Earth Singer

Chapter Eleven

The lonely silhouette stared into the stillness. The long channel stretched on, vanishing in the impossible distance above. Through the tangle of wires and vent-shafts, thin spindly rays of light poured down from somewhere beyond the horizon overhead. There wasn't really enough room for the figure to move comfortably between the web of cabling and pipes; but move he must. A hand stretched out and took hold of the closest knot of wires, and the slow ascent began.

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Elysium Minor was one-of-a-kind in the Regnum. Its cyclopean dimensions dwarfed even the immense Corona-class capital ships of the fleet. Standing on the steps of the Senate, a visitor could see only horizon in every direction. Whilst some stations in the Regnum achieved a similar effect with the careful refractive designs of their interior panelling, Elysium's sheer size meant that horizons on this station were no illusion.

The space-station was three times longer than it was wide. The Senate district loomed high over the stern whilst the maze of ornate walkways and buildings melted away to wide green fields dotted with lavish villas towards the prow. Along one of these walkways, another figure was taking a short break before continuing on his own journey.

The white and purple reflection billowed in the cool waters below the marble bridge. No amount of adjusting helped Tiber to recognise the figure that stared back up at him. He felt removed from the swollen rings under those eyes, and the hair line steadily retreating from his brow. He wondered if perhaps the pristineness of his senatorial robes actually highlighted his pallid features rather than masking them.

The reflection disintegrated in a violent shudder. Standing at a bend in the river, two children had been using the senator's likeness for target practice as they skimmed stones along its surface. He lifted his gaze from the water and allowed himself to drink in the warm sunlight for a moment. It was a shame to have to spend a day like this inside the Senate; and every day on Elysium Minor, was a day like this.

More than just another space station, Elysium Minor was the mobile hub of the Pax. Journeying between systems, ensuring that the administrative and cultural reach of the Empire was limitless. While the station itself boasted some two million souls, the population had currently swelled to easily three times that number. With each passing day more legions filled the Triumphal promenades and vast parade grounds that stretched across Elysium Minor. While beyond the horizon, ships from every corner of the Regnum had arrived to join the fleet, standing sentinel around the station.

Tiber listened to the steady thumping of Militari boots along the marbled bridge behind him. If he listened hard enough, he could hear the slight, awkward plod of the newer recruits' footfalls landing just out of time. Something about that made him smile. He coiled up the purple-lined robes ceremonially around one arm and turned to face the two severe looking Praetors that flanked him. Giving them a gesture that indicated his thanks for the brief repose before turning his steps to the great Senate building in the distance.

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The black silhouette pressed on. Inch after uncomfortable inch. It had already travelled for a day and a night. Not along the wide promenades that wove between the seven districts of Elysium Minor, but under them. Hidden from the unbroken gaze of the station's micro-star, Solis.

Second only to the unimaginable expanse of the Pax Regnum, Solis was the greatest wonder of the Empire. A micro-star perfectly contained in a stasis field and fixed atop the Alphaston, a titanic column that curved like a bow over the aft section of Elysium Minor. Suspending the star, a hundred kilometres above the stations tallest point. The Capitoline dome, in which was housed the Senate.