Our Freedom

by Kaye Jeffreys

Athena Marie rode at the head of Zeus unit as its procession of shelter-wagons approached Apollo unit. She sat aboard her open-air multi-rider exposed to the ash and grit. Her shock of white grizzly hair blew every which way as the winds shifted, never sure which way they wanted to blow.The driver of her multi-rider broke away from the head of the line and brought Athena close to where Logan and Reece waited to greet her.

Athena peered down at Logan through her goggles with her one good eye and nodded her greeting. "Logan."

"Thena," Logan nodded back then shook hands with Athena's driver and son who accompanied her.

"There's a storm brewing. The Hermits say it may last a week." Athena clutched tightly to her spider-leg walking stick, a souvenir from a past bug war.

"Will you circle with us?" Logan turned slightly and nodded back to his own unit preparing for the coming storm. The machinery chugging and groaning as their drivers coaxed them into position.

"I wish we could. You have the best cook, musicians, and storytellers. But Dionys Unit is low on supplies, so we must move on to circle with them." Athena motioned toward her unit that continued to file past.

Logan couldn't help a smile under his face scarf. "So when is Dionys ever not low on supplies?"

"Almost never!" Athena cackled and thumped the floor of her multi-rider with the bottom of her walking stick. "In fact, we were wondering if you had anything to send along."

Logan turned to Reece, "You know what to do."

Athena watched Reece return to the Apollo circle. "How is your Nomad adjusting?"

"Much quicker than I thought. She no longer wears her veil and tries to make herself useful. When Jereth joined us, she only retreated from sight for half a day. She and Rose even share a cubicle now."

"And what does she think about our Avenir-born son?"

"Jereth? She is still a bit awed by him." Logan chuckled. "She's never met an actual Star Walker from Avenir."

"I'll bet it's hard for a Nomad to get their mind around people living on a star or coming from one." Athena looked up to the sky as though she could see Avenir orbiting overhead. "It's hard for me to get my mind around the fact that we all came from that star." Then her voice became grim. "We found out the hard way that you can't trust them up there. We lost your sister over it. And now she floats in solitude and eternally frozen in heartless space. She should be here, with us, either alive or buried with her people within the warm embrace of Mother Eclectia."

Athena snapped out of her regret and looked down at Logan again. "And how is Brett?"

"He refuses to accept that he will never ascend the Rims again."

Athena rubbed the black diamond wired into the joint of her spider-leg. "I'll send you Matthon to teach him how to cut. Brett has a mind for detail and precision."

"That would be good."

"Also, take Jereth up to Blue Rim once the storm blows over. His mother may be lost to us, frozen in space, but she taught him where his roots are and he has come to us in her place. Take Zaibry and your Nomad, too. You need to train another diamond hound to take Brett's place."

"But Zaibry is so young, and Jereth and Sanja are both still unaccustomed to our ways."

"Our time of plenty can't last forever. We cannot afford to baby our children, for survival's sake."

Logan sighed. "You are right, of course."

"And what is the one thing that is more important than our survival?"

"Our freedom."

Athena nodded slowly. "We are caught between the corrupting influence of Avenir and the superstitions of the Nomads. There is no freedom for common men and women among either. We must survive to maintain independence for our children's children."

"There are always the Hermits."

"Aye, but who wants to live like them?" Athena cackled again. "Ah, here is Reece with gifts for Dionys."

The driver and Athena's son jumped out and helped Logan and Reece load containers into the back of Athena's multi-rider.

When they had finished Athena looked up at Zeus unit as they lumbered away over the dunes of black sand. "Our unit has gone off and left us. We better catch up." Athena hit the floor of the multi-rider with the bottom of her stick twice. Her driver started it up and drove away. "Until again." The wind carried Athena's voice back to where Logan stood.

Logan looked up into the sky at the swirling clouds for a moment remembering his sister that floated overhead in her coffin, cold and alone.

