Chill

Chapter 2

The Mineral Star Zone was an anomaly in a galactic sector where young and bright stars generally populated the region, free from dust and high in life-threatening radiation. The stars in the unusual zone numbered around three hundred all told, and were actually even younger than their energetic neighbours. However they were like sickly children, having been born from a welter of heavy elements and complex molecules that fused with inefficient effort.

It was this very complexity that made them so appealing to the Crystal Lumos Agency for worlds formed from the residue of such orange and reddish stars were often rich in meta-minerals, the very essence of space travel and artefact-based technology. Recognising the need for specialised exploitation, the Lumos recruited Pioneer Guild members over the decades from worlds which had not yet felt the stagnation of discovery fatigue. It took a certain type of person to face up to the challenges of the Mineral Stars and inevitably with expansion ending there were fewer and fewer such adventurous souls in the galaxy.

Tam Sorrell, born on one of those very meta-mineral worlds, born and bred as he believed with those special qualities which the Pioneer Guild looked for in others, was already on the spot, already infused with the colonial essence of the metal-rich worlds all around him. At least five of those worlds in the great Myscenna System were visible in the sky of Troy every night, each a potential mine of untold wealth, each an inspiration in itself. Surely they must see the advantage of taking him?

Tam had contacted the Pioneer Guild secretly some months ago, on his sixteenth birthday, requesting an interview. The inevitable response was perhaps they might wish to see him in a few years, but in the mean time he should endeavour to study for a place at one of the preparatories on Atherbridge Nine. Impossible. That place was thirty eight star leagues away, and a star league cost a thousand units to travel. Then there was the entrance fee, living costs and equipment, say another two thousand units. Where was a sixteen year old boy expected to get forty thousand units in four years? The inn only took in five hundred units a year so his father said, and the sheep another two hundred when grazing was good and the wool market buoyant. Such funds were totally beyond him.

The Sorrell family of course had no interest with offworld education boards that might cough up bursaries for promising youths. Ostensibly they were sheep farmers, unknown among the influential few at Ithak who had connections with the elite of the Old Worlds, obscure folk without influence even on their own homeworld. In short Tam Sorrell was stuck on Troy for the rest of his life, serving drinks to travellers who were going somewhere, or having already been to places and were now returning at their leisure. People he envied with every fibre of his being.

The only offworlder he knew of who had any presence in Maeven was the strange grandfather of the even stranger Madrullian girl. He had never spoken to him and only saw him briefly a few times around Lower Maeven, making purchases in the All Goods Store run by the Dimsoe family. He was a tall, bearded individual who wore typical offworld clothing, all loose fitting drapery in changing colours like shot silk. Tam wondered if Allak Dimsoe might know something about the man, whether he had any influence among the Pioneer Guild satellite agencies that could squeeze him into a Love Star berth when it touched down in the Wilds of Maeven.

The vessel was due to come from the south through the Cut of Doerath, pass over Maeven briefly before dipping down into the Wilds Proper where a Crystal Lumos garrison was based at Proctor Bridge. This was a small settlement on the grandly named Vissoe River, although it was more of a trickle over pebbles really, fordable at all points. Proctor Bridge was something of a local witticism for no special means was required to cross the stream, and certainly no bridge was required. A bit like proctors in general among a farming and trading community so it was said. A luxury in fact.

Tam did know the man was often referred to as a professor as if he was some high ranking Proctor and this strongly suggested he would have educational connections. Perhaps if he befriended him in some way he might... no! It was too late. Tam was done waiting. It was now or never. The Love Star was on its way, and when it departed the gravity field for the six month journey to cold and stark Cimmeron he would be upon it ready to disembark on the forbidding world and dig for the immeasurable treasures hidden in its frozen soil. No DNA signature. No academy formalities. He would be a Pioneer, come what may. He would make it impossible for them not to take him.

What of the granddaughter though? The Drooling One. He got the joke eventually. There was certainly nothing drooling about her, not in the educational sense. She was sharp in class, focused on work, and thanks to more frequent appearances at school he became familiar with her curious appearance. Her profile was kind of cute, with her long uptilted nose and full lips often pursed in thought. Her eyes were pale and busy. He thought they might be metallic grey, which would be unique in Maeven for everyone had brown or bronze eyes, even the exotic Evie Darkwater. Her eyes looked impossibly black but up close the mahogany brown flecked with reddish copper was plain to see. The pale silvery eyes of the Madrullian girl were extraordinary up close and could appear very, very scary sometimes. Teric said she reminded him of a zombik, some undead thing. Yet when she caught him staring at her absently there was nothing dead about her frown of disapproval or the flush that came to her hollow cheeks.

