Dawn (Shadows of the Void Space Opera Serial Book 3) Page 2

  At the outer door, a guard told her, “You’ve got ID, some money, and an accommodation chit. If you follow the road, around the bend you’ll find transportation. It’s pre-programmed to take you into town. Just one road, and just one town. It’s impossible to get lost around here.”

  “Where do I go to sleep?”

  “There just one—”

  “Place to stay. I get it.” Her visit to Dawn didn’t look like it was going to be very interesting.

  Jas quickly found the single-seater vehicles. Small and boxy, they had space for luggage at the back. She tried a door, and when it opened she got inside. The vehicles were similar to all-terrain buggies she’d driven when she’d been at training college in Antarctica. They were wide-wheeled and high-carriaged, as if designed for off-road driving. But the controls on this vehicle were set with only two destinations: Dawntown/Shuttle Base. She pressed Dawntown. Dawntown? The settlers of new worlds were always so unimaginative. The machine started up and moved off without any further operation.

  It wasn’t far to the capital of Dawn. About twenty kilometers away, it was hidden among low, rolling hills. Like the shuttle base, some of the buildings were low, pre-fabricated structures. Others were made of some kind of dried mud or rammed earth, and these were a range of dun colors.

  Jas passed the simple houses. There didn’t seem to be any shops, and if there were any factories they were undistinguishable. Only one building was three-story. It was on the edge of town, but must have been visible from everywhere due to its height. Jas was surprised how undeveloped the place was. She was sure this colony was at least a couple of decades old. Had they really only managed to build one town on an entire planet?

  She attracted the attention of everyone she passed, and small children ran after the slow-moving, one-person car. It pulled into a bay next to some others and stopped. Jas got out. Lingiari was nowhere to be seen. Feeling disappointed that the pilot hadn’t waited for her, she set off down a street that had some kind of marketplace at the end of it. She hoped someone would be there who she could tell her where she was supposed to sleep.

  When Jas was about halfway down the street, a teenage boy appeared at the end, running in her direction. He was longhaired, scruffy, and had the beginnings of a mustache and beard shadowing his lips. As he got closer, two men appeared behind him, running after him. She recognized their uniforms. They belonged to the army of the Global Government. Jas didn’t want to get involved in Dawn’s affairs, so she stepped to one side to give all three of them plenty of room to pass, but the kid had spotted her. He changed course. He was heading straight for her.

  He was about seventeen, she guessed. His hair was wavy and brown, and he was dressed in simple clothes made of coarse-woven, natural materials. That was all she had time to notice before he reached her.

  Grabbing both of her arms, the kid exclaimed, “Take me away with you on your ship. I’ll do anything you want. Please.”

  Chapter Three

  A second later, the men who were chasing the kid caught up and pulled him away from Jas. They were a lieutenant and a private. The soldiers wrestled with the kid, who fought their attempts to restrain him. “Hey,” exclaimed Jas as he went sprawling. The private hauled him roughly to his feet.

  The kid continued to struggle. “Let me go. I don’t want to go back there. I’m not going home, and you can’t make me.”

  “Huh, we’ll see about that,” said the private. He pushed the kid against the wall and pulled his hands behind his back. He gasped in pain.

  “Take it easy, Trip,” said the lieutenant to the private. He went over to the struggling boy. “Look, Makey, don’t make it harder on yourself. We have to take you back home. You know it. We know it. There’s nothing anyone can do about it. If you fight, the only person who’s going to get hurt is you.”

  Makey’s arms went limp. The soldier holding him slipped handcuffs around his wrists. His head fell forward, and his shoulders sagged. He averted his head, but Jas could hear quiet sobs.

  “You’re only taking him home?” asked Jas. “You aren’t arresting him?” The kid seemed to be overreacting a little.

