Children of the Stars: an Old Testament Space Opera

Chapter One: Aidan is Called by the Lord

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."

                Jonah 1:1

‘It is time now.’

The voice came now as clearly as it had the first time, almost twenty years ago – twenty Tellus years, that is; 27 local years and just over 24 UC standard years had passed since Aidan Qqayle’s father first spoke to him here shortly after the old man’s death.

Galford Lomas – or the old man’s ghost, spirit, or whatever – stood, and started to walk slowly around the Copse. If it was possible for a ghost to look thoughtful, he did.

‘Time for what?’ Aidan asked. Seeing his late father in this way no longer disturbed him as it had at first.

‘Time,’ the apparition stopped and stared him in the eye, ‘to tell your story.’

‘Sorry what?’ Aidan said.

‘Everything that has happened to you up to this point: the wormhole, the colony, young Galford – I appreciate the gesture, by the way – even… whats- his- name, the other kid…’ Galford said.

‘Rufus,’ Aidan said.

‘Yes, him,’ Galford said. ‘Even he is part of God’s plan. Your destiny.’

‘So what exactly is it that I need to do?’ Aidan asked.

‘Just that,’ the old man said with a shrug. ‘Tell your story.’

‘About the wormhole, the Colonies, Gally…’ Aidan started.

‘…and Rufus,’ Galford finished.

‘Right.’ Aidan stood, and paced a small circle in the copse.

‘Is something bothering you, son?’ the old man asked.

‘You could say that,’ Aidan said.

Galford looked at him in silence for a moment.

‘You do know the whole story, I take it?’ Aidan asked.

‘Oh yes, yes,’ the old man said matter-of-factly.

‘And you want me to tell it?’ Aidan asked. ‘All of it?’

‘I do not want anything,’ the old man said with a smile.

‘No, of course not,’ Aidan muttered.

‘But yes,’ Galford went on. ‘You are to tell the whole story. Warts and all.’

Aidan sat heavily on a tree stump. ‘That is not going to be easy,’ he said.

‘Nobody ever said life would be easy,’ Galford agreed.

Aidan let out a deep breath, and tried to process what he was hearing. ‘So you want me to-‘

‘He wants you to.’ Galford emphasised the ‘He’.

‘He wants me to tell my story,’ Aidan went on, ‘from when he called me to join Litah until…’

‘You know when,’ Galford said.

Aidan thought for a moment, and realised he did know when; that moment on the hilltop when Savana had finally been given her own revelation of their future – a future which had, in fact, yet to come about.

‘And not to leave anything out?’ Aidan asked, for clarification.

‘Nothing important,’ Galford confirmed.

‘And Rufus is important,’ Aidan said.

Galford nodded. ‘As is his mother, and Captain Straker.’

‘So who do I need to tell the story to?’ Aidan asked.

‘It is the story of God’s Colonies,’ Galford said. ‘All of its inhabitants deserve – no, need – to have a chance to hear it.’

‘I was afraid you might say that,’ Aidan said.

For Galford ‘GQ’ Qqayle, life in the rural settlement on Lomas Prime was becoming boring. He enjoyed tinkering with electronic gizmos, and having learnt his father’s trade he made himself useful keeping the rectenna farm in good working order and would, one day, inherit that, the reasonably profitable herd farm his parents ran, and his father’s hereditary position on the ruling councils of the town and the United Colonies. Despite being the nominal administrative centre for the United Colonies, the settlement itself was a rural backwater. Lomas Prime was a near desert world; its atmosphere and gravity had made it an ideal candidate for colonisation by the refugees from Tellus, but water was scarce. The colony had originally been formed in a natural cave system, in a mountain range not too far from a river and the belt of fertile land it watered. Since then it had spread, a network of log cabins and pre fabricated huts spreading between the mountains and the farm land which followed the course of the river.

Further out, the landing strip and the rectenna farm were the only obvious signs that this little farming community was part of a much bigger, more advanced society.

GQ would rather be using his skills elsewhere in the wider society of the United Colonies. Preferably on a StarCity, or as part of a shuttle crew, but even mining the asteroid belt would be preferable to slouching around this near desert world. Which is why, with the assistance of the old shuttle pilot Faustus Puck, he had been restoring a two-man shuttle to working condition, ready to take off and explore the galaxy plying his trade to pay his way among StarCities and colonies.

On the outskirts of town, between the residential settlement and the end of the landing strip, an arc of corrugated metal curved over a patch of ground covered in a scattering of tools and shuttle parts. In the shade of this ramshackle workshop, two men worked industriously on a small, sleek, white shuttle. GQ had a control panel out, a jumble of wires connecting it to the interior of the cockpit. On the other side of the shuttle, Puck was making the final repairs to the shuttle’s fuselage.

Then the lights went out.

Puck cursed quietly. GQ took a small torch from his belt and made his way gingerly to the workshop’s entrance, and looked over at the town. It was also in darkness.

‘Every time,’ GQ said. ‘Every time I am on duty, the power goes down.’

‘Maybe you should change jobs,’ Puck said.

‘You could have something there,’ GQ said, flicking his torch beam around the room until he found his toolkit. ‘But I think I should go find the problem tonight.’

Grabbing his toolkit in his spare hand, GQ hurried across to the caverns and where he had parked his Planet Moke.

He weaved the Moke carefully through the darkened village, then accelerated out into the open, splashing across the ford on the Moke’s big, bouncy tyres.

As he picked up speed the toolkit clattered noisily behind him with every bump. Glancing to either side – and up to the skies – he checked there were no shuttles coming or going before speeding across the runway and on towards the rectenna farm. As he approached the vast white dishes glowed faintly in the darkness, reflecting more brilliantly the lights from his Moke as they fell on them. To one side of them a smaller object also reflected his headlights – another planet Moke.

‘How did she get here so fast?’ GQ asked himself, assuming the Moke belonged to his supervisor, Lauren Broussard.

As he pulled up alongside it, she stepped out from the shadows among the rectenna, still wearing an elegant cocktail dress she had apparently been wearing when the power went down.

‘Strange place to come for a date,’ GQ said, looking her up and down. He was unused to seeing Lauren out of scruffy overalls, and surprised to find himself thinking of her as quite an attractive woman.

‘I was on my way home when my comm-cell picked up a trip,’ she explained. ‘I have not been here long – not tracked down the problem yet.’

‘I am surprised you arranged something while you are on duty,’ Gally said. ‘You know this happens every time.’

‘It must be fate,’ she said, ‘drawing us together on a beautiful night like this.’

‘Yeah, right,’ GQ laughed.

‘You might laugh,’ Lauren said, taking his hand, ‘but your father is a great believer in destiny.’

‘He is also closer to your age,’ GQ said, gently removing her hand from his. ‘Not that fate should go there, either.’

‘I am not as old as all that,’ she said. ‘There are still plenty of good child-bearing years in me yet.’

‘Now you are scaring me,’ GQ said, backing away slightly.

‘Do not be scared,’ Lauren said. ‘It will come naturally.’

‘That is not what I am scared of!’ GQ said.

‘Come one! We owe it to the colony,’ Lauren said. ‘We owe it to humanity!’

‘You are crazy!’ Gally exclaimed.

‘Gally, you are almost of age, and we need new blood,’ Lauren explained. ‘You need to sow your oats!’

Despite the fact that Lauren did not make an unattractive proposition, GQ made no effort to hide his disgust. ‘I cannot have this conversation with you,’ he said. ‘You are my boss!’

‘Exactly,’ she smiled. ‘Just think of the bonuses you could get if you keep me happy.’

As she advanced on him, gazing lustfully into his eyes, GQ came to a sudden realisation. ‘You set this up,’ he said. ‘You have been rigging power cuts to get me out here so you could… do this!’

‘I did what I had to, for the sake of the colony. I am sorry if you do not like that, but… well, like you said, I am your boss,’ she grinned. ‘That works both ways.’

‘So now you are threatening me?’ Gally asked.

‘Just think about this sensibly for a minute,’ she said. ‘You must have picked up that populating the Colonies is a big deal?’

GQ shrugged.

‘Well it is – at least, everywhere else. Here, you are almost of age, and you have been the youngest person on the planet for 20 years. Have you never wondered why that is?’ Lauren asked.

GQ kept quiet, but he had to admit to himself that he had not.

‘The colony is depending on you – on us – for its survival,’ she went on. ‘You have to act soon, before I, and the rest of the planet’s women, are too old.’

‘So now it is everyone else too?’ Gally asked.

‘Do not tell me the thought does not appeal to you,’ Lauren said.

On some level, he realised with a shock, it did. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It is not that I do not like you. I mean, you are not even bad looking all dressed up like, but…’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘But?’ she prompted.

‘Well…’ he paused. ‘It is very flattering and all, but the truth is you already are too old for me. Sorry’

‘Do not make me threaten you. I can make your working life easy, or I can make it hard,’ she said. ‘The choice is yours.’

‘Yeah? Well if that is the way you want to play it,’ Gally said, ‘I choose to quit. Now where is you threat?’

He did not wait for an answer; he got in the Planet Moke and left her standing, dumbstruck, under the rectennae.

Rather than return to the village, he headed further out into the plain, where he could take his frustrations out in a high speed drive. Leaping the dunes and weaving around the sparse desert vegetation, he felt free from the worries which filled his mind following the conversation with Lauren.

Unfortunately he forgot to check the Moke’s charge meter before starting his marathon drive, and about 6 miles from the rectenna farm it slowed to a halt, out of charge until sunrise when the solar panels would kick in again. He limped the Moke into position between two rocky outcrops, parked up and got out to stretch his legs. Looking back towards the distant settlement, he saw one or two lights flickering into life. The staged power out was over. He stood and stared at the settlement until it settled back into darkness as its inhabitants slept. He too felt the need to sleep; climbing back into the Moke and wrapping himself in its emergency blankets, however, was not enough to stop his mind racing, reliving the last few hours and analysing Lauren’s words.

She was right, of course. He was, and always had been, the youngest member of the colony by quite a stretch. Plenty had paired off, but there had been no children in the last 20 years. Did that mean the colony would eventually die?

Eventually tiredness overtook him, for he awoke with a start from a nightmarish dream in which he, as a wizened old man, ruled over an empty colony.

The sun had just risen, and was gently warming him inside the silvery blanket. His dream and the revelations that had led to it still worried him, but a more pressing need struck him in the cold light of dawn: he no longer had a job.

As he packed the emergency blanket and gingerly restarted the Moke, he wondered how he would explain that to his parents.

Arriving back at the family home, he stopped at the door, fearing he was about to walk in on something serious between his parents.

‘I know,’ his mother said. ‘Will you start here?’

‘Lomas Two – Rufus has to know first,’ his father said. ‘And Dan and Blaise.’

‘What about Gally?’ Savana asked.

Galford slunk back into the cool of his room without his parents noticing. He had too much on his mind to deal with their questions at the moment. The room had once been a bare cave, carved into a hillside by the natural processes of erosion. It had been his for as long as he could remember; since he was old enough to sleep outside of his parents’ room. In that time he had put a lot of effort into making it more than a cave: flat boards hid most of the bare rock, decorated, at various times of life, by pictures of cartoon animals, spaceships, and pin-ups. Now they were largely taken up with work - schematics, a huge scribble pad, and calendars in local and UC standard years. Half of the room was also given over to his work, a workbench and tool chest taking up more room than the bed and wardrobe. Electricity had been piped in from the rectenna farm since the earliest days of the colony here, and now powered a big monitor screen on a desk in the corner. It was here that Galford plugged in his comm-cell, and began to browse the information network that connected the various colonies scattered across the system.

It was pretty obvious that people Galford’s age and younger were all over the system. The network was full of news stories, vids, and games for kids of all ages. Galford had grown up with them, and out of them, and no longer gave them a thought. Until now. He thought for a moment, then started to look for his answer. Logically, he figured the population of Lomas Prime was, for some reason, infertile. Some environmental factor, probably, either a vital nutrient missing from their diet, or some otherwise undetected virus in the atmosphere. The trouble was, he had no idea how to get any further than that. Instead, he browsed randomly through to the social networks, just to reassure himself that there really were teenagers and children in the colonies.

‘Had you really never noticed?’ he asked his mother later that day.

‘No, I, I guess not.’ She looked puzzled. ‘I guess it never really crossed my mind. I mean you were always so happy tinkering with your dad’s work, and hanging out with Captain Puck, that it never occurred to me there were not any kids your age.’

Short of confirming his own assumptions, his mother, the colony’s senior doctor, could shed no light on the problem.

‘Sorry, Gally,’ she added, ‘I really should have picked up on that when you were little.’

‘Oh, do not worry about that,’ he said. ‘I think I have turned out alright.’

‘Yeah,’ she laughed. ‘So why the sudden interest then?’

‘Er, just something somebody said,’ Gally explained. ‘It is no big deal.’

‘OK,’ Savana nodded. ‘If you are sure.’

GQ nodded and turned to go back to his room. There, he hooked up his comm-cell and started browsing the social networks again.

The comm-cell beeped, rousing Gally from a longer than expected journey into the depths of the network. His father was requesting his presence at dinner. Apparently he had something to say to Gally.

‘Great,’ he muttered, disconnecting the comm-cell and heading off to dinner somewhat reluctantly.

Meals in the colony were generally prepared and eaten outside, in the shade of the great mountains into which the first colonists’ homes had been cut. From here the colony had rapidly expanded, first with ramshackle huts of waste metal, and now with properly designed pre-fabs imported from the StarCities, most of which were now far better equipped than the cave dwellings.

‘What is the occasion?’ GQ asked as he sat down.

‘We need to talk about some things,’ his father, Aidan, said.

‘What kind of things?’ GQ asked.

‘Important things,’ he said. ‘Big things. The reason we came out here in the first place; our destiny. Your destiny.’

‘My destiny?’ GQ said. ‘How do you know what my destiny is?’

‘Because you are to carry my destiny into the future,’ Aidan said.

GQ knew his father was a big believer in destiny. It was his understanding that his parents had followed some kind of destiny to the colonies. His grandfather, Galford Lomas, for whom he had been named, had conceived the whole idea and been crucial in bringing it to fruition. But, although GQ’s father had inherited a position of power in the Colonies, that did not appear to be of great importance to him.

‘So, what, are you retiring?’ GQ asked. ‘Do I have to stand for UC Council or something?’

‘No,’ Aidan smiled. ‘The council is a tiny part of our destiny. Like I said: big things.’

‘How big, exactly?’ GQ wondered.

‘I should start somewhere near the beginning,’ Aidan said.

‘Not too close,’ Savana warned him with a smile.

‘Well, some of this you know,’ he started. ‘I came out here – reluctantly – because God told me that is what I should do. Now, I know you have not made your mind up about God and the Creed, and that is fine, but I hope you will understand that these are my reasons for following the path I have.’

‘But what if I never become a Follower?’ Gally asked. ‘Do I still have to follow this destiny?’

‘You must do what you believe is best,’ Aidan said. ‘I hope we have raised you to believe that, at least.’

‘OK,’ Gally agreed.

‘But I believe that God’s plan will be worked out, one way or another,’ Aidan went on.

‘OK,’ GQ said. ‘Carry on.’

‘God promised me – us, mankind – a better world,’ Aidan explained. ‘Better than the one we left.’

Galford looked sceptically out over the barren plain.

‘You may doubt, but this land has kept us in food and shelter for 20 years, and does not show any sign of running out,’ Aidan said.

‘So where do I come in?’ Gally asked.

‘He also promised me descendants, as countless as the stars,’ Aidan explained.

GQ laughed. ‘I am not sure how much help I can be with that!’

‘I know,’ Aidan smiled. ‘Your mother told me about your conversation.’

‘I hope you do not mind,’ she said.

GQ shook his head silently.

‘Look, that is off topic slightly for now anyway,’ Aidan said. ‘The point I wanted to make today was that God has called me on to the next phase now.’

‘Which is?’ Gally asked.

‘I have to tell my story,’ Aidan said.

Gally could not help feeling a little disappointed by that.

‘And I have to tell it first to you,’ Aidan added.

‘But you have,’ Gally said. ‘I have known it since I was a kid.’

‘Not all of it,’ Aidan said.

An hour later, Gally knew it all. He also knew why it had been kept quiet for so long.

It transpired that, impatient for God to fulfil his promises, his parents had found another way of getting all these descendants they apparently wanted, and started sleeping around. Somewhere, apparently, Gally had an older brother. Not content with that though, Aidan had later taken Gally, as a baby, into the Copse and tried to sacrifice him to God. And it was all this that God wanted Aidan to tell the Galaxy.

Gally was having more difficulty than usual accepting that any rational person would follow a God like that.

Chapter Two: Jacob Flees From Laban

So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

                Genesis 31:21

‘Do you not have work to do?’ Savana called.

His mother’s voice roused Gally from a net induced trance. For some reason he had never looked into the social networks before, but now, suddenly aware of his loneliness, he felt the need to connect with people his age. As the only person under 30 standards on Lomas Prime, he did not know where else to begin, and had spent more and more time on the social networks. He was fascinated by the huge numbers of people he found there.

‘What? Oh, er, yeah, I guess.’ He had not yet found a way to break the news of his resignation, or the circumstances behind it. Instead, he packed up his comm-cell and left, heading towards the colony’s maintenance department.

On his way, he diverted towards the airstrip, and hunted out his closest friend, the old shuttle captain Faustus Puck. Puck still flew a Deltic class shuttle, and spent much of his non-flying time in the same shuttle, tinkering with the instruments and engines, hanging out with engineers, or showing Gally the ropes.

They were talking about some stuff when, in order to get the plot moving, Aidan turned up.

‘I thought you were at work?’ he said.

‘I, er, sort of, er…’ Gally started.

‘He quit.’ Puck said.

‘What?’

Oddly, Gally thought he saw a hint of relief in his father’s expression.

‘I think you should come back with me,’ Aidan said.

‘Another family meeting?’ Gally asked.

‘Look,’ Gally said to his parents as they walked back to the family home. ‘I think I have stumbled across something important, and I have been too busy trying to research I to go to work.’

‘That is not-‘ Aidan started.

‘Plus I had a bit of a falling out with my boss,’ Gally added. ‘It just was not working any more.’

‘And Puck?’ Aidan asked.

‘Well, I was wondering if I should take my research elsewhere,’ Gally said. ‘I mean, I should compare the conditions here with conditions elsewhere in the Colonies, right?’

Savana nodded, impressed.

‘Ok,’ said Aidan. ‘Look, I have got some work to do elsewhere in the Colonies-‘

‘Spreading your story, you mean?’ Gally said.

‘Yes, that,’ Aidan agreed. ‘So, why should we not all ship out for a while? We can take in some sights, do your research on the way…’

‘Really?’ Gally was surprised there was not more fallout.

‘Sure. Why not?’ Aidan replied.

Savana shrugged.

‘Alright then,’ Gally said. ‘When can we leave?’

Puck had a trans-system run lined up, and a few days later had set up an extra crew compartment for the Qqayles’ use. It was not much, it had micro g and simulated g sleeping bags, a small lounge area and something that vaguely resembled a kitchen. For the take off, Galford, Aidan and Savana were strapped into the more functional seating behind the cockpit, along with the four man loading crew.

Gally had flown on many occasions, even, once or twice, been permitted into the cockpit with Captain Puck. He had never, however, been to another of the system’s inhabited planets, at least within his memory. Family legend had it that he had been quite the planet hopper while in nappies. His recent flights had been limited to hypersonics to the few scattered colonies on Lomas Prime, where a few minutes of freefall was as lose to zero g as you could get, and that was often avoided for the comfort of the passengers.

It came as quite a surprise, then, when after a few long minutes of noise and slightly uncomfortable g force, the pressure lifted and Gally felt himself lifted slightly from his seat.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Puck’s voice came through the intercom. ‘We have now left the gravity well of Lomas Prime, if you would like to make your way to the lounges, you have a few minutes to do so before we commence acceleration.’

Aidan led the way; Galford followed nervously, watching closely the way his father swung from the grab handles to propel himself through the passenger compartments in the microgravity environment.

On the wall screen in lounge, Lomas Prime revolved slowly. From here it looked even more like the desert planet it had the reputation of being; the small, but relatively plentiful, areas of greenery were invisible at this distance, as were the many rivers that snaked through them. From here the planet was just a yellow rock.

‘OK ladies and gentlemen,’ Puck’s voice again. ‘If you could please make yourselves comfortable, we will be accelerating towards Lomas Two in the next minute or two.’

Aidan showed Gally how the lounge worked in simulated g, and as the acceleration started, they all followed the g force to the back wall, and started to rearrange the beanbags on the wall as it became more of a floor. An additional screen flickered into life on what had been the ceiling, and as the shuttle’s acceleration approached the normal gravitational pull of Lomas Prime, the passengers were able to arrange themselves into a reasonably normal viewing position.

Once the shuttle has settled into simulated g flight, Gally sloped off into a corner with his beanbag, and fired up his comm-cell again. As he browsed through the social nets, at the same time running various searches related to infertility, the two coincided at something called PopNet.

PopNet, Gally soon discovered, was set up to aid the repopulation of the Colonies by ensuring ‘good distribution of DNA’. Searching through the database of members, Gally found members of around his age from Lomas Two and Three, various StarCities, even the distant colonies around the asteroid belt and the gas giant mines. Some of those more remote colonies took a relaxed view of being ‘of age’, and a cursory search turned up a few members noticeably younger than Gally. Brought up without peers of his own age, under the strict guidance of the Creed, this seemed a little odd to GQ, but at the same time the idea slightly intrigued him. For the first time in his life he began to wonder if he had in fact been missing out, spending his youth on a desert planet surrounded by adults. PopNet gave him a glimpse into a whole new way of life.

Gally narrowed his search down when the announcement chimed through his comm-cell that the shuttle would be arriving at the StarCity Peace within the next 24 hours. He did not really intend to do anything about it, after all, he had very little experience with the opposite sex (at least members of it around his own age), but nonetheless he found himself looking through the database for girls he might meet during their layover on the StarCity.

He had thought he was doing so anonymously, but as he searched a few messages arrived for the alter-ego he had created for PopNet. ‘I am a pretty girl, I would like to chat to you,’ that sort of thing. Nobody really introducing themselves in any real sense. Actually, he was not even sure they were from Peace. There was no way of knowing.

As it turned out, Gally ended up keeping himself to himself on the StarCity, hanging around the shuttle most of the time with Puck and the crew. Until his mother had settled in and dragged him off to start the research they were here to do.

Now, this is the part of the plot which needs to be researched, and I can’t be bothered. I have only got 30 days after all, and I am already way behind. But these words will easily be replaced by something to do with fertility research and medical terms so I can sort of justify it.

‘Hi.’

GQ looked around to see a young nurse smiling at him.

‘I have not seen you around before,’ she said.

‘No, we, er, just got in from Lomas Prime,’ he said.

‘Cool,’ she smiled. ‘Here for long?’

‘Er…’ he glanced at his mother.

‘I guess we’ll be staying a few days,’ she said.

‘Cool,’ said the nurse. ‘I am Jialin Kromer. Maybe I’ll see you around.’

‘Yeah,’ GQ said. ‘That would be nice.’

She stared at him. ‘You got a name then, shy boy?’

‘Er, yeah. Galford, Galford Qqayle.’

‘OK, Galford,’ she said. ‘You can comm me on PopNet sometime while you are here.’

‘Yeah, I will,’ GQ said, as Jialin turned and left to get back to work.

‘PopNet?’ Savana asked him as they walked back to the shuttle, which was still their home from home during their stay on the StarCity.

‘Apparently,’ Gally shrugged. ‘Do not know much about it really.’

‘Well, you are an adult now, you can make your own decisions,’ she said. ‘But I would advise you not to get too involved with people you meet on the networks.’

‘I have not even commed her yet,’ he protested.

‘You are going to though, aren’t you?’ his mother asked.

‘Well it is not like I have many friends, is it?’ GQ said, defensively.

‘Well if it is just friendship you are after, I guess that is ok,’ Savana said.

‘I am not going to do anything stupid,’ GQ confirmed.

Chapter Three: Jonah Flees From the Lord

Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

Jonah 1:4

Gally did comm Jialin, and the two of them met up the following day in the City’s main park. Strolling through the trees, the fresh smells of wildflowers and the sound of birdsong all around them, only the eerie metallic sky reminded Gally that they were in fact walking along the inside of a vast rotating cylinder.

‘You act like you have never been in a park before,’ Jialin said.

‘It is been a while,’ Gally admitted. ‘I travelled a lot as a child, but I remember very little now.’

‘So what is Lomas Prime like?’ she asked. ‘All underground cities, everything mechanical, electronic?’

‘What makes you think that?’ Gally said, intrigued.

‘I think I heard about it somewhere,’ Jialin said. ‘Why, is that wrong?’

‘Yes, it is quite the opposite,’ Gally smiled. ‘The planet is mostly desert, but there are a few big colonies where the rivers run and the ground is good for farming. But that is mostly what we do: it is an agricultural planet.’

‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Must have been Lomas Two I heard that about, maybe.’

‘You have not visited the planets either?’ Gally asked.

Jialin shook her head. ‘So how does an agriplanet get to be the capital of the Colonies?’

Gally shrugged. ‘Historical, I think. It was just the first planet to get colonised. I do not know what the other planets are like, mind; this is something of a voyage of discovery for me.’

It was at about this point that the narrator realised that it would have been more exciting for Gally to have been blamed for the power outages and escaped from Lomas Prime under a cloud, at the same time keeping the full story from his parents. So that is what we’ll do on the rewrite.

Jialin was (oh, this is going to be so cliché!) leaning in to kiss him, when there was a distant rumble, and the earth moved.

‘Does it do that often?’ GQ asked.

‘No,’ Jialin looked worried, and oblivious to GQ's levity.

It happened again. Two men in uniforms ran past them.

‘Something is going on,’ Jialin said.

GQ nodded. ‘I should go back to the shuttle,’ he said.

(GQ ran back to the shuttle bays, where he almost ran into the back of an armed guard.)

Aidan Qqayle was catching up with his old friend Chik Renken when the StarCity started rocking and bucking. They both grabbed on to something solid to steady themselves.

‘What was that?’ Aidan asked.

‘I do not know,’ Chik replied. ‘It is not supposed to do that.’

‘Let’s go check it out,’ Aidan said, already marching off in the direction of the control decks (I am going to have to bone up on my StarCity geography for the rewrites.)

Aidan’s United Colonies credentials were good enough to get him and Chik through the guard which had sprung up around the main control deck to see what was going on.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ Aidan asked.

‘I have not seen anything like that in 20 years,’ Chik said.

‘Wormholes are more common than you might think,’ one of the pilots said in between flipping switches and checking dials. ‘Do not usually get this close, mind. This one just sprung up with no warning.’

Aidan was looking helplessly at the swirling vortex on the view screens when he noticed Chik looking suspiciously at him.

‘What?’ he said.

‘What are you not telling me, Aidan?’ Chik asked.

Aidan thought about protesting innocence, but knew that his friend would see right through it, and that Chik’s connection to God was such that he was going to get the truth whether Aidan gave it to him or not.

(This is a good place to start actually, then flash back to the message from Galford. Do not know if that would work with GQ though.)

‘I saw Dad a few days ago,’ he explained. ‘Before we headed out here.’

‘And?’ Chik prompted.

‘He gave me a mission,’ Aidan said flippantly.

‘One you did not like, I am guessing?’ Chik went on.

Aidan nodded. ‘He said I should go and see Rufus,’ he said. ‘Tell him about what happened back then.’

Chik looked on, silent and unmoving.

‘And then…’ Aidan went on – Chik had a way of getting information out of him. ‘And then tell everyone else.’

‘Wow,’ Chik sounded surprised. ‘That is a biggie.’

‘Yeah,’ Aidan agreed.

‘So why come here?’ Chik asked.

Aidan shrugged. ‘Gally had some stuff he needed to look into. We just stopped here on the way.’

‘Who are you trying to convince, Aidan?’ Chik asked.

‘Yeah, you are right,’ Aidan sighed.

‘You know what this means, do you not?’ Chik said.

Aidan looked his friend in the eye. ‘Pray for me,’ he said.

‘Always,’ Chik replied with a smile.

‘Governor,’ Aidan called towards a cluster of people around the main console.

‘A little busy here, Mr Qqayle,’ came an irritable reply.

‘I appreciate that, Governor, but I think I can help,’ he said.

‘Go on,’ the Governor said, testily.

‘I just need to get off the City,’ Aidan explained.

‘And do what?’ the Governor asked.

Aidan shrugged, and glanced across at Chik, who nodded silent encouragement.

‘Close the wormhole?’ Aidan guessed.

At that, the entire crew turned and stared at him, at least at the wormhole tugged at the City and the control room tilted wildly again.

‘Ok,’ the governor said, then pointed to a young man in uniform. ‘Take this man to the shuttle bay. Give him whatever he wants. And quickly!’

The young man nodded, and Aidan followed him out at a jog.

With some help from the man in uniform, Aidan and Chik unloaded the tiny flyer from the big Deltic’s cargo bay.

‘You guys get to safety,’ Aidan said, clambering into the little flyer carefully. ‘I have got you into enough trouble already.’

Aidan sealed himself in, and tried to remember the crash course his son had given him. The engines fired up, and he wheeled the little ship away from the Deltic’s shadow.

‘Control this is Butterfly One,’ Aidan said into the intercom. ‘Requesting permission to leave the shuttle bay.’

