1:4:2 Tarthesis (Part 2)

Lore waited with Char on the cargo bay ramp. They were so tense but were fighting themselves not to show it. Eventually, Sky joined them. The path from the landing pad to the village was a single gravel track. Grass and weeds had penetrated the road, making it hard to follow for the entire journey. They tried their best but, in the end, they decided to just walk towards the buildings ahead of them. It wasn’t too bad of a day to take the walk but the gravity and temperature made it slightly more uncomfortable than it could have been. Lore looked around, drinking in the scenery. From where they were stood, the ‘Wild’ zones were barely visible. Lore found it confusing but pressed on. They knew when they reached the village proper as, protecting the eastern flank, a field of wheat grew. There was a smell to the planet that none of them could quite place. It wasn’t unpleasant but it wasn’t pleasurable. Lore and Char tried to get Sky involved with their conversations as they travelled but to no avail. Eventually, they reached an actual road. There was a jarring transition from what they were walking on to what that planet used to mark roads. Their ‘path’ was mostly grass with a sprinkling of gravel but the village’s buildings were connected by veins of burnt sienna clay. A sign stood ahead of them.
“Welcome to Trenam…” Lore read the sign again and narrowed their eyes. “Treenam?”
“Look at this place. It’s tiny. Same prefabs as Faresis too.” Char pointed at several of the buildings.
Lore shrugged. “Prefabs are designed for this sort of thing but you’re right, it is a little small.”
“We’re on the outer rim and there’s next to nothing worth a damn on this gods forsaken rock.” Sky snarled. “It really stinks too.” They paused and took a breath. “Sorry.” Sky turned about face and began back to The Destiny.
“What’s the matter?” Lore started.
“You can talk to us.” Char finished.
Sky stopped. “I don’t want to go.” They turned to face Lore and Char. “My whole life I’ve wanted to see the stars, to travel like Granddad did but he chose Blue. Now he’s gone and I’ve got his ship and I’m getting, not just grounded, but taken away from the adventure without even being asked if that’s what I wanted?” Sky shook their head. “No. I know why you’re doing it but you’re wrong. I’ll be safe. I know when to fold them as Mauve used to say.”
“I’m sure you do.” Lore took a step closer. “But we don’t. Just by existing, we’ve changed things that should have been a certainty. We don’t want to lose…” Lore got half way through the sentiment before they were cut off.
“Goodness!” An ecstatic voice shattered the atmosphere like a fallen mirror. “You’re already here!” An elderly individual ran at them and wrapped themselves around Lore. “Visitors are few and far between. Given our size, we don’t produce enough to be interesting but we’re still one of the furthest colonies in The Protectorate.” He grappled at Lore’s hand and began shaking it as though he was determined to dissolve their bones into their musculature. “Where are my manners? I’m Mayor Woolsly and welcome to Trenam. The first human settlement on the feral moon, Tarthesis.” He gestured to the planet around them.
“Feral moon?” Char looked at her wrist. “Tartheis has never been feral.”
“It took us many years to tame her landscapes. Those perfect plains weren’t there until we began the terraforming. Again, I am getting ahead of myself. You’ve only just gotten here; please, follow me and we can find a more comfortable venue for our welcome.” He smiled.
“Lead on.” Char looked to Sky and Lore with a confused look. They both returned it with a shrug.
Woolsly all but ran towards the saloon forgetting his reason for visiting until he checked his watch.
“Goodness. My apologies.” He stopped and waited for Lore to catch up.
“They really must not get a lot of visitors.” Char whispered to Lore. They chuckled as they followed behind him.
The whistle stop tour gave them an opportunity to see what the colony had to offer to outsiders in its main road.
“What have we got here then?” Char quickly scanned the buildings. Each had clear labels written in a uniform and legible English font. “Let’s see, we’ve got a Food store, General store. Two very inventive names.” That got a chuckle from Sky. “Is that a Barber or a Chemist?”
“Probably both. People are at a premium out here. The town doctor likely had to do a hairdressing course.” Sky moved in a little closer but still spoke in a hushed voice. “Syn was born on a world like this before she and Dee moved to Rexel. Dee was her town’s undertaker.”
“After you.” Woolsly held the door to the Cafe open for them.
“Thanks.” Char took the door from him allowing him to enter while taking over his duty.
Woolsly led them through the near empty cafe and found them a surprisingly nice table. He sat himself down before remembering his company. He quickly pulled out a chair for Lore and Sky but neglected Char. Once they were all sat down, he handed out menus.
“You must be hungry from your travels. Allow me.” Woolsly set a polymer credit chip on the table.
“We appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid we’ve not long eaten.” Char looked at Woolsly apologetically.
“I recommend the subs. Any of them, they’re all great and they use our local grains to make the bread.” He spoke as though Char hadn’t said anything.
“While that does sound nice, we had a meal before we entered your system to be prepared for the walk here. A drink would be lovely though.” Lore narrowed their eyes at Char and then darted their eyes in Woolsly’s direction as if beginning a conversation with her.
“A drink then.” Woolsly took the menu from Lore and exchanged it for one with a selection of beverages and light snacks. A waiter approached. “I’ll take a Barley fizz. And our guests will have…”
“A pot of tea for us please.” Lore smiled as they handed over the menu.
