REGENIS 4 CHRONICLES (Book1)
Regenis 4 Chronicles
Book 1
Steve Simons
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2009 Steve Simons
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INDEX
Chapter 1 - Welcome Surprises
Chapter 2 - Regenis 4 Night Lights
Chapter 3 – Through The Back Door
Chapter 4 - Its all on the label
Chapter 5 - With Friends Like These
Chapter 6 - Who to Trust
Chapter 7 - An Interesting Place
Chapter 8 - One Down
Chapter 9 – Games Without Fun
Chapter 10 – Where To?
Chapter 11 – Sunrise at the Temples
Chapter 12 – Discoveries and Meetings
Chapter 13 – Suspicions
Chapter 14 – Working Things Out
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Chapter 1 - Welcome Surprises
The two moons of Regenis 4 were still visible, their silvery light streaming through the small window in the food preparation area of the Glaceon's dwelling. The silvery light was gradually being tinged by the orange and red hues of the sun as it was just peeping above the horizon.
A heated discussion was taking place in the food preparation area. Edward and Maria were discussing their eldest son's birthday present. Edward in his mid-fifties, didn't feel his age despite the put downs he received from his sons, was arguing his case as to why he bought his eldest son such a dangerous and adventurous present, without consulting his wife Maria, who was ten years younger, yet the way she talked sometimes you'd have thought she was the older of the two of them. Maria was not only annoyed that Edward had bought such such an irresponsible gift, but that he had not discussed it beforehand, every year before this, they had discussed and agreed what they were going to get their sons for their birthday, before actually getting it,. Edward knew that Maria would not have agreed to get the present that he had brought for Ed. He knew the very arguments that Maria was using now, would have stood in his way. As Ed was 18, Edward had been determined to get his son a really special present to reward him for all his study and hard work at the academy, at the same time it would give Ed a sense of independence that Edward had wished he'd had at 18.
Maria told Edward that the present was impractical and dangerous and that he'd never forgive himself if Ed killed himself. Edward referred Maria to Ed's academy reports and pointed out that he was an excellent pilot and his navigational skills were second to none. Maria said that the present was too fast and totally impractical. Ed wouldn't be able to carry anything on it. He'd be tempted to speed around and ram himself into the rocks. Edward decided to put his foot down by saying that the deed had been done and they could only see how Ed gets on with it.
Maria, determined to have the last word on the matter, said that Edward could be the one that takes the call from E-services when they inform the family that Ed has broken his limbs or worse.
Edward calls an end to the discussion by pointing out that Ed was on his way to the food preparation room.
The door opened and sure enough in walked Ed, he was as tall as his dad and had the same light hair colour, but his facial features were much more like his Mother's. In a sleepy manner, yet still with some enthusiasm in his voice he greeted his parents with his usual "Sub Zero both, any Tastiday left?"
Maria told Ed that she had bought a fresh "cart" yesterday. Then she wished Ed a happy birthday, and handed him an e-screen, announcing that his EB-Cards were on it.
Edward remarked that he couldn't figure out why they still called them "cards".
Ed, enjoying the opportunity, rebuked his father and told him not to be such a "Stuffer Duffer".
Maria, whilst used to their banter and continual put downs, was never comfortable about it and saw it as her duty to smooth things out, so she was glad of an opportunity to interrupt things as she handed over the bowl of breakfast cereal and said, "Here are your Tastiday Ed".
Edward asked Ed if he could get the weed waster out of the equipment store when he'd finished his breakfast. Ed said he'd do it, but protested that he would not use it, as last time he burned his feet.
Edward ribbed Ed by saying, "Just how big do they have to paint the arrows on it? What do you expect if you point the darned thing the wrong way round then turn it on?"
Ed replied that he can't help it if he's blind as well as stupid.
Edward said, "Excuses, excuses, always excuses."
Maria encouraged them to hush up and for Ed to eat his breakfast.
Ed said, "OK, OK, Fetch bot refuelling."
Fetch bot was Ed's nickname for himself whenever he was given fetching and errand type tasks. Edward smiled, if there was one thing that he appreciate about his eldest son, it was his sense of humour. Edward could get to a situation where he was really annoyed about something that Ed had or come to that had not done and be really fuming about it. Then along would come Ed and with a quick one liner Ed would completely defuse the situation. Ed seemed on the surface to have a devil may care attitude, yet he was in reality really conscientious. He just didn't show it outwardly, it would seem as if a problem didn't really matter, yet he'd come up with a well thought out solution. Edward also noted that Ed was a born leader, he had the ability to get others enthusiastic about whatever needed to be done and could, it seemed, effortlessly pass out tasks and they would be done. It was almost as if Ed had hypnotic powers, a kind of personal magnetism.
Ed then remarked, "Quick Mum get some more breakfast, Dad has contracted Cheshire Cat syndrome."
Edward looked around for something safe to throw at Ed and settled on a globe root, left over from last nights meal. He skilfully threw it straight at Ed's right ear, striking it's target straight away.
Ed responded with, "Fetch bot has suffered memory loss, task stack now empty.
Edward said, "Job stack open, push, travel to equipment store, open, retrieve weed waster, close store, leave weed waster in dangerous place on path and disappear. Close job stack and execute job stack."
At one time, in his many faceted life, Edward was a systems programmer. So he had often resorted back to such language, Ed and Paul enjoyed this banter, after all they had grown up with it and it made life a bit more interesting trying to interpret what really they had to do. After all it beat being asked to "Ed please fetch the weed waster".
Ed laughed and asked why the weed waster should be left in a dangerous place on the path. Edward replied that this was Ed's usual behaviour.
Maria interjected a protest of "Boys!"
Ed responded, "OK Mum, Fetch bot refuelled, executing job stack."
