Page 156 of Pets in Space 10

Bright Star Prime

Adele’s heart ached when the little terrier whined. The puppy had been following her since she rose, its gait comical as it favored the injured limb. She hated to leave it, but it did not belong to her. When it could move without a limp, the geologists would return it to the preserve.

Stepping down from the flyer, Lochan eyed the little creature. “From the report, I expected it to be immobile.”

“The treatment seems to have been timely. But he may not have been injured as badly as it appeared. He’s been following me around since we rose.”

Lochan bent and offered his fingers to the dog. “It could be more of the ancients’ genetic tinkering. With everything we have learned, accelerated healing would not be beyond their skills.”

The terrier gave a little huff of approval and then turned imploring blue eyes onto Adele. Steeling herself against a pang, she shook her head. “It is as if he knows I am leaving.”

“From what I have seen of Adriana’s Blue, that is not impossible.” Lochan grabbed Adele’s travel bag and gear bag. “It is going to be tight. Our camping gear is wedged in around the passenger seat.”

“Do we have a few minutes? I should check in with Lynx. He will look after the puppy until we get back.”

Putting the bags in the flyer, he nodded. “You can have fifteen.”

She picked up the puppy. “Come on, you little rogue. You can continue to use my bed while I am gone.”

It was only two nights. He would still be in the camp when she returned.

***

Lochan made a minute adjustment to the course, sending the flyer toward the sunlit section of the planet centered in the viewer. In the window, it was no more than a large bright ball in the black expanse. “Three quarters of a period.”

In the passenger section behind him, Adele hummed acknowledgment. She had been quiet since leaving the planet. “It is disconcerting to leave one planet a bell past dawn and arrive on another at midday with only two bells passing.”

“How is it different from planetary travel where we cross a dozen time zones in a period or two?”

She made a soft sound. “It is an entirely different planet. With only one habitable planet in the Fourth System, I am used to it requiring days of travel to reach another world, not a few periods.”

He had not thought. He had grown up with regular travel among the First System’s four planets.

A fast passenger transport required a full sevenday for the stellar transit from the First to the Fourth System.

“This flyer is far faster than a passenger transport. A standard interplanetary transport would take seven or eight periods to travel from Deuce to Prime.”

“Knowing that there are systems where one can travel to another planet in a day is one matter. Experiencing it is another.”

From her tone, she was excited by the experience. He wished he could turn to see her expression, but the high back of the pilot’s chair did not allow it. “Can you see out the forward window? Prime is starting to take on definition.”

The bright ball of light had grown, glowing a vibrant green that was not quite as rich as an emerald, but deeper than peridot.

Adele gave a small gasp. “It is beautiful. Does that green have a name?”

“It is known as Bright Star green.”

She laughed. “Of course it is.”

“You do not approve?”

“I envy Bright Star’s exceptional media management and public relations. SkyHigh is not up to that level.”

Lochan felt himself smiling. The woman was beyond forthright.

The planet took on definition. Wispy, pale clouds floated above deep-green oceans and landmasses of gray, green, and blue. Once again adjusting course, Lochan sent the flyer to the eastern shore of the second-largest ocean.

Adele responded with awe. “I thought the turquoise of Deuce incredible, but this green is astounding.”

Lochan took a deep breath in anticipation. “Socraide Prime is a green world. I find Bright Star Prime more welcoming than Deuce. Even though I could have acquired land on Deuce, I preferred to place my bids here.”

“You have land on Prime? I thought—” She made a soft embarrassed sound. “The Bright Star Honor bidding. Those awards were announced while we were yet in transit. Did you fare well?”

Every member of the Nightingale’s crew had received honor awards for their courage in battle and their service on the Nightingale.

Along with the rest of the Bright Star retainers, they participated in a closed bid to convert those points into land in the Thirteenth System.

It was an unprecedented opportunity. The commerce bidding in the coming new year was only for leases and licenses.

Bright Star would not yield another acre of ownership until it had fully assessed both planets.

Recall of his awards increased Lochan’s pleasure in the day. “Well enough.”

The flyer descended, a peridot rim replacing the black of the stellar expanse.

The flyer dropped through the clouds, the sky paling.