‘Butterfly One, this is control, standby,’ came the reply.

Aidan waited a moment while the shuttle bay controller ensured the launch area was empty.

‘Butterfly One, this is control,’ the voice crackled through the intercom. ‘Please proceed to Runway Two.’

(I am going to have to come up with better names)

Aidan followed the line of lights which indicated the runway, rolling forward at a crawl under minimal power. Ahead of him a large metal door, many times wider than the Butterfly, slid open and allowed him access to the exit tunnel.

‘Control, Butterfly One is clear of the doors,’ Aidan said.

‘Roger, Butterfly One. Inner doors closing,’ the controller confirmed.

Aidan was dimly aware of the mechanical noises behind him as the doors closed and sealed behind him. Ahead of him, another, even larger, doorway opened up, revealing the dark vacuum of space, in contrast to the brightly lit interior of the runway tunnel.

‘Butterfly One, this is Control. Outer doors are open, you are go for launch,’ said the controller.

‘Roger Control,’ Aidan said, increasing the power to the engine and releasing the brakes.

The little shuttle picked up speed surprisingly quickly, and the dark oblong seemed to rush towards Aidan.

‘Godspeed, Aidan,’ the voice from Control said. ‘And good luck.’

‘I just hope I am right about this,’ Aidan said, and the shuttle popped out of the end of the vast StarCity.

Aidan kept the throttle open, accelerating away from the StarCity some distance before looking around to get his bearings. The wormhole was the other side of the StarCity, which was now moving away from it, following Aidan’s shuttle. Aidan pulled the flyer up and to the right, turning back in the direction he had just come from, and flew back along the length of the StarCity, it is huge cylindrical main section revolving slowly and silently beside him. A few minutes of heavy acceleration later, he was surrounded by darkness, but for the swirling vortex where the wormhole was silently rending space apart.

Aidan clicked the shuttle’s internal comm. system on again. ‘StarCity Peace,’ he said. ‘This is Aidan Qqayle on Butterfly One. I have the wormhole in front of me, and I am going in. I wish you a safe onward journey.’

He clicked the comm system off entirely, not wishing to receive any messages that might make him change his mind. He adjusted the flyer’s direction slightly, pointing the nose directly in to the centre of the vortex – the dark eye of the storm – and opened up the acceleration to maximum. That was the way Captain Straker had tackled the first wormhole they experienced twenty years ago, and they had come through that unscathed – all apart from Aidan’s father, that is.

‘I guess I should have listened to you, eh, dad?’ Aidan said to himself quietly, even as the g-force of the acceleration forced his every muscle back towards the pilot’s seat.

‘He did what!?’ GQ exclaimed when he arrived at the shuttle bay.

‘He believed it was the best way,’ Savana explained. ‘He thought the City would be safe if he did this.’

‘But the flyer will never stand up to that,’ GQ said, looking at the chaotic region of space immediately surrounding the wormhole – the tiny flyer had long since disappeared from view at this distance.

‘On the plus side,’ Chik said quietly, ‘it looks like he was right. The City has been steadily accelerating away from the wormhole’s influence.’

‘Oh well that is alright then,’ GQ said sarcastically.

‘Yes,’ Chik said insistently. ‘It is alright. If your father was right about his leaving saving the City – and he appears to have been – then I am sure God will look out for him.’

‘Yeah? Well sometimes I wish I had your faith,’ GQ said.

Chik smiled. ‘You remind me a lot of Galford Senior,’ he said.

‘So what do we do now?’ Savana asked, to break the silence that followed.

Chik shrugged. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Carry on with whatever we were doing, I guess. Come on,’ he added. ‘Right now we need to get away from here.’

Chik led Savana and Galford Junior away from wherever they were – the control room, or the shuttle bay, it seems to be moving.

(None of them saw the wormhole snap out of existence, and return space to its normal, unmoving vacuum.) (cut?)

Even working with the immense gravity of the wormhole, Aidan struggled to keep the flyer running smoothly. The flyer was buffeted in all directions, and Aidan began to wonder whether the little shuttle would be ripped apart.  He wanted nothing more than to shut his eyes and pray for it to be over, but he did not dare. Instead, he prayed with every pull on the controls and every switch he flicked. The gravity intensified, and began to pull in different directions. Aidan struggled to keep his last meal down. His vision started to fade. In the browning haze in front of him, Aidan thought, for a brief, insane moment, that he saw a face – some kind of hideous deep space monster coming up at him from the other side of the wormhole. He had a split second to worry about where he was going to end up, before alarms sounded in the cockpit around him. Struggling to turn his head, he could see the starboard wing flexing dangerously. The flyer was holding together by a thread. Turning to the front again Aidan caught another brief glimpse of the huge, monstrous face and thought he saw sharp, spittle flecked teeth, before darkness finally claimed him.

It was dark. The flyer had reverted to emergency power, and only a few winking lights and dials illuminated the cockpit. It was also quiet. Aidan’s ears were still ringing for m the noise inside the wormhole – at least, the perceived noise of the rattling and bucking of the flyer and the roar of its struggling engine – but nonetheless he thought it was too quiet.  And too dark. Wherever he was, there were no stars.

Aidan paused for a moment to take a personal inventory. There was pain here and there, but he felt no blood; all his extremities moved as they should, so he reasoned that he was bruised, but not seriously injured.

Closing his eyes, Aidan attempted to determine whether the shuttle was still moving. The absence of external reference points gave no indication, and there was no discernible gravity. Keeping as still as he could, he tried to sense the tiny movements that might give him some clue. Eventually, he decided the shuttle was moving, but not in the wild, uncontrolled way he would have expected having been spewed out of a wormhole; he thought he felt a gentle, undulating movement of the little space craft under him.

‘Controlled flight?’ he said to himself, surprised. ‘Then where in space am I?’

Squirming around in the tight, dark cockpit, Aidan forced himself to run through some basic safety checks. Miraculously, the flyer did not seem to be seriously harmed. Having established that essential systems were functional, he commenced the power up procedure, and in a few moments had returned normal lighting to the cockpit and was able, finally, to fully assess his situation.

The flyer was, indeed, undamaged. More importantly, Aidan’s injuries were not severe, and with adequate lighting he was able to patch one or two minor scratches quickly.

Most worryingly, he realised he now had air supplies for only three days. He would have to find his way to a colony, or a StarCity, within that time, or…

‘Right then,’ he said. Having put the moment off long enough, it was time to see where he was. Minimising the interior lighting again, he found the external spotlight and, with a deep breath, turned it on.

GQ had been ignoring Jialin’s comms for about a day – since the wormhole had closed. Since hearing that all contact with his father had been lost, GQ had holed up in the Deltic with his comm.-cell, and retreated into the virtual world of the networks. It did not seem possible that just days ago he was unaware of the depth of the nets. Now he found comfort in it; a haven where he could escape from real life, and the many developments of the last few days.

Using one of the alter-egos he had created for himself, he lurked in a few places, watching what was going on, learning the protocols, building a list of places to visit once he made himself known, identifying some people he might like to talk to.

Occasionally, people would notice him and comm him out of the blue. At first he ignored these, but now… now things were different. Now he needed to connect with someone, connect with anyone, to stop him dwelling on the mess his life had become.

So when an unsolicited comm asked where he was, he decided to take a look. He could not quite make out the tiny picture attached to the sender’s profile, so he sent back a quick ‘hello’ message in the hope of getting a clearer picture.

ladonna says:

hi, somebody finally friended me!

GQ says:

sure, why not?

ladonna says:

where are you?

GQ says:

Peace

ladonna says:

Cool, me too

GQ says:

nice. been here long?

ladonna says:

always

GQ says:

I just got here a few days ago

ladonna says:

from where?

GQ says:

Lomas Prime

ladonna says:

OK. Never been there

GQ says:

Not much to go there for!

ladonna says:

oh. why are you here then?

GQ says:

research, sort of.

ladonna says:

in to what?

GQ says:

it is complicated.

ladonna says:

See the wormhole yesterday?

at that point GQ cut the connection. He did not want to be reminded of the wormhole at all. That was not what he was networking for. He skipped to another network, and, now he had sort of got a feel for what was expected, started actively looking for contacts.

The single spotlight threw a cone of bright light into the blackness. Looking around by moving the single external spotlight, Aidan tried to get an impression of where he was. It looked like some sort of cave; he was, as far as he could tell, sealed in on all sides. There did not appear to be any one, or any thing, moving outside the flyer. Behind him, there was an Extra Vehicular Activity suit; he wondered about the wisdom of leaving the relative security of the flyer, even for a short period. One thing was for sure: he could not see very much of his surroundings from inside the flyer. Another thing that was for sure, was that if he did not get out of the cave, he would die inside it in a couple of days.

Suiting up inside the flyer was not an easy task; the available space was far from enough to change comfortably. Nonetheless, necessity won out, and he persevered and eventually got himself into the EVA suit. The next step was more difficult; he had to work out how to depressurise the cockpit while wearing the suit, without letting all of his air supply disappear into the cavern. This took a few attempts to flick the right combination of tiny switches with his cumbersome gloved hands, but he managed it, released the canopy, and clambered over the side and down to the ground. The EVA suit was equipped with wrist and shoulder mounted torches, so Aidan was able to shed a pool of light in front of him wherever he turned. This was, as he had suspected, a much more useful method of exploring his surroundings.

He checked his on board computer for the atmospherics; the cavern was humid, warm enough to be inhabitable, but a vacuum. He would need to stay in the suit or the flyer to survive.

Having established that, he took a look around.

AT first glance it appeared to be a fairly ordinary cave, not unlike the mountain homes they had made back on Lomas Prime. The walls, however, were coated with some kind of sticky plasma, and now he was outside the flyer, the suit is external mike appeared to be picking up some kind of sounds, distant, muffled, but vaguely comforting; it had been many years since Aidan had been near a sea shore, but as he listened, he thought that might be what the sound reminded him of: the sea, breaking on the shore, heard from within a coastal cave.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. 'I am imagining things,' he told himself. The microphone was probably just amplifying echoes of his own movements around the cave.

He shut the microphone off, and carried on exploring, the only sound now his own ragged breath.

As he stepped away from the flyer, he found himself unexpectedly drifting upwards - he had forgotten entirely that he was still in a micro gravity environment. He cursed, and tried frantically to get himself into the best position for when he eventually made contact with the cave wall. Thankfully, he had not pushed off with any force, and met the far wall softly, without damaging himself or the suit. He took a second to mutter a prayer of thanks, and then tried to rethink his strategy.

Behind him, oddly, the flyer was perfectly stationery, on the floor (or it could have been a wall, or the ceiling) of the cave. Aidan was too far away to try and establish what, if anything, held it there, and returned to his original plan of exploring his surroundings.

He had just over an hour's worth of air in the suit.

'That should be plenty,' he told himself, and set off, having to use a strange kind of rock climbing action in order to keep moving in one direction at a sensible pace, dragging himself along the wall, floor, or whatever, by his fingers.

GQ found himself drawn to PopNet again. He had not yet explored all of the network's nuances and features, yet it still drew him, again and again he found himself logging in. This time he searched for members on board the StarCity Peace. Most were under 30 standards, many around his age or even younger. He narrowed the field down to those within a couple of standards of his own age, and then halved the number again - he realised he had not yet used the gender filter, so he cut out the guys. PopNet was aimed at repopulating the United Colonies, so members would expect only to be contacted by members of the opposite sex. As much as GQ would have liked to find some male friends to hang with, PopNet was not the place for that.

He ended up with a list of around 100 girls, around his age, on the StarCity. That seemed an awfully large number. I guess I'll have to narrow that down later when I have checked the StarCity population figures from Countless.

Anyway, in the privacy of a small cabin on the Deltic shuttle (GQ was beginning to miss having his flyer around, but tried not to dwell on that; thinking of that would make him think of his father again) GQ sat, the glow of his Comm-cell the only light, and perused the records that had come up.

At first he was surprised by the candid way that sex was discussed on the network, but when he thought about it, it seemed only reasonable. That was what the network was for. And that made him wonder what he was doing there. Did he really want sex? Hadn't he been brought up to believe that sex was a special act, best saved for that one special person, your life partner? Well, yes, he reminded himself; but he had also been brought up with the outdated morals and religion of the Creed, which he did not really believe now he was old enough to make his own choices. Maybe he should make his own choices here too.

And so, for the first time since first venturing into the networks, GQ set up a profile which accurately reflected his real personality - at least, those aspects of it he was willing to share. He was no longer hiding behind a facade of anonymity, at least, no more than that automatically bestowed by the nature of the nets.

Having set himself up with a new online persona - this one called 'GQ' - he made his virtual way to the meeting room. This was a chat room set aside for new members to drop in and be greeted by old hands. GQ had not been waiting long before he was greeted by someone calling herself Er1n.

Er1n says:

hey: age/sex/location?

GQ says:

20/m/Peace

Er1n says:

22/f/Peace

GQ says:

nice to meet you

Er1n says:

you too. You're a bit old for a newbie

GQ says:

am I?

Er1n says:

well, older than most. Nothing wrong with that though. Glad you're here!

GQ says:

Me too

Er1n says:

Would you like me to show you around?

GQ says:

Sure, why not?

Over the next few minutes Er1n guided GQ around the various parts of the PopNet: chat rooms, forums, private comm lines... there was a lot to see. Their conversation continued on a private line as they hopped from one area to another.

Er1n says:

do you have a vid cam?

GQ says:

not here

Er1n says:

pity. I'd like to see who I'm talking to.

GQ says:

sorry

Er1n says:

any pics

GQ says:

hang on...

GQ searched through his comm-cell for a recent snapshot of himself, and commed it over to Er1n.

Er1n says:

cute

GQ says:

thanks

Er1n says:

come over to the vid room. You can at least see me even if I can't see you.

He followed Er1n's instructions, and found his comm-cell screen full of little thumbnails of people. Some, he could not help noticing, were not wearing very much. He felt a strange thrill at that, his heart began to race and his fingers trembled slightly as he scrolled through to Er1n. She, thankfully, was still dressed.

Er1n says:

can we go private?

GQ says:

sure

Erin's vid expanded to fill the comm-cell's screen, and a message flashed across it: Private vid line secured

Er1n says:

what do you want to do?

GQ says:

chat

Er1n says:

k. what about?

GQ says:

this place

Er1n says:

ok. what else do you want to know?

Er1n says:

GQ?

GQ says:

sorry. trying to find the right words

Er1n says:

ok

GQ says:

why are people naked?

Er1n says:

lol that is one of the things we do here!

GQ says:

why?

Er1n says:

It is the population network. you can't repopulate without getting naked

GQ says:

you can't repopulate over a comm-cell either

Er1n says:

true. some people like to have comm-sex before having the real thing, you

know? no, of course you do not. I forget you are new here.

GQ says:

sorry. it is all a bit strange to me.

Er1n says:

That is ok. you'll get used to it

GQ says:

maybe

Er1n says:

you want to try it?

GQ says:

try what?

Er1n says:

comm-sex

Er1n says:

?

GQ says:

no vid cam, remember?

Er1n says:

you want to watch?

GQ did not get to answer that. Er1n was already unbuttoning her shirt in front of her vid cam. GQ looked, stunned. His heart was pounding, hands quivering... he knew he should look away, desperately wanted to, but... could not. Er1n had him in her spell.

Scrabbling along the moist rock was not always easy for Aidan. The surface was ridged in an almost deliberate way, but the plasma that coated much of the cave's walls made it difficult to keep a grip at times. Aidan struggled along all the same, making steady, methodical progress along the cavern wall. It turned a corner, and at the end he could see a faint glow. The light from his suit torches would not extend far enough for him to see the end of the tunnel; he would have to get closer to see what the glow was. Of course, there was an easier way than scrabbling along the walls; now he had something to aim for, maybe he should just jump for it. He would have to take care not to overshoot though. If he went too far, he might find out what the glow was rather too quickly, and that might be very, very bad.

Aidan tried to position himself so that he had solid rock behind him to push off against, and would be able to push off in the direction of the wall just before the glow. From this distance, and in the darkness beyond the pool of light he was generating, it was not easy to just the distance to the end of the tunnel.

In the end, Aidan settled for a shallow zig-zagging course along the tunnel, from one side to the other, until, within about half a dozen jumps, he realised what the glow was.

Er1n says:

no more, GQ!

GQ says:

:(

Er1n says:

not until you get a vid cam!

Er1n says:

I'll get naked if you do!

GQ says:

I'm not sure I'm ready for that

Er1n says:

well, you just let me know when you are, ok? ;)

GQ says:

er, ok

Er1n says:

you'll find me here when you're ready to comm

GQ says:

comm?

Er1n says:

comm-sex

GQ says:

oh

Er1n says:

you have fun on here now.

GQ says:

ok

Er1n says:

I'll see you around

And with that Er1n was gone.

GQ found himself staring at a blank comm-cell screen - blank, except for the message 'Private line disconnected'. He backed out into the vid cam room; Er1n's picture was now blanked, and a little caption read 'Er1n is on a private comm'.

GQ was confused, rejected - but then another comm message popped up. GQ followed the message and found himself in another private vid room

xyex says:

hey GQ, I'm lonely in here

GQ says:

sorry, no vid cam

xyex says:

i do not mind. I like being watched

Chapter Four: Jacob’s Ladder

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

Genesis 28:12

Aidan slid to a halt after his last bounce, which landed him at a shallow angle to the slippery cave wall. Scrabbling for a hold on the sticky ridges of the cave wall, Aidan eventually managed to build up enough friction to counter his forward momentum in the zero g cave, still a healthy distance from the cave mouth. He was close enough, however, to see clearly what was outside the cave. Not that that helped in any way; he still did not understand what he was looking at. It looked very similar to the space created around a wormhole - distorted starlight, no vortex here, but streaks of light rather than pinpricks, and the inky blackness of space was replaced by a lighter hue, a sort of velvety purple blue colour, again not unlike the interior of a wormhole.

Was he still in the wormhole? Aidan had no other conclusion than to assume that that was indeed possible, and he must therefore be inside a meteor, travelling through the wormhole.

But the more he thought about it, the less that seemed to make sense. A meteor would be tumbling through the wormhole, as he had expected his shuttle to be doing. Now he came to think about it, he was able to confirm his unexpected earlier suspicion: he was undergoing some form of controlled flight.

So how was that possible? Had someone converted a meteor into a spacecraft? That would not be unheard of; back on Tellus they had converted one into the Luna Minor space station. The technology existed, and had almost certainly been brought to the Colonies with them. But surely he would have heard about such a thing.

And besides, even assuming they were travelling in a controlled way, where were they travelling to - and through?

An even more intriguing prospect was that of controlled travel through a wormhole.

Aidan edged carefully closer to the cave entrance. If that was what was going on, he needed to try and get some kind of confirmation. He did not know what that would be, but it was not going to come from inside the cave.

He made deliberately slow progress. He did not know what was outside the cave mouth, but he had some ideas. And they were not attractive prospects. As he got close enough for his shoulder lights to illuminate the cave entrance, he suddenly became aware of where he was. He remembered seeing something coming towards him as he was entering the wormhole. He remembered thinking he had seen teeth.

Now he knew he was looking at teeth. From behind.

GQ was snapped rudely out of his comm-cell induced trance by his mother opening the door of the cabin he had seconded. Shakily, he shut down the network window and put the comm-cell down, face down.

'Are you ok?' Savana asked.

'Yeah,' GQ said.

'I am worried about you,' she said. 'You have hardly been out of this room in 24 hours.'

'I know, I'm, just, I have got things on my mind, that is all,' GQ said.

'Of course you have,' his mother sat beside him. 'We all have. But locking yourself in this little cabin is not going to help.'

'I suppose,' he relented.

'So why do not we go and find Captain Puck,’ she suggested, ‘and see whether we can persuade him to go and look for your father?'

'What would be the point in that?' GQ said. 'He was eaten by a wormhole.'

'We were all eaten by a wormhole,' Savana reminded him. 'And we are all fine.'

'Fine, but a million squillion miles from where we should be,' he argued.

'We are exactly where we should be,' Savana said. 'And so is your father.'

'So why go and find him then?' Gally said.

'No,' Savana said. 'You are right. He is not where he should be. That is the problem isn’t it?'

'What are you prattling on about, mother?' he asked sarcastically.

'Do not be cheeky,' she said. 'Look, I know where your father should be. Are you coming to help me or not?'

GQ shrugged, picked up his comm-cell (quickly checking any incriminating windows had been closed) and slouched out of the room.

'Where are we going?' he asked.

'Right now, to find Captain Puck,' Savana replied. 'Then: Lomas Two.'

'I'll get Puck,' GQ said, confused.

Faustus Puck was slouching around the shuttle bays with the StarCity's own pilots and engineers.

'What's up, GQ?' he called as Gally approached.

'Mother wants to leave,' he said. 'Do not ask me why.'

'Ok,' Puck said. 'Well, the shuttle is ready when she is. Who else is coming?'

GQ shrugged. 'Me, probably that Chik fella who seems to know what goes on in my dad's head-'

'Your dad?' Puck said. 'He turned up again?'

Gally shook his head. 'Mum reckons...' he paused. 'Actually, I do not know what she reckons, really. But apparently this has something to do with dad.'

'Well,' Puck said, standing up with a puff, 'if it has to do with your da, we had better get on with it, had we not?'

'I guess so,' Gally said, still puzzled.

Puck gathered his flight crew together, and the makeshift passenger compartment filled by Gally, his mother, and Chik Renken.

'Ok, now what is going on?' Gally asked them once they had left the City.

'Your father was given a, er, mission,' Savana started, 'by God.'

'Oh no,' GQ muttered.

'But I think he came here instead of following it,’ she went on.

'What!' Gally exclaimed. 'Yeah, go Dad!'

'No,' Chik interrupted. 'Not go Dad. This is very bad.'

'Oh,' Gally said.

'I think that is why he had to go into the wormhole,' Chik went on.

'That was his mission?' Gally asked.

Chik looked at Savana, who shook her head.

‘It does not matter what the mission was,' she said. 'The fact is, he did not do it. In fact, he came here and started finding ways not to do it, to actively avoid doing it.'

'That is why he was encouraging us to take time researching the fertility stuff,' Gally realised.

Savana nodded.

'I still do not understand the wormhole business,' Gally said.

'Your father was keeping secrets,' Chik explained. 'He did not tell me, or your mother, exactly what was expected of him, or that he was avoiding doing it.'

'So?' Gally did not understand.

'He has not kept anything secret from me since...' Savana tailed off.

'Nor me, for a long time,' Chik agreed.

Gally shrugged again, prompting them for more explanation.

'Your father was running away from God,' Chik said.

'How did you work that out?' Gally asked.

'I did not need to,' Chik said. 'I can tell these things. It is a gift.'

'Well, I hope you kept the receipt,' Gally muttered, and received an unhappy nudge from his mother.

'Your father tried to run away, hide on this City, and avoid following God's instructions,' Savana explained. 'Nobody else can do the thing God wants of your father, so He had to get his attention.'

'By threatening to swallow the entire City in a wormhole,' Gally said.

'Yes,' she confirmed.

'Well what good does that do?' Gally said.

'Well, it made Aidan realise what he was doing, for a start,' Chik said. 'That is why he surrendered himself to the wormhole.'

'Ok,' Gally said, still a little sceptical.

'And I think God will find a way to bring him back to where he should be, to finish the job,' Chik continued.

'Lomas Three,' GQ said to his mother.

Savana nodded.

'Well, ok,' GQ said. 'How long till we get there?'

'Couple of days,' Savana said.

'Well, I'll be back in my room then,' GQ got up, went to the little side cabin he was making his own, and turned on his comm-cell.

Aidan made his way back to the flyer as quickly as he could. The knowledge that he was bouncing along the throat of some vast space dwelling creature did not make him feel good about his situation, as he had hoped knowing where he was would, but he had to get back to the shuttle - his air supply was limited while he was extra vehicular, and he would be reaching the end of his reserves soon if he did not return now.

As he returned to the main cavern from which he had set off, at first he thought he had got lost, because he could not see the flyer, but he could not remember seeing any junctions in the tunnels. Then he remembered that he was in a zero gravity environment (how quickly he got used to it!) and looked up. There it was, the flyer, parked on the ceiling. But it was not, and never had been, free floating, as it should be in zero g. Aidan pushed himself up towards the flyer, and gently drifted up (or was it down?) to the little shuttle. Landing a little awkwardly behind it, Aidan pointed his wrist light under the shuttle. It was strapped to the floor, held in place by some sort of... plant? tentacles? Aidan crept closer to get a closer look. He could not quite tell what the substance was, but it appeared to have grown out of the surface f the cave, and was holding Aidan's shuttle in place. Why or how it did this, and what it meant, Aidan could not even begin to imagine. It simply gave him another little mystery to ponder while he was stuck here.

Once he was safely back in the shuttle, he sealed the cockpit and repressurised, allowing the little cabin to fill with air so that he could safely remove the bulk extra vehicular activity suit.

With that done, he sat back down in the pilot's seat and began to pray. He had become very aware that he had not eaten for some time, and now that he was aware of it, the hunger gnawed away at his insides. He rummaged briefly in the flyer's various hidden compartments, but found no food. He did, however, find a supply of drinking water, which, he thought, should keep him alive until the air ran out, at least.

'Oh, God,' he prayed, his voice the only sound in the silent shuttle. 'I am sorry I made such a mess of this. I did not like the task you gave me, so I ran away. I put my family and my closest friends in danger - not to mention countless strangers. I am so sorry. Lord, I pray that you have kept them safe from my mistake, from my punishment. God, I do not know if I have the right to ask this, but can you see fit to save me from this fate? Can you redeem me, and my mission? Can you get me back to where I should be? Or as I should ask, will you do so? Lord, if there is anything else that I can do to make amends for my foolish mistake, please guide me to it. Please give me another chance to do the right thing.'

Aidan fell silent, closing his eyes and trying to listen for God's reply, but his mind was racing. He could not help thinking about where he was, what had happened to him. He started to formulate a theory about the space monster that had, apparently, swallowed his shuttle whole.

From what Aidan had seen through the creature's mouth, they were still moving - presumably through a wormhole, or whatever existed on the other side of a wormhole. He seemed to have discovered - or been discovered by - a life form which could tunnel between this place and the space they knew. Could it really be that 'wormholes' were actually made by worms? Giant, space craft eating, space worms? It seemed pretty ridiculous, and yet... here he was.

Aidan came up with a theory about his space worms which, he hoped, would mean that he was not stuck in this sub-space dimension until he died. The creature seemed to need something from 'normal' space - food, maybe, or to breath, like a whale from Tellus. Tunnelling between the two realities created the phenomenon they had called wormholes, and occasionally got Aidan into all kinds of trouble.

'So why have we never seen you before?' he asked the creature.

'People live there?' GQ asked as they approached Lomas Three. Lomas Prime was mainly desert, but in comparison to the system’s third planet, it was lush and verdant.

'We are approaching from the dark side, son,' Puck explained. 'Colony is on the other side of the planet.'

'But still,' GQ said. 'It looks deader than Lomas Prime!'

'Oh it is,' Puck agreed. 'Not a thing alive on the surface.'

From orbit, Lomas Three looked like a dry, dusty, reddish planet; no rivers, seas, or occasional patches of greenery, just red dust. Hills, craters here and there, but no change in colour.

'Must be a real boring place to live,' GQ said to himself.

'The Colony is a lot different.' Puck said. 'We will see that in a few moments.'

GQ continued to look out as the monotonous dusty plateau scrolled past under them, until in the distance a glint of sunlight of metal caught his eye.

The Colony on Lomas Three was entirely artificial, constructed similarly to a space station, based on the Lunar Minor technology the Colonists had brought from Tellus. Despite being established for almost as long as the main colony on Lomas Prime, the Lomas Three colony remained tiny, and they had to get a lot closer before GQ could see more than the glint of metal against the dry dusty background.

'Lomas Three control, this is Deltic One Five from the Lomas Prime, requesting permission to land,' Puck spoke into the shuttle's comm system.

'Deltic One Five this is control, you have permission to land when ready,' the reply came amid a burst of static.

Gally looked out of the cockpit window, and saw the runway light up - a long, flat section had been carved from the dusty surface, and lights were now winking their way down its length, highlighting it to Puck and illustrating the direction of travel.

'Control this is One Five,' Puck said. 'I have visual on the runway and am commencing landing.'

'Roger One Five,' the controller replied.

Without saying anything more to either Control or his crew, Puck lined up the shuttle with the runway, and started a steep descent.

Gally sat back in his seat quickly, and buckled up. He knew his place during times like this.

Aidan had been without food for two days. He had rationed his limited water supplies carefully, but even that was gone now. The air supply in the flyer had not lasted as well as he had hoped either, and he was having to slow down the supply rate to eke it out for as long as he could. Sometimes, he wondered why he bothered. Maybe, he thought, he would be better off just jumping out of the space worm's mouth, and dying dramatically in wormhole space. Something kept him hanging on to life, if not sanity. Sometimes he even questioned whether he had hallucinated the whole giant space monster thing, or whether he was, in fact, still happily on Lomas Prime, dreaming away in his sleep. Maybe Lomas Prime was a dream too. Or maybe it was all a hallucination. Maybe he had gone mad years ago.