What was even more surprising about the sullen creature was the effortless way she seemed to make friends among the other girls at school, even among the snobbish elite of first lander families. No boy would go near her, that excessive height being somewhat off putting, but in the school yard she could often be seen with three of four girls surrounding her, all chatting merrily about something or other. Sara Manderby became fascinated by her too and had more than once said to him in their cosy chats which never led to anything beyond words that her offworld quaintness was irresistible. She spoke funny, with an accent, had the most curious collection of toys and techno-gadgets, and most swoonworthy of all, a secret tragic past no amount of coaxing would make her tell.

She was an enigma, a puzzle which he accepted he would have no time to figure out. It simply did not matter anymore. Within forty eight hours he would be gone and never have to see the tall, thin creature again. The Love Star would be docking at Proctor Bridge tomorrow, remaining for a day to take signatures and recruits. He intended to be on it when it departed for Ithak, knowing the following day the Pioneers due to land on Cimmeron would replace the new recruits at the space port. The latter would go through the Gate to academies and the Pioneers themselves, already trained and equipped, directly to the frozen wastes of the Spark. Tam determined to be among them. Once aboard and in flight it was impossible to return. They would have to train him there on the flight, six months in deep space, and then he would be a Pioneer, ready for the challenges of Cimmeron. He pictured himself, fully suited up, making that first crushing step on the steel-hard surface of the dismal world, locating meta-mineral hotspots and scooping the precious substances up with claws specially designed for the harsh conditions. He had memorised the names of numerous minerals, the borosthene, maladronite and aesthetoide groups so essential to maintain Live Gates, the only means for human beings to travel faster than light across the star leagues between inhabited worlds. He pictured to himself returning triumphantly from an expedition weighted down with these essential meta-minerals and being greeted by Sara and Evie, both of whom threw themselves at him with gleeful abandon, and then--

"Your light still on?" came a voice from downstairs.

"Sorry mum," Tam shouted back and flicked the bulb into darkness. He could afford to lie awake this night as although it was a school day tomorrow the Love Star's fly past was such an event classes were cancelled for the day. Flags would be raised the whole length of the slope on which Maeven stood and everyone would be there to cheer the vessel on its way down the valley. To avoid raising suspicions, Tam intended to be one of them. There was no way he was going to miss the event of a lifetime.

There were no great star ships in this zone among the Mineral Stars as no Gate related trade routes existed. The Myscenna System was an extension of colonisation, a tentacle reaching out from the mass of habitable worlds elsewhere in the galaxy, a dead end route with a wealth of meta-minerals at the tip of it. Thus only the great Pioneer vessels financed by the Crystal Lumos Agency every year in spring were the sights to see. The regular expeditions to distant Cimmeron were already organised well in advance, before shooting off directly from the space port platform at Ithak. Occasionally distant population centres communicated with each other when a mass relocation of people occurred as a new area of the young world was ready for exploitation. An air ship was commissioned, packed with thousands of people and livestock and sent as an ark to pastures new. A grand sight indeed. Yet that had only happened twice since First Landing and certainly never in Tam's short life so far.

With the first break of dawn the great orange globe of Myscenna shed its warm light on the Wilds of Maeven and all eyes were turned to the Cut to catch the first glimpse of the floating vessel. Tam had tracked its journey via the instanet news streams from the moment it started its traditional wide looping circuit of the southern hemisphere before crossing the equator five days ago, slowly climbing the Terrific Ridge until it was due to enter the Wilds of Maeven through the Cut of Doerath.

Tam was up well before time and already he could hear voices in the yard that were too young and shrill to be his uncles herding the family sheep to the High Peaks meadows to pasture. Quickly dressing he thundered down the narrow wooden steps, grabbed the lunch box and a powerful scope from his smiling mother and was out on the grassy slope.

"There you are," greeted Teric Jonas, rubbing his sleepy eyes in acknowledgement of a restless night of excitement. The Wayfarer Inn was the natural gathering place for the youngsters whenever it was planned to climb the higher valleys of the Peaks for it was the last outpost of Upper Maeven so to speak. Sara Manderby was among the number and she went right up to Tam in front of everyone and kissed him full on the lips.

"Still friends?" she said amid whistles and looks among the others present.

"Sure..." he gulped hesitantly. Then Evie pecked him on the cheek too.

"What's he got that I haven't?" mournfully declared Allak Dimsoe. "My folk run a shop every bit as rich as his dad's inn."