Gordy called from behind his cook wagon. "Are you coming, Logan? Or should we circle without you?"

"I'm coming." Logan jogged back to his unit, bringing the memory of his sister into the shelter of their unit's circle.

We Must Go On (FLASHBACK)

by Kaye Jeffreys

The wind blows grit and sand and it stings exposed skin on Kellie's arm. But she can feel it. That's what matters. To feel anything and to think about it is better than to dwell on the void that gnaws her insides like a boring beetle.

Her unit is no more. All that remains are herself, her sister's children, and her own infant that sleeps in her arms, bundled against the wind. Her sister's children are away from this place, retrieved by Dionys Unit, their father's people.

Apollo Unit is here for her. She feels the approach of their multi-rider. She is not ready to go. She can not leave the site where she last saw her own alive before Black Widow took them. An explosion and a collapse and all evidence of Hermes Unit is gone... burned and buried.

Kellie will never see them again.

Black Rim can be merciless and greedy. She rarely releases her dead.

#

"You made good time," Athena Marie's ancient voice creaked through her scarf as she greeted Logan and Brett.

"Dionys got here before we did?" Logan tightened his face mask against the smell of smoke and sulfer.

"And they are gone already. Black Widow is still murmuring. She may speak again." Athena turned from Logan to his son and focused her one good eye on him. "Brett, you are ready to take Kellie as lifemate for as long or short as this wretched life may be?"

"Does she want me?"

"She chose you. And you accept?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Get her and get out. Widow may open her mouth and swallow us as well."

#

Kellie sat in the ash looking more like a Nomad cradling her child than a transient miner. She faced Black Widow, head turned up toward the newly collapsed rim that now jetted acrid smoke into the sky through sharp whistling cracks.

"We have come." Brett said.

Kellie didn't move, not even to look up at him.

Brett sat next to her in the ash. There was nothing more to say. Never had so many been lost so quickly in one incident. The weight of the loss hadn't fully impacted him yet. So many faces that he is used to seeing at gatherings, he will not see them any more. Though there will be memorial stones set up for them, no graves will be dug. Black Widow has already devoured them into the bowels of Eclectia. Brett could not imagine what those men, women, and children faced as they went under. It must have been a gaping hell of brimstone and flames.

Black Widow murmered again beneath them. Brett shot up to standing at his first sense of the vibrations.

Kellie remained seated.

Brett bent over and spoke as gently into her ear as the wind and whistling would permit. "We must go on."

Kellie nodded once but made no attempt to get up.

The Widow doesn't always give warnings. It is foolishness to ignore her when she does.

But it is wrong to disturb the grieving of a new widow and to invade the place of her sorrow. Brett wound never do it if there was no danger. But another tremor rumbles under his feet, another warning, from an ancient Widow to a new one. If Kellie won't heed it for herself, she must do so for the sake of her child.

Brett leaned over again, "We must go now." He put his hands on her arms and gently lifted.

To his relief, Kellie didn't resist but cooperated by pushing up with her legs, though her arms never let loose of her infant.

Brett guided her to the multi-rider where his father and sister waited, the staredown between Black Widow and her most recent victim has been broken.

#

Kellie looks up into the sky as she walks with Brett to the multi-rider. The words of the song they will sing at the time of remembering and raising of the stones flows slowly through her mind.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Here a little, there a little

He gives to us, He takes things away

Blessed is the One who brought us safely here

Blessed is the One who will lead us on

And we must go on

Kaye Jeffreys dedicates this story and the song below to the memory of Walt Staples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mZH9T9XNVU

Sanja's Veil

by Kaye Jeffreys -

Sanja had never been inside one of their metal machines before. The angular thing bounced across the rugged hills like a wounded beetle. The jerking made it hard for Sanja to pretend that she was an unfeeling stone. She had wanted to disappear like a vapor, but that was impossible. So she settled on becoming stone.

"Rose, pay attention to your driving," their father sat on the middle bench next to Sanja. "You are going to run us into a crevice."

