Fragments 1: Devolution Landing

To the Site

By the time the light of dawn had broken over the horizon, the team were already underway, skimming over the surface in a tiny Rymerian flitter. Professor Androbos was tucked away at the back, but Ran Perracheck and Everen Middlemein took seats at the front where they could see out through the larger windows.

The flitter was flying only a few meters over the surface, riding on light repulsion fields. It therefore pitched slightly whenever they passed over ridges or valleys, but the effect was gentle, given the relatively flat nature of the planet.

From their aerial vantage point they could see the huge open plains and patches of scrub that peppered the planet as they flew over the open countryside. Ran pointed out a line of distant hills and Doctor Moorfier commented on some of the dry trees which occasionally broke the monotony of the view. Some of the team were clearly enjoying the experience while others endured it in silence.

The dig site was many miles from any centres of civilisation. Not that there were many towns or cities on Dorian's World; merely a few trading posts and military bases. According to Korful, there had never been many colonists on the planet, even during the imperial period. It was simply too dry and there were very few valuable minerals. The only reason that large-scale agriculture was now being considered at all was because the Rymerians were willing to build aqueducts that would bring water down from the polar ice-caps to create vast irrigated zones.

They passed over miles and miles of open scrub land. It could have been dull, but the immense size and awesome bleakness of the planet was truly impressive.

"Look," pointed Everen. "People!"

The row of figures passed by rapidly but they were given their first glimpse of the human inhabitants of Dorian's World. They couldn't see much detail as they flew past but it was clear that these were not sophisticated city dwellers. In an age of interstellar space travel and planetary engineering it was hard for any of the members of the team to imagine what it would be like to live your entire life without the basics of technology, but this was the life that the indigenous population was still choosing to live.

"How do they feel about plans to modernise the planet?" asked Everen.

Korful looked at her as if she had raised a rather stupid question.

"It's not up to them," he said bluntly. "Just because they got here first, doesn't make it their planet."

"So it's just a matter for you and the Trucanni to fight out between you?" said Ran Perracheck, pushing the bounds of diplomacy a little.

Korful shrugged.

"That's the nature of things, isn't it? The ones with the biggest guns get to make the choices. These people only have sticks and slings. Not their call."

"A nice statement of the imperial principle," said Moorfier sarcastically, nodding her head slowly. "The right to resources is determined by access to power. It has worked many times in human history, but tends to fall apart when power shifts."

Professor Androbos could see that another dangerous argument was about to start, but he was saved from needing to intervene as the flitter began to circle up and over the site. Korful glared at Moorfier before turning his attention to the front window.

The pilot took them on a slow circuit of the dig. There were a few tents pitched near to a low ridge of hillside, through which a couple of narrow trenches had been cut. They circled the camp twice before landing gently with a soft bump.