Itsy Bitsy

by Kaye Jeffreys -

The summer night was not unbearably warm, thought Jereth. Although the extremes in temperature were the hardest thing for him to get used to on the surface of Eclectia, tonight when he sat down to relax he eventually stopped perspiring. He settled back into a surprisingly comfortable, collapsible chair. Next to him, Uncle Logan sat in a swinging chair that hung from a beam supported by two sheltered wagons. It was the only one they had and the favorite seat in the circle. Logan had the honor of sitting in it now as he swung his sleeping granddaughter on his lap. Someone absently strummed a rickety stringed instrument nearby.

The sound of grit blasting the metal sheets over Jereth's head was deafening in comparison to the rattling of the circuit office window back in Woodless Valley somewhere near civilization. But after a few days it had become background noise to the activity of Apollo Unit's circle while they waited out the storm.

Kellie approached and reached for the child on Logan's lap.

"She's fine here." Uncle Logan smiled.

"Rose is going to tell Itsy Bitsy. I want my baby sleeping in her cubicle before the story starts."

Logan grimaced and handed the little girl off to her mother.

Rose approached the tack box, stepped up, and faced the small congregation of people with her eyes closed. Her somber face, bare arms, and coarsely woven shirt reflected the flickering orange and black patterns of a nearby oil lamp. The stringed instrument fell silent. Rose took a deep breath then opened her eyes wide and recited in a steady voice.

"Long ago

Near the time of the beginning

Darkness came

The angels stopped singing

What is this

The time of gleaning?

Where to go

Away from this stinging?"

Then Rose relaxed and took on her storytelling stance. She glanced around the circle, making eye contact with a few of her listeners.

"Eclectia sat upon her orbit, warm and firm. The early colonists saw her beauty and they settled there singing, 'Arise, Avenir Eclectia. Be strong, Avenir Eclectia. Stand firm, Eclectia, live on, Avenir Eclectia." Rose raised her arms even with her shoulders as she sung and smiled promise and hope.

"But then, the mountains erupted." She threw up her arms over her head. "And the big bugs marched." She marched in place on her box. "And they knew with all of her beauty Eclectia was a dangerous place for men." Anyone else marching on a metal box would look silly. But somehow, in storytelling mode, Rose could pull it off.

Rose stood still again and looked straight ahead. "But there was no greater danger than..."

She crouched down, got a wild look in her eye, put her hand out in front of her, and wiggled her fingers like a bug.

"A gnat, a mite,

a tiny spider,

took to flight

and sat down beside her."

Rose stood up again into her casual story mode. "Merreth Morrett and wife Sara led their family out into the waste. They had gear, they had supplies, and they intended to stake a claim. 'Arise, be strong, stand firm, live on,' they chanted from Merreth down to his youngest child, baby Jayne. They chanted with hope and promise as they steered their land rover out into the swirly grit."

Rose clasped her hands together. "There was a pond in a valley fed by a spring that spouted out of the side of a cliff. More than lavabush grew around the pond. It looked like a garden sheltered from the wind and waste."

Rose looked around her in amazement as though she saw the garden with her own eyes. "This was it. They knew it. Perfect in all things, except..." This time several joined in with her as she crouched and recited:

"A gnat, a mite

a tiny spider

took to flight

and sat down beside her.

"The purity of the water from that plentiful spring amazed the family and they drank their fill. But in the night something attacked baby Jayne. She clawed her skin and cried out in pain because..." more joined in with her.

"A gnat, a mite

a tiny spider

took to flight

and sat down beside her.

"'It was the water,' they said, 'an undetected toxin.' They filtered and purified and comforted little Jayne. But all she could do was cry and say, 'my body, my head, I wish I were dead.' 'Do not speak thus,' her mother Sara soothed. But soon another child cried out in the night, and then another until one by one, all four in agony died, because...

"A gnat, a mite

a tiny spider

took to flight

and sat down beside her."

The hairs on Jereth's neck tingled.

Rose dropped her head into her hands and held it there as she said. "Merreth cradled Jayne in his arms as the skies opened and poured down rain. He shook his fist at the spring-spouting cliff and cursed the day he led his family away from the safety of the colony."

Rose lifted up her head with worry in her eyes. "The safety of the colony." Determination replaced worry. "The safety of the colony.

"And then Merreth knew what he and Sara must do."

Rose turned to look at some unseen person next to her. "We must preserve the colony, Sara. We must save the colonists from this deceptive place, this false garden, this paradise of pain and death."

