The Book of Lei

Purdon just stared blankly at Izaan as he entered the recreation room, Holo-droid trailing him as the doors closed behind the both of them. The Holo-droid returned to its recess to recharge and Izaan sat down at the console and began editing his recording. Purdon had always found Izaan a difficult man to start a conversation with, the fearsome expression that he wore almost permanently repelled most attempts at casual conversation, and the forceful way that he went about his business only served to reinforce that. In this case, Purdon didn't need to work up to initiating a conversation, as Izaans voice echoed from the corner, without turning from the console, his carefully pronouced syllables somehow seemed easier to hear if you couldn't see those deeply set eyes and that long pointed nose, not to mention the almost permanent sneer.

"The message is recorded, I did like Lei suggested and made it as short as possible."

Purdon stirred, and offered a reply as casually as he could attempt under the circumstances.

"I think he's right, the shorter the message the more likely they are to receive it in time, normally they wouldn't be expecting to receive a message back on D'ridian, or not from our direction anyway, it might take a while to get noticed."

This time, Izaan did turn to face Purdon, the calm swing of the chair a contradiction to the strained look on his face.

"I know that. That's yet more evidence that they don't care what happens to us out here." He brought an agitated fist down on the arm of his chair. "As long as we keep producing the ore and it keeps arriving at the terrestrial processing stations we might as well be robots up here. Maybe robots would be treated better, at least they'd have to give them regular servicing."

Purdon ran a hand through his short military-like dark hair, his eyes moved away from Izaans piercing stare.

"They've forgotten about us, I'm sure they have. When Central Ore contracted us to come up here, the company was in a bad way, I think the people that hired us have most likely been replaced, which leaves us stuck here until something happens to remind them that we're still here. Not that any of that matters now. Where is Lei anyway?"

"Back in the main shaft, one of the extraction units was malfunctioning and he wanted to take a look at it. Even now at a time like this, he still puts work above anything else."

"Anything else?"

Izaan crossed his arms and intensified an already powerful stare. "Sometimes, I wonder."

Lei had been into the main shaft, and in fact he'd spent most of the day remotely recalibrating one of the extraction units, whose control interface was only responding to short-range communications. Short range was better than nothing, which meant that Lei could do most of his work from the mouth of the shaft. Now he made his way back across the surface of RP-77, staring out the window as the autopod piloted itself back toward the main facility. Lei wouldn't miss this lump of nothing when he finally got out of here, the ridiculously smooth, partly frozen landscape offered little to inspire, and yet so much of his job subjected him to this trip across the planetoid. Occasionally, you would get a view of D'Ridian, which used to cheer Lei up no end. That was back when he used to enjoy his job, back when seeing D'Ridian peek out from behind the nearby BA-70 asteroid would be the reminder of home that he needed, the reminder that he was here working in intolerable conditions, for the benefit of a whole planet. Now D'Ridian was almost showing completely, and all it reminded him of was that he had a new, higher calling, and although Izaan might doubt his commitment, he was now working for someone else, someone more worthy than Central Ore.

The autopod entered the airlock and the door slid closed behind it, blocking D'Ridian from sight, but not from Lei's mind. He'd begun pondering how lucky he was to now be able to make so much meaning out of a life that was previously so meaningless. When they shipped him, Purdon and Izaan off to Resource Planetoid 77, he knew it was going to be for a long time, and he knew that it was going to be a difficult existence, but that was better than the life he had before. At least he, if only by common circumstance was going to be less alone on RP-77. How could one be an outcast from a trio of outcasts? It was only later after his arrival he discovered they had all been chosen for placement on RP-77 because of their relative disconnectedness from the rest of society. All from different quadrants of their home planet, from vastly different backgrounds, they were now united under one common banner, all due to one very unlikely circumstance. They didn't know the previous crew, except by what they left behind, and one had left a book. Not a reader, or a holo-recording like the others left behind, but an actual book, made of paper, like you saw in museums. Lei had read it, and eventually, probably out of boredom, so had Purdon and Izaan. Many nights had been spent discussing the book, and some discussion had turned into debate, which eventually turned into agreeance, or something more than that.

Purdon was making himself dinner when Lei returned to the main crew quarters, his face was that of a man who had been in conversation with Izaan Those two argued quite a lot, although less so lately. Still, Purdons mood was unmistakeable.

"Thanks for sticking up for me!" said Lei, in what even he had to admit was a bit of a guess as to what had been going on while he was gone.

