Novelas:Strings of Fire

From the air the university grounds were open, as open as you could get on a moon this size. Those zones not restricted to natural growth were densely populated so that to move outside the residential buildings you brushed people on both sides. The population laws in evidence keep the fluctuation of people to a manageable number. Inside the university walls, though, you could see wide grounds only lightly populated, people within the walls had to abide by the restrictions of the university. Long robes were worn all the time, no matter the season, individualism reduced as much as possible so that people of widely varying cultures, could co-exist, with out violence or insult. There were packets of people sitting or laying on the grasses, or moss that covered the grounds, and from far away it looked to be as peaceful as everyone was told. Deep within the university grounds, where the sounds of the city could no longer be heard, walked a group of girls. Their robes a light shade of blue, telling anyone who knew the signs that they were from the “Asian-African alliance of planets”. An acute observer would also recognize the chain of small dark blue beads hanging out of the right sleeve on two of the five women, even if they did not understand its significance. Coming from the other direction was a group of males, their robes tight against their bodies, stained a deep red. The girls moved to the other side of the path, wary of the males. Red meant “Indo-Mars colonies” and their women were looked at as little more than slaves, animals and machines given higher social status than wives. It is hard to say weather they would actually walk right over the women, university rules stated they could not of course, but having them banished would not bring someone back from the dead. Though in truth there had not been a death do to cultural differences in some years. It was always better to be careful though. The girls’ conversation faded away as a male in a blue robed approached. Without too much of a pause four of the women continued on for several feet then continued to talk in low voices. The tallest of the girls, standing less than six feet, with a ready smile and blue eyes said, “I have heard he has proposed to her father several times, and yet she will not even get to know him.” There were some murmurs, but no one said anything. They watched from the corner of their eyes though. The male only slightly taller stood with his hands folded in front of him, the sleeves of his robe coming together to hide his hands, a string of beads hung from his sleeve as well as the girls. His head seemed bowed most of the time, though he lifted it to glance at her once and a while. The girl stood still, if she spoke she did not move while doing so. The man reached his hand out as if to lift her chin, but he dropped it and bowed and continued on his walk. With only a slight shake, the girl rejoined her friends. Her voice was soft, eyes down cast when she spoke, “He almost touched me.” They started walking again. No one speaking for sometime until the tallest girl spoke. <BR><BR>“Sara, it could be worse. I understand that Albert is the smartest of his class here. He comes from a good family. Why would you not be flattered?” <BR><BR>Sara looked up from the beads in her hand. Jessica was the tallest girl she had ever seen, taller than some men. She was also the most… uncivilized. Sara had to remind herself that Jessica was from the outer-rim and some planets that far from civilization were just backward. It was considered rude to speak of marriage proposals or look someone in the eye, let alone touch them, imagine being so intimate in public! At least she did not pat her on the arm, which it seemed was common in the outer-rim. Jessica had found a husband in under a year, but of course ‘’she’’ would, being so forward. Sara just had to remind herself that other people had different ways, sometimes it was easier to accept cultures so different than hers that being part of one would make her sick, than it was to accept small differences between planets of the same society. <BR><BR>“He IS smart… but …” she could not finish. How could she explain to her friends something she was only just realizing her self? <BR><BR>As if the other girl spoke her thoughts Jessica said, “You don’t love him do you?” The look on Sara’s face had to be shock and awe, but Jessica just reached over and patted he folded hands, “Don’t worry, I didn’t love my Deric when I signed the contract but love will grow in the oddest of places. Who would of thought I could love a man who did not know how to sing.” <BR><BR>She laughed, her voice picking up. Somehow the inappropriate words were comforting. But what did singing have to do with a husband. Before she got a chance to ask though Jessica spoke again. <BR><BR>“Albert will make you a fine husband I think, unless Catherine accepts him first.” The other woman with beads swinging from below her sleeve stopped walking. <BR><BR>The words were small and fast, “I have to go I will see you at class tomorrow.” <BR><BR>Jessica seemed to realize she said too much. “I am sorry.” She glanced around at the women. “If I had known he did I would not have said anything. Please, forgive me, both of you, sometimes I forget myself here. I spoke in haste I am sorry, please forgive me.” <BR><BR>Catherine spoke her eyes still down cast, “He has not been to see my mother as far as I know.” She glanced at Jessica then, and reached out to lay a hand gently on her folded hands, “And even if he did I would not choose him.” <BR><BR>When Catherine touched her hands it did not feel awkward or uncomfortable, they we as close as sisters, and had been for almost ten years. But Sara was more concerned with the feeling she had when Catherine answered. She had said Albert had not sent a proposition to her mother, and it felt like a knot released in her chest. Maybe she felt more for him than she let even herself believe. <BR><BR>Catherine removed her hand and shifted her weight before she spoke again. The hood of the robe covering her head and hiding her eyes, “There is nothing to forgive, he did not send a proposal so there is no offense. I just forgot something at my last class I will see you again tomorrow.” She glanced up then and Sara could see her face. <BR><BR>Her eyes were a bight green, odd in her society, but then rumor said she had some “American alliance” in her bloodline. Her father’s accomplishments out weighed any errors in her bloodline, even big ones like having traitor’s genes. As she walked away Sara watched for a moment worried for her friend, something was bothering her but she had not said anything and Sara wasn’t going to embarrass her by bringing it up. <BR><BR>She walked as she always did slightly hunched over as if to hide her