takeshi reached out to touch her hand.
"Madam Kurosawa. Natsuki," Takeshi bowed his head. "I have come to pay my respects to Hayao and assure you that there are no ill feelings between us."
A prickling wave of anger spread across Natsuki's flesh. "No ill feelings? No ill feelings? You've got a nerve. You have Hayao's blood still fresh on your hands and you tell me there are no ill feelings?" Her face curled as she lunged towards Takeshi, fists flailing.
Wynn darted between them and grabbed Natsuki as she beat into his chest.
"Don't," Wynn snapped. "This is exactly what he wants." He turned to Takeshi. "You've done enough damage to this family. In fact, you've done more than enough damage to all us. If you have any respect left for yourself, for Hayao's memory, or for his mourning family, leave now."
Takeshi placed an image of himself and Hayao on the memorial shrine. It was taken on the day Hayao and Takeshi were sworn into office, wearing broad smiles and crisp suits on the steps of the Secretarial Palace.
"Natsuki," Takeshi said. "I wanted you to know that it was my honour to perform the cleansing ritual on Hayao before he left us."
Natsuki stared through Takeshi and pointed to the door. "Get out."
After a long silence, Takeshi bowed his head and turned to the door. "I really am very sorry for your loss," he said as he left. Natsuki slammed the door behind him.
"What the hell was that?" asked Wynn. "Are you okay?" Natsuki picked up Takeshi's gift then stepped through to her kitchen and pushed it into the waste disposal. It reduced to a formless grey mush before washing away.
"Takeshi shouldn't have brought that image," said Wynn from the doorway behind Natsuki.
"I should have cleansed Hayao," she said. "That's my right as a wife and Takeshi took that away. He's taken everything from me. Everything," she sobbed.
# # #
Yao Plans Blocked
Originally published by Lunar Chronicle, 04/10/6,521
Proposals for the widespread adoption of Yao technology have been rejected by the United Solar Assembly.
The plans would have seen the adoption of improved medical and transport technologies across the eight provinces.
During the meeting Yao Huizhong accused Affiliates of "paying off Representatives" to force the vote through.
She said: "It's clear to me that some of the Affiliates in this Chamber are working against the best interests of the Union.
"In my lifetime, our total population has reduced by two-thirds. We are a dying species and we can help."
Aghoro Representative Dilpak Grewall said the Yao proposals would cause "economic chaos."
He said: "As much as we applaud the Yao's motives, the simple fact is that these proposals will damage trade and cause great instability.
"We have worked hard to create an economic system that works best for everyone, what they Yao are proposing will only serve to undermine that work.
"We should find other ways to improve the lives of our citizens without disrupting profits or established business models."
The Yao proposals were rejected by a margin of 15 votes.
# # #
Chapter Seven
Meer: Fune Cruiser, Venus region
13/06/6,544, 21:51 (IST)
"I'm sorry, dear, I think there's been a terrible mistake. There's absolutely no way I'll be sharing a compartment," Meer said pushing a pair of leather bags out into the dim-lit corridor.
"I'm not too happy about sharing either, but this is the situation we're in, so we have to make the best of it." The young woman picked up her bags and brought them back into the room. She was tall, with thick silver hair.
Meer frowned. "This just won't do." She glared at the back of the woman's head as she pushed her bags back onto the bottom bunk. The room was the length of the bunks with a gap of a metre between their edge and the wall.
Barging past the woman, Meer stepped out onto the corridor lined with a thin blue light at the join between the wall and ceiling. She sniffed at the air, thick with the odour of sweat, fuel and bad food.
She shuffled forward, taking care not to put too much pressure into her steps against the reduced gravity in case she bumped her head on the ceiling again.
"Where is the captain?" Meer demanded as she stepped in front of a Fune engineer. He had dark blue coveralls and cropped black curls.
"That part of the vessel is not open to the public," he said.
"Public?" Meer spat. "Do I look like the public to you? Take me to your captain. I insist."
The engineer's brow creased. Meer blocked his passage again as he tried to walk around her.
"Don't be so wretched. I'm sure your captain will be glad of my company," said Meer as she puffed out her chest.
The engineer rolled his eyes. "I'm busy," he said. "I won't be taking you to the captain."
"Well, you need to get the woman out of my room? It's completely and utterly ridiculous that I've been forced to live in this squalor." she sai
d, gesturing to steel walls. "The least you could do is try to make my journey at least vaguely tolerable."
The engineer rubbed his chin and smirked. "You're on a Fune ship," he shrugged. "You're not on V5 now."
Meer raised her eyebrows and gasped. "Well I never." She folded her arms. "Perhaps some Sols will change your mind?"
The engineer snorted. "I'm busy." He ducked Meer's arm as she tried to block him again and walked past her along the corridor.
"Two hundred Sols?"
The engineer stopped, hesitated, then turned to Meer. Meer reached into her leather shoulder bag then retrieved a two hundred Sol piece. The engineer gave a broad smile and snatched the coin from her hand.
"Follow me," he said.
Meer shuffled behind the engineer as they passed along the dozens of doors along each side. The air ducts hissed and the light strip buzzed. They reached a locked door.
"I'm probably going to get in trouble for this," the engineer grumbled. "Go on." He gestured for Meer to go through the door.
"Well aren't you going to make the introductions?" Meer said.
The engineer shook his head. "Fine."
Meer followed the engineer into an octagonal room with screens showing views from the ship. Venus was already a small blue dot. The engineer cleared his throat. "Captain, there's a woman to see you."
The engineer slunk back through the door as a broad woman turned to Meer. "This had better be important," she said.
"Oh it certainly is. If I can introduce myself, my name is Meer Vin Ranghi."
The captain shrugged. "So?"
Meer rested a hand on her hip and sighed. "And your name is?"
"Captain Sofia Al-Haq. I repeat, this had better be important."
"Sofia, dear. I understand that you Fune types like to run things in a certain way, but there's absolutely no way I can share my room."
"Flynn brought you to see me for this? Let me tell you something, lady. We've got two thousand people travelling to Lunar, and it's my job to get you there."
Meer laughed. "I'm sure we can work something out. Come to some arrangement."
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