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Through the Stars, Darkly
188 (3x38) Why the ship beeped

188 (3x38) Why the ship beeped

While her ship sped toward its destination, Sarisa went through her recordings. She had enough material to keep her busy for weeks.

References to the wind were everywhere, and she wondered if this obsession was not what ultimately destroyed this civilization. One thing for sure, there had been no wind on A36Z. Had the Aenu’th—for that was what they called themselves—somehow managed to get rid of it and by doing so destabilized their home?

The writings taught her more about the two castes—their relationship, distinct beliefs and culture inherited from older species they each descended from. Their origins were ancient, but well documented. Two older civilizations had clashed and from that bloody war, a new one was born. The victors enslaved the defeated, thus creating the two-caste system of the valad’eth and gh’enem’d. Had the latter ever attempted to rise and overthrow their masters? If so, she found no evidence of such a revolt. Were they content with their thralldom?

She wondered which of the two castes had written on those walls and how impartial their words were. Did these scriptures tell the whole story?

As she pondered on such thoughts, a ringing echoed through the empty halls of the ship.

She jumped out of her seat and hurried to the control room. A light blinked on the dashboard and a text on the screen told her they had reached their destination.

Based on the map she’d found, she’d taken a gamble. If the tower represented A36Z, she assumed the Temple would be the center of the Aenu’th Empire. It could be the other way around, but that seemed unlikely, as the Temple was a much bigger structure. Of course, there was a chance a completely different building represented A36Z, in which case she’d be totally off. Either way, this world had been part of that ancient empire, so at the very least she would find more ruins and perhaps another map that would help her narrow her options.

Another beep from the console startled her.

The ship had detected life on the surface... and then, just as quickly, it was gone.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She sat and tapped on the controls, but the sensors were now adamant there was no life on the planet.

As she was about to dismiss it as a glitch, the damn thing beeped again. There it was, clear as day. Her breath caught as she saw the whole world light up, as if filled with inhabited and busy cities.

Then it all was gone again.

She stared at the controls, then at the red and blue world floating on the display in front of her.

What was going on?

Was there or was there not life down there?

Well, she would find out soon enough, wouldn’t she?

She had spotted one point where the population seemed particularly dense and decided to head there first.

“Alright, ship, take us down.”

By the time they reached the atmosphere, the sensors had picked up signs of life a dozen more times. It was like a dance between brightness and darkness, chaos and order, madness and reason.

As they came closer to the ragged surface, she noticed a column of light beaming from the center of massive ruins. It did not look like a city, more like some giant building had once stood there, now ravaged by time and weather.

She frowned and checked her sensors. Sure enough, the wind blew here. Rather strongly, too.

The ground around the ruins was all red. Rocks and sand for the most part, though there were a few odd-shaped trees here and there.

Her eyes went back to the blinding column. There were shifting colors within, she now noticed. Looking up, she could see no end to it. It just seemed to disappear into the clouds, as if it merged with them.

“I’ve seen no reference to anything like this in the writings,” she muttered to herself.

Of course, she hadn’t had time to go through all her recordings, so maybe she just hadn’t come across it yet. Still, it was unsettling.

“I need to give this place a name,” she said as she pulled up her wristpad.

It was so far from the Imperium that no human had ever set foot on this world. She would be the first, she realized with a start. How thrilling was that?

She was tempted to call it Beamworld but figured it wouldn’t go down well in history. No, she needed something more regal. Though it should also be meaningful. She looked around at the landscape and grinned.

“Anethra would be fitting.”

In the language of the Aenu’th, “ansaras ethal rana” meant “world of red rocks.” Anethra would be a good shortening of that phrasing. No one in the Imperium would understand it, but it sounded good.

She nodded to herself as she wrote down the name.

When the ship landed, she went to the airlock and put on a suit. There was no air outside—at least none that a human could breathe. The suit hugged her form comfortably, injecting oxygen directly through the pores of her skin.

She took a deep breath before opening the airlock and stepping out into this strange new world.