height, even though she was the smallest and most petite of the group. She hunched over to hide her chest, which was bigger than most other girl’s, more evidence of stray genes. Perhaps she was having difficulty picking a husband without her father there to guide her. She could only imagine how hard it would be to have chosen Albert, if her farther had not been there for advice. She smiled as she realized that it was the first time she really admitted to herself that she had chosen Albert. Maybe it would not have been so bad to have him touch her in public. <BR><BR>She jumped when Jessica spoke her name, did she speak out loud. She felt her face get hot, she must be very red. <BR><BR>When she realized that Jessica was just asking for forgiveness again she quickly gave it, relieved that she had not spoken her thoughts out loud. As they began walking again she said, “I wonder if Albert can sing?” <BR><BR>Jessica started laughing hard and the other two simply glanced at her with confused looks. Perhaps it was not the outer-rims that muddled the woman’s brains; perhaps it was getting married. If so she would have to watch her words in the coming months. She would speak to her father tonight, and let him know her decision. And then she could tell Catherine and Albert tomorrow, surly what ever was bothering Catherine she would be happy for her friend. <BR><BR>Catherine walked away from her friends quickly but slowed her place with in a few steps. Her mind was troubled, she knew she was different growing up, she had always known. But she had hoped that when she came to his moon with her mother, she could start things over, be a normal person. She had met Sara the first day moving in and they had become fast friends, but there were some things that were to hard to tell even her closest friend, and she could only talk to her father when he was in dock in a secure port. <BR><BR>Her mother was a strong woman but kept to society’s standards as hard as her father diverged from them. For her younger years she had had a panther as a friend. The giant cat was her father’s but he was gone so long that she thought of it as hers. Only as she grew did she come to understand that all of her people, including her mother, thought owning an animal was barbaric, and disgusting. But her mother also believed that the father had the say as far as the home was concerned. <BR><BR>She never complained more than sniffing or a second glance when she ran around there home as a child in cloths that let he sun warm her arms and legs. <BR><BR>The only real argument she could ever remember her mother and father having was about her education, when she went to the university on the second planet of there system she opened her bag to find nothing she had packed. All the clothes were “proper” showing only hands feet and face. And when she came home for her father’s birthday she found that her cat was shipped of to a colony where it would be set free in the jungles. <BR><BR>She had cried then letting the shame was over her. Her father had held her and they talked long into the night. But that was nothing like what she had to face now. How could she tell her friend that even though the list of “seeking women”, those looking for a husband, she was first on the list considered the most desirable, her blood line and father’s position guaranteed that even had her scores been average. But they were not she had the highest scores of all the females in her society. <BR><BR>Her mother, acting in her father’s place while he was away, should have been flooded by submissions, every male in the system or neighboring systems should have been sending a proposal, or approaching her. In truth she had been looking forward to searching though all the applicants for a man who was as smart as she and had a strong blood line. As it was she had received only two proposals. She knew she was different and her breast size was not the only thing. Her eyes where green, and though she did not actively look for them, she had not seen green eyes on any of the societies at the university. She passed a woman and a man in gray robes holding hands. They looked happy, she suddenly was scared she would not find a husband, if she did not her father would have to find her one, and she did not think she could live with that shame. On their own accord her eyes began to water. She told herself she would not feel sorry for her self, she would not cry, especially in public where everyone would know her shame. <BR><BR>A wall hit her; she hit the ground hard. She lifted her head trying to shake her view back into focus. She sat up, and reached for her hood it had fallen off her head. She could barley make out the men standing over her. They wore deep red robes. She scrambled for her hood and tried to push herself away at the same time, her hands trying to be in both places at once simply clung together at her waist. <BR><BR>The three men were not looking at her, but one spoke, “I am sorry that you walked into us, are you hurt?” no doubt even talking to a woman was strange for them. She could not find words to make them go away, she was in public letting these strangers see her cry and her hair. Her hair! She scrambled to replace the hood; her hair was light, like that of others in her society, but hers curled, where everyone else’s was straight. How could she let them see her like this? <BR><BR>When she finally got the hood back into place she was breathing hard hopping that they had just walked on, that no one had seen. Suddenly she became aware of yellow robes confronting the reds. Pilots? What were pilots doing here, she tried to listen. <BR><BR>“… we did not. She was crying when she walked into us.” <BR><BR>“I don’t care if you don’t start walking now I will move you.” <BR><BR>She glanced up then, Pilots where notorious for being barbaric, little more than animals, worse off then the red robes. She saw a man standing in a yellow robe a shorter man with shoulders as big as she had ever seen, his head was shaved bald, his face held the eyes of an animal, like a hunting panther did. <BR><BR>To her surprise the red robes moved away and he watched them move away. Then he turned his gaze to her. He had powerful eyes. She felt as if he could see right though her. He reached out, to help her up no doubt but she moved back as quickly as she could. <BR><BR>Suddenly she realized it was just her and the yellow robed man, she could feel herself begin to panic. Her hands clutched the fabric of her robe harder. Her eyes darted around for help, she became away of some shapes picking them selves up, they had been squatting not ten feet way. They wore yellow as well? <BR><BR>The first man was talking to her but she barely heard. There was six, no seven more, one male and six females. It was said that the pilots were only slightly