Page 153 of Pets in Space 10
Miguel leapt from the flyer and stepped aside for the pilot to climb in. “The Nightingale can land, but it cannot lift. Even if there was a launch pad of sufficient capacity, it is not designed to survive the g-forces.”
Almost three years ago, Adele and Miguel watched from SkyHigh’s rooftop as four high-altitude transports lifted the empty hull from the Leonardo construction fields and launched it into the thermosphere.
In the thinnest layer of atmosphere, the lightweight engines used for planet orbit were able to propel it to the satellite dock.
There it remained for a year while the interior was constructed, and the main propulsion systems installed.
“Some days it is difficult to fathom.”
Miguel laughed. “That we are here, having followed the path of the Nightingale?”
“That”—she shouldered her gear bag—“and that the Nightingale exists at all. Ready?”
He grinned and motioned toward the two waiting flyers. “After you, Mistress Managing Principal.”
The flyers carrying Adele and Miguel to Bright Star Deuce would launch first, followed by the cargo flyers. After two days of hearing the pilots’ accounts of Deuce and the vistrite camp, she was eager to see for herself.
***
Adele caught her breath in wonder at the blue-tinged clouds swirling over a dark turquoise ocean.
For all its beauty, she found it jarring and alien compared to Fortuna’s lavender sky and violet oceans.
The flyer dropped through the clouds, skirting along the shoreline.
The plains of dark purple vegetation were soothing amid the strangeness.
They stretched for miles to a smudge of burgundy that she had been told was a forest.
The flyer banked, and the curve of the bay was revealed.
The purple plains yielded to gold-beige grasslands that ended in the arid gray slash of the vistrite deposit.
In the distance, midnight-blue mountains rose jagged and mysterious, capped with white that held the same hint of blue as the clouds.
The pilot gestured toward the mountains. “Sunset in six bells. Once the sun hits the peaks, darkness comes fast.”
As she watched, the mountains seemed to rise with the flyer’s descent.
Peering out the window she could make out the water’s movement, and then the vistrite camp came into view.
A series of temporary structures of polymer and canvas marked where the geologists were stationed.
The pale green of the SkyHigh equipment fortress was off to one side along with another temporary structure that would be their home for the coming sevendays.
The flyer banked again and dropped. A flattened area attested to regular landings. She had barely alighted when Miguel’s flyer came into view. Following the pilot, she made her way down a track created by the footsteps of others.
***
Adele guided the cargo sled through the narrow walkways between stacked containers.
These last few held the sensitive components that calibrated the Vortex and tracked the stellar vessel’s trajectory.
Two bells later, she finished examining the containers.
Stowing her devices, she smiled at her team. “Everything is in perfect order.”
She glanced at the sky through the clear panels protecting the containers from weather. “It is only a bell until sunset. Miguel and I should visit our camp and then we can find a meal.”
Robyn grinned. “The Nightingale geologists have shared the bounty of their traps. Roasted ground squirrel is delicious.”
Although Adele was dubious about any type of squirrel being edible, she was not going to complain. It had been bells since she gobbled a nutrition bar in place of a midday meal.
Emerging from the security barriers, Adele took a moment to examine the surroundings.
The cluster of temporary shelters was set at the edge of what could be mistaken for a gray riverbed.
That arid expanse was the location of the vistrite deposit.
She knew it ran north for a hundred miles, but the rolling grasslands hid it within a few miles.
To the south, the bay darkened to teal with the fading sun.
Following her gaze, Lynx said, “The geologists plan to spend Seventh Day by the bay. It is salty, but pleasant for swimming, and there is a type of clam in the flats and edible fish near the rocks.”
“How close is it?”
“Not quite two miles.”
Seventh Day was customarily a liberty day in the Thirteenth System.
The SkyHigh construction schedule allowed for liberty, but after two sevendays of forced inactivity, Adele was anxious to begin work.
“Do not plan on liberty. We need to survey the launch platform site and assemble the excavation equipment.”
At her team’s glum acceptance, she felt torn.
But until they had excavation underway, she had no notion of what problems might occur.
Gazing at the strangely hued water, she understood their desire to explore this new planet.
