The Falling Star

"The Moons, the Stars, The Rain and the Sun"

"Hang on, it's almost dawn."

"Look, a falling star!"

"Quick! Make a wish!"

"I did."

"What did you wish for?"

"You already know."

* * * *

The leader looked around with trepidation at the landscape. It was so uneven; she hadn't expected that. The DuneRail bucked and tossed as it crossed the land. The sun was behind them, just cresting the harsh looking mountains, and she was uncomfortable in the early morning chill.

"Damn it, can't you keep this thing still?" the liaison growled from the backseat. He was balancing his computer on his knees. "How am I supposed to get a fix on it if you keep up that kinda crap?"

The mechanic turned around and swatted the computer away from the liaison. It flew off his lap and hit the pilot beside him. "Would you shut the hell up," the mechanic said, returning to his task of driving over the awkward surface. "If you say one more freaking word, I swear I'll rip your head off."

The pilot said nothing, but handed the computer back to the liaison, who glared back at the pilot.

Their leader sighed, "Knock it off, both of you. I have had about all I can handle."

The mechanic glanced over at her. "If your golden boy here hadn't gotten us so far off course to begin with, we'd be there by now."

The pilot shook his head. "I was only doing what was asked."

"Only doing what was asked," the liaison mimicked. "Well, if you weren't trying to run some sort of a race to get there first," said the liaison, leaning forward and poking at the mechanic, "we wouldn't have lost the others. Smart idea, let's get separated and try to sort it all out later. Takes a real genius to figure out a plan like that."

"I swear," the mechanic barked, "you're a dead man."

"I am the only thing that's going to get you to the goal," the liaison said condescendingly. "You can't touch me."

The mechanic slammed on the brakes, turned around, and backhanded the liaison once, fiercely. The leader grabbed his arm, stilling any further action. The liaison, stunned, cowered in the seat, while the pilot tried to ignore the proceedings.

"Do you see that? He wants to kill me!" the liaison moaned. He turned to the pilot, "Am I bleeding? Did he break my nose?" His face was scarlet where the hand made contact, but there was no sign of further injury.

"You look fine," the pilot responded tiredly.

"I am not going to put up with this anymore!" the leader cried, "You," she said, thumping the mechanic on the chest, "Get this machine running again. And you," she said, reaching over the back of her seat and grabbing the liaison by the collar, "Get back to work tracing that signal. You," she turned to the pilot who watched her complacently. "Just stay quiet. Everyone just shut up!"

They started off again. The DuneRail continued to jerk sharply as they moved across the uneven landscape, nearly bouncing the occupants out of the back seat. The pilot held on stoically, but the liaison kept up a constant litany of offences. "Slow it down, you idiot! Are you trying to break my back! Watch it! You nearly knocked me out of the vehicle. You did that on purpose!" he prattled.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" the leader yelled. "How many times do I have to say it?"

The mechanic smirked and the liaison sunk back into his seat. They continued in silence for several minutes, the mechanic grumbling, and the liaison shooting disgusted glances at everyone. The pilot watched the scenery intently, his face betraying fascination and perhaps sadness as well.

"Am I allowed to mention a change in course?" the liaison said pettily.

"Where the hell do I need to go?" the mechanic answered.

The liaison gestured to a hill to their right. "It should be just over there." The mechanic gunned the engine and forced a last bit of speed out of the machine. They crested the hill and he slammed on the brakes. An incredible sight met them.

The four of them stared out at a strange village. The most slipshod, hodge-podged collection of buildings that the leader had every seen. There were at least 25 buildings in sight, of different shapes and sizes. Several of the structures formed a circle with a strange tower in the center of it all. There were grassy open areas, fields of empty farmland, a blighted orchard, and another section fenced in by bits of refuse, where seven or eight horses lazily wandered. Everything seemed to be built from scraps and pieces of trash.

And in the center of it all, stood a collection of people. They were clad in peculiar clothing, crudely made. Their skin seemed strangely dark and weathered. They were totally unkempt. The leader felt as if she had suddenly entered a VR program.

One dark haired woman separated from the rest and walked toward them. The leader looked at the other three and said, "Stay here."

The liaison tried to follow, but the mechanic restrained him. "Can't you hear," he growled.

"But it is my duty to attend all functions..." he started.

"Shut your hole before I shut it for you," the mechanical said menacingly.

Their leader approached the woman slowly, cautiously. The strange woman moved purposefully toward her. They stopped a few feet from each other and the wild-looking, dark-haired woman extended a hand and said, "I am Devon Adair. Welcome to Roanoke Colony, New Pacifica."

****

Mayland Vance, was a honey-haired woman of nearly forty, with almond eyes and a tight mouth. She was former First Administrator to the Council Chief, present First Council Governor of New Pacifica, and could not help but feel a strange repugnance to these people. The residents of New Pacifica were little more than savages. She waited uneasily with her pilot, liaison and mechanic for the rest of her group to arrive.

The DuneRails with her administrative aides, Alison LaSalle and Theo Raddison, arrived within a few minutes, along with a Council Guard of eight men. That left another four guards at the shuttle. Mayland was glad to see them. This completed her Initial Contact Team. Her Lieutenant Governor had stayed on board their ship, of course, along with her personal physician, the other administrators, and the rest of the guard. Only the doctor, the Lieutenant Governor and a handful of others were currently awake, the rest were still in ColdSleep and would come to the surface later, once the initial contact process was completed.

Devon Adair had surprised her. Mayland remembered seeing her in the stations, a haughty woman who seemed to float above all of them on her cloud of privilege and wealth. She looked like a dirty Earther now. It was enough to make a loyal Council Member like herself smile.