Rose turned her head the other way to respond to herself, "But what can we do, Merreth, my love? How can we save them?"

Rose turned back, "There is only one way. We must destroy it all, bury it all and leave no trace."

Rose looked back at her listeners. "They guided the land rover to the base of the cliff. They clawed their skin and cried out in pain out in the torrential rain as they rewired their machine. They kissed one another and sang, 'Arise, be strong, stand firm, live on, Avenir Eclectia... live on and on...'

"Merreth touched off the wires and the explosion could be seen for a hundred miles. The cliff and the spring collapsed on the pond and the garden. And the colony was safe, the tiny mite was stopped.

"Or was it?"

Then Rose stiffened and made her eyes wide as she tipped her head back and looked down on Apollo Unit. She quavered her voice as she slowly sang,

"Itsy bitsy spider

went up the water spout

down came the rain

and washed the spider out

Out came the sun

and dried up all the rain

and Itsy Bitsy spider

climbed up the spout again."

The hair on the back of Jereth's head felt like electricity. He turned to Logan and asked, "Where is Itsy Bitsy and this garden buried?"

Logan bore into Jereth with his eyes, "Don't believe this story. There is no such thing as Itsy Bitsy. It was made up by the people on Avenir to scare us away from striking out on our own and to keep us from scattering seeds."

Jereth sat back into his chair, rubbed the back of his neck to coax his hair flat again, and worked to convince himself that there was no such thing as Itsy Bitsy.

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.

Last Stop

by Kaye Jeffreys

Logan came up out of his chair and leaned heavy over Tuskagin's metal desk. "Are you trying to cheat me?"

"No, no. It is a fair price." Tuskagin backed his chair against the wall.

"You think I started hunting diamonds yesterday? Give them back. I'll take them to Sring Plant Valley where they will pay me what they are worth."

"You know the market fluctuates, Logan."

"It's your devotion to drink that makes you think you can rob me. Your father would be ashamed to see you. Now there was a fair man, God rest his soul." Logan fisted his hand over his heart as a sign of respect.

"All right, I'll give you what you ask." Tuskagin counted out credits. "You will ruin me."

#

Reece walked at Logan's elbow down the street. "Dad, I never heard you talk to Tuskagin like that before."

"He pushed me too far. You must never let the assayers take advantage of you. It's a matter of survival."

Reece nodded his agreement then whispered, "You see the guy following us?"

Logan didn't look back, he'd already seen him. "This is turning into a really bad day."

"Do you think he's from Avenir?"

"He's too tall to be from around here. His clothes are too new. He's probably some station-slicker con man who thinks he has found an easy target in a couple of outlanders."

"Hide out in the alley?"

"Yeah, we’ll give him a surprise."

#

The two miners turned into an alley.

Jereth picked up his step. What he would say when he caught up with them, he didn't know. He just couldn't lose them. Not now.

Jereth made it to the corner and turned.

One of the miners grabbed his jacket, pushed him up against the wall and glared up into Jereth's eyes. "What do you want?"

"I'm... I'm looking for the miners."

"Well, you found them." The man held Jereth against the wall with compacted strength. As he studied Jereth he brought his eyebrows together. "Who are you?"

"Jereth Davis, sir. My mother  was..."

"Deirdre..." The miner's expression softened and he looked through Jereth to a far away place.

"Yes, Deirdre..." Jereth thought he better talk fast. "She was Deirdre Lewis from The Miners of the Five Rims. That's who you are, right? The Miners of the Five Rims?"

Sterness returned to the man's face. "Did your father send you?"

"He doesn't know I'm here."

The miner smiled, released Jereth's jacket, and stepped back. "Doesn't know you're here?"

"At least he didn't know when I left. Who knows what he knows now?" Jereth smoothed out his jacket.

"Well, Jereth Davis, my sister's son, welcome home. We've been watching for you."

Don't Play Nice

by Kaye Jeffreys

Penny knocked on Kinsee's door and steadied herself.

The door opened and a friendly looking woman peered out.

"Hi, I'm looking for my friend, Jereth." Penny worked hard to follow the script closely. "He said he might be here."

"Jereth? No. He's not here. He went landside over a week ago."

"Landside?" That wasn't part of the script she'd have to improvise. "What's he doing landside?"

The woman laughed. "That's a good question. He doesn't belong landside, now, does he."

"Where did he go, landside, I mean." Penny shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I'm not sure where he is right now. I haven't heard from them in a few days. An earthquake knocked out communications."

"They? Who is he with?"

