On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance

by Alex T. Kolter

  A resigned look appeared on his face, but nevertheless he agreed. “Alright, Trix, but I’m sure I won’t be able to do anything. We need new parts.”

  “I know,” Trix replied quietly.

  Leaving Ando and Adira on the ship with Reese, Nero left via the ship’s emergency exit - the boarding ramp wouldn’t open - with Trix and Kess. They climbed down the ladder from the side of the ship, and stepped out onto the ground. Nero looked down, and saw that they were stood on a strange greeny-blue plant that completely covered the ground. Only a few centimetres tall, the blades of the plant were also very soft and moving in the wind.

  He looked at Trix, who wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to the ground. Evidently, it wasn’t a new thing for her, though Kess was watching Nero with an amused look. “Never seen grass before, Nero?”

  “Nope,” he replied simply, somewhat annoyed at Kess’s amusement. She laughed slightly, and turned to look at the view in front of the ship. Nero looked as well, and saw an impressive mountain range in the distance, stretching across the end of the valley they were in. In the other direction, behind the ship, was another mountain range. Rising up on either side of them were vast rocky mountains, a multitude of coloured plants of varying sizes managing to grow on the slopes.

  They started walking towards the end of the valley, Nero looking around at the flora they passed. He’d never seen more than a few small weedy specimens in one location before, except for one time when the Fafnir had landed on a planet with what Trix called a ‘garden’, a small area with a few alien plant species. Otherwise he was used to planets like Dimora, mostly city or desert with hardly any life.

  Now the valley they were walking along had all sorts of plant life. There were large, drooping trees, of the deepest blue in colour, surrounded by smaller, lighter blue trees, the trunks nearly black. There were also large red plants that looked like flat discs, completely smooth, perched on top of stalks. Nero reached over to gently touch one of the stalks, and the whole plant wobbled precariously, pouring liquid down onto Nero that had collected on top of it. Kess burst out laughing when that happened, and it took her a minute to compose herself again.

  Eventually, at the end of the valley, they came upon a crossroads, of sorts, where their valley joined up to another valley. This one, however, had a stream of water running down it, a couple of metres across, which continued to flow on, down the gently sloping mountainside. With no better direction to take, they continued on down the mountain, now walking next to the stream.

  As they descended, the stream got broader, and slower, with other streams joining it. But after half an hour of following it, they were beginning to give up hope of finding anything useful.

  “I think we may have a problem on our hands,” Nero said when they’d still not seen any signs of civilization.

  “I refuse to accept that,” Trix said, stepping over a creeping dark green plant. “We’ll find something. We just have to keep going.” Nero sighed, and they kept walking.

  “I could run on ahead,” he suggested after another couple of minutes. “See if there’s anything hopeful in this direction.”

  “Alright,” Trix conceded after a moment’s thought. “But I want you to come back with good news.”

  “Good news?”

  “Yeah, like ‘we’re saved, there’s a nice new ship just down the valley’. Or ‘don’t worry, the planet is about to explode in five minutes so it doesn’t matter anyway’. That sort of thing.”

  With a smile, Nero ran off, leaving the other two to continue their slow walk down the mountain. They walked for another couple of minutes before Nero came back, an unreadable expression on his face.

  “Well?” Kess prompted when he didn’t immediately start speaking.

  “Good news,” he said, with a grin. “There’s a settlement not far away. But it doesn’t look like they have a spaceport,” he added. “So maybe not so good news.”

  “Hey, I’m just glad there’s life on this planet,” Kess said. “How far?”

  “Maybe another fifteen minute walk?”

  His guess wasn’t far off, and shortly they stood on the brow of a hill overlooking a small village. It was set on a gently rolling plain, on the edge of a large gleaming lake. The mountains rose up on all sides of the plain, and it was a very beautiful place, but it would have been improved drastically, Nero thought, with a spaceport.

  After a moment, they began to walk down the side of the hill, heading towards the village. It was late in the day on the planet, and the sun was reflecting brightly off of the lake’s surface, making them squint as they walked. For this reason, they didn’t immediately see the small group of armed men that approached them from the village.