Just then Paul, Ed's younger brother, only by two years, entered the food preparation area. Paul had black hair just like Maria's, his facial features were a cross between Edward's and Maria's. He was about 4 centimetres shorter than Ed. Paul was much "quieter" than Ed, in that he merged more into the background, he seemed more studious, quite content to spend hours on Galcomnet (similar to today's internet), whereas Ed was more content to be in a group of mates having a laugh and a joke about the latest vid (film or video clip) that had hit the GN (Galcomnet).
Paul seemed to be much more awake and with it, as he greeted Ed with, "Sub-Zero and happy BD by the way. The SC given you anything worthwhile for me to borrow?"
SC was the nickname youngsters on Regenis 4 used when referring to their parents. SC meant supporters club.
Ed responded with, "Fetch bot gotta do errand as MTSCM got don't want to do it myself syndrome."
Paul asked, "MTSCM what on R4 is that?"
Ed replied, "Male Type SC Member."
Paul encouraged Ed with, "Oh I see. Fetch bot better get on with it as I'm dying to see what hand me down or borrow it, I'm getting."
"Who's BD is it?" replied Ed.
"Why its your BD Ed, but you know I just love to benefit too.", answered Paul.
Paul was quite right, he nearly always ended up borrowing Ed's birthday presents, or if it was that great, he'd have to wait until Ed tired of it, then Ed would get the item as a hand me down. Ed left to carry out his errand.
Paul asked his Mum what was for "Munchies". Maria asked if he wants some Tastiday.
Paul responded, "What low carb rubbish? Give me full fat any day."
Maria replied, "I haven't got full English, got to order more supplies today.”
Paul disappointedly said, "No FFE, OK I'll skip munchies and see if Fetch bot has lasered off his foot successfully yet."
Quite why it was referred to as Full Fat English breakfast no-one knows, it bears little relation to the cooked breakfasts that originally bore that name, apart from the fact that it had a higher fat content than the modern breakfast options and of course it is cooked. FFE was not very popular, as medical advice favoured lower fat foods as being more healthy. However it was still available as some people liked to eat it as a treat. Paul, whilst knowing all the science behind the medical advice, preferred to buck the current trend as he just liked the taste and the comfortable feeling that such a breakfast gave him.
Paul emerged from the dwelling entrance, into the sunlight, hardly able to believe his eyes. His brother Ed was sitting astride a shiny new Airsleaker.
Paul asked if it was the AS 40 60.
Ed replied, "The very same."
Paul, still disbelieving his eyes, asked, "Why would the male SC buy himself one of those? Is it some sort of mid-life crisis thing? Surely he knows the female of the clan would do her nut."
Ed responded, "It's not for Dad , its for me!"
Paul asked how Ed knew that.
Ed replied, that it was kind of a given away by the gift gift label on the control stix.
Paul, still unable to believe what had happened says, "Blimey how did he get that through the FSC?"
Edward, now standing behind Paul, made him jump by responding, "He didn't, she's still fuming."
Ed responded, "Thanks, its, its....."
Edward finished his sentence with the question, "Got to go back to the manufacturer?"
Ed replied, "No way! It's sub-zero, you're the best MSC ever."
Edward, corrected his son with, "Dad would be better!"
Paul asked Ed when he was going to take the air sleaker for a test run.
Ed replied that he needed to read the manual first. Then he said, "You can come on the test run if you like."
Paul replied, "Does an ant eater turn down the chance of a free ant hill?"
Ed says, "I'll take that as a yes then."
Edward, smiled and said, "Well I'm not even bothering to say anything about safe piloting, if you're taking time out to read the manual."
Ed replied, "Ah but I didn't say which part, I might only be reading the specifications, so I know how much I can get out of this beauty."
~~ Later ~~
Paul objected to having to putting a helmet on, but Ed being safety conscious insisted. Edward walked by them as Ed was doing the final pre-flight checks and jibbed, "You got your hands full there Ed, Paul already giving you grief?"
Ed replied, "These youngsters eh?"
Edward replied, "Enjoy yourselves boys, see you latter."
The boys waved as the air sleaker lifted off and gently eased itself forward. Paul heard Ed ask, "Where to sir?"
Paul replied, "Make it a mystery tour."
"OK, hold on tight!" said Ed. The air sleaker leaned to the right and headed off at speed, looping over the roof of their dwelling, heading off to the distant hills. The speed picked up even further as the engine got more settled.
Paul, almost shouted into Ed's headset, "This is great, no wonder you enjoy this flying stuff."
Ed reminded Paul that the microphones were pretty sensitive on the comms gear. Then pointed out that they would soon be coming up upon the Dekantsi caves and he told Paul to look to the right of the air sleaker.
Sure enough they rose into the air to clear the top of the first hill and the caves could be seen quite clearly below. The Air Sleeker leaned to the left and flew over some larger openings, then approached a large cliff. Ed pulled back the stick to make the air sleaker rise, both boys were rather worried that the sleaker wouldn't rise quickly enough, but it was definitely up to the task and it glided over the top of the cliff effortlessly. They continued on for a short while, rising all the time, so they'd rise over the oncoming hills, then a gorge came into view.
Ed remarked, "This might be interesting to check out the sleaker's steering."
Paul nervously replied, "Just don't get too close to those rocks."
The air sleaker gently dropped down into the gorge, the rocks seemed quite close as the sleaker swung from one side to the other, snaking its way down the gorge, following its wobbly path.
Paul said, "Hey you are good at this piloting thing." It was the first time that Paul had ever travelled with Ed as pilot. The pilots at the academy were not allowed to take other students with them as passengers, only instructors were allowed to accompany the trainees. Yes, Paul had watched his brother a few times, but that was only from the ground and it was difficult to get a true measure of the skill involved from that perspective.
They passed several side shoots, then Ed decided he'd explore one of them. The turn caught Paul by surprise, he nearly fell off, but recovered just-in time.