Adair gave them a quick overview of their seven years on the planet. It was soon evident why the Eden Advance group had done so poorly. Their ship, the Roanoke, had exploded when it reached the planet, and they had been lucky to escape with their lives. They had traveled across half the continent, loosing several of their members to alien attack and illness. When they arrived here, they discovered that the CargoPods were destroyed. They had somehow managed to build a rudimentary town to house the coming colonists, but the Colony Ship had met the same fate as their own craft and exploded when it reached G889. The debris left from this latest accident was still in orbit around the planet.

Of course, only the last part of this story surprised her. Mayland was well aware of the efforts made to stop the Roanoke from reaching its destination. She knew about the explosives planted on the ship and the spies planted in their crew. But the Colony Ship was to be left untouched. There had been no plan to destroy the colonists. The ship should have been disabled shortly after leaving the stations, but that attempt failed.

The back-up plan was put in place. Their inside plant, Wentworth, had been given the order to alter the Colony Ship's course before the Roanoke departed from it. She had fulfilled that order, as well as the order to destroy the Roanoke. She was dead now, according to the reports. Heller had been in position to report back on the actions of the members of Eden Advance, if they survived. Her medical logs would prove invaluable.

Mayland's mission was to simply pick up the Colony ship at its proscribed location, bring it into orbit, awake the passengers, and begin her administration. The colonists would have made an excellent labor source.

These people shouldn't have survived. They should not have found the Colony Ship and tried to move it. Mayland reasoned that the Colony Ship must have been booby-trapped to keep Adair from bringing the occupants to the planet. She was rather annoyed that nobody had bothered to tell her that, that nobody had realized the stupidity of such a plan. It made their whole mission rather pointless. She had brought a ruling force with her to a planet with nobody to rule.

The Council Liaison, Nathan Grand, wanted to access the CommDish and its systems. The residents brought forward their Government Liaison. He was a crippled man who hardly seemed to fit the profile. He was listed as Morgan Martin, Level 4. Martin was a thin, tall, longhaired man, who looked ridiculous next to balding, short and stout Nathan Grand. Nathan found a couple of guards and took Martin with him to the CommDish. Mayland had to admit that it was a relief to get away from Grand for a while.

Mayland shook her head slowly at the sight of the CommDish. It was a wreck. The Advancers (which is what they called themselves) had built some sort of a structure off one side of it, living quarters, as if to humiliate the high standards of communication that the dish symbolized. In fact, everything around them was built out of trash.

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the ugliness of what was around her. She had learned that they had used the bits and pieces of recoverable material from the CargoPods to build the structures, along with what they could find around them. She would have been happier if they had not used any of the materials from the CargoPods. The conglomeration of wood, metal, plastic, reed, mud and glass seemed to be a slap in the face of everything she held dear.

Mayland kept her mechanic, Jim Bower, nearby. It was funny to see their reaction to the title. Obviously, they were not familiar with the Council's sense of humor. Bower never fixed anything mechanical in his life, his skills lay in the opposite direction. He was a trained bodyguard, built like a brick, and assigned to protect her life. During her first meeting with Adair, Bower had pulled his weapon and kept it trained on the woman. He still held the laser pistol ready as they walked around the compound.

Once a quick survey was completed, she sent her pilot, Alex, back to the shuttle in the DuneRail with two of the guard. He brought the shuttle in closer, so that it would be easier to defend. There were reports of various aliens in the area, and those reports were to be taken seriously. Now her entire guard of twelve men were together and at her disposal.

"Is that all the information you have on the Colony Ship?" Mayland asked seriously, "It simply exploded when it reached the planet?"

Adair nodded, "We contacted it with the CommDish and tried to bring it into orbit. It broke up once we had it within the moons' orbit."

Mayland looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean, broke up?"

"I would like to use stronger words, like 'sabotaged,' but I have no proof."

Mayland smiled, "Surely you are not accusing the Council of having anything to do with that?"

"I am accusing no one," Adair answered levelly.

Mayland didn't speak again for several minutes. "You lost some of your people during the journey. And then again, recently there were several more deaths? Explain that to me," she said firmly.

"Captain O'Neil was killed by some of the planet's animals. We lost him quite early on. We were separated from one of the Escape Pods at the start. By the time we found them, they were infected with an illness, and we lost all of them. And then Eben Singh died due to a malfunction in her BioStat chip." She said this last part darkly.

"Oh yes, the BioStat chip. That is unfortunate. I would think that you have not received any further difficulty regarding that?" Mayland said, leadingly.

"Nothing that we couldn't handle," Devon responded. "And then recently we lost several more of our people."

Mayland looked at a list in her hand, "Solace, Baines, Mazatl, Danziger - both father and daughter, Bess Martin and Heller." She said matter-of-factly. "Wasn't Heller your doctor?" That was unfortunate. They had a special plan for Heller.

"Yes, our doctor. Every one of them was important."

"You said that it was some sort of an attack." Mayland stated.

Devon nodded, "Yes, it was the Killers. That's the only name we could come up with."

Mayland raised an eyebrow at this. "You will give me a full report on this attack, of course. We will need to examine the bodies."

"There is nothing left to examine," Adair said dully. "Life has been very hard here. We are lucky to still be alive."

The Council Leader shook her head and then gestured to the buildings around them. "You certainly were able to complete quite a bit of building. It must have been a disappointment when the Colony Ship broke up."

"You have no idea." Adair answered.

* * * *

Nathan Grand stood protectively beside his computer, which was wired into the CommDish main computer. He ensured that the download was proceeding as expected, and then turned toward Martin. "Do you think you could increase the air replacement efficiency? It stinks in here."

Martin shrugged. "There isn't any ventilation system. We're lucky to have fans." He indicated a small fan that sat on the floor, inefficiently stirring up the air. "I could open the door. That's about it for venting the air."

Nathan glanced at the door to the outside. The guards were just beyond it and he knew that protocol denied that they be allowed to hear any conversation between liaisons. "Forget it," he muttered. He watched the computers for a moment and then said, "I can't see how you could stand it here for so long. I mean, some of these other idiots, fine. But you're a member of the government. I would have thought you could have remained above it. But, I see that you fell into the same mire as the rest of them."

