{"id":16804,"date":"2023-03-08T07:49:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T14:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=16804"},"modified":"2023-03-09T14:03:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:03:08","slug":"children-of-the-starry-sea-chapter-1-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/children-of-the-starry-sea-chapter-1-excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"Children of the Starry Sea: Chapter 1 (excerpt)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Children of the Starry Sea.<\/em> It’s a direct sequel to Star Wanderers<\/em> and the second book in what is going to be a trilogy. It’s also the longest book I’ve written since I started publishing more than ten years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rough draft is already finished, and the first revision draft is almost finished. I’m going to do another two revision passes over the next month, one to fix any remaining story issues, and another to trim the word count by about 10%. After that, it’s off to the editor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the first chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worry and Bliss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah snuck carefully through the empty halls of New Jezreel, avoiding the main thoroughfare even though the planetside colony was mostly asleep at this hour. The atrium was still mostly dark, though the dawn was starting to lighten the perpetually overcast sky outside. In less than an hour, the daylights would come on, illuminating the darkened hallways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He slowed as he reached the turnoff for the colony\u2019s main hangar, then stopped to check the terminal beside the door, glancing nervously over his shoulder. The screen glowed in the darkness, and his fingers moved with urgency as he used his pilot\u2019s clearance to unlock one of the landspeeders. If anyone had been in the colony\u2019s flight control tower, they surely would have cancelled his request almost immediately. But the terminal took his ID at face value and cleared him without any question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound of footsteps in the hallway turned his blood to ice. Even though they were still distant, he hurriedly exited the menu and slipped into the shadows. The screen continued to glow, however, illuminating the hall so brightly it made him cringe. It was glaringly obvious that someone had been using it, and if security happened to pass by, then\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoo!\u201d came a young woman\u2019s voice, making him jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSalome!\u201d he whispered fiercely. \u201cIs that you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s me, silly! Who else did you think it was?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He peered down the darkened hallway, but it was empty. There was no one else there but them. He sighed in relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a second there, I thought you were security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She giggled. \u201cThat\u2019s hilarious. Did you think I was going to detain you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, but I\u2019m sure they won\u2019t be happy when they find out what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou worry too much. Did you get the landspeeder?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he said, palming the door open. As soon as they were on the other side, he palmed it shut, not taking his chances. Thankfully, the terminal screen went dim again just before the doors closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome was already halfway to the landspeeders, and he had to run to catch up to her. The colony\u2019s main hangar was wide and cavernous, with a domed ceiling almost twenty meters high in the center. The lights were dim and reddish, but he and Salome were certainly showing up on the surveillance cameras, and if anyone from security was watching\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich one?\u201d Salome asked, stopping at the row of landspeeders parked along the back wall. These ones were small, barely large enough to fit two people, but the engines were at least as long as Isaiah was tall, and much larger. At one time, their hulls had been bright and sleek, but years of long use had dulled them and given them dozens of dents and dings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh, just a sec,\u201d said Isaiah, double-checking his wrist console. \u201cThere\u2014that one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome\u2019s eyes lit up as she ran to the one Isaiah had pointed out. Even in the dim lights, she was positively gorgeous. Her short black hair bobbed loosely around her shoulders, and her curvy, athletic figure stole Isaiah\u2019s breath just like the landspeeder had stolen hers. But it was her eager enthusiasm for life that captured his heart more than anything else. Whenever he was around her, he felt that he could die happy if she only gave him a smile. And whenever he wasn\u2019t around her, it felt like there was an emptiness in his life that she fit perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice!\u201d said Salome, brushing her fingertips admiringly against the hull. \u201cBoth engines are in really good shape. You chose a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her praise all but melted Isaiah into a puddle. She slipped into the pilot\u2019s seat and gave him a funny look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t just stand there, silly! Don\u2019t you want to take this bunny for a ride?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y<\/em>ou, or the speeder?<\/em> his adolescent mind wondered. Blood rushed to his cheeks at the thought, but she didn\u2019t seem to notice as he scrambled to the seat behind her. The glass dome slid into place overhead, and the engines began to rumble as Salome cycled them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo we have our breathing masks?