Read Online Haladras by Michael M. Farnsworth - Free Book Online

handle being a miner, don’t you? Too
weak.”
    She turned her head away from him with a jerk, her hair
lashing out like a whip, and halted in her tracks.
    “You’re as bad as my father. He won’t let me do anything.”
    Skylar stopped and turned to look at her, baffled at how the
conversation had suddenly turned him into the enemy. So much for trying to
impress her.
    “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that you’re so…” He
wanted to say beautiful.
    She cast a glare at him while he fumbled with his words.
    “…well,” he stammered on, “I mean...I don’t think it’s
right. You ought to be allowed. I would let you.”
    Kendyl eyed him suspiciously, one brow raised slightly. Then
the tight line of her lips slowly twitched into a playful smile.
    “Well, that’s very sweet of you to say. I’m afraid you can’t
do anything about it, either.”
    Skylar breathed an internal sigh of relief. He had managed
to say the right thing—or at least avoid the wrong thing.
    They were nearly to Skylar’s cave now. He didn’t want their
walk to end.
    “Can I walk you to your home, or wherever you’re going?” he
ventured.
    She smiled in a way that made his stomach knot up.
    “Maybe another day,” was all she said.
    With that she waved goodbye and dashed off, her fiery hair
streaming behind her like a victory banner. Skylar watched her until she disappeared
around the first bend, then he turned and entered his cave.
    Inside, Skylar peeked around in all the rooms. Satisfied his
uncle wasn’t lurking about anywhere, he went to his bedchamber to study. He’d
scarcely opened his geology book when he heard a call at the entryway. Annoyed
at having to get up so soon, Skylar went to go see who it was.
    On the landing outside their cave, stood a man with a squat
stature and rubicund face. He wore a Haladrian military uniform. He was not a
ranked officer, Skylar could tell that much. The man stood erect, his arms
straight at his sides.
    “Are you Skylar Lancewright?” the soldier asked.
    “Yes,” said Skylar tentatively.
    Mechanically, the officer reached into his lapel, drew out a
yellow envelope and extended it toward Skylar.
    “I have been commissioned to deliver this summons to you.”
    Skylar took the envelope.
    “Summons for what?”
    But the officer had already turned his back to Skylar and
showed no intention of saying or doing anything beyond his commissioned duty.
    Skylar returned to his room, where he tore open the envelope
and quickly read the enclosed letter:
     
    The Incident Investigation
Committee for the Bureau of Interplanetary Trade and Travel hereby issues this
summons to Skylar Lancewright to appear in a court of investigation on the
sixteenth day of the Orven moon, year fourteen of His Majesty King Tarus’
reign. He shall appear before the court at the Cloud Harbor space port,
prepared to give testimony concerning the events of the eighth at a quarter
after sunrise. Failure to appear will result in legal punitive action.
     
    The letter was signed and bore the bureau’s official seal: a
ring of seven spheres superimposed on an image of a shuttle, all underscored by BITT.
    At first Skylar did not fully understand the letter. What
had he done that he should need to appear before a court? He re-read the
letter, paying closer attention to the details.
    “Concerning the events of the eighth...,” he repeated to
himself.
    And then it hit him. That was the same day he had been injured
at the docks, the same day as the incident . Not in all his dreams did he
imagine anything so serious would come of that. Was he in more trouble than he
realized?
    He cast the letter onto the floor. Whatever flicker of hope
he had of returning to his apprenticeship at the harbor fizzled out in that
moment.
    *  
*   *
    The day of his court appearance arrived. Skylar slumped in
the passenger seat of Kindor’s speeder as it blasted across the barren
landscape toward Cloud Harbor. The morning sun hung low in the