"I'm too angry to drive." The daughter's boldness would be unacceptable among Sanja's people.

The father gripped the seat in front of him. "Reece, take over for her before she kills us."

The brother and sister traded places while the machine bucked and rolled on.

Rose glowered at Sanja as she dropped into the bench in front of her. "She lied about Reece so she could get out of arranged marriage." The daughter waved her hand in big movements at Sanja.

Sanja refused to feel indignent or angry. She was rock, a stone, unfeeling.

The father crossed his arms and looked down. "We don't know anything about anything yet."

"Dad, do I have to marry her?" Reece looked back at the father.

"No," their father said. "We are not bound by their laws. We follow our own."

"But what about Senjab?" Rose continued to stared back at Sanja as if she could see through Sanja's veil and break through the rock defenses.

"All I promised him was that she could come live with us." Their father looked at Sanja. "And I will keep my promise. Sanja is welcome among us for as long as she needs."

The vehicle jerked sideways suddenly. It tipped and hovered at an angle in the wind a few moments as though deciding if it would fall on its side. Then it landed hard, right side up.

Father, son, and daughter looked at one another. Then Rose spoke. "See. It's not just me. The wind is too much."

"Reece, batten down. This should blow over soon."

Reece moved his hand over the machine’s devices. Small explosions sounded at the four corners around them.

The wind rocked the vehicle.

After a short silence the father said. "Rose, you will have to share your cubicle with Sanja."

"I will not! She might kill me in my sleep!"

"Rose!"

"I'll let her sleep in mine." Reece stood up and walked back to sit next to Rose. "I'll take the central area like I did when that Bible stayed with us. Zaibry can go stay with Brett and help with the kids."

"Thank you, Reece. Is this okay with you, Rose?"

"Whatever." Rose flopped backward in her seat so that Sanja couldn't see her anymore. It was a relief to be away from those seething eyes.

"Is this okay with you, Sanja?"

Sanja could not believe the father asked her. Nor could she guess why it mattered to him what she thought.

Unmovable stone slowly gave way. Sanja nodded once.

The Offering

by Kaye Jeffreys -

Reece moved his goggles down from his forehead to cover his eyes and searched the horizon again. "The wind is picking up. Soon we won't be able to see. Do they know we are here?"

"Yes." Dad crouched down and rested his hand on the ground.

"What if they don't come?"

"We don't go back up to the Rims until we make the offering. Don't worry. They're here." Dad stood and brushed dust off his hands. "More than usual."

"Is it because we were late with the offering?"

"More likely because of the nomad you saved from the spider."

"What?"

"Come with me and keep your mouth shut."

Reece followed Dad down the hill to the meeting rock.

Several dozen mounted nomads crested the opposite hill and stopped.

A single bug with two riders broke away from the rest and descended to meet them. They reached the rock first and dismounted.

Dad put up his hand in silent greeting. The rider, Senjab, did the same. His smaller passanger stood behind him to the side, her head bowed and face covered with a veil.

"Is all well?" Dad asked.

"All is not well." Senjab pointed at Reece. "Your son touched my daughter." He motioned back toward the girl behind him.

"Dad, I didn't--"

Dad put up his finger.

Reece shut his mouth, bit his lip, and breathed hard through his nose. Why did he stop to help a nomad?

"This is a serious charge." Dad spoke loud over the wind but remained calm.

"Sanja has become a shame to her people and must be cast from us."

Sanja, so that was her name, the little liar. She stood, head bowed and speechless. The wind whipped her garments about her.

"What can be done to resolve this?" Dad clasped his hands behind his back, stepped back with one foot, and turned so that he didn't face Senjab square on but at an angle.

"She must join your people through marriage to your son."

Reece's lip escaped his teeth. "Dad!"

Dad held up his finger again and gave Reece a sharp look.