This government liaison was a mess. It was imperative that members of the government always present a well-groomed, superior image. This person before him looked as if he had never attended a class in proper dress techniques. He looked like an idiot and a fool. He was definitely below Nathan's class.

Martin had been efficient enough at least to have downloaded every computer log into this main computer. Nathan's copying would take about half the time he first expected. Nathan watched as Martin stood slowly and using a knobby stick, limped across the small room to a table, where he retrieved a bottle of water. "Thirsty?" Martin asked.

Nathan curled his lip. "That doesn't appear to be hygienically sealed. What procedure is used for sterilization?"

Martin gestured vaguely toward the windmill, which stood beyond the closed door. "We pump it out of the ground," he said.

Nathan shuddered. "I would rather die of thirst," he replied. He watched Martin critically. "What exactly is wrong with you anyway?""

"Oh, I heroically saved a girl," Martin said gallantly. "Risked my very life, just about killed myself. I ended up smashing my knee up pretty bad. Ever since then I've been like this." He waved his stick around for emphasis. "The doctor pinned my knee in place so I can't bend my leg anymore. Hurts like hell most of the time, but nobody here cares. My wife used to, but she's gone now. Everyone here treats me like a third wheel, like they don't really want me here."

"What was the matter with your doctor? Either she was an imbecile or she hated you - one or the other. You're lucky she's dead in either case."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Martin said, sipping from the container. "So how are things back home?"

"They've added onto platform XB19J," Nathan replied. "They have a new arcade and a vendo-mat. It was just up the row from my quarters. It was really something to see, everything brand new." He shook his head. "Hard to believe it will be fifty years old by the time I get back."

"You're going back?" Martin queried.

"You bet your life. There's nothing to keep me here. I'm heading back as soon as they get the ship turned around." Nathan was actually enjoying this time with the liaison. It had been a long time since he talked to someone who didn't treat him like an undesirable. Even though he could hardly consider Martin an equal, he could see the two of them becoming great friends.

****

"I have never seen a bigger fiasco in all my life." Bower said, storming around the large room. They had taken over the largest structure in the village, which the Advancers had strangely named 'The Great House.' "We came 22 light years for nothing. All you have here is a handful of leftover freaks."

Mayland turned to Nathan, who was studying the scan-logs from the CommDish celestial surveys. "So does it all add up?" she asked.

"According to these logs, they found the Colony ship two years ago and were able to access the controls remotely. They activated the systems and brought it into orbit around the planet. At that point the ship, for no apparent reason, came apart. That's the same story they've been telling us, and you can't fake these logs."

"Is there any sign of an explosion?" Mayland pressed.

Nathan shrugged. "They got no way of knowing. One minute they're steering the ship into orbit, the next minute they got dead air, and a million shooting stars. Blam. Gaz-finkto! They didn't have any monitoring devices in orbit, so once the ship was gone, there was no way of telling anything else about it."

"So," Bower leaned heavily against the thick wooden table, "Who's the wise guy who came up with this plan? Who decided to send us here for NOTHING!"

Mayland lay her head miserably on the table. She was supposed to be the first Governor of New Pacifica. She hadn't been pleased when she heard that she had been assigned to this task, but once she became used to the idea of ruling, she had come to like it. There wouldn't be much here at first, but if she were successful, millions of people would follow her. There was hardly any room left at the stations and hardly any resources remained on Earth to build onto what they already had. If all went well, decent people would come to live here some day, not just criminals and dying children. Now it looked like none of that would happen. This place was not suitable for decent people.

She was tired. She had spent the day interviewing each of the surviving members of Eden Advance. First had been Adair who seemed defensive and antagonistic, but she provided a great deal of information. Then she interviewed the yale, which backed up everything that its employer had said. Mayland was glad that Bower was nearby. She could not trust a yale.

Denner had been next on the list, a quiet and timid thing who could hardly speak while Bower was in the room. She ordered Bower to stow his weapon, and the fragile looking woman was at least able to answer questions. Cameron was quite helpful. He answered all of her questions immediately and thoroughly, a good 'yes man.' He seemed relaxed and asked them about their plans for the future on G889. He seemed to think he had a future with them.

The next interview was with Ulysses Adair. He was a strange child and of great interest to the Council. Mayland couldn't help but think that this boy was one of those 'whispered about children', born with The Syndrome. He was apparently healthy and happy now. Preliminary study of the medical logs showed that the boy had been cured by the native foods. Nathan had made a copy of the medical log, but she would not send it to her doctor immediately. Mayland would have to remove the confidential coded messages first.

The Walman interview proved that not everyone was happy with the way things were going. Although he never said anything against Adair, he did not say anything good either. Magus was next, she was less inclined to hold back her opinions of Adair, referring to her as Queen of Pacifica at one point.

The last interview was with Martin. He was also unable to hold back his dissatisfaction with the way things were going, and seemed interested in interviewing them most of the time. He was eager to tell them anything they wanted to know.

Every one of them, despite their differences, told the same story. Their personal, medical, scientific and administrative logs all confirmed what they had said. These eight people were all that was left after a disastrous mission. The planet was hostile, with few areas that were capable of supporting human life. They had collected extensive reports on geology, without any hint of significant resources to exploit. It became obvious that this group was just barely surviving. It seems that the earlier reports were somewhat misleading.

She looked at her staff. Nathan was tapping away at the keyboard while Bower was picking at an uneven spot on the table. Alex, her pilot, appeared to be asleep. Theo and Alison, her aides, looked bored and were going over the recorded interviews for the fifth time. So, she had journeyed 22 light years with this staff, plus 100 Council Guards, her Lieutenant Governor, various assistants and administrators, and her personal physician, enough people to control a population of 1,000 people. And they found only eight survivors.

"So, what do we do? Pack up and go home?" Bower asked loudly.

