certain all here are descendants from the Pioneer Colony… will test2 subjects from 2 continents to determine relation… Planet, henceforth referred to as Legacy, has many deposits of valuable minerals including larger deposits of radioactive minerals than Earth... Silver & gold in abundance, to the extreme where even 1 “state” uses gold for most of their metal furnishings… we’re not planning to conquistador these people are we?
8
Diana
USSC Foothold
I couldn’t believe that in such a short time, we went from being inside a “shuttle” on the ground in Blaze to now standing inside an unimaginably huge ship far above Legacy. We just exited the shuttle and were now standing inside a giant metal barn – at least that’s the best way I could describe the room we were in.
“ Diana, Braxton, please follow me,” the captain said, leading us past nearly a dozen people who were already tending to the shuttle.
“ Iron Dragon,” Braxton whispered to me as he pointed to the shuttle where a man was now inserting a thick cable into its side, “I first thought this was a magical dragon from those Minchu novels that I read as a kid.”
“ As a kid ,” I repeated, wishing it hadn’t made me laugh, “Sorry, you just appear so young to me.”
We slipped through a doorway, then up three flights of stairs before entering a long hallway. I was beginning to wonder just how huge this ship was. The largest ocean-faring vessel I’d ever seen only had three full floors beneath the main deck and two above.
“ And you’re better than me, of course. I’m sure everything we say or do makes the people from Green laugh,” he replied, looking a bit frustrated.
“ I didn’t mean anything bad,” I said, wishing I had better control over my tongue, “I only hear old people say stuff like ‘as a kid’ when referring to things.”
He shrugged. I noticed he made a point to keep his hands in his pockets as we traversed the long hallways. I was beginning to think that this was just a giant building located somewhere else on Legacy. We continued to pass up more and more of the exceedingly pale people from Earth in these halls, all of them seemingly rushed and intent on a destination, but not intent enough to stare at us along the way.
“ I thought the shuttle was a flying ocean-vessel from Blaze,” I said, trying to make conversation, “But I should have known. I’d been sending messages to Earth for a long time.”
He turned to me, his beautiful dark eyes seeming to take me in for the first time.
“ Diana ‘ex’?” he asked.
My mother was Diana Nine, my grandmother Diana Eight, so I was the lucky one to be named Diana Ten. Of course, the name is written in our clock numbers, meaning it’s spelled out as Diana X. I’d spent my life being called “ex” instead of “ten” especially in the scientific community. Since my dad and I are know throughout Legacy as eccentrics who enjoy blowing our money and time on the stars, the name Diana Ex became a nickname for Diana Eccentric.
I’d heard all the comments that I was never meant to hear. I’d seen the hands covering mouths as people whispered. I still maintained a lot of anger toward these people who enjoyed the benefits of the Cop/Mag Dynamos, but made fun of the man who funded their invention. My grandfather needed the power of thunder to ignite the glow into his lighting devices, and years later he’d need it to create his listening devices. He never got credit for either of these inventions, but he was at the forefront of both Legacy-changing creations especially when it came to money. He did get partial credit for the first copper/magnet electricity-creating dynamo, but it wasn’t credit he was looking for. He just wanted to be seen as ‘normal.’
Now, three generations later, I was still trying for the same thing. The world enjoyed the dynamos that produced
8
Diana
USSC Foothold
I couldn’t believe that in such a short time, we went from being inside a “shuttle” on the ground in Blaze to now standing inside an unimaginably huge ship far above Legacy. We just exited the shuttle and were now standing inside a giant metal barn – at least that’s the best way I could describe the room we were in.
“ Diana, Braxton, please follow me,” the captain said, leading us past nearly a dozen people who were already tending to the shuttle.
“ Iron Dragon,” Braxton whispered to me as he pointed to the shuttle where a man was now inserting a thick cable into its side, “I first thought this was a magical dragon from those Minchu novels that I read as a kid.”
“ As a kid ,” I repeated, wishing it hadn’t made me laugh, “Sorry, you just appear so young to me.”
We slipped through a doorway, then up three flights of stairs before entering a long hallway. I was beginning to wonder just how huge this ship was. The largest ocean-faring vessel I’d ever seen only had three full floors beneath the main deck and two above.
“ And you’re better than me, of course. I’m sure everything we say or do makes the people from Green laugh,” he replied, looking a bit frustrated.
“ I didn’t mean anything bad,” I said, wishing I had better control over my tongue, “I only hear old people say stuff like ‘as a kid’ when referring to things.”
He shrugged. I noticed he made a point to keep his hands in his pockets as we traversed the long hallways. I was beginning to think that this was just a giant building located somewhere else on Legacy. We continued to pass up more and more of the exceedingly pale people from Earth in these halls, all of them seemingly rushed and intent on a destination, but not intent enough to stare at us along the way.
“ I thought the shuttle was a flying ocean-vessel from Blaze,” I said, trying to make conversation, “But I should have known. I’d been sending messages to Earth for a long time.”
He turned to me, his beautiful dark eyes seeming to take me in for the first time.
“ Diana ‘ex’?” he asked.
My mother was Diana Nine, my grandmother Diana Eight, so I was the lucky one to be named Diana Ten. Of course, the name is written in our clock numbers, meaning it’s spelled out as Diana X. I’d spent my life being called “ex” instead of “ten” especially in the scientific community. Since my dad and I are know throughout Legacy as eccentrics who enjoy blowing our money and time on the stars, the name Diana Ex became a nickname for Diana Eccentric.
I’d heard all the comments that I was never meant to hear. I’d seen the hands covering mouths as people whispered. I still maintained a lot of anger toward these people who enjoyed the benefits of the Cop/Mag Dynamos, but made fun of the man who funded their invention. My grandfather needed the power of thunder to ignite the glow into his lighting devices, and years later he’d need it to create his listening devices. He never got credit for either of these inventions, but he was at the forefront of both Legacy-changing creations especially when it came to money. He did get partial credit for the first copper/magnet electricity-creating dynamo, but it wasn’t credit he was looking for. He just wanted to be seen as ‘normal.’
Now, three generations later, I was still trying for the same thing. The world enjoyed the dynamos that produced
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