"How did you... er nevermind. Izaan was annoyed that you weren't here for the morning session, I guess he took offence at it on a day like this."

"I wanted to be here, but I couldn't take a chance that one malfunctioning unit did some damage to the Durillium cache before we got the chance to use it. I'll admit, it's not likely, but it is a possibility."

"Always the engineer eh?" Purdon tried a smile, but he was fooling noone. "Well anyway, I think I convinced him that it was worth you going out there. I argued that the insult of failure was a bigger insult than missing the morning session. Izaan didn't agree, of course he never does, but given that he hasn't said a word to me since, I can only assume he sees I was right."

"So, where is he now?"

"He recorded the message earlier, and was editing it to make sure it was encoded properly to guarantee receipt by Central, or anyone else listening. Now he's probably setting the timecoding to make sure it's sent during the main window, you know, so that they have a chance of receiving it in time, but not with too much time. We mustn't allow them to react before we're well underway."

At that Purdons face returned to looking somber, and Lei just nodded and sat quietly, watching Purdon prepare his meal. Lei didn't feel like eating, and for that matter neither did Purdon, he just wanted something to do, other than wait for the inevitable.

Lei noticed the book sitting on a console in the corner of the room, and moved to pick it up. It's cover was thick and hard, with a waxy coating that had a habit of collecting dust, even in the very sanitised environment of their quarters. Lei flipped through the pages slowly. The book was a testament to its creator that it had survived what must have been many hundreds of years before it came to find itself in this hellish environment. The pages were a deep and dirty yellow, with a brittleness that required a very gentle touch, so not to tear or break them. Lei's reverie was interruped by Purdons voice.

"That needs to be put into the pod soon. You may as well do it while you've got it."

Lei looked faintly strained. "I know, I was thinking that when I saw it sitting there, I thought I might just take one last look through it first."

"Well, you've had a look, best take it to the pod dock before Izaan gets back and another argument starts. If you want to read it again, we've always got the digitised version."

Lei rubbed his face, and with that movement it changed from a face of tension, to a distinctly downcast one. "I guess you're right, I'll be back soon, then we can start making the final preparations."

Purdon just nodded as the doors opened and Lei made his way into the corridor and toward the docking area. It was a walk that seemed so final. This was the last time Lei was going to see this book that had brought him so much joy, and moreover, the last time he would see these corridors, or the pod dock. Strange that he'd feel troubled by the thought of leaving this place that had worn him down so much over the years. There was really no point in dwelling on it now though, the wheels had been set in motion, he was leaving today, they all were.

Lei entered the pod dock through the decontamination booth. It was the only way in, and although protocol stated that any entry or exit was to be subjected to a full ion shower to remove any potential inbound or outbound contaminants, Lei forewent this requirement today. With his stay on RP-77 near complete, and with so much more weighing on his mind, he really didn't feel decontamination was any concern of his.

Lei opened the nearest courier pod and the smell of stale air burst forward as the seals broke. He placed the book on the central podium and pulled a small restraining arm over it, carefully locking the book in place without damaging it. On closing the pod he waved his hand over a small pad next to the pod door, which caused a display to be projected in front of him. Using his hands to move objects on the display, Lei manipulated a set of coordinates for the pods destination and scheduled a timed launch in the pod dock computer. On final confirmation of the pod destination, the display disappeared and Lei watched the book through the pod window. The book disappeared from view as the pod was filled with a viscous foamy substance to protect it during takeoff and landing. Lei slid a cover up over the window which automatically secured itself in place. He felt a sense of finality now, apart from going through the final checks before they set off for D'Ridian, that was the last task Lei had to perform.

The walk back through the perimeter corridor was slow and ponderous for Lei. He'd never lacked any commitment to what the three of them were doing, and now was no exception. However, for some reason he found himself wandering the perimeter corridor back to the crew quarters. The perimeter corridor was a winding white hallway, with high curved ceilings along the edge of the facility with small windows placed infrequently along its length. It by no means represented the most direct route back to the crew quarters, and may well have been the longest route possible. Lei seemed to be wandering now, not quite aimlessly, although he wasn't quite sure why he'd come this way. Something in the back of his mind took him this direction, maybe to bid a bitter farewell to the planetoid that had been his host for this seemingly endless stint of mining for Central Ore. Although there was very little to see out of the windows, he walked slower as he passed each one, gazing at the featureless vista that he'd come to loathe. The unending grey beyond the facility was only interrupted by one small mound in the distance, the local artificial light obscured the view of any stars in the distance so all that could be seen at the moment was grey and black.