"I say we go now," Nathan interjected. "Martin told me about those Grendler things. Do you know they crave human blood? And those things they call the Killers... I know I don't want to meet up with one of those."

Mayland frowned deeply, "I am aware of these creatures. We must not abandon our mission. Remember why we were sent here."

"We were sent to set up a Council Government over the inhabitants of New Pacifica," Bower grumbled. "I see we outnumber them with just our initial force here. If we were to open all the Cold Crypts on the ship, we'd outnumber them like 20 to 1. That's quite a government. I say, we pack up and go home. Hell, if they want to send another ship-load of refuse to this place, they can send a new group of recruits with them. There is no point to us staying here. Why the hell should we? This place is a waste."

Mayland sighed, there was something that bothered her. Something about the sameness of each of their stories, "Nathan, is it possible that the logs were tampered with?"

Nathan sighed, "These are high protocol logs. You would have to rewrite major sections of code at the very base level. It would take years to do something like that."

"They've been here for years," Mayland said.

Nathan snorted, "I've seen their liaison. He's okay, but he's not capable of that sort of thing. Look, it's a near impossibility. First you'd have to rewrite the code, then you'd have to replace the scrolling data. This is mind-numbing work. I mean, he'd have to be at it every day for five or six years, and that Martin couldn't do it. And, when you're done, it would have to fool me. I'm not going to be fooled. I'm the expert at this sort of thing. You gotta listen to me."

"Theo," Mayland said to one of her sleepy-eyed aides. "Assign four of the guards to check out some of the data in the logs. Put Captain Simmons in charge. He has been trained for geological survey. I want to be assured that everything is exactly as it is stated in the record. Send them back across the Eden Advance's route and verify everything."

Theo, a slight man with light brown skin and short black hair, stood. "How far do you want them to go?" he asked.

"Until I say to stop," she replied.

Theo looked about nervously. "Ah, What about those weird creatures? I heard about those Killer things too. That Magus woman told me that they just latch onto you and devour you from the inside out."

Mayland shrugged, "If Simmons can't handle that, then I don't want him on my staff."

"And what are you going to do about that boy?" Bower said slyly. "If he is truly cured of the Syndrome, you know the Council will be interested."

"I believe you are right. He will be worth further investigation. We will get him on board the ship and let Dr. Li do whatever she wants with him. But not yet. We don't want to cause any alarm. I have the feeling that something else is going on here. We will wait until the scouting party returns with their findings. If I have reason to believe that there is something further to investigate, I will continue to research. If the scouting party returns and tells me that everything is exactly as they said it would be, then we know that they haven't tried to bend the truth. We could believe that the data in these logs is correct, and we will have no need to investigate this planet any further. It is then that we would take the boy, along with a fair sampling of the vegetation that cured him."

Bower growled, "There are only eight of them. Why do you want to toy with them like this."

"Because, they must believe that we are playing fairly. This planet holds many mysteries and I have a feeling that they know a lot more than they are saying. If we take the boy now, we will never gain anything from them. We must wait and see."

* * * *

 

Mayland had spent a week at the rat-bag collection of buildings known as Roanoke Colony. The scouting party had returned news that there were no errors or omissions in the logs. They had crossed the mountains and were now dropping into an arid valley. The Eden Advance maps matched perfectly. Simmons seemed nervous and fidgety as he spoke, obviously affected by the stories the Advancers had told him. Mayland decided to keep them out for another week, despite their protests.

It was difficult getting used to this way of living. When she was preparing the ship for the mission, she asked whether they would need to bring their own buildings, but was assured that the Government Facilities were included with the original consignment. They would only need to confiscate what they wanted. She should have gone with her first inclination. Living in the rough building was little better than living in a hole. At least she had been wise enough to insist on bringing their own lavatory facilities.

Bower was getting restless. He wasn't the type of person that did well in such calm and quiet surroundings. Nathan spent most of his time with the liaison, Martin. They seemed to hit it off fairly well since nobody else seemed to want to talk to either of them.

Alex was kept close at hand, mostly because she liked having him around. He was easy to control and handsome to look at, tall and blonde with rugged features. And of course, he had the most charming accent. Theo and Alison were at her beck-and-call. Yet, she couldn't help but feel depressed. She should have been lording over so much more.

Of course, she could have sent for further troops to be awakened and brought to the surface, but it seemed pointless. It was better to keep them in ColdSleep. There was no need for them here. There was always a risk when one is awakened from ColdSleep, and she felt the stations would be better equipped to handle any problems.

She met the Adair woman as she walked from the Great House one day. "Good morning, Governor Vance." Adair said, "I hope that you're feeling well this morning?"

Mayland grimaced, "The beds are uncomfortable, the air is too humid and warm, the sun is too bright. I don't know how you have survived on this planet for seven years. At least we brought our own food. The items I saw in your 'cook house' were revolting."

Adair nodded sympathetically. "Well, they are nourishing, and they did cure my son. Of course, your food supplies will run out in time. Eventually you will need to start eating food from this planet."

Mayland shook her head. She wasn't planning on remaining here until the food supplies ran out. She had come to the decision to leave the planet unless there was a decent reason to stay. So far, she had seen nothing.

The Adair woman continued to comment on the absurd notion that it was actually a pleasant day. Mayland just nodded silently until she finally said goodbye to Adair and headed back to her quarters. She stalked several paces away and then turned to face Adair. Mayland couldn't help but think that the woman had a smug, self-satisfied look on her face. The expression disappeared and became a shallow smile. Mayland turned and continued on her path.

****

Alison LaSalle picked her way across the grassy area to the tower. She was a tiny woman, with long blonde hair and a perfect little face. She had never planned to set foot on a planet. She certainly didn't belong on in this strange place, so far from home. When she joined the Council, she thought her life would be easy until the end of her days. She didn't realize that once she was part of that hallowed organization, she would have to do whatever they asked of her; whether it meant fawning over an overblown governor, reading endlessly boring computer logs, or getting a portable toilet fixed.