\u201d he asked as he rummaged through the tiny cockpit compartment that held their supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure,\u201d Salome said absently. Her hands flew deftly across the controls, bringing them to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere,\u201d said Isaiah, finding two masks. \u201cFilters are good, backup oxygen tanks are both full. We\u2019ve only got two emergency flares, though. I don\u2019t know why the last crew didn\u2019t replenish them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d said Salome. \u201cWe\u2019re only going out for a joyride, not traversing half the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what about the pirate colony? If they catch us, then\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not going to catch us,\u201d she said, laughing dismissively. \u201cThey\u2019re on the other side of the world, and besides, your dad has got eyes on them from orbit. Stop worrying!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah took a deep breath. She was probably right\u2014no, she was almost certainly right\u2014but still, that \u201calmost\u201d held the potential for a whole world of hurt. The pirate colony had cut off communications nearly eighteen months ago, and no one knew exactly what they were up to, though thankfully, they didn\u2019t have ground-to-orbit capabilities. Yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first settlers had defeated and exiled the pirates to the wilderness just before Isaiah had been born, but his father, the station master of the colony\u2019s main orbital, had always believed that they could come back at any moment. He watched them vigilantly from Zarmina Station, using the spy satellites they\u2019d obtained from the Outworld Joint Defense Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Salome clearly wasn\u2019t worried\u2014and besides, it was all out of their hands anyway. Let the administrators worry about the pirates. Right now, he was sharing a cozy cockpit with the most beautiful girl in a dozen parsecs, perhaps even the whole galaxy, and she was happy to have him there. How could life possibly get any better than that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engines rumbled, and the hoverjets lifted the speeder off the floor. Isaiah hastily scrolled through menus until he found the command to open the hangar airlock. He authorized it with his pilot\u2019s ID, and the giant doors slid slowly open, like the vertical maw of an enormous beast. Salome gently brought them into the airlock, stopping where a large painted square marked the temporary parking area for incoming and outgoing craft. The massive doors closed slowly behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere goes nothing!\u201d Salome said excitedly as the outside doors cracked open. The overcast sky was just starting to turn blue-gray with the morning light, and the jungle trees stood out starkly in silhouette. She revved the engine impatiently, and Isaiah fought back the urge to tell her to wait until the doors were fully open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as they were, she whooped and gunned the engines, and the speeder leaped forward like a wild animal escaping its cage. Isaiah\u2019s butt clenched as they cleared the partially opened doors with barely a meter to spare on either side. Then they nosed up over the treetops, and New Jezreel was suddenly behind them, with nothing but scattered settlements and wilderness up ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes!\u201d said Salome, laughing as they sent ripples over the leafy jungle canopy like waves in their wake. They were a little too low for Isaiah\u2019s comfort, but he put that out of his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the plan?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhere are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere do you want to go?\u201d she asked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took a deep breath. Somewhere we can talk,<\/em> he thought but did not say. Joyriding was fun and all, but he didn\u2019t want to spend all of his short time with her doing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUp the canyon,\u201d he said, pointing to the cliffs that rose sharply from the jungle about a dozen kilometers away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou got it!\u201d she said, then whooped again as she accelerated hard enough to throw him against his seat. He took a deep breath before forcing himself to let go of his apprehensions\u2014and not just the ones about the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There was nothing Salome loved quite so much as the roar of a powerful engine behind her and a wide open world beckoning up ahead. Isaiah had opted for the canyon, and it was a good choice. She\u2019d only been up there twice, and one of those times had been in a slow-moving zeppelin, so it didn\u2019t really count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHold on tight!\u201d she said as the jungle gave way to the cliffs and the rocky gullies. She followed the nearly vertical rock face until it flattened out just before the river. Using one hand to flare the speeder\u2019s airbrakes, she rolled hard to the right and used the sudden wind resistance to pitch the nose in the direction she wanted to turn. Her vision darkened as the engines checked her momentum, nearly making her black out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook out!\u201d Isaiah screamed. She\u2019d underestimated the rate of their sudden altitude drop, and the broad surface of the river was rushing up toward them like a shimmering blacktop. She leveled off just as they struck the surface, and the force of the impact on the landspeeder\u2019s flat underbelly was enough to knock the wind out of her lungs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hoverjets squealed in protest as the spray of water splashed across the domed cockpit window, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, she feared that she\u2019d submerged them. Thankfully, though, the speeder leaped back up into the air, water streaming in rivulets across the hull as they sped down the river, riding it like a road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A heady rush of adrenaline made Salome laugh. These were the moments she lived for\u2014the liberating thrills that she could never quite get under the manmade ceilings and artificial lights of New Jezreel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoly crap, Salome!\u201d Isaiah yelled. \u201cDid you just wreck the speeder?