She was a shadow dancing through the grass. The lightning storm chased and crackled behind her, with flashes bright and clear. Dusk was her favourite time; with the spitting lightning, and the hills and trees hidden and revealed, as if playing a giant game of hide-and-seek with her. The light glinted on her hair, revealing its deep violet tones, and little flashes of static played on her shirt and pants. It made her laugh, welling up from deep inside and spilling out, tumbling riotously through her young body. The sheer freedom of the wild, electrifying display of nature made her want to run forever, swooping in and out of the tall grasses.
Her short legs pumped harder as she tried to catch the fading sparks from the storm. The clouds moved away, gradually revealing the large gas giant around which Alkath orbited. She flopped onto her back, staring up at the clouds as they scuttled away and the weak rays of the sun tried to break the growing gloom. As the storm disappeared over the far mountains, the colossal bulk of the giant planet loomed across the sky. Red and orange gas storms raged in its atmosphere, larger than the entire moon her people had colonised.
“Kara…” A voice yelled in the distance.
With a start, she sat up. Uh-oh, that was her big brother’s voice, and he didn’t sound happy.
“Kara! You’ll make us late again.” Arlen stood on the hill leading back to their home, impatiently staring down at her. His hair was overdue a cut, again, and the wind played with the violet tips, pushing it into his eyes.
She searched around for her bag, patting the ground and pushing aside the smooth blades of grass. Maybe if she gave him some berries he wouldn’t blab to their mother that she’d been out playing in the storm.
Again.
Finding her bag, she jumped up and ran towards him. “I found some berries, Arlen. Want one?” she said, giving him a quick grin and slipping her hand into his.
He glared at her for a moment before sighing and shaking his head at her. “It’s hard to stay mad at you, Squirt. Come on, let’s get home for supper. Save the berries for later.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze.
Kara sighed. She wished she could stay outside all night in the quiet. She didn’t want to bury her head under her pillow again tonight.
They walked along the dirt track leading back to their home. The hulk of the main construction warehouse rose above the small shacks and family abodes that fanned out around it like the spiral arms of a galaxy. Adults called out to each other, their voices faint over the engines, as they carefully stored the heavy machinery for the night. Everyone on a colony learnt early, and fast, to treat those machines with more care than a newborn baby; they were the difference between failure and success, and life and death, so far out from the rest of civilisation. Maybe that’s why her parents spent more time with the machines than at home; like babies, they needed lots of attention.
Several young Ghelpen watched the nightly ritual through their compound eyes, the many facets faintly glinting in the dusk light. All the while, they tossed a ball amongst themselves, their yellow scales flashing. Arlen waved to them and they waved their antennae in return. Still, the ball flew fast and rapid, never once being dropped. Kara often wished for their dexterity. If she had four arms, she’d be able to catch the lightning.
Looking past the Ghelpens playing, Kara stared up at the terraforming spire. She craned her head back, tracking her eyes along the length and breadth of the bulky grey spire that reached towards the clouds. Several lights flashed periodically all the way at the top. The spire caused much of the lightning as it terraformed the atmosphere, adapting it to support life: it was the heart, the very centre, of their colony. It changed the surrounding air, turning this moon into a habitable home for both Ghelpens and Humans alike. The spire had stood above them for all her life and Arlen’s too. Pride swelled in her little chest. Her father and mother had helped build this spire; they’d transformed this moon. One day she would help this colony too.
Arlen guided her, his grip firm on her hand and they continued on, circling past the domed aquaponics hothouse. This instantly distracted Kara, her whole body drawn towards the clear walls that trapped the heat from the last rays of the setting sun. Inside, the plants would be basking in a balmy warmth she wanted to be in too. She tugged on Arlen’s hand. “I want to see the fish. Let’s go play with them,” she said, staring up at him with big, pleading eyes, as she dragged her feet.
“You know you’re not supposed to go in there anymore, not after you fell in the water tanks.” He kept pulling her along.
“But you’re with me, so I can. They said so.” She stuck her bottom lip out, dragging her heels even more. She wanted to have a few more minutes outside to play with her brother.
He shook his head. “Night’s coming. Mum and Dad have had a long day. Can you please come home?”
She blinked rapidly, staring down at the ground, but nodded.
“Hey, hey, don’t cry.” He shifted nervously and glanced at the Ghelpen children. “We’ll come back tomorrow. I promise. Just don’t cry, please.”