Reece put his hands on his head and turned his back to them. Stupid Nomads and their stupid, stupid laws. He should have left her to be spider food. An immediate sinking feeling hit as his insides rejected the thought. He took a deep breath. He had done the right thing and could have done nothing else. He would rather face the consequences of doing a good deed than disappoint the One who loves all.

Dad said in his even tone, "Will you receive our gift and may we continue to mine Mt. Olympus?"

"Things between us will not change if you also take Sanja because your son has shamed her."

Reece turned back around and stared at Senjab. Were the streamed accusations really necessary?

Senjab ignored Reece's glare.

Dad nodded once. "We will take Sanja to live with us."

"Then it is done." Senjab gave a shallow bow.

Dad handed Senjab the pouch of cut diamonds.

Senjab mounted his bug and rode away, never looking back at the daughter he left behind like camp debris. Sanja gave no visible sign that she had been discarded by her father. She stood rigid against the wind, all expression hidden by her veil. Maybe her people falsely accused her like they did Reece.

"Sanja." Dad's voice was gentle towards the girl, even over the fierce wind. "Come with us." He turned and walked back to their multirider.

Reece walked along side his father still needing to make his case, not just for himself, but for the thrown-away, little girl that followed them. "Dad, I didn't touch her. Nor did she touch me."

"We will discuss this later." Dad didn't scold, but his words were firm. "Right now we have to get out of this wind."

Dangerous Jobs

by Kaye Jeffreys -

"Are you hungry?" Dad stood in the door of Brett's sleep cubicle. "Gordy made chicory millet soup, good for lung health."

Brett propped himself up, "It smells good. Bless Gordy."

"You can eat a little?" Dad handed Brett the metal bowl.

The soup still steamed in the warm bowl. "Food is starting to sound good."

"You gave us all a scare." Dad sat down next to Brett's bed.

The savory broth and wild vegetables tasted good and went down smooth.

Dad stroked his chin. "Kellie doesn't look like she's taking it well. She looks worse than you do."

"She told me she's not burying another husband. I'm not allowed to die before her." Brett saluted like he was an Enforcer.

Dad saluted back, showing his white teeth in a mirthful smile. "Like we have that much control."

"I told her that I'd be ready to go up to the Rims soon."

"The Clinic lady said it would take time."

"Don't listen to Lessie. She's from undersea and doesn't know how things work up here." Brett shook his head as he remembered the scolding he got from Lessie in the circuit office.

Dad leaned forward. "This time I'm listening."

"But Madame Bleu was showing off for us. Did you see the fountain she shot up?" Brett spread his fingers and reached for the roof of his sleeper. "She was telling us to come visit her next, that we wouldn't be sorry if we did."

"We aren't cleared to go back up yet." Dad crossed his arms and leaned back.

Brett suspended his spoon in front of his mouth. "That's right, the offering."

"Tomorrow, Reece and I will send up a flare and meet with them."

"What if they don't accept it?"

"Then we will go back to what our ancestors did."

"Hunt?" Brett's stomach became queasy. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Playing Rim Roulette isn't dangerous?"

"It doesn't seem as dangerous as prospecting." Brett set the bowl of soup on the shelf next to his bed. He could no longer eat with the sour feeling in his gut. "Reece got in some good practice the other day with that spider."

Dad took a deep breath and covered his eyes as though he didn't want to see something. "Reece got lucky. He saw the spider first."

Equipment Malfunction

by Kaye Jeffreys -

Reece scratched at the porous rock with his pick ax near the top of Red Rim. He took a deep breath through his gas mask then let the air weeze out through the valves. In the distance Black Rim smoked and rumbled sending vibrations through the entire mountain. Blue Rim spewed molten rock in a plume of red-orange toward the heavens. Reece chipped at the rim stone again. He hated sweating in the oppressive heat just to be skunked. The Lady in Red was being stingy with her jewels.

Brett had to be doing better. He always did better. Older brother, more experienced, more patient with the tedious work of seek and find. He had a way with the Lady. She saved her best diamonds for him.