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s still flying, isn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but if any of the jets got flooded, we could have a\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re fine,\u201d Salome insisted, though she checked the screen on her left just to be sure. The front right hoverjet had a minor warning indicator, but it didn\u2019t sound too bad. From her work in the colony\u2019s mechanic shop, she could tell if an engine was having problems almost before the diagnostics had finished running. She hadn\u2019t flown them much outside of the holovid simulations, but she knew them inside and out, and could build one from scratch if she had to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Isaiah had asked her if she wanted to take one out for a spin, it was all that she could do in that moment not to throw her arms around him and squee. Not that she had any particular feelings for him\u2014they\u2019d been friends ever since childhood, mostly because of how close their parents were, and while things had changed after his family had moved up to Zarmina Station, they hadn\u2019t changed like that.<\/em> No, Isaiah was just a very good friend\u2014especially with how he\u2019d helped her take this landspeeder out for a ride. That was really awesome of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speeder kicked up a massive spray of water as they skimmed over the mostly still surface. As they turned around a bend, Salome saw whitecaps up ahead, so she raised their altitude a couple of meters and gripped the flight controls with both hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWaterfall up ahead!\u201d said Isaiah, pointing to it over her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see it,\u201d said Salome. \u201cHang on!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She skirted a couple of large boulders and drove straight toward the churning wall of water. At the last moment, she nosed up hard and gripped the throttle with one hand. Once they were vertical, she killed it. The speeder didn\u2019t have any wings, so it went into a wonderfully thrilling backflip, its forward momentum carrying them up over the edge of the falls. This time, Salome timed the maneuver perfectly\u2014all those hundreds of hours on the holovid simulators had really paid off. When the speeder righted itself and the hoverjets re-engaged, they blasted over the water without touching the surface. She throttled up the engines and whooped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m going to be sick,\u201d Isaiah moaned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Salome told him, though she eased up on the altitude controls to give them a bit more clearance. Hopefully that would make their ride a bit smoother. As much fun as she was having right now, it wouldn\u2019t be worth it if she made Isaiah miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up ahead, the river narrowed into a sharp bend, and the slope on either side grew higher and steeper. In the early morning light, it was darker in the narrow defile, but the overcast sky cast enough diffuse light to fly by\u2014barely. On the edge of her vision, a couple of floating algae pads drifted lazily above the jungle like miniature zeppelins. She\u2019d have to keep an eye out for those in the canyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jungle by the river was still as thick as down in the valley, but as the rapids increased, the number of large rocks and boulders did as well. Out of the corner of her eye, she even saw places where rock falls from the mountains had ripped out the old growth not too long ago. The slopes were mostly scree, but they soon rose to jagged, towering cliffs on either side. Salome considered leaving the river to head up one of the gullies and see how long the speeder could find purchase on those slopes, but for Isaiah\u2019s sake she decided against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they hit the rapids. The river narrowed dramatically, the water churning over the countless boulders and smashed tree trunks as it had at the base of the waterfall. It took all of Salome\u2019s concentration to keep from crashing, as the walls of both cliff and jungle closed in on either side. The shadows were deeper than she\u2019d expected, there was no space to turn around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next several minutes passed in mere moments as every particle of her attention was focused on getting them through without killing them both in a spectacular crash. There was a rhythm to it that caught her in a trance\u2014one that she hoped would never end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intuitively, she sensed that they were coming to another wall. She nosed up sharply before the waterfall came into view, and without thinking, she went into a barrel roll. Just before they stalled, almost a hundred meters above the canyon floor, she glimpsed a floating algae pad out the corner of her eye and brought the hoverjets around to push off of it. The maneuver gave her just enough forward momentum to clear the edge of the waterfall, kicking up a frightening amount of spray in the process. But the hoverjets held, the engines came to life again, and they blasted out from the waterfall\u2019s edge over a wide mountain lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome became aware of someone screaming, and realized that it was her. She throttled down and flared the airbrakes, bringing the speeder to a gentle crawl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was incredible!\u201d she said, grinning from ear to ear as she turned around to see how Isaiah was doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he said, his face pale and his arms shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cliffs weren\u2019t quite so high this far up into the mountains, and the lake was wide and flat enough that it reflected the cloudy sky like a mirror. The sight all around them was incredible. A few lone trees were scattered here and there, but the beaches were mostly gravel and scree, rising sharply to the jagged ridge that surrounded them. On one side, a large cloud was spilling over onto the water, or perhaps rising off of it\u2014it was difficult to tell. Then, through a sudden break in the clouds, the early morning sun shone in all its brilliant glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoa,\u201d said Salome, captivated by the natural beauty of the scene. A gaggle of enormous raptor-beasts chose that moment to take off from the farther shore, briefly eclipsing the sun before disappearing into another cloudbank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u2014we\u2019re alive,\u201d said Isaiah, as if realizing it for the first time in his life. Salome, too, felt a strange new awareness sweep over her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou only live once,\u201d she told him, laughing. \u201cCome on. Where do you want to go next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He paused for a moment. Then, in a voice that was almost shy, he asked: \u201cCan we stop and just talk for a while?