She made her way toward the Advancer women named Magus and Denner. They were sitting beneath the windmill washing out dirty clothing in a foul looking basin. She was glad that she wasn't allowed to interact with them. At least they didn't expect her to be friendly. "The Governor requires one of your group to repair an item in her possession."

"Yeah, what's that?" Magus said, pulling a dripping wad of cloth from the brackish water.

Alison turned slightly red. "Her toilet is backed up."

Both Denner and Magus laughed. Denner said, "She gets her own toilet?"

She looked down, trying not to let the Advancer women see her embarrassment. "We are all allowed to use it. It is Council property."

"You can always use the latrine you know," Denner said helpfully. She pointed off toward the shack on the far side of the camp. "We haven't had much luck in fixing things since we lost our mechanic. But at least our sewer system still works."

Alison frowned, realizing that if she were unable to find someone amongst the Advancers, she would get the job. "Let's see you give it a try," she said coldly to Magus.

Magus continued to move the bits of rags about in the water. "I don't know. That's not in my job description."

"I could get Mr. Bower over here to convince you."

Magus slapped the cloth back into the water and gave Denner a disgruntled look. "Hey Denner," she said, "It looks like I'm going to be fixing a toilet today."

****

Theo sighed as he served the rations for the day. He dropped a square of spirulina on each plate that went past, careful to make sure that nobody went past him twice. He didn't think his life would come to serving a bunch of surly Council Guards. Nobody seemed happy to be there. He wished he could tell them that Governor Vance was planning on returning to the stations, but such confidential information could not be discussed.

Much of the talk that day concerned the 'Grendlers' that apparently tried to get into the shuttle. The creatures were driven off, but they had managed to do some damage to the apparatus. It would take some time to make repairs. They were hideous, smelly creatures, who wanted human blood and whatever technical equipment they could carry. This certainly was a wretched place.

Once the food line was finished, he secured the remaining rations and then picked up his own meal and headed over to an empty seat in the main hall of the Great House.

He sat next to Alex, who leaned back on the narrow bench, resting his head against the wall. His long legs were propped up against another bench. He was angled so that he could see out the window on the opposite wall. Theo sat down stiffly beside him. "So, how are you holding up?" he asked the pilot.

"Have you ever stopped to see how beautiful it is here?" Alex said quietly.

Theo stopped, his spirulina bar half unwrapped. "I guess I never thought about that," the aide replied.

****

Mayland was working in her quarters, a small apartment in the Great House. She had finished extracting the coded material from the medical logs, but had found nothing worthwhile in the entries. So, she went on to record her daily report in her personal log. She had just completed the report on the shoddy repair work on the lavatory system when Nathan suddenly burst into the room, his face white as a sheet. "He's dead!" he said.

"What? Who's dead?" Mayland stood quickly and crossed the floor to where Nathan stood, tottering. "Who's dead?" she said again.

"That Walman guy. He's dead." Nathan moved away from the door, "Don't go out there. It will get you too!" His voice was high and he looked like he was going to faint.

Mayland glared at him, "What happened?"

"That thing got him!" Nathan cried.

The door suddenly flung open and Nathan screamed in fear. Bower plowed his way into the room, gave Nathan a disgusted look and then said to Mayland, "I think you'd better come out."

She followed her mechanic out of the Great House and across the open area to the body of Walman. The other Advancers stood around him, their faces sorrowful and strained. Most of her guard was standing with their backs toward this group, their weapons drawn, and pointing in every direction.

"What happened?" Mayland said again.

"It was only a matter of time," Adair said with a sigh. "He was attacked by one of the Killers."

"I saw it happen!" Nathan said, as he came up beside her. He glanced to the forest as he spoke. "This huge ugly black insect just came out of nowhere and jumped on him. Gawd, it must have been at least a half meter tall. It bit him on the throat and he just fell over like that, dead."

Mayland knelt down beside the prone man and felt for a pulse, there was none. The body was slack and empty.

"This is how we lost the others," Adair said grimily. "The bite of the Killer is deadly. They inject their victim with venom that will slowly dissolve the flesh from the inside out. It will come back later to feast." Adair nodded to the other Advancers. "You know what to do. The sooner the better."

Four of the Advancers came forward, took the body by the ankles and shoulders and hefted it upward. The solemn group shuffled across the open area toward the beach. They were a grim and silent bunch, obviously beaten down by these circumstances.

"Where are you taking him?" Mayland asked.

"We will bury him at sea," Adair answered. "If we try to bury him on land, he will only be dug up by the creatures that live nearby. We will be safer if he is at the bottom of the ocean."

"We will transport him to the ship for analysis," Mayland said, nodding to several of her guards.

"His body is already dissolving. Your shuttle isn't currently capable of flight, and you have no ColdCrypt facilities on board. By the time you are ready to depart, the body will be rendered nothing more than a pile of partially digested flesh," Adair said numbly. Nathan cringed, as did the majority of the guard. Even Bower looked a little ill at the description. Adair continued, "The smell is quite overpowering. You will have quite a bit of trouble keeping the local wildlife away." She looked around at the group. "This has happened before."

"Get rid of him then," Mayland barked. She glanced around at her guard, "I want you to capture one of these 'Killers' for our analysis. We have to be prepared with an antidote. Grand, did you see where this thing went."

Nathan, who looked like he needed to sit down, pointed vaguely toward a wooded area. None of the guard looked like they wanted to go.

The Advancers moved the body down to the shoreline and placed it in the bottom of one of their flimsy looking crafts. Two of the group, Magus and Cameron, stepped into the boat. The others milled around the shore, looking for large stones, which they tucked into Walman's clothing to act as weights. Someone found a length of rope and the weights were secured. Then they shoved the boat off the shore and the two Advancers paddled it slowly out into the protected bay.