"You really have no idea, do you?" Sara countered, shaking her blonde locks dismissively. Everyone hooted derision at the crestfallen Dimsoe boy. Briefly, as surreptitiously as possible, Tam checked if the Madrullian girl was among the ten or so youngsters who had gathered in the yard, the last stop before climbing to the chosen viewpoint above. An unexpected twinge of disappointment went through him when he realised she had chosen to forego the gathering.

"Missing someone?" Teric asked, noticing the lingering demeanour of his friend.

"Nope, let's go," and he punched the boy good-naturedly on the arm before leading the way out of the gate and up the path to the stepped escarpment already festooned with early spring flowers.

There was a wide plateau up above the morning mists that was ideal for sunbathing, picnics and simply drinking in the view and here the friends all settled upon the grassy sward to await events. Blankets were unrolled, food boxes arranged and some reading matter produced among the girls for it would be an hour yet before the Love Star made its majestic appearance. They squealed as they read whisper gossip about glossy offworld lives and the boys glanced at each other, shook their heads and looked out upon the landscape below.

In the shimmering distance Proctor Bridge could just be seen as a dark smudge amid the rolling low forests of geotype trees seeded by first landers. It was where the Love Star would actually touch down, making it close enough to reach. Close enough to climb on board and hide, Tam secretly thought to himself. He focused his scope on the squat, shimmering buildings of the settlement nestled in one of the many bends of the meandering Vissoe, then scanned across the short distance to the garrison platform with its towers and gantries. That would be the recruitment centre's location, the point of entry for a life away from Troy, sheep, inn drinkers and sadly Sara Manderby, although that particular matter seemed closed forever anyway. Friends still, but never close friends. He sighed.

"Seen something?" Teric was at his shoulder, looking down at the tiny little roofs of Maeven clustered on the slope below, straggling along the winding village road that was the arterial lifeblood of the small settlement.

"No, just scanning the view."

Tam wondered if the Madrullian girl had whispered anything to anyone else regarding his plans. All Sara had said was she knew he was going, not where, that he had simply come to her in the night to bid a special farewell and she had mischievously upped the stakes to include her closest friend in the encounter. A wicked move which had scuppered a million dreams. Not this one though. Troy was his past, the Love Star his present and Cimmeron his future. Perhaps there would be Pioneer girls already on board, who would understand him better.

They had breakfast, the girls sunbathed a little, for the air was warm even up on the exposed plateau, and then the shout went up. A dark spot had appeared low between ridges in the Cut of Doerath. The Love Star had arrived, exactly on time.

Tam could see the colourful flags of the village being raised and drawn across rooftops. The inn, right under the scarp, was a criss-cross pattern of variegated bunting in every colour of the rainbow. In spite of the festive decoration the place looked like a kind of prison to him from up on high. He could trace the ramshackle assortment of buildings that made up the Wayfarer Inn. Dominated by the great drinking hall made of the same black stone upon which he stood, tiled in wooden slats for there was no clay in the area, and surrounded by lesser satellites, outhouses, storage rooms and the extended living quarters for his immediate family and bachelor uncles. Walls interlinked the establishment with sheep folds and barns and little cottages for employees of the inn which doubled up for overnight travellers when required. In the centre was a covered well, all that was left of the original spring which dictated the location of the inn when people first moved into the area. An old tree sheltered the venerable structure. Tam remembered breaking his leg falling out of that tree when he was seven trying to catch the only squirrel he had ever seen to make a pet of it. The creature belonged to a traveller and had escaped. The only squirrel on Troy probably. Whatever happened to it he never knew but had his suspicions the twins cooked and ate it for they sported bright new bone tooth picks during the period of his convalescence.

Memories. They were all there, encapsulated in the village of Maeven, the meadows of the High Peaks. From where he stood he could embrace the whole of his world. A simple glance towards the Cut and there was a whole new world coming towards him, taking shape and colour as it approached, turning slowly and gracefully in the cloudless sky of a spring day in the Wilds of Maeven. The low roar of its engines vibrated through the air and rattled his skull.

Although he could hear the cheers around him and almost feel the ledge shake with all the jumping up and down his friends were doing while they madly waved at the sleek curved vessel as it rolled with rumbling thunder across the sky, Tam was in his own private little space. There it was. He could distinguish details now already. Stubby wings that barely bit the thin air around it, port holes glinting in the orange light, glowing beacons from tip to tail, the bulge of boosters and gyro-balancers, and painted in bold script across its side the CL number 003, the third vessel of its type in service.

Already closest approach was past and he took his scope in hand, recalibrating it for the nearer view. Details jumped at him. Panel work, strange symbols and patterns on the metal hull. What looked like delicate wiring coiled precariously from hollow depressions, and bright port hole details suggesting movement inside. This made him check the under deck of the vessel to familiarise himself with how passengers embarked but the detail was too confusing at the angle he was viewing from. He gave it up and instead let his scope drift down the mountainside to the crowds waving banners from rooftops below. Was that someone on the roof ridge of the crazy old professor's residence, the Madrullian mansion?