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nosed the speeder over to where an algae pad had deflated, over by the water\u2019s edge. It provided a nice platform to park the speeder, as well as a soft place to climb out and maybe stretch their legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGot your mask?\u201d she asked as the speeder powered down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh, yeah, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She cracked open the cockpit seal with one hand while holding her mask to her mouth with the other. Isaiah yelped in surprise as he scrambled to put his mask on. The air that flooded in was thick, humid, and surprisingly warm, though not quite as heavy as down in the valley. As the glass slid open, Salome finished strapping on her mask and climbed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The atmosphere was thick with oxygen\u2014almost too much, really\u2014but the carbon dioxide was even more concentrated, and needed to be scrubbed by the masks. There were other poisonous gases too, though this was more of a problem in the valleys than it was in the mountains. Thankfully, a halfway-decent filtration system was all they needed to breathe the native air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome jumped down to the soft algae below and stretched, arcing her back. Isaiah soon jumped down next to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt sure is beautiful up here, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d she said, walking over to the edge of the water. She found a nice place and sat down with her legs stretched out. Isaiah hesitated, so she motioned for him to join her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah\u2019s knees still shook from the crazy joyride. He was grateful that they were sitting on the soft, deflated algae pad, though the masks were an annoying obstacle. He wanted to see Salome\u2019s face, not just her eyes, though of course those were gorgeous. More than that, though, he wanted her to see his face\u2014to really and truly be able to listen to what he had to tell her. He sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s been bringing up the whole star wandering thing,\u201d he began. \u201cKeeps telling me that I\u2019m almost as old as he was when he became a star wanderer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh,\u201d Salome said knowingly. \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s been on your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not quite,<\/em> he wanted to say. But if Salome rejected him, what would he do then? His father would expect him to leave on the Ariadne,<\/em> never to return. That was the time-honored tradition of the Outworlds, and his father was a staunch traditionalist. But even if they did become a couple, would his father accept that as a reason to let him stay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that I\u2019m scared of leaving,\u201d he lied\u2014or rather, stretched the truth. \u201cJust\u2026 leaving forever? Never coming back? Doesn\u2019t that seem a bit\u2026 extreme?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Salome, leaning back on her hands with her slender legs crossed. \u201cIt\u2019s a stupid tradition. Times are changing. In another generation or two, the Outworlds won\u2019t even need star wanderers to keep from becoming too isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can understand why my father holds on so tightly to the old ways. If he hadn\u2019t left home, he would have never my mother. That\u2019s probably why he wants me to become a star wanderer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut is that really what you want?\u201d Salome asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their eyes met, and Isaiah\u2019s heart all but stopped. Was she asking him to stay for her? Perhaps, underneath that mask, she was waiting for him to confess that he didn\u2019t want to leave her, that she was all he ever\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, she shrugged and glanced back out over the lake again. His shoulders slumped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot really, no,\u201d he told her honestly. \u201cThere\u2019s just\u2014there\u2019s so much here to stay for. And it\u2019s not like inbreeding is a problem. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course not,\u201d Salome said absently. The way she sat, with her back arched and her shoulders pulled back, really brought out all of her feminine curves. He always felt a little embarrassed when his thoughts started sliding in that direction, but at the same time, he couldn\u2019t help but feel drawn to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was amazing how much she\u2019d changed since his family had moved up to Zarmina Station. Before, she was still just a childhood playmate that he got to visit whenever their mothers got together, which was almost every day. Now, he only got to see her whenever his work as a shuttle pilot brought him planetside, but those frequent absences had made her transformation over the last couple of years all the more incredible. She was no longer the precocious little girl who used to chase him around the underground parks and gardens, but a stunning young woman who had almost reached her prime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave you ever thought about leaving for the stars?\u201d he asked, surprising them both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gave him a funny look. \u201cYou mean, become a female star wanderer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr some other kind of starfarer,\u201d he added quickly. \u201cThere are lots of people who travel the stars who aren\u2019t just following the old ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot in the Far Outworlds\u2014at least, not yet. Out here, you\u2019re either a star wanderer or a member of the Outworld Joint Defense Fleet\u2014and I sure as hell am not leaving home for that.