Lei had almost stopped completely at one of the windows, brought to a near halt in his ponderous wandering daze, but now he was moving quickly. One pointless stare out a window had turned his amble into a brisk walk, and again at another window confirmation of what he thought he'd sighted out of the previous one had converted walk to run. The confusion about what was going on outside meant he now found himself sprinting down the remaining hundred metres of corridor, through the storage bays, into a connecting corridor, and finally, short of breath, entering the crew quarters.

"I just saw an emergency recovery pod out there, what in The Makers name is going on?"

Lei was now surprised to be facing Purdon and Izaan, both were looking ragged and showed obvious signs of stress. Lei hadn't expected both of them to be here, after all he'd seen a recovery pod over the surface. The recovery pod (or by its correct name the "Personnel Recovery Automaton") was generally sent out to rescue someone who'd become incapacitated or stranded on the surface. It was equipped with heat and bio-signature scanning equipment to recover people, or in some cases, bodies, and could do so completely automatically, or in rare cases by remote control.

"They're on to us, somehow they've worked out what we're planning" said Purdon.

"They? What, Central Ore? Surely not." Lei knew Purdon must be referring to Central Ore when he said "they", but he couldn't for a moment fathom how this organisation that had shoved them out into space and forgotten about them could have even the slightest clue what they were planning.

Purdon said, dismissively "Of course, who else?" and gesturing toward the computer console in the corner "Look, we're trying to get things under control here, sit down over there and play back the last transmission from D'Ridian, it would seem Central have been watching us all along".

Lei sat at the console, and played from the beginning the transmission that had been left open at the last frame, presumably due to the panic that had ensued immediately afterward. The image that filled the screen was that of Procter Thurlston, who announced himself as director of Central Ore, although last time Lei had heard the name, he was manager in charge of the terrestrial ore receiving station.

"This is Thurlston, of Central Ore in D'Ridian City. This unicast communicaton has been specifically encrypted for receipt by the Ore recovery facility on Resource Planetoid 77. Purdon, Izaan, Lei, using recent spectroscopic scans of your section of the planeto-asteroid cluster it has come to our attention that a very large and highly dangerous store of Durillium exists in a spent shaft on RP-77. Our physicists and engineers agree that the only plausible reason for such a large mass of Durillium is purposes which are exclusively destructive in nature. Whatever your reasons are for such an act, be warned now that no attempt to extort money from Central Ore will be accepted. While the safety of our men in nearby mining operations on BA-70 and 71 are of the highest priority it is company policy that no negotiations will be entered into with anyone threatening illegal terrorist action."

Lei was finding this whole speech from the balding and now quite haggard looking Thurlston quite amusing. He always suspected the man of having designs on a political seat in the D'Ridian Prime Council, and this bit of prose made him sound every bit the politician. Presumably, if this ended well, Thurlston would use his having averted a crisis to raise his profile and start to get voter attention. Thurlstons face softened a little, as did his voice, as he tried somewhat unsuccessfully to switch from politico to caring fatherly figure.

"When Central found you lads working in our factories on D'Ridian, we offered what we though to be a chance for a better life. We knew life on RP-77 would be hard, but not as hard as the underprivileged life you came from in the high-crime areas of your former home cities. I for one, had confidence that after your stint was served on RP-77 you would return to work for Central in D'Ridian City, comparatively rich men, and posessing experience and knowledge that would see you all highly skilled and in-demand. The hard work would be over and life as consultants would continue to serve you well financially. But lads, it seems Central has let you down. Your stint has drawn out, and budget cuts have decreased the quality of life for you somewhat. I acknowledge that much, however please don't feel you should take your frustrations out on us in this manner. Think of your colleagues at nearby mining operations. A Durillium explosion would do them almost as much harm as it does to you. If you don't care about yourselves, please think of the others."

Thurlston paused for a moment, just as Lei was beginning to feel something for the old man, he stopped and squinted at something that Lei figured must have been behind the camera. A script? Was Thurlston reading from a script? Lei presumed he was, and kicked himself for being lured in by this fake warmth from the devious old weasel. He continued.