  “Halt!” came the voice of one of the men, and Nero squinted even harder. All that could be seen, however, were perhaps ten silhouettes. Not wanting to anger these people, Nero, Kess and Trix did indeed halt, even though Nero was sure he could take all of these people out if necessary. Content to wait for the natives to speak, they stood and waited for them to approach.

  As the group neared, it became easier to make out some details. It looked like a motley collection of village folks, ranging in age from perhaps fifteen years old all the way up to sixty. Nero noted that all of them were human, and they were dressed in clothes of some material that he didn’t recognize. Though it certainly wasn’t the standard plexlon. Likewise, the weapons they carried, all aimed at the Fafnir crew, were of an unusual design. Everything about these people looked rather dated.

  Once the group had stopped a few metres in front of them, Trix held up her empty hands and said, “We mean you no harm.” The native at the front of their group, who looked about thirty years old, rolled his eyes when Trix spoke.

  “We do have visitors from other planets, you know,” he said, and then gestured to the weapons they held. “This is just a precaution. I hope you’ll forgive us.”

  “Of course,” Trix said. “My name is Trix, and these are Kess and Nero.” When she said Nero’s name, the natives looked with barely-concealed fascination at his augmentations, only reluctantly returning their attention to Trix when she spoke again. “Our ship crash-landed in the mountains, and we were hoping you might be able to help us, or perhaps direct us to the nearest spaceport?”

  The natives exchanged glances, signifying what, Nero didn’t know, but they evidently made a decision. The leader of their group lowered his weapon, though the others kept theirs raised, and gestured for Trix, Nero and Kess to follow him. “Come with us,” he said, and made his way back down to the village. The other villagers fell in around the leader and Trix’s group, and they slowly walked down the last stretch to the lakeside village.

  “Do you get many travellers out here?” Trix asked as they walked, in an effort to make light conversation.

  The man glanced at Trix before answering. “You’re not the first,” he said, and then continued on in silence. Nero studied the village as they walked in, noticing the buildings were mainly made of glass and a strange deep blue material. Without being able to touch it, he wasn't sure what it was, but then he remember the trees they’d passed earlier. Perhaps these people used plants to make their buildings? It was a strange idea, but not inconceivable.

  The man led them to a long building in the centre of the village, in the middle of a cleared square. Mainly made out of glass, like the other village buildings, there were dark blue highlights in places. It looked quite good, Nero reflected, as he walked along the path that led to the building. The door slid open as they approached, and they stepped into the airy interior.

  Along one wall was an immense holodisplay, semi-transparent, whilst on the opposite wall, to their right, was a bar that was currently closed. Filling the rest of the room were tables of varying sizes, each surrounded by comfy-looking chairs. Nero supposed it was the village’s version of a rec room.

  “Have a seat,” the man offered, taking one for himself at the head of a particularly large table.
With a glance at the other men still standing with their weapons, though thankfully no longer aimed at them, Nero, Trix and Kess pulled out chairs and sat down.

  “First off,” the man said, “welcome to our village, and apologies for the hostility. But we’ve been having a lot of trouble with bandits recently, so we just want to make sure you’re no danger.”

  “Perfectly understandable,” Nero said.

  “Good. On which note, do you mind telling me what happened to you?”

  Trix answered the man’s question. “Of course,” she said, and proceeded to give the man a suitably detailed account of the ship’s problems, although she left out where they had come from. Nero watched the man as she talked, and it seemed to him that the man accepted her explanation.

  “Very well,” the man said when Trix had finished. He glanced up at the other men and gestured for them to holster their weapons. “I must admit, we did hear what sounded like a ship coming down rather quickly. I’m surprised you made it, if I’m honest.”

  “We are too,” Kess assured the man. “Just a shame our ship didn’t.”

  “It is. Well, I’m forgetting my manners,” the man replied. “My name is Mikkel, and I suppose I’m what you’d call the mayor of this village. As small as it is.” He stood up and leaned forward to shake their hands. “Welcome to Lightbourne,” he said.

