*******
He might miss a lot when he left Earth, but one thing he was sure of is he wouldn’t miss Texas summers. Andrew was sitting under a covered area at the best burger joint in his hometown of Lampasas Texas. He wasn’t in the sun, yet he could still feel the rivulets of sweat joyfully dancing down his back trying to find a breeze that never came.
He was seated at a bench-seat-style outdoor table. The table and the benches were made of expanded steel coated in a blue rubberlike material which had seen better days. In various places, it was chipped and peeled leaving the rusted metal exposed. The rusted metal had that patina and polished look that only came from decades of use. He was sitting facing east and to his right was a 12ft or so tall piece of Llanite which had been cut in a semi-phallic shape and turned into a fountain via a hole that had been drilled down the center. While beautiful Andrew wondered how much this fountain cost and why anyone put it here of all places.
His attention was ripped away from the fountain by a truck horn blaring to his left. He already knew that his vision would be blocked by the privacy fence separating the seating area from the convenience store next door, yet that didn’t keep him from swiveling his head to look at the source of the honking out of instinct more than curiosity.
Inwardly he cursed the fence, not because it stopped him from seeing whatever minor drama was transpiring in the parking lot next door, but because it blocked the breeze which might provide him and those rivulets of sweat dancing down any relief.
Andrew sighed as he leaned back from the table into the back of the bench and looked around. His eyes settled briefly on the remnants of his burger and fries which littered his side of the table before looking up at the ceiling.
“Why are these two never on time?” Andrew sighed to the heavens.
He was startled back to attention by the gruff voice of his mother answering his question as she shuffled up behind him.
“Probably, because you got here 20mins early. I see you didn’t wait. I get it you’re just too busy and important to wait for us.”
“You know Mom he probably is just too busy getting ready, you know how the leavers are.” Said the melodic voice of his older sister.
“Yall are almost an hour late and enough with the leavers rhetoric sis,” sighed Andrew.
“So, Andrew have you definitely decided to follow your idiot father onto that alien planet?” his mom asked.
“Yeah, I have. This one is collapsing fast, and he gave up a lot to secure us all a seat on the transport ship. I mean Mom he didn’t have to get you a seat, yall haven’t been married for decades yet did. After all he did, I felt one of us should go along and show some gratitude. Plus, It’s a whole new world!!! With all new challenges and discoveries to be made. It has to be better than being stuck in this small town as the world collapses around us.”
“God Brother, are you that naïve and brainwashed to think that the powers that be would let Earth collapse?”
“Don’t waste your breath. Elizabeth, you know there’s no changing his mind once it’s made. One would think that he’d realize that he’ll probably be the only person on that ship without a college degree and he can’t really expect to be anything more than a glorified slave on this new planet full of PhDs, but not my son he thinks he’s going to go and help save the human race or something.”
“Sounds like he fell for all those advertisements Dad gave us ‘We of the Tired 19 have built a massive ark the likes of which the earth hasn’t seen since biblical times. The mission of this ark is to ensure human continuity in the event of a single cosmic event or political action striking our planet.’ Was that it brother?” Elizabeth said in an accusatory and mocking tone, taking on a comical new reporter tone while she mocked the advertisements.
“You don’t believe that nonsense do you, son?” His mom said while finally looking him in the eyes.
“I do! Just look around us. This place is falling apart, and I don’t see the elites or the government lifting even a finger to stop that. No, instead they’re just trying to pick at what morsels are left on the carcass and keep the best for themselves.
We’re in Lampasas Texas for god's sake and someone was murdered at Stoney’s last week over the last bottle of Titos. On Yuta 2 we have a chance of making a better world than one where people kill each other over a bottle of local booze, a better system than one that taxes its citizens out of being able to afford food, and a better society than one that thinks this is all normal and would rather dream of being a Kardashian than doing anything about it. One where everyone works, and nobody takes advantage of the system. One where if you legitimately find yourself in hard times you won’t have to worry so much.”
“See Mom, I told you he fell for their propaganda! One where nobody takes advantage of the system? That’s the biggest myth of them all!” his sister said in a mocking sneer
“Sure Beth, I guess I did, but what’s keeping you here?”
“Well for one your sister is pregnant!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“All the more reason to go. Yeah, it will be hard there at first, but better to raise your baby on a growing world where they can thrive than on this dying rock. Just look out there, do you see any new cars and since when does Lampasas have smog? I’m 28 and I don’t want my life to be like this. Beth, is this really where you want to raise a baby? I mean even Eve’s shut because they couldn’t make a schnitzel for less than $200 and you’re already on the meager government dole and are still struggling to make ends meet. Is that the life you want your baby to know?”
“Brother you know the president has talked about how she has a plan to fix all that. Why would I risk my baby on a new planet when I and they can be part of fixing this one?”