"You went to great lengths to shut down any remote communications in the last few hours, however you will notice that a Personnel Recovery Atomaton has been deployed on the surface outside the facility. This transmission comes to you via that Automaton You were probably not aware that for the purposes of a D'Ridian led recovery these pods can be put into an Autonomous Recovery Mode in which they are able to operate independently, or as a slave from D'Ridian, and using emergency channels are able to relay emergency communications, such as this. The Automaton is also capable of assuming control of many systems on the facility to ensure a safe recovery process, such as security, life support, and an array of other primary and ancillary systems. Using the communications channels I mentioned previously, you are able to communicate a message to us, we have encoded instructions on how to do this into this message. We expect that you will reply with a message within two hours stating your willingness to disarm the Durillium cache you have created. We have taken control of systems you intended to use to detonate the cache, and all that remains is for you to agree to manual disarmament of the cache within two hours from initial playback of this message. Please heed our warning, as failure to do so will result in our disabling life-support systems to neutralise the threat you currently pose. This is not our preferred outcome however we are willing and able should you leave us no choice in the matter. Rather, we would prefer you comply with our request as soon as possible, after which you will be returned to D'Ridian to face trial for terrorism where a minimum sentence will be sought in recognition of our failure to consider your needs. You have two hours, please lads, do the right thing."

With that, Lei was back to the final frame that was being displayed when he sat down. He swivelled in his chair to face Izaan and Purdon, who had been having a quiet although fiery disagreement in the opposite corner of the room. Lei had been so ensconsed in the transmission from Thurlston that he hadn't heard them. They were discussing their options, but it sounded like they had come to a difficult conclusion, and were disagreeing on the options.

"I know, I know you said that we can't control any of the systems apart from waste extraction, but what does that matter any more, we've got ninety minutes before they execute us, we have no choice but to give in." Purdons hands were shaking as he was speaking to Izaan.

Izaan replied hotly "Give in? You coward, I thought it was Lei you didn't have the courage to die for his cause, but it's you who doesn't have the guts to face death."

"Death for what? Noone will ever know, there'll be no glory, noone will see or hear anything about what happened on RP-77, they'll just sweep us aside like dirt and replace us with a new crew, end of story."

"Have you no faith in our destiny you - "

At that, the argument was halted and both turned to face Lei, who was laughing like he'd heard a joke worthy of the best comedian in the business. Not only that, he continued to laugh heartily as Purdon and Izaan stared, one perplexed and the other so clearly filling with burning rage. It was the latter, Izaan that broke in first.

"What are you laughing at little man? Do you think our shame and humiliation is funny!"

"No, I think the joke about the Penguin and the Priest is funny, I also think people falling over is funny, although I try not to laugh out loud when it happens. But in this case, I think you two are funny, hillarious in fact."

By now Izaan was standing over Lei, with a menacing look on his face that would usually have repelled Lei a good distance away from that blazing glare. But this time he just chuckled a bit more and raised his eyebrows at Purdon before fixing his focus back on Izaan and replying.

"I guess I also find irony funny, because here is the best piece of irony I've heard in a long time. You two have always doubted my commitment to the cause, but here we are today in a predicament that threatens to undo everything we've worked for to the point where you have descended into bickering over death or surrender. Now the one person you doubted so much, is the only person who can give you a third alternative, a way to see our plans through just as we'd intended. Now I ask you, do you really think I lack commitment, do you think I have no faith Izaan? If I help you two now will we be able to leave here on equal terms instead of looking at me like I'm the weak link in this triste of faith in The Plan?"

"There is no way out of this, they have us trapped!" Izaan said this with almost no conviction at all, as though he'd been completely thrown by Lei's supreme confidence in his purported plan of retaliation.

"There is, but you two are going to have to show some faith now, not only in the plan, but in me. I can beat Thurlston and Central Ore's boffins in this game."

Purdon came out of his stupor and gave his opinion finally "They have teams of the best minds down there working to keep us trapped, why should you be able to beat them?"

"Because I know this place better than they do, they haven't lived with it's quirks, it's imperfections, it's strange design flaws day in and day out for years like I have. All they have is blueprints and plans to go on. Sure, that's served them well until now, but they think they're working with a perfect system, and the sucess of their efforts to contain us will only serve to increase their confidence in this supposedly perfect system. I know the truth, I know of the failings, and the modifications I've had to make to keep this place running properly. They built this hellhole on a shoestring, and I made it tolerable. I know things they don't."

Purdon surged forward and grabbed Lei by the arm, then Izaan also held him by the other arm. Lei was unpurturbed as Purdon said "What do you have in mind man, we don't have long!"