  “Yep, just taking him back to his mom and dad. Running away from home isn’t a crime.” The lieutenant paused and looked at Jas. He was tall and broad-shouldered. His hair was black and his eyes were nearly the same color. The man clearly kept himself in shape. “You want to walk down with us? You’re off that quarantined starship, aren’t you? I can show you to the hostel. It isn’t far, and it’s on our way.”

  “Uh, okay. Thanks.”

  “I’m Lieutenant Theron,” said the man as they walked, “but you can call me Idris. This over-zealous young soldier is Private Trip Cassady.”

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance, ma’am.” The private had a firm grip on young Makey’s arm as they went ahead of Jas and the lieutenant. The boy was sniffing and trying to wipe off the snot hanging from his nose with his shoulder.

  “Are you the first off your ship?” asked Idris.

  “Yes, me and the pilot. But I don’t know where he’s gone. I’m Jas Harrington. Security officer.”

  “Security officer? We’re in the same line of business, just about. I thought you might be in security from the look of your uniform. Polestar, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right. But my clothes are a little warm for this climate. They’re better suited to a starship owned by a company on a fuel-economy drive. I was hoping I could pick up something cooler here. They gave me some paper money, but I don’t know how much things cost.”

  “I know how much you’ve been given. All the crews they test get the same amount. You should be able to buy a change of clothes with that. There are a few stalls selling clothes here.”

  They’d arrived at the market, which consisted of only a dozen or so stalls. Three sold clothes, all very rough, simple and similar to what Makey was wearing. Other stalls sold fruit and vegetables and dried beans. One sold simple woven baskets and earthenware bowls and plates.

  “I can give you directions to the hostel if you want to stop here and buy clothes,” said Idris.

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll make my way back later.” She was wondering if Lingiari was waiting for her at the hostel.

  “Don’t leave it too late,” said Idris. “They begin to pack up about half an hour before sunset. No street lights, you see.”

  Dawn really was the back of beyond.

  Private Trip and Makey had drawn a little way ahead of Jas and the lieutenant. She leaned over to speak softly to Idris. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the boy doesn’t want to go home? Before you caught up to him, he was asking for passage on my starship.”

  Idris grimaced. “I’m sorry to say I don’t find it strange at all. Or maybe I should say, not unusual. One thing you’ve got to understand about the people of this place is that they all belong to a sect. They came to Dawn to live according to their principles. Or more accurately the Global Government heavily persuaded them to come here.

  “You could put down Makey’s attitude to isolation and a hard life, with nothing more to do than work the family farm day after day. But frankly, the people are so insular and strange sometimes, I wonder what goes on behind closed doors.

  “I’d like to help these kids, I really would. But the most I can do is to take them home to their families, where at least they’ve got food in their stomachs and a place to sleep. It’s better than being out on the streets. Believe me, none of them would last long out on their own. There’s no safety net here.”

  “Why doesn’t the governor do something?” asked Jas. “Surely that’s her job?”

  “Huh. Dawn—a new beginning, a new life for all. That was the Global Government slogan. Now, how embarrassing would it be for the government if it got out what a miserable hole for misborns Dawn is? The governor keeps up appearances, or she’s out of a job.”

  “Krat.” Jas’ eyes lingered on the skinny boy walking ahead of her. What a life. She knew only too
well what a miserable existence some children led, despite humanity’s supposedly great advances. There hadn’t been much in the way of reductions in human suffering and cruelty.

  “What’s the army doing here?” she asked Idris. “There don’t seem to be enough people to warrant peace-keeping forces.”

  “Ah, here we are,” he said. stopping. They were outside one of the few two-story buildings in town. It was wide and had two wings stretching back from the road. All the windows were shuttered. “Sorry, I would answer your question, but I have to take this boy home. I’ll explain why the army’s on Dawn another time, if you like.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  The lieutenant smiled, and Jas’ stomach tingled. Her gaze went from his even, white teeth to his eyes, which returned the too-long look. “See you another time,” she said.

  As he moved away with Trip and Makey, her gaze lingered on him for a moment before she went inside the hostel.