'You're not mad,' he told himself - then chuckled at the irony. 'You're just stuck on your own in the belly of a space monster swimming through some kind of sub-space dimension, with nothing to eat or drink and very thin air. Hallucinating is probably the natural thing to do in that circumstance.'

'And talk to yourself,' he added.

'Oh yes,' he agreed, and talk to yourself.'

In his half-starved, delirious state, Aidan tried to sleep as much as possible, reasoning (when he could reason) that he would save his own energy that way.

He was either asleep or hallucinating when he saw a stairway, its foot somewhere in front of the shuttle, its top reaching upwards, into the darkness above him. The staircase had a sort of ethereal glow, and seemed to reach much further than he remembered the ceiling being. People - angels, he saw now he looked closely - were going up and down the staircase. It a dream like state he saw himself approach the foot of the stairs. As he looked up, he saw God.

'I am the Lord,' he said, 'the God of you and your family. The God who will give you and your descendants the land on which you live. The God who has promised you descendants like the dust of the earth, as countless as the stars, who will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples in the Colonies will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to your land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.'

Aidan - in his dream or otherwise - dropped to his knees.

'Lord!' he cried. 'If you are who you say you are, and if what you promise will come to pass, then please, do not leave me here to die!'

Aidan began to call out in prayer. 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into space, into another dimension, and the stars swirled about me; all your creation swept over me.

'I said, “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.”

'The engulfing darkness threatened me, the stars surrounded me. To the roots of creation I sank down; the dimension beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.

'When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

'Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

'But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.'

'I will indeed save you,' God said. 'For I still need you to go and spread the word.'

'I will, Lord,' Aidan said, almost burying his face in the ground.

'Then go,' God said. 'I am sending you back to Lomas Three. You will not let me down again.'

Chapter 4a: The Bit That Doesn’t Quite Tie In With The Rest

Aidan emerged from the wormhole and took stock of his situation. There appeared to be still no real damage to the flyer, or to himself. The location computer took a while to adjust, blinking a query at him for longer than usual before finally recognising some landmarks and calculating the flyer's location.

'What?' Aidan exclaimed when he saw the reading. 'But that is impossible!'

The navgation computer put there location somewhere between the orbits of the outer two planets of the system - way beyond the reach of a three day flight. Confused, Aidan checked the flyer's chronometer as well: it confirmed Aidan's belief, that he had been in the shuttle for three days. He was curious about the wormhole phenomenon; the means by which the United Colonies had been transported to the unknowable reaches of space within hours, and which had now brought him safely to the outer edge of the system in three days. What did that inconsistency mean?

He did not get the chance to consider it much further, because a vast metallic structure loomed up into his field of vision at that moment.

He jumped, and grabbed for the controls, pulling the flyer up in an attempt to climb over the interloper.

After that split second of panic, Aidan realised that the object was not as close ashe had initially thought, but rather was an extrememly large object, apparently adrift, but a safe distance away. Instead Aidan brought the flyer to a gentle halt, and examined the unexpected structure.

Its precise length was difficult to judge: miles, almost certainly, in length, it appeared to be cylindrical in basic shape, and as well as drifting upwards from Aidan's perspective, it was spinning slowly, as if to generate a light gravity field on the inner surface of the cylinder.

As the StarCities did.

'No,' Aidan said to himself. 'It can't be.'

Aidan gently flew closer to the gently rotating cylinder, and swung that strong external spotlight towards it, hoping to shed a little for light on the object's identity.

It did not take long for Aidan to confirm that it was, in fact, what he had feared. Aidan had discovered one of the lost StarCities.

He surmised that it was, for lack of a better word, dead. It was in total darkness, and the main cylinder was rotating far too slowly to be generating a Tellus like gravity field. Signs of human life were minimal.

Reasoning that he was stuck out here in the darkest reaches of the system, months from Lomas Three or even the sparsely populated gas giant mines, he would need food, water - even air! - soon, and this was, however unlikely, the most likely place for him to find it. It was, he realised, probably more likely than being swallowed by a giant space worm and living to tell the tale.

He needed to get in to the City; and that was not going to be an easy task.

He would need to go extra vehicular, that was a certainty, so he stopped the flow of air into the cockpit, sealed the air tanks, and struggled into the extra vehicular activity suit. That was no easy task in the cramped confines of the flyer's cockpit; he rapped his knuckles on a number of protrusions, banged his humerus on the cockpit canopy and almost inadvertantly pulled the canopy release before he had the suit on. Then, beginning to sense the thinning air, he pulled the suit's helmet out from under his seat, and pulled it over his head, sealing the suit around him. Having checked all his seals were airtight, and that the suit's independent air supply had been suitably replenished, he depressurised the cabin, and, struggling with the bulkiy gloves of the suit, took the flyer as close to the City's hull as he dared, making tiny adjustments to his velocity to match the drift and spin of the cylinder. Flying perpendicular to the City's hull, he shone the spotlight over towards it, looking for some way in, some means of attaching the flyer to the hull.

Then he saw it: one of the external mounting points. If he could get the flyer correctly located on a mounting point, he would be able to secure it to the exterior of the StarCity, and make his way to an airlock, which, if he remembered his StarCity layouts, should be within easy reach.

It took several attempts before he managed to touch the shuttle's ski against the mounting point in such a way as to trigger the automatic clamp and secure it in place, but he eventually managed it and, satisfied that the shuttle was secure, he opened the canopy.

Careful to keep a grip on the shuttle, Aidan climbed out and lowered himself on to the outer surface of the StarCity. Once there, he secured his suit tether to the mounting point, and gently crawled along what currently passed for a floor. Thankfully, the exterior of a StarCity, despite looking like a cylinder, was far from smooth. Smooth walkways criss crossed its surface, designed to be walked on by the sort of magnetic boots he was not wearing, but in between these the surface was a mosaic of solar panels, aerials, heatsinks, pipes, and various other protrusions upon which Aidan was able to gain sufficient grip to make his way slowly across the surface.

Regrettably, it transpired that Aidan had set off in the wrong direction, and he reached the end of his tether without having seen an airlock. He went back on himself a short distance, and began a slow circuit around the parked flyer, keeping as close as possible to the magnetic paths on the basis that they must, sooner or later, lead to an airlock. And they did; after about sixty degrees of travel, he caught sight of the airlock handle. Unfortunately it was in the opposite diection to the flyer, and we was not sure the tether would take him that far. He could have continued around, looked for another airlock, but he was not sure how frequently they had been positioned on the exterior of the StarCities. He could not justify taking the chance. Aidan struck out in the direction of the airlock, checking frequently behind him to ensure the tether still had slack for him take up.

It was not enough. Aidan was still a few yards short of the handle when the tether tightened behind him. He stopped, manouvring himself into a seated position on the City's hull, and considered his next move. The magnetic path next to him led right to the airlock, but he would not be able to use that. He looked around at the functional fittings of the StarCity arrayed around him. There were enough odd protrusions for him to continue scrambling towards the airlock, rock climbing style, as he had done this far, but he would rather have something a little more concrete before cutting his safety cord.

He settled on a pipe which ran within reach of the airlock. He had to set off on a slight tangent to pick it up, but once he had hold of the pipe, he felt confident enough to loose his tether and make his way to the airlock. Slowly shinning along the pipe, Aidan reached the closest point to the airlock in what seemed like short time, and reached over to transfer his grip from the pipe to the release handle. He could not reach. Not quite. He edged himself off the pipe, keeping his left hand gripping it as tightly as possible, while his right arm reached out to the airlock handle. It had looked closer than that, he was sure! But there was no way he could hold both at once, and nothing between the two suggested sufficient grip. So Aidan lay there, spreadeagled on the outside of an unservicable StarCity. He had to take the plunge. Gathering up all his courage, he gave himself a gentle nudge off of the pipe.

He had nudged too hard, and his fingers collided awkwardly with the handle.

'Ow!' he shouted, and instinctively pulled his hand away from the source of the pain. 'No!' he shouted, cursed, and flailed wildly with both hands at the handle. Mercifully, one of his fingers must have gained sufficient purchase to drag him back, for he drifting down onto the airlock handle, which winded him in an oddly satisfying way.

He lie there for a few more moments, getting his breath back, clinging to the round handle for literal dear life, before finally using it to manouver himself into a position from which he could open the hatch. Footholds had been suitably located for precisely that purpose, and so with a minimum of additional fuss, Aidan found himself on the inside of the airlock, sealing the vacuum safely outside.

Aidan opened the inner seal of the airlock manually, as he had the outer seal. There was a reasuuring hiss as the seal broke and air fizzed through into the airlock. He opened the hatch fully with some effort, and made his way out into the StarCity. It was dark, but not entirely dark. Here and there he could make out the faint glow of emergency lighting, and a brief check of the computer on board his extra vehicular activity suit confirmed that the air was breathable, if only just. Something was keeping the life support systems ticking over, although apparently at a minimal level. Aidan assumed that even this far from the sun, the vast arrays of solar panels on the exterior of the StarCity were picking up some of its energy, and channeling it into the higher priority circuits within the City.

Aidan decided to take his helmet off, and use the City's remaining air for as long as he could. He slipped out of his suit with some releif, and left in a locker near the airlock. He found a pair of magnetic boots in his size, and stowed them with his suit too; at least his return walk to the flyer would be less dramatic that way.

Without the protection of the suit, Aidan quickly realised how cold it was in the City, and made finding a coat his next priority. He would have hurried in order to keep warm, but the gravity was so low he ended up bounding uncontrollably down the corridors. The airlocks were always accessed from the administrative underbelly of the city, from which Aidan decided to head up and into the main city. There he might find a house, or a shop, where he might acquire a coat. Although, now he thought of it, there was little need for coats in the regulated shirt sleeve environments inside the StarCities. Would he be able to find something warm enough, even there?

It didn't matter, he told himself; he needed more clothes. He made his way up the stairs as quickly as he could without losing control - which was actually quite quickly, taking each flight of a dozen or so steps in two long but gentle strides.

Before long he had made his way up to street level, and emerged out of an anonymous looking building on the edge of the residential district. Here, too, it was dark. Inside the cylinder there was not even starlight, just a wierd, ethereal glow from the streetlights on minimum power. It was an unnatural feeling, to be making his way down what looked like a regular street from any city in the Colonies or back on Tellus, but with the gravity of perhaps a small moon, barely any light, and, he now realised, no sound.

As soon as Aidan noticed it, the silence became oppressive, and he went in to the next house just to avoid it. He felt a little odd doing so - just entering someone's home uninvited - but it was quickly apparent that no-one had lived in it for a while, so he sought out the wardrobes. He had been right: there was not a coat to be seen, nothing warm enough for the chill he faced out on the street at the moment, anyway. Instead, Aidan rummaged around and found himself a selection of extra layers - t-shirts, shirts, jumpers - in various sizes such that he could put half a dozen extra layers of fabric between himself and the biting cold. The remaining power was enough to keep the City from freezing over entirely, but a cold, cold winter had set in.

Hoping he would be well enough protected from the elements, he left the house again, as he did so setting his comm-cell to play some soft music so he did not have to tolerate the silence. He had to turn the volume down to the limits of audibility to prevent it echoing around the empty cylinder of the city, but even so it did the job.

'What happened here?' he asked himself. 'Where did everyone go?'

There was no way the residential district was going to tell him; he would have to find the nerve centre of the city - the Town Hall.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing which way he should head to find that, so just struck out randomly, in the hope of at least finding a signpost, or maybe some form of streetmap.

Reasoning that the office building from which he had emerged was probably on a relativelty major route, he headed back the way he had come. He needed to keep track of the airlock, in any case, so he went back there first. He went through the building systematically, looking for two things: the first he found in the form of a gaudy sofa in one of the rest rooms. Using a pair of scissors from a handy desk, he cut the bright yellow upholstery away from the sofa, trying to keep it in as large a piece as he could. This done, he made his way up onto the roof, climbed the aerial that was erected there, and formed the bright yellow sofa trim into a large, somewhat untidy looking, flag. With no wind, it did not wave, and the gravity was sufficient that it would not just stay horizontal, but at least he would be able to see the mast on the top of his exit. While up there, tying his primitive flag to the aerial, he spotted the second thing he wanted - in a yard behind the building a few bicycles had been parked up, presumably by the people who had been working in these offices.

Feeling suddenly unnaturally adventurous, Aidan jumped. The weak gravity of the City was enough to pull him gently down alongside the tall aerial, at the foot of which he landed easily.

'That was quite fun,' he said, grinning to himself, and jumped off the roof of the building into the yard.

This had obviously been a trusting City; none of the buildings had been locked so far, and the bikes were not secured either. This City, Aidan reflected, appeared to be as true an embodiment of the ideals the United Colonies represented as any. That made its loss even more unfortunate to him.

Unfortunately, Aidan preferred to walk, or take a Moke for any distance, and was quite out of practice at riding a bicycle. There were several in the yard, so he picked one which looked about the right size (the right size meaning one from which he would not be too afraid of falling from), and tried to get on. It took a couple of attempts, and he was briefly relieved at the oddly deserted nature of the City, which at least meant he was not making an utter fool of himself.

Somewhat uncertainly, he took his feet off the ground and started to pedal. He made slow, unsteady progress to bregin with, weaving wildly across the widh of the yard as he struggled to get his balance. Thankfully, the reduced gravity gave him time to prevent any major disasters on the few occasions when he did over-balance, and reminded him that, even if he did fall, he was unlikely to sustain a major injury.

Thus reassured, Aidan made his way out onto the empty streets, and soon found that it was, in fact, true that you never forget how to ride a bicycle. Before long he found himself making a good pace along the City's major through routes as he looked for the town hall, or something that might direct him to it.

He passed into the area's major shopping precinct, and cycled across an eerie open paved space, which should have been teeming with shoppers and workers, but now...

It was not even as he would have expected it to be at night: shop doors were open; litter went uncollected; here and there a City Moke stood abandoned, the City's meagre power unable to charge its power cells.

Aidan kept pedalling, although he knew he had not far to go now. He was getting close to the right part of town.

Then, as he passed a specialist coffee merchants open door and inhaled the deep aroma that wafted out, it caught his eye: an information board. A map. He pedalled furiously, accelerating towards it, and by the time he realised it was at the bottom of a flight of stairs it was much too late to stop.

He was aware of his eyes opening to saucer like proportions. He was aware that his mouth was a similar round 'o' shape, and a banshee wail was coming from it. He stopped pedalling, but did not try to brake. All his concentration went on making sure he was pointed down the street, between, rather than into, the buildings. As the bike reached the top of the stairs, he stood on the pedals, holding the handlebars straight and level, and...

He flew. Literally. The bike arced gently down to the ground, Aidan finding time to pray for a safe landing as it did so, remembering to hold the handlebars up so he did not go straight over the handlebars. Miraculously, he landed more or less straight and level; he wobbled slightly but was sufficiently practiced at riding in the low gravity that he easily corrected it at speed. Once he was stable, he pulled on the rear brake, put one foot on the ground and slid to a halt, turning the bike through one hundred and eighty degrees before pedalling back to the information board.

He found the town hall on the map easily enough; the little red triangle which bore the legend 'You Are Here', however, was a little harder to see in the eery twilight. Eventually he found it, oriented himself to the map (as usual, easier said than done), and tried to commit the route to memory.

He had to continue down the road he had just used as a landing strip, hang a right after the Burger Shack, and turn left at the end of that road, from which point he should see the Town Hall.

'Easy,' he told himself, and set off.

Aidan arrived at the Town Hall, a tall, mostly glass structure which, under normal lighting, would have been plainly obvious long before now, and promptly forgot what he was there for.

‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘I need to find out what happened to this place!’

The doors were automatic.

'Should they not fail safe?' he asked himself as he tried to force them open.

Realising that the main entrance was not open to him, Aidan set off on a circuit of the building, looking for a back door, a fire exit, even, if it came to it, a window.

The windows were closed. The only other doors were fire exits, locked from the inside. He was beginning to despair, when he spotted it - an open window. On the first floor.

Making a mental note of it, he hurriedly toured the rest of the building, only to find that it was, in fact, his only hope.

He went back around and examined his options.

Already today Aidan had jumped off the roof of a building and flown a push bike 400 yards; he wondered whether he was getting some kind of superhero complex. But at the same time, he wondered just how high he could jump.

He tried it: not even close to high enough. There was nothing to fly a bike in from either, although that would have been practically suicide anyway.

He would have to climb. Falling was not the big hazard it was on his home planet, he had already proven that to himself, so he found the nearest drain pipe to the open window, and shimmied up it.

Once he was level with the open window, he discovered he was just out of reach.

'It is like deja vu all over again,' he muttered to himself.

He paused to collect his thoughts, consider his options. He could, if he pushed himself off with just the right amount of power, catch the open window and make his way inside, he was sure of it. The question was whether he had enough experience with this crazy gravity to judge it correctly.

He took a couple of deep breaths, took a moment to calculate where he needed to push from, and went for it. A gentle shove against the wall, a shallow angle so as not to fly right past the open window, just enough upwards velocity to counter the weedy gravity...

And he went for it. For a moment he thought he had been too gentle; everything moved so slowly, he drifted away from the wall at hardly any speed, drifting down and out, into the open space next to the building...

He had got the angle slightly wrong, and had to reach out and clutch the edge of the open window, pulling himself back before he fell, scrabbling for a better grip. Eventually he managed to get a hand around the handle, and felt a little more secure, even as what gravity the City still had took a hold on his legs. From there he was able to reach the window ledge, get his arms over it, and drag himself into the building.

'Thank you Lord,' he muttered, as he lay collapsed on his back, desperately trying to get his breath back.

Inside the building the darkness was more intense. The only light in the City, it seemed, was outside, the street lights generating barely the same light as a starlit night on a planet, or planetside as they probably refer to it in the StarCities.

This minimal light cast a faint glow just inside the windows, but further inside the darkness took hold.

'Why did I not bring a torch?' Aidan asked himself.

Very carefully he started to explore his immediate surroundings, looking, primarily, for a source of light. A torch would be ideal, but a candle would have done.

As Aidan's eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he began to rummage, trying to establish what part of the building he was in, and maybe find something of use. He found some drawers which were not locked, but could not see what they contained. Gingerly, he reached in. The top drawer was usually a good bet for pencils and such, so he left that and started in the lower ones. They seemed to be full of paperwork, so he ended up in the stationary drawer anyway. Pens, pencils, as predicted. But, to Aidan's delight and surprise, he found a key ring - one of those keyrings that double as a torch for finding your way in on a dark night.

'Thank you Lord,' Aidan said again.

The light it generated was tiny, but in the intense darkness of the building it was a welcome relief, so he made the most of it.

'What now?' he asked himself as he made his way carefully out of the room. 'Staff list, phone directory, something like that,' he told himself.

The obvious place to find that would be reception, so he slowly picked his way down the stairs and towards the main doors that had been so stubborn earlier.

Behind the reception desk he found an internal contact list, and ran down the job titles until he found something promising. Navigation or some such thing he was looking for. Astronomy. Research into wierd space phenomena.

'Throw me a frickin bone,' he muttered to himself.

The fact that the list went on for half a dozen pages was not helping, of course.

'Stella Cartography?' Aidan read aloud. 'Is that a person or a department? Or both?'

That was where he opted to head, which immediately led to his problem: exactly where was Stellar Cartography?

He rummaged around on the reception desk a little further, and amidst various useless documents he found the Fire Rostas - by Floor.

'Thank you Lord,' Aidan said, yet again.

Comparing the Fire Rostas and the names he had found of personnel from Stellar Cartography, he soon identified that department as occupying the sixth floor.

'Thank you,' he muttered again, this time with more than a hint of sarcasm, which he was forced to apologise profusely for moments afterwards when he tripped over a hefty torch.

Six flights of stairs later, and as ever grateful for the low gravity, Aidan arrived at Stellar Cartography.

He made his way into the largest office, in which a range of filing cabinets waited. Locked.

Aidan groaned, and turned again to the desk drawers, in search of the keys to the cabinets. At that point, God smiled at him again, for the very file he was looking for - probably - was already out, on the desk.

A pink cardboard file, labelled simply 'Wormholes'.

'Thank you Lord!' Aidan practically shouted it this time.

He opened the file, and began to leaf through the documents inside. There were, unfortunately, no clues as to exactly what had happened on board the StarCity, but there was an enormous amount of research into the wormholes. A staggering amount. Pages and pages of it. It seemed, from snatches that Aidan read and could understand fully, that there was still work to be done, however there was valuable information here for anyone wanting to take up that challenge. Aidan knew that it was essential for the United Colonies that someone took up the challenge.

He wondered what else the City's Stellar Cartography department had been working on, and once again set about finding the keys to the locked filing cabinets.

Once he was into them, he eventually found a further treasure trove of information, about wormholes, exotic matter, womhole aliens, wormhole navigation...

He ended up clutching half a dozen or so of the most unusual or important sounding files, bound together with numerous thick rubber bands. There would be a lot of reading material for him and his colleagues when he returned.

He was about to leave, when he had another thought.

Whatever had happened to this City, it appeared to have happened suddenly, but not so suddenly that they could not evacuate. That, at least, was the way it appeared to Aidan.

And this was the Town Hall, one of the City's main centres of beaurocracy.

'There must have been a memo!' Aidan said to himself, and once again pored over the documents still littering the desk.

'No, no, no,' he muttered to himself. 'Canteen facilities, parking, leaving windows open... er... in box!'

Aidan emptied the office in tray one document at a time onto the desk, until he found what he thought he wanted. There was not much detail, but it appeared that the City had, in fact, been evacuated following an 'incident' in wormhole space nearby. Their research obviously did have a way to go, Aidan reflected. A cross reference had been written on the memo, and when Adan checked it out, he found another file, presumably about that accident. He put the memo inside that file, wrapped them in the rubber bands with the others, and headed back to his bicycle, his shuttle, and hopefully then his home.

Chapter Five: Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.

Jonah 3: 1-3

The guest rooms in the Lomas Three colony were sparse, to say the least.

'How long have we got to stay here?' GQ asked.

'Until Aidan shows up,' Savana said.

'You realise we could be here a while, then,' GQ said.

Savana looked at him and sighed. 'Well, we might as well do something useful while we are here,' she said, suddenly brightening up.

'Like?' GQ asked.

'We have research to continue, do we not?' she said.

GQ looked down at where he had left his comm-cell.

'Come on!' his mother said. 'You can catch up with your friends later.'

'Ok,' Gally said resignedly, and followed his mother to the medical centre.

Lomas Three's chief medic shook her head.

'No,' she said, 'I am not aware of a significant infertility problem here. Isolated cases that we have been unable to treat in the normal ways, but nothing on the scale you describe.'

'Can we see these isolated cases?' Savana asked. 'Case files, I mean?'

'You know I should not,' the doctor said.

'I do not need names or anything like that,' Savana said. 'I guarantee complete anonymity. And, if we can ever get to the bottom of this,' she added, 'maybe we could even find a way to treat it.'

The doctor looked unconvinced, but shrugged and said, 'Look, I'm not prepared to just hand over case notes.'

Savana looked crest fallen.

'But,' the Doctor added, 'I will contact those involved and ask if they would be willing to help.'

'Thank you, doctor,' Savana said.

'Do you think they will agree?' GQ asked.

'Well,' the doctor said, 'this is a small colony. Most people will know the women of child bearing age who have no children. On this colony, they really have little to lose.'

'Yes,' he said.

'But the decision remains theirs to make,' the doctor emphasised.

'We understand,' Savana said.

'I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer,' the doctor said.

'Thank you,' Savana said. 'We'll let you get on, then.'

As soon as the meeting was over, Gally made his excuses and rushed back to his room, where he picked up his comm-cell and, almost automatically, logged on to PopNet.

He sent a quick note of apology to the last girl he had been chatting to when he had to cut her off, and then started a search for girls on Lomas Three.

This was, indeed, a small colony, the exact size of which will have to be worked out later on and put in here, but GQ still managed to find about a dozen girls around his age ready and willing to interact with him.

He was just about to comm one of them when a priority message cut across his screen: 'We have an incoming wormhole alert!'

That was all GQ needed to hear; he logged off, pocketed his comm-cell and ran to find his mother and Chik - who, it seemed, had exactly the same idea and the three of them ran into each other in the corridor and then headed off to find somewhere to see the phenomenon.

There was some tension around the central concourse as the wormhole opened. No-one had seen a wormhole this close to an inhabited planet before, and there were obvious worries about the effect the abnormal gravity and radiation would have on the settlement. It was, however, an awesome sight to behold: the purples and blues generated by a wormhole in the vacuum of space were rendered gold and green by the thin atmosphere of Lomas Three. (not sure if that is scientifically valid, but what the heck).

It did not stay long, thankfully, although Savana did receive a comm confirming that what appeared to be a small vessel had emerged from the wormhole.

'It is him!' she shouted to Gally and Chik. 'Come on!'

The three of them ran off toward the runway meeting place (huh?).

Aidan was only dimly aware of what was going on, still it that oxygen-starved, semi-hallucinatory state in which he had shouted up God's staircase.

It took a couple of days rest in the Colony's medical station, lots of rehydration, and a few well-balanced meals, but Aidan returned to good health and, determined to follow through with the job this time, sought out Dan Straker.

It turned out that he and Blaise Bornane - whom he had since married - were now occupying positions of some authority within the colony. That made arranging to see them complicated, but Aidan also had plenty of authority in the United Colonies, so the unannounced nature of his visit was not too much of a problem. They met a couple of days after Aidan arrived at the Colony, in a meeting room usually used to discuss matters of Colony administration. Dan and Aidan were cordial enough toward each other, but it was obvious to the others present - Blaise, her son Rufus, Savana and Gally - that there had been bad feeling between them in the past.

'There are things,' Aidan began, 'that I need to say. Things that have an effect on the United Colonies as a whole, but which affect those of us in this room in a much more personal way.'

The members of the small group looked at each other nervously. Aidan looked more than a little embarrassed as he began to recount the events that had occurred in the first year after arriving in the Lomas system.

‘Why did you have to bring this up now?’ Blaise demanded. ‘Everything is going so well here, then you turn up and want… well, what do you want, actually?’

‘I do not want anything,’ Aidan said. ‘Truth be told, if it were up to me, I would not even be here. But you know,’ here he looked at Blaise, who he knew had been sympathetic at the time, ‘that the Colonies were set up based on the tenets of the Creed. You know that the ultimate authority over the Colonies is God.’

Aidan glanced towards Dan and Rufus. Rufus looked outwardly sceptical – as did Gally much of the time – but Aidan was pleased to see Dan at least appeared to be playing along.

‘And you know,’ Aidan said, ‘that God’s promises were made specifically to me.’ He looked Rufus in the eye. ‘And to my children.’

 ‘Wait-‘ Gally started, but was cut off by his mother.

‘I thought you said Galford was the child of the Promise?’ she shouted.

An outburst of confused discussion among the Strakers prevented Aidan from making an immediate reply. Instead he tried to settle everyone down in the hope of being able to finish the conversation rationally.

‘It is not that simple,’ he said, looking at Savana mainly but addressing everyone. ‘I do not know God’s plans for Rufus,’ he went on, ‘but I know He has them. Rufus will, one day, be the patriarch of a great nation.’

This conversation somehow has to parallel the blessing of Gally & Rufus, but I do not know how yet. That will have to be done as a rewrite, since this is only an outline type draft type thing and I’m just filling now to keep the word count going up.

GQ had recently been exchanging messages with somebody called Sharita. So far it had been relatively innocent; she had sent a few photos, some of which he had liked a lot, and they had generally shared non- private information about themselves.

The somewhat discomforting, yet strangely appealing, subject of comm-sex had not yet come up. GQ wondered whether it might be safe to broach the subject, in a friendly manner. He felt a little odd doing so, but in the end, decided that he may not be on the Colony long, and even if he was, may never meet Sharita in person.

GQ says:

do you know much about comm-sex?

GQ says:

sorry, if that is an inappropriate question, you do not have to answer

Sharita says:

no, i was just a little surprised. it was a bit out of the blue

GQ says:

sorry

Sharita says:

that is ok. why do you ask?

GQ says:

I'm not asking you to do it or anything, do not worry

Sharita says:

good!

GQ says:

but i, er...

Sharita says:

?

GQ says:

well, I have not been on the nets for long. I just do not know much about it

Sharita says:

ok

Sharita says:

i am not really into it myself

GQ says:

oh, ok. never mind

Sharita says:

there are plenty of people who are, if you want to go chat t them instead

GQ says:

no, do not go!

Sharita says:

ok

GQ says:

I kind of like you. Actually I like that you are not always suggesting comm-sex

Sharita says:

good. I like you too :)

GQ says:

:)

Sharita says:

comm-sex is popular here, but not as much as real sex

GQ says:

i do not think i am ready for that either!

Sharita says:

lol! nor me!

GQ says:

oh good!

Sharita says:

but its a small colony thing. the need to expand the population

GQ says:

yeah, I have heard all that

Sharita says:

it is pretty depressing if you ask me

GQ says:

i do not know about that. it is just new to me

Sharita says:

that is your follower upbringing

GQ says:

maybe

Sharita says:

the creed is not so popular on Three

GQ says:

no? i thought the Strakers were followers?

Sharita says:

outside of the administration not many follow

GQ says:

do you?

Sharita says:

yes. You?

GQ says:

not really. undecided, i guess.

'I'm worried about Gally,' Savana said.

Aidan looked up from his reading; he was still a little drained from his experience in the space worm, and spending a lot of time rested while he got his strength back.