Reece glanced over at his brother.

Brett knelt on one knee and grasping his mask.

"Brett?" Reece called through the comlink.

His brother didn't answer.

Beyond Brett, Dad stood up and surveyed the work area. Venting volcanic gases warped the view and caused static in the link. "All teams in." Stisttt, "We have a malfunction."

Reece attatched his pick to his belt and climb over the jagged rocks toward his brother. Dad came from the other direction.

Brett slumped as they approached. Dad and Reece hoisted his arms over their shoulders and carried Brett away from the rim. They crunched brittle rock and stirred ash as they selected stable footing away from the noxious gases.

"We have to get him off this mountain, fast," Dad said calmly to the entire team. And then, "Rose, you'll get to the multirider before the rest of us. Fire her up. We gotta get to First Aid," stistt, "maybe have to transport to Last Stop."

Reece adjusted his hold on Brett. "What about the offering?"

"We will bring it back later." Dad's breath labored through his mask.

"Should I break off and take it to them alone?"

"Absolutely not. Brett's health is number one priority. We will deal with the offering when we know he is safe."

Or dead, the thought popped into Reece's mind as the floor of his stomach dropped away. He pushed the thought away and continued distracting himself with, "Will the Nomads accept it later?"

"We will deal with that when the time comes. Keep focused on getting Brett to safety."

The Spider in the Chaparral

by Kaye Jeffreys -

Traces of web hung from a branch of one of the trees. Reece stopped his one-rider at a safe distance and searched the small island of grey-green trees in the sea of yellow-grey grasses. Rose won't be happy that a spider has moved into one of her nature projects. He'd come back later with others from the mining camp to flush it out. No one takes on a spider alone.

A cry drifted on the wind from the other side of the chaparral.

Reece unholstered his rifle and made a wide circle around the growth of trees searching it and the rippling grass. There was movement in the shadows of the low hanging branches. Spindly legs of a large spider pulled a rope of a web into the chaparral.

Thirty feet away someone fought, unseen, except for the violent shaking of grass around her.

Weren't lassoing spiders extinct? Yet one methodically hauled in its prey from the cover of the trees.

Reece climbed off his one-rider, counting on the hope that the spider could only lasso one prey at a time. He propped his rifle against his vehicle and located the scythegun under the seat. He pulled it out and fumbled at the switches. He fought to hold the cumbersome thing steady in his trembling fingers.

Slow down and do this right. He forced a steady aim.

The spider hesitated, recalculating.

Reece fired. The scythegun cracked.

A shriek ripped the air.

Then all noise and movement in the chaparral stopped except for the leaves manipulated by the wind.

Reece aimed again at the motionless spider, and waited. He listened with ears deafened by the gun's crack and spider's shriek. The wind shifted and increased though it sounded muffled in comparison to the pounding of his heart.

#

Collapsed in the beaten down grasses, the nomad didn't stir except for her exhausted breathing.

Reece took a step back and searched the horizon for other nomads. There were none. Very strange. He had to decide if he should help her and break one of their laws or walk away and avoid trouble. So far he knew that you don't touch them, you don't talk to them, and you aren't ever supposed to look at their females. He searched the horizon again expecting to see riders pour over the hills any second. Only wind disturbed the grass.

The webbing wrapped around the girl's ankle had rubbed it raw and bleeding. He could not walk away when a Higher Law compelled him to help.

Never looking directly at her, Reece used an old rag to protect his hand as he grasped the sticky web. He sawed through it with his knife a full two feet away from her foot. Then he stepped back.

She crawled then rose to her feet and limped away through the waves of grasses. Picking up speed to a shakey run, she disappeared over a hill never looking back.

"You're welcome." Wind whipped his words away to parts unknown.

What did he expect? A handshake, a thank you, eye contact?

Reece climbed onto his one-rider and started it up. He had to tell the others that lassoing spiders were not as extinct as they thought.