The Star Key

Chapter One

It wasn’t so long ago that Marias had an ordinary life, but now he was a fugitive, always on the run, hiding and ducking the law. He’d often reflect on the unfairness of the new laws, not that it did any good. It wasn’t like they’d get changed.

He sat strapped into the captain’s chair at the helm of his Pusher, his own design of a spacecraft that would push through the atmospheric layers without requiring the requisite Star Key to leave Earth’s atmosphere. The Pusher was black, bowed slightly in the middle and pointed at each end, a perfect shape that was hard to detect on sensors. It was illegal to leave Earth these days, but with few resources left on the planet, it was break the law or starve.

So, he broke the law, and managed to collect a sizeable profit selling goods on the black market once he returned. Avoiding capture was getting more difficult every day since the Planetary Watchers were extra-vigilant lately. Probably due to a careless move on his part last week when he launched too slow and his Pusher was seen zipping up through the atmosphere.

Marias hadn’t realized any Watchers were around and only noticed their distinctive bright red, blue and green vehicles too late. But with a bit of skillful maneuvering, he elluded them. The Watchers were the police force of Earth, although they never set foot on the planet’s surface, and they received a fat salary that kept them well-fed. Earth was nothing more than a gigantic dumping ground now, a place where the workers, the destitute and the criminal element were kept while the politicians and resource farmers were housed on neighboring planets like Mars and the outer rings of Saturn where there were several luxurious space stations situated.

He’d visited those places off and on to buy, or steal, resources, the most valuable commodities in the solar system, that he then sold to the inhabitants of Earth. It was difficult to see the needy begging for a deal, and as much as Marias felt for them, his heart was hardened. There was no place for guilt or sentimentality. He provided a vital service, for money. Not that they had much money. What they had came from selling the only product they could sell; deep-mine minerals.

He accelerated the Pusher and punched through the exosphere. This was his favorite time of each escape, as the blackness of space welcomed him. He was free. He retracted the heat shield around the Pusher and plugged in a heading for the moon. It was only a quick stop to visit Crinna at the Lunar Pleasure Center. She had a ‘surprise’ waiting for him. He was a little dubious, because most of her surprises included mind-altering, temporal-displacement encounters. She was an expert at making him feel good, but always at a cost.

Last time he lost four days reveling in the ecstasy she provided. That wasn’t good because the Watchers closed in and almost caught him. He’d had a full cargo bay of food that time. If he’d lost that, not only would Earth people have starved, but he would have lost his income. With a full load of food, the money he got from sales would last him about three months. The fewer trips he made outside of Earth, the less chance there was of getting caught. Spending time with Crinna was always a risk, but one he was willing to make.

Keeping a sharp eye for Watchers, Marias flew straight to the dark side of the moon and settled the Pusher down on the elevated platform that would take him under the ground to Crinna’s quarters. He shut off the engines and waited. The platform jolted and lowered beneath the surface.

While descending, he stripped off his flight suit, straightened his clothes and ran his fingers through his hair. Might as well look respectable. The Pleasure Center was never under surveillance due the clientele who wanted to remain anonymous. Since Earth was locked down with the Star Key, the only guests to the Pleasure Center were those who controlled the Star Key. That made it a great place to hide out temporarily, until he figured a way to find the Key. With the Key, he could fly back and forth to Earth without anyone caring. That would make his life so much easier and less dangerous.