The new gorge they had entered become ever wider until suddenly the side walls completely dropped away, as did the floor of the gorge. They seemed to be in a massive canyon, with rocks far below them. Ed skirted round the edge of the canyon for a bit, but when they came across nothing of interest, Ed decided they would turn back. When they got back to main run, Ed decided to rise up so they could get an aerial view of the gorge runs and that canyon that they had just been in.
To the surprise of both boys there was no sign of the large canyon, just a large expanse of flat rock. Ed marked his current position on the air sleaker's navigation system, so he could check out a map of the area when they got home.
They scouted around a bit more, took a circular tour over the mines and then headed home.
When they arrived home, they could see that there were two people talking to their Dad.
Ed landed the air sleaker without any fuss. The boys dismounted.
One of the visitors broke away from the little huddle by the dwelling entrance. He was shorter but somewhat larger than Paul, although he was about the same age. He had red hair, so red it looked like a fashion dye that was all the rage some time ago. As best he could, he rushed over to Ed and Paul, exclaiming, "Wow I don't believe it, it can't be, that isn't an AS 40 60?"
"Oh hi, Elcesior, it sure is, Ed is just testing it out for me." replied Paul. He knew Elcesior as they shared some classes at the academy. Elcesior had only recently joined the academy, but the two boys had become friends very quickly.
Ed quickly responded, "Hey clan boy, its mine, you're going to have to wait some years before this baby becomes a hand me down, or a 'Can I borrow it'."
Elcesior remarked that Ed was really lucky to have one of the the most wanted icons of their age, he then remarked that its pulling power far outweighed anything that the academy had.
All heads turned round as they heard a female voice say, "So this is where you're hiding yourself Elcesior. Nice Airsleaker!"
Ed can hardly believe his eyes, there standing before him was the coolest girl he'd ever seen. Her long blond hair gleaming in the sunshine, framing her face and leading Ed's eyes down to her ...... dress which was more stylish than he'd seen in years. The last time he'd seen something this stylish was when they had an unexpected visitor from Yedzion, she had come to see their father. He remembered there had been some tension between Edward and Maria for a few days after the visit. Ed looked back at this girl's face, such large blue eyes, you could almost take a swim in those eyes. He couldn't help but notice her pupils suddenly get larger. He realised that he must be staring at her and turned his attention back to Elcesior, just in time to hear him say, "Oh hi Jenny, yes it's Paul's."
Ed corrected the statement with, "No actually it could only be owned by an ace pilot, I'm Ed by the way, the current owner of said Airsleaker." He nervously looked back at Jenny to see if his bragging had any effect upon her. He was just in time to see her avert her gaze away from him. He could not help but notice the slight change in colouration of her face, it was changing from its beautiful pale to a somewhat redder hue. This time, he could not take his eyes away from Jenny's face, her face was long and slender, although he could see that she was wearing some make-up it was subtle enough that he could see that she was genuinely beautiful. He could not understand the feelings he was experiencing. Before now whenever he saw a girl, he just saw her as yet another friend, but this feeling was considerably different. As Jenny looked back in his direction again, Ed found himself involuntarily looking away again. This was ridiculous, he thought to himself, but he seemed to have no control over his own reactions.
Jenny, still flushed at the cheeks replied in a somewhat embarrassed way, " Oh I've seen you doing your stuff at the academy. I'm Jenny and this horrible specimen is my brother Elcesior."
"Hey steady on", protested Elcesior, "I might be tempted to reveal your faults.
Ed came to Jenny's defence with, "I'm sure that wouldn't take long." His confidence seemed to be returning, thank goodness.
Jenny, embarrassed, looked down at the ground. Not daring to look at Ed. She had admired his confident manner and stunning good looks when she'd seen him at the academy, but never had she dreamed she'd ever be permitted to get this close to him, he always seemed to be surrounded by a throng of admiring hangers on. It almost seemed like he was followed everywhere by his “bodyguards”. Jenny couldn't believe this moment, she cursed the fact that she was struggling to look at him let alone engage in some sort of meaningful conversation. She desperately wanted to say something that would make this meeting stand out and get her noticed, but her brain seemed to have turned to jelly, a stodgy one at that. She was internally beating herself up something rotten trying to think of something witty or important to say. But try as she might, nothing came forward, she couldn't even look at him for any length of time, especially when she sensed that he was looking at her., What was wrong with her, normally she had no trouble at all talking to boys.
Elcesior breaks the moment by remarking, "Haven't you always wanted to ride one of these things Jenny?"
Jenny still embarrassed said, "Yes, but I'm sure Paul, er sorry, Ed has much better things to do with his time."
Paul remarked, "I'm sure Ed would be only too pleased to demonstrate his new toy, he's a very safe and skilful pilot, I can assure you."
By this time both Ed and Jenny feel somewhat backed into a corner, Ed feeling obligated to offer the ride and Jenny to accept the invitation. Whilst they both felt inwardly awkward about the situation, outwardly the transaction was conducted somewhat smoothly. Ed merely said he'd be delighted to take Jenny for a trip on the new Airsleaker. Jenny accepted with, "If you're sure that's alright, after all you've just got it haven't you, so your Dad told us."
Ed, ever the gentleman said, "Be an honour to take you. Just got a few things to check out regards the maps and I can take you shortly. Perhaps you'd like to come in for a drink?"
Paul lead Elcesior and Jenny in and introduced them to his mother. They were soon chatting about how Jenny and Elcesior were settling into their new dwelling. Maria said that she knew that they didn't live far away and wondered when they would meet up, after all Regenis 4 was only a small planet.
Ed called Paul into his room to assist him analyse the maps and the location they had visited. When they had finished, Paul and Ed rejoined their visitors. Ed told his mum that Jenny had always wanted to ride on an air sleaker so he was just going to take her out for a short trip. Maria, ever the curious person asked if Elcesior ever wanted to try one as well. To which Elcesior surprisingly replied that the sudden movements of anything like an air sleaker made him quite sick, so no he'd never really been interested.