Tam focused his scope with precision, steadying his hand to keep details in view, and gasped. It was the Madrullian girl, balanced precariously on the sharp tiles atop the cottage. One slip and she would surely tumble to her death, yet he could see her moving rhythmically without a care in the world. She was dancing, now on one leg, now on another, without hesitation, fearless. What was more her pale thin limbs were totally exposed. At first he thought she was naked but a very careful moment of focus, holding his breath and slowing the beating of his heart to steady the view, enabled him to confirm she was actually in her underwear, or sleep wear or something equally skimpy like as if she had just jumped out of bed at the last minute and clambered onto the roof ridge so she could make an exhibition of herself. He turned the scope away, embarrassed for the poor deluded girl.

By now the vessel was a receding shape floating towards Proctor Bridge, tail motors glowing in the distant atmosphere.

"Show's over," Tam heard someone say and he resisted the temptation to check the rooftops below to see if that was indeed the case.

The day on which the Love Star anchored in the Wilds Proper was the first of three free days that broke up the twelve day working week. No school, minimal chores and big plans ahead for the sixteen year old as he secretly packed essentials for the wearisome trip down the mountain to the rolling plains below. He would skim part of the way but as he needed to do it in semi-darkness it would be a dangerous enterprise at the very least.

If a girl could dance half-naked on a rooftop in broad daylight without fear then he could skim five miles through every snag and twist and roll of a mountain slope. No more goodbyes, except silent ones to his family, to Sara and his school friends, and a huge good riddance to Maeven, the Terrific Ridge and scar-faced Troy.

Myscenna set with the most fiery red Tam had ever seen as he clambered across familiar roof tiles and jumped down beyond the perimeter wall of the inn to a shadowy cleft behind the main village settlement. It was a dried river cascade that even on a rainy day rarely flooded and Tam knew it stretched with minimal windings right down to muddy flats and marshy wastelands where few obstacles occurred. It would then be a short hike across the flats to the Vissoe River. A year ago he had watched Milon Boerat attempt the journey in the full light of a summer day and only twice did the ace skimmer lose his footing as a root or outcrop impeded the magnetic field of his board. Now Tam was attempting to perform the same feat in darkness, weighed down by a heavy rucksack and shivering with excitement. Once he began there would be no turning back.

Silently he tilted the board and began the descent into darkness, relying on memory as to when to turn, when to lift the skimmer or skew to one side or the other. Of course he was not attempting to set any kind of speed record and fairly plodded along down each drop in the layered sediment eroded by countless floods before man had ever set foot on the newly colonised world. Inevitably a root caught him, but at the pace he travelled any tumble would be unlikely to cause anything more serious than bruising. Of course his board was tethered to his wrist so that it did not skim off without him when he took another teeth jarring upset. He lost count of the times he had grazed knees and knuckles, almost lost an eye to a branch, and retrieved his wayward skimmer from tangling bushes before one final tumble threw him with undignified haste onto the softest grass he had ever felt. It seemed to bounce him up again after he had fallen and as he stood there on the yielding grey plain he realised he had reached the marshy flatlands in one piece.

Lights on the horizon gave him his bearings. There were the red tower beacons, and alongside them, dwarfing everything in view were the blue and green patterns of the Love Star's sparkling hull. It took only moments to reach the Crystal Lumos garrison fence. It was not a military establishment of course, so security was not of the highest, and Tam found a dip in the marshy ground where he could wriggle under the wires. It cost him a minor soaking but he made sure his rucksack was dry. He checked his belongings in the shadow of a small power generator which throbbed next to him, rattling his teeth as he used its warmth to dry himself out while catching his breath.

Spotlights covered the yards with yellow light. They were not roaming lights but merely for the convenience of the workers maintaining the compound. From his concealed vantage point Tam watched the routine movements of various vehicles as they shifted supplies and equipment from one area to another, following a mysterious code of conduct only an insider would understand.

The recruiting shed was on the far side of the compound, dark now, for it would only open up on the first free day for visitors from around the Wilds to sign up if they already had the qualifications, or to set in motion the preliminary steps towards full Pioneer Guild membership. Tam had dismissed the latter option for himself as that alone would cost two hundred units, a very expensive rubber stamp and DNA signature. No, the only way of pursuing his ambition was to secrete himself aboard the vessel and reveal his presence when it was too late to turn back. Things would then be up to him. The heroes on Adventure Channel would be expected to prove their worth by the time they reached the desired destination and then be signed up permanently, a valuable member of the team, having showed grit and ingenuity. They could always use someone like that. Someone like Tam considered himself to be.