above animals, but that their females were animals. She could see that now. The way they walked, hoods back, long dark hair flowing out, and the sway in their hips. <BR><BR>It was also said that the most desirable women in the galaxy were the pilot’s women. <BR><BR>She looked back at the first man, who was speaking again, “Are you hurt do you need a medic? I will send for one.” <BR><BR>A medic! Then she would have to explain to her mother why she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, she would have to explain her fear: that her father would have to beg to get her a husband. That she was so undesirable that he would have to beg. <BR><BR>“No, I don’t need a medic.” She said a little more quickly that she intended. By this time the other yellows had created a semi circle around her. The women were all standing slightly back, eyes switching from her to the second man. The second man was of darker complexion that the first man his shoulders not as larger, but his head was shaved the same. <BR><BR>She stood up as fast as she dared her head was still spinning. She tried to smooth her robe and stood with her eyes downcast. <BR><BR>“They said you were crying when you ran into them, are you injured from something else, have no fear we will not hurt you.” <BR><BR>Before she could speak one of the women took a step forward. She reached out and took hold of her beads. “Perhaps she is not hurt, only crying over her fate. This means you are to marry. Correct?” <BR><BR>She could not speak somehow they knew, animals or not they knew. She could only nod her head. Of course they knew, they had eyes, they saw her hair, her eyes her breast, perhaps the shape of her face. Even they were not attracted to her and it was said that pilots’ women would have sex with any male as well as each other. <BR><BR>“Barbarians! How could they do that?” <BR><BR>She looked up. Who could they mean? Who were barbarians? This time she felt the second man’s eyes on her, he opened his mouth to speak but held his tongue when one of the women spoke. <BR><BR>“You can come with us. We will not make you marry someone you don’t know you do not even have to marry if you don’t wish.” The girl was looking at her. They thought she was the barbarian? They thought she had to marry someone she didn’t know? That she would not want to be married? What were they saying? <BR><BR>“I will walk her home,” the second man said to the first, who simply shrugged. He moved off and the women followed, all but one she paused, Looking from one to the other. <BR><BR>The second man sighed, “Linda I will not name him as mine, my brother will, and he loves you.” She blinked at him as if he had slapped her, then stared at Sara so hard she feared she would be attacked. Linda, the one who had questioned her, simply shrugged. <BR><BR>“I will go with him, but I can’t love him while you close, perhaps not ever.” With that Linda tuned and ran the short distance to walk with the other women. <BR><BR>“I will see you home safely.” He said as he took two steps back. <BR><BR>They walked in silence for a long time, only when they reached the university exit to the city did the man speak. <BR><BR>“You are not staying on university grounds?” <BR><BR>“No.” <BR><BR>And they walked on in silence. When he paused outside of the university gates to remove his robe she averted her eyes. He was wearing clothes underneath to tight to be decent and showing way to much skin. He paused for her to remover hers, walking though the city garbed in university robes was a good way to get odd looks or rude comments. She did not remove hers though she had on proper cloth underneath. She did not think she could get the robe off with him watching. <BR><BR>She started walking again, and he followed. For a moment she was content to stay silent but as people began to look at her oddly she felt the weight of the robe. She talked to keep her mind off the people watching her. <BR><BR>“Why did she think I would not want a husband?” <BR><BR>“She believes that your women only marry to produce children and have no sexual desire for your men. She cannot desire your men so she cannot see how anyone else could. But she is also new to the university. She has yet to learn that just because you look at something one way others can see the same thing differently.” <BR><BR>It was a good answer though she colored at talk of sexual desire, a very good answer for an animal. Perhaps she had things to reconsider as well. <BR><BR>At the entrance to the building where she lived he bowed turned and left. A very odd people, so hasty and with no manners, and if rumors were to be believed, they had no sense of privacy. <BR><BR>The building like any other in civilized space was densely populated, the first floor consisting of pool, greenhouses and office space. The other floors holding four families apiece, each home having one corner of the building. As she walked up the stairs she wondered how people on uncivilized planets ever dealt with living. The rain, heat or cold, their homes were in danger from weather etc. The pilots were from such planets, requited and trained to fly the solo scout fighters for the defense force. Their short statures cut down on mass and oxygen requirements; also the mental stress was better dealt with in an aggressive lifestyle. Their life spans were short, either due to death in service or health issues. Most of the pilots’ societies don’t screen their offspring for defective genes, so diseases or defects that appear only in history books are a way of life on those worlds. <BR><BR>With her foot poised above the next step she suddenly stopped. Why was she thinking of this? Why consider his background his history? Could she actually be attracted to him? She shook her head, but she smiled when she did it. The smile broadened just on the thought of what her mother would say. <BR><BR>As she opened the door to her home though all thoughts of men were swept from her head. The smell of her mothers cooking drifted to her and she could hear a faint noise in the background. But she stood still one foot inside the door one outside, not able to move. Her eyes locked onto an uniformed man standing slowly from the chair by the table. <BR><BR>Like others in her society he was thin, unlike others he was a short man. His hair touched with gray was shaved close to his head. His uniform was all straight lines, his white gloves, clean. His eyes were a dull gray, but now they looked light blue. He smiled and she felt the weight of the world slide off her shoulders. <BR><BR>“Dad.” That was all she could say before she took four steps to him and buried her face into his chest. She cried then. When she wiped away her tears she was sitting, which she didn’t remember doing. Her father was sitting next to her his arm around her saying nothing.