Once the boat had disappeared into the mist, the other Advancers turned and headed away from the sea.

"That's it?" Nathan asked, "I mean, isn't anyone going to say anything? That guy just died and you just throw him into the bottom of a boat and row him out to sea?"

Martin shrugged, "What else is there to do? Nobody cares anymore." Martin hobbled off, following after the rest of the Advancers.

"I hate this place," Nathan muttered.

* * * *

The latest report from the scouting party was heartening, in that they had found nothing new to report. The transmissions came in regularly as clockwork, twice a day. The scouts had crossed the arid valley and reached a rolling countryside. Mayland couldn't help but notice how tense Simmons was becoming. His eyes would dart about nervously and his voice seemed strained, but he never had anything to report beyond the fact that nothing was out of order. It was unusual for the Commander of the Guard to be so edgy, but the circumstances obviously warranted it.

"So," Bower said with a yawn, "How much longer are you going to keep this up? We've been hanging out for over a week. And finding a big fat nothing. This is just one big empty planet." He lowered his head and said, "You've been duped, Vance."

Mayland turned and walked around the room slowly. He was right. For all the hope and bluster, this planet appeared to be nothing more than a forbidding rock. Her orders were to stay, but that was only because there was supposed to be 1,000 colonists to supervise. She was also supposed to prepare a report for the Council on the viability of the planet. She already had the data in her computers; the Advancers had done that for her. Now she just had the problem of the Advancers. "We'll dispose of loose ends and leave," She said quietly.

"What?" Nathan suddenly raised his head, "What did you mean by that?"

"Their execution was approved when the bomb was planted on their ship. Everyone here should have been dead for almost 30 years now. Theo, recall the scouting party. Tomorrow, we complete that order and begin our journey back to our home with the boy. He at least is of some value."

"But couldn't we take some of the others too?" Nathan asked. "We don't have to kill them."

Bower snorted, "And I suppose you want to give up your Stasis Chamber for your crippled friend, huh? Think about it Grand, we got only one spare chamber and we're stickin' that boy in it. There isn't room for the others."

Nathan was looking around the room stupidly while Theo pulled on his GEAR to contact the guard. Bower just whistled and spun his weapon on the table.

****

"So, how do you feel about these people?" Nathan asked, "I mean, they don't seem like they're your friends or anything." He fiddled absently with his portable computer, which was always in arms reach.

Martin shrugged, "I could take them or leave them. Did you check with the Governor to see when I would be able to board your ship and see your doctor?" They were in Martin's home, which seemed rather large for one man and his wife, but there was plenty of space on this planet. That was one of the things that the planet did have. Martin had recently introduced Nathan to the berry wine that they had produced on the planet, and together they were working their way through their second bottle.

"Yeah, well, I was going to get around to talking to Governor Vance about getting you to see a proper doctor. Our Dr. Li is pretty damn good. She's a looker too. I mean, if I wasn't already married, I might have a go at her. Hell, Nancy's in ColdSleep. Maybe now is my chance." He drained his glass and Martin thoughtfully refilled it. "You know, all things considered, I bet you don't really feel that you are a part of this group. I mean, you are a government employee right? You're different."

"You got that right," Martin said with a sigh.

"I know how you feel," Nathan said sullenly, "Nobody appreciates anything I do. I am in the exact same boat that you are, the exact same." He was surprised to find his vision getting so bleary. The wine he could afford on the stations was rather tame compared to Vino Magus. "You are possibly the only friend I have here, the only friend. I know that sounds impossible, I mean, just look at you. But, you are my only friend."

Martin nodded, "Yeah, well, I guess that goes for me too." He nodded, "You are a good guy to know Nate."

The two drank together in silence for some time. Nathan thought carefully about telling the government liaison about what he had heard that day. It would be the decent thing to do, save the one person who was kind to him. Nathan could tell Martin to head for the hills for a while. He would just need to hide out for a few days. The guard would give up on him soon enough. He looked at Martin over the top of his glass and said nothing.

They continued to drink the sweet strong wine until a strange tapping sound started. Nathan leapt unsteady to his feet and tried to determine where the noise was coming from. "What is it?" he said with alarm.

"Just the rain," Morgan answered. "It'll stop eventually."

****

Nathan awoke with a start. The tapping noise had become a pounding. He listened to the sound for almost a minute before he realized that it wasn't the rain. He stumbled to his feet and crossed the small living room. His head was throbbing as he threw open the door to see two of the guard and Bower, in the falling rain. One of the guard looked alarmed as he gazed skyward at the falling precipitation. The other simply hunched his shoulders against the rain. It was morning. "What the hell is going on!" Bower barked and barreled into the room. "Are they here?"

"What?" Nathan said wheeling backward in his attempt to get out of Bower's way. "Who are you looking for? It's just me and Martin here." He turned around to indicate the chair where Martin had been sitting that night, but the chair was vacant.

Bower sneered at Nathan and pulled the guards into the house. "Find Martin," he said as he directed the guards toward the other rooms. He pulled open the door to the CommDish and peered inside.

"Martin?" Nathan said, looking around Bower and into the CommDish. With his bleary eyesight and painful head, it took a moment for the liaison to take in the sight. Half the computer system was missing.

Bower spun around toward him. "What the hell went on here!"

Nathan grabbed at his head again. "It's not my fault, not my fault." He turned to his chair and gasped suddenly. He dove toward the small table, tossing aside the bottles and glasses, as if he expected to find something hidden under them. "My computer! It's gone!"

Bower narrowed his eyes. "You let the weakest member of the group slip out of here with your portable and then let a whole troop of them get in there to take everything they could carry off from the electronics bay? I'm going to kill you for this one Grand."

Mayland Vance suddenly entered, slapping the rain from her coat. She glared at Bower, "And who exactly is responsible for the disappearance of the rest of them? Nobody seemed to see anything happen last night. They are all gone."