“Do yall hear yourselves? I get it it’s scary out there, but we’ll be the only family with cattle making the trip. We’ll be rich for once in our lives. Also, yall mock me about wanting to help with Yuta, but what chance do any of us uneducated folk have in turning this world around? At least there we’ll be starting with a clean slate and the guarantee of food for at least the next 5yrs.“
“Oh yeah Drew you and Dad will be rich? No, you’ll be slaves to the new elites, the elites who aren’t bound by the Constitution! What will you do then? Skydive your way out of it? Seriously brother what have you done with your life that makes you think, you’ll be anyone special?”
“What have you done other than been a leach on dad and made a baby?”
“That’s enough you two. Son, I know we’re being harsh, but it’s what you need to hear. I love you, but your sister’s right, what have you done that will make you stand out on this new planet? I just don’t want you abandoning your support network and the find yourself in a whole nother galaxy before you realize you needed us. Plus, don’t you want to be here for your sister and me like we are for you?”
“Oh like you were there for me when you abandoned us to run off with Gus? Don’t think I forgot your support. What about when you ran off and left us a second time? This time for Edwardo. So don’t play the family responsibility card on me. Beth may have forgiven you, but I haven’t. You know what yall two deserve each other. I hope it works out well for yall.”
*****
Andrew woke in balled up on the bottom of his crate with yet another crick in his neck from the cramped sleeping quarters and from whatever it was under his head. When he lifted his head an imprint of his sword hilt could be seen on his cheek from where he had used it as a pillow.
Sad to think that was the last time I saw them. Not even a week later we left for Yuta. I hope things worked out for Beth and her baby. I wished they had come. I’ll never forget how brown Earth was from space. Sad that I don’t even know if her baby was a boy or a girl, much less its name.
His musings were interrupted by a woman’s voice he hadn’t heard before. This one had an accent close to that of someone from west Asia. It had that grizzled edge that only belonged to a person who had seen one too many battles, “Have we found the Inojen yet?”
“Not yet Uhla, but we’re still looking. Some of this we’ll need to dump soon before it and the ship corrupt each other, “ said the man with the flamboyant middle eastern sounding accent.
“Understood, Rhem, don’t worry we heard you the first time. We don’t like this stuff around any more than you do. We’re almost to that ball of rock the Tribe asked us to visit on this side of the Blight and we’ll dump it all there. I just hope the Tribe brings enough credits. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see their faces when they see all these crates,” replied the woman.
“I have to ask, how did we make it through the barrier? I mean even the largest warships in the dwarven navy have a hard time jumping through it, so how did we do it so effortlessly and without its energy poisoning our systems?”
“Rhem, how many times do we have to tell you the Capt is a mysterious man with even more mysterious connections?”
“At least once more I’d wager as again, we’re talking about the Barrier. The Barrier! I get how we made it through the fence, but the barrier is pure layered magic and I still can’t figure out how the Folly made it through without degrading into dust. Also don’t expect me to be excited about landing on that ball of rock as isn’t that where we pick up our illustrious Fourier contact?”
“Sadly, it is. As for the barrier, I really don’t know how we made it through, but if I was a wagering girl I’d bet this isn’t the first time Capt has made a trip into or out of Elven space. “
Andrew strained to see the two pirates, but try as he might, he couldn’t see either of them. As he scanned the room trying to find them, he noticed that what he thought was a massive crate made of brass was, in fact, a foot. A foot for what he couldn’t yet see, but he guessed for a giant automaton. The ankle was a thing of beauty from a mad scientist's laboratory. With what looked like brass muscles interwoven around what appeared to be a steel frame underneath. Though he couldn’t see most of the details in the ankle as they were hidden behind a thick beautifully sculpted armor plate. The armor plating on the foot and ankle were both carved with intricate designs that reminded him of the carvings you’d see from Vikings. Even the runes that adorned the front of the foot seemed vaguely Norse.
[Bob informs me that what you’re looking at is the foot of a dwarven machine called a SteamHammer. It is their equivalent of a war golem. Which means they are the primary war machine of the dwarves. He informs me this one appears to be a medium-sized version and says that it likely tops out at only a meager 20 to 25 meters in height. The largest of them top 45 meters in height.]
Any chance Bob knows what the runes on the foot say?
[Yes, but they make little sense. It says, “one step at a time”. Bob believes they’re likely a recovering drug addict or something. The dwarves have a 19step process to help people out of addictions.]
He stared at the foot for quite some time trying to imagine the larger machine it was attached to, and was only drawn back to the dwarves when he realized the conversation had gone on without him.
“Either way Rhem, we need to get through this inventory before that Fourier bastard decides to change the deal when he sees what we found.”
“Uhla, you can talk some sense into the Capt. He is a Stuermhalen, he should know better than anyone that the Fouriers are treacherous bastards and have been since literally the beginning of time. There’s no way this deal is beneficial for us.”
“Oh Capt knows better than most, and point of fact Capt is a Sruthan not a Stuermhalen. You’ll do well not to let him hear you say that either. He’s touchy about his old clan after his exile. As for the Fouriers, they’re a means to an end. They’re going to get us not only on Vulcanis, but get us close seats to the presidential challenges. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to watch Sylnai crush that cheating Fourier usurper under her hammer.”
That was the last thing he heard them say before he heard a steam hiss and their voices disappeared just before the lights went out.