=Navigation= String of Fire:Chapter 2<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 3<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 4<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 5<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 6<BR> Charictures

There had not been enough rain. The fields of grain, which only months before stood proud and straight, now hung wilted and limp. The wind could hardly move the stalks, as if too did not have the will to live. There was the faint smell of smoke in the air. The wind brought it from the night side, it seemed someone was cooking dinner early. John laid on his back just out side the field of grain staring at the stars. As he often did he questioned his Choice. His society was strict in the things that they allowed, in the life style they demanded. certain leniencies were given to those that had not made their choice. certain crimes forgiven. but once you made the choice to stay you stayed with the full knowledge of what that would mean, what you would be missing. Everyone was given the advice to at least set food off world to see what the outside was like.

As he lay there the images and smells rolled over him again. such filth and beauty contained with in the same space. He could remember the ride though space. His first steps unto the way station, a small planetoid converted to a living mass. such sins he saw. such waste. And yet when he could look past them he saw beauty, opportunity, love, and most of all technology. it is what drew him, his only issue before he made his choice. The world he was used to was bricks and tile, grass and dirt. But when he went outside he saw what it could be; gleaming bright, streamlined machines and computers, spaceships, nano-devices that could hold his family's entire two thousand year history in a device no bigger than a grain of sand. He let a man hook him up to the Net, and gained access to the library and for the first time in his life felt small.