'Why?' he asked.

'He is spending more and more time shut away in a little room with nothing but his comm-cell for company,' she explained.

Aidan put down what he was reading.

'Do you think that is something worth worrying about?' he asked.

'One of the girls on the Peace mentioned something about PopNet to him,' she added.

'That is a social net, right?' Aidan asked.

Savana nodded.

'Well that is ok,' Aidan said. 'I mean, it is natural that he should want to socialise. I guess he has just realised that he needs to relate to people his own age.'

'I do not mind that,' Savana said, 'although I would rather he related to people in real life rather than just through a comm-cell.'

Aidan shrugged. 'Well what is it then?'

'PopNet bothers me,' Savana said.

'Why is that?' Aidan said.

'It is intended primarily to aid the repopulation of the Colonies,' Savana explained. 'It promotes itself as a means to expand the gene pool.'

'Ah,' Aidan finally got the picture.

'Yes,' Savana said.

'Well, he is of age now,' Aidan said. 'We can't govern his every move any more.'

'I do not want to govern his every move,' Savana said. 'But do you not think we should do something about this?'

'I'll talk to him if you like,' Aidan suggested. 'See if I can find out how deep he is into it.'

'That would be a start,' Savana agreed. 'Maybe there is something he can do instead of use PopNet though.'

'I'm not starting a youth club,' Aidan said with a smile.

'No, but...' Savana paused for thought. 'Maybe we can introduce him to some people.'

Aidan chuckled ironically. 'We just introduced him to Rufus,' he said. 'That did not really go well.'

'That was never going to be a happy meeting,' Savana said. 'Although maybe that is a place to start. Encouraging him to befriend Rufus.'

'What?' Aidan was incredulous. 'But it was your idea to disown the kid in the first place. Now you want him to be Gally's best friend?'

'I think we are all agreed that I made some bad decisions around that time,' Savana said defensively.

'And now you are trying to make amends?' Aidan suggested.

'Not at all,' Savana said. 'But I do not want Gally carrying on the bad blood that exists between us and Dan and Blaise.'

'Well, ok,' Aidan said. 'I suppose it is worth a try.'

Gally was on his comm-cell, chatting to Sharita as that conversation was going on.

GQ says:

how come you do not comm-sex then?

Sharita says:

no point

GQ says:

that does not seem to bother anyone else

Sharita says:

no, but i do not want to get a taste for sex

GQ says:

?

Sharita says:

no-one would want to have real sex with me

GQ says:

what makes you say that?

GQ says:

I think you're a nice looking girl

Sharita says:

thanks, but that is not it

GQ says:

ok. what then? if you do not mind me asking

Sharita says:

i can't...

Sharita says:

have children

GQ says:

oh. sorry

Sharita says:

no biggy. I have kind of accepted it now

GQ says:

seems a bit shallow that no-one would want to be involved with you for that

reason though

Sharita says:

that is life in the colonies, G

GQ says:

i spose

GQ says:

i do not think that way, by the way

Sharita says:

heh

Sharita says:

you're sweet, but... i am just not after a boyf

GQ says:

no probs :)

Sharita says:

we can be friends

GQ says:

cool

Sharita says:

i could introduce you to some of my girls if you like

GQ says:

i am really not after that either

Sharita says:

ok. sorry

GQ says:

np

Aidan had caught up with Rufus wherever it was that Rufus worked. We will figure that out later too.

'Look, I know this is all a bit weird for you,' Aidan said, 'but I would like for you and Galford to be friends.'

'Why would I want to do that?' Rufus said.

'Because he does not have anyone else,' Aidan said. 'Things are different on Lomas Prime. He has no friends of his own age. While we are here can you not just... include him in whatever you and your friends do?'

Rufus sighed unhappily.

'Please,' Aidan said.

'You disinherited me,' Rufus said. 'I do not owe you any favours.'

'I did what was necessary to save my family,' Aidan tried to explain. 'How about I try and make it up to you while we are here?'

'You going to put me back in your will?' Rufus said bluntly.

Aidan ran his hand through his thin hair, frustrated. 'I'll talk to Savana about it,' he said. 'But I can't make that decision on my own.'

'Forget the stuff,' Rufus said. 'Galford gets power when you die, right?'

'Well, in a sense, I suppose...' Aidan started.

'What about me?' Rufus was starting to sound nasty now. 'I deserve that position.'

'Look, I told you, I'll think about it,' Aidan said, getting nervous. 'But it is not just my decision to make.'

'Well alright then,' Rufus snarled. 'I'll show the kid around. You just think about what you can do for me.'

And with that, Rufus turned and stomped off down the corridor.

'Wow,' Aidan muttered to himself. 'Nice kid.'

GQ had just ended his conversation with Sharita when he received a comm from Rufus Straker.

'Oh, what does he want?' he muttered, but took the call.

'I figured if we are going to be brothers, we should hang out a little,' Rufus said. 'Get to know each other, you know?'

'Really?' GQ was sceptical.

'Why not?' Rufus said. 'I mean, if you want to. I could take you on a tour of the area maybe.'

'I have seen the area,' GQ said. 'It is not exactly picturesque, is it?'

'You would be surprised,' Rufus said. 'It is a lot more interesting close up.'

'Well,' GQ thought about it for a moment. 'I suppose I have nothing better to do.'

'Great,' Rufus said. 'I'll pick you up in an hour. Get suited up.'

'OK,' GQ said, a little surprised.

Little over an hour later, GQ was in an extra vehicular activity suit and climbing into a Planet Moke alongside his half brother.

'It still does not look that impressive,' GQ muttered.

'You ain't seen nothin' yet,' Rufus explained, and accelerated the Moke away from the metallic shell of the colony, kicking a plume of red dust up behind him.

They started off by driving alongside the colony's perimeter, the outer rim of a vast metallic dome which currently housed Lomas Three's only permanent colony.

Like GQ's home colony, the dome had been located primarily due to its proximity to a suitable landing strip. As they circled the dome, GQ could see that much of the planet was littered with large rocks, craters, and occasionally hills and mountains. It did not look a habitable place; he wondered why the colonists had decided to stop here at all.

'What do you do here?' he asked Rufus.

'Mostly we mine,' he said. 'Some of the rocks contain useful raw materials for the manufacturing StarCities. Other than that, we are just expanding the colony, really.'

'Expanding it?' GQ said. 'Why? If it is just a big mine?'

'Because there is no ecosystem to damage,' Rufus explained. 'No atmosphere to speak of, and the rocks are the only natural resource we have. The intention is ultimately to set up manufacturing facilities on the planet, either in domes like the colony or underground, in areas already mined out.'

Gally thought he was seeing part of the vision for Lomas Three. 'Eventually you could cover the whole planet with artificial domes,' he said. 'Put the whole planet underground, effectively.'

Rufus nodded, with a big grin. 'Now you're talking my language!' he said. 'Maybe we could be friends, after all!'

Gally chuckled too. 'Maybe we could,' he agreed.

At that point Rufus steered the Moke away from the protection of the city's shadow, and out into the open - at least, that was what Gally initially thought, but then he noticed a large metal pipeline running roughly parallel to them some distance away.

'What's that?' he asked, pointing at the pipe.

'I'm about to show you,' Rufus replied.

'Rufus agreed to spend some time with Gally,' Aidan told his wife.

'Good,' she said.

'Hmmm,' he said. 'I'm not so sure.'

'Why not?' she suddenly looked concerned.

'I think he will want something in return,' Aidan explained.

'That does not matter,' Savana said. 'If it gets Gally spending time with people his own age, in real life and not in the networks, it is all good.'

'I'm not sure,' Aidan said. 'I think it is going to come back and bite us.'

'Look,' Savana said, soothingly, 'whatever Rufus wants, it can't be too big a price to get Gally on the right track, can it?'

Aidan looked her in the eyes. 'I think he wants back on my will,' he said.

Chapter Six: Gally Discovers the Opposite Sex

Rufus took the Moke out on to the plains, where he was able to really open up. GQ liked to do the same on Prime, but here, the gravity was much lower, and the Moke flew over the little rocky hills and dunes like GQ had never experienced back home, bouncing up again as the huge, bouncy tyres hit the dust. Gally and Rufus both whooped with excitement as the Moke picked up speed and got bigger air with every jump.

Soon, another metallic dome came into view, the speed with which it grew highlighting the immense speed the moke had picked up. GQ could now see that the pipeline, to which they had now got much closer, led all the way to this dome, which was considerably smaller than the main colony.

'What's in there?' he asked once the Moke had shed enough speed for normal conversation to be possible.

'Another of our mines,' Rufus said. 'But one with a difference.'

GQ nodded his limited understanding, and they approached the mine in silence.

The exterior did nothing to indicate what was going on inside; there were no markings of any sort other than to indicate where the main airlock was. Rufus led the way to the entrance, and once inside, indicated to GQ that he could now remove his extra vehicular activity suit.

GQ did so gladly; the space appeared to be limited inside this building, and he was a little scared that his clumsy gloved fingers might accidentally knock something important and destroy the entire colony.

Inside the dome it sounded a lot quieter than Gally had expected; in his mind a mine should be full of noise, drilling, digging, movement of chunks of rock about the place, and so on. There was none of that here; just the normal background noise of an enclosed colony, no more or less than he had experienced in the main colony dome.

'Quiet, isn't it?' he said to Rufus.

Rufus nodded. 'I told you this place was different,' he said.

'So what do you mine here?' Gally asked.

'Follow me,' Rufus said. 'I'll show you.'

GQ followed Rufus through the anonymous looking tunnels, until eventually they reached a big, white room. GQ noticed the temperature drop suddenly as they reached this room; there seemed to be a cold draught coming from somewhere.

Just then a wide aperture opened in one of the plain white walls, and a mine cart trundled through. As the opening opened, Gally felt a gust of cold air sweep over him, and shivered.

'It is very cold underground,' Rufus explained. 'Cold enough for this,' he added, picking something out of the truck.

GQ tried to peer around Rufus to see what was in the truck, when Rufus threw a chunk of it towards him. GQ started, but caught the rock.

'Ow!' he said, the coldness of the rock surprising him.

Instinctively, he dropped the freezing cold rock, which fell slowly in the low gravity but still smashed easily.

Curious, GQ crouched and picked up one of the fragments. Cautiously he licked the cold moisture from his fingers. It was dirty, but it appeared to be plain old water ice.

'It is quite safe,' Rufus said. 'Although it does get cleaned and purified before being pumped across to the colony.'

'In those pipes,' GQ realised.

'Of course,' Rufus said. 'They did not know this was here when they started to colony,' he explained. 'But as soon as they hit water during a routine mining operation, they traced the main deposit to, well, somewhere underneath this building, and set up an ice mine.'

'Lucky,' GQ whispered.

'Or divine providence,' Rufus said, 'depending on your outlook on life.'

'Yeah,' GQ agreed.

'Either way,' Rufus said, 'we are now completely self-sufficient in terms of water supply.'

'Excellent,' GQ said.

'You want to drive this time?' Rufus said when they returned to the Planet Moke.

'I'd love to!' GQ said with a grin.

'Head out that way,' Rufus said.

GQ followed the direction of his hand, and recognised in the distance the familiar shapes of a rectenna farm.

Jumping in the driving seat, GQ started the little buggy's electric motor and headed out towards the rectenna farm.

'Floor it!' Rufus encouraged him. 'You will not come to any harm. The routes have been cleared.'

Uncertain, GQ looked his half brother in the eye, as well as he could through their visors. Rufus nodded his encouragement.

'Ok,' GQ said, and accelerated as fast as he could.

Sure enough, the route between the water mine and the rectenna farm was clear of potentially dangerous rocks, and the Moke leapt over the gentle rises with ease, landing safely on four wheels every time. As they got closer to the rectennae, GQ eased off the accelerator and let the Moke draw to a gentle stop before the main control building. From here he could see that another wide tract of the barren landscape had been cleared of hazardous obstructions, leading back towards the large dome of the colony, alongside the power cables from the rectenna farm.

'Nice little set up you have here,' he said.

'Not bad, is it?' Rufus agreed as they got out of the Moke.

GQ, quite at home amid the rectennae, had wandered a little way into the farm before stopping to check his guide was following.

'Sorry,' he said. 'I work the rectennae back home,' he explained. 'I guess I'm a bit curious about your set up here.'

'I doubt it is any different,' Rufus said. 'This one has been in place almost as long as the farm on Prime.'

GQ nodded, and carried on, taking in the slight differences, probably worked in to take account of the different gravity and environmental conditions.

'Does not really mean a lot to me anyway,' Rufus said. 'I just thought I'd show you, as it is the last permanent building our colony has.'

'The last permanent building?' GQ enquired.

Rufus nodded. 'We have an outpost or two always out, exploring beyond the immediate reaches of the colony. Temporary base stations exist across the hemisphere to support them. None of them are really intended to be permanent though.'

'Have they found much,' GQ asked. 'These expeditions?'

'They mostly search for potential new mining sites,' Rufus said. 'Minerals and water. Besides that, it is mostly a matter of mapping the rest of the planet for future development.'

GQ nodded. 'So, any more sights to see then?'

'One or two,' Rufus smiled. 'How's your air supply?'

GQ checked his wrist computer. 'I'm good for an hour at least,' he said.

'OK,' Rufus said, glancing at his own wrist. 'I know just the place.'

This time Rufus drove, at a less frenetic pace this time, as they ventured off the established colony routes. On the horizon ahead of them, GQ saw the point of a mountain rising above the general ground level. Even at less than the Moke's full speed, they drew closer to the mountain at a rapid clip, and GQ could soon see that it was an order of magnitude bigger than the mountains of his home colony.

'That is mighty impressive,' he said.

'Isn't it,' Rufus agreed.

'What now?' Savana asked.

'What do you mean?' Aidan asked.

'Well, you have spilled your guts to Rufus, and Dan and Blaise,' she said. 'And to Gally. Can we go home now?'

Aidan shook his head. 'That was only the first step,' he said.

'You are not serious,' Savana said.

Aidan shrugged. 'I do not make the rules,' he said. 'I just follow them.'

'Blindly,' Savana muttered, 'and irrespective of who gets hurt in the process.'

'I do not like this any more than you do,' he said. 'But I have to do this. The whole wormhole thing just bears that out, do you not see?'

'But what do you hope to achieve from telling everyone?' Savana asked. 'What does God hope to achieve by it?'

'I do not entirely know,' Aidan admitted. 'But if I was to guess, I would say that maybe he expects us to be transparent if we are to continue to lead the Colonies as we are. You, me and our children.'

'Our children?' Savana raised an eyebrow at him.

'You know what I mean,' Aidan said.

'You mean your children,' she said. 'I only have one, remember?'

'I told you,' Aidan said. 'I do not make the rules.'

'Well the rules suck,' Savana said. 'Is there not a rule against reneging on a promise made to your wife?'

'What?' Aidan said. 'When did I do that?'

'Rufus,' Savana said. 'You can't add him back into your inheritance. You did that for me, for us - for Galford!'

'I know,' Aidan said, 'but like you said, we made some bad decisions at the time.'

'Yes,' Savana said, 'and now we are having to deal with the consequences.'

'I think inviting Rufus back into the family might be one of those consequences,' Aidan said.

Savana shook her head in disbelief. 'You are really considering this, aren't you?'

'I have to,' Aidan said resignedly. 'Rufus knows he is entitled to an inheritance under the United Colonies Charter and under the law of the Creed. I of all people cannot go against either of those.'

'Fine,' Savana said. 'It is useless trying to argue with you when you have your religious head on.'

'He is doing what?' GQ asked when his mother told him Aidan's plans.

Savana simply shrugged.

'It is not enough that he tries to kill me,' GQ said, 'but he has to go and show off about it to the rest of the galaxy. Man, I come from a screwed up family!'

'It is not as simple as that, Gally,' Savana said. 'I guess... I guess I used to think a lot like you are. Until God gave me a revelation of his plan.'

'Oh good, you know why he tried to kill me,' GQ said, sarcastically. 'Please enlighten me.'

'Simply because God asked him too,' Savana said, unbelievably, smiling.

'The voices in his head, more like,' GQ said.

'Come on, you know your father,' Savana said. 'He would never hurt you. It tore him apart to do that.'

'He still did it though!' GQ said.

'He did not need to,' Savana said. 'And you are still here.'

Gally had to admit that that was at least true, if unhelpful.

'Ok,' Gally said. 'So why does he feel the need to tell everyone how he went nuts and tried to slaughter me?'

'Because God-' Savana started.

'-asked him to, yeah, I know,' GQ joined in. 'And you guys wonder why I'm sceptical about God?'

'It is healthy to want to make up your own mind,' Savana said. 'I was sceptical about Ade's calling for a long time before we got here - and afterwards,' she added. 'Especially when..'

'Rufus?' GQ asked as his mother tailed off.

Savana nodded silently.

'What has God got against us?' he asked quietly.

'It is not God who gets us into these messes,' she said.

'No, it is Dad,' GQ said.

Savana laughed. 'I guess you're right,' she said.

'Well, I still think it is a crazy idea,' he said, 'telling everyone about his foolish ideas and mistakes.'

'You're probably right,' Savana said. 'Most of God's ideas have been a bit crazy since we signed up for the Colonies in the first place.'

The colony on Lomas Three had a small temple, a squarish room much the same as any other, filled with bench seats for a hundred or so people. There were usually three meetings a week, with a slightly different cross-section of the Follower population attending each. Aidan had arranged to bring his story to each of the week's meetings before leaving for the next stop on their whistle stop tour.

He started the story at the beginning, with his call to leave Tellus, and covered the major events since then: the death of his father; the promise of a child; the birth of Rufus and then the promise of Galford Junior; Galford's birth; the parting of Dan and Blaise to start this colony on Lomas Two; and he fast forwarded to his later call, to spread the story of his arrival on the Colonies, his disobedience to the call and its consequences.

'As yet,' he finished, 'I do not know why you need to know all this. I can only assume that you need to know that the authority bestowed on me from my father, will pass on to these two young men: Rufus Bornane-Straker, and Galford Qqayle. I hope that, now you know why this is the case, you will be able to accept Rufus in my place when the time comes.'

'We have to move on now,' Aidan explained to GQ after the last of these speaking engagements.

'Where to?' he asked.

'Next stop out is the Southern City,' Aidan said, consulting a chart. 'I guess we'll go there.'

'OK,' GQ shrugged. 'If you really think it is necessary.'

'I have been told to go,' Aidan said. 'So, yeah, it is necessary.'

'OK,' GQ shrugged again.

'It will be ok,' Aidan said. 'You still have your comm-cell. You can comm with the friends you have made here. And you will make new ones on the StarCity.'

'I guess so,' he said. 'How do you know I have been making friends?'

Aidan shrugged. 'You have been spending a lot of time on that comm-cell,' he explained. 'To be honest, I was getting a bit worried until you and Rufus started hanging out together.'

'Worried?' GQ asked.

'Yeah,' Aidan explained. 'Thought you might be turning into some kind of weird recluse, retreating from the real world or something.'

'Huh,' GQ grunted.

'Well, you seem like your normal self now, anyway,' Aidan said.

'Erm, thanks,' GQ said.

'I think Captain Puck wants to take on a couple more crew members while we are here,' Aidan said.

'Oh?' GQ said.

'It is a long trip from here,' Aidan explained. 'I think he was just worried the small crew we have might need a break at some stage.'

'He did not say anything to me,' GQ said.

'Really?' Aidan said. 'Well, maybe you should talk to him. Knowing Puck, he has probably already put you on a rota without letting you know.'

GQ chuckled. 'Probably,' he agreed.

'Reason I mention it,' Aidan went on, 'is that I think Rufus has applied for a spot.'

'Oh, really?' GQ tried to sound indifferent. As much as he wanted to be angry at this news, he actually liked his half brother, and thought it might be ok to have him along.

'I just thought I should tell you, before you heard it somewhere else,' Aidan finished.

'Thanks,' GQ said. 'Now, I think I will go and track down Puck.'

Puck was running through some routine maintenance in the colony's main shuttle hangar.

'Hey, kiddo,' he called when he saw GQ approaching.

'Hey Puck,' GQ called back.

'Glad you stopped by,' Puck said. 'Wanted to ask you something.'

'I do not mind if you give Rufus a job,' GQ said.

Puck looked a little taken aback, whether it was at GQ anticipating the question or the answer he gave, Gally could not tell.

'As long as I get a job too,' Gally added.

'Goes without saying, young man,' Puck said with a smile. 'In fact, you can start now.'

'Sure thing boss,' he said. 'What do you want me to do?'

'Get your paper plane in the cargo hold,' Puck said, pointing towards Gally's little flyer.

'How soon are we leaving?' GQ asked. 'I was hoping to start checking her over soon as well.'

'You'll have plenty of time for maintenance on the little bird once we are en route,' he said. 'Your father wants to get his speaking tour completed as soon as possible, and I intend to help him achieve that.'

'Yes sir, Captain Puck,' GQ said, rattling of a sloppy salute, the sort Puck generally favoured.

When the time came for the Deltic to leave, the crew consisted of Puck, Gally, Rufus, and a couple of new recruits from the Lomas Two colony - including, to Gally's pleasant surprise, Sharita. Taking off from the low gravity environment of Lomas Two was a quick and easy job, and in no time the Deltic was under way, heading deeper out into the Lomas system in search for the Southern City.

Once again, GQ retreated into his little corner of the shuttle. He was keeping in touch with Jialin, but also comming with girls on PopNet and other social nets, always with half an eye looking over his comm-cell in case his friends or his parents wanted to see what he was up to.

At some point during the journey, he hooked up with a girl from Southern City who wanted to comm-sex with him. He tried to explain that he had no vid-cam, but she did not seem bothered.

Despite having to keep an eye out for anyone else during the encounter, he got an illicit thrill from the whole thing, although, after the event he did feel somewhat discombobulated. Somehow he knew what he had done was wrong on some level, but he wanted to do it again. And that instilled some sense of... ambivalence? Certainly there was a lot of guilt in there. Along with the obvious pleasure. He began to hate the pleasure. He began to hate himself, and took to stomping around the large, but now seemingly cramped, cabins of the Deltic in a dark, scowling temper. He disliked who he seemed to have become, and because he did not know what else to do about it, he spent even more time on PopNet.

'I thought you were not into the whole comm-sex thing,' Sharita said one day, catching him once again hiding away and concentrating on his comm-cell.

'Who says I am comming?' he snapped.

'Sorry,' she said. 'It was just that you have been spending so much time behind that thing lately...'

'And you think the only thing people can do on the nets for hours is pretend to have sex?' he said.

'Look, I'm sorry,' she said. 'I have seen a lot of people - people I care about - get hooked on comm-sex. They forget how to relate to people off the nets. That is another reason why I do not do it. I just do not want you to waste your life with that thing, that is all.'

'Ok, your concern is duly noted, thank you,' GQ said sarcastically.

'Well, look, if you want to come and relate to somebody off net, come and find me, ok?' Sharita said, and left before Gally had a chance to reply.

Chapter Seven: Aftermath

The layover on the Southern City was mercifully brief; Gally spent it all in the Deltic, too unnerved by his comm-sex experience with one of the City's inhabitants to risk running into her. Aidan presented his message at one of the City's main temples, where it was recorded for distribution among the others. The Deltic was given a quick in flight service, and they headed off again, before a narrow window of opportunity to reach the asteroid mines quickly closed.

A few days into that flight, GQ fired up his comm-cell and was about to browse through PopNet again, when he was struck by a sense of the futility of it all. Maybe he was just wasting his time, watching scantily clad girls dancing in front their comm-cells. He wondered what would make a person do such a thing.

'Hey,' there was a knock at the door. It was Jassie Lenore, one of the girls from Lomas Two who had joined the crew.

GQ glanced up, and waved glumly at her.

'What's up?' she asked.

GQ just shrugged.

'I thought I saw you log on to PopNet,' she explained. 'I thought we could comm, but then you disappeared.'

'Yeah,' GQ said.

'So I figured I would come and look for you,' she went on.

'And you found me,' GQ said.

'So it seems,' Jassie said. 'So why did you log off? I kind of expected to find you doing something...'

GQ shrugged again. 'What's the point?' he said. 'Maybe Sharita was right. Maybe I was spending too much time there.’

'Well, come and spend some time with me then,' Jassie said.

'And do what?' Gally asked.

'Hang out,' she said. 'Chat, you know... see what happens.'

'Can't do any harm, I suppose,' he agreed, and followed her out of the tiny cabin.

'Well at least he is spending time with someone outside of the comm-cell,' Savana told her husband.

'Yes,' Aidan agreed, 'I'm just not sure she is the sort of person I appreciate him spending time with.'

'You might be right,' Savana said, 'but he has to realise that himself.'

Aidan nodded. 'The other girl seems nice,' he added.

'Sharita?' Savana asked.

'Yes, that is her,' Aidan said.

'She is a Follower,' Savana said. 'That is what you mean, isn't it?'

'Well,' Aidan stammered, 'that is not the only thing I am interested in, but sure, I would like him to hang out with Followers.'

'That is something else he will have to decide for himself,' Savana said firmly.

Just then they were interrupted by a comm from the cockpit.

'We may have a problem,' Captain Puck said over the intercom.

'We are on our way,' Aidan replied.

'What is it?' Aidan asked as he entered the shuttle's cockpit.

The Captain nodded towards the main view screen.

'We have reached the asteroid belt,' he said.

'Well, yes,' the Captain agreed. 'The outer reaches of it anyway.'

'So what is the problem?' Savana asked.

'This asteroid cluster,' he said. 'It is too tight for us to get through.'

'So we will have to go around it,' Aidan said.

'I do not think we have a choice,' the Captain said. 'But it will considerably lengthen our journey.'

'Why was it not taken into account?' Aidan asked.

Captain Puck shook his head. 'No record of it on the charts,' he explained. 'It is either an entirely new phenomenon, or it just never crossed our path before.'

'Is it permanent?' Aidan asked.

'I would expect the combined gravity of that many small bodies would be pretty hard to break up naturally,' the Captain said. 'So, yes, from here on, certainly.'

'Ok,' Aidan said. 'Let's get as much data as we can on it, and add it to the charts then.'

'Already started,' the Captain said with a dutiful nod.

'Excellent,' Aidan said. 'I think you have just discovered your first astrological phenomenon. Care to give it a name?'

'Well, I would refer to it as an asteroid cluster, I guess,' the Captain said.

'I was thinking of something more like "the Puck Cluster",' Aidan said.

Captain Puck looked unconvinced.

'Do not like the sound of that, huh?' Aidan said.

'How about "the Faustus Cluster",' Savana chipped in. 'I think that has a better ring to it.'

Captain Puck smiled. 'And since no-one ever calls me Faustus,' he said, 'I will not get too self-conscious about it.'

'The Faustus Cluster it is then,' Aidan agreed. 'Get what you need to update the charts, and then take us around it to the asteroid mines.

'Aye sir,' the Captain said with a smile.

Gally and Jassie were in the main living area, which was temporarily rendered a zero g area as the shuttle manoeuvred around the Faustus Cluster.

'Have you ever tried it in zero g?' Jassie asked.

'I have not had that much experience of zero g,' Gally answered, not bothering to ask what Jassie was referring to.

'No, nor me,' Jassie said. 'I think it might be fun though, do not you.'

'Well, yes, I suppose,' he said, nervously. 'You were not thinking of trying anything here, were you?'

'Why not?' Jassie said, floating over to him with a mischievous grin.

'This is not exactly the most private of shuttles, Jass,' he said. 'You would not want just anyone walking in on our fun, would you?'

'Hmm,' she said, 'I suppose not. I'll show you when we get back to the city then, ok?'

'Er,' GQ started, 'sure, ok.'

'Are we at the mines yet?' she asked.

'No, I do not think so,' GQ said, examining the cluster on the screen. 'These asteroids all look a little too... natural.'

'Oh,' Jassie said.

'They are very close together too,' he added. 'I guess we are going around them as it would be too risky to go through.'

'Well that is no fun!' Jassie said.

'I guess it just means we are out here for a bit longer,' GQ sighed.

'Maybe we should enjoy the zero g while we can,' Jassie said, and winked at Gally.

'Do you not have a boyfriend?' Gally asked.

'We do not really do the boyfriend girlfriend thing in the colonies,' Jass said.

'So what's PopNet for then,' he asked. 'If it is not for finding a partner?'

'Oh it is for finding a partner,' Jass said. 'But not usually a permanent one. It is all about-'

'Broadening the gene pool,' GQ interrupted. 'Yes, I remember now.'

'You seem surprised,' Jassie said.

GQ shrugged. 'Just my small planet upbringing, I guess,' he explained with a smile.

'So you are a one woman man, are you?' she asked.

'I am not sure,' Gally said. 'I do not really have one woman, at the moment!'

'Well,' Jassie leant over. 'You can have me, for starters.'

'Do I have to share you?' he asked.

'Well,' she replied, 'not while we are stuck on this shuttle.'

Gally looked at her full, red lips as they drifted closer together.

'I guess that is good enough,' he said, taking her hand and pulling her closer.

'That is what I was hoping you would say,' she said with a smile.

And then she kissed him.