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what about being a female star wanderer, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know. It sounds like it would get kind of lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not if we left together,<\/em> Isaiah thought, his heart pounding eagerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStill,\u201d she added, \u201cit would be an adventure. Perhaps even the adventure of the lifetime. My dad doesn\u2019t talk about his star wandering days much, but I can tell sometimes that he misses it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Isaiah. \u201cMy dad too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you ever wonder if you\u2019ve got a brother or sister out there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He frowned. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike, if your dad had a starchild or two before he settled down with your mom. Star wanderers do that sometimes, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot blood rushed to Isaiah\u2019s cheeks. Why were they even talking about this? In just a few hours, he\u2019d be back up in orbit, facing his father, with Salome down on New Jezreel where he wouldn\u2019t be able to talk with her for a while\u2014not in person, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine him doing something like that. It\u2019s certainly not the kind of thing that I would do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you kidding? You think I\u2019d really, uh, knock a girl up and, um\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStars, Isaiah\u2014are you blushing?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laughed, making him blush even deeper. Even so, her laugh wasn\u2019t hurtful or unkind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d she said, blushing a little herself. \u201cI guess I never thought we\u2019d be talking about this kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you think your dad ever had a starchild?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me. And if I became a starfarer, I might get the chance to meet them. After all, it\u2019s a small universe outside of the Coreward Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They sat in silence for several moments. A thick cloud rolled over the lake, obscuring the highest peaks. Isaiah had the sensation that the algae pad was floating high up in the sky, drifting away with them to wherever the wind would carry it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least it\u2019s not like you have to leave tomorrow,\u201d said Salome. \u201cSome star wanderers don\u2019t leave until they\u2019re well into their twenties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry telling that to my father,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gave him a funny look again. \u201cWell, why don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah shook his head. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. All my life, this thing has been hanging over my head. When I was born, it was already decided that I would leave home and become a star wanderer, just like my father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s stupid. In another generation, those traditions are going to be dead anyway, so why should you be forced to keep them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you want me to stay?\u201d he asked, his breath catching in his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s what you want,\u201d she said, looking back out over the water. \u201cIt\u2019s your life, after all. You\u2019re the one who has to decide what\u2019s right for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what about us?<\/em> he thought but did not say. He wasn\u2019t sure he was ready to ask about that yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said uncertainly. \u201cMy father would be so disappointed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He frowned. \u201cDon\u2019t you care what your parents think of you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, yes, but\u2014oh, I don\u2019t know! Why do these traditions have to be so hard? It\u2019s always the firstborn son\u2014why not take volunteers instead, or only send out people who actually want to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you go in my place if you could?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes!\u201d she answered immediately. \u201cI mean, probably. Sure. Why not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does that mean you <\/em>would you go with me, too?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, he didn\u2019t actually ask her, since the very thought was absurd. The Ariadne <\/em>was built for a crew of exactly one, and besides, Salome didn\u2019t have the neural implants necessary to plug into the dream simulators. That had been a point of controversy among the first settlers, with some, like Isaiah\u2019s parents, opting to implant all of their children, while others, like Mariya\u2019s parents, opting their children out of it. In the cramped quarters of a starship like the Ariadne,<\/em> the simulations were absolutely necessary to maintain your mental health. But on a habitable world like Zarmina, the dream worlds were a luxury, not a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Isaiah\u2019s parents had made some very long voyages together on the Ariadne,<\/em> so it wasn\u2019t impossible to take another person along. And so long as they both had each other, how much did it really matter that Salome didn\u2019t have the implants and couldn\u2019t plug into the simulations? Even with the implants, his father had struggled with loneliness until he\u2019d met his mother. If wandering the stars together had worked so well for them, then perhaps\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No,<\/em> he told himself, snapping back to the present. The last thing he needed was to lose himself in a daydream about his crush when Salome was right here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d he said aloud. \u201cI\u2019ll talk with my father about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood!\u201d said Salome, smiling at him\u2014though unfortunately, all he could see of her smile was in her eyes. Still, it was more than enough to take his breath away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should I ask her?