  She gave the woman behind the counter her accommodation chit and received a simple metal key with a room number on it. She went upstairs and unlocked the door of her room with the key. She felt like she’d traveled back in time and wondered if she would have to light an oil lamp when the sun went down.

  Inside, the room was a weird mixture of modern and rustic. She checked out the bed. Metal-framed with a mattress that was the standard mold-to-your-body type, it had clearly arrived on a colony ship. Spread over the mattress were rough sheets and blankets made of a natural thread. The pillow seemed to be stuffed with genuine feathers. The room had no comm, no screens or interfaces, nor any other electronic devices. There was a light strip at least, and from the gentle hum she could hear, the electricity for it came from a generator nearby.

  Jas went to the window, pushed the shutters open, and looked out over the low roofs of Dawntown. She wondered where Lingiari was. She should have asked the receptionist which room the pilot was in. Beyond the town, the sun was nearing the hilly horizon. She would have to hurry if she wanted to buy some clothes before the market closed. She was uncomfortably hot and sweaty, and she didn’t relish the idea of wearing her uniform for another day.

  Returning to the market at a fast pace, Jas managed to catch the owner of a clothing stall as he was taking the last of his items down. He had little to offer that would fit Jas. In the end, she had to settle on some men’s trousers that fit her round the hips but ended halfway up her calves, and a baggy tunic. She bought a woven belt to pull in the tunic.

  By the time Jas arrived back at the hostel, Dawn’s sun had swiftly set, and darkness had fallen like a cloak. She had to navigate the streets with the help of light shining through slatted shutters.

  When she found the door of the hostel, she went in and asked the receptionist which room the Galathea’s pilot was staying in. It turned out Lingiari was her neighbor, but when she knocked on his door, he didn’t answer. She tried again. Either Lingiari had gone out or he was sound asleep. If was the latter, she didn’t want to wake him. She would wait until morning.

  Chapter Four

  Makey was cutting grass, dragging the cutter over the undulating ground, slicing the plants just above their roots. They called it grass, but Makey knew from reading the forbidden school books that it wasn’t like the grass of Earth, and that they only called it so because its growing point was just above the root, the same as its namesake, and not near the shoot-tip like most plants. This meant it could be harvested again and again, as long as the soil sustained it.

  “Where were you running to, Makey?” asked Neeve, his sister, as she walked behind the cutter, raking the cut stalks together.

  Where Makey was harnessed to the cutter, the straps cut into the welts his father had inflicted with a cane, after the soldiers had brought him home.

  “Makey?” Neeve repeated. His sister was five years younger than him, and often annoying, but of all the things he tolerated in his hard life, he minded her the least.

  “I don’t know. Away. Somewhere away from here.”

  “Da was so angry when he knew you’d gone, he threw a plate against the wall. Mam and me stayed out of his way.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It was no matter. I hid in the cellar till I heard him go out to look for you.”

  Makey grimaced and pulled harder against his harness, feeling the pain was a justified punishment for the trouble he’d caused Mam and his sister. He’d never meant for them to suffer. The extra speed he put on caused the cutter to slip and then jam, stopping him sharply and causing him to stagger.

  “There it goes again. Always sticking,” Neeve said lightly.

  Makey slipped off the harness and knelt to free the cutter. Copper stalks were wound around the rotary blades. Stripped of their outer skins, they oozed red sap. Makey began gingerly picking out the trapped vegetation, but his mind was elsewhere, and before long he’d cut his thumb. Drops of blood flowed out and mixed with the sticky sap.

  “Ow,” he exclaimed. He sat back on his heels and sucked his thumb.

  Neeve dropped her rake and ran to her brother’s side. “Have you cut yourself? Can I see?”

  “No, it’s okay. It’ll stop bleeding in a moment.”

  His sister raised a hand to the sky and said, “Earth Mother, hear me—”

  “Stop it, Neeve. I don’t want to hear that nonsense. I hear enough of it at home.”