Time to move.

Tam squelched nearer to the under deck of the great vessel which loomed above his head, its great weight held by gantries and gyro-balancers that tapped into the powerful magnetic fields of Troy, just like his skimmer did, but on a massive scale. Bright lights glared out from under the ship, filling the open deck space with detail and shadow. He could see everything from his vantage point by a warehouse corner. It was like looking into the glowing mouth of a whale. Too exposed. He needed to find one of the exchange entry locks used to replace power sources or supplies located at a distance from the main bay, just a tiny crack in the hull big enough for one boy to squeeze through. He had studied schematics of the CL class vessels and knew of several possible entry points close enough to the under deck for him to reach.

Shuffling to the back end of the warehouse, Tam surveyed the motor hubs and wing stubs of the vessel. One wing dipped to within six feet of the ground and numerous hand holds upon its upper surface led to a maintenance hatch for electricals. He knew there was a space between copper coils within the hatch two and a half feet wide with insulation padding the drop below. It was ideal. A service duct led from there to one of the lower decks usually vacuumed when in space but easily remedied by a manual override that allowed a transfer to the habitable decks. Tam had memorised every twist and turn of these internal workings and was fully confident stowing away was a breeze. There were a wealth of cabins to hide in once the vessel was under way, easy to identify as they would be the unlocked and unlit ones. All he had to do at that point was sit tight and wait.

Wiping sweaty palms and breathing rhythmically to calm himself, Tam took a first step towards the outstretched wing of the great vessel when a sound made him freeze.

"I can't let you do this," a girl's voice breathed through the night air from a shadowed corner. Tam tumbled frantically back into the darkness. He shaded his eyes, trying to get them used to the dark so he could see who had spoken. A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist tightly with surprising strength.

"Tam," the girl said, almost sobbing. "You can't do this. You can't go to the Spark. You mustn't!"

"Sara?" Perhaps she had changed her mind and wanted to be more than just friends, but then how did she know where he would be and when?

"You think of her, at a time like this!" the girl gasped and released her grasp. Thinking better of it she clutched at Tam again like a desperate thing. "I won't let you go. I will scream if I have to."

No it was not Sara. Something about the voice, the accent, made Tam realise he was in the grip of the crazy Madrullian girl. He could not remember her first name and in the strangeness of the moment felt it only right she should identify herself.

"Who are you?" he simply said.

"I'm Maena," came the equally simple reply as if this explained everything. The result was a rush of questions.

"Maena Madrullian? How did you know I'd be here? How did you know I was going to leave on the Love Star? How did you get here so fast to catch me!"

"I skimmed. It was whispered to me what you were going to do."

"Whispered? By who?" Tam recalled the word whisper meant gossip in girlie circles. People had been gossiping about him all this time. Spying on him? Reading his mind? He did not give the girl time to answer. "So you know about Sara then?" he pursued.

"That she likes you, yes," came a quiet sob as if the matter was personal. Well, that was something. People were not whispering about Sara and Evie, obviously. The crazy Madrullian girl was not a mind reader. But then he did not remember her being much good as a skimmer either. In fact he did not recall ever seeing her on a board once since she had first appeared in Maeven.

"Why don't you want me to go?" he finally said, standing up as her grip loosened. The panic she felt had subsided for everything about Tam's body language told her he was not about to make a dash for it. The moment had passed, the crisis averted and he barely realised it but this crazy girl had thwarted his plan completely. Jolted the adventurous spirit right from him like a vampire sucking the steely resolve from his very veins.

"How could I let you go, knowing what happened to my mother!" she cried. Tam gave her a puzzled look. Her mother? His expression elicited further details. "The... Madrullian Mission. She was a Pioneer, my mother, the mission had been all about her but it went horribly wrong," she stuttered with dramatic emphasis.

"Your mother? The girl who disappeared and wrecked the Crystal Lumos plans to colonise Cimmeron?" Now he understood why the name was so familiar. The Madrullian Mission was mentioned in a science paper he read as part of a project last year. Yet some elements of the story had a semi-legendary status, barely believable. Tam took a step back. "You stupid thing, that happened eighty years ago before anyone even lived on Troy!" he almost shouted, forgetting where he was in his astonishment at what she had claimed. "You're the same age as me. Unless you're immortal there's no way that was your mother," and he stormed out of the compound into the darkness, determined to walk the long way back up the valley even if it took him all night. Anything to distance himself from the crazy silver-eyed girl.

To be continued...