Sonata in Orionis (Earth Song Book 2) Read online

  “What did you do?” she managed to ask.

  “What could I do? I popped open the bottle, poured two glasses and asked him if he was thirsty.”

  “Did he drink it?”

  “Yes, then beat me silly and almost saw me expelled.”

  “I'm surprised he didn't expel you.”

  “Me, too. I'd spent years dancing that invisible line between funny and too far. That night I knew without a doubt that I'd cross that line.”

  They sat for a time, the mood suddenly changing for some reason. Chriso finished his punch and looked down into the empty crystal tumbler as if wishing it held something stronger. “Minu,” he started with a serious tone, “I want you to consider sending an application to the University of Plateau.”

  Minu wanted to smash her goblet to the ground. Instead, she finished her own drink and spoke as evenly as she could manage, even though her anger was raging like a beast. “And what would you have told your father if he'd come to you like this after your graduation?”

  “He did.” Minu's head came up and he stared at her in mock surprise. “You're shocked? So was I. He was the very picture of pride in being Chosen, even though he no longer served by that point and was missing a foot and a hand. He strode around like a knight from the Chaos Era, how could I want to be anything other than Chosen?”

  “Exactly!” Minu agreed.

  “Because it isn't like a fairy tale,” he said with acid in his voice. “More than once I've wondered if I made the right decision.”

  “But how could you? You're the First Among the Chosen! There have only been four others; it's better than being Council President! There have been dozens of those, and most people hate them anyway.”

  “Politicians,” Chriso snorted. Minu nodded. “Am I saying it's not worthwhile? Of course not, I'd be lying if I did. But Minu, you’re a girl, no, that's not right anymore. You're a young woman. There is more to life for you than a future of violence, fear, and unending hardship.” His face softened somewhat. “Your mother would have wanted grandchildren.”

  Minu blushed bright red, turning away to hide her embarrassment. “That kind of stuff can come later.”

  “You've never even had a boyfriend.”

  “You don't know that!”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Her cheeks burned. “There's more to being Chosen than fighting and dying,” she said with less than complete conviction. The look he gave her brought back that night when he'd come home with the scar.

  “Yes, there is a lot more. You get to watch your friends die on worlds a thousand light years away while completely unable to do anything about it.”

  They sat in silence for a long minute while Minu tried to think of what to say. Chriso spared her that. “The Trials are a unique experience, Minu. They change you in ways you spend the rest of your life trying to understand.” Minu remained silent. He looked at her for a long moment, then sighed and put a strong hand on her shoulder. “I won't forbid it, of course. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I only want you to know I'd be just as proud of my daughter if she was in college than if she was a Chosen.” Minu looked at him for any sign of dishonesty and could see none.

  The seconds ticked by and Minu heaved a sigh. “I'm taking the written test tomorrow.”

  “I know,” he said and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, “good luck.”

  “Luck is not a factor,” she replied in a good imitation of his favorite saying. He laughed and shook his head. “I miss mom,” Minu said quietly.

  Chriso glanced longingly into his empty tumbler. “Me too, Sapphire, me too.”

  Chapter 2

  June 10, 514 AE

  Old Road, Tranquility, Plateau Tribe

  Minu maintained a steady pace as she jogged up the narrow path. The bright afternoon summer sun made her red hair flash like burnished copper as sweat poured off her like a river. Most people her age were busy chasing each other around, kissing in dark corners, and dreaming about a place of their own now that they'd graduated. Many would be going on to college. She snorted, her green eyes flashing dangerously at the very thought. They weren't the daughter of a First Among the Chosen. She had grander plans in mind.

  At the switchback ahead, a farmer was trying to coax his reluctant mule into traversing the treacherous turn. The beast's ears were back and it was eying the precipitous thousand meter fall on the other side with huge-eyed terror. Minu cut the corner before she reached the man and his fearful beast of burden, jumping from rock to rock to climb the two meter wall of stone. The farmer glanced up at her and gave an apologetic shrug toward his mule. For her part, Minu was surprised to see a farmer using the ancient roadway. Since the new cable car network was installed ten years ago the road was only maintained for emergency use. She cast him a wave to show she wasn't upset and jogged onward.