  ****

  Dinner was a noisy affair. It seemed like the entire village had turned out to meet the newcomers, and they had all packed into the long building that Nero, Trix and Kess had first entered. The villagers had promptly repurposed it into a dining room, setting up two very long tables running the length of the building, and had then brought out great quantities of food.

  Nero had looked on with wonder as bright fruits, of many different shapes and colours, were piled high on the tables. These were then followed by staples like protein and carb sticks, but most interesting was the meat that followed, brought out on large platters. Nero didn’t have a clue what it was, but on the only other occasion when he had tried meat, he had loved it.

  “Never seen ogdn meat before?” asked a young woman who was just sitting down next to Nero. “It’s really rather good. Here...” She leaned across and placed a large chunk on his plate. He glanced up at her, accepted the gesture, and tried a bit of the meat. It was delicious. Ever so slightly chewy initially, it soon melted in his mouth, and had the most incredible flavour. So much better than protein sticks.

  With a mouth full of the meat, he nodded towards his neighbour, who smiled widely in return. “Told you,” she said. This was quickly accompanied by the sound of laughter from across the table, and Nero looked up to see Kess and Trix struggling to contain their mirth.

  “What?” he demanded, through a mouthful of food. This only served to increase their laughter, and it was a while before Kess replied.

  “How much did you manage to fit in that big mouth of yours?” she asked, a grin seemingly permanently plastered on her face at the moment. “You almost look like an ogdn.” The woman sitting next to Nero chuckled, and he sent her a hurt looked, which only made her laugh harder.

  “I wasn’t aware my eating was so funny,” he said to no one in particular, and put down his cutlery to cross his arms. He glanced at the woman next to him, who was still smirking, and uncrossed his arms. “I’m Nero,” he said, holding out a hand.

  She accepted, ignoring the metal nature of his hand, and introduced herself as Raina. But before they could start a conversation, Mikkel, the village’s leader, stood up at the end of the table, near to where Trix, Nero and Kess were sat. The general chatter died down as he stood there, an imposing presence at the end of the room.

  “Before we start this evening’s meal,” he said, causing Nero to glance at the food he’d already taken, “I have a few brief words.” He looked down at Trix. “For those of you that don’t know, we have three guests with us this evening. They are Trix, Kess and Nero,” he said, gesturing to each in turn. “I hope that you will make them welcome for their time here. And secondly, we had another attack earlier today, as I’m sure you all know. I must insist that, from now on, everyone keeps a weapon on them at all times, and be vigilant. We can’t afford to lose another.” He lowered his head at the end, and paused for a moment. “But, tonight is a time to enjoy ourselves, so enough of the doom and gloom. Buon appetito.”

  He sat down, and the villagers started talking again, beginning to dish up food onto their plates. Nero did the same, but not before asking Raina what Mikkel meant.

  “Bandits,” she replied simply. “They roam the mountains, and attack the villages around here. It used to be that we got hit perhaps once a year, and only by a few bandits. But recently, there seem to be more of them. They come in bigger groups, and it seems to be every week now. They killed a young lad a couple of weeks ago.”

  She finished abruptly, and began to help herself to some of the food. Evidently it was a painful subject, so Nero didn’t ask for any more details. He helped himself to the food instead, thinking that he’d like to pay a visit to these bandits some time.

  “So what is your story, Nero?” Raina asked after a time. Nero swallowed the last of some intense purple fruits he’d eaten, but Kess answered for him before he got the chance.

  “You don’t wanna go asking Nero that. He’s a mystery to even us, and he’s been on our ship, oh, a few months now.” Raina gave Nero an intrigued look, and he shrugged in return. Kess continued. “Now, if you were to ask me the same question, I would be a lot more helpful.”

  Nero gave her a disparaging glance, but was content to let her do the talking. He half listened as Kess talked to Raina, noticing that she left out some key details, like what it was they actually did, but she gave a pretty good approximation of their lives.