"We don't need long, we don't need anything much in fact. All we need is for you two to agree to my terms. Will you stop doubting me now?"

Purdon and Izaan both nodded, but Lei wasn't prepared to let it go at that.

"Say you're sorry then and that you were wrong, and I'll tell you what I have in mind."

Purdon, with conviction said "Yes man, I'm sorry, I know I was wrong, I always felt bad for doubting you", and then turned to face Izaan, who's narrowed eyes widened slightly. "I will not offer an apology so easily, I will agree that you are a brother, and you deserve respect, but no apology until you prove that this isn't just talk."

"Well there's a problem then", responded Lei. "When you realise that I have dug us out of this hole we're in you might already be dead, that's why I need an apology up-front."

Izaan and Purdon both looked confused, and Izaan shook Lei by the arm "Stop playing games with us little man or I'll - ", but Purdon interrupted. "Enough of the threats Izaan, if you believed Lei to really be a brother you'd apologise now. Remember what we learned from the book?"

At that both Lei and Izaan seemed to soften a little, and Lei said quite solemnly "Izaan, for my plan to succeed you might have to die, but you will certainly have to risk dying before we see the plan out, although in the worst case we will die knowing the plan will work and we will achieve ultimate glory."

And with that Izaan did something that neither had ever seen. He smiled. It was as much a leer as a smile, but it was obvious he meant to smile from what he said next. "Brother, I truly am sorry, you have the heart and courage of a lion, please tell me your plan." He took his hand off Lei's arm and placed it on his shoulder, and the other on Purdons shoulder. "Together we will triumph in the name of faith and enlightenment, yes?"

All nodded, and Lei stood up and folded his arms. "I will now tell you what Thurlston and his team of clueless halfwits have overlooked."

"As I said, I've spent considerable time and energy making this place work better, and the recovery pods that Thurlston is using to relay his communications and control signals are no exception. These automatons were deployed here in a curious state, one that I can only think must have been designed for a situation where the crew could no longer be trusted. They were initially configured to give priority to maintaining communications with D'Ridian over recovering a stranded person here on the surface of RP-77. I considered this was a risk we shouldn't have to take. If one of us were in need of immediate recovery and one of the recovery pods wasted time communicating with D'Ridian rather than getting us back here as a matter of urgency, we could be put in unneccessary danger. It was many years ago, and I completely forgot about their ability to communicate with Central at all, but on hearing Thurlston talking I remembered that I reconfigured the recovery pods to give priority to life-threatening danger, and to be able to react to certain events. One of those events is the failure of life-support systems. Once Thurlston turns off life support the recovery pod out there will break the communications link and attempt to recover us. If we're located on the perimeter somewhere it should be able to use its plasma saw to cut through to us and recover us to its mecial bay, which will have full life support

Purdon rubbed his chin "How long will it take for the pod to get to us, Lei?"

"If it leaves where it is now immediately after the life-support is disabled, it'll take roughly ten minutes to get to the facility, cutting us out could take any amount of time. Therein lies the risk."

Now Izaans smile really was a leer. "To hell with Central, to die in trying to complete our destiny is a glorious death in any case. A brilliant plan Lei. What say you Purdon?"

"I say yes" was Purdons succinct and solemn reply.

All to do now was to wait out the remaining time until Thurlstons deadline has passed. That and put together a reply to his ultimatum. Neither Lei or Purdon really had any great interest in doing this, they would rather sit quietly, Purdon fiddling with a computer in the hope it might start to work again, and Lei trying to work out in his head exactly how long it would take a recovery pod to cut through the outer wall. Izaan on the other hand, relished the idea of sending a pious and ranting reply to Thurlston, which he did promptly. The message was short but to the point, telling them that the unenlightened would be freed of their decadent existence, that they will not be responding further to any addidional communications. He completed and sent the message, then triumphantly punched the console shouting a word from his native dialect, as Purdon was about to ask Izaan what it meant, something unexpected happened.

Purdon looked up "We've lost all artificial lighting!"

Lei was less surprised "And all artificial oxygen too, or that would be my guess. So much for Thurlstons two hour deadline, looks like he got our message and he's none to happy about it. We'd better make our way to the outer perimeter while there's enough oxygen for us to move easily."

All three hurried to the door of the crew quarters, and Izaan almost walked into the door which failed to open on his approach. "Those ground-bound pigs have locked us in!"