  Her calves burned with fatigue once she was back on the road and leaving the now braying mule behind. Twice a week for two years now she'd been climbing this road, the first time she'd only made it to the third switchback. Even with the shortcut this time she made the top in record time.

  "I think I'm ready," she huffed as the trail leveled out and she passed the historical markers. There wasn't a child alive in Tranquility that didn't know the story of Fort Wilson, established to stop the kloth from sneaking up the road she’d just jogged on.

  Even after the long run, her breathing quickly began to slow after the path leveled off. In a moment, she passed through the remnants of the original five–hundred-year-old wooden fort, restoration work was still underway, and into the large grassy park. Everywhere she looked there were families and kids running and playing, no doubt owing to the lovely afternoon weather. Everyone knew that the rainy season was only weeks away and wanted to get in one last outing.

  "Hey, Minu!" A friend from school yelled. She was playing a pickup game of baseball with more girls her age. "Wanna join?"

  "No thanks, Maggie," she replied and ran onward. Minu knew they wouldn't be upset. Everyone knew she was as dedicated to her goal as anyone could be.

  In another minute, she left Founders Park behind and turned onto Ridge Road, which as its name might suggest ran all the way around Plateau. For centuries, Plateau supported all of their tribe in four small villages. Eventually, as farming became more successful in the valley below, the farmland once necessary to support the villages was overtaken by houses and the sprawling city became known as Tranquility. She’d noted the significance of the name as a young child. History of Earth was an important part of their education.

  Earth. To Minu, it was just a word representing where her ancestors came from. A planet destroyed by a meteor five hundred years before she was born. It held a deep sentimental place in the hearts of her people, but it wasn't home. Maybe like the colonists in America thought of Europe? Home was here, on Bellatrix. Gamma Orionis as the teachers called it, two hundred forty light years from the home world. The star was so bright the scientists on old Earth ruled out any worlds capable of supporting life. Shows you what they knew!

  Minu had of course been taught as a young girl that their world orbited its intensely powerful blue white primary in a distant yet surprisingly fast orbit lasting two hundred, fifty-eight days to complete. If their planet had been in Earth's solar system, it would have been orbiting outside of the orbit of Saturn. Still, the equatorial regions were harsh deserts so scorched as to be nearly uninhabitable. Scientists had studied the world from the day refugees first arrived, and there was still no conclusion as to its unusual origin beyond the fact that it 'shouldn't exist'. Exactly how they came to that conclusion was a mystery to her. Something to do with a life-bearing world of this sort in a star system of this age, so old that heavy metals were very rare. Blah, blah, blah.

  Now jogging at a leisurely pace along Ridge Road, she was having to dodge more and more foot traffic. Electric trucks rumbled by along with the occasional nearly silent EPC-powered ground car. She reached East Street and turned toward the center of
town. In the near distance, towering buildings dominated the skyline.

  Running was out of the question now. The streets were choked with people making their way home from work. Instead, she heard the unmistakable clattering on a trolley approaching and pushed through to the curb. Minu jumped just as it approached and landed lightly on the side rail and grabbed a copper handhold. The conductor leaned out from the front and gave her a dirty look for boarding between stops. She just winked at him. Of course he knew who she was and just shook his head. She’d ridden the trolley almost every day and the man had been the conductor as long as she’d been alive, probably longer.

  The trolley was nearly empty on its return route to the city center where the cable mechanisms were housed. Because the entire plateau was circular and slightly uphill toward the center, the cable cars were a logical innovation as the town grew. The only disadvantage was that the gentle slope made for a relatively slow outbound trip. Cars and trucks honked as they swerved around the heavily overloaded trolleys creeping past in the other direction. She took notice of a rare horse clopping past the lumbering wooden conveyance. Her ride fairly whisked up the grade, scattering kids, horses, and angry housewives as it moved. A large wooden scoop on the front of the trolley was known to collect numerous passersby on a daily basis. They were made of wood because collisions with trucks were all too regular to justify the huge cost of steel.