The guards returned to the main room shaking their heads. Mayland crossed the floor and peered into the electronics bay. She sighed when she saw the damage.

Nathan said, "Where could they have gone anyway? All the logs show that there is no livable areas nearby."

"The horses are gone, the ATV is gone, the people are gone and half the communication system went with them," Mayland said levelly. "I want them found. I want them found now." Alison suddenly appeared behind her, and Mayland directed an order to her, "Get Simmons on line, tell him I have a new mission for him."

"That's just it." Alison said breathlessly, "We've lost contact. He hasn't reported in since last night."

Bower snorted, "So something's happened to the intrepid Captain Simmons now? Another disappearance attributed to the mysterious Roanoke colony," he said sarcastically.

Mayland glared at Bower. She still had eight of her original guard left, along with the two aides, the mechanic, liaison and pilot. She could send the pilot back to the ship for more reinforcements, but she felt the need to keep this to a minimum. To bring more guards to the planet would only show that she couldn't handle the situation with her Initial Contact Group. Lieutenant Governor Parkins would definitely take note of that, and report it to their superiors.

"Trimble," she said to the guard nearest her, "I want you to get your team and track down the Advancers. I want them back now. Find Simmons while you're at it."

Trimble nodded, signaled to the second guard, Reno, and both left the building in a hurry. Trimble slipped slightly in the mud when his feet left the gravel path, and he quickly returned to it. Mayland watched the guards go, feeling as dark as the sky.

Bower pointed a thumb at the quaking liaison, "And what do we do about him? If he wasn't drunk they wouldn't have gotten way with the computer systems."

"I'll put him on report for dereliction of duties," Mayland said, "But I swear, if you lay a hand on him, I'll have you executed. I don't need that kind of dissension among my own people."

Bower quickly pulled back his arm, and held up his hands as if in surrender. "If you want a traitor among your people, that's your own doing."

Alex entered the building and looked around at the inhabitants. "Is it true?" he asked. "Every Advancer has departed?"

"Every last living one of them," Mayland Vance said unhappily, "and they are not going to stay that way."

****

Devon Adair looked out to sea. It was strange to see dusk fall without a sun setting into the ocean. Everything seemed backwards. Three days had passed since they had finally abandoned their home, and it still felt unnatural to be here, on this distant shore. It had been a year since Morgan had first found the Council Ship, hurtling toward them. A year had been just enough time to prepare. She ran her hand along the smooth pearls of her necklace. It felt good to be wearing it again.

She turned and walked slowly up the beach to where the tents were erected beside an outcropping of rock. Walman was lying in a hammock, with Magus slowly rocking him with her foot. "And how is our patient today?" Devon asked.

"Groggy as hell. I wish Morgan had told me what it felt like to get a real dose of koba venom," Walman said with a grimace. "I feel like crap. And that stupid spider keeps coming around here to jump on me and to gnaw on my neck. Talk about a one-trick-pony, he thinks he has to show off every time he has an audience. As if I need that sorta stuff when I feel like this."

"Don't worry, Devon," Magus said with a grin. "I'm looking after him. He gets to be a big baby for a few more days and that will be the end of it."

She left the two of them and walked past the tents where Denner and Bess were putting their children to bed. Julia was still wrestling with Hugh by the water tanks. "And how are the children doing tonight?" she asked the doctor.

"If I could just get Hugh to sleep, I'd be happy." The boy tried to squirm out of her grasp, but she caught him. "I don't know how Bess, True and I managed to keep five children, plus 30 goats, 50 chickens and a dozen horses under control while the rest of you were off playing your part in this little plot."

Devon stooped down beside them, and ran her hand through Hugh's dark, thick hair. "You had the most important part of all," she said softly.

"I'm just glad to have you back with us." Julia scooped the boy up in her arms. "Now let's just get the rest of us over here."

"...And then get us home," Devon said thoughtfully. She continued toward the back of the enclosure, to where two caves stared out of the wall. She stepped into the first, to find Uly and Ed the Grendler watching the four Council Guards. The leader of the group stood up and approached the bars that kept them captive. Baines and Alonzo had taken them shortly after they had left Roanoke colony, and had held them prisoner in the hillside. They had been moved to this location when their daily transmissions were no longer necessary.

"I demand that you release us immediately," Captain Simmons said dramatically.

"In due time," Devon said. "In the meanwhile, relax. You will continue to receive the same fine treatment you have been during your stay. You just won't need to make any more calls to your superior." Simmons squinted at the bars, ingeniously imbedded in the rock. "Oh, and don't mess around too much with those bars, it will upset the Grendler, and you don't want to deal with that."

She smiled at her son as she left. She had been wary about his staying with her at Roanoke Colony during its occupation, but Uly had insisted. "They must know that there is a cure," he had said. "They don't need to know exactly what it is, but as long as they know it is possible, they may continue to send the sick kids here. That's what's important."

She made her way out of the cave that formed the prison, and glanced into its neighboring cave, the spider-cave that provided them with their escape from their home. It would be their way back too. The Grendlers had told them the secrets of how to identify the various spiders and mapped the network of caves. The Advancers had perfected the use of the transport procedure, and could operate it without fear of getting bitten by the 'love bug.' There were other caves nearby, connecting them to other parts of the continent. Their food stores were stockpiled at the mouths of these caves.

Yale and True were talking with the Agnes the Grendler, who was keeping a close eye on her child, Ted. Another Grendler sat beside her, whom they called Lily, because her name meant White Flower in her own language. They all looked up when Devon approached them. Yale spoke, "Lily says that she has heard back from everyone and they have agreed to their tasks. She also says that they liked the pies."

"Good," Devon responded, "Make sure she understands how much we appreciate her help. Thank her for me."

Yale spoke again in the gruff Grendler speech, and both of the elder creatures tossed their heads in understanding. The young one mimicked the others, and received a gentle pat from his mother.