GQ spent more time with Jassie over the next few days, as the shuttle made its extended way to the asteroid mines. As he discovered the advantages of spending quality time getting to know people outside of the Nets, he spent less time on them, although he did still find himself drawn to browsing profiles and pictures while he was alone, usually before falling asleep at night. Eventually, while Gally was in the living area, staring at the darkness of space in the view screen, he spotted the distant shape of the mines. A large asteroid, supplemented by two large grab arms, was the main entrance place, where shuttles would dock, where the mine workers would live, and where, in a few hours time, Gally's father would once again tell his life story.

GQ had heard the story a few times by now, and it seemed to evolve with every telling. His father had, during his repeated tellings, managed to pull more positives out of the whole experience, like how God had forgiven him for trying to kill Gally, and for all the other mistakes he had made. Gally, on the other hand, was not sure he had, or ever could, forgive his father. He disliked hearing the story over and over; he did not like being reminded that all that he had taken for granted was about to be taken from him by a brother he did not know about until recently, and who even then should never have existed.

As his thoughts wandered, it occurred to him that he had not seen Jassie since they had arrived at the mines. A thought occurred to him, along with a sudden feeling of jealousy: she was only 'his' while they were on the shuttle. By now she was probably broadening the gene pool with half the workers on this mine.

'I bet that is why she volunteered to come,' he said to himself.

'Who's that?'

GQ turned to see whose voice that was, and saw Sharita behind him.

'Oh, no-one,' he said, a little embarrassed. He had been getting close to Sharita at one point, but then Jassie stepped in, and... well, he had never really explained to Sharita.

'Is it Jassie?' Sharita said. 'I hear you two have been quite the couple lately.'

'Huh,' GQ grunted. 'Biggest mistake I ever made, I think.'

Sharita smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. 'You just need to get used to the way things work,' she said. 'You can go find someone else too, you know.'

Gally thought about that for a moment. 'I'm not sure I'm cut out for that,' he said. 'I guess I'm used to... being close to people. Being genuine, you know.'

Sharita smiled. 'I like that in a person,' she said. 'You would make somebody a lovely husband.'

Gally snorted. 'Does not seem like there's many people in the market for a husband, does it?' he said.

'There are a few of us,' Sharita said.

'I thought you were not-'

'I try not to be,' she interrupted. 'But I do not think I am made to be alone. I guess I just do not want to take good genes off the market.'

'It sure is a complicated world,' Gally said.

Chapter Eight: The Plot Takes an Unexpected Twist

(All of what has gone before is based on completely unrealistic time scales, which will have to be revised at any revision stage.)

The Asteroid mines were effectively the furthest outpost of the United Colonies in the Lomas system. Beyond them lay a gas giant world, which was surrounded by a network of largely automated mines, salvaging uranium hexafluoride from the atmosphere for use in the propulsion systems of the Colonies' space craft. The skeleton crews who operated the mines, usually only a handful of people at any time, were served primarily from the larger mining outpost in the asteroid belt.

Beyond the gas giant, two small rocky planets also orbited the Lomas star, but at such vast distances not even an unmanned probe had ventured far enough to gather any useful data on the composition of these planets or their potential use to the United Colonies. (Now, what might have been fun would have been for Aidan to end up out there following his little warp journey. Possibly with Gally, for some father - son bonding.)

Beyond even that, it was still hoped that the two 'lost' StarCities were still intact and thriving. Four of the original eight StarCities had come through the original wormhole from Tellus together some twenty standard years earlier. One had been destroyed shortly afterwards, and two more had found their way to the Lomas system in the intervening years. Two StarCities, of approximately one hundred thousand citizens each, had gone unaccounted for all this time. In the meantime, the inner planets of the Lomas system had developed into a thriving society, the facilities of the StarCities and the raw materials of the planets they had been lucky enough to find themselves near complemented each other perfectly.

And it was back to the inner planets that the Deltic was now headed, having completed its mission at the asteroid mine. (I suppose they should go to all five StarCities, but that might get a bit tedious.) Specifically the forest world which will, in this novel, be referred to as Lomas Three, but which is actually the second planet from the star - Prime being the first, and Lomas Two in fact the third. Lomas Two is also therefore not Prime's nearest neighbour as previously suggested. Anyway, enough word wasting, let us get back to the story.

Lomas Three, like the other main planets in the system, still held only one significant colony. It had also been the only planet where any portion of the natural environment had needed to be destroyed. The planet did have long, flat beaches, and these had served as temporary landing strips in the early days quite successfully, however it had soon become apparent that they could not continue to be used in any ongoing or permanent capacity, as more than a handful of landings and take offs damaged the delicate surface beyond use. There had, in the very earliest days of the United Colonies, been a shuttle crash in the forest. The vast swathe of vegetation that was thus damaged accidentally was uprooted totally and a suitable landing strip constructed in its place. The planet's first and major colony had developed around the strip, constructed initially from scrap metal from the crashed shuttle (was it? did they get it flying again?) and wood from the uprooted trees. A program of carefully monitored and controlled deforestation had begun around the initial settlement, supplying wood, fruit and vegetables from the harvested trees to the rest of the United Colonies as well as the settlement's own inhabitants.

As the Deltic circled around to land on the planet, the crew could see the newly farmed fields, replanted forests - still barely saplings in comparison to the bigger trees, which must have grown for hundreds of years without human intervention to stop them - and a group of wooden huts which formed the main settlement, a safe distance from the landing strip. The landing strip looked decidedly out of place, a single strip of artificiality, bordered by planted crops and a few scattered buildings which housed the operational crew and equipment of this minimal spaceport.

Galford Qqayle had never seen so much greenery. From disembarking the shuttle, it was just a short walk to the village, and even on that short walk, which fell far short of the wild forest which lay beyond the village, GQ saw more varieties of plant than in all his years up to that point.

'Can we stop here a while?' he asked his father.

'You know what,' Aidan said. ‘I think that would be an excellent idea. I'll see what the others think.'

Gally had been allowed to work on his flyer on a small patch of hard standing in the area that loosely qualified as a space port.

The physical damage was relatively minor, but some of the systems had been fried by the radiation that wormholes generated.

'Is there any kind of big computer on this space port?' he asked one of the people who worked on the space port.

'How big?' he replied.

'I need to run some data through it, get some radiation and other readings analysed from my shuttle,' GQ explained. 'It might need a lot of reference material, and the processing power to sort through it.'

'I'll see what I can do,' said the man. 'But I am not sure how powerful anything we have is going to be.'

'I'll take what I can get,' GQ said. 'I just need something that goes beyond what she has on board.'

The man nodded and left.

Gally sat back down in the cockpit, and tried to make sense of some of the readings himself.

He was still staring at them, unable to make any further progress, when the man came  back a few minutes later.

'You're in luck,' he called out as he approached. 'I have managed to arrange for you to have limited access to the library mainframe in the village. From there you will have access to all the publicly available records we have, and whatever processing power the library can spare for you to use it.'

'Excellent,' GQ said. 'I'm sure that will be plenty until I can get onto a StarCity.'

'Here,' the man gave GQ a data slug. 'This has all the passwords you will need to get in.'

'Thanks,' Gally said.

'I hope you find what you are looking for.'

What Gally was looking for was some additional information on the radiation that was generated by wormholes.

'How is the fix up going?' Rufus asked.

'There is not much to fix, luckily,' GQ replied. 'I am just downloading some data, trying to figure out what happened in the wormhole.'

'Well, good luck with that,' Rufus said. 'So the shuttle works then?'

'Yes,' GQ said, getting a little impatient to carry on.

'You will have to let me take her out for a spin,' Rufus said.

'Why would I have to do that, exactly?' GQ said.

Rufus shrugged. 'Seems like the brotherly thing to do,' he said.

GQ stopped what he was doing, and stood up. 'As far as I am concerned,' he said, 'I have no brother.'

'But we were getting on so well,' Rufus said.

'Yeah,' Gally agreed. 'And if you were not trying to muscle in on my inheritance, my destiny, and my family, maybe we could be friends.'

'It is not my fault we have the same father,' Rufus said.

'Maybe not,' Gally agreed. 'But I do not have to like it. And I do not have to like you.'

'You know what?' Rufus said. 'You are welcome to your stupid destiny. I managed perfectly well without my father so far, and I am pretty sure I can manage from here on.'

'Well then maybe you should tell him that,' Gally said, 'and then the rest of us can get back to our lives.'

Rufus paused for a moment, and GQ could almost have believed he was thinking about the idea.

'I will tell you what,' Rufus said after a moment.

GQ looked up again from the data transfer he was monitoring.

'What?' he said, impatiently.

'You let me have a spin in the shuttle here,' Rufus said, 'and I will do that.'

'You will tell my father you do not want an inheritance,' GQ asked.

Rufus nodded.

'And all you want in exchange is a trip in my shuttle,' GQ said.

Rufus nodded again.

'I cannot believe it means so little to you!' GQ said.

'What in space do you want from me?' Rufus exclaimed. 'I'm offering you exactly what you want, and you're turning it down?'

'I am not sure I trust you, that is all,' GQ said.

'Alright,' Rufus said. 'How about this: you come with me. I will fly, but you can come along and make sure I do not hurt your precious flyer.'

'And how do I know you will keep your end of the bargain?' GQ asked.

'You will just have to trust me,' Rufus said, grinning, and he climbed in to the cockpit. 'Come on,' he called. 'I have not got all day!'

'I am in the middle of a data transfer here!' GQ protested.

'Is this the start button?' Rufus called, and the engines started to wind into life.

'Oh yex,' GQ muttered, collecting up his tools and computer hardware as quickly as he could and climbing into the flyer with them.

'Just wait for me to stow this lot, at least,' he said.

'Be quick then!' Rufus said.

GQ grumbled, inaudibly against the increasing noise of the engines.

'Alright,' he said, angrily. 'Let us go. But for goodness sake, be careful.'

'You can count on that!' Rufus said.

A few minutes later they were airborne. Rufus appeared to have some idea where they were going, but was not letting GQ in on it. He was, at least, flying like a sensible person at the moment, so GQ had calmed down somewhat.

'Where are we going?' GQ asked. 'Is there another landing strip anywhere?'

'Not officially,' Rufus said mysteriously.

GQ was confused, but decided to just wait and see where they ended up.

As he allowed himself to settle in to his position, Gally found himself able to quite enjoy the flight. Rufus was a proficient pilot, and had quickly got the hang of the flyer's controls, leaving Gally to watch the scenery below. They remained atmospheric; Rufus seemed to have no intention of taking the flyer into space - quite the opposite, in fact, he was staying quite low, often flying at tree top height, the only times when Gally did get a little nervous.

But the views were breathtaking. Gally was still fascinated by the sheer numbers of trees, and different varieties, that Lomas Two had to offer.

In the distance, he saw the sparkle of sunlight on water. This too was something new, at least to his living memory. There was never sufficient water on Lomas Prime for the sun to shine off it like that.

They were heading out to sea.

And before Gally knew it, they were over water. Rufus took the flyer down as low as he dared, such that Gally thought they must be skimming the water.

'Be careful,' he said. 'You do not want to run out of fuel over the ocean.'

'Good point,' Rufus agreed and threw the flyer into a vertical climb. 'Nimble little minx, ain't she?' he said.

Gally had to wait until Rufus levelled out, and the g forces reduced slightly, before he could agree.

The flyer turned, and headed back towards land, where Rufus turned and followed the coastline north.

GQ looked down at the coastline, mainly broad, flat beaches, like those which had once been used as landing strips, he realised, and guessed that that was what Rufus had meant by no 'official' landing strips.

'Are you planning to land on a beach?' GQ asked.

'Smart kid,' Rufus said, grinning back at him.

'Why?' GQ asked.

'You will see,' Rufus said.

GQ gave up trying to get more information from him, instead watched the beaches, dunes and forests roll by beneath him.

'Ok,' Rufus said eventually. 'We are here.'

GQ looked around the landscape below, but saw nothing familiar. 'Where?' he asked, but Rufus was too busy taking the flyer down on to the beach to answer.

'Rufus, be careful,' GQ said. 'I have not planned for beach landings in my restoration.'

'Too late now,' Rufus replied, pulling the nose up slightly as they approached the impromptu runway.

Gally braced himself, and as he had feared, the flyer's little wheels sunk into the soft runway and caused the shuttle to veer wildly across the beach before coming to an abrupt halt, stuck in the sand.

'Oh great,' GQ said. 'Now we are stuck here.'

'We will get her out,' Rufus said, opening the cockpit. 'Now, are you coming out, or waiting here?'

GQ was a little suspicious, but no less keen to get out and explore the coastal area. 'Ok,' he said. 'I'm coming.'

GQ packed up his research materials and the downloaded data from the shuttle into a back pack, and took it with him. By the time he had clambered down onto the sand, Rufus was already marching purposefully across the beach.

'Where in space is he going to in such a hurry?' GQ wondered aloud, struggling across the unfamiliar soft surface after him.

Chapter Nine: Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."

Jonah 4:1-3

'Am I doing the right thing?' Aidan asked his wife.

'Of course you are,' she said. 'You are doing what God has called you to do.'

'You know, I have doubts sometimes,' he admitted. 'It all just seems a bit futile sometimes.'

'How do you figure that?' Savana asked.

'Well, the Cap seemed pretty unimpressed,' Aidan said, 'even though I was basically letting his step-son in to the running of the Colonies.'

'Well, I suppose Dan is still a step removed from the whole thing,' Savana said.

'You would think he might have accepted it as a peace offering from me though,' Aidan said.

'Did you offer it as such?' Savana asked.

'I could not do that directly, could I?' Aidan protested. 'Then Rufus would have been sidelined, and that would be worse.'

'So it has worked out for the best then?' Savana suggested.

'I do not think anything about this situation could be described as "best",' Aidan said.

'Well, you and Dan have history,' Savana said. 'And the whole Rufus thing was never going to be easy. For any of us.'

'No, I suppose not,' he said, unconvinced.

'That is not all?' Savana inquired.

Aidan shook his head but said nothing.

'Well?' Savana prompted. 'Who else is bothering you? Blaise?'

'She hardly even spoke to me,' Aidan said. 'Which is probably for the best, given everything.'

'Me either,' Savana said. 'Though I can't say I'm surprised.'

'You see?' Aidan said. 'We have just ended up dragging all this bad feeling back up again.'

'The bad feeling was already there,' Savana said. 'We - you - did your best to put it to bed. We should have clear consciences now.'

'So why do not I?' Aidan said.

'I do not know,' Savana admitted.

'It is not just them, anyway,' Aidan went on. 'It is the whole business of telling everybody. I feel like I am just tarnishing our reputations, and not really achieving anything for it.'

Savana was smiling.

'What is so funny?' Aidan asked.

'I do not usually get to be the one with the faith,' she said.

Aidan grunted. 'I suppose not,' he said miserably. 'Now I know how you must feel when I go off on one of these insane missions God gives me every so often.'

'Maybe you do,' Savana agreed. 'But look: there will be a purpose. We will figure it out at some point. For now we just have to accept that people need to know this stuff.'

'Which is odd,' Aidan said, 'because most of them did not seem that interested.'

'Well, surely that is better than them instantly hating us all?' Savana suggested.

'Hmmm,' Aidan said.

GQ followed Rufus along the beach, towards a row of rocky cliffs set back from the sea.

'Do you have any idea where you are going?' he asked, panting with the effort, which did not seem to be affecting Rufus.

'Oh yes,' he said.

'Well?' GQ went on after a moment.

Rufus pointed to what GQ could now see was a cave set into the foot of the cliffs. 'Over there,' he said simply.

'Why?' GQ asked.

Rufus glanced back at GQ. 'You will see,' he said.

GQ gave up and followed in silence.

As they approached the cave they could here noises - voices, GQ thought, but strange, ragged and almost inhuman voices; cackling laughter; shouting of what GQ took for obscenities in some local dialect.

Suddenly a creature - no, a man, GQ realise with a shock - was in front of them. 'Who goes there?' the man-creature shouted.

'Relax,' Rufus said. 'I'm here to see Calisse.'

'Calisse!' the guard shouted without taking his eyes from Rufus. 'Man to see you!'

'It is me, Red,' Rufus shouted over the guards shoulder.

'Let him in!' an old woman's voice came back, and the strange man beast stepped aside.

'Come on,' Rufus said softly.

GQ followed nervously past the tall guard, and the two of them approached the cave entrance.

'Red!' the old woman's voice came. 'Long time no see!'

'Yeah, sorry about that,' Rufus said.

'Who's this?' she asked, and as she stepped out into the light GQ was shocked to see that the old woman did not look as old as she sounded. She was pretty rough-looking - as GQ might have expected from someone who lived in a cave - but, despite the grey bags around her eyes, and her thin limbs, she was probably in her 30s. Possibly much less, in fact, if that was what she managed to look. Maybe 25, looking like a particularly rough 35 year old. GQ tried to hide his distaste.

'This is Ga-' Rufus started.

'GQ,' he interrupted, suddenly compelled to keep his true identity from these people.

'GQ,' Rufus confirmed. 'He gave me a lift in today.'

'Well, thank you,' the woman said, smiling a toothless smile.

GQ was beginning to think he had stepped into some horrible fairy tale, filled with witches and goblins.

'So, er...' GQ started. 'What do you people do out here?'

The witch woman turned sharply to him, a menacing look in her ancient eyes.

'They are farmers,' Rufus said. 'They just... do not fit in with the main colonies.'

'No,' GQ said quietly. 'I imagine they do not.'

'So,' the woman turned to Rufus, apparently placated for now. 'What can we do for you today, Red?'

'May we come inside?' Rufus asked. 'And maybe you can show us what you have on offer?'

Rufus took a flaming torch from the wall, and stepped into the cave before he had been given an answer.

Seeing that Rufus met no resistance, GQ followed closely behind. As they ventured deeper into the dank cave, which was lit by occasional flaming torches for some distance that GQ could see, more strange, whispering voices echoed up and down the tunnel (for that was what GQ could now see that it was).

Rufus apparently knew exactly where he was going, and went straight towards a dishevelled looking man crouched over a small table. There was evidently some kind of electrical power source connected to the cave, for he was working - GQ could not see on what - under a small spotlight.

'I need some stuff,' Rufus said.

The man ignored him, and carried on working. Rufus grabbed the man roughly by the lapels, shoving him up against the cave wall.

'Ow!' the man complained.

'I need something,' Rufus growled. 'Now.'

GQ was getting a little scared. This was way outside his experience in every imaginable way. Nervously he glanced back at the cave entrance, trying to be as casual as possible. The irregular blob of light seemed to be a very long way away, and at least two unsavoury looking characters were between it and

Gally.

'Give the man some stuff,' the woman yapped. 'He is good for it. Aren't you, Red?' GQ detected more than a hint of menace in that voice.

'Yeah,' Rufus said. 'We are good for it.'

GQ did not like his use of the word 'we'.

'Alright, alright,' the old man protested. 'Just let me go and I'll get the merchandise.'

Rufus let the man go, and he quickly scurried off to another part of the cave. Rufus followed slowly, and GQ started forward behind him.

'No,' Rufus said. 'You wait here.'

He looked at the witch. 'Calisse here will, e, take care of you,' he added. 'Will not you, Calisse?'

GQ thought he saw Rufus wink as the wizened young hag, and found himself looking from one to the other in a mild panic. 'No, wait,' he stammered, but Rufus had soon melted into the dark depths of the cave.

GQ turned to the woman Calisse nervously, and smiled as she approached.

'Perhaps you would like to sample some of our produce?' she smiled toothlessly.

'Er, no, thanks,' GQ stammered. 'I'm trying to give it up.'

GQ was becoming aware of a strange new scent in the cave; something sweet and exotic, something entirely new to him.

'You like it,' she said, getting closer to him. 'I can see you do.'

'Er, look, no, really,' he tried to say. 'I do not want anything. I should probably go and wait outside, actually, leave you people to your work.'

He back away slowly, and backed straight into the large, scary guard who had accosted them outside.

'Nonsense,' Calisse said. 'You must stay a while.'

'That is really not necessary,' GQ protested.

'No,' Calisse said, now breathing that strange, intoxicating smell right into his face. 'You MUST stay.'

Aidan still had to make the big speech to the colony on Lomas Two.

'The forest is our temple,' Cote Waqas, the administrator of the colony told him, giving Aidan, Savana and Chik a tour of the colony.

The settlement itself was a haphazard collection of log cabins in a small area cleared from the thick forest. The largest open space in the area was the runway, which stretched out from the edge of the village into the forest. Organised farming was minimal: a thin strip of land either side of the runway had been divided up into small field for cultivating basic crops; the bulk of the fruit, vegetables and animals for food was caught from the wild by a well trained team of hunters and gatherers.

'What about the wildlife?' Aidan asked. Being back here again had reminded him of the death of one of Captain Straker's crew - having survived the shuttle crash, he was unlucky enough to have been killed by the indigenous wildlife. Some kind of lizard, Aidan thought. Or had it been a bird?

'We have actually fenced off the immediate area around the settlement,' the administrator advised them. 'And we have a team on constant guard for precisely that reason. But mostly, if we leave them alone, they leave us alone.'

'I did not see any fences,' Savana commented.

'They are tastefully done,' the man said with a smile. 'In keeping with the environment. Come, I will show you.'

Their guide headed off in a new direction, and Aidan and Savana followed. Soon, they arrived at the fence: as tall as a very tall person, built of wood and covered in various creepers.

'It goes all around the village, the runway, the rectenna farm, and a big chunk of forest is within it too,' the man explained. 'It does not keep everything out, but it slows them down if they should decide to try and attack us. Which, as I said, does not usually happen anyway.'

'So, this temple, then?' Aidan reminded him.

'Ah, yes,' Cote said. 'This way.'

Waqas set off again, dancing through the thick forest like the practiced person he obviously was, leaving Aidan and Savana struggling against the dense undergrowth behind him.

Aidan thought they had lost the man when they finally caught up with him in a large clearing, covered by the canopy of the taller trees above. The floor was coated with a thick, soft moss, and sunlight filtered through the tree canopy in a dappled pattern which danced across the floor as the gentle breeze blew through the trees.

'Wow,' Aidan said.

'It is beautiful,' Savana said.

'Could have been made for the purpose, huh?' Waqas said.

Aidan smiled. He remembered thinking just that when they had found their mountain colony on Lomas Prime within a short distance of the river.

As they walked around the big clearing, they came across various stone alters set up around its circumference.

'This is entirely natural?' Aidan asked.

'Well, apart from the altars, yes,' Waqas confirmed. 'Although most of those were found nearby and simply set up in the correct positions.'

Aidan took a closer look at the nearest altar, and saw that it was a single large boulder, not a pile of smaller ones as most of the altars on Lomas Prime were. 'That is incredible,' he said.

'We have been very lucky,' Waqas agreed. 'I expect that this natural temple has helped the Creed to remain as prominent here as it has. I hear its popularity is waning elsewhere in the United Colonies.'

'Oh, there is plenty of life in it yet,' Aidan said.

'I dare say,' Waqas agreed.

'I do think many of the younger generation have taken to heart the need for repopulation,' Savana said. 'And somewhat twisted that to suit their libidos.'

'You see,' said Aidan. 'That is the sort of thing I should be telling people. Telling them... what we have to tell them is just... reinforcing that.'

'No,' said Savana. 'You are showing them the consequences of that lifestyle, not encouraging it.'

Aidan thought about this for a moment. 'Yes,' he said. 'Maybe you are right. Maybe I have just discovered my true calling,' he added with a smile.

'That is better,' Savana smiled back.

'May I be permitted to hear what you wish to say?' Waqas asked.

Aidan glanced across at Savana, who shrugged discreetly.

'Ok,' Aidan said, and started the story.

As soon as it was over, GQ ran from the cave, dragging his clothes behind him. Mercifully, the freaks from the cave made no effort to stop him, and he plunged, blinking, into the bright light of the day.

Stumbling, panic-stricken, to the ground, he gasped great lungfuls of fresh sea air, desperate to purge his system of whatever toxins he had been inhaling in the cave. Whatever it was they were creating in there, it had turned the cave's inhabitants into some kind of freaks - nasty, unpleasant deviants out to get their kicks at the expense of any innocent passing their way.

GQ threw up.

'I can see why you might have reservations about telling such a story,' Waqas said once Aidan had summarised the events for him.

'You do not have reservations about me telling it, do you?' he asked.

Waqas sighed. 'Honestly,' he said, 'I am afraid I do. I must give the matter some thought before I can allow you to proceed.'

Aidan and Savana exchanged glances briefly.

'I can assure you,' Aidan said, 'that were I not sure that God wanted me to share this, I would not be doing so.'

'I am sure that is true, Mr Qqyale,' Waqas said. 'But I hope you understand that I must be sure for myself as well. We pride ourselves on following the Creed very closely in this town, and I would want to restrict any outside influence which may change that, so far as it is within my power to do so.'

'We understand,' Savana said, before Aidan had the opportunity to object.

'You are, of course, most welcome to enjoy our facilities for as long as you need to stay here,' Waqas added.

'Thank you,' Savana said. 'Now, shall we continue the tour?'

Chapter Ten: Jacob and Esau

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."

"Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"

But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis 25:29-34

'Come on, Galford, wake up.'

GQ slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Rufus staring down at him, he woke up quickly, and started to scrabble away backwards.

‘What the hell was that about?’ he screamed.

‘Whoa, whoa!’ Rufus said, raising his hands in a placatory manner. ‘I thought you would enjoy it!’

‘I was supposed to enjoy that?’ he said.

‘Well, sure,’ Rufus sounded surprised. ‘I mean, Calisse may not look all that hot-‘

‘You got that right,’ GQ interrupted.

‘But she is the most awesome lay,’ Rufus finished.

‘What?!’ GQ said. ‘I cannot believe you did that. And what did you get out of it?’

Rufus faltered for a second.

‘I was payment for your drugs, was not I?’ he said before Rufus could answer.

‘You put it in such crude terms,’ Rufus said.

‘It was a pretty crude act,’ GQ said, finding the strength to get up and walk away.

‘Look,’ Rufus protested, following GQ, ‘I got what I wanted, Calisse got what she wanted, and – I thought – you would… enjoy what you got. It seemed like a win win situation.’

GQ started to respond, but did not have strong enough words. ‘Can we just go back now?’ he said.

‘Er, yeah, sure,’ Rufus said.

‘And hey,’ GQ added. ‘You owe me big time for this.’

‘Yeah, yeah, sure,’ Rufus said.

‘I’m serious,’ GQ went on. ‘We had a deal, remember? And that was before you… did that.’

‘I know,’ Rufus insisted. ‘It is cool, ok?’

‘Make the comm then,’ GQ said.

‘What?’ Rufus said.

‘Comm dad,’ GQ repeated. ‘Tell him you do not want an inheritance.’

‘I will,’ Rufus insisted.

‘Now,’ GQ said.

Rufus paused for a moment. ‘OK,’ he said finally.

‘Copy it to me,’ GQ said. ‘I want to know exactly what you send.’

‘Would you like to dictate it for me?’ Rufus said sarcastically.

‘Just give me your comm-cell and I will write the message if you like,’ GQ said.

‘You know what?’ Rufus said. ‘You might as well. Knock yourself out.’

To Gally’s surprise, Rufus did hand him the comm-cell. GQ pocketed it and followed Rufus back in the direction of the abandoned flyer.

‘I will fly,’ GQ said. ‘I do not know what you have been taking.’

Rufus climbed into the passenger seat, and GQ into the pilot’s. Before doing anything though, GQ composed a message on Rufus’ comm-cell:

From: Rufus Bornane-Straker

To: Aidan Qqayle

Bcc: Galford Qqayle

Subject: Inheritance

Dear Mr Qqayle,

Since first meeting you I have given this matter a great deal of consideration. I am greatly honoured that you would still consider me your son, however, I have become aware that this situation has caused some unease within your immediate family.

I would very much like to remain on good terms with yourself and with Galford, whom I have come to admire and respect a great deal, and I believe that the only way that I can achieve this is by declining your kind offer of sonship and inheritance.

I hope you appreciate that I am doing this only for the good of your family and our friendship, and not out of disrespect for the honour you have offered me.

Therefore I would like to formally request that you remove me from any inheritance plans you may have made, and advise you that I will respectfully decline any and all such offers made at any future time.

Yours sincerely,

Rufus Bornane-Straker

Gally passed the comm-cell to Rufus, who hit the send button without even reading the message Gally had written.

‘I hope we can get out of this sand ok,’ GQ said to himself.

‘No problem,’ Rufus said. ‘Just give it plenty of power and lift the nose as soon as you can.’

GQ cast a sideways glance at Rufus.

‘I have done this once or twice before,’ Rufus said.

It did work. Within a few minutes the flyer had dug itself out of the sand, GQ was piloting it back towards the settlement and Rufus had passed out beside him. GQ was trying not to think about his experience in the cave. That was not how he had planned his first time – with some scrawny slapper strung out on who knew what, and pretty much against his will at that. He tried to clear his mind with an adrenalin buzz, opening the throttles up and taking the flyer down to tree-top height, as Rufus had done earlier. He wished he could eject the passenger seat…

GQ was still distracted when the settlement appeared on the horizon. He tried to concentrate, and line up for the runway straight and level, but still almost managed to write off the entire colony’s crop for the year. Dumping the flyer a safe distance from the runway, he grabbed his bags and leapt out, leaving Rufus snoring gently in the passenger seat. He started out towards the village, but then had second thoughts, and instead headed out into the forest.

