Read Online Desert Stars by Joe Vasicek - Free Book Online Page A

coming
night. Off in the distance, lines of giant windmills shone brightly
in the deepening yellow light, while clusters of white stone
buildings spilled out across the plain like puddles of milk. As
they drew closer to the city, Mira saw that the buildings were much
larger than the adobe huts back at the camp. Some towered as many
as three and four stories high, with thick metal beams and rebar
jutting out from unfinished roofs. Large crowds and strange-looking
vehicles traversed the shadow-filled lanes, while half a dozen
kites hung in the deepening sky as if suspended there.
    Hamza slowed and pulled the caravaneer
up to a garage on the edge of the town, next to a field of
windmills at least five times as tall as the one back home. Jalil
stared in awe until they came to a stop in front of the long white
building.
    “ This is as far as I go,”
said Hamza. “The town center is about two miles down that
road.”
    “ Right,” said Jalil,
jumping off to stretch his legs. Mira waited for him to come around
and help her down, but when he went to unpack their bags instead,
she quietly climbed to the ground by herself.
    “ What is this place?” she
asked in a timid voice.
    “ New Amman,” said Hamza,
leaning forward with one hand draped over the steering wheel. “The
largest settlement this side of Aliet Dome, and the only spaceport
within five hundred miles. Lots of traders come through here on
their way to the domes—some tribesmen too, from what I
hear.”
    “ That’s right,” Jalil
called out from the back. “Quite a few Najmi tribesmen have settled
here over the years, Cousin Sarah among them.”
    “ Are you all set,
then?”
    Jalil came around with both their bags
in his arms and Sathi’s rifle strapped across his back. He dropped
the bags and stepped up to the driver’s seat.
    “ All set, brother. Many
thanks for the ride.”
    “ Of course,” said Hamza,
getting out to give him a parting embrace. “May the peace of Earth
be upon you.”
    “ And upon you be the peace
of Earth as well.”
    With that last goodbye, Hamza climbed
back into the caravaneer and drove it into one of the waiting bays.
The corrugated steel door slid shut after him, leaving Jalil and
Mira standing alone in the empty lot.
    “ Well,” he said, “we’d
better go.”
    “ Right.”
    She bent down to pick up her bag, but
Jalil took it first. “Here, let me get that for you.”
    Together, they walked out the gate and
down the dusty road. The windmills spun lazily behind them, and
Mira loosened her headscarf a little to take advantage of the
refreshing breeze. Although the town was bustling in the cool of
the coming evening, they were still a good half-mile out, and
traffic along the road was light.
    “ I thought Cousin Sarah
was the only Najmi living here,” she said once they were out of
earshot of the garage.
    “ She is,” said Jalil, “but
we don’t want the Jabaliyn knowing that, do we?”
    She nodded in understanding. They
walked in silence a little longer.
    As they approached the edge of town, a
number of caravaneers and sleek, open-air hovercraft passed them on
the road, kicking up dust and making her cough. Jalil noticed and
switched places with her, so that she was on the outside edge of
the road, away from the vehicles. It didn’t do much to help, but
Mira smiled in appreciation at the gesture.
    Now that we’re not riding
in the back of a caravaneer, maybe he’ll start to notice me. The thought lifted her spirits and made her heart
beat a little faster, even if the strangeness of the place filled
her with a deep yearning for her desert home.
    “ So many people,” she said
softly as they passed a crowd waiting beside a stony field. Though
a few of them wore the robes of the deep desert, most of their
clothes were utterly unfamiliar to her; high black boots, dark
pants and colorful shirts, tan ponchos and strange looking hats.
Few if any of the women in the crowd wore headscarves, and the
sight of their uncovered