As Devon walked away from the group, she could hear their chickens cackling in their pen just beyond the tents. Their horses stamped restlessly in their new corral, while the goats settled in for the night. They had moved everything here, everything they would need to start up their lives again once the threat had been removed. They had let the fields go fallow. They had picked the fruit green and let the orchards run wild. Over the years they had stored enough food to tide them over for this lean season.

They had stayed in Roanoke for two purposes. First, to ensure that the Council realized that the cure existed, and secondly, to repel the Council itself. They had deviously detonated Eve's ship, knowing that the debris of one ship is pretty much like the debris of another, and would hopefully be enough to convince the Council that the Colony Ship was the one that exploded. As long as nobody bothered to look too closely, it would have to suffice. They had run the chance that the Council was aware of Eve's ship and would wonder at its absence. So far it appeared that they had not known of Eve's existence.

The planet had to be made to look as hostile as possible. They wore their earliest efforts at clothing, cut back on the bathing, Grendlers were organized, Stan was taught a simple trick, stories were invented, maps were redrawn, and history was changed as every computer log had been re-written. From the time that Morgan had stopped looking for the Colony Ship, she had put him to the task of rewriting logs. He had just finished the last of the forgeries in time for the Council's consideration.

Devon stepped into the communications tent, where Morgan was bent over the comm-system. Stan, the spider, turned on his perch above the spliced together equipment and looked at Devon with his five beady eyes. "Is it ready yet?" she asked.

Morgan frowned, "Just a little bit more. I am waiting for the last connection ... there! Ha! We got 'em all!" he flipped his GEAR into position and said, "Alonzo, are you there?"

Devon pulled on her GEAR and joined the conversation. "Alonzo, you're coming in perfectly. How's the weather at the Notch?"

The image of Alonzo smirked, while the actual man stood on the opposite side of the continent. "Rainy! But what to you expect in the fall. I understand Baines is enjoying a sun-break."

Baines chimed into the conversation, "It's kinda nice here at Mary's Garden, our old Winter Camp. Hopefully we can get this thing automated like you said, and I can clear out of here before winter. At least we were smart enough to send Zero to the hot zone."

"I am capable of withstanding severe weather fluctuations." The mechanical worker spoke from the desert, near where they had originally landed. "I am more than happy to assist in this exciting endeavor."

"Would everyone just quiet down!" Danziger grumbled. He was in the eastern desert, and her heart pounded when she heard his voice. "Mazatl at least has kept his mouth shut."

"Haven't had a chance to speak," Mazatl said from a platform in the treetops of a forest a few hundred kilometers from Devon's position.

One more person made up their network. Cameron was stationed on a hillside, only a dozen kilometers away. He had ridden out to this location only yesterday. "Okay, now that we got the link made across the continent," he said, "let's see if this thing actually works."

"Okay, everyone, switch off your displays and microphones. I need this comm line." Once the images flicked off the screens, Morgan's hands began flying across the keyboards. Stan bobbed excitedly on his ledge. "I should be into the Council's computer systems in no time. All of those programs I planted in our pseudo logs should come in handy. And of course I have the whole database of their encryption codes right here," he said, tapping Nathan's computer. "Once I access what's left of the CommDish, we should have free range of their entire computer system. I'll tap into Danziger's monitoring devices first though." It was Danziger's monitoring devices that alerted them to their impending doom. Microphones and cameras were hidden throughout the camp.

The call to leave could not have come at a better time. They had left Roanoke at the beginning of the autumn rains. Once the earth became soaked, it would be almost impossible to cross the foothills. And the routes that had been so carefully entered into their phony computer logs, all led to dead-ends. The Council would not know where to turn.

Devon waited for several moments and then said, "I need to contact one of the links."

"Okay, yeah, just as long as you use one of those other frequencies I gave you. The Council will detect the higher ones," Morgan said, absently. "It should work just like a local transmission now that we got this network set up. You can reach any of the links directly."

Devon walked out of the tent as she reset her GEAR. She signaled and Danziger answered. It was so good to see his face again. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I am on a hillside overlooking a field of dead-looking bushes, in the middle of nowhere, with a Grendler breathing down my neck," he replied. "And too damn far from the rest of you."

"Once the network is stable, you can come back to us," she said. "We have Grendler support on all of our relays. You can hop into that spider-cave and be here in no time."

"Yeah, but to you trust me enough to have me with the rest of you?"

Devon sighed, "Please John, don't do this now." It was growing dark. She thought of her people, spread out across the country, most of them were still in daylight. The sun was probably still up where Danziger was standing. "We have to be so careful now. You have to come back to us."

"...Where I will be a constant danger to the rest of you due to the fact that I would betray you all at the first chance I get," Danziger said lowly.

"No, John, No," Devon said emphatically. "Don't you see how much I have done to prevent that? Don't you know how much you mean to me?"

Danziger looked undecided. "Yeah, once the system is stable, then I can leave this place." He was silent for a moment, just looking at her face. "Hey, I better sign off. We don't want to make ourselves too obvious with these transmissions."

"Come back to us soon," Devon said quickly.

"As soon as I can," Danziger replied and his face faded from her view.

Devon sighed and turned off her GEAR. She stood on an unfamiliar shore, looking out at an unfamiliar ocean. She had been here once before, when they had first discovered the spider-caves so many years ago. She had stood near this very spot with John. Now he seemed so far way.

The stars above the sea were the same stars that she knew, the same constellations that rose and fell over Roanoke Colony. She looked up in time to see a meteorite flash across the sky, a falling star. She held her breath for a moment and then headed back into the communications tent.

 

---

 

THE END of "The Falling Star"

TO BE CONTINUED in "The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls".

Okay, this one was a little weird to write. But I thought it was interesting to imagine how others might view the people we have come to love and appreciate. Am I annoying you by introducing so many new characters? I am deeply sorry about that.

Drop me a note, let me know what you think! Were you annoyed by those Council people?