Ed and Jenny bid everyone farewell and Maria, just had to tell Ed to be careful and not go too fast or far. Ed felt a bit stupid being told to be careful by his mum, it didn't suit his carefree cool but daredevil pilot image.
Ed tried to make it look as if he hadn't heard his mum and walked down the hallway and out through the door, Jenny followed. As the door was closing Ed heard his mum ask his Dad, "They will be alright won't they Edward?"
Edward just looked at the ceiling as if to say, "Stop worrying woman."
~~~~~~
Chapter 2 - Regenis 4 Night Lights
Ed lifted the seat of the air sleaker and reached into the dedicated compartment that housed the protective clothes,he fished out two all-in-one suits, handed one to Jenny and nervously said, “Just for your.... er....protection... in-case you fall off the... er..... Airsleaker.”
Jenny quietly took the offered package and asked, “Thanks, do I need to take anything off or is it.... er..... worn on top?”
Ed, who was normally a very confident talker, couldn't believe how difficult he was finding this conversation, stumbling over his words and feeling quiet hot, he must be as red as a globe root by now, especially when Jenny mentioned taking things off! What on Regenis 4 was happening to him? Realising that there had been a long embarrassing pause, judging by the appealing look that Jenny was giving him, willing him to answer her question. Ed suddenly took control of himself, mentally he slapped himself round the face, nagging himself to get a grip. He responded with, “Er....No it just slips on top.... of what you are wearing.... it is quite loose fitting....it .....er..... only inflates if we run into trouble. “
Ed couldn't help but just stand and watch as Jenny slipped off her shoes and slipped into her protective gear. He'd seen loads of girls getting into flight gear and hadn't batted an eyelid before, so what was different now? Well Jenny's clothes for starters, those frills on her costume, he'd only seen such stylish clothes on the fashion channel, when his Mum had been watching it once or twice, but this was different with Jenny doing her balancing act before him, the frills emphasising her every movement. Ed was brought back to reality when Jenny stopped her balancing act and asked, “What not putting on your flight suit?”
“Er.... sorry... yes..... I er..... forgot, just seeing if you.... er needed any help.” replied Ed.
“As you can see, I don't.” replied Jenny, with confidence returning to her voice. She'd obviously had enough of Ed's admiring looks. She wanted to get on with the trip and end this moment of embarrassment.
Ed quickly got into his flight suit, the years of practice showed, as he had his suit fastened and it was adjusting itself, whilst Jenny was still tying to figure out how to fasten hers. Ed was tempted to reach out and help her, but then thought better of it, his motives may have been mis-interpreted. Instead he reached into the air sleaker again and plucked out two helmets, that looked more like a pair of cubes. Ed flicked his left wrist and the helmet immediately took on the more recognisable helmet shape.
Ed found himself staring again, after he'd handed Jenny her helmet and she took it. He watched as she pushed her long blonde, now gleaming hair up into the helmet. Ed noticed that Jenny had not fastened her suit properly, he was worried that it would not inflate properly. He found himself standing before Jenny reaching out to her suit, stopped himself just before his hands actually made contact and felt he should explain his actions, “Your suit is not exactly fastened properly, can I.... er.... re-fasten it for you?” He paused as he waited for permission to proceed.
Jenny was looking at his hands as if hypnotised by them, Ed patiently waited for her to catch up with the situation. When she did, he could see that her face had flushed quite red, it made him quickly withdraw his hands. Jenny muttered, “Er.... yes of course.... I er.... haven't put one of these..... on before.”
Ed said, “No quite..... it takes a bit of practice. “ Seeing Jenny's somewhat apologetic smile, he felt a strange feeling inside, which bought out a protective streak in him, as if he were dealing with a small helpless child. He gently reached out and carefully pulled the top fastenings of Jenny's suit apart again. There were those frills again. He wanted to pull the suit further apart to see more of them again, but he resisted the temptation. He re-fastened the suit , gently pressing the fasteners home. To have such close contact with Jenny was at the same time heavenly and also highly embarrassing. He quickly stepped back and put on his helmet, then stood astride the Airsleaker, concentrating on mounting it then carrying out his pre-flight checks. Aware that all the time Jenny was watching closely his every move.
Ed finished his checks and gently spoke to Jenny through the headset microphone in his helmet, he said, “OK you can climb aboard now. There was a moment's pause, then he felt the craft drop ever so slightly as Jenny alighted the rear seat. He had to concentrate hard, to clear his imagination of the sight of Jenny. Ed spoke again, asking, "Well we're all ready to go, are you OK?"
"As ready as I'll ever be", replied Jenny.
The take off was as smooth as silk, they could only just discern that they were rising high above the ground.
As Ed engaged forward thrust and the craft gently eased forward, he suddenly felt Jenny lean in towards him and she gently eased her arms around his waist. Ed had a soft gooey feeling in the pit of his stomach, he knew he was going to enjoy this flight. Ed gently swung the air sleaker round the dwelling, to the right not daring to repeat the moves he'd made earlier in the day when his brother Paul was riding with him, when he had made the air sleaker rise straight over the roof of the dwelling. He headed towards the same light orange hills in the distance that he and Paul had visited earlier. The further they travelled, the more Ed eased the throttle forward, but the acceleration was so gentle, that Jenny had no idea of the speed that they were travelling, until she looked towards the ground.
"This is fantastic!" she almost shouted into the microphone.
"OK, OK, no need to deafen me", said Ed, "These microphones are pretty sensitive you know."
Jenny apologised, then concentrated, on the ever changing colours of hills that were rapidly approaching now. The colours were changing as their angle of approach changed and as the sun was slowly sinking, something apparently to do with the gasses in the atmosphere. The rock composition was also changing as they got closer.