  The trolley screeched to a stop and discharged a few of those venturing into the city center. The conductor hopped down and walked toward her. Minu withdrew a copper tenth-credit and flipped it to him. He caught it deftly and dropped it into his leather fare bag. He gave her another half -hearted stern look before going on to collect fairs from the other new passengers now boarding. She turned to see who else was going into the city and immediately regretted it.

  A black-haired man sat talking to a boy Minu's age. They stuck out among the crowd of brown and blond hair, their meticulously tailored clothes giving off a decidedly foreign feel. The glittering jewelry they wore told anyone who looked that the wearers were both rich, and not local. No one in Plateau wore jewelry unless it was a festival. The boy looked at Minu and she groaned inwardly as he smiled big.

  "Daughter of the First," he said in the typically too loud and slightly slurred speech of the Rusk Tribe, "Fancy seeing you on public transportation."

  "Hello, Ivan," she said simply.

  "How is your father?" the man next to Ivan asked. Viktor Malovich knew quite well how Minu's father was. The First wielded considerable power in the government of Bellatrix. Viktor controlled a powerful consortium of mining operations on the southern hemisphere where the Rusk Tribe settled after the destruction of Earth. Rumor had it that his first mine was taken in a nasty little battle between his family and the owners. Two other tribes were deposited near the Rusk. The others were conquered by them hundreds of years ago. The Rusk would have done the same to the rest of the world if not for the equatorial desert and the military tenacity of the Plateau Tribe with its allies. Dean Portman had not mentioned those details in their commencement because a few of the students were Rusk themselves.

  While Minu's father did not sit on the ruling council, his word held powerful sway among its members. More power than some believed it should hold.

  "He’s fine, sir," she replied with as much civility as she could muster. Years ago, the construction of a training complex was proposed. Viktor made a very favorable bid to have the center constructed in Rusk territory that he just happened to own. Minu's father spoke out against this choice, principally because the only functioning off world portal was located in Tranquility. His wisdom was noted and the training center was built in New Jerusalem Tribe territory, only two hundred kilometers from Plateau. Viktor never forgave him and even tried on a number of occasions to have him deposed as the First Among the Chosen. "Imagine seeing you on a trolley as well," she said in a bored voice. "I would suspect someone as powerful as you would have an expensive Concordia-made aerocar."

  Viktor made a face and scowled at her, letting Minu know that she’d struck home. The Concordia-manufactured flying cars were the greatest status symbol to be had. The problem was they were horribly expensive, extravagant, and most were earmarked for public service use because of their unbelievable versatility. No doubt Viktor Malovich had done everything within his power to obtain one of the coveted vehicles, without luck.

  "Our private helicopter landed at the aeroport a few minutes ago," Ivan shot back, "but with all the rabble going home to their mead and soup, we were forced by necessity to take this disgusting trolley." Viktor smiled and patted his son on the head, much like you would praise a well behaved dog. The trolley was clanking its way up the final climb and the center of the city was coming into view.

  "The conveyance my father takes is considerably more versatile than a helicopter," she said and turned to look. They followed her gaze to the Temple Plaza where everyone on Bellatrix knew the off world portal sat. When they turned back, she'd leaped from the moving trolley and was walking toward the plaza. "Have a nice day," she yelled over her shoulder. She stole a glance at them and saw Viktor watching her, stroking his long black goatee while his son Ivan watched her go with a strange look on his face. She shivered and suddenly felt dirty.

  A few steps later, the annoying Ivan and his nasty dad were completely forgotten. The squad of ceremonial guards at the entrance to the Temple Plaza paid her no mind. They were renowned for their ability to ignore everyone who approached the plaza. The round-the-clock guards were what the teachers called an anachronism. There hadn't been a fight over control of a portal on Bellatrix for almost two centuries.