"With my daughter and her aid team. They had to go back toward some mountain range to check up on an independent miner."

"No communication, though. How will you get hold of them?"

"They will contact me when things are back up. Do you want me to take your name and contact info and give it to them?"

"No." When the lady started asking questions about her, it was time to go. "No. I'll try back later. Thanks."

#

Penny ran to the Benji Frank store. Gus leaned by the door waiting for her. "Well?"

"I got something." She was out of breath.

"Take it easy. We've got time." He chewed his toothpick.

Penny nodded and waited a few minutes to catch her breath. "He went landside, aid work."

"Landside?"

"That's what she said."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It's all I could get."

"It's more than anyone else could get." Gus smiled at her great big. "It's better than nothing, right? And the boss is getting tired of nothing."

 "Do you have anything else for me to do?"

"No, go on home. I'll take it from here."

"But we need the money and I want to help."

"If I need help, I'll call you. Otherwise stay away from me when I'm working. The people I work for don't play nice."

Loose End

by Kaye Jeffreys

The bustle of the circuit office in Spring Plant Valley had died down for the night. Jereth sat in the darkened office alone. The closer they got to Last Stop the less ready he was to face whatever he found there. Soon it would be time to jump. He hoped there was a place to land.

The light flicked on. Carter stood in the door. An expression of confused disdain played his face. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"Just thinking."

"Are you packed for tomorrow?"

Jereth nodded.

"Then go to bed."

"We need to talk."

"About what."

"I think Lessie is onto me."

"Lessie? Onto you?" Disdain won out over confusion. "We are all onto you. We all know that you are using us to burn your old man and prove to him that he can't control you."

Jereth resisted the urge to defend himself. It would just prolong Carter's tirade. Better to let him run out of fuel.

"You are a user and you will never be anything else. Why Lessie and Kinsee put up with you, I'll never understand." Carter dropped into a chair by the door. Fortunately, Carter ran out of fuel quickly.

"Now that you've had your say, listen to me."

Carter put up his hands like he didn't care.

"I don't want Lessie to worry."

"Worry about what?"

"If I were to disappear suddenly, it would upset her. But I don't want to warn her before I go because she'll question me to death. You know Lessie."

"Disappear? What are you talking about?"

"I have a connection to make."

"What connection? There is nothing out here but tumble brush and spring weed. Are you coming down with High Country Hysteria?"

"Just promise me, Carter. If I make that connection, you make sure Lessie knows that I'm okay?"

Carter threw up his hands again and looked away.

"If I make that connection, I'll be gone. I'll leave you alone with Lessie once and for all. Promise me you'll talk to her."

Carter shook his head slowly like he didn't understand.

"Talk to her!"

"Okay! I'll talk to her."

Jereth sat back in his chair. Carter was a man of his word even if he gave it begrudgingly. The last loose end was tied up. Still, it didn't steady the uneasiness in Jereth's gut as he prepared to turn away from everything and everyone he had ever known.

Worse Than Ash Lung

by Kaye Jeffreys -

Jereth scraped corrosion off the terminals on Lessie's scope with a wire brush. Wind blasted the windows of the circuit office with a constant shower of ash and grit particles. The glass rattled but held against the onslaught.

Lessie sat down at the table across from him in the service room. "Why are you here?"

Jereth glanced up then focused again on cleaning the innards of her scope. Lessie wore that serious look of hers. He was in for it. She doesn't let go of an issue until her questions are answered.

"Stop ignoring me, Jereth Davis. Why are you here?"

"To help the less fortunate." He blew dust from the prongs and examined them closely.

"Don't lie to me. Your heart is not in this."

"Why are you here?" Jereth scrubbed at the last few deposits of corrosion and blew again.

"Don't change the subject."

He put a new power pack in Lessie's scope and replaced the cover. "Why do you think I'm here?"

Lessie leaned back in her chair. "The Tyrant?"

"Avenir is not big enough for both him and me." Jereth set Lessie's scope down and slid it across the table to her.

She picked it up and looked at it without seeing it. "So why landside? Why not undersea?"

"He has too many connections undersea." Jereth tapped his leg with the wire brush.

"You'd risk Ash Lung and a whole lot of other things rather than deal with your father and his connections?"

Jereth set the wire brush on the table and clasped his hands on his lap to keep from fidgeting. "There is no dealing with my father. Not directly. Not through any of his connections. He's not like your parents."

"I know."

Jereth shook his head. "No, Lessie, you don't know. Because if you knew, if you really understood, you wouldn't ask how dealing with him could be worse than Ash Lung."