As Ed felt Jenny's grip around his waist change from a somewhat fearful grip into a more relaxed clasp, he felt his confidence returning, he took the air sleaker down closer to the ground as a group of rocks came into view, "I'll take us through these rocks, there's some quite spectacular caves amongst them, Paul and I checked them out earlier today." Gone was the stuttering of his earlier exchanges with Jenny.
"OK, not too close though, we don't want to crash." said Jenny with a small element of fear in her voice.
"Trust me I'm an ace pilot remember. I never take chances with my craft or my precious cargo." replied Ed.
Jenny's confidence must have also returned as she gently ribbed Ed with, "Oh I'm cargo now am I?"
"Only of the most precious sort." Ed said, enjoying the banter.
"I see what you mean by the spectacular caves. I wonder if there are any animals sheltering in the caves?" wondered Jenny.
"Why are you snackish?” ribbed Ed.
“Certainly not!” replied Jenny sounding quite disgusted by the suggestion.
“Well I for one am not proposing we crash land to find out whether the caves are occupied or not. Those rocks might seem pretty smooth, but they are treacherous." replied Ed.
The air sleaker changed direction and descended a few more feet and they caught sight of even bigger and more spectacular caves, now well lit by the ever sinking sun. There were a myriad of colours emerging from the cave mouths as the sunlight caught the different rock types. The air sleaker changed direction again and started to ascend, quite steeply. As Jenny looked the other side of the craft she saw why Ed was taking this course of action, there was a steep cliff rising before them. Her grip on Ed's waist tightened again, but he didn't mind, in fact it made him feel needed and brought them closer together in the shared thrill of the air sleaker ride as they rose into the air at such a rate.
Jenny, not knowing the capabilities of the Airsleaker, had the fear that it would give out before the summit of the cliff was reached. However, the air sleaker rode effortlessly over the top edge of the cliff and its flight path evened out quite quickly. To the right the large sun could be seen touching the horizon and to the left, the first of the two moons could be seen edging its way above the horizon.
Ed headed the air sleaker to the main area of the hills, it took a few minutes to reach the first edge of the rocks, but as soon as they were below the craft, Jenny could see that they were making fair speed as the rocks sped below them. Her confidence returned again and she eased up her grip on Ed.
A large gorge appeared before them and Ed headed straight for it. He eased the craft between the rocks and as the gorge turned to the right, Ed followed its path skilfully keeping the craft exactly in the middle of the gully, maintaining an even height. There were steep turns to right and left, with further gully's leading off on both sides. As Jenny looked down these, she could see that most did not lead far, others seemed to snake deeper into the rocks.
Jenny asked Ed a question, which took him by surprise at first, as he was concentrating on piloting the craft and had not expected to hear Jenny's voice. He had to ask her to repeat the question. She asked how he was managing to navigate his way so skilfully through the gully.
Ed replied, that he had uploaded a detailed map to the air sleaker that morning and was flying using a combination of the map and the surround-a-readings that the Airsleaker's own navigational system was giving him, that combined with his own observations, made the navigation relatively easy.
Jenny thought, rather you than me, it may seem easy to Ed with all his experience of flying, but she would hate to try herself, although she knew there were some ace female trainee pilots at the academy, who would probably be equal to, or even surpass Ed's skills. Jenny's specialism lay in her artistic ability. She had the ability to observe a scene in nature and translate that into a design for clothing or dwelling panels. Back on her home planet she had won several awards for her designs, in fact one of her designs could be periodically seen on the master wall of the entrance lobby to the main administration construct, quite a feat considering she was only 13 when she submitted the design.
The air sleaker ascended at a tremendous rate, far above the gorge that they had been travelling through. Jenny looked back and could see how windy the gully had been and also how far they had travelled. The air sleaker descended rapidly again back into the gorge. As they went down Jenny could see that the next sections of the gorge were even more treacherous.
Jenny nervously asked, "Shouldn't we be heading back now?"
Ed replied, "Yes in a few minutes, I just wanted to show you something that Paul and I saw earlier today, it is quite spectacular."
They had descended back into the gorge and had followed the gorge's path from right to left and back right again, then suddenly without warning the air sleaker turned down a side path.
"Did you mean to do that?" asked Jenny nervously.
"Of course." replied Ed
Again the air sleaker followed closely the path of this new gorge. As they progressed down it, the walls were retreating and the gorge becoming ever wider until suddenly the side walls completely dropped away, as did the floor of the gorge. They were in the same massive canyon, that Ed and Paul had visited earlier. The air sleaker came to an easy halt.
"See what I mean?" asked Ed.
"That is fantastic." said Jenny absolutely astounded at the size of the canyon. She was wishing he'd bought her e-pad, then she would have been able to take some photos and done some sketches. She asked, "How come we did not see this canyon when we were far above the gorge?"
"Good question!" exclaimed Ed, "I wondered the same myself when Paul and I saw it this afternoon. I did a bit of research when I got home and found it hasn't been mapped and even the Airsleaker's measurement system failed to detect it, there must be some form of cloaking effect at play.“
Just then both Ed and Jenny saw lights off to the right of the canyon, quite far off, but distinctly visible.
They both exclaimed,"Hey what's that over there!"
Ed suggested that they take a closer look.
It took a quite a few minutes to get nearer to the area where the lights had appeared, they could now make out a series of temporary structures, the lights were quite clearly visible. Ed took some photos and readings using the on-board equipment of the Airsleaker. But when he checked the results, there was nothing recorded. He thought this very strange, so reached into the arm of his jacket and pulled out his e-reader, switched modes to writing and recorded the colours and shapes he had observed. When he played back his notes, all was OK.
Ed reassured Jenny, with, "I think we've spent enough time here, lets get back home."