‘Whoa,’ he said, surprised to find a ten foot fence blocking his path. Looking up and down the fence, he surmised that it either surrounded the village and kept nasty things out, or it surrounded the nasty things and kept them in.

Either way, he was not about to get past it, so he sat down with his back against it, pulled out his comm-cell and tried to catch up with some contacts.

GQ says:

            Hey

Er1n says:

            Hey cutie

GQ says:

            I think I am ready

Er1n says:

            You think?

GQ says:

            I am ready

Er1n says:

            Want to go private?

GQ says:

            Let’s do it

Aidan was given permission to give his testimony, and arranged to do so the following day in the open air temple. Cote Waqas had not been joking when he said the people here took the Creed seriously; there were probably as many people at this meeting as he had seen at any of the StarCity meetings, where the populations had been an order of magnitude larger to begin with. This probably represented the entire population of the settlement that did not have work or something of equal importance to do at that time. Knowing that the story and its implications might not be well received by all, Aidan was nervous as he took the dais in front of the assembled crowds, most of whom were seated on the soft mossy ground, one or two having brought seats which were set up around the edge of the clearing.

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Aidan began to recount the story of how he came to be here.

Until around 25 UC Standard years ago, Aidan had fought tooth and nail against the Eight Nations Space Agency and their big project of the time, Litah – the Link between Tellus and Heaven. Tellus at that time was still ruined by the long and bloody war it had suffered some years earlier, with barely enough resources to support its dwindling population. When peace eventually came, it was largely due to the work of Galford Lomas – Aidan’s estranged father – who pioneered the work of ENSA and masterminded the Litah project. Aidan, however, fought the project at every turn, seeing it as man’s attempts to replace God with his own ingenuity. Until God called Aidan to join the project. Reluctantly, Aidan had done so, finding himself on one of the inaugural SpaceLiner flights, and from there, had wound up here, on the other side of the elusive Tellus wormhole.

At that time God had promised Aidan land – Lomas Prime – and descendants as countless as the stars. When Galford Lomas passed away, his leadership of the fledgling United Colonies passed to Aidan, along with the land, but Aidan’s wife remained unable to bear children, despite all the advances in repopulation medicine in the years following the war.

At that point Aidan and Savana had taken matters into their own hands, and, with his wife’s blessing, Aidan had slept with another woman. That woman now occupied a position of some authority on Lomas Three, and similar authority was likely, eventually, to pass to their son.

That, however, was not God’s plan, and God later informed Savana that she would also bear Aidan a son. That did happen, following which Savana persuaded Aidan to disown his first son, Rufus, and the boy’s mother. Aidan stressed that he was not proud of this decision, and neither was his wife, but it seemed like the best course of action at the time, and they had since taken steps to rebuild relationships with all those involved.

After all of this, God called Aidan to perform one more task: to offer his son to God. Not simply by dedicating the boy’s life to the service of God, but to actually offer the baby as a sacrifice. God had asked Aidan – who at the time baulked at the thought of killing a rabbit for tea – to slaughter his own son on a sacrificial alter.

This brought some gasps and murmuring from the assembled crowd; it always did. As did the point when Aidan said: ‘So I did it. I took young Galford, a babe in arms, to the altar, without telling his mother what I was planning to do. How could I?’ Aidan had trouble recalling that day without tears coming to his eyes. Holding that helpless child on the altar, bringing the knife up, and closing his eyes as he swung the blade down over the baby’s neck…

‘The Lord stopped me,’ Aidan said. ‘I mean, he physically held my arm, millimetres away from murdering my son.

‘It was a test,’ Aidan went on. ‘I had made so many bad decisions in the preceding months, that I believe God wanted me to put my money where my mouth was. I had to prove I meant business with God.

‘It was a test of my faith.’ Aidan explained. ‘Had I sufficient faith in the promises that God had made to me and to Galford Junior? Had I the faith that God could – and would – bring my child back from the dead?

‘Well, I think I demonstrated that I had that faith, and by stepping in at the last possible second, God did, effectively, bring Gally back from the dead.

‘Now,’ Aidan went on, ‘I have kept that story to myself and my closest confidants for many years. I am sure I do not need to explain why. But more recently God has spoken to me again. He has told me that the people of the United Colonies – His people – need to know of these events. Why? I do not exactly know. Why now? I have absolutely no idea. I do know that my poor judgement back then has had consequences throughout my life, and the lives of those involved. Maybe you just need to know that. Maybe humiliating myself like this is another of those consequences. Maybe God simply demands complete honesty from those he puts in positions of authority. I will allow you to judge that for yourselves.

‘But I hope that, whatever else, you will continue to respect myself, and in time, my sons, as those that God has chosen to take a significant role in governing the United Colonies.’

Aidan bowed his head, and returned to his seat. Governor Waqas stood and took his place, leading the remainder of the meeting, but Aidan could pay little attention. Sharing that story, admitting his failures, was always a spiritually and emotionally draining experience. He sat in silence for the rest of the meeting, trying to draw what strength he could from the worship of those around him.

GQ sat alone in the forest, naked and spent. He had enjoyed his first comm-sex experience with Er1n; it had gone some way to purge the unpleasantness of Calisse, but something was missing. He was trying to figure out what it was, when he got an incoming message.

It was from Jialin back on the StarCity Peace. He was glad to hear from her, and wondered why he had not commed her instead of Er1n. He smiled to himself as he commed her back.

Jialin says:

            Hi! I thought you had disappeared!

GQ says:

            No, just been busy

GQ says:

            It is great to hear from you again

Jialin says:

            You too. I have tried!

GQ says:

            I know, sorry

Jialin says:

            np

GQ says:

            Look, I am really sorry about how I left. I wish I had seen you beforehand

Jialin says:

            I know. You have said that

GQ says:

            Have I? I guess I must have.

Jialin says:

            Once or twice :)

GQ says:

            I guess I am realising how much you meant to me now we have been apart a

while

Jialin says:

            You’re sweet

GQ says:

            :)

Jialin says:

            I need to tell you something

GQ says:

            ok

Jialin says:

            I do not know what you expected from ‘us’, but

Jialin says:

            Well, since you left, I have not, well, waited for you

Jialin says:

            sorry

GQ says:

            Oh

GQ says:

            Well, I guess that is ok.

Jialin says:

            Really?

GQ says:

            Well, that is the way things work nowadays, isn’t it?

GQ says:

            Broaden the gene pool, and all that?

Jialin says:

            I have not been broadening the gene pool!

GQ says:

            Sorry! Did not mean to offend!

Jialin says:

            That is ok. I know what you mean.

GQ says:

            Good

Jialin says:

            So, er,

Jialin says:

            What do you expect from ‘us’?

Jialin says:

            If anything?

Jialin says:

            ?

GQ says:

            I would like there to be an ‘us’

Jialin says:

            Me too

GQ says:

            Exclusive?

Jialin says:

            Hmmm…

GQ says:

            I do not mind. If there’s somebody else too, that is cool

Jialin says:

            Is there somebody else for you?

GQ says:

            There could be

GQ says:

            I mean, I do not know what will develop, if anything

GQ says:

            But I would drop her if you asked me to.

Jialin says:

            Sweet!

Jialin says:

            But do not. It seems we both have someone closer to home at the moment.

How about we just carry on and see what happens when we are back

together?

GQ says:

            Sounds good :)

Jialin says:

            But you are my favourite

GQ says:

            :)

Jialin says:

            Fancy a comm?

The meeting over, Aidan was relaxing in his room when Savana brought his comm-cell to him.

'You have got mail,' she told him.

Aidan groaned, expecting it to be full of hate mail over the truths he had told during the meeting earlier.

'It is ok,' Savana said.

Aidan took the comm-cell, and was relieved to see the inbox was not filling up as rapidly as he had expected. There were a few messages labelled 'Re: this evening's meeting' or 'Your testimony' and such, but not many. Aidan opened a couple quickly, to gauge the responses so far: they were mostly positive, messages of encouragement, confirmation that being transparent about this was the right thing to do.

Then another message caught his eye. A message from Rufus. A sat up straight, hesitated for a moment before opening it. 'Inheritance' the subject line read. Was this going to be his final demand? Would Aidan find out what Rufus wanted in exchange for being pleasant to Gally?

'What is it?' Savana asked.

'Message from Rufus,' he said. 'Its about the inheritance.'

Savana also stopped what she was doing. 'What does he say?' she asked.

Aidan hit the open button, and the message opened before him. He stared at it for a few moments, puzzled, and had to read it through three times before he actually took in the content of the message.

'So?' Savana prompted him. 'How much does he want?'

'Nothing,' Aidan said quietly.

'What?' Savana said.

'He does not want anything. He says: "Blah blah, greatly honoured that you would still consider me your son, blah, caused some unease within your immediate family. Blah blah blah, doing this only for the good of your family and our friendship, and not out of disrespect for the honour you have offered me. Blah, formally request that you remove me from any inheritance plans you may have made, and advise you that I will respectfully decline any and all such offers made at any future time."'

'Really?' Savana obviously found it hard to believe too.

'It is here in black and white,' Aidan said, offering Savana the comm-cell.

She took it, read the message, and said: 'Wow. There's a turn up. What do you think brought that on?'

'Who knows?' Aidan said. 'I guess we should just be grateful that we do not have to worry about it upsetting anyone.'

'Do you think Gally knows?' Savana said.

'I thought they were out together,' Aidan said. 'That was the last I saw of either of them anyway.'

'I hope nothing has happened between them then,' Savana said.

'Well,' Aidan said, 'if it has, it appears to have been good.'

Chapter Eleven: The Author Fills a Gap

Most of the Apocrypha

'It has been quite a trip, has it not?' Savana said, sitting in the small but comfortable guest quarters in the Lomas Two settlement.

'You can say that again,' Aidan said emphatically. 'I think the only thing that might have made it more interesting would have been if my wormhole trip had ended up taking me further afield than it did.'

'Not too far afield, I hope,' Savana said. 'Not back to Tellus, I mean.'

'No,' Aidan agreed. 'Nor as far in the other direction.'

'What were you thinking then?' Savana asked.

'Oh, maybe if it had left me out by Lomas Five or Lomas Six,’ Aidan said.

‘We should really get round to naming the planets properly,’ Savana said. ‘Half the time I do not know if I’m on Lomas Two or Lomas Three. It gets very confusing already, without you going to Five and Six.’

‘Maybe. But then I could have explored some really new territory,' Aidan said. 'That would have been really interesting.'

'You should do that,' Savana said. 'Take Gally with you though. You two could do with a male bonding trip.'

'Oh, oh,' Aidan said excitedly. 'What if we ended up at Lomas Five or Six, and found the missing StarCities out there.'

'Why would they still be out there? Would they not be able to tell the rest of us were nearby?' Savana asked.

Aidan shrugged. 'Maybe they are trying to get here,' he suggested. 'Or maybe they are deserted. Maybe everyone died by now.'

'Everyone on a StarCity cannot die,' Savana objected. 'They are designed specifically so that cannot happen.'

'Maybe they contracted a virulent disease form a dirty telephone,' Aidan suggested. 'Or had a bloody civil war. Or encountered a stray wormhole...'

'All fairly unlikely,' Savana said.

'Yes,' Aidan agreed, 'but it would have been an interesting trip.'

'Granted,' Savana agreed. 'It would have taken a long time though, would it not?'

'Well, yes,' Aidan agreed, 'but on the other hand, there is no way we should have been able to see as much of the system as we have done in so little time.'

'Hmm,' Savana said. 'So what you are saying is that you should have taken Gally off on your little wormhole trip, harnessed the power of sub-space travel-'

'Sub what now?' Aidan interrupted.

'That is what we will call it,' Savana said. 'The place where the wormholes go will be called sub-space.'

'Is that not a bit Star Trek?' Aidan asked.

'Well, yes,' Savana admitted, 'but that also makes it a well known and readily identifiable mechanism.'

'Right,' Aidan said, bemused.

'So anyway,' Savana went on. 'You two discover this, then go off and explore the outer planets-'

'And discover a ghost city,' Aidan interjected.

'If you insist,' Savana said. 'And then we go off on our jolly across the system.'

'Exactly,' Aidan agreed.

'Actually, that would make more sense,' Savana said.

'In what way?' he asked.

'Well, Gally and I came out on this big quest,' she explained. 'To try and cure the infertility on Lomas Prime.'

'Yes,' Aidan said. 'What happened with that?'

'Well, nothing,' Savana said. 'Which is my point. Maybe the big quest should have been to find you.'

'But that would be impossible,' Aidan said.

'Not if Gally had been researching wormhole phenomena all his life,' Savana said.

'Yes,' Aidan agreed. 'That could be what he was doing at the beginning of the story, when the lights went out.'

'Aidan, stop talking as if you're a character in a NaNo novel,' Savana said.

'Ok, sorry,' Aidan said.

'Did we ever hear what happened there?' Savana said. 'About the power cut?'

'We did not,' Aidan said with a smile. 'But the readers did.'

Savana threw a cushion at him. 'Nobody reads NaNo novels,' she said.

'Well, if they did,' Aidan said, risking her wrath again, 'they might have seen that Gally was blamed for the power outages by his boss, and he volunteered to come with me in order to get away from her and the settlement that she turned against him.'

'That could be awkward when we get to return,' Savana said.

'Extra point of conflict,' Aidan said, knowingly. 'Just what a NaNo novel needs!'

'Er, quite,' Savana said, bemused.

'Well go on then,' Aida prompted. 'What would you have put in if our lives were a NaNo novel?'

‘I would have included some way of showing that the hereditary nature of authority is written into the Creed,’ she said, ‘and adopted throughout the United Colonies, rather than it looking like a weird inbred Qqayle thing.’

‘Good point,’ Aidan agreed. ‘We did not meet the governor of Southern City. I bet the was Heloise Somine’s first born.’

‘Yes, the first born thing too,’ Savana commented.

‘That is an important plot point,’ Aidan confirmed.

'I think Gally needs a girlfriend,' she said.

'I think he needs two,' Aidan said. 'Conflict, remember?' he added in response to Savana's glare.

'Whatever happens to the Straker twins?' Savana asked. 'Were they not supposed to appear in this boo- er, part of our lives?'

‘I thought one of them – the one with Dan’s child – ‘ Aidan started.

‘Did not they both have Dan’s children?’ Savana interrupted.

‘Maybe,’ Aidan agreed. ‘But I thought one of the children would be all deformed and live in the cave with the junkies and prostitutes.’

‘How do you know about them?’ Savana said. ‘Gally never mentioned that.’

‘Er, God told me,’ Aidan said.

‘Hmmm,’ Savana replied sceptically.

‘It might be beneficial for the narrative to cut to them during the boring bits where all we are doing is waiting to arrive at the next planet,’ Aidan said.

‘But should the botanist one not still be on this planet?’ Savana asked. ‘Whatever it is called…’

'Good question,' Aidan said. 'Still, there, er, would probably be a good twenty thousand words to go at this point, so they could still turn up.'

'Twenty thousand, you reckon?' Savana said. 'Well, what do you think will happen to us next then?'

'Well, I imagine that we will press Gally into a relationship with that Sharita girl,' Aidan said.

'Oh, she is nice,' Savana said.

'But she will turn out to be barren,' Aidan said, 'so Gally will hook up with one or more of his virtual girlfriends as well, you know, to-'

'Broaden the gene pool,' Savana interrupted. 'I bet that rule was thought up by a man.'

'That is not very fair,' Aidan protested.

'Says the man with a son by another woman,' Savana grumbled.

'That was your idea,' he reminded her.

'That is another story,' Savana said.

'Yes,' Aidan agreed. 'Countless as the Stars by Steve Trower. Available from stevetrower.co.uk or amazon.co.uk.'

'What are you talking about?' Savana said.

'Sorry, that was not me,' Aidan insisted. 'It was the author, putting a piece of blatant self promotion into my mouth.'

'Should self promotion not be hyphenated?' Savana said.

'In all probability, self promotion should in fact be written with the use of a hyphen,' Aidan said.

'A simple yes would have done,' Savana said.

'In retrospect, I would anticipate that a simple affirmative would have provided the information after which you were inquiring,' Aidan said. 'However, it is my belief that the author is desperately trying to drag this segment out to a nice round one thousand words, and merely wished to ensure the best possible use of the phrase self promotion in the context of the written page.'

'Sorry what?' Savana said.

'I said,' Aidan replied, 'in retrospect, I wou-'

'Now you are just taking the Mickey,' Savana interrupted.

'Fair point,' Aidan agreed. 'Is there anything else you would have liked to have done during the course of this nov- er, portion of our lives?'

'How long have we got?' Savana asked.

'About ten words,' Aidan said.

'Well then, no,' Savana said.

Chapter Twelve: Discovering the Worm in the Wormholes

GQ was going over his findings with Faustus Puck - a man who knew pretty much all there was to know about space flight.

'So you have adapted the sensors to seek out wormhole radiation,' Puck said.

GQ nodded. 'Even the faintest trace,' he confirmed. 'That way we should be able to find wormholes as they open.'

'Find them?' Puck asked. 'Why would you want to find them?'

'Well that is where this comes in,' GQ said, pulling up a navigation screen on the computers in front of them.

'What am I looking at?' Puck asked.

'The flyer's most recent travels,' GQ said. 'Ignore this last cross planet hop,' he went on, deleting that data from the screen.

The map on the screen changed from that of Lomas Three to a wider view of the system. Seeing this, Puck's jaw dropped, and he took the portable screen in his hands for a closer look.

'This is not possible,' he said after a moment.

'Maybe not,' GQ agreed. 'But that is what the instruments detected.'

'How did you get out to... beyond the gas giant so quickly?' he asked. 'That trip should take months.'

'I did not,' GQ said. 'Look at the date.'

Puck looked. 'That was when your father was in the wormhole,' he said.

GQ nodded. 'He travelled all that way in wormhole space,' he confirmed. 'And back.'

'How?' Puck asked.

'Not deliberately,' GQ said. 'I do not think he knows how far he travelled. As far as he knew he was inside the wormhole for the whole three days.'

'That is why you are looking for wormholes,' Puck realised.

'Exactly,' GQ said excitedly. 'Somehow it is possible to cross vast distances in hours. And it does not appear to be random, as we thought based on the original Tellus wormhole.'

'Can it be controlled?' Puck asked.

'If it is possible,' GQ said. 'Then you and I can do it.'

'We need to talk to your father,' Puck said.

'I was inside some kind of creature,' Aidan said. 'At least, I assume it was a creature. It looked like a simple cave from the inside, until...'

'Until what?' GQ prompted.

'Until you could see the teeth,' Aidan said.

GQ and Puck looked at each other silently.

'I do not think it meant any harm,' Aidan said, seeing their dismayed expressions. 'Although, I do not think that travelling inside the belly of a space worm is likely to catch on.'

'Perhaps not,' GQ said.

'My theory,' Aidan went on, 'is that these are some kind of life form which primarily lives in wormhole space, but has to emerge periodically into normal space. To feed, maybe.'

'Feed on what?' GQ said. 'Space is a vacuum, is it not?'

'Basically, yes,' Aidan agreed. 'The occasional molecule here and there, not really enough to sustain a life form on that scale though.'

'Not life as we know it,' Puck suggested.

'Indeed,' Aidan agreed. 'Asteroids, gas planets, any of those could be a source of food to a life form we know nothing about. And based on my experience, I would not rule out this being a silicon-based life form.'

'Meaning?' Puck asked.

'A living rock,' GQ suggested.

'OK then,' Puck said. 'Let's go catch ourselves a rock monster.'

GQ and Puck took the slightly modified flyer out of Lomas Three orbit, and began a scan for wormhole radiation.

'We really must come up with a better name for it,' GQ said.

'How about,' Puck said with a wry smile, 'Galford radiation?'

'Yeah, whatever,' GQ chuckled.

'Well, there's nothing on the Qqaylometer,' Puck said.

'Quit that now,' GQ said.

Puck laughed. 'So where do you want to start?'

'It is like looking for a needle in a field full of haystacks,' GQ said, realising the extent of his task.

'Space is big,' Puck agreed.

'Well we do not want to wander too far from Lomas Three,' GQ suggested. 'Not at the moment.'

'OK,' Puck agreed. 'How about a gentle spiral outward from here?'

'Sounds as good a plan as any,' GQ agreed.

'Will this thing stand up to a wormhole if we find one?' Puck asked.

'Isn't it a bit late to be worrying about that?' GQ asked.

'Not until we find ourselves facing one it is not,' Puck said.

'Well,' GQ said, 'she has been through it once and come out intact. I am not too worried.'

'You are the boss,' Puck said. 'For now.'

'Ok, this is not working,' GQ said after an hour circling the planet at increasing distances.

'No,' Puck agreed. 'I think we need to rethink our strategy.'

'Let us head for home for now,' GQ said, turning the shuttle back towards Lomas Three.

'Ok,' Puck said, thinking aloud. 'What do we know about the wormholes?'

'Apparently random,' GQ started. 'Unique radiation signature. Possibly connected to some kind of space borne life form.'

'Huge gravity at the mouth,' Puck added. 'But survivable inside.'

'Provided your space craft is strong enough,' GQ added.

'The radiation,' Puck said.

'What about it?' GQ asked.

'We have assumed that the radiation is caused by the wormhole opening,' he said.

'Yes,' GQ agreed. 'So?'

'What if,' Puck postulated, 'we have our cause and effect the wrong way round?'

GQ thought about this for a moment. 'The wormholes are caused by the radiation?' he said.

'Just a theory,' Puck said.

'A testable theory,' GQ added.

'Yes,' Puck said, 'if we can generate Galford radiation.'

'I told you not to do that,' GQ said.

'Well, you had better just try hard not to be the first to generate it then,' Puck said.

'We are going to need more facilities than Lomas Two has,' GQ said, almost to himself.

'Has your father finished his business here?' Puck asked.

'I think so,' GQ said.

'Then I think a visit to the StarCity Ptah might be in order next,' Puck suggested.

Puck and GQ gathered the small group who had been travelling with them together in the temple clearing.

'Why the Ptah?' Aidan asked.

'No reason, specifically,' GQ said. 'Any StarCity would probably do, the Ptah is simply the closest one we have not visited yet.'

 'Very well,' Aidan agreed. 'Ptah it is. When do you want to leave?'

'The Deltic is ready to fly when you are,' Puck said.

'As soon as possible,' GQ said. 'I would really like to get moving with this.'

'Ok,' Aidan said. 'I suggest we all get ready to say our goodbyes, and head out tomorrow.'

The rest of the crew nodded, and Aidan indicated that they were now free to do just that.

'I will not be coming,' Rufus said from the back of the group.

'Are you sure?' Aidan said. 'You are more than welcome, even given...everything.'

'I do not want to be a burden to you any more,' he said.

'You're no burden,' Aidan said. 'Look, at least let us give you a lift back to Lomas Three.'

'It is ok,' Rufus insisted. 'I will wait until the next scheduled flight. I will not be waiting long. And I have friends here to stay with for a while.'

'Well, if you are sure,' Aidan said.

'Do not worry about me,' Rufus said.

'Alright then,' Aidan said, and offered his hand to Rufus. 'Go well, son.'

'Go well,' Rufus said, 'friend.'

Aidan smiled, and they parted company.

The remaining StarCities were back in the direction of Lomas Prime, and had been planned as the last stops on Aidan's whistle stop tour of the Lomas system. It occurred to him at around this time that he should have made the big announcement on Lomas Prime before skipping off across the galaxy, but it was too late now.

The Ptah was, as Puck had suggested, the closest to Lomas Two on its current orbital path, and they reached it in an as yet undetermined length of time.

The StarCity drifted alone in the vacuum, and against a background of distant stars, scale and perspective meant nothing. It had appeared at first as a distant spot of light, which gradually stretched as they approached, forming the smooth cylindrical shape of a StarCity. Only as the shuttle drew up alongside it, approaching the docking arm as it unfurled itself from where it had been concealed at one end of the City, did the true scale of the StarCity become obvious.

The simulated gravity fell away quickly with the shuttle’s acceleration, and the shuttles few occupants strapped themselves in.

Moments of apparent inactivity followed the shuttle's docking, as the docking arm pulled the shuttle inside the body of the City itself, where in due course it was set down in a tastefully yet colourfully decorated hangar area.

Once the shuttle had come to rest the small crew disembarked, following a path from the shuttle to a panel in the far wall which opened to reveal a doorway which had been hidden, having closed seamlessly into the wall.

On the other side of the door, the City governor, Ostorius Nix, had come to greet his special guests.

'Mr Qqayle,' he said, shaking Aidan warmly by the hand. 'Savana,' he kissed Savana's hand. 'It has been far too long. Welcome back!'

Aidan and Savana both thanked the governor, and he went on to welcome the others among the party.

'To what do we owe this honour?' Ostorius asked Aidan once the welcomes were made.

'I have some, er...' Aidan paused for thought, 'news I wish to share with the United Colonies residents.'

'Of course, of course,' Ostorius said. 'Our facilities are at your disposal. It must be important for you to have visited in person after so many years.'

'It is important to me, certainly,' Aidan said. 'However, I must apologise for not visiting your city before now.'

'Do not mention it,' Ostorius said.

'We also have a small favour to ask, while we are here,' Aidan added.

'Oh?' Ostorius said. 'I am certain my people and I will help in any way we can.'

'My son and Captain Puck,' Aidan pointed to Gally and Puck, 'are researching the wormhole phenomena. They would like access to some of your scientific facilities, if that is possible.'

'I will personally see to it that you have access to whatever you need,' Ostorius said. 'So tell me, what is it you hope to discover about them?'

'We want to see if it is possible to induce one,' Gally explained.

'Open a wormhole deliberately?' Ostorius said. 'To what end?'

'We hope that we may be able to use them as a means of travelling between planets,' GQ explained. 'And maybe even further.'

'Really?' Ostorius said. 'Controlled wormhole travel? Fascinating idea.'

'Then you will help us?' GQ asked.

'Absolutely,' Ostorius confirmed. 'But first,' he added, to the group as a whole, 'allow me to show you to our guest quarters.'

The StarCity Ptah had a dedicated science deck; Gally felt like a kid in a sweet shop as he was shown around the various facilities. (I have no idea how this bit is going to work. I guess we insert some bits about handwavium particles, radiation generating equipment, some kind of gun that points it into space, etc...)

He worked tirelessly, losing track of time, assisted at various times by Faustus Puck, his mother, and various interested members of the StarCity's science department, until eventually they had calibrated the handwavium generator to disrupt the natural hydrogen particles which were found in the vacuum of space(?) in such a way as to generate the Qqayle radiation he had been seeking. But maybe it got named after the Ptah scientist he was working with.

They fired up the handwavium generator and, to their surprise, found a tiny wormhole opening up inside the lab.

'Shut it off!' GQ shouted. 'Shut it off, now!'

The scientist shut it off, and the tiny wormhole disappeared as promptly as it had appeared.

'Wow,' said the scientist. 'We did it?'

'It certainly looks that way,' GQ agreed.

'So now what?' the scientist asked.

'We need to scale up,' GQ said.

Puck was an excellent engineer, as well as a skilled pilot, and volunteered to help adapt one of the StarCity's manufacturing plants to build a much larger version of the simple handwavium generator that GQ had been using in the lab.

GQ, Puck, and three members of the StarCity's engineering crew were suited up, in extra vehicular activity suits and magnetic boots, ready to venture onto the outer surfaces of the City. Ostorius Nix had been only too pleased to allow the Ptah to be part of this important experiment into wormhole travel.

'Control to EVA crew,' GQ heard the voice through his suit helmet. 'The generator is now outside the City. You can leave whenever you are ready.'

Nods were exchanged between all five members of the team, and the airlock was opened.

No-one spoke as the five men squeezed into the tiny airlock, which sealed behind them with a gentle hiss. A green light on the inner door turned red, and a red one on the outer door turned green.

'Ready?' one of the team said.

Four thick gloved hands put thumbs up.

The fifth member of the team - it was difficult to keep track of who was whom in the bulky extra vehicular activity suits - opened the outer hatch.

'Engage electro magnetic boots,' one of them said.

'Engaged,' the other four replied in turn.

GQ felt his feet suddenly pulled to the floor. It was an effort to lift his feet and step out of the airlock, as if wading through thick mud or quicksand.

Slowly and carefully, the team made their way out onto the City's outer surface in single file.

The team leader led the way, followed by GQ and Puck, who had done most of the groundwork up to this point, with two other Ptah engineers bringing up the rear.

GQ could not resist taking a moment to look around. The StarCity's metallic hull stretched out before them for miles to one side; in the other direction it was cut short, and the docking arm bearing the handwavium generator protruded from the City's outer shell. Above and all around, the blackness of space, with the sun bright in the distance behind them.

'The mounting point is over there,' the team leader said, pointing ahead and to the right of the airlock entrance.

Slowly they plodded off in that direction, keeping an eye on the docking arm which moved steadily overhead towards the same position.

'EVA crew, this is engineering control,' the voice in the helmet again. 'Are you ready to take control of the docking arm yet?'

The team leader unzipped a pocket in the thigh of his EVA suit, and retrieved a radio control handset, which remained tethered to his suit.

'Ready to test controls,' he said into his helmet mike.

'EVA crew, you have control,' the voice from inside said.

'I have control,' the team leader confirmed. 'Moving arm up,' he said, and the arm lifted the generator away from the StarCity. 'Moving down; moving left; and moving right,' he carried on, and each time the arm swung in the right direction. 'Controls are operating normally,' he spoke into the helmet mike. 'I will take it from here control.'