On the farm the pigs needed to be fed and cows milked and goats put to pasture. The water must be hauled and the clothes washed. Everyday has 30 more minutes of work than can be done. And as the bible said in genesis: God said, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground"

John had always felt the hand of god guiding him in his actions. Always felt that he was in control of the fish and birds, and beasts. Only when he was in the Net did he first truly question his fate. It made him feel small as if god had abandoned him to madness and for awhile he roamed randomly, every item he could see every ounce of information had hundreds of references, thousands. Even trying to find something familiar to latch onto, his home world, he was over whelmed. The history of his world was laid before him actions reactions, political, weather, trade, lives. he followed his family to the thousand year gap. And then he went back, and back, and back it seemed thousands of years his family had lived the places they lived on whole worlds destroyed, whole stars, and star systems. Wars of incredible power, the deaths measured is such big numbers that he could simply not accept that that many had died. And then he looked for God. for as many wars as there were, there were religions, and in many cases they were related. Hundreds of thousands of profits, testimonies of heavy and hell, millions of articles, doctrines of faith.

When he finally stumbled away from the booth that had submerged him into the net he found out that days had passed. He barley made it to the sleeping chamber that was provided for him. IT took him a full day to recover. He came home after 2 years. There was a proscribed time of three years that you could be outside before you made your choice, but those that came back did so mostly in the first three months, and almost none returned after a year. When he came home he swore the oaths and was forgiven of all his sins. Given over to god he could start his life in God's service.

He did not regret his choice, but sometimes he found him self thinking about the net and the vast knowledge it contained. The only media source permitted by his faith was the screen on the food keeper. It was linked with the global computers and satellites, and to the great library itself. The shiny black circles that were all over were the eyes and ears of the library recording always. Always a reminder of the other path he could have chosen. HE had first learned about the gap from his father when he was still very young. In his room he had covered the black circle with a shirt and for three days nothing happened. then his father came in and removed it, and sat him down to have a talk. The black circles were what protected them he said. Not from evil, god protected them from that, but from men. As long as the library could see and hear what happened, no crime would go unseen. Those committing the crimes might go unpunished, as there was a thousand year gap in the information recorded. meaning that all the information recorded could not be access for a thousand years, long enough that all secrets could be disclosed without fear of returning to do damage later. It was said that even in war those building that housed library equipment were spared from bombings or the eyes from being covered. For even the greatest army could be destroyed by a library ship. whole worlds destroyed for destroying an upload building housing the library’s equipment. Entire bloodlines wiped out. Yet the library was completely neutral, it would not step in if the planet was infected by plague or radiation or war. IT stepped in for genocide though. The library was shrouded in secrets like the night in shadows. IT was the closest thing to God and yet so far away in so many ways. It had no mercy and yet most societies and most people put there faith in it. It had no life, just motive. In the end, after two years, he realized that for all the pretty lights and wealth of knowledge the outsiders had, they lacked the one thing he sought: God. Most of the people he encountered were looking as well, but he realized he had had it all along. His people his world his farm, the animals and grain, fish and birds. He ruled there under god, and so he returned, shedding his brief faith in technology for that of dirt and water.

He was thinking of the Net its vastness seeming larger than the stars themselves when the first drops of rain fell, splashing onto his face.

It wasn't a long run to his home, but he moved quickly anyway. Although his home, like every other, was equipped with emergency water purifiers they were not allowed by his religion except in extreme emergencies. He arrived home soon after the rain started to fall. His rain barrels were covered with rough slabs of wood to keep the water clean. He removed the rough slabs of wood to allow the barrels to fill. He finished just in time, as he headed towards the house the rain started to come down hard. He did not hurry towards the house he was already soaked from the jog home, and he enjoyed rain in this warm weather.

He let the words of the lord wash over him. Like all of his people the walls of his study were full of books, from the bible to the writings of the profit Adam, of the Sumerset isles, one of the roughest planets ever terraformed. It was up to each reader to meet God. His touch and guidance was there in life with no need to seek it. But to meet him to know him, to have his light fill you, that required study, determination, thought. Any rat placed in a maze could be manipulated to its goal, but for the rat to understand its journey, its purpose, that required attention. He could not have guessed the number of hours he had spent of his life reading, sometimes a fever would come over him. After those periods he would wake in odd positions, having fallen asleep in a chair, on the sofa, or once on the table itself. He would find books open to various pages, notes hastily written in the margins.