  “... must be pretty fun, Nero?” Raina was saying. He’d stopped paying attention for a moment.

  “Er, yeah,” he replied, hoping that was an appropriate answer. Raina smiled, obviously aware he hadn’t been listening.

  “I was saying, visiting so many planets, trading with so many people, it must be fascinating?”

  “Ah,” Nero replied. “Yeah, it is. It can be.”

  “But not always?” Raina asked, picking up on his hesitant answer.

  “Well, don’t get me wrong, it has its moments. But sometimes it all seems just a little bit... meaningless, I don’t know. Like, there’s so much shit in the galaxy, and here I am just making a bit of money transporting some stuff.” He shrugged, and glanced at Kess who was listening to the conversation.

  “I know what you mean, Nero,” she said. “When I first joined Trix and Reese, two years ago now, I had been living on a tightly governed planet relatively near the centre of the galaxy. We had a huge CSG presence there. And I wanted out. I couldn’t stand what they did there, how everything was so tightly controlled and limited. You couldn’t even stand on a street and complain to a friend about the CSG, ‘cos you never knew if they were listening. One time, I was walking past a small group of people, and a load of CSG men knocked me down as they swooped in on this group. They shot down those that tried to flee, and then shot the rest, too. Maybe these people were a danger, but I doubt it. I’d seen that sort of thing happen too often. It was just the CSG exerting their control.” She paused. “So yes, Nero. When things like that happen, what we do does feel pointless. But then, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive. Space is dark, after all, and everyone’s alone out here.”

  She looked back down at her plate, and put another mouthful of orange meat into her mouth. Space is dark, Nero thought. But, he silently added, surely that meant everyone had to stick together all the more.

  His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a commotion outside the long building. He glanced towards the door, as did everyone else, and silence immediately fell. He looked at Raina, but she looked as uncertain as he felt. Thoughts flicking to the talk of bandits, Nero got up and went to the door, followed quickly by the other men
that had come out to meet him earlier in the day.

  It was night outside when Nero stepped through the door, and pitch black. He paused for a moment while his eyes adapted, looking around for signs of an ambush. Then, in front of him, he saw seven figures heading towards them, down the path. As they came closer, moving into the light from the building, he saw that it was actually three people surrounded by four guards.

  “Reese!” Nero said, and turned to Mikkel, who was stood next to him. “It’s okay,” he said. “These three are with us.” Mikkel looked at Nero, and then turned back to the guards, who had just stopped in front of them.

  “It’s alright guys,” Mikkel said. “These three are okay.” The guards hesitantly lowered their weapons, and let Reese, Ando and Adira move forward. They looked nervous, but when they saw Nero relieved expressions crossed all their faces.

  “What are you doing here?” Nero asked.

  “We came looking for you,” Ando replied. “We got bored waiting, and couldn’t reach you on the communicators. So we walked down the mountain, and came upon that stream. We figured you must have gone that way, so we kept going, and then we stumbled into these guys.” Ando glanced at the sentries behind him.

  “We thought we’d had it,” Adira added.

  “I’m sure,” Nero replied with a grin. “Good news, then. We’ve just sat down to dinner, and I would imagine you guys are welcome too.” He turned to look at Mikkel, who nodded. “Great, there’s something called ogdn meat, which is delicious. You have to try it.”

  He turned to head back inside, amused at the others being caught, but then froze when he heard another sound in the darkness. Glancing sharply at Reese, he’d obviously heard the same thing, but didn’t recognise it. Nero turned to Mikkel, who looked questioningly back.

  “Not ours,” Nero said, and Mikkel turned to look back out into the dark village. They couldn’t see anything yet, but then they heard another faint sound, coming from not too far away.

  Wordlessly, the group fanned out, and waited for whatever it was to appear. Nothing happened, and they waited a bit longer. Then the sounds came again, from their right this time, closer than ever. Nero turned to look at the dark street in that direction, and his nightvision-enhanced holodisplay allowed him to pick out some movement in the darkness.