The ocean below was bright emerald, tipped gold where sunlight struck the waves.

The rocky shoreline was a soft beige reminiscent of the Bright Star Deuce grasslands.

Beyond the shore, shallow hills were covered in grayish-blue vegetation.

Adele hummed happily. “I like that blue. It is not as bright as some of the Fortuna flora, but it is close enough to be comforting.”

The river came into view, cutting through the hills. The dark green waters appeared black where clouds shaded it.

Lochan guided the flyer along the river for a few minutes until the hills leveled into a basin that stretched for miles on either side and continued north to the mountains.

Ragged black peaks emerged from wooded lower slopes.

He caught sight of a gray wave, and realizing what it was, set the flyer to drop lower.

The wave broke, the separate pieces taking on definition as the herd ran from the noise of the flyer’s propulsion systems.

Adele gave a startled gasp. “What are they?”

Anticipating her reaction, he replied, “Equines.”

“You cannot be serious! Mythical horses?”

“Not so mythical any longer. That information, along with all the other survey data, is sealed to Bright Star’s security-privilege until after the new year.”

“Wondrous,” she murmured. “Are there peacocks, as well?”

“Mulan’s emblem?” He chuckled at her fancy. The peacock was as mythical as equines. “Not so far. But we have barely begun to scratch the surface.”

He shifted the flyer’s course, getting them back to their original path. “The Zero-Grav drop is ahead. I am going to circle and land on the far side from the river. I will try for the center of the drop field.”

***

Lochan stepped out of the flyer and took a deep breath.

The pale-blue grasses that grew in the basin had a pleasant, sweet scent.

The peridot of the high atmosphere was paled to celadon, a deeper color than the mint of the Socraide Prime midday sky.

Following him, Adele sniffed the air and raised one hand to shade her eyes. “The sun. It appears yellow.”

“It is a white dwarf, like Fortuna’s. The same atmospheric effect that makes the sky green turns the sun yellow.”

Dropping her hand, she gazed at the grassy basin and the scattered containers. “Astonishing. It is hard to imagine a planet completely empty of people.”

“You are one of five score who have set foot on this planet.”

She turned bright eyes to him. “The entire Nightingale crew?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Not all at once. But with only two-score scientists, they all needed to deploy for the physical sampling. The pilots were needed to transport them, and the militia to protect them. The dozen or so crew not directly involved in surveys still need a few bells of fresh air and solid ground to maintain health and morale.”

“Physical sampling?”

She had a quick mind to pick up on a reference to something outside her expertise. “Physical surveys that assess the viability of an area. They only occur after detailed grid mapping from flyer surveys at low altitude. Partly for safety, and partly to focus on the most desirable sections first.”

“How long were you here?”

“Not as long as we would have liked.” He gazed around the basin and toward the river.

“Originally, we were to fully grid map both planets and then begin the ground surveys. The battle intervened. When we returned two months ago, we had only six sevendays instead of three months to sample Prime. Only a third of the planet has been sampled. Enough for accurate offerings in those areas, but no more.”

“And Bright Star Deuce?”

He sighed. He could not reveal the delays caused by the sabotage and chose his words carefully.

“We had not finished the high-altitude surveys of Deuce when the despoilers invaded. On our return, we rushed through sampling Prime then moved on to Deuce. We were halfway through sampling a month ago when vistrite was discovered.”

“The vistrite changed the priorities.”

“As you voice.” He turned back to meet her gaze.

“With the recent decision to only offer Bright Star Prime in the commerce bidding, the Nightingale will return here and continue sampling as soon the Thirteenth System vistrite seigneur arrives. With two spears protecting Deuce and the vistrite, it will be safe for the Nightingale to leave orbit.”

The second flyer appeared, flying up the river. It circled and prepared to land. Both the pilot and passenger were militia from the Serengeti spear. Lochan suspected there had been intense competition for the assignment.

Adele opened her mouth then quickly closed it. Her head tilted, her expression speculative. Her words were unexpected. “I noticed we used one of the spear’s flyers.”

“Yes, why?”

“Resource allocation.” She looked over at the hills and mountains. “A system’s worth of untapped wealth and so few resources to protect it.”

“As you voice.”