She thought about it, tipping her head to one side. Tomorrow would have better light to see the fish swimming in the tanks under the plant beds. Their scales glittered with prettier colours in the sun. Arlen was a good brother, so she nodded. And maybe it would be fine at home. She skipped onwards, with Arlen now trailing behind her. But she stopped before opening their front door and pressed her ear to it. Her parents’ voices were muffled by the door, but they weren’t shouting. Not yet, at least.
Kara slipped inside on Arlen’s heels and hid in his shadow. She peeked around him. Her father sat hunched over at the table holding his flexible data device, his weathered hand contrasting with the pale matt grey backing of the unit. The display glowed crisp and bright, casting her father’s face in harsh relief. A slight wrinkle pulled his brows together, and he chewed on his lip while he tapped his finger against the screen.
“I still can’t figure out what’s causing the problem with the long-range communication system,” her father said. “And with our luck, we won’t even have the spare part. Even if I knew what we needed.” He tiredly rubbed his eyes.
“We can cope with that, however annoying. At least it’s not life-threatening,” her mother said.
“Yeah, but what if something happens? What then Giselle? Waving our arms in the air sure won’t get anyone’s attention,” he snapped, leaning back in his chair.
“Can’t you put work aside for one night?” Her mother crossed her arms, the fingers on one hand tapping. “It’s not going anywhere. Put your flexi away and spend the evening with our children.”
“I’m the foreman, so this is my responsibility. Are you saying I should forget about everyone else?” He glared at her.
“No—look, would you ask them about their day for once? We came out here so we could have a fresh life, and raise a family. Yet you’ve become more absorbed in work than ever before!”
“This problem needs to be fixed.” Cal pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s not going away on its own. What if there’s another accident, and we don’t have enough meds to repair any tissue or organ damage?”
Her mother opened her mouth but finally noticed Arlen and Kara standing in the doorway. Her arms fell to her sides. “Please Cal, just for tonight?” she said, pasting a hasty smile to her lips.
Kara went to the kitchen area and shuffled her bag of berries onto the bench top. She didn’t like it when her parents didn’t smile for real. They didn’t think she could tell the difference, but they were wrong. Her mother’s grey eyes, so like her own, were flat and tired and she smiled less and less every day.
“Won’t the Imperial Fleet fly in here soon, Daddy? They can fix it!” Kara said. Maybe they could fix her mother’s smile too.
Her mother kissed her on the cheek, but gently shook her head. “Much as we’d like them too, but they’ll not be out this far in the Jade Zone.”
“But why? Aren’t we Imperials too?” Kara asked as she looked up at her mother, her brow crinkling. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s leg and clung on.
“Squirt, your mother’s right. We’re too new of a colony to warrant it. The terraforming isn’t even finished. In a few years we’ll get visitors, maybe,” he said.
“It’s the risk we all took in starting a new world and a new life away from the Onyx Zone and civilised space,” her mother said. Her mouth tightened, but slowly her genuine smile came back. “Now, Kara, go wash off those grass stains. Arlen, help your father with the place settings. And Kara,” her mother gazed at her sternly, “we’ll talk about your habit of playing in the fields.”
Kara climbed onto the little stool by the sink. She sighed, reaching for the soap to scrub her face and hands. She’d be facing extra chores tomorrow, and she’d bet all of them happened to be inside. Hopefully, the fresh berries would work on her mother, and she’d take them to the aquaponics enclosure. She just wished something would distract her mother.
She hopped off the stool and skipped to the table, scrambling up next to Arlen.
“My tooth’s wobbly, Daddy,” Kara said. She tugged on his sleeve and wiggled her front tooth with her tongue to show him.
“Will you look at that, you’re growing up so fast.” He made an effort to smile and glanced at his wife.
After her mother thanked the Eternities for providing food for them and asked for a blessing on their family, her parents lapsed into silence, tired from the long day. The unrelieved sounds of spoons scraping and clinking against their bowls made Kara restless and fidgety.
Arlen shifted beside her and frowned, opening his mouth several times before bursting out. “Dad, why is getting meds so important?” His knuckles were white from gripping his spoon. “I mean, don’t we have enough tech to just fix anyone injured with new parts? They could even be stronger than before.”
“Arlen!” Giselle gasped. “Don’t say such things.” She made a hasty spiral gesture with her hand, the symbol for the Eternities a common ward against evil used out in the depths of space.
“Why not? What’s so wrong with having a bit of hardware in your body? We use the stuff all day long anyway,” he said, glaring at them.
“Cybernetic modifications are illegal,” Cal snapped. “The Fleet would lock you up for having any.”
“How would they know? It’s not like they’re out here to check,” Arlen snapped back.
