Swallow the Sky: A Space Opera (36 page)

“Unidentified
starships, this is Commonwealth Security. Do not change orbit, identify yourselves
immediately!”

He was on the ship. A
cacophony of voices filled the cabin.

“This is Coastguard
Command. Prepare to be boarded. Do not alter your course.”

“Coastguard Command,
we are launching eight squadrons.”

“For God’s sake man
you are on an open channel. Activate encryption!”

“Hey ship” he yelled
above the din “where the hell are we?”

“We are in circular orbit
two thousand kilometers above New Earth, at an inclination of twenty degrees to
the equator.”

“Did I black out again? What
happened? How did we get here?”

“You tell me. Thirty-eight
seconds ago I was in orbit around Kaimana.”

“Oh hell! There hasn’t
been a starship this close to New Earth in eight thousand years. They must be
going crazy down there.”

“This is United Media.
Who are you? Where are you from? Let us tell your story.”

“United Media, this is
an emergency channel!”

“With respect,
Coastguard Command, New Earth Security should be handling this incident.”

“How are you doing
Tallis?” Carson shouted.

“The Great Queen has spread her wings again.”

“I think you’re right,
nest-mate.”

“How many news feeds have
got the story?” he asked the ship.

“Over two thousand at the
last count, but it’s growing exponentially.”

Carson shook his head. “I
told Aiyana we’d be famous but this tops everything. By now everyone on New
Earth must be watching.”

He turned his attention
to the pandemonium.

“We are prepared to
make you a very attractive offer for an exclusive –”

“So help me United
Media if you don’t get off this channel…”

“Coastguard, I repeat,
Security should be –”

“Special tactics team
locked and loaded.”

“Encryption you
idiot!”

A new voice came on-line.

“This is Jing-Wei,
Chief of Staff to the First Secretary. I am taking over this operation as of
now. United Media, shut up or face the consequences. Security and Coastguard, I
want immediate integration with your systems. First order of business is the
armada of unauthorized vessels heading towards the starships; under the power
of Section Two of the Commonwealth Emergency Code you will override their pilots.
Stop them and establish a security perimeter of three hundred kilometers. Absolutely
no-one approaches any closer without my authority.”

“I must protest…”

“Don’t waste my time
Coastguard Command, Admiral Sanjay has been fully briefed.”

Carson grinned, he had
met Jing-Wei once; she was a woman who took no prisoners.

Her voice returned.
“Unidentified
ships – if you can hear me – please, our concern is for your safety and that of
the general population. Do not attempt to maneuver. I will be in touch again
momentarily.”

The clamor subsided.

“Is this going to happen
often?” the ship asked.

“God knows – wait, I
don’t think so. I received a message saying that there would be one last
journey…”

“Starships, this
Jing-Wei. We will be approaching each of you in unarmed civilian craft. We will
not attempt to board without your permission. Again, we wish you no harm.”

“Hey, what does she mean
–
starships
?” said Carson. “Did some other poor devil get caught up in
this?”

There was a pause. “She’s
right, there’s a large vessel one hundred kilometers up orbit from us. It seems
to be inactive – no lights or identification – that’s no surprise, I went into
total security mode myself as soon as the jump happened.”

“Can you get a visual?”

“Sort of, we’re still on
the night side, should be hitting the solar terminator any time now.”

A darkened image appeared
on the main display. What the hell was that? He was still trying to puzzle it
out when the vessel burst into light as it crested the edge of the world.
What
the...
For three seconds Carson stared at the display refusing to believe
what he saw. Finally he shouted in astonishment; on the planet below a billion
voices echoed his cry. Every human being in the galaxy would recognize the
spacecraft that spun in the warm sunlight.

The Yongding had come
home.

PROLOG AS EPILOG

Adhiambo Cissokho acknowledged the waves of the
colonists as she trudged through the settlement. She pulled her fur cloak
around her small body. Was it her imagination or was this planet actually
getting colder? She lifted her head and took in a deep breath of the pure air. A
flock of meta-birds were heading home through the pale evening sky, their
iridescent wings catching the last rays of sunlight. Cold or not it was a
beautiful world.

The buildings around
her were a strange mix of prefabricated dwellings and homespun cabins. She much
preferred the colony’s own attempts at housing. The low roofs and wooden
verandahs reminded her of her grandfather’s home in Botswana and the countless
afternoons she dozed in his rocking chair listening to the cattle bells, her
schoolpad slipping from her lap. Well, that was all gone now, this was all they
had.

New Earth! What an
unimaginative name. Still, it had been chosen by a vote of the community. Best
to let them have their way, at least in the little things. And the youngsters,
bless them, were calling the moon Adhiambo.

What a joy it was to
see the new generation, born under a new sun; but there would have to be so
many more if they were to survive. Every fertile woman in the colony had taken
an oath to bear at least six children. Cissokho bowed her head, their spirit
was humbling.

Aaron Samuelson was
waiting for her in the Assembly Hall. Constructed entirely of native trees it
was the largest structure the colonists had built, capable of holding the
entire community. The meeting was not due to start for another hour and they
were alone. She smiled up at him as he bent down and kissed her cheek.

He had come from a
caucus of the Technical Alliance and one glance of his face told her what had
been decided.

“You are not going
ratify the Covenant”

Samuelson nodded.

Cissokho looked into
his eyes. “Then you must go your own way.”

“Do we have to? We
agree with much of what you propose, if only you would –”

“No, we’ve discussed
this a thousand times. It has to be complete and unanimous.”

He sighed. “Then I
suppose we go. The southern continent is probably our best choice.”

Her face became hard. “You
cannot stay on this planet.”

“What? You want us to
settle on New Mars?”

“No, you must find
another system, as far away as possible. And,” she added, “you must not come
back.”

Cissokho reached into
her collar and pulled a silver chain over her head. Attached to it was a slim
black logic stick. She put it into Samuelson’s hand.

“This is the launch
key for the Yongding. Take both shuttles, we will have no further use for
them.”

“You can’t!” he
spluttered. “You’ll be stranded. What about the other supply dumps, the copy of
the Repository?”

“Being marooned will
prevent schism; by the time this society is capable of building a new starship
the mold will have been set. You can have the supplies, take them all, we have
enough, and as for the Repository we are well rid of it. I intend this colony
to become a singularity, the seed of a new life free of Earth’s insane
history.”

Her voice became
gentle again. “Aaron, these terrible events have given the human race the
chance of a new beginning.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “We will each
build a better world. You and I will be Adam and Eve. Is it not fitting? We are
both children of Africa, like the first ones.” She lowered her hand. “But this
time there will be two Edens.”

“But to take the
Yongding, the supplies…”

“We will survive, I
promise you.” She closed his fingers around the launch key. “Go now, leave
tonight, the colony will awake to find you gone.”

“We will never forget
you” he said, tears running down his face. “And one day we will return.”

Cissokho patted his
hand and murmured like a mother comforting a fretting child. Then, saying no
more, she turned and walked out of the Assembly Hall. For all her feelings of
shame she knew she had done what was necessary; the community would believe
that the Techs had stolen the starship and she would not correct them. Their
anger would unite them around the adoption of the Covenant.

It had begun to snow
and the chill made her wince. After a moment she straightened her back; it was
important to set an example.

Samuelson stood at the
entrance and watched her until she disappeared amongst the spiraling flakes. They
never met again.