“If we rise with the dawn tomorrow, we can validate the site before midday and then begin on the equipment. If all goes well, we should have enough daylight left on Seventh Day for a short trip to the sea.”
Seeing all three faces brighten, she felt better about her decision. “Show me our quarters, and then I want to discover if this ground squirrel is as delicious as Robyn claims.”
Leading the way Lynx said, “They named it for its long fluffy tail, but it is the size of a hare and tastes a bit like duck.”
Sevenday 41, Day 7
Adele had expected to meet the Nightingale’s captain at some point and was a bit awed by the prospect. Considered heroic for undertaking the voyage, the Nightingale officers and crew became mythic figures for holding back the despoiler invasion for almost a day before the armada arrived.
She had not expected him to appear at midday on a liberty day to examine the assembled excavation equipment.
Nor did Captain Raleigh arrive alone. Security Chief Lochan followed him from the DOP-C and then First Officer Bran Hyssop with a lovely dark-skinned woman in her mid-to-late thirties.
From her insignia she was a scientist, not a bridge officer.
To Adele’s astonishment, a small white terrier bounded out and circled the woman’s legs.
“Pets? The Nightingale brought along pets?”
The woman laughed lightly. “I am Adriana, and this is Blue. She is native to this world. Or as native as a species can be that was introduced by the ancients at least a millennium ago.”
At a loss for words, Adele looked at her team, finding her astonishment reflected in their expressions.
On close inspection, the little creature was not a standard terrier.
Its ears were twice the regular size and stood straight up rather than flopping over.
Its coat was pure white without a mark, but most startling of all were glowing, cobalt-blue eyes.
That alone gave credence to claim the dog came from the ancients.
The captain cleared his throat. “Adriana can share Blue’s story another time. For now, we would like a report on SkyHigh’s readiness to break ground tomorrow.”
Adele knew that both Raleigh and Bran were from the free-trader worlds in the Eleventh and Twelfth System.
She had expected the rough manners portrayed in the entertainment media.
Instead, she found both men pleasant and soft-spoken.
She was not surprised by their knowledgeable questions; they had invented the DOP-C, after all.
She was not certain why Lochan’s presence was needed, but he seemed interested and did not interfere.
Satisfied with the equipment, Raleigh asked, “What is your concern with the site selection?”
She should have realized his true purpose. “The site is fine for a single platform, or even the modular expansion to four SkyHigh Vortexes. But a full-scale stellar transport center should be farther east and north. Well away from the bay for ease of expansion.”
Raleigh shook his head. “This site will be dedicated to Serengeti once we are past the initial stage of colonization. A larger center will be developed well away from the vistrite crevasse. But that is at least four years away, mayhap five.”
“But the honor bidding awarded significant land tracts on Deuce, and the commerce bidding is set for the new year. The contracts require at least fifty percent development within five years.”
“Only Bright Star retainers are permitted on Deuce, and only enterprises controlled by Serengeti retainers have awards on this continent. The commerce bidders will only have access to Bright Star Prime.”
Adele’s eyes drifted to the arid expanse where the geologists had been working for the past few days. “I knew Serengeti was protective of the vistrite, but an entire continent?”
“Under the first-century Metricelli protocol, Blooded Dagger has claim to the entire planet.”
Stunned, Adele grappled with the notion of an entire planet for one cartouche and, ultimately, one warrior, the Blooded Dagger preeminence. “Lucius Mercio owns this entire planet?”
Raleigh’s laugh was a warm rumble. “In a sense. Under the Bright Star agreement, the Thirteenth System belongs to the three partners on a share-percentage basis. To hold all of Deuce, Lucius Mercio would need to give up any claim to Prime. I am not privy to the details, but while Matahorn and Leonardo have rights to some of the non-vistrite wealth on Deuce, naught occurs on the planet without Blooded Dagger approval.”
Adele could feel a small ache forming behind her eyes as she tried to comprehend both the vast wealth in play and the complexity of the commerce arrangements.
Shaking her head to clear the confusion, she sighed.
“It is all well beyond my commerce expertise. But it does make me wonder, why not locate the Vortex at the halfway mark? One hundred miles is a long way to haul vistrite.”