“So, what brings you to Trenam?” Woolsly nodded at the waiter.
“We’re supposed to be meeting someone in about…” Lore looked at their Breacher. “Three quarters of an hour or so.”
“Another visitor? Well, aren’t we lucky!” He beamed. “You know, you look a little like that criminal The Protectorate was looking for a few weeks ago. Like a younger brother or something.”
“Something like that.” Lore sighed. “I’ve been getting that a lot.”
“Here on Tarthesis, everyone is equal and everyone is welcome. We’ve had more than our fair share of ‘criminals’ come through and they’ve been more than pleasant. Our doctor’s an ex felon. I’d never thought I’d trust a man the way I trust him.” Woolsly took his drink from the waiter’s tray, tapping it against the table before taking a swig. “Old tradition. All food and drink has to touch the table before it’s consumed. It’s only polite.”
“We did something similar.” Char looked not at Woolsly but at Lore when she spoke. “It is also tradition to collide the glasses together to ensure the quality of the material and that the beverages are not poisoned.”
Again, nothing. “It was a rule of the original settlers. Because their gravity generators weren’t as strong, food and drink had to be secured before consuming to make sure it didn’t make a mess.” Woolsly tapped his drink again against the table.
Lore thanked the waiter and began pouring Char and Sky a cup of tea from the pot. “You mustn’t get too many visitors.” Lore looked around the empty cafe. They looked back realising that there was no cup for them. They stretched over and grabbed one from a nearby trolley before pouring themselves the last of the tea.
“We’re only a small planet. There are enough of us here to maintain biodiversity but that’s about it. We’re on the outer rim, second furthest in The Protectorate, and we’re just inside one of the densest nebulas ever charted by humanity. It’s understandable that we’re not the first place tourists think of.”
“You can expect that to change at least for today. We’re supposed to be meeting an old family friend on this planet later today.” Lore poured their own tea then handed Char and Sky theirs.
“My my!” Woolsly’s face erupted into his largest smile yet, unnerving everyone else in the cafe if not the whole town. “When did you say they arrive? How long do we have to prepare?” All of his christmases had come at once.
Lore checked their Breacher. “About forty minutes.”
“Forty minutes. That’s not enough time!” Woolsly looked ready to run but Lore’s presence caused him to think again. “But what about you?”
“I’m sure the welcome you gave us will more than suffice.” Lore smiled. “They aren’t the sort for pomp and ceremony. A quiet drink and a history lesson would be perfect.”
“If you insist.” Woolsly sat down much to Sky’s disappointment. “Our original colonists left Earth with the second ship destined to Illia. After we lost contact with Illia, we became the furthest human colony.”
“So your colony is as old as most of Illia then?” Char looked around. She took a sip of her tea.
“While Illia may of gotten all of the cutting edge building and terraforming technology, we made do. All of this, made with a class three atmospheric converter and personal shielding units.”
“Impressive.” Lore had no clue what they were talking about. “Certainly inspired to use the field from a personal shield to create a forcefield.”
“Thank you. It was my grandfather’s idea. He was a scientist.” He took another drink. “It worked even better than expected when the nebula appeared.”
Lore was about to take their first sip but they stopped. “Sorry, it just appeared?”
“One day, thirty years ago, the nebula just appeared. We don’t know how it happened or why but it did. We saw a few Protectorate ships in the early days but this was about as far as they could go. They tried pressing in deeper but every ship they sent in was destroyed or the crews never returned. We’ve had maybe twelve ships visit us since.” He sighed. “But those were the days.”
Lore hovered their hand over their mug, thinking they’d learnt their lesson, then took a small sip. Still too hot, they singed the tip of their tongue. The tea had a slightly metallic taste to it but they weren’t sure if that was just because of their injury. “So if you were able to terraform most of the planet, why do the ‘wild’ areas still exist?”
“The badlands are home to the natives. A terribly savage people; when we arrived they were hobbling around the place on all fours, consuming their own leavings. We tried to educate them, with some success I might add, but they still remained hostile to us. We fought them, won and in doing so, extended our borders, breaking free from the glass domes and allowing us to breathe the virgin atmosphere of a civilised Tarthesis.” He looked smug enough to burst.
“Intriguing.” Char stirred her tea with her finger before taking another sip.
“Why keep them around if you’re only going to limit them to their zones?” Sky piped up.
“Because Protectorate law dictates that we cannot commit genocide against any single planet species and as there are no Tarthesians anywhere else in the galaxy, we’re stuck with them.” He sighed. “Now, I must go prepare for the others. Please, enjoy Trenam.” Woolsly stood and handed over his credit chip “Anything you desire.” He smiled as he departed. As he walked past the front window, Lore caught him out of the corner of their right eye. His ghostly aura gestured at the cafe staff.
“Okay…” Char’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What should we do now then?”
“I say we knock around a bit, maybe see what they’ve got in their shops.” Lore shrugged. Char looked at them as if they’d missed something. “Walls have ears.” They whispered.
Char nodded. “Sorry what?” Sky looked between them, confused.
“Finish your tea then we’ll go shopping.” Lore said nonchalantly.
That they did. Without arousing too much suspicion, Lore, Char and Sky necked their tea. The waiter returned, pretended to scan the mayor’s card then thanked them for their patronage.