“They might not find out,” Giselle said, “but the Eternities would. Modifications of the body are not to be done.” She lightly shuddered.
“The Eternities are just a belief,” Arlen replied. “I don’t see that it’d matter to some all-pervasive force if we stopped someone dying by putting tech in them.”
Giselle briefly closed her eyes, her expression set, her lips slightly pursed. “Where does it stop, though? We can already regrow organs and tissue. We have no need for cybernetics, beyond someone’s need for perfection. And that’s a slippery slope.” She paused and put down her spoon. “Several generations ago, Queen Kanda banned them, because too many people tried playing god. Like you said, people thought they could improve on what was already there. Genetic modifications and cybernetics exploded in popularity, but, big surprise, Humans were becoming too homogenised. We risked extinction, and all for what?”
“Your mother’s right,” Cal said. “Which you’d know if you focused on your studies, instead of playing with the Ghelpens all the time.”
“Kara plays all the time. You don’t get mad at her,” Arlen muttered, hunching his shoulders and staring down at the table.
Kara blinked up at her brother.
“But you aren’t her age, Arlen,” Cal said. “You’re fourteen, and old enough to know better. In a few more years you’ll be working full time in the spire, and you can’t be making mistakes because you wanted to kick the dust around now.”
“That’s not fair!” Arlen half rose.
“Enough, Arlen. This is life on a colony,” Giselle abruptly cut in, bringing the conversation firmly to an end. Her hands shook, and her spoon rattled against her bowl.
Cal reached over and cupped her hand, softly stroking it.
Arlen glared at them and hunched over his dinner. Kara snuck her hand over and patted his leg, trying to cheer him up. He gave her a weak smile, and the table fell back into silence.
They’d almost finished their meal when, abruptly, her father stopped eating. He dropped his spoon back into his bowl, clattering it against the side. A small splatter of sauce hit the table. He rose and stared at the door.
“I thought I heard screams. I have to check on it.” The worry in his voice was clear.
“Honey, it’s most likely the Ghelpen children still playing. Sit down and relax for one night.” She shot Arlen and Kara a quick look, her mouth pulled tight again.
“We all need to take care of each other out here, no one else will.” He pulled his jacket on. “I’m going out there.”
“Wait.” She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I’ll get the med-kit and come with you.”
All of a sudden, their front door burst open, slamming against the wall with a harsh crash. A small chunk of plaster drifted to the floor.
A man in body armour, smeared with mud, strode into their home. He brandished a pistol in one hand, and what looked like a simple metal rod in the other. A mask with tusks painted crudely on each side covered his face. As the frightening stranger looked at Cal, Kara saw the tusk on the left side had a single stylised drop of blood dripping from it.
“Dark Raiders,” Giselle croaked, the whites of her eyes stark in her pale face, the calmness of seconds before wiped away.
Cal lunged at the raider in desperation. As his hands came near the gun, the man calmly raised the pistol and fired. The shots slammed into the side of Cal’s body. He moaned as he doubled over, clutching at his side. The Raider raised the pistol again. Kara squeezed her eyes closed, whimpering, too scared to move. The metal handle of the spoon dug into her palm where she held it too tightly. But the second shot still rang out clear and loud. Closing her eyes couldn’t block out the sound, or the gut-wrenching thud of her father’s body falling to their polished floor.
Involuntarily, her eyes opened again.
Arlen jumped up and grabbed a bowl off the table. He screamed, the sounds laden with terror, as he hurled it at the intruder. But the Raider dodged it with ease. He took two long steps and touched the metal rod to Arlen’s body.
Her brother fell to the ground with a small thud, to lie still beside their father.
Kara slid off her chair and slipped underneath the table. Her hands shook. Her eyes were wide and terrified. She should move. She should run and hide, but fear paralysed her.
“Please, oh Eternities please don’t kill them. Not my babies.” Giselle dropped to her knees as she sobbed and chokingly prayed.
The Dark Raider turned on her, laughing. “Too late for your gods. Should’ve stuck close to your pampered worlds.” His voice was harsh, the words falling as stones. The light flashed against the metal on the rod when he lifted it again. He pressed it into the side of her mother’s head and she convulsed and slowly slumped over. Her body continued to shake from the force of the tremors wracking through her.
From outside their home, came the screams of other settlers, but they were faint as if someone else heard them. The Raider’s boots appeared by the table next to Kara’s head and she knew there would be no escape for her.
As the tremors and pain seized Kara’s body, she stared at her mother. Giselle lay on the ground, her body slowly going still while a trickle of blood pooled under her face.
Finally, the blackness claimed Kara.