Jenny was rather concerned that it would be too dark to be able to get safely home, but Ed assured her that the air sleaker had excellent night navicon and lighting systems. There would be nothing to worry about.
Ed turned the air sleaker around and headed back the way they had come. Soon they were back into the main gorge and Ed eased the air sleaker upwards to escape the gorge, then headed the craft back in a homeward direction.
By this time the last rays of the sun were about to disappear below the horizon and the two silvery moons were quite high in the early night sky. The light was quite eerie as the orange and silvery rays melted together, fighting with each other to light up the rocks. On some their orange features were clearly picked out, whilst others were little more than in semi shadow.
The air sleaker was making good speed and passed over the outlying group of rocks. The home dwellings could just be made out, almost touching the horizon. They looked temptingly near, yet far enough away; that it left Ed and Jenny, feeling they would never make it home, yet as time passed by, the dwellings, ever faster sneaked up upon them.
Jenny exclaimed that she was going to be in some trouble for getting back so late, her Father liked her to be in before sunset normally.
Ed said that he'd go straight to Jenny's dwelling first to ensure she got home safely.
Soon Ed was retrieving Jenny's safety gear and bidding her good night. They paused, both looking into each other's eyes as if a secret communication was taking place, yet in reality, they both felt awkward, neither knew what to do next. Ed clumsily leaned forward and pecked Jenny on the cheek, saying, "good night, hope to see you again tomorrow, hope you don't get too much grief from the SCs."
Jenny replied, "SCs?....Oh I know what you mean..... only have a Father, our Mother died a few years back."
Ed said, "Oh sorry to hear that." as if it had just happened.
"Better go" said Jenny.
"Yeah, see you soon." replied Ed, he couldn't help but notice that Jenny had the same red flushed appearance as she had before their flight. Mind you he felt pretty warm himself and wondered what he must look like.
"Hopefully tomorrow." said Jenny wistfully. Then she turned and walked into her dwelling, paused for a moment at the open doorway, looked over her shoulder at Ed as if she were savouring the moment, capturing the memory of what he looked like standing there before her in his flight suit. Ed likewise admiring once again Jenny's stylish costume, emphasising her beautiful figure. As she turned to walk fully into the dwelling and the door gently slid into place, Ed caught sight of Jenny's long gleaming hair again as it flicked around following the movement of her head. How he wished now that he'd kissed her lips rather than her cheek.
As Ed hung around, just in-case there were fireworks, he could not help but reflect upon their adventure and the way that Jenny had clung onto him as they rode the Airsleaker, kept coming back into his mind. It bought that familiar gooey feeling back to his stomach. He longed to see Jenny standing at the door again. Instead, he caught a sight of her at an upstairs window. He could swear he caught the sight of her raise her hand up to her mouth, she seemed to kiss it then held the hand out towards him and she seemed to be blowing. Ed had no doubts that Jenny felt as strongly about him as he did about her. He returned the gesture and mouthed, “everything OK?”
Jenny mouthed back, “Yes..... perfect.” She stood at the window staring down at Ed, whilst he not daring to move, least the magic spell be broken. After what seemed like an eternity, Jenny's image at the window faded as she faded in the LCD light filter. Just as Ed was about to turn and walk over to the Airsleaker, he caught sight of Jenny again as she took one last look at him, before fading in the filter again.
Ed climbed back aboard the Airsleaker, after having stowed Jenny's safety gear, and he made the air sleaker climb back up into the silvery sky and headed off towards the two moons.
~~~~~~
Chapter 3 – Through The Back Door
“Sub-zero Ed,” Paul greeted Ed, then continued, “How did last night go?”
Ed appeared to have not heard the question, but instead asked his own question of, "Where's the SCs this morning then?"
Paul replied, "I think they muttered something about going to the trading station, MSC's weed waster has gone on the faulty spiral, possibly heading towards the recyc plant."
Ed pointed out, "I didn't actually touch the weed waster, I hope he realises that."
Paul replied, "Yeah I think he knows that. Its something to do with the power regulation system, I think he said moisture was to blame, whoever that is."
"Rain or mist, you brain loss clan boy. Wonder where the FSC put the Tastiday?" replied Ed.
"Der, I think she left it on the table ready for you along with a bowl, as she knows you have difficulties with your sight and engaging your brain first thing." Jested Paul.
"Hey look who's talking, Mister I can't find my comter unit, oh it's still attached to yesterday's clothes." replied Ed.
"Hey Mister cranky, just eat your low carb garb and refuel your brain." said Paul.
Despite engaging with the usual banter with his brother, Ed was wondering how Jenny was and whether he'd see her again today. The very thought of Jenny, reminded him of their adventure last night, it bought back the familiar memories of her clinging onto him tightly and their parting, it also reminded Ed of the temporary buildings that they had seen in the secret gorge, which prompted Ed to say, "Paul, you'll never guess what Jenny and I saw last night in that canyon that you and I saw in the afternoon."
"I'm shocked that you took Jenny to our place." mocked Paul.
"Seriously, we saw some form of temporary factory complex. There were coloured lights and gases emerging from it, goodness knows what was going on down there. I tried to take photos and readings but the Airsleaker's kit wouldn't record anything. I ended up taking notes on my e-reader. I wondered if we could do some research on the Galcomnet." asked Ed.
"More like, could I do the research, you're hopeless with the Galcomnet." replied Paul.
"Its too complicated." complained Ed.
"Just stick to your fly boy activities and leave the real brain work to Paul-e-kins." rebuked Paul.
"Lets have breakfast first and retire to your terminal." replied Ed, not rising to the bait.
"OK fly boy, see you shortly, I've already had mine." Said Paul heading towards the door.
"Awe breakfast alone, how I crave for intelligent conversation, but then the FSC has gone shopping, so I'll just have to put up with my own company." replied Ed.
Paul wasn't going to respond, he just slipped through the doorway and disappeared down the corridor.