Lei calmly gestured to Izaan to stand back from the door as he pulled a multi-tool from his pocket. The tool, a small palm sized object with no discernable buttons lights or display reacted to Lei applying pressure to it in a particular way which resulted in a short beam being produced from the end of the device. Lei applied the beam to a small protrusion above the door. The beam then changed to a blade-shape which he slid between the door and the wall, and used to prise the door ajar. On seeing this the other two assisted pulling the door almost completely open before making their way to the perimeter corridor.

Upon reaching the first perimeter corridor window the three noticed that the recovery pod had already made its way to the facility and when they stopped inside the corridor it stopped on the other side and began cutting its way in. Izaan was staring intently at Lei who was now sitting down to await rescue, and conserve energy.

"Lei, your hair is moving!"

"What?"

"There is a breeze in here, what's going on, why is the air moving?"

Lei reacted automatically by putting his hand to his head, he could also feel the breeze. "My guess is that Thurlston is being kind to us."

"What do you mean?"

"He's trying to give us a quick death. Presumably, he's opened the main autopod bay doors and the airlock, the breeze is all the air escaping. The doors open slowly, as you'd know, but I'd still guess we don't have long. It's best we don't talk now, we need to conserve as much energy as possible."

And at that, they were silent, each knowing that the recovery pod outside the window was yet going to take considerable time to cut through the wall. Lei realised then that this new development, one that he hadn't considered previously, would actually play into their hands. By the time the autopod was to cut them free, most of the air will have escaped from the facility, which would reduce the danger of decompression forcing them rapidly out onto the surface, where they may well suffocate before the recovery pod could retrieve them. Lei's pleasure at things again going his way was replaced by tiredness, which he momentarily tried to resist, before giving in to unconsciousness.

-+-

The medical bay of the recovery pod was very well equipped with medical equipment, it represented a trade-off between budget cuts and neccesity. While the bay itself was rudimentary, having no windows, just a small door, a very primitive control console and nothing else that would have cost more than an hour of any engineers time, enough medical equipment existed to rehabilitate even those close to death.

Lei, Izaan and Purdon may have been precisely that, but none of them would ever know, as they all roused into consciousness in the medical bay they had no option but to assume simply that Lei's plan worked, and they had survived. Any finer details were a secret known only to the systems of the recovery pod.

Still very groggy, Purdon twisted to face Lei and spoke first. "I never did ask you what you planned to do from this point onward. We've been recovered, but we've still only got a limited air supply from in here, and the facility is off-limits now too, having no air, and no systems we can operate. I hope your plan goes beyond this point!"

Izaan was the only one sitting up, and was exhibiting the best recovery so far. "We can drive this thing to the cache and ignite it manually with its plasma saw, then our plan will be complete!"

"No, it's not that simple." Lei stirred, he felt like he wanted to vomit but tried not to show it. "This recovery pod wont let us pilot it until it's certain we're completely recovered. That's part of the default configuration I didn't change. What I did change however, was the ability to direct other recovery pods from here. I remember thinking that someone recovered might need to direct additional recoveries if there are others stranded that the recovery pods don't know about, or if they need to be aware of potential dangers involved in subsequent recoveries."

Purdon simply nodded, indicating he understood, he was still weak. Izaan was rapidly becoming more animated though "You mean we can send another one to ingite the cache? Tell me how to do it Lei and I'll get it underway."

"There's a console behind you, but before you start, I'd like to make my way to the pilot bay so I can see what's going on. Are you coming with me Purdon?"

Purdon nodded again, and Lei gave Izaan a very simple set of instructions in how to wake up another recovery pod and send it to the Durillium cache with the false purpose of extracting someone from within it's ignition source. Lei would have done it himself, but the feeling of sickness wasn't going away, and Izaan seemed so keen. Lei and Purdon practically crawled to the pilot bay, where they could see the landscape of RP-77 out the window in one direction, and the hole in the perimeter wall that they'd been extracted through in the other. Soon afterwards they noticed a recovery pod leave the facility in the direction of the main shaft and Izaan joined them to see it head out of sight. The three looked onward. What had started with reading a simple book was about to end here, on a rock they they all hated, far from a planet they hated more, in a universe that had conspired to make them all lonely and spiteful toward their home planet, D'Ridian, which was now rising into view over the horizon. The inhabitants of D'Ridian City were about to realise what being abandoned on a planetoid with only a story book for comfort does to people.