<\/em> he wondered. It sounds almost like she <\/em>wants me to stay. And if that\u2019s true\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsaiah? Is something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took a deep breath. \u201cSalome\u2014if I did stay, would you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould I what?\u201d she asked curiously as his voice trailed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNever mind,\u201d he said quickly, deciding not to press the issue. \u201cLet\u2019s get back to New Jezreel before they think we\u2019ve stolen this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laughed as she climbed up the ladder back into the cockpit. \u201cYou worry too much, Isaiah!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps I do,<\/em> he thought cheerfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As the speeder lifted off, sending ripples across the mirror-like surface of the lake, Salome couldn\u2019t help but feel that her friendship with Isaiah had changed in some significant but unknown way. That bothered her more than she cared to admit. She\u2019d been looking forward to the ride back down the canyon, but now there was too much on her mind to fully enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, she was glad that Isaiah trusted her enough to spill his guts to her like that. He really was a great friend\u2014not at all like some of the other boys, who only seemed to want one thing from her. As if she would put herself out so easily. No, she was much choosier than that, which probably meant that she was going to end up with a star wanderer, since none of the other boys in the colony were all that impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But right now, she didn\u2019t care about any of that. She was too young to think about settling down and starting a family of her own. Besides, there were so many other things she wanted to do with her life, like fly across the planet on a landspeeder, or parachute jump from space, or build her own balloon house and circumnavigate the globe in that. Her dreams might sound crazy to some, but her father had once had dreams even crazier than her own, and if he\u2019d never followed them, he never would have met her mother or come to Zarmina. Besides, what did she care if other people thought she was crazy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She brought the speeder out over the water, tracing a wide arc back toward the outlet that led to the waterfall. Instead of following the river, however, she climbed over the rocks to the ridgeline that circled the lake. The clouds had briefly dissipated, at least on this part of the ridge, giving them a spectacular view of the mountains that sourrounded New Jezreel and the nearby settlements. The sky was still overcast, but the air itself was clear enough that they could see all the way out to the vast, world-encircling ocean more than fifty kilometers away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow,\u201d said Isaiah. \u201cYou can see everything from here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not even close to true,<\/em> Salome thought silently. As incredible as the view was from here, it was only a tiny fraction of Zarmina\u2019s grandeur\u2014and an even smaller fraction of the Outworlds. Even if she lived a hundred lifetimes, she would never be able to see it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could she become a star wanderer? The idea was so crazy that it made even her craziest dreams seem small by comparison. And yet, when she\u2019d told Isaiah that she would go in his place if she could, she hadn\u2019t been lying. A part of her even envied him for the chance to be a star wanderer and to see other worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nudged the flight stick, sending the speeder down the slope at a shallow angle. The jungle canopy was thick enough for the hoverjets to find purchase, as long as they kept to the more thickly forested parts. For Isaiah\u2019s sake, she would take them down at a much more relaxing pace, enjoying the thrill of the view rather than the thrill of the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey,\u201d said Isaiah from the seat behind her. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was what?\u201d she asked, not bothering to look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat small break in the trees we just passed. It looked like there was smoke coming up through it\u2014like from a gas-powered generator or something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA generator?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. You think someone might be camping up here? We\u2019re about a dozen klicks out from the outlying settlements, but science and exploration parties still come out this way, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salome laughed and shook her head. \u201cDon\u2019t be silly, Isaiah. Those teams don\u2019t use gas-powered generators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the pirates do. Do you think\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she said firmly, still piloting the speeder down the slope at a decent clip. \u201cWhat you saw was probably just a cloud whisp. The pirates aren\u2019t even on this continent, let alone this jungle. Let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said, let it go,\u201d she told him, then sighed. Whatever else was true, Isaiah always worried too much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Children of the Starry Sea. It’s a direct sequel to Star Wanderers and the second book in what is going to be a trilogy. It’s also the longest book I’ve written since I started publishing more than ten years ago. The rough draft is already finished, and… Continue reading Children of the Starry Sea: Chapter 1 (excerpt)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[803,1541],"tags":[474,985],"class_list":["post-16804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sw-css","category-outworld-trilogy","tag-excerpts","tag-wips","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-4n2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16804"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16837,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804\/revisions\/16837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}