  Closing her eyes, the girl continued, “Bring healing to my brother. Make him whole and as perfect as you are, I beseech you.”

  Makey rolled his eyes. He took his thumb out of his mouth. The bleeding was slowing down. A single drop oozed slowly to the surface.

  Neeve also looked at his thumb. “You see, Makey? It worked. Earth Mother is making your thumb better.”

  “No, she isn’t. It’s getting better by itself.”

  “No, it’s Earth Mother. If I hadn’t said the prayer, your thumb wouldn’t have stopped bleeding.”

  “Yes, it would. I know it would, Neeve. I’ve tried it. When I’ve been alone, I didn’t ask Earth Mother’s help, and my cuts got better by themselves.”

  Neeve shook her head. “That just shows how loved you are, Makey. Someone, somewhere was saying a prayer for you. Others care about you, and they ask Earth Mother for her protection for you, even if you don’t.”

  His conscience twinged. This was Neeve’s way of reproaching him for running away and leaving her.

  “Neeve, I...” He gestured for her to sit next to him. “When I left home yesterday, I saw a spacewoman in town. She was very tall, and she was wearing a starship uniform. There’s a starship above Dawn right now, orbiting the planet. Did you know that?”

  Her eyes fixed on her brother’s face, Neeve slowly shook her head.

  “No, because they didn’t tell us, did they? Not Da or Mam, or Teacher Clary. There are lots of things they don’t tell us. We see these people from other planets some times, but we’re not supposed to talk about them.

  “Neeve, I have a secret to tell you, but you mustn’t tell Da or Mam, okay?”

  “All right,” his sister replied doubtfully.

  “You know I have to clean the school every night as punishment for asking too many questions in class?”

  Neeve nodded, her eyes fixed on her brother.

  “I found a cupboard that was locked, and when I broke it open, there were lots of books inside. School books that we never use in class. I’ve read some of them, and the information in there is different from what Teacher Clary tells us. Nothing in those books says that Earth Mother chose us to come to Dawn as the last step before Heaven. They talk about a group called Green Earthers.”

  A crease appeared between his sister’s brows.

  “The books say that Green Earthers believe in Earth Mother,” continued Makey, “who bestows health and wellbeing on her followers, providing they live naturally—no artificial chemicals, everything made by hand from natural materials, all food cooked at home from whole ingredients. They believe that nothing bad will happen
to you if you follow Earth Mother’s rules, and that when you die, you become part of the natural cosmos.”

  “Makey, what are you talking about? That isn’t anything strange, that’s the truth.”

  He sighed. “Is it the truth, or is it just what some people believe? Don’t you think that the Green Earthers sound exactly like us and all the other families we know? Only we don’t call ourselves Green Earthers anymore because aren’t on Earth, we’re on Dawn. And we don’t have to give ourselves a name because we aren’t a separate group; we’re the majority here. On Dawn, being a Green Earther just means you’re the same as most people.

  “It’s like our parents brought those books to Dawn to teach us about our group, but then they decided to ignore what had happened in the past and pretend there was only ever one way of thinking about things, that there is only one way of thinking about things.”

  Neeve got to her feet. “Even if there is something in what you read, even if Da and Mam were Green Earthers before they came here, why does it matter? What’s wrong with the way we live?” She brushed grass stalks from her knees. “Why aren’t you happy, Makey? Why do you want to leave us?” Her voice wobbled as if she were about to cry, and she turned her head away.

  A lump rose in Makey’s throat as he bent over the cutter once more and pulled free the last of the stalks. “I can’t be happy. I’ve tried. I’ve tried to do my chores, say my prayers, and be a good son and brother, but it isn’t enough. I can’t believe this is the best way to live until I’ve seen the alternatives. I have to find out what else they haven’t told us. I want to go to Earth and see other planets.”

  “But we need you,” blurted Neeve. “Who’ll cut the grass? Who’ll hang it to dry? Who’ll help weave it if you go?”