'Roger team leader,' the controller said. 'We will keep monitoring your progress.'

'Thank you,' the team leader said. 'OK team, let's finish the job.'

As they made their clumsy way over to the mounting point, the team leader manoeuvred the generator into position ahead of them, so that it would be more or less where they needed it when they arrived.

Apparently it was not quite as easy as it had seemed, as it was still some way off the mounting when the EVA team arrived closer to it, but as they drew closer it became easier to see how far off target the docking arm was.

Once the generator was located as close to the mounting points as the team could manoeuvre it using the docking arm, temporary safety lines were reeled out from around the mounting point and secured to the generator.

Then the massive clamp was released, and the docking arm withdrew rapidly to allow the crew the space they needed to finish the job.

The mounting points were opened, and the safety lines withdrawn, slowly pulling the huge device down with them. As the generator made contact, the docking clamps were closed over its base one by one.

The team leader made a final check that all docking points were secure, and connected the power lines through them.

'Ok,' he said. 'She is secure and ready to go. Over to you guys now.'

The team leader was looking at Gally, who stepped forward, surprised, and opened the generator's control panel.

Running a few internal tests, Gally checked that the generator was powered up correctly and operating as expected, before transferring all controls to the remote control station they had set up inside one of the City's labs.

'All systems nominal,' he confirmed. 'Transferring control to the lab.' He turned to the rest of the crew. 'We are ready to go,' he said.

Chapter Thirteen: Experiments and Riots

Aidan had just finished sharing his testimony at the Ptah's main temple, to a somewhat mixed reaction.

'Sometimes I wonder why I bother,' he confided to his wife.

'Because it is the right thing to do,' she reminded him.

'Hmm,' he said.

'Come on, Ade,' Savana said. 'You have been down this line of thought at just about every stop on this trip. It has not stopped you going on to the next one.'

'No,' he agreed. 'I guess I am just hoping that at some point I will get some confirmation of what I am doing, and why.'

'Why did you do any of the things you are telling people about?' Savana asked. 'At the time, I mean. What results could you see at the time?'

'None, I suppose,' he admitted.

'Exactly,' Savana said. 'Yet you stepped out in faith and did them anyway. Even when it meant losing everyone you loved.'

'You're right,' Aidan said. 'Being obedient is the key. That is the reason. Obedience and faithfulness. Is that a lesson for me, or for anyone else?'

'Does it matter?' Savana said.

'Governor, we are about to try the wormhole generator,' the Ptah's chief engineer said. 'Would you care to join us in engineering to witness the outcome?'

'Excellent,' he said. 'I will be right there.'

GQ and Puck were there, of course, waiting with Aidan and Savana, and a host of others from the City's engineering department. The lab in which they had perfected the technique had become a temporary viewing area, and there was an air of excitement throughout the room, and indeed the whole City.

Ostorius Nix hurried into the room a moment or two later, having wasted no time in getting to the lab to see this first large scale experiment.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' the chief engineer said, standing below the large view screen which had been erected for the occasion. 'It is truly our honour to have been able to facilitate this groundbreaking experiment, which brings the potential to revolutionise space travel. However, we have only provided the labour, and the credit really belongs to our esteemed guests, Galford Qqayle and Faustus Puck, who had already established the groundwork for this experiment.'

GQ and Puck stood briefly, and bowed modestly to the assembled crowd.

'So,' their host went on, 'would you two gentlemen like to do the honours?'

Puck and GQ looked at each other in surprised.

'Come on,' the chief engineer said. 'You have earnt that much.'

Reluctantly the two stepped forward and took up the positions at the control desk.

'I suppose we should say something intelligent here,' GQ said.

'Why change the habit of a lifetime?' Puck replied.

'You ready?' GQ asked with a smile.

'Aye, sir,' Puck replied.

'Generator targeted,' GQ said.

'Targeted,' GQ confirmed.

'Powering up,' GQ said.

Puck waited a moment, watching his readings.

'Powered up,' he said after a moment.

'Switching on at zero,' GQ said.

Puck nodded.

'Three,' GQ started, 'two, one, now!'

Both men hit their engage buttons.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then, on the screen, they saw space rent apart, the stars swirled, a dark, black hole opened, the vacuum of space distorted and disturbed by the abnormal gravity of a wormhole opening.

Puck and GQ released the buttons, sighing with relief.

Behind them the audience applauded.

'It works,' GQ realised. 'It works!'

Puck clapped him on the back, then grabbed him in a bear hug.

'Yes you little genius,' he said. 'It works!'

'Could not have done it without you!' he said. 'Or you guys from Ptah! It was a team effort guys!'

The team also came over and hugged GQ and Puck.

'Well done people,' Ostorius Nix said. 'This is a great day in United Colonies history. On behalf of the Ptah, I would like to reiterate how honoured we are to have been a part of it. Thank you to all those involved.'

On the screen, the wormhole closed and space returned to its usual speckled blackness.

'That was plenty of time to get a shuttle through,' Puck said.

GQ nodded. 'I guess that is our next challenge.'

'Yes,' Puck agreed. 'Would mounting the generator on a shuttle not have been a better idea?'

'No,' GQ said, 'I imagine the generator would need to be static in order to properly focus the radiation and generate a wormhole. We should get one of these to every StarCity and orbiting every planet.'

'Do not we first need to work out how to navigate inside the wormholes?' Aidan said. 'I mean, I have been in two, and I do not think we could tell where we were on either occasion, never mind control that.'

'Good point,' Puck agreed.

GQ nodded. 'We still have a lot of work to do,' he said.

The final stop before returning to Lomas Prime was the Unnamed City. The Unnamed City had found its way to the Lomas system about six years ago, and in the intervening time had developed a somewhat different culture to that formally adopted by the United Colonies.

Although the City had adopted the United Colonies Charter, on paper at least, its inhabitants had been reluctant to accept the Creed, and some aspects of the Charter which were based closely on the tenets of the Creed were not carried out in practice.

Although tolerance was practiced on both sides, those who had chosen to follow the Creed had largely decided to move out of the City and find homes elsewhere in the United Colonies.

A small number of Followers had remained, and others occasionally settled on the City temporarily, as missionaries, and it was to these that Aidan wanted to deliver his testimony before returning home to Lomas Prime.

The Deltic's arrival on the City was met with little excitement, and the small band disembarked and set off to find the missionaries on the City. Puck and GQ elected to remain on the shuttle, to complete some routine in service maintenance tasks. Aidan, Savana, and the other Followers among the crew explored the city together.

Outwardly it did not appear any different to any other StarCity Aidan had been to. There were slight differences in layout and architecture in the city streets, but nothing that would really set it apart from any other City. The inhabitants were friendly enough too, for all the absence of a welcoming committee, the general populace seemed welcoming enough to the strangers, giving directions happily when asked.

And yet, Aidan found himself ill at ease in this place.

'Does anyone else feel that?' he asked quietly.

'What?' Savana said.

'I do not know,' Aidan replied.

'Oh, helpful much?' Savana said.

'Sorry,' Aidan said. 'It is just... there is something weird about this town. Something bugs me. Does no-one else get that?'

He looked around at the group, who were all shaking their heads.

'It is just nerves,' Savana said. 'You do not want to go through your life story again.'

'Could you blame me?' he said. 'But it is not that - or not just that, anyway. If I am nervous about it this time, it is because there is a reason to be.'

'You are not making much sense,' Savana said.

'Hmm,' Aidan said. 'Let's just find this place and get out of here, shall we?'

They eventually found the Followers - a small band of people who lived and worked in a building in a rough part of town.

'How come a StarCity has a rough part of town?' Aidan asked.

'Eighteen standard years outside the United Colonies,' the Pastor explained. 'They lost a lot of the ideals we set out with in that time.'

'Can't have been easy,' Savana agreed.

'But God was so obviously with us,' Aidan said. 'Why did these people not sense Him? Were there no Followers on board?'

'Oh, there were,' the Pastor said. 'Even when they arrived in the system there was a small gathering here. Unfortunately, they were very much a minority by then. Most believed that God had abandoned them, and in turn abandoned their faith.'

'And the rest?' Aidan asked.

'Those strongest in the faith came together and set up this place,' the Pastor indicated the building around them. 'Unfortunately, it became something of a Follower ghetto over the course of time. And still very few of those remaining in the town are willing to accept the Creed.'

'That is a shame,' Aidan said.

'Yes,' the Pastor agreed, 'and although there is a vocal group against the more religious aspects of United Colonies rule, and a small group of general troublemakers, the majority of people in the City have retained a strong sense of moral uprightness, and the majority of United Colonies rules are upheld with no objection at all.'

'At least those who choose not to follow the Creed may find this City a more welcoming home than, say, Lomas Two,' Savana said.

'It does serve that purpose well,' the Pastor agreed. "Now,' he went on. 'You have a message for the Followers here?'

'I think it is for everyone,' Aidan said. 'Though I am not sure they are all going to appreciate it.'

'Well, good luck,' the Pastor said. 'What do you need me to do?'

'What is the best way to get a message to everybody?' Aidan asked. 'Or as many people as possible at one time?'

The Pastor took Aidan and Savana to the City Governor's offices. They spoke to the Governor, and was given permission to broadcast a message on the air on the City's TV type system.

The message was recorded at the Pastor's little office in downtown Unnamed City, where the group huddled around a small comm-cell monitor to watch it.

Most of the City's people did not like it, and started a bit of a riot because of some of what was said, probably the bit about child killing. The trouble makers took hold of this one point, and used it to start a moral crusade, marching on the City's tiny temple even while the broadcast was still showing.

Aidan and his friends were still in a back room of the temple, watching the broadcast, when they heard the noise outside.

'It is those trouble makers I mentioned,' the Pastor said. 'And I think they mean business. We should get away, quickly.'

'What? Aidan said. 'I am not in the habit of running away from my responsibilities.'

'Aidan!' Savana said through gritted teeth. 'This is not the time for heroics!'

'It is not heroics,' he said. 'It is standing up for what I believe in. Being obedient, and stepping out in faith, remember?'

Savana looked horrified at having her arguments so readily used against her.

'You can't!' she said. 'You will get killed! Or at least badly hurt!'

'Then what do you suggest?' he asked.

Savana was silent.

'Look, I will go out and try to talk to them,' he said, 'you all get out the back and head for the shuttle bays. We'll get out of this city as soon as we can.'

'I will wait with you,' the Pastor said.

'No,' Aidan said. 'I have caused you enough trouble already. You should go too.'

'I know these people,' he insisted. 'I can help.'

Aidan stopped for a moment, trying to work out what to do. 'OK,' he said. 'It is up to you. Leave whenever you like - this is my mess.'

'Puck!' GQ called.

'What is it?' Puck replied from behind a bulkhead.

'I think you should see this,' GQ called.

Puck emerged from what he was doing, and went over to where GQ was, as usual, sat with his comm-cell open. This time, rather than chatting on some social network, however, GQ was watching a new flash.

'Oh my God,' Puck said, realising what he was watching.

GQ nodded. 'Dad's gone and started a riot,' he said.

'We need to get him out of there,' Puck said.

'What can we do?' GQ asked.

'Comm him,' Puck said. 'See where he is.'

Puck wandered off, apparently looking for something, leaving GQ to make the call. A voice GQ did not recognise answered the call.

'Who is that?' he said. 'Where is my dad?'

'Aidan?' the voice asked.

'Yeah,' GQ said.

'He is a little... busy right now,' the voice replied.

'Are you with him?' Aidan asked.

'Yes,' the voice replied.

'Comm me your location,' he said. 'I'm going to try to come and get you.'

There was a momentary silence on the line.

'On its way,' the man said.

'Got it,' GQ confirmed. 'I will be there as soon as I can.'

'We may have to move,' the man said. 'I will keep you updated.'

'Thanks,' GQ said, and cut the connection as he saw Puck approaching in a City Moke.

'How did you manage that?' GQ asked.

'I just borrowed it,' Puck said.

'Never mind,' GQ said, clicking his comm-cell showing his father's location onto the dashboard. 'Mind if I drive?'

'You go,' Puck said. 'I'll get the shuttle ready to go. Something tells me we may be needing to make a quick exit.'

Gally got the City Moke out of the shuttle bay and out onto the streets. The Moke drove exactly like the Planet Mokes he was used to, but he was not used to driving in such a confined space as the city streets. Nonetheless, he opened up the accelerator as soon as he saw a long stretch of road, and was soon belting down the city’ main street.

Thankfully there were few people around; the news of the riot must have driven them under cover if they were not required in crowd control. Gally glanced occasionally down at the comm-cell. Whoever was with his father had sent location updates a couple of times, and the target identifier had automatically updated, guiding Gally straight to their last reported position.

Unfortunately, he had no such ready advice about where the angry mob was, and found himself suddenly swinging a hard right and taking a detour as the edge of the crowd suddenly came into view.

This was where the riot had been. Broken glass and debris was scattered across the road, and Gally slowed down for the first time to make sure he weaved between it safely. Even so, he was still moving at quite a pace, and almost missed the latest location update, which showed his father and his mystery friend had just crossed the road in front of him, and were on the way back towards the shuttle bay. Gally swung another right, slowing down and keeping an eye out for them.

They were not hard to spot. Aidan had been injured, badly, it looked. He was slung over another man’s shoulders, and the two of them were limping along, trying to keep to the shadows. Gally gunned the throttle again, and skidded to a halt just in front of them.

‘Get in!’ he called, trying to convey a sense of urgency without shouting too loudly.

Aidan lifted his head, dazedly; Gally winced at the bloody mess his face had become.

Gally jumped out and helped the stranger get Aidan into the Planet Moke. ‘Get in!’ Gally said again.

‘You go,’ the stranger said. ‘I should stick around and try to sort out this mess.’

Gally hesitated.

‘Go on!’ the man repeated.

Gally decided not to hang around much longer. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

‘No problem,’ the man said. ‘Now go!’

Gally was on his way. Only once he was well on the way back to the shuttle bay did he stop to wonder where the rest of the party had got to. Keeping one eye on the road and one hand on the wheel, he fumbled his comm-cell off the dash and commed his mother.

‘Where are you!’ he shouted.

‘We are safe,’ she replied. ‘We are nearly at the shuttle bay.’

‘Good,’ Gally replied. ‘I will be with you soon.’

Gally cut the call and pocketed the comm-cell, accelerating again to pick up the speed he had lost making the call.

‘Hang in there dad,’ he said. ‘We are going to get you out of here.’

As he approached the shuttle bay, Gally slowed down, took the comm-cell out again and commed Savana.

‘Are you back yet?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ she replied.

‘Open the main hangar doors,’ he said. ‘I’m nearly there, and we do not have much time.’

He did not hear a reply, but ahead of him the large hangar door opened. ‘Thank you,’ he muttered, and pointed the Moke towards the opening.

Gally drove straight up to the Deltic.

‘We need a stretcher,’ he shouted. ‘Get him straight to the medical room.’

‘What?’ Savana shouted. ‘We can’t treat him in the shuttle! Oh my God…’ she added, seeing the extent of the injuries.

‘I do not think we have a choice,’ Gally said. ‘Do you?’

Chapter Fourteen: Jacob Gets Isaac’s Blessing

Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

Genesis 27:22-23

The Deltic class shuttles were fitted with a small medical facility - basically a cramped cabin with a zero g bunk and a cabinet of medicines and basic first aid equipment.

Savana, being a doctor, supplemented this with her own simple equipment bag, and had made the room her own for the duration of the trip. (Actually, that should have been mentioned earlier, it would have been a nice place for Gally to hole up and do his comming.)

Now, she had her own husband strapped to the bunk, and was tending his wounds carefully, eyes full of tears.

'Savana,' he croaked.

'I'm here,' she sobbed in return.

'We need to go back,' he said.

'To the Unnamed City?' Savana said in disbelief.

Aidan shook his head weakly, and tried to say something Savana could not quite make out.

'I'm sorry,' she said, shaking her head. 'I did not get that.'

He tried again, but could not form the sounds. Instead he lifted his hand, and showed her two fingers.

'Lomas Two?' she asked.

Aidan nodded, though the movement was barely noticeable.

'Why?' Savana asked.

He said something else, and although she could not hear the word, she was fairly certain she could see the word his lips were saying.

Rufus.

'Lomas Two?' Puck said when Savana relayed the news to him.

'That is what he said,' she said.

'I thought he would want to go home now, after all that has gone on,' Puck said.

Savana shrugged. 'I guess he could be delirious,' she said. 'But I do not think that is it.'

'You do not suppose...' he started.

'I am afraid that is likely,' Savana confirmed.

'Yex,' Puck said.

'Indeed,' Savana said.

'You sure you want me to do it?' he asked.

'I am not sure how much longer he has,' Savana said. 'I can't deny him anything right now.'

'Ok,' Puck said. 'You are the boss.'

'No,' Savana smiled. 'Ade's still the boss at the moment.'

When GQ heard that they were heading back to Lomas Two, he fell into a deeper sense of melancholy. Not only was his father seriously wounded, but after he, GQ, had probably saved his life, he was now going back to the planet where his illegitimate son was currently hanging out with junkies and prostitutes. Great thank you, GQ thought to himself.

GQ sloped off to find a private corner, and booted up his comm-cell, trying to forget about his worries.

He sent a few comms out to previous PopNet contacts; the first to reply was the girl calling herself xyex. That was just what he needed - she was a nice looking girl happy to put on a show for him, not wanting any input from him. GQ settled down, switched his brain off, and lost himself in the Net.

'Gally!'

GQ was so surprised he almost dropped his comm-cell, but managed to keep his composure and hide the screen from his mother, who apparently had been looking for him.

'What is the problem?' he said glumly, itching to get back to the comm-show.

'You know where we are going, right?' she said.

'Course I do,' GQ replied.

'And you can probably guess why,' she went on.

'I have an idea,' he said.

'Yes,' Savana agreed. 'Whatever Rufus said, your father wants to give him something.'

'I thought Rufus had made his feelings clear on that?' GQ said, fearful that his plan had been discovered.

'To a degree,' Savana said. 'He said he did not want any inheritance.'

'So why go back?' GQ asked.

'Your father still has his blessing to pass on to his children,' Savana explained. 'That was not covered by Rufus' message?'

'Not explicitly,' Savana said. 'The blessing is not a material gift. And it is Aidan's to give as he sees fit.'

'He is going to give Rufus his blessing instead of his inheritance?' GQ said.

Savana shrugged. 'That is my guess,' she said.

'But that should be mine!' GQ shouted, outraged.

'I know,' Savana said, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him. 'I know. We can sort this, do not worry.'

'How?' GQ asked.

'Leave it to me,' Savana said. 'I will think of something.'

Puck knocked on the door of the medical room.

‘Come in,’ called Savana, who had been keeping Aidan’s condition stable, although it was clear that he was not improving significantly.

‘Is he awake?’ Puck whispered to her.

She nodded.

‘Aidan?’ Puck said.

Aidan turned towards Puck, but appeared unable to open his eyes, which were still bloody and puffed up despite Savana’s best efforts.

‘I have received a message from the Unnamed City,’ Puck said.

Aidan nodded weakly.

Puck continued: ‘It is a message from the City Governor, to all the City’s inhabitants. “By the decree of the Governor and Council of the Unnamed City, today is a day of fasting. No man or beast is to taste anything; do not eat or drink. But let us all consider what has happened here these last few days. Let everyone call urgently on God, or on their own conscience. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." ‘

Puck thought he saw a faint smile on Aidan’s bruised lips.

‘The Governor got religion?’ he croaked.

‘So it seems,’ Puck agreed.

‘O God,’ Aidan prayed quietly, ‘was it necessary for this to happen to me, so that others might find you? That is why I was so afraid to spread this message. Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live like this.’

‘Aidan,’ Savana said soothingly. ‘You should not be angry at God. You are concerned about the well being of Rufus, aren’t you?’

Aidan nodded.

‘You are concerned about him, even though you have had no part in his upbringing. But the Unnamed City has thousands of God’s children who cannot tell their right hand from their left. Should God not be concerned about them?’

Aidan smiled weakly. ‘You are right,’ he whispered. ‘As usual, God speaks through you when I need it most. I am sorry.’

Savana smiled down at him lovingly. ‘A good thing has happened,’ she said. ‘Through your suffering God has shown himself to the people of the Unnamed City, people who did not know him before. They have your story now. They can learn from the mistakes we made when we first arrived here.’

Aidan nodded, more vigorously this time. ‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘My mission is complete.’

When they arrived on Lomas Three, Aidan was immediately provided with a private cabin, where Savana tended him.

‘I am fading,’ Aidan told her. ‘My eyes are weak, and I can barely see. I fear I may not be with you for much longer.’

‘Do not say that!’ Savana said, sitting down beside him.

‘It is true,’ Aidan croaked. ‘I am sorry. But I will finally be with my God, and I will wait for you there. Do not worry about me.’

‘Ok,’ Savana said, hardly able to speak, tears trickling down her cheeks.

‘I must see Rufus,’ he said. ‘One more time, before I go.’

‘But-‘ Savana started.

‘Please,’ Aidan interrupted. ‘Have him bring me some thing to eat. Consider it my last wish.’

‘I will see what I can do,’ she said sadly.

Savana went first to where Gally was – face behind his comm-cell again – and told him what was happening.

‘Listen,’ she said, ‘this is what I want you to do: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’

Gally said to his mother, ‘But Rufus is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’

His mother said to him, ‘Then let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.’

So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared Aidan’s last meal.

While the meal was cooking, Savana called Rufus.

‘Aidan needs to see you,’ he said.

‘Why?’ Rufus said suspiciously.

‘He was attacked on the Unnamed City,’ Savana explained. ‘He was hurt badly, and does not think he will pull through.’

‘Again, I say: Why?’ Rufus said.

‘Whether any of us like it or not,’ she said, ‘he is your father.’

‘I thought I had severed all links with him?’ he said.

‘Apparently Aidan does not see it quite so clear cut,’ Savana replied. ‘Besides, you said you wanted to remain his friend.’

Rufus merely grunted apathetically.

‘Look,’ Savana said, ‘there is a possibility that you can save his life. Would you not do that for anyone, if you knew you could?’

‘How?’ Rufus asked.

‘I understand that you can obtain certain… herbal remedies,’ she explained.

‘I know some people with experience in that area,’ he said. ‘What exactly is it you need?’

‘Here,’ Savana called to Rufus, waving some clothes at him.

‘What is that?’ he asked. ‘Rufus’ clothes.’

‘What?’ Gally said. ‘Why?’

‘Your dad can’t see much, but he will tell your clothes from Rufus’s,’ she said. (Why this is will need to be foreshadowed, the difference in tastes or fashions.) ‘Besides, you need to smell like someone who has lived in the forest for weeks, not someone who has been in a sterile space shuttle.’

‘Yeah,’ Gally agreed. ‘I guess you have a point there.’

Savana handed Gally the food and the bread she had made. ‘Now, go,’ she said. ‘Remember, you are Rufus.’

‘Got it,’ he said, and took the meal over to his father’s cabin.

‘Dad?’ Gally called from the doorway.

‘Who is it?’ Aidan answered.

Gally said to his father, ‘It is Rufus. I have brought you a meal. Please sit up and eat some, so that you may give me your blessing.’

‘Are you really my son Rufus?’ he asked.

‘I am,’ Gally replied.

Then Aidan said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’

Gally brought it to Aidan and he ate; and he brought some wine and Aidan drank. Then his Aidan said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’

So Gally went to him and kissed him. When Aidan caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, ‘Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

‘May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness – an abundance of grain and new wine.

‘May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.

‘May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.’

After Aidan finished blessing him, Gally left his father's presence.

Gally hid nearby, waiting patiently until, some time later, Rufus arrived in the village. He carried with his a small package, and took this in to see Aidan.

Gally got up, and stealthily approached the cabin, finding an external window at which he could listen.

‘Aidan,’ Rufus said. ‘Sit up; I have brought you the drugs that you need.’

‘What?’ Aidan said. ‘Who are you?’

‘Ii is Rufus,’ he answered, ‘your son.’

Aidan began to tremble violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him - and indeed he will be blessed!’

When Rufus heard Aidan's words, he remembered that the Creed allowed a father to pass on a prophetic blessing to his first born, usually on his death bed. ‘Your blessing?’ he burst out with a loud and bitter cry. ‘Bless me,’ he cried. ‘Me too, my father!’

But Aidan said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’

‘Little thief!’ Rufus said. ‘First he took my birthright, and now he is taken my blessing! Have you not reserved any blessing for me?’

‘I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine,’ Aidan said. ‘So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’

Rufus said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing? Bless me too, my father!’ Rufus began to weep aloud.

Aidan answered him, ‘Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

‘You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.

‘But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.’

Rufus held a grudge against Gally because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill Galford Qqayle.’

When Savana was told what Rufus had said, she sent for Gally and said to him, ‘Your brother Rufus is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. You must leave this place and lie low until your brother's fury subsides.’

Then Savana said to Aidan, ‘I am increasingly worried about Gally. If he gets involved with the sort of women who flaunt themselves on the social networks, my life will not be worth living.’

So Aidan called for Gally and told him: ‘You have received my blessing, now in return I ask you one thing: Do not become involved with these PopNet women. Marry a Follower, like Sharita, or one of the other women who follow the morals of the Creed. Then God Almighty will bless you, make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a father of nations. May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to me, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien.’

Chapter Fifteen: Weddings and Funerals

Gally and Sharita were walking through the forest.

'What are you going to do now?' she asked.

'I guess I will be heading for home,' he said. 'Back to Lomas Prime.'

'I would like to come,' she said.

'Really?' Gally said. 'It is a lot different from here!'

'I think that is why I want to come. Besides,' she went on, 'I have had the chance to show you around my world; I think you should return the favour.'

Gally smiled at her. 'I would like that,' he said.

'Do you miss it?' she asked.

Gally thought for a moment, and took in the view around them. 'I guess I do,' he said, 'but the company is much better on the outer planets.'

Sharita laughed and took his hand.

'Are you worried about the future?' she asked. 'I mean, you hook up with me, we will not be helping the repopulation effort on Lomas Prime.'

'I wish you would not worry about that,' Gally said.

'Sorry,' she said. 'I can't help it.'

'We will cross that bridge when we come to it,' Gally said.

'Do you think we will get that far?' Sharita asked.

Gally was interrupted by the bleeping of him comm-cell.

'Hold that thought,' he said, pulling it out of his pocket.

'It is a message from Mum,' he said. 'I have got to go.'

'What is it?' Sharita asked.

'It is Dad,' Gally said.

'I am right with you,' Sharita said.

A few minutes later they stumbled into Aidan's cabin.

'Mum,' Gally said. 'What has happened?'

'Nothing, yet,' Savana said. 'But he is fading fast. I think you should go and say goodbye.'

Slowly, feeling a little shaky on his feet, Gally stepped forward.

'Dad?' he whispered.

'Hello son,' he said.

'I, er...' Gally started. 'I am sorry about what I did.'

'It is done now,' Aidan said. 'You are forgiven.'

Gally smiled sadly.

'Just remember what I said, ok?' Aidan said, with a nod towards Sharita. 'You two make a nice couple.'

Gally laughed a bit. 'We will see what happens,' he said.

Aidan beckoned Sharita over, and she approached nervously.

'You look after my kid, ok?' he croaked.

'I will do my best,' she replied.

Aidan nodded gratefully, and Sharita stepped back, Chik Renken taking her place at the bedside.

'And you keep an eye on Savana for me, ok?' he said.

'If she will let me,' Chik said, glancing up at Savana.

'Go well, friend,' Aidan said as Chik stepped back.

Savana took her place at Aidan's side again.

'I love you,' she whispered.

'I will always love you,' he replied. 'Thanks for everything.'

'It has been a pleasure,' Savana smiled. 'Mostly.'

'I love you all,' Aidan said. 'I will see you when you get there.'

There was a moment of silence, and then Savana broke into tears. Chik held her. Gally folded up into Sharita's waiting arms.

Aidan Qqayle, preacher and United Colonies leader, has died this week aged 68 Standard Years. A dedicated Follower of the Creed and much respected man of God, he fought the establishment of the Eight Nations Space Agency and Litah - the Link Between Tellus and Heaven - until he was called by God to join Litah, and subsequently inherited leadership of the United Colonies from his father, Galford Lomas.

Qqayle was on a speaking tour of the Lomas system, telling United Colonies citizens his testimony and the story of the establishment of the Colonies from his unique perspective.

During a visit to the Unnamed StarCity, a small group of trouble makers took issue with part of Qqayle's message, and he became embroiled in a riot, in which he sustained serious injuries from which he was unable to recover.

It is a testament to the power of Qqayle's story that a revival of the Creed appears to have started in the Unnamed City since his departure.

Qqayle was a man of great humility, and those closest to him say that the last thing he would want is to be remembered as a martyr for his faith. Rather, Qqayle saw himself as a deeply flawed individual, who by the grace of God had been allowed to lead the United Colonies and been given the honour of encouraging the widespread adoption of the Creed across the Colonies.

Aidan Qqayle is survived by his wife, Doctor Savana Qqayle, and two sons, Rufus Bornane and Galford Qqayle.

Aidan will be buried alongside his father at the original landing site on Lomas Prime.

A few days later Aidan's coffin was packed into a little used storage space on the Deltic, and his family and friends began a solemn flight back to the planet he had called home for over a third of his life.