~~ Later ~~
"OK Ed just give me the interactive glove, I don't want you straying off into areas you won't have a clue how to get out of." said Paul.
Ed replied, "Hey clan boy you have some interesting stuff here about astronomy, never knew you were into this sort of stuff and there's loads on materials science, you're a secret little boffin aren't you?"
Paul said, "Just give me the glove or I'll shut down the terminal."
"OK clan boy, don't get your clothes in a twist, here's your glovey. Oh and here are the notes I took down last night." replied Ed.
Paul took both items, the glove and e-reader. He fired up the e-reader and read through Ed's notes. "Pretty comprehensive notes clan boy, I'm impressed."
"Thanks", replied Ed, "Do you think its enough to find some relevant info on the Galcomnet, so we can find out what is being made in that temporary factory?"
"We'll just have to see what we come up with, I'll do some searches to find what matches I come up with." replied Paul.
"Shall I see what I can find to drink in this place?" Asked Ed.
"Yeah, but don't raid Dad's drinks unit again, you know how hopping mad he was last time." replied Paul.
"As if I'd make that mistake again, anyway I have my own secret supply now." said Ed.
"Wow clan boy I'm impressed. Off you go you little hunter you, I'm going into busy mode now." replied Paul.
Ed headed off through the doorway and said, "I'm in search mode now, clan boy on a mission."
By the time Ed got back with two drinks and nibbles on a tray, Paul had some good news for him.
"Who says you aren't adaptable? Ed does domesticated, I'm impressed. By the way got somewhere with your stuff." reported Paul.
"Help yourself to nibbles and a drink, what have you got for me?" asked Ed placing the tray gently beside the terminal.
"Thanks. The indications are that what is being manufactured is a fairly complex, but a totally illegal and deadly mix of gases. The stuff that's escaping is bad enough to give you a serious headache and sickness for a few weeks." replied Paul as he took the interactive glove off and helped himself to a handful of nibbles and a drink.
"How on Regenis 4 are they getting away with that then?" asked Ed.
"The question is more, why are they doing it, what is their aim and who the heck are they?" replied Paul.
"Good point. If it's so deadly, they must be planning some form of weapon, but for what purpose?
As to who they are, well there are many off worlders who'd love to have control of Regenis 4's resources and wealth, but why manufacture a weapon on the planet where they are likely to be found?" responded Ed.
"Ah but, they don't think they can be found, remember the cloaking? We only stumbled upon their factory because we happened to take that particular path to their area of operations and then we wouldn't have seen it if you hadn't have gone back at night." replied Paul.
"True, but I don't think we're dealing with off-worlders, call it a gut feeling." said Ed.
"It doesn't really matter who they are; they are up to dangerous stuff and now we know we've got to do something to stop them." pointed out Paul.
"A thought just occurred to me, what if it isn't going to be used against the populace of Regenis 4, but against another planet?" asked Ed.
"What you think it could be our own administration?" asked Paul.
"It could be, after all we don't know what is happening on the intergalactic scene do we?" pointed out Ed.
"True, true." agreed Paul, then he offered, "I could search the administration's Secrenet."
"How on Regenis 4 can you do that, it's so secure and locked up with encryption, you'd be detected in a matter of milliseconds." asked Ed.
Paul pointed out, "Every system has a back door and weakness and the Secrenet is no exception. A mate of mine cracked it a few months back and gave me a copy of the routine to get beyond the encryption ring and security hurdles. But I must make sure she's not using her copy as two can't run at the same time, otherwise we'd be detected in the drop of an Apsicon seed. I'll just contact my mate." Paul switched to the visicall screen and called his academy pall. "Hi are you visiting George this morning?" The rather attractive girl on the screen replied that she had no intention of visiting George all day, so Paul could stay all day if he needed to. Paul asked if anyone else was likely to visit. She assured him that he was the only other one with George's address. Paul thanked her and switched back to the Galcomnet. "OK lets go in" he confidently announced.
Ed remarked, “Hey Paul you dark horse you, never told me anything about that little beauty.”
Paul replied, “What Felicity, she's just a mate, she's dating one of those athlete types from another academy.” Then Paul turned his attention to searching the administration's most secret areas.
After about an hours search, Paul announced that he'd been to the "inner heart" of the administration and there was no record of any research or manufacturing projects of weapons or anything even vaguely associated with the boys discovery.
"Well if its not the administration, its either some dissatisfied faction of the Regenis 4 populace who want a greater share of the planet's riches, or its off-worlders. So our next question is who is it and why?" said Ed.
Paul asked, "Shouldn't we tip off the administration as to what is going on under their noses?"
"Oh yes they are going to believe two wild and scary academy students." retorted Ed.
"Hey we're not wild and scary!" protested Paul.
"To them we will be, if we start spreading rumours about the enemy within. We need more to go on before we make any accusations." said Ed.
"We should at least tell the SCs what we've discovered." said Paul.
"No I don't even think we should tell them, Mum will worry about the danger and bound to make a blunder that will alert the administration." replied Ed.
"What do you mean?" asked Paul.
"Well we've only got be back a bit late from somewhere and she'd blab it all out to the administration as to what we'd found. Whereas if she knows nothing, she'd only contact e-services, who will just treat us as just missing." replied Ed.
"Good point." said Paul and continued, "If we're to go back to that plant, we need some seriously effective safety gear."
"Oh yes I forgot about that aspect." replied Ed.
"Come to think of it, I know where I can borrow some seriously good supplies of safety gear, without being detected. However, I'm going to need to involve Elcesior." offered Paul.
"Why Elcesior?" asked Ed.
"Because he is my man with the finger on the gear." replied Paul.
"Do you think he can keep the secret?" asked Ed.
"I'm sure he can, after all his neck would be on the block if his borrowing activities were discovered." said Paul.