He always felt closer to god after those long information sessions, but he also felt as if something was missing. The books he had on Zen Buddhism, Taoism, the water way, etc. all told of the beauty of life. Those Deep connections that you could feel to anything alive it you took the time to feel it. But they also dismissed the idea of God, of a God that interacted anyway. Many philosophies on life considered God to be outside of life. He may have created life, the universe, but he no longer took any actions, the small miracles could be explained away. And some people gave over to god everything, the way of the leaf spoke of accepting what was to come. Leaves did not fight, or cry when it was there turn to fall, they just fell. Those people would live on a planet where storms would rage every forty years almost completely killing off the population of the planet, and after the storm the survivors would rebuild. They buried the dead and went on trusting to god to stop the storms if he saw fit. Suggestions to impose their will on the weather, a semi easy feat, were met with utter shock as if the idea had never occurred to them. Sometimes John would sink into deep periods of thought, considering his readings, the beliefs of so many all centering around the same general ideals, and yet when you looked closer, so different that to truly understand ALL the differences you would need more than one life. John's father told him when he was younger that eventually everyman leaves the solitary homes, to come back to the cities. Like Jesus returning from the desert they are wiser, having passed their trials. They marry and have a family, experience the miracle of life first hand watching their first child being born. Raise their children and one day die. That was the normal path, but John felt he had a more important mission in life, unlike the rats he could feel the floor tilting guiding him slowly towards a certain path, but like the rat he could not see what lay beyond the first corner.

=Navigation= String of Fire:Chapter 2<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 3<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 4<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 5<BR> String of Fire:Chapter 6<BR> Characters

He awoke sweating. He could feel the darkness pack in around him. He stood, quickly tossing off the arms draped on him. He walked quickly out of the room.

The coridor was lit every twenty paces, leaving most of the hallway in darkness, lit evenly by small pools of light. The air felt cool against his nakedness. But it was more than the temperature that was unnerving him. He was alone in the hallway, just him and the echos of his feet as they fell upon the tiled floor. He felt a presence though.

He had the distinct feeling that the air was pressing in on him, trying to slow him, yet at the same time there was not enough air to breathe. He began to run faster, the echos moving faster spurred him on.

After only moments he began to panic. The air felt heaver, he was running as fast as he could, but when he turned his head around, the lights behind him were shutting off, slightly faster than he could run.

He pushed harded he could no longer here the sound of his feet on the tiles, only his breathing and the blood pounding in his ears. He kept glancing back. Seven lights remained. Six. Five. The lights were going out faster than he could run. Suddenly the lights were going out as soon as he passed under them. HE pushed harder, he could feel his legs burning, his chest was on fire. But somehow he kept up with the lights, they dimmed only when he passed under them, a quick glace behind showed nothing past four paces behind him.

He felt it comming; his body just could not take it any more; he knew he would slow soon. He could not keep the pace up. His right leg suddenly didn't extend as far as it should have. And the world slowed.

In the span of a blink, the lights winked out. The one over head and then in order down the length of the hall. Until he was standing in darkness watching a small light get dimmer and dimmer.

It seemed his life was leaving with the light, he felt alone, empty. Then suddenly there was a THUMP. The air shook. IT came again, and again. And that is when he noticed it, the light almost so dim was getting brighter, in fact it was brighting much faster than it dimmed. Still the air thumped and the light became brighter, until he could hear something behind the thumping, a melody, a strained voice screaming. And the light at the end of the tunnel rushed at him faster than he could have ever imagined.

The darkness exploded! The light took up everything he could see. A star and so close he could touch it. The thumping and screaming were still there. The comforting music of Rock and Roll streaming though his cockpit. He felt the restraints, the subtil controls wired to varius parts of his body, tasted blood.

He pulled his fighter out of its descent towards the burning surface of the star. The screens were dark; information should have been pouring at him, more than he could handle. The air tasted fine, backup tanks had vanellia in them, and if you could taste it in the air it was time to leave. This air just tasted processed. He worked the ship rotating gently one way then the other on all three axes. All thrusters worked. He throalted forward slightly. The vibrations that shook him had nothing to do with the music. There was definately a problem with his main engines. but without computers he had to assume he was still falling towards the star, just no longer facing it. He maneuvered again putting the star off his left shoulder. He engaged the main engine again on its lowest setting. The cockpit vibrated hard. His gimbals were screwed, but he needed velocity; the best he could hope for was to sling-shot past the star. He kicked the engine up another notch.

