ii. Mercatus
'We're approaching Sanctus,' Teleri called.
Miriam was ripped from her reverie as she hurriedly initiated a station-wide alert, disengaging the antimatter drive and gently pulling back the centre stick of the control column. The vast brown planet consumed the viewport, storms coalescing over its rolling surface, the writhing, black clouds concealing any sign of the famous sacred lakes. The largest planet in the system and least populated Tri-Planet, it hung like a sleeping leviathan in the darkness, the furthest from the Sun's reaching arms. Its twenty-three satellites, moons of varying sizes and proximities, circled it like guardian angels. Only six of these were currently visible, the nearest being the swirling orange mass of Ara. Several minutes slipped by before Hadrian burst onto the Flight Deck.
'Quarter engine offline, thrusters at 60% of maximum. Nearing an Imperial port now, there's no sign of the Dragonfly on the sensors,' she said, glancing at him. His brow creased in worry.
'We'll top up the Vis reserves,' she continued when he didn't answer, 'then I'll use the Sapiens Array to try and locate them.' Hadrian nodded, taking a seat.
'They probably completed their trade quickly,' he murmured, pulling on his ear. 'If they detected even a hint of what we detected, they would've either set a course to rendezvous with us, or headed straight for Saxum.'
She watched him. It was logical. If they hadn't decided to find the Dragonfly they would have made getting to the asteroid a priority. The dense field of rocks encircled the six planets of the Validus system just beyond the orbit of Sanctus. She had never seen any of the small slave planets. They were heavily patrolled on the other side of the system. A strange sensation of guilt stole through her. It must be hell.
The nearest Sanctus port rose up in front of the station, it looked like the result of the merging of an hourglass and a spinning top, and through the glass dome at its summit she could just make out thousands of people. It glowed like a miniature city in the darkness. Miriam switched to manual control, intermittently firing opposite thrusters to slow the station and smoothly berth it. One face of the vast structure loomed up before them, and they were soon swallowed. Vibrations trembled through the station as they clamped onto a dock and Miriam quickly powered down the engines. She and Hadrian stood, hurrying to the elevator. Teleri moved across to her seat, nodding at them as the door slid shut, and Hadrian pressed the silver 'VIII'.
They crossed the hangar, quickly joined by five other of the crew Hadrian had summoned. They stepped through the starboard hatch into the enclosed gangway connecting the station to the port. Miriam placed a hand on the screen by the adjoining hatch, and it slid back revealing a wide, circular corridor that provided direct access from the docks to the elevators. They quickly filed into one. The Firefly was berthed in the M12 dock, the metal plates ringing the inner wall of the corridor reading Level M. Soon they were racing up the port towards the trading floor far above them, accompanied by the familiar whine of the hydraulics.
'I've always wanted to see those lakes,' Hadrian murmured abruptly into the silence. Miriam looked at him.
'The sacred portals?'
His eyes were far away. 'Yes. Apparently, the lake temples are so daunting and inspiring, the monks so endearing, any who walk through the gates are compelled to take part in the sacrifices of the sun rams. Going by what I've read, the blood of the rams is poured into the lakes, and their hair is shaved to burn in the gate lanterns. It's fascinating really. I've never been devoted to faith like so many others.'
She shifted her weight uneasily. It was dangerous to say such things where they could be so easily monitored.
Damon Animus, one of the youngest astrophysicists, and a specialist in celestial mechanics, nodded slowly. 'It is fascinating, especially the fixation with a pre-defined destiny, the belief that Vindex controls everything, from the fate of a single molecule to an entire planet.' Miriam studied his face, the fierce green eyes, the chiselled jaw, the lips. He met her gaze, and for a second she couldn't look away.
YOU ARE READING
Empress Fallen (Through Darkness Book I)
Ficțiune științifico-fantasticăDO YOU TRUST YOUR LEADERS? WOULD YOU DIE FOR THEM? "The hostile stench of blood was everywhere, crouching in the sweaty air like a pride of Ignian Leech Jackals, reeking of death..." It is the year 7056. In a solar system hundreds of light years fro...
