My dreams are often born in fire. There was a bright flash, a burst of sunlight searing the sky, blistering my cheeks like a swelling sunburn, and roasting the hairs of my stubble until I feared it would drive down through the pores. I ducked down into a cavern deep below the surface, burying my face in the void. There was a percussive thud like the terrible growl of thunder overhead, and the world heaved beneath me as if alive. I gritted my teeth, and prayed.
The roar of engines roused me from my sleep, torching my senses with the acrid taint of rocket fuel. Dozens of small, lightweight spacecraft punched through the clear dawn sky, their afterburners emitting searing blue light, and causing sonic booms to ricochet throughout the empty landscape. Spiralling funnels crisscrossed into the glitter of stars still kindling above like a scatter of white pebbles in still grey water.
Below, the large spaceport, one of many dotting Earth’s dying surface, was sandwiched inside a large crater, which was surrounded by the orange tangle of rock curling up around the sides like a hidden valley. The spaceport was a metallic scrap heap of observation towers, hangers and three large circular domes. It was now my destination to the stars.
I twitched over the small device clutched firmly in my palm. Genesis Technology’s social software hummed brightly. The social networking platform was one of the few ways for Seekers, those resisting the Neithan Accord, to communicate.
It was one such message that was able to discern Ayla’s cryptic post.
I read the name of the ship over a dozen times, and then a dozen times more. I wanted to make sure. I had to be sure. So I checked one last time.
The Anemone.
It was the word of an ancient tongue, now extinct but given life again by the ship that would carry humanity to its new home.
The Anemone. Windflower.
I exhaled heavily. It felt right. Everything about it felt right. It was just like her—a lone flower amongst the others, being carried away by the wind. She was a daughter of the wind.
Even now, there was a growing ball of fear, gripping my stomach just below the cusp of my rib cage. I swore that I would find her as I clambered down the ridge toward the spaceport.
There were scores of people everywhere—trails of plastic tents catching a cold morning breeze, cooking pots in the open and the aromatic sizzle of meat. Already there were lines of gathering people waiting to board the shuttles scuttling into the sky and disappearing into earth’s outer orbit where the four cruisers awaited departure.
A dimly-lit corridor proceeded the descent underground into the spaceport’s central hub. Reluctantly, I joined the long line of people now trudging forward. People pressed in on all sides, desperate to escape the world behind, and lugging behind them their most precious possessions.
Sign-ware illuminated our descent:
I read them, but I paid them little mind as I kept my eyes low.
We entered a large dome-shaped hanger where attendants began separating people into small groups, before directing them through multiple doorways. Luggage too large for the shuttle cargo holds were thrown aside by security with no mind to care about people’s protests. I kept my eyes low to avoid unwanted attention.
‘Sir?’ The attendant gestured with a deep-pan frown. I snapped out of my reverie to see that I was holding up the line. The woman, wearing a finely-cut light blue uniform, was holding her hand out toward one of the entrances that would lead to the shuttle bay.
I swallowed nervously. The shuttle ride would take me straight to the Anemone’s docking bay, but was this the route Ayla took? Each space cruiser rotated on a twelve-month charting. It took six months to reach Orion, and another six to return to Earth. By the time I reached Ayla, two years will have passed. I couldn’t spare any more time. Wherever she was, I had to find her.
I reluctantly boarded the shuttle, found my seat and closed my eyes, hoping to steady the nerves tormenting my every thought. I felt the jitter of the craft’s twin engines lift us into the sky. It was real now. A large space cruiser awaited us in Earth’s low orbit.
The Anemone.
Windflower.
Daughter of the Wind.
My final lifeline.
* * *
The barren landscape was bitter cold despite the orange blades of dawn that reflected on Frakes Theson’s visor. Vosto, his dog, rose its head nervously, eying the black birds that stalked the campsite for any morsel to salvage.
Frakes pulled up the glowing HUD, an ultra-thin handheld controller that was connected to a wireless antennaed box. The hexagonal wire-frame antenna was powerful enough to tap into satellite feeds, and grant him access to zettabytes of data. All backdoor. All illegal. Not that it mattered much anymore.
Frakes had been scanning the Seeker networks in dark-space for months now. He was tracking a wanted insurgent. His name: Keenan Alder. But his trail had gone cold. Until now.
He logged into Genesis Technology’s social software under his callsign Sladek, and he read the post made by Keenseekr with a surging interest.
The post had been sent as an open message to the entirety of dark-space without the usual security filters. It was a post made in desperation. There was no doubt this was Keenan Alder. A man who usually kept to the shadows. This, he posed, was Keenan’s first mistake.
There had been two of them, but now she was gone, and no one’s concern. The original bounty was for over a million credits. Even though the Neithan Accord declared all previous transgressions null and void, Frakes knew of backwater elements that were still interested in paying for known trouble makers. He had lost too much to abandon the trail now.
Frakes left a message thanking his unwitting accomplice, even though it might alert Keenan. But there was nothing that could be done to prevent him locating his bounty now.
The Anemone, Frakes spoke under his breath, smiling.