  The Temple Plaza sprawled over twenty-five acres of prime Tranquility real estate. Of course, when ground was broken on the plaza less than a hundred thousand humans lived on the planet, and only a small fraction of that lived in wood and stone buildings nearby. Now, Tranquility was over a hundred thousand alone and tall brick buildings crowded close to the pristine groves and lawns of the Temple Plaza. Minu remembered childhood picnics on those lawns and chasing howlers through the trees. That turned her mind to thinking of her mother and Minu quickly pushed the memory away. How many years would pass before the pain went away?

  Straight ahead was the immaculately constructed brick quad at the center of the plaza. Beyond that the newest structure, the Chosen Tower, where the Chosen had their offices and many lived during their service. Its dualloy and glass surfaces were in stark contrast to the much more ancient brick and wooden structures of the other plaza buildings.

  To her right was the original Hall of the Chosen, its functions now taken over by the cavernous first floor auditorium of the new Chosen Tower. For the last few years, it was now the meeting hall of the planet's ruling council. It was an ornate and ancient structure of rare local wood and brick. Her destination was to the left, the Portal Temple.

  Arguably the oldest standing building on the world, it was constructed shortly after the first colonists escaped Earth. Volunteers maintained the simple wooden building with its wide eaves and shaded benches. She trotted over to the green painted steps and climbed them two at a time. An elderly man was on his hands and knees silently scrubbing the wood planking. He looked up and smiled without stopping his work. Minu returned the smile as she pushed open the heavy ornate wooden doors. Like a lot of people from Tranquility, she’d helped keep the building in good condition as well. Her father called it a labor of love.

  Inside the ancient exterior was an ultra-modern facility. Dualloy walls and transparent moliplas panels divided the interior space into several offices, waiting areas, and most importantly, the portal room itself.

  The silently waiting portal of iridescent forcefields rested in the middle of the room, gently illuminated by subdued lighting. It hadn’t moved from where it rested since the first human set foot on Bellatrix. This was the way their people arrived on this world. Fourteen other portals were supposed to be scattered across the planet, and this w
as still the only one that worked to go off world. There was a second live portal two hundred kilometers distant at the Chosen headquarters of Steven’s Pass. That one was for Chosen use only, and Minu had never laid eyes on it.

  "Minu, what are you up to?" asked a familiar voice. Minu turned to the portal operator’s desk and smiled hugely. It was none other than Alex Jovich. The elderly man smiled at her with his sparkling blue eyes framed by hair long gone gray. He was likely a very strong man in his youth, now age was catching him.

  "Chosen Jovich!" she cheered and ran to him. He stood to catch her in a hug while keeping one eye carefully on his console readouts. He wasn't more than a centimeter taller than her and he was built like a squat, slightly balding weightlifter. His piercing blue eyes regarded her critically as she ruffled his thinning gray hair.

  "Chosen Jovich, am I now?" he said in a stern voice. "Am I no longer Uncle Jovich?"

  "I'm just getting ready," she said as he put her down onto her feet, "the Trials are only a few weeks away."

  "No one would ever accuse you of being overconfident," he chuckled, and sat back at his console. "You didn't come here just to visit an old has-been Chosen, did you now?"

  "Not really," she admitted. She reached out and rubbed the two golden stars on his black jumpsuit cuffs, just like she always did, and he patted a knee. She smiled and dropped onto it. "I'm just eager to hear from father." Only her father wore just one star. Most wore four or five.

  "Should be any day now," he said as he surveyed the instruments, "your father’s team went out world almost two weeks ago."

  "I know; they're overdue."

  "Only by a few days. There's no such thing as a hard schedule in our business." Jovich carefully lifted her off his knee and pulled out a chair for her. "You’re too much of a woman to be sitting in a man's lap." His eyes took in her growing bosom without lingering.

  "Even an old has-been like you?"