Read Online The Desert of Stars (The Human Reach) by John Lumpkin - Free Book Online
Authors: John Lumpkin
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still red from gripping
the handhold behind him. She smiled her killer smile and playfully pushed
herself off the floor, and twisting in the air and giggling at her own
brazenness. Neil let his eyes linger on her form, enjoying the freedom to do
so.
Normally, they would fall into a particular sort of
conversation at this point, one in which they shared little observations,
sometimes absurd and sometimes meaningful, about the ship, or Space Force, or one
of their colleagues. Tiny intimacies, Neil knew, but they entertained Jessica,
kept her close.
Neil wanted to draw her closer. I want to tell her about
what I’ve done in the war so far. I want to her to know those things, to
understand me better. Maybe she’ll open up to me, too, tell me things I don’t
even know to ask about.
He decided to test the waters.
“I have to say, it was kind of wild being on the Han ship,”
he said.
She was still cavorting in the near-freefall when he said
this, but she detected a certain tone in his voice, and she turned to look at
him, an inquisitive expression on her face. She settled to the floor and did
not push off again.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
So he did. It did not, however, occur to him to share the
story of the abuse he had received from Commodore Metcalf; being called out
publicly like that had embarrassed him on a very deep level, and he didn’t want
to relive it, even if she might provide a measure of comfort. She might also
reject him over it.
Outside Sycamore, Sequoia Continent, Kuan Yin
“I love this altitude,” said Private Lopez, stretching
her arms above her head. “Feels almost like home, doesn’t it?”
They were in highlands again, not far from where they had
left the freight train behind. And Lopez was right – here, more than four
kilometers above the planet’s oceans, the air was only moderately heavier than at
sea level on Earth. It felt to Rand like his joints were all settling back into
place for the first time since he arrived on the planet. And it was a lovely
sort of mountain cool.
The peaks around them stood even higher, their reach less
encumbered than Earth mountains, thanks to Kuan Yin’s .88 gravities. They were
south of Sycamore, a city formerly of 90,000 souls planted on a high piedmont
plateau above severe cliffs that led down to the ocean.
They walked until they could see the city below them. It had
been well designed and built, a model colony when it was settled a decade prior,
with a core of red-yellow brick buildings ensconced in green foliage. But two
circular settlements were attached like tumors to the community; one was the
Chinese army base, a series of long linear barracks, guard towers, and an
airfield. The second growth included some of the city proper, but much of it was
a sea of olive-colored tents. It was surrounded by a high wall, with more
towers – this time with the guards looking in. Drones buzzed above it.
This was the internment camp for American colonists.
Rand and the others had picked up sporadic information about
the purpose of the war, which was being fought to secure colony planets after
it turned out they would be far more scarce than expected. But here it was in
the face. Lopez swore. Aguirre sighed and shook his head. Rand felt anger
rising within him. The people down there, the farmers, the engineers, the
researchers and terraformers, they didn’t deserve this.
Only Kelley, stoic as ever, was thinking like a fighter. “You
notice that the eastern wall is right up against the forest and the foothills?
If they were serious about security, they would have cleared those trees. It
might be the Hans are allowing some coming and going from the camp.”
“How would that be in their interest?” Rand asked.
“Maybe they’re short on military police, or maybe they just
don’t care much. Hard to say for sure.”
When no one said anything else, Kelley said, “Night’s
coming, and we might have to walk above that treeline to get to
the handhold behind him. She smiled her killer smile and playfully pushed
herself off the floor, and twisting in the air and giggling at her own
brazenness. Neil let his eyes linger on her form, enjoying the freedom to do
so.
Normally, they would fall into a particular sort of
conversation at this point, one in which they shared little observations,
sometimes absurd and sometimes meaningful, about the ship, or Space Force, or one
of their colleagues. Tiny intimacies, Neil knew, but they entertained Jessica,
kept her close.
Neil wanted to draw her closer. I want to tell her about
what I’ve done in the war so far. I want to her to know those things, to
understand me better. Maybe she’ll open up to me, too, tell me things I don’t
even know to ask about.
He decided to test the waters.
“I have to say, it was kind of wild being on the Han ship,”
he said.
She was still cavorting in the near-freefall when he said
this, but she detected a certain tone in his voice, and she turned to look at
him, an inquisitive expression on her face. She settled to the floor and did
not push off again.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
So he did. It did not, however, occur to him to share the
story of the abuse he had received from Commodore Metcalf; being called out
publicly like that had embarrassed him on a very deep level, and he didn’t want
to relive it, even if she might provide a measure of comfort. She might also
reject him over it.
Outside Sycamore, Sequoia Continent, Kuan Yin
“I love this altitude,” said Private Lopez, stretching
her arms above her head. “Feels almost like home, doesn’t it?”
They were in highlands again, not far from where they had
left the freight train behind. And Lopez was right – here, more than four
kilometers above the planet’s oceans, the air was only moderately heavier than at
sea level on Earth. It felt to Rand like his joints were all settling back into
place for the first time since he arrived on the planet. And it was a lovely
sort of mountain cool.
The peaks around them stood even higher, their reach less
encumbered than Earth mountains, thanks to Kuan Yin’s .88 gravities. They were
south of Sycamore, a city formerly of 90,000 souls planted on a high piedmont
plateau above severe cliffs that led down to the ocean.
They walked until they could see the city below them. It had
been well designed and built, a model colony when it was settled a decade prior,
with a core of red-yellow brick buildings ensconced in green foliage. But two
circular settlements were attached like tumors to the community; one was the
Chinese army base, a series of long linear barracks, guard towers, and an
airfield. The second growth included some of the city proper, but much of it was
a sea of olive-colored tents. It was surrounded by a high wall, with more
towers – this time with the guards looking in. Drones buzzed above it.
This was the internment camp for American colonists.
Rand and the others had picked up sporadic information about
the purpose of the war, which was being fought to secure colony planets after
it turned out they would be far more scarce than expected. But here it was in
the face. Lopez swore. Aguirre sighed and shook his head. Rand felt anger
rising within him. The people down there, the farmers, the engineers, the
researchers and terraformers, they didn’t deserve this.
Only Kelley, stoic as ever, was thinking like a fighter. “You
notice that the eastern wall is right up against the forest and the foothills?
If they were serious about security, they would have cleared those trees. It
might be the Hans are allowing some coming and going from the camp.”
“How would that be in their interest?” Rand asked.
“Maybe they’re short on military police, or maybe they just
don’t care much. Hard to say for sure.”
When no one said anything else, Kelley said, “Night’s
coming, and we might have to walk above that treeline to get to
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