The First Ones

Sisters

The view of the space elevator never got old. Luci rested her head against the trunk of the tree looking at this caricature of light. In her hands she cradled the dream-chaser she had just found. It was such an unexpected but pleasant shock that the girl had knelt and bowed to it in reverence before carefully plucking the flower from the dirt. The sun had set long before; she was waiting for her sister. Every night they would talk here, under this tree, and observe the stars in the sky.

Zeth arrived soon after, holding a length of hailer string in her fingers. "Hello, Luci."

The older girl greeted her twin. "My sister. Make room for yourself."

The younger sat and drew her knees to her chest as she began looping her string into knots. "You've found a dream-chaser."

"So it seems." Luci touched the petals of the flower, smiling slowly. "I had trouble believing it to be true as well. This one was a little out of the way. Luckily I approached it from the moonside; otherwise I wouldn't have spotted it."

"Lucky indeed," agreed Zeth. "I only found one this year."

For a while the two sisters sat in silence. As siblings they shared a bond that was powerful enough to work without the need for words, and Luci silently scooted over to allow Zeth to braid her hair up. Both of them knew what was the bother; neither of them wanted to mention it. Eventually Zeth spoke up. "So you decide tomorrow," she said.

"Must I be reminded?" Luci huffed under her breath. "It's not like you've already made your choice."

"I have, actually," Zeth replied, completing her sister's braid. Luci sat back up and promptly undid it again. "You know me, Luci."

"Always wanting to please father." Luci turned to look at her. "I'm not going to do it, Zeth. Everybody does it. What harm would it do if one didn't?"

"Quite a lot, actually, since those who choose not to don't exactly find a generous welcome wherever else they go."

Luci flung her eyes to the universe in exasperation. "And you think being twinned bonds to a grown is a good thing?"

Zeth shrugged and went back to studying the petals of the dream-chaser. "I'm doing what is to be done. Nothing wrong with that."

"Nothing great, either," Luci pointed out. "We talk here everyday and it was great because we could choose to do it, not because our father said we had to."

"Luci, listen to what you're saying." The younger put down the flower and laid a hand on her sister's arm. "This goes beyond any father in Farron-Toulu, on Seerin, and on Dovera or Brennor. It's something our culture asks- no, requires- of us."

The elder slumped her youthful shoulders. Zeth was right, and so was the tradition of the First Ones. In the ancient past, the original sect lived on Dovera, the middle planet now occupied by the Redan. The first generation of space travel enabled settlers to colonize Brennor and Seerin, and eventually, after countless cycles of the sun, the First Ones had developed the tripartite interplanetary society that it was. Divided and different as they were, the bond as a species still governed the flow of their bloodlines, and were united in the same basic patterns of culture that all three sects practiced. Chief among them was the planned bond between growns and younger ones, when they came of age.

Parental governorship was the most fundamental unit of the hierarchy on Seerin. As they were the most peaceful sect, they were also the most loyal to the ancient ways. Many of the other girls in Fallon-Toulu were already matched with suitable growns and were looking forward to obeying the culture of the First Ones. It seems strange, but the sects did not understand certain things that humans did. In fact, it was because of humanity that the First Ones were given their name. The sects had no collective name for themselves. As it happened, more-than-several centuries ago the Redan welcomed a mysterious space traveler carrying beings who called themselves "humans" and spoke for an entity called the Celestial Confederacy.