The recovery pod had arrived at the ignition source, a small nodule on the outside of a massive pile of a cloudy blue crystalline mineral which had been carefully placed to fill the bottom of the mineshaft. The recovery pod had no sooner begun attempting to apply it's plasma saw to the ignition than it was completely vapourised by the swift reaction that proceeded to fill the shaft. The Durillium demonstrated its volatility, continuing to fill the shaft in a reaction that produced blue flame, bursts of plasma and exhaust gases that in turn re-ignited along the walls of the shaft, feeding the eruption that was about to take place. Inititally, smoke and steam and fine dust were ejected from the shaft, but on reaching critical mass the exploding Durillium reached it's furious peak and a jet of hazy detritus, mostly flame and ejected dirt, shot out of the ground and projected itself kilometres into the sky above RP-77. The surface of RP-77 rumbled and cracks appeared as the eruption continued, and the skyline slowly began to change.

Lei was momentarily ecstatic at seeing that blue flame tear into the sky, and to feel the planetoid groan and begin to move. As the primary architect of this plan, he was happy it had proven itself. Any joy was to be short-lived though, as the realisation hit all three of them. Lei, Izaan and a now fully-recovered Purdon watched as D'Ridian grew larger in the sky. D'Ridian was getting closer, as was BA-70, the nearest other mining outpost, which they soon met and passed, all three of them, the recovery pod, the facility, and RP-77 as a whole. As RP-77 slid by like some sort of abominable space-vessel the three noticed the escape pod launching from the facility. They watched as it was ejected into space in the direction of BA-70, Lei and Purdon with a face of solid stone. Izaan however, was smiling, and on noticing that, Lei realised he'd never seen Izaan smile ever before, and now would never again.

-+-

It was mid-morning in D'Ridian City, the light from D'Ridians sun ducked in and out of the patchy cloud, which served to bring some relief from it's heat. It was summer, and normally the city would be pulsing with the activity of it's citizens going about their business. On a non-working day like today most people would be out and about with family in the parks and other public spaces. Today was notable though by the hum of vehicles. The city was in gridlock. The air and space ports were bare, with all vehicles capable of flight having fled already, leaving only ground transportation available to the rest of the population, who had all converged on the main roads in their own vehicles, or any public transport that was still running.

Procter Thurlston might have been one of the many who had already left by air. His personal transit drone was prepared for launch at any minute, and was preloaded with instructions to fly Thurlston to Kirilin, the capital of D'Ridians second largest continent, on the other side of the planet, where the best guess is that they would be safe from the inevitable disaster that was heading for D'Ridian City. Thurlston had some time yet before he needed to leave. The current estimate was that RP-77 would enter orbit in around three hours time, and would then, within less than thirty minutes streak across the sky as a massive fireball which would eventually turn the city into a crater many tens of kilometers across. Thurlston had initially planned to leave the planet as many citizens themselves had done. The government had issued the evacuation order overnight, and had stated that everyone would be safe if they could get to the other hemisphere of the planet. But governments are often not trusted by their people, and many chose to leave the planet to be sure they would be safe. The government had expected this, and decided not to discourage it, as these people were likely to be the wealthier citizens who, could they not leave the planet, would flee by air vehicle, which would only serve to cause more airborne congestion at a time when they could least afford it. Thurlston wasn't able to leave the planet in the end anyway, he needed to stay and recover as much data from the Central Ore systems as possible to present to government officials who would be investigating this disaster immediately afterwards. Central Ore had no facilities outside of the disaster zone, so all data not recovered before the city was destroyed would be lost forever, and Thurlston needed to ensure that the correct data was recovered and the most damning data was destroyed. The former citizens ot D'Ridian City would want blood, and Thurlstons brand of Claret would be on the menu. He would have to live with the knowledge that he'd contributed to the loss of the largest city on the planet, and to the loss of many lives. It was only too evident that a vast number of people wouldn't escape in time and would either be killed by the impact of RP-77, or suffocated by the dust cloud that would follow. If Thurlston was going to face trial for this, he might at least limit the punishment he was likely to receive from the people, as his own conscience would be far less easily evaded.