It was sometime before he was no longer worrying. He now felt confident he would not fall into the star, well not before he was sling shot past it and hopfully saved.

About an hour later he saw it. A small planet. Orbiting this close to the star it was unlikly it held life, though humans had terraformed the worst of worlds. He started at the planet and for a moment felt horror, but with no purpose. Then it camp to him. Without the darkness of space as a background, he could see the debris. Between him and the planet was the defence force. Battle cruisers floated dead towards the star, and worse than that there seemed to be too many ships, too many to leave. And then as he looked over his shoulder he screamed as the sun exploded.

He sat up in bed, the woman at his side was awake. She was naked and staring at him, reached out a hand to touch his face, and he brushed it away. He stood and walked to the hallway. The lights were spaced about twenty paces apart but this time he could see both ends of the hall. He stood slowing his breathing. Fighting the images in his mind. The girl wisely stayed in bed, leaving him to his demons.

The university grounds were never crowded even when they were full. Studies of all the different races, or societies, moved freely within its walls, penilties for breaking the rules ranged greatly. Beyond explusion, the penalties were not spoken of, but widly believed to include life imprisionment or even death. Though all charges could be argued in a public fournm the verdic was delivered in private and for the more serious charges the person was never seen again. It wasnt the fear of the penalties that kept most of the students in line, it was the fear of being told to leave. Everyone who attended the university worked very hard to get there, and the fear of being sent away was enough to keep all but the strongest of habits in tack.

Today he did not see many faces just robes, as he made his way to class. Of the grand lecture halls, all had stadium seating, meaning that the speakers would stand at the lowest point in the center, and the students would sit in seats aranged in circles, each level higher than the last. Diagrams or instrustions could be projected above the head of the speaker, in a space know as the "Blackboard".

Given the relative calm of the university, in class, most students sat near robes of their own color; intermixing went only so far. Speakers, who would shout for diversity on the public grounds, no longer even comented on the seating arangments, having discovered that sitting students near others of different robes led to distraction and poor learning. So when one would look around the class, the students would be sitting in solid color schemes, often ending at a path that led up between the seats.

The buildings were being cleaned, the scafolds ran up the sides of the grand halls. The men working them leaping from scafold to scafold, hundreds of feet of air beneath them. Kilranum stopped walking and stared up at the men. No doubt they had saftey equiptment, but from this far he could not see it. From somewhere deep inside he felt the tingle, the beginings of the "Rage". He quickly drew his eyes away. His breathing was normal but he consintrated on it anyway trying to bury the growing feeling of excitment. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, being so near the state of "Rage" he reacted without thinking, his training comming into play. His right hand darted towards his left sholder as he swong he left leg back, dropping his left shoulder. When he had the wrist he jerked forward and down across his body, pulling the man forward, and off balance.

The next step, being that their positions were now reversed, would be to immobilize his opponent, but he got back in control before that happened. As it was he was worried he was facing the back of green robe. The robed man was righting himself.

Kilranum's worries soon disapeared, as the green robed man turned to face him. The blad man was in his middle years, far older than kilranum, with a full beard. Wether they were bald or shaved no one of the Isand-societies, would say but you would never see one with hair on his head. Of all the societies the green robes were one of the most out going, doing there best to befriend even the most violent of races.

This particular man was named Steven, and Kilranum had meet him in prior classes, he had a quick mind and, though he was older had even more knowledge than you would suspect from his age.

"I seem to have forgot to not sneak up on you my friend." Steven said as he rubbed his wrist. Before Kilranum could so much as utter a word of apology Steven was waving his hands. "No worries my friend, no worries." It was a saying of the Island folk, 'No worries' meaning anything from no harm done, to hello, and everything in between.

Steven always wore his hood down, his almost black skin shining in the light. He always wore a smile as well. Today he had a bright red belt wrapped around his waist, no doubt it signified something, some holiday or religious event. Knowing no offesive would be taken if he slapped his face let alone asked after his belt, Kilranum did so.

"I see your belt is bright today, are you in celebration?" Steven looked down and said, "Walk with me." Kilranum nodded and followed. "Ah yes, today I was told my wife would be giving birth another child. This is my hope for a safe birthing for both my child and his mother." His smile held more of the meaning than the belt did.