"What makes you so sure he will want to get involved in the first place?", asked Ed.
"Let's just say, you don't know everything about me clan boy", pointed out Paul.
"OK point taken, say no more. See what you can arrange OK?" asked Ed.
"Leave it with me." replied Paul.
Just then Edward and Maria came back.
Maria asked, "OK boys? What have you busy doing?"
"Just a bit of surfing, looking for some new tunes and videos." replied Ed.
"What's that on the screen? Looks kind of official?" asked Edward.
Paul suddenly realised, he hadn't signed out of the Secrenet. Quick thinking he said, "Oh its a game that we found on the Galcomnet."
Edward looked quite impressed, "Looks quite realistic."
"How would you know?" asked Paul, forgetting that he was talking to his Dad.
"I used to work for the administration, when we first came to Regenis 4." replied Edward.
"Yes I thought they'd done a really good job too." said Ed coming to his brother's aid.
"Well must get on, I'm helping at the mine this afternoon. Fancy coming with me?" asked Edward.
Paul hurriedly said that he had some academy stuff to do. Whilst Ed had no excuses, so volunteered his services, it was a while since he'd been down the mine in any case, so he was curious how it had progressed.
Maria looked at Edward and Ed and instructed them to both take care, then asked if they wanted any lunch before they went. Edward declined, saying that they'd get something at the canteen as it would be free anyway. Ed added, that it was usually pretty tasty anyway, then realised he'd upset his Mum a bit with that comment.
The three men set off in their various directions.
~~~~~~
Chapter 4 - Its all on the label
Edward and Ed arrived at the mine just in time for a shift change. "Ah well the canteen will be fairly empty, usually only a few of those coming off shift bother to stop for a meal." said Edward.
"More munchies for you and me then Dad." replied Ed.
"I don't believe it, you just called me Dad, I'm going to faint." said Edward, pretending to faint, then he continued, "OK let's sign-in and go straight to the canteen."
After their really tasty meal, they went to the protective gear lockers and suited up, then went down the mine in the express lift.
"Well not much change so far, since I last came down with you." remarked Ed.
"Apparently there is at the cutting edge, they have some new machines that came from Galtoid 3." replied Edward.
The lift stopped and the doors opened, revealing a largish cavern with a shiny see through transport tube to the right.
"Oh how convenient there's a Transvec waiting for us." said Edward and walked in the direction of the open end of the shiny tube.
Sure enough there was a transport vehicle waiting for them. Once they were seated and had fastened their belts, the vehicle gently moved off down the tube, gathering speed as it travelled down the mine. They could see the rock formations and their subtle changes as seams of valuable minerals were revealed, some were pretty large others quite small and insignificant. As the vehicle gained speed, the colour changes seemed almost like disco lights.
After about fifteen minutes the Transvec started to slow down until it eventually came to rest at the other open end of the see through tube.
"Well we have to walk from here, but by the painted symbols on the wall its not far as they've only recently extended the Transvec tube to this point. Now I probably don't need to remind you, but stay close and keep a wary eye out for machines, there are all sorts of servebots around here, some are quite small and its really easy to trip over them, I know I've done it." said Edward.
"OK Dad. Thanks for the reminder." said Ed.
They walked for a bit and encountered several other people carrying out tasks along the route. Most looked up and nodded at them.
"Wow! that is a big beastie!" Exclaimed Ed.
"She sure is impressive, isn't she?" replied Edward and continued, "Our task is to carry out the minor course corrections and ensure the sensitive parts of the machine are kept clear of obstructions."
There were two people already in the control area of the mining machine. Edward gently tapped the shoulder of the tallest of the two. He nodded in acknowledgement of the signal, adjusted some controls, then both of the people in the control area turned around and Ed got a shock as he recognised Jenny's face. He stammered, "Hello Jen... Jenny what are you doing down here?"
Jenny replied, "I could ask you the same, but I can guess the answer, this is my Dad by the way, Dad this is Ed, the one with the new air sleaker and this Ed is Grakeon, my Dad."
Ed, instinctively put out his hand for Grakeon to shake it, but then realised that Grakeon only had one arm, the left one. Ed was about to withdraw his hand, when Grakeon gave it a hearty, yet slightly awkward shake with his left hand. The way in which he skilfully did this indicated that he was used to people not realising that he only had the one arm. Ed heard Grakeon say, "Pleased to meet you", through his headset.
Grakeon seemed to be about the same age as Ed's father, although it was actually difficult to judge someone's age when they were wearing the mine's protective gear. Ed was going more by the lines on Grakeon's face, than anything else. Grakeon had a kindly face. Thinking back to the events of last night when Jenny had said that she was going to be in some trouble for getting back so late and her Father liked her to be in before sunset normally; Ed found it difficult to imagine the man before him getting really cross. Ed felt that even though he didn't know Grakeon, there was something quite likeable about him, whether the feeling would be mutual, Ed was not sure.
Ed introduced his Dad to Grakeon, Edward put out his left hand and the handshake looked a lot more normal, although none-the-less a hearty one. both men were heard to say, pleased to meet you. Then Grakeon showed Edward the controls of the machine, whilst Jenny told Ed what he needed to do, she stood behind him at times and Ed really enjoyed the contact as Jenny reached round him, to point to particular controls. Whilst Ed tried to concentrate on what Jenny was saying, he could not help but drift back in his mind to last night and he found himself again wistfully thinking, “I wish I had kissed those lips of yours,” as he stared into her eyes, appearing to be paying close attention to what she was saying.
Jenny had gone silent as she returned Ed's stare. This time around there was none of the awkwardness of yesterday's earlier encounters. Suddenly both Ed and Jenny were aware that the chatter that they had heard in the background of their own conversation had also died. They looked at their respective fathers and instantly both Ed and Jenny went bright red. Even though they were wearing helmets, their faces were unmistakeably red, deep red.
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