With most of the data recovery work almost completed by his assistant, Thurlstons pained face stared out the window toward the virtually empty city centre. The vast city-scape extended in front of him, framed by the imposing mountains in the background. It was no suprise that D'Ridian's biggest city was located here. The colour of the buildings, the decorative shapes and innovative structures used throughout the city represented a pride in having settled the most beautiful area on the planet, and one of the most beautiful in the galaxy. His heart couldn't sink any lower than at the thought of the inevitable destruction that was to follow. So much was about to be lost. So much they would be unable to rebuild to it's former glory, if at all. Central Ore would have to learn from the mistake it had made from assigning these three men to Rp-77, and essentially abandoning them there. Lei, Purdon and Izaan had been labelled terrorists, but whatever their reasons for turning on their home planet, Thurlston knew that some blame lay with himself and his company. He had considered whether it was better that the captain go down with his ship in this case, but he lacked that level of commitment. He stared out the window again, and became aware that someone was watching him. It was his assistant, Karani. She had completed her work, and was seemingly anxious to leave, but rather than interrupt she approached carefully, placing a comforting hand on his back. Karani had been Thurlston's assistant for twenty years, she had started working for him when he was still manager of the terrestrial ore station. Now, even under the present level of stress, she remained loyal and supportive.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but we have less than ten minutes to leave. I have recovered everything you asked for, it's been transferred to the drone, which is currently idling on the roof waiting for us. We have to go now."

Thurlston turned to her, the face he'd come to trust more than any of his wives. "Indeed, we must leave. I mustn't keep you from that husband of yours, he must be anxious." The attempted supportive smile largely failed to look anything but strained, but Karani appreciated the gesture all the same. The two of them made their way to the drone, which lifted off it's pad, banked and passed over the city before gaining more altitude for the flight to the other side of the planet.

As they both watched out the window for the last view of their former home, a light appeared in the sky. The light changed to a comet-like shape, which then changed to a long fiery streak. A huge light at the head of a tail of fire and smoke dissected the sky as RP-77 entered the atmosphere in the distance, making it's way toward it's target. Both Thurlston and Karani, one after the other, pressed a small pad on the wall beneath the window, causing it to turn opaque. Both had seen all they could bare to.

-+-

The horror that unfolded on D'Ridian had not gone unnoticed by the inhabitants of BA-70. Not surprisingly, a whole planetoid passing by them propelled from a hole in its own surface had brought its three inhabitants (all of them male, all of them involved in mining the asteroid for the Central Ore company) to the main viewing area of the mining facilty that served as their home. Initially, there had been much conjecture, accompanied by fear and apprehension about what they had just witnessed, but that had ended abruptly when a small object appeared in the top of their viewing window. The object wasn't clearly visible, in fact it was only barely larger than the stars in the background. It had come into view from behind them, and had passed over the facility, then proceeded slowly toward the horizon, it's visible size growing steadily. As the object neared the horizon, one of the three identified it as a courier pod, and some quick calculations determined that it had in fact landed on their asteroid, just over the horizon.

The three immediately set out over the landscape of BA-70 to retrieve the courier pod. The trip from the facility to their destination took a matter of minutes in their new generation autopod, which had been specially adapted to very low gravity environments such as asteroids. The three had discussed the courier pod for the full duration of the trip out, and back to the mining facility. General consensus was that the pod had been sent from RP-77 while it was moving. Courier pods had been engineered to send items from one point to another at relatively close range, and contained no ability to navigate themselves. Fired from their target they would travel in a line directly to their destination, where the recipient would by use of automated systems and anti-gravity assistance, decelerate the courier pod and guide it into the receiving pod dock. This courier pod had missed it's target however, implying that it had been sent under strange circumstances, like from a source that was moving.

The three stood in the main storage bay of the facility on BA-70. The courier pod was in good condition considering its crash-landing, but although it had only sustained minor damage it still needed to be cut open. Now with the pod dissected it's three recipients surrounded it preparing to pull away the top half of the small but heavily constructed capsule. There was a slight hesitation, as all looked at each other in acknowledgement that the pod's contents could lend some insight into the strange events they had witnessed earlier. As the top section of the pod was heaved away and placed on the floor the white protective foam that filled the pod flowed out onto the floor, leaving a partially exposed object in the centre of the semi-capsule. All three gathered as the object was retrieved. As it was held upright the remaining foam fell away cleanly, as it was designed to do, leaving the object beneath untouched. A look of surprise was shared as the object was revealed to be a book. Not a reader, or a holo-recording, but an actual book, made of paper, like you saw in museums. That unified look of surprise gave way to one of confusion, as on the cover of the book were two words, neither of which any of the three had heard before, carefully as if he was speaking a foreign laguage, one of the three read them aloud. The words - "Holy Bible".