If We Turn To Dust
- Epilogue: Hey Hey, My My -[]
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Exiles Fated to Wander the empty void[]
DCS DRAGON'S PEARL, ZENITH POINT
UNKNOWN SYSTEM
NOVEMBER 6TH, 3039
As it had for years now, Dragon's Pearl wheeled around in an endless circuit at the end of the cable binding it to the Jumpship Dragon's Wing. Kester Hsiun Chi, Warlord, Regent, and Exile, knelt on the mat at the right hand of the child and lord he had raised, to all appearances as indifferent to the discomfort of forcing aged knees into seiza as he was to the dinginess that gathered even here, in the Dragon's very throne room, to the staleness in the air that forced its way into even the most accustomed senses, to the fragile and threadbare patches that marred once-immaculate formal kimono.
Hohiro Kurita took a sip of the chilled water that had replaced tea in their journey and set his cup down, to the right of his own mat.
In obedience to the wordless command, Chi let his gaze focus on one of the several men waiting silently before them. "Chief Engineer Morita," he said.
Morita rose, took three steps forwards, and knelt again, this time pressing his forehead to the long-worn carpet. "Kakka, Heika-sama," he addressed them in turn. "I can only offer whatever apology is required of me. Far Journey cannot be made to jump again by any arts at my command."
Teacher-Regent and Student-Monarch alike accepted that news with dignity and stoicism. Even if on had not demanded that reaction, the engineer's news hardly counted as unexpected. The crippled Monolith-class had been ailing for years.
A sympathetic shift of the Dragon's ki gave his opinion to his mentor, even if no one else present was so skilled at reading him.
"It is understood that there are limits to all mechanisms," Chi said. "And that our spares are exhausted."
Morita bowed again, and said, "And the failed components are specific to that design. We cannot strip them from a lesser vessel." At least not without crippling a ship that was just as badly needed and just as heavily loaded.
"It is, then, time to consider which priorities must be given precedence," Chi said. He inclined his head to one of the three men still waiting behind Morita. "Rearrangement of loading will of course be part of our response, but after the last failure there is little remaining which may be done, correct?"
Ho, senior of the fleet's loadmasters, bowed. "The depletion of consumable supplies will account for some small volume," he said, "and of course there remain spaces used only lightly-"
Mizuhara, the man responsible for the care and health of the human cargo who would build the new realm of the Dragon, was in most respects a controlled and phlegmatic man, but his feud with Ho had years since reached the point where only the explicit and direct orders of their monarch had kept one from murdering the other. Outside of such meetings as the one being carried out, they interacted only through intermediaries. Now, he flushed. "And if you want Drake to have to kill another seven hundred healthy bodies in a fucking rebellion, you can just go right ahead with that. There are limits to human will. The crowding and other conditions we're in are right at the limit of what even the most dedicated can tolerate, and-"
Ho started to talk over him. "Just because you are determined to coddle these-"
"-if we push any further then we will have losses that-"
"-mewling spoiled infants in human flesh-"
Hohiro Kurita frowned, ever so slightly.
"-will be severe enough to jeopa-"
"-is no excuse for interfe-"
Chi slapped one hand down on the table in front of him, a sharp crack that snapped both subordinates out of their rapidly escalating fight. "Enough," he said, softly in the remaining silence.
Ho took a moment to master the obvious urge to keep arguing, a muscle by one eye jumping madly in a face like iron. Mizuhara, still red with fighting spirit, was quicker off the mark; he bowed where he knelt, forehead to the rug again.
"Ho-taisa, perform a final update on your priority listings and begin shifting cargoes," Chi said. "Mizuhara-taisa, prepare an analysis of how long your 'temporary' constrictions can endure, relative to supplies that would be consumed in that time."
"Drake-taisa," Hohiro Kurita added when his Regent fell silent. "Seek from Ho-taisa a listing of the half-dozen individual dropships whose cargoes will be least shifted, and then attach them to our most reliable jumpships. Take a survey of nearby stars for - useful worlds."
Suddenly, the air in the room was glassy with shock. Ten years, and ten thousand light years, of flight from the Inner Sphere, and suddenly the knowledge that at some point they must inevitably stop and settle seemed a frail reed next to the possibility of actually doing so.
"You believe that your sire's conditions have been met, Heika-sama?" Chi asked, not able or willing to openly challenge his student's decision, but knowing that his question would, to his student, be as clear as any reprimand.
"That, we may leave to fate," Hohiro said. "But prior efforts in these matters make it likely that we shall have several months to inquire with those gods who arrange such matters. Better to know."
He met Chi's eyes calmly, without bluster or open threat… and without a hint of hesitation or subordination.
Fiercely proud, Kester Hsiun Chi bowed low. "It will be as you command, Heika-sama."
A Lost lair of the Dragon[]
DCS DRAGON'S PEARL, ZENITH POINT
UNKNOWN SYSTEM
NOVEMBER 20TH, 3039
Tai-sa Ichiro Drake, commanding officer of the Otomo and therefore of the expedition's entire military contingent, bowed, forehead to the floor, before his liege. His face was still, his movements precise. His triumph and elation were readable only through his ki.
"Speak of your findings, Tai-sa." Chi ordered.
"Of the nine stars visited by our vessels during our time here," Drake said, "four showed spectra of oxygen from their inner systems. This is not out of keeping with expectations, since we had selected G-sequence stars for our destinations, and it is expected that at most half of those worlds will be suitable sites for a potential colony. One showed no hydrosphere spectra in analysis, and it and another had toxic gases present in quantities requiring filtration or isolation. A third world showed a subdued magnetosphere, and would require radiation shielding."
A beat of silence, while Drake's ki squirmed in the silence like an eager child's.
"In the fourth system," Drake said, "we identified a dual-planet, with breathable air and active magnetic fields on both components… and a jumpship-sized vessel in a high orbit around the larger. Hirono-chu-sa brought her dropship into the system in a high-acceleration course, identifying it as a badly damaged Leviathan-class in Combine markings."
Behind him, Morita straightened. "A Leviathan?" he asked. "That class was large enough that its components might be adapted."
Drake turned, inclined his head in a moment's bow. "It is possible. Hirono-chu-sa's sensor readings will be available to your staff for evaluation. But as well as the Jumpship, Heika-sama, Kakka-sama… Hirono-chu-sa's crew conducted a brief photographic survey of both worlds, and in examining the results, have found evidence of agriculture and three significant though primitive settlements. Mighty Dragon, a seedling of your mighty realm is already present in that system!"
"My heart leaps in joy," Hohiro Kurita murmured, "as a carp climbs waterfalls, to waiting herons." He could not have been said to have been slouching, but the young man straightened. "The Dragon will briefly hear his advisors' thoughts."
"Fate has smiled on us," Drake said. "This twin-planet system is the destination we were sent for."
"None of our breeding population are getting younger," Mizuhara said. "The sooner we stop, the healthier our population dynamics at the end."
"We have run through only two thirds of the supplies allotted for our travel," Ho said, visibly changing what he'd otherwise been about to say. "Let us finish them out rather than charging off thoughtlessly at temptation."
Morita pursed his lips. "Depending when this Leviathan misjumped, its components might be newer and more intact than anything we have with us. I would need to examine the ship in detail to be certain. Outside of my own field… If there is indeed an existing population, they will be a priceless asset in settling the world."
Kester Hsiun Chi felt an immense weight lift from his soul. "We need not yet make our final decision," he said. "but investigating in more detail seems wise."
A flutter of humor and affection crossed the Dragon's ki, but not his face. "That is so. Let us, then… investigate, and see if these worlds are the foundation on which the human race's foundation shall be built."