"And what of you my friend? Have you any children? Forgive my question should it offend." Kilranum smiled no matter the question be it, 'How are you today?' or 'Did you kill your father?' he would always follow with 'Forgive my question should it offend.'

"I do not Steven, though one day I hope to have many. As you know we do not marry, though i have to admit sometimes marrage sounds eaiser." Steven laughed, not only that threw back his head and stopped walking. When he started again he had a tear running down his face, and chuckles still bubling up.

For a time the walked in silence. Then spoke of small things. What had they both learned since they had seen each other last, how Steven's Family was, his wife and children, his grandchildren. Steven inquired about Kilranum's family, but a glance was enough of an answer there, and they moved on to other things. Until Steven mentioned where he was headed.

Kilranum stopped, "What? He is here, at university?"

"Yes my friend, To speak on strategy and war games. The Battle-ship is under repairs in this very system. Tomorrow I take my family to see it, you are of course welcome to join us."

"I may my friend, I have dreamed of meeting him for a long time. And i wish also to see the ship again."

As they entered the building Kilranum was reliving the moments he had first seen the war ship "Phonix". It came floating through the darkness, his sensors were down, only had thrusters and those running out. There were no lights of course, it was war time, and all ships would run dark. But he could swear that at any second he would hit it, and yet to took so long. It came at him from the sun side, so he could actuly see it comming closer and closer until eventuly it blocked out the star completly.

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"They came in the storm, John. Took almost all of my stock. Old John Miller's place they lost half ther land great holes where they took the earth, trees, everything." <BR><BR>"Hold on now, no one was taken were they? No one was hurt?" The small crowd formed in a semi circle around the door of his home was restless, some of the men held wood axes, or hoes as if they actuly ment to use them as weapons. It had taken almost fifteen minutes to quite them down so he could understand more than the fack that livestock was taken and farms ruined <BR><BR>"Now we got people, some young men, running out to the far farms and word was sent to the other cities, but so far no one was taken or hurt." Jake Corn, was an old man, as old as they get and when he spoke of young boys he could mean people John's age, but people began to get quite when he spoke and by the time he finished there was silence. <BR><BR>"Ok Jake, you head to the millers place with all the women and children and enough men to see them safe, I will take the rest to town to see what we can find out." There was realy no discussion, only which men were to go where. It seemed that every generation or so had its problems with the outside world, and as far as the outside world was concerned John was the most informed, or so everyone beleived. <BR><BR>Two years ago a ship crashed that had been carrying a family of five, there were three survivors. And though there were elder and wiser men, everyone had come to John. Surly being outside so long he would know what to do. John had went into the city then with 5 other men to contact the libaray. <BR><BR>Two days later a ship desended over an open field, a massive thing, about half the size of the city. A Monk for the libabry came and took some data from the survivors, loaded the remains of the ship and the bodies and attemped to leave. To the people of the villiges the people of the libarary were just well educated folks who gave into technology and gave up the search for God. But to the people of the city, they were the closest things to Gods. <BR><BR>John had shook the librarian's hand, passed the basket of fruit to the man who attened the librarian, and was wishing him a safe trip, when the lights and siriens came blasting in from the west. <BR><BR>The villigers had seen hovercars, before and like before they moved off, when ever the men from the city came outside. But John was not quick enough, he was cought up by the new commers. A strange effect it had on the librarian, he threw up the hood of his cloak, talked in only one or two word answers, and left quite rudly, though the folk from the city didn't seem to mind. They had taken photos and recordings of the whole event, yet they never got closer than fifteen feet. <BR><BR>John wasn't looking forward to reentering the city, its temtations still called to him, when a boy came running up. He spoke quickly. <BR><BR>"The Stevens, Hawkers, Rinkibos, there farms are gone no sight of them, or there families. The grass... The grass... ITs all burned... ash and dirt... Me mum said to tell you fast." <BR><BR>Everyone looked at him now, the boy still panting for breath. "Jake get everyone to the Miller's, you get a list started then have everyone head to the city. You keep a list of who is inside." <BR><BR>There were started gasp, and everyone started talking right away, but John only had to clap his hands once and the crowd turned into a flurry of movement.

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Steven looked very different without his robe. But he was easy enough to spot with his blad black head, and long beard. Kilranum supposed he looked different as well though he wore the standard black military fatigues. One of his bothers women must have left the pin. It was a dark speck, But he kew what it was. A piece of the

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