A few days later, following a solemn flight back to the planet he had called home for over a third of his life, Aidan’s coffin was carefully unpacked from a little used storage space on the Deltic. A special tent was set up on the outskirts of the colony, where the casket was kept under vigil overnight. All of Aidan’s family and friends returned to their own beds that night, and the following morning, the coffin was processed out of the village to the burial site of Galford Lomas. The entire colony turned out for the service, along with those from other colonies who could make it in time: Dan and Blaise had headed straight over from Lomas Three as soon as they heard; Heloise Somine’s successor, Ostorius Nix and the governor of the Unnamed City were also all in attendance. Many others had sent messages and planned to pay their respects as soon as they could get to the planet. Conspicuous by his absence, as he had been during the last days of Aidan’s life, was Rufus Bornane.

Gally moped.

He was listless, ill at ease in his own town after the funeral. Sharita was doing her best to console him, but he began to feel crowded.

That was when he took off in a Planet Moke. Gally drove as far and as fast as he could, desperate to get away from the graves, the village, his family... everything that might remind him of his father. Eventually, once the moutains of the colony were fading into the haze on the horizon, he found a place to stop, a steep cliff rising up out of the desert, and a little inset carved into it by the wind. Gally parked the Moke up nearby, pulled the thin, functional cushions from its seats and set them down in the inset. There he sat down, stretched his leg out in front of him, and pulled out his comm-cell. Reaching for the comm-cell was habitual now, he realised; he started at it, not even sure what he was going to do with it.

He sent his mother a quick message, letting her know that he was ok, but needed some time alone. The last thing she needed right now was to worry about him, and the last thing he needed was grief from his mother when he got back.

He browsed aimlessly through some of the social nets, logged in to PopNet, but nothing and no-one could lift his from his melancholy state.

He looked for some old friends: Jialin Kromer and Jassie Lenore, everyone he had met on PopNet had just been after comm-sex. He wondered what had happened to Jassie after she disappeared, and sent her a message.

No replies were forthcoming, so he continued to browse mindlessly. He did not even filter for location, only for gender.

Contradicting his earlier thought, he pulled up the occasional profile that piqued his interest; one or two commed him when they saw him looking, but he was not in the mood to chat. He kept looking, flicking through from one profile to another, unknowingly becoming hungrier for input; gradually he was sucked in again, oblivious to his surroundings, the events of the past few weeks cast uncaringly to the back of his mind. He was deep in the zone when a former comm partner, xyex, spotted him.

xyex says:

            hey cutey, been a while

xyex says:

            nice to see you again

GQ says:

            Yeah, you too

xyex says:

What you looking for today?

GQ says:

            What you offering?

xyex says:

            everything ;)

xyex says:

            want to go private?

GQ went private.

Having got the taste for it, Gally wasted a bit more time on the Nets, coming with other girls; two-way comms with girls he had met before – ladonna and Er1n – and one way comms with some of the more exhibitionistic other girls.

Without him even noticing, the early hours of the morning had arrived.

‘Oh, yex,’ he muttered to himself, as he finally logged off the nets and tucked his comm-cell away.

He found a drink and a snack that he had stored on the Moke before he left, grabbed the emergency blanket and wrapped himself up to get a little rest. Gally closed his tired eyes, and drifted off to sleep, images of half naked comm girls dancing through his mind.

The sun rose, waking Gally from his dreams.

He grunted, picked himself up off the floor, and staggered over to the Moke in search of a drink.

Part of him was faintly disgusted at what he had spent most of the night doing; part of him wanted to spend the day doing it as well.

But there was work to be done; he should get back to the village, he should talk to Sharita... should he tell Sharita? She had seemed to accept that comm-sex was part of life, albeit not a part of hers. Maybe...

He checked his watch, to make sure it was not too early, and commed her.

Sharita says:

morning. where have you been?

GQ says:

I had to get away. sorry

Sharita says:

no probs. You have had a lot on your mind.

GQ says:

I guess

Sharita says:

Can I do anything for you

GQ says:

Well, I was kind of wondering about something

Sharita says:

Yes?

GQ says:

Well, since we have sort of become a couple

Sharita says:

:)

GQ says:

he he ;)

Sharita says:

go on

GQ says:

have you given any more thought to, um

GQ says:

comm-sex?

Sharita says:

with you?

GQ says:

duh!

Sharita says:

sorry!

GQ says:

just wondering. no pressure

Sharita says:

that is ok

Sharita says:

I guess it might be kind of fun

GQ says:

really?

Sharita says:

have you tried it?

Sharita says:

with anyone else?

Sharita says:

its ok

Sharita says:

I will not mind

GQ says:

well, I have done a little

GQ says:

sorry

Sharita says:

that is ok

Sharita says:

its not like we were married or anything :)

GQ says:

I hope it does not make things awkward for us

Sharita says:

Will you carry on?

GQ says:

not if there is something better available ;)

Sharita says:

cheeky!

GQ says:

:p

GQ says:

so what do you say?

Sharita says:

about what?

GQ says:

comm-sex

Sharita says:

I think

Sharita says:

I would prefer the real thing

GQ says:

I’m coming back soon. We should talk properly

Sharita says:

Ok. See you soon

GQ says:

Bye for now

Sharita says:

bye

Gally was briefly tempted to dip into PopNet again before setting off, but remembered how long he had ended up spending there previously. With a great effort of will power, and thinking about the prospect of sex with Sharita, he logged off and clipped the comm-cell to the Moke to navigate him back to the village.

He did not waste any more time, and once his belongings were stowed safely he was soon flying across the wide open plain, the wind in his hair, the Moke bounding along on its big, bouncy tyres. Gally finally realised what he had missed about this place, and whooped with joy as he floored the throttle. It was good to be home.

That evening, Gally and Sharita snuggled down on Gally’s bed, watching some sloppy vid of her choosing – Gally had been keen to impress.

‘Sharita,’ he said once it had finished.

‘Hmmm?’ she said happily, nuzzling his chest.

‘What we were talking about earlier,’ he said. ‘On the comm.’

‘Sex, you mean,’ she said. ‘You can be blunt with me.’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘And, ok, I will be as open as I feel I can.’

‘I did not expect you to be more uptight about it than me,’ she said, surprised. ‘Did not we have the same Creed upbringing?’

‘Well,’ Gally said, ‘not quite.’

‘No?’ Sharita said.

Gally shook his head. ‘No girls on this planet,’ he explained. ‘The subject never came up.’

‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Talk about your sheltered childhood!’

‘Ok,’ Gally laughed. ‘Can we get back to the subject please?’

‘Sex, you mean,’ she said again, grinning cheekily.

‘Yes,’ Gally said.

‘Yes,’ Sharita said. ‘Look, for all I joke about it, I do take it seriously. I think it should be special.’

‘What are you saying?’ Gally asked.

‘Well, that I am a virgin,’ she said.

‘Ok,’ Gally said.

‘And I plan to stay that way until I am married,’ she went on.

‘Really?’ Gally asked, disappointed.

She nodded.

‘But you said-‘ Gally started.

‘I just said I would prefer the real thing,’ she said. ‘I did not mean the real thing now.’

‘Oh,’ Gally said, even more disappointed.

‘So what about comm-sex?’ he said. ‘I am being blunt, you understand.’

‘I got that,’ she said with a smile.

‘Well?’ GQ prompted after a moment’s silence.

‘I am not sure,’ she said. ‘I am certainly not ready for that at the moment.’

Now it was Gally’s turn to fall silent.

‘It makes no difference to repopulation,’ she assured him. (How would she know that if she is a confirmed virgin already? Plothole!)

‘No,’ Gally agreed, distantly.

‘Is that ok?’ she said.

‘Yeah,’ Gally said. ‘I just… it was not quite what I was expecting, that is all.’

‘I am sorry,’ Sharita said. ‘Um…’ she added a moment later.

‘Yeah?’ Gally said.

‘Are you, er…’ she started.

‘What?’ Gally said. ‘A virgin?’

Sharita nodded.

‘Well,’ Gally thought about Calisse, and felt his nose turning up at the memory. ‘Not technically,’ he said.

‘Oh,’ said Sharita, trying to hide her disappointment.

‘I mean, it was only one time,’ Gally said, ‘and it was…’

‘That bad?’ Sharita said.

Gally nodded. ‘Maybe waiting is a good idea after all,’ he said, pulling Sharita in close.

‘I’ll try and make it worth waiting for,’ she said, and kissed him.

Chapter Sixteen: Making Up and Breaking Up

'Should I be making peace with Rufus?' Gally asked his mother over dinner one evening.

'Conscience bothering you?' she asked.

'I am not sure,' he said. 'I guess it might be. Something tells me I would be better off having him as a friend, that is all.'

'Well,' Savana said. 'You must do what you think best.'

'Hmmm,' Gally said.

'Look,' she said, 'if it is any help, I will not think any different of you either way.'

'Thanks,' he said.

'And, if it helps you make peace with him, remember that it was my idea,' she said.

'Was it?' Gally replied.

Savana looked thoughtful for a moment. 'You know,' she said, 'I honestly can't remember.'

'That is the trouble with life,' Gally said. 'You do not get chance to go back and reread Chapter Fifteen.'

'Yes,' Savana said, bemused. 'Quite.'

'Well,' Gally said, 'I will think about it anyway.'

'OK,' Savana said. 'Let me know if I can help.'

'Will do,' Gally said.

Later, back in his room, he commed Jassie, on the basis that she later gets rewritten into Lomas Three with Rufus.

Jassi says:

Hi. How is Lomas Prime

GQ says:

same old same old

GQ says:

how are things there

Jassi says:

good

GQ says:

have you seen Rufus around much

Jassi says:

he is still here. I see him around sometimes

GQ says:

ok

Jassi says:

why?

GQ says:

We parted badly

Jassi says:

oh

GQ says:

I wondered if he was still ticked off at me

Jassi says:

he does not stomp around saying 'I am going to eat GQs brains for breakfast

GQ says:

well that is a relief

Jassi says:

not this week anyway

GQ says:

ha ha

Jassi says:

:)

Jassi says:

seriously, I will see if I can find out and let you know

GQ says:

that would be good

Jassi says:

are you thinking of coming back

GQ says:

maybe

GQ says:

I kind of feel like I should make peace with him

Jassi says:

well it would be nice to see you again if you do come back

GQ says:

you too

Jassi says:

hey

Jassi says:

here's a thought

GQ says:

what?

Jassi says:

we could go private

GQ says:

now?

Jassi says:

why not?

GQ says:

I... should not really

Jassi says:

go on

Jassi says:

you know you want to

GQ says:

well...

Afterwards, Gally sent a message to Rufus, an apology. He did not wait for a reply, but had just flipped back to PopNet when there was a knock on the door. Swiftly backing up to his message to Rufus, he looked up as Sharita put her head around the door.

'Can I come in?' she asked.

'Er, yeah, course,' he said, making a point of leaving his comm-cell visible.

'What you been doing?' Sharita asked.

'I just sent a message to Rufus,' he said.

'Really?' Sharita said.

Gally nodded. 'Just wanted to apologise, you know,' he said.

'Well, good on you,' Sharita said, sitting next to him on the bunk.

'So what brings you here?' he asked.

'Do I need a reason?' she asked.

'I suppose not,' he said.

'Do you want to do something?' she asked.

'Um,' he glanced briefly at the comm-cell, but said, 'OK.'

'Fancy dinner?' Sharita asked.

'Yeah, that would be good,' GQ said. 'I should probably change first then.'

'Ok,' Sharita said.

As Gally rummaged in a corner for a change of clothes, Sharita absently picked up his comm-cell.

'What is this?' she asked.

'What?' Gally asked without looking round.

'Have you been on PopNet?' she asked.

Gally stopped and turned around.

'You have,' she said, flipping back through Gally's network visits.

'That does not mean anything,' he said, reaching to get the comm-cell back.

'Who did you go private with?' she asked, holding the comm-cell out of his reach.

'Well if we wanted everyone to know, we would not have gone private, would we?' he said.

'That sounds like an excuse,' Sharita said.

'Do not be paranoid,' Gally said.

'Are you keeping secrets from me?' she asked.

'Everybody has secrets,' Gally said.

'I do not,' she said. 'Not from you.'

Gally sighed. 'It was just Rufus, ok?' he lied.

'Rufus?' Sharita said.

'Yes,' Gally said. 'I was-'

'Apologising to him?' Sharita said.

Gally nodded.

'You told me that already,' Sharita said. 'Why go all secretive after you told me?'

'It... must have just slipped out,' he said. 'I should not have told you. Now, can I have my comm-cell back please?'

'Just a minute,' Sharita said, flipping back a few more pages and then handing it back.

Gally took it gratefully, but then noticed she had left it open on the profile of a girl he was randomly checking out earlier.

'What was that about?' he said, closing the profile.

'I should ask you the same thing,' Sharita said.

'These things pop up all the time,' Gally lied. 'You open the wrong message, and you have all kinds of unwanted profiles showing themselves.'

'Really?' Sharita said. 'I have never noticed that?'

'Well, you do not use PopNet do you?' he said.

'No,' she said, 'and I thought you did not any more either.'

'I told you,' he started.

'I know what you told me,' Sharita said, standing up. 'But I do not believe you.'

'What do you want me to say?' he asked.

'Tell me the truth,' she said. 'Have you been chatting to girls on private channels?'

'Well that does not necessarily mean-' he started.

'I may not use PopNet,' Sharita interrupted, 'but I know how it works. Now, have you been chatting to girls on private channels?'

'Yes,' he admitted, looking at the floor.

'Have you been...' she started. 'Have you had comm-sex?'

Gally paused for a moment. 'Not two way,' he mumbled, embarrassed.

'So what, you just watched?' she said.

Gally sat down heavily, and nodded. 'I'm really sorry,' he said. 'I did not think it would matter.'

'Did not think I would find out, you mean,' she said.

'There is no reason you should,' he said. 'But it does not affect you. I never did anything.'

'You thought about it,' Sharita said.

'Well...' Gally thought about it for a moment. 'I suppose, in a way...'

Sharita stood.

'I need to get out of here,' she said.

'Yeah, sure,' Gally said, standing to leave with her.

'No,' she said abruptly. 'I need to be away from you.'

'What?' Gally said. 'I- I can stop. I mean, I will stop. This does not need to come between us.'

'I think it might already have done that,' she said.

'No, look, I-' he started.

'No, you look,' she interrupted. 'I love you. And I might see my way to forgiving you. I want to. But I need some time away from you to figure this out. Work out what I want to do next.'

'I guess I owe you that much,' Gally agreed.

'Thanks,' Sharita said. 'I hope we can get through this.'

'Can I call you?' Gally said.

'I think it might be better if you do not,' Sharita said.

Gally's heart sank.

'I will call you,' Sharita said, and left.

(That was a very civilised discussion – maybe they should have fought more? Maybe Gally should have been run out of town, forced toward his brother?)

Over the next few days Gally sent a variety of appropriate gifts to Rufus while preparing the flyer and packing his bags for a trip to Lomas Two to see him. Then he sent a message to Sharita, not expecting a reply, but wanting to make her aware of where he was going, and one to Jassie, in the hope that she might find him a bed for a little while.

Chapter Seventeen: Jacob Wrestles With God

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Genesis 32:24-25

Back on Lomas Two, Gally parked the flyer up, and commed Jassie before heading into the little settlement. Hopefully she would meet him and help him find a place to stay while he patched things up with Rufus.

'I have not seen him lately,' Jassie said when they met. 'He does not stay in town. I am not sure where he stays, as a matter of fact.'

'I think I might have one or two ideas about that,' Gally said. 'But I would rather not explore them unless I have to.'

'OK,' Jassie said.

'He does still visit the town from time to time though?' Gally asked.

'Occasionally,' she confirmed. 'But never for long.'

'It does not need to be for long,' Gally said.

They walked on for a few more moments in companionable silence, then Sharita said, 'We have not commed for a while.'

'We talk all the time,' Gally said, surprised.

'I do not mean talking,' she said, giving him a playful nudge.

'Oh, right,' he said. 'Well, like I said last time, I really should not.'

'Why not?' she said. 'You got someone looking over your shoulder?'

Gally chuckled. 'Well, almost,' he said.

'Oh, that is no good,' Jassie said. 'You did not bring them with you, did you?'

Gally followed her glance back at the flyer, then chuckled. 'No,' he said, putting his arm around her. 'I am pretty sure I was not followed.'

'So you know where Rufus might be hiding out?' Jassie asked afterwards.

'I have got a pretty good idea,' Gally said. 'We hung out a little when I was here. He, er, showed me a couple of his old haunts.'

'Do you know how to get to them?' she said. 'I mean, the forests can be pretty confusing.'

'Good point,' Gally said. 'We flew last time. It was on the coast - I have the location stored in my comm-cell from the journey back. I can find it again.'

'Should we go?' she asked.

'No,' Gally said. 'I should go. I do not want you getting involved in Rufus' crowd.'

'Rufus' crowd?' she queried.

Gally nodded. 'Weird bunch,' he said. 'And not in a nice way.'

'What?' she said. 'I can cope with that.'

'I am not taking you with me,' Gally said.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'I am coming!' Jassie insisted.

'You are not,' Gally insisted.

'Fine,' Jassie said.

'I will keep in touch,' Gally said.

'Well, alright,' Jassie said. 'I suppose it would be pointless arguing any more.'

The next day, Gally plugged his comm-cell into the flyer, and set it to direct him to the coastal hang out of Rufus' junkie friends.

Flying low over the forest, Gally landed it, more gently than before, on a beach some distance further down the coast from the beach where Rufus had landed them previously. He guessed it would be a couple of hours walk along the coast before he reached the cave and could locate his brother. He had not really thought about what he was going to say when they met, but figured he would cross that bridge when he reached it.

In the meantime, he collected his gear, secured the flyer, and trudged off up the beach.

'Galford,' the voice came from behind him.

At first Gally did not respond, he was so unused to being addressed by his full name.

'Galford Qqayle,' the voice repeated.

Gally stopped, turned, puzzled, and saw a tall, raven haired ma stood on the beach behind him.

'Who are you?' Gally asked. 'And how do you know my name?'

'Call me Lex,' the man said. 'I am... sort of a family friend.'

'Yeah?' Gally said. 'How come I never met you before? And how come Dad never mentioned you in his testimony?'

'Actually that is a good point,' Lex said. 'Another plothole that needs stitching, I guess.'

'Right,' Gally said.

'You are walking a dangerous path, young Galford,' Lex said.

'Well, it is a bit sift underfoot, but once you get used to it-' Gally said.

'Do not be stupid,' Lex said. 'Your life,' he explained, 'is at a crossroads.'

'Really,' Gally said.

'Really,' Lex confirmed. 'The path you are following now will lead you to no good.'

'I am going to make amends to my brother,' Gally said. 'How is that bad?'

'Look at the bigger picture, Galford,' Lex said.

'Enlighten me, please,' Gally said with a shrug.

'If you carry on using the social networks to satisfy your lust,' he explained, 'or pursue a relationship with Jassie at the expense of Sharita, you will lose everything you care about.'

'What do you know about those things?' he asked.

'I know more than you would like to think,' he said mysteriously.

'I have got it under control,' Gally insisted.

'You are lying,' Lex told him. 'You are deliberately lusting.'

'Look, I am going to stop,' Gally explained. 'Once Sharita and I are married, I will not need to watch the other girls.'

'That is not true,' Lex said.

'How do you know?' Gally asked.

'How do you know I am wrong?' Lex countered.

'Oh look, this is getting silly,' Gally said. 'If it is all the same to you, I will go and find my brother.'

Gally walked around the man, and continued along the beach. He had not got very far before he realised the stranger was following.

'Is there anything else?' Gally said.

'You are avoiding reality,' Lex said. 'Burying yourself in the networks, in the false comfort of imaginary lovers, and avoiding confronting the real issues.'

'Such as?' Gally said.

'It is your destiny to lead the United Colonies,' Lex said. 'That is a destiny you must prepare to fulfil in the near future.'

'Well, maybe I should just hand that privilege back to my brother,' Gally said and carried on.

'You cannot do that,' Lex said. Somehow he seemed to get back in front of Gally with walking around him.

'Why not?' Gally asked.

'You are not seeing the bigger picture,' Lex said.

'Just how big is this picture of yours?' Gally asked.

'Your father accepted his destiny, to found the United Colonies,' Lex explained. 'He has fulfilled that destiny, and been welcomed home by his father.'

'He died, you mean,' Gally spat.

Lex nodded silently.

'What?' Gally laughed ironically. 'Not even an "I am sorry for your loss"?'

'I am not sorry,' Lex said. 'It was his time. What happened was what had to happen.'

'Look,' Gally said, 'can you either start making sense or stop talking to me?'

'Aidan's destiny was to found the United Colonies,' Lex repeated. 'It was also to become the ancestor of many nations.'

'Well you should come and talk to Rufus,' Gally said, setting off down the beach again. 'He is the one with children. You want me to enter a monogamous marriage with a woman who cannot catch.'

Lex was in front of him again, chuckling. 'Did you not listen to your father's testimony?' he asked.

'Just the odd once or twice,' Gally confirmed.

'Did you not understand then?' Lex asked.

'Of course I understood,' Gally said. 'What is your point?'

'My point,' Lex said firmly, 'is that your mother was also barren.'

'Well that is obviously not true,' Gally said, pointing at himself. 'Is it?'

'Maybe,' Lex said, 'you should watch one of your father's talks again. I mean, really watch, and listen.'

'I will do that tomorrow,' Gally said sarcastically.

'Why wait?' Lex asked. 'You have your comm-cell with you, yes?'

'Always,' Gally said.

'Then you can watch it now,' Lex said.

'Will you get off my back if I do?' Gally said.

'That is a possibility,' Lex said.

'I will take it,' Gally sighed, slumping onto the beach and pulling up his father's last talk on his comm-cell.

Gally did, in fact, find himself listening more closely to the story, and heard aspects of it that he had not noticed on previous tellings. Like the fact that his mother had been infertile, until a stranger by the name of Lex had met her and promised her a child - himself, Galford.

After the program finished, Gally stared absently at the comm-cell, wondering for a moment what it meant, when a message popped up from PopNet.

xyex says:

I see you are online

xyex says:

fancy a chat?

xyex says:

or something else? ;)

GQ says:

hey

GQ says:

something else? ;)

'Now you see,' Lex snatched the comm-cell from Gally's hand. 'That is exactly what I am talking about.'

'Hey!' Gally shouted. 'That is private!'

'You do not need to be doing this,' Lex said. Somehow he seemed to be able to stay out of Gally's reach, despite only strolling gently along the beach.

'Give me that,' Gally said when he eventually caught Lex, and took back the comm-cell.

Looking at the screen, he saw that Lex had sent a message:

GQ says:

you and I are both made for better things than this

GQ says:

I implore you, stop selling yourself like this

GQ says:

I will no longer reply to messages seeking comm-sex or anything similar

GQ says:

goodbye and God bless

Conversation terminated

'What the yex did you do that for?' Gally exclaimed.

'For you, and for her,' Lex said.

Gally felt suddenly as if his privacy had been violated in the worst way, and lunged for Lex to retaliate. Gally's punch connected solidly with Lex's jaw, but the tall man barely flinched. Instead, Lex grabbed Gally's hands and wrestled him to the ground. They tussled on the floor for some time, all the time exchanging comments about the wrongness of treating women as objects, the right to the freedom of expression and action, destiny, free will, lust, repopulation, and countless other weighty topics. Eventually, Gally grew weak and tired, and held his hands up, backing away from Lex.

'Who are you?' he asked.

Lex shrugged. 'Who do you think I am?' he said.

Gally shook his head. 'I do not know,' he said. 'My conscience or something?'

Lex nodded.  ‘Very astute,' he said. 'Your own conscience and my true nature are very closely linked. But I am more than that as well.'

'What then?' Gally said. 'Are you my Dad or something?'

Lex smiled. 'Again, very close,' he said. 'But again, there is more.'

'Well why do not you tell me then,' Gally said, frustrated.

'I am a messenger,' he explained. 'Your conscience, and everything your father and his father before him stood for and believed in, are part of my person as you see me. I also embody aspects of the God of your father, and I am sent directly from him and under his authority.'

Gally looked at the man suspiciously. 'Why should I believe that?' he asked.

'Has everything I have told you and shown you tonight not been enough?' Lex asked.

'Let us say it has not,' Gally said.

 ‘Very well,' Lex said, and reached out towards Gally.

Instinctively, Gally flinched backwards, so that Lex only caught his hip with his hand. But where Lex touched him Gally felt a sudden intense pain, and cried out. Gally collapsed on the beach in agony.

'What have you done?' he gasped.

'Merely dislocated your hip,' Lex said. 'Believe me, I can do more if a further demonstration is required.'

'No,' Gally said. 'No, just... just make it better. That will be enough for me to believe.'

Lex nodded gently, and touched Gally's hip again. Instantly, the pain was gone, as if it had never been there.

'You really are a messenger from God?' Gally asked.

Lex nodded again.

'Then... what do you want of me?' Gally asked.

'You must fulfil your destiny,' Lex said.

'How?' Gally said.

'Be with Sharita,' he said. 'And only her, body, mind and soul.'

Gally cast a glance at the comm-cell.

'I do not know,' he started. 'I mean, we argued...'

'I know,' Lex said. 'That is of no consequence.'

'It was of consequence to her,' Gally said.

'Can you be faithful?' Lex asked.

'I can try,' Gally said.

Lex looked at him appraisingly. 'That is a start,' he said.

Just then the comm-cell buzzed. Gally looked around to see where it was; it had fallen from his pocket during the struggle with Lex.

'Here,' Lex handed it to him.

Gally took it warily, and looked. A message had arrived from Sharita.

'I think I can forgive you,' it said. 'But we need to work through this thing together.'

Gally looked from the comm-cell to Lex and back a few times. 'Anything else?' he asked.

'You will have children,' Lex said. 'You will father the nations which were promised to your father. You are the child of the promise. You will carry your father's destiny.'

'Ok,' Gally said, suddenly feeling very compliant.

'You must ensure that his story is never forgotten,' Lex went on, 'and neither must yours be.'

'And Rufus?' Gally said.

'Make your peace,' Lex said. 'Then return to Lomas Prime. That is the land of the promise.'

'Ok,' Gally said again.

At some point Lex ceased to be there. Gally did not quite know when, or how; he just... was not there any more. He stared around blankly for a moment, before it finally began to sink in what he had experienced.

For some reason, he collected the largest rocks he could move, and set them up as an altar nearby, to commemorate the place where he first saw God.

Chapter Eighteen: Jacob meets Esau

Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

Genesis 33: 1-3

Gally looked up and there was Rufus, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

But Rufus ran to meet Gally and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Then Rufus looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked.

Gally answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."

Rufus asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?"
"To find favour in your eyes, my lord," he said.

But Rufus said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."

"No, please!" said Gally. "If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favourably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Gally insisted, Rufus accepted it.

Then Rufus said, "Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you."

But Gally said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."

Rufus said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you."
"But why do that?" Gally asked. "Just let me find favour in the eyes of my lord."

So that day Rufus started on his way back to Seir. Gally, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth.

After Gally came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Chapter Nineteen: The Sub-plot That Thought it was an Epilogue

Gally thought it would be a simple matter of avoiding comm-sex. He might have to block comms from some of his contacts, but it would be ok. Sharita promised it would be worth waiting. God had promised him that infertility would not be a problem.

Gally had not counted on the addictive nature of comm-sex. He had not counted on the withdrawal symptoms. He had not counted on the mood swings. He had not counted on having to work so hard to get a woman who had already professed her love for him to commit to spending the rest of her life with him?

It was as if Gally was having to work his way to marrying Sharita. Seven years of hard labour might have been easier, he sometimes thought.

He persevered; he blocked out his comm-sex contacts, and avoided PopNet most of the time. Unfortunately, his absence from the nets did not go unnoticed, and before long Jassie tracked him down.

Jassie also knew a thing or two about perseverance, and eventually, when GQ was suffering a low moment, convinced him to sleep with her. As is so often the case in instances like these, Jassie caught first time.

GQ loved Sharita, and could not bring himself to lie to her. He told her the truth, and accepted the end of their relationship.

‘No,’ Sharita said. ‘You do not get rid of me that easily.’

‘What do you mean?’ GQ asked.

‘You fulfil your obligations,’ Sharita said. ‘You owe Jassie that much. But I love you,’ she added. ‘And, in a way, I kind of like Jassie too.’

‘What are you saying?’ GQ asked.

‘Marry her if that is what you have to do,’ Sharita said. ‘But can you stop now? Can you remain faithful to the two of us?’

‘Faithful to two of you?’ GQ asked. ‘That does not even make sense!’

‘It makes perfect sense,’ Sharita said. ‘It is the way of the world these days. You take two wives, just as most people do. Just give up the meaningless comm-sex.’

‘You are happy for me to have two wives?’ GQ said.

‘She will probably take a second husband as well,’ Sharita said. ‘It is what we do. We need to populate the Colonies. Biology demands it.’

‘But God demands-‘ GQ started.

‘It was good enough for your father,’ Sharita said. ‘And God never left him alone, did He?’

‘No,’ GQ said, conflicted. ‘I suppose not.’

And so they all lived happily ever after, Gally, Sharita, and Jassie. And possibly a few other people too.