Planet D7-429c was a mostly untouched world, circling its primary behind two siblings and in front of two more. Its sunrises poured pale tones of gold and pink into its sky as it shed the skin of night just waiting to adorn the azure blue of day. Were clouds to float within its heights, they could not seem to mar it or detract from its beauty and even were they to fill it, the silvery haze was simply another thing to admire as the gentle rains fell. And then when the day descended to night, the sky was cast a flame with oranges and crimsons painted boldly before darkening to reveal an array of shadowy tones speckled by flecks of distant light. The world had no moon to brighten it, but then its inhabitants did not need it.
As eventful as the sky changing from night to day, from day to night, was the world below. The landscape mostly consisted of seemingly endless dense forest and stone canyons and rocky hills. Not mountains they lacked the mythical height of those, but these mounds and hills were cavernous, leading deep into an underground riddled with holes. There was an ocean, it claimed half of the world, while the land claimed the other. Any beaches were as rocky as those grassless hills, but not inhabitable.
As the sun became dominant in the sky, the forest would come alive. The singing birds would wake, a variety of beasts would forage for vegetation or hunt for meat and a humanoid people would awaken in the heights of the trees to begin their day. They were a people coloured by their forests, often with hair the colour of leaves in summer or pine needles of winter or the beautiful dying foliage of autumn. Their skins were pale greens or yellows and their eyes reflected the green of the forest or the blue of the sky. They were simply known as the forest people and the forest people lived their lives by day; patrolling, foraging, singing, playing, crafting and by night they would sleep.
Were the sun to set and the rule of the stars begin, then the forest would quieten and the canyons and hills would stir. Then the hill cats would begin their midnight hunts as the birds of prey sought to feed. The small rodents too fearful to move during the day would instead find fear in the night. The black goats would exit their small hidey holes and forage for rough grasses and weeds stubborn enough to grow in an around the rocks and the moles and ground hogs would bury in small patches of soft soil to dig for stone beetles. And a humanoid people would leave the caves with a few light stones to begin their nights. They were a people coloured by their rocks and earth. Their hair was usually the colour of metal ores, the rusty red of iron, or of tarnished silver or burnt copper or gold tones. Their skin was often like the rich brown of the earth or the cold grey of rocks. Their eyes were most usually all black. They were known simply as the Cave people and the Cave people lived their lives by night; hunting, fishing, dancing, running or crafting and by day they would sleep.
Sometimes the people of the forest would meet the people of the caves at dawn and sometimes the people of the caves would meet with the people of the forest at sunset. Their peoples lived in harmony with each other. Their peoples lived separately from each other.
But there was one child of the forest who dreamed about visiting the caves at night and there was one child of the caves who dreamed about visiting the forest during the day. And this was because they wished very much to visit each other.
But the Forest People and the Cave people were not the only humanoids to live upon this mostly untouched world for at the place that could be claimed as touched so much as to be unlike the remaining landscape was a third people. These people were known by the other two as the Outsiders. It was said, by the oldest amongst them, that the Outsiders came from the stars and that they caused a catastrophic event when they arrived. It effected the Cave people so much that they refused to have anything to do with the Outsiders. The Forest People were less effected, so eventually did trade with them, but they did not trust them so much as to allow them freedom of movement within their forests.
The Outsiders generally worked in the place they created during the day, but that did not mean to say that they all slept during the night. They mostly had a pale creamy coloured skins, although some were more golden and some nearly matched the brown tones of Cave People. Their hair could be black or grey or brown, but it lacked the shine of a Cave Person. It could also be yellow or red, but it lacked the vibrancy of a Forest Person. The Outsiders dug and broke and plundered the earth, taking what they wanted back to the stars and dumping the rest. Although the other Peoples could not live in harmony with them, the Outsiders did take some measures not to upset their ways of life. But not everyone of their people wished to oblige by these rules.
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The Sky Elevator soared upwards, oblivious to the discomforts of its occupants. The artificial gravity adjuster did not do much to alleviate the symptoms suffered by the accelerated ascension, though it was enough to prevent injury, sickness or even death that might occur were it not present at all. The elevator slowed briefly as it approached the last few miles before breaking through the upper atmosphere, where the amount of gravity within the large moving pod was altered again for what was necessary once in outer space. The computers calculated the perfect speed to break safely through the upper atmosphere and proceeded to accelerate to meet it. A few minutes later, the elevator pod left the planet behind to dock in the large station in orbit.
The pod doors opened, spilling its disorientated passengers onto the circular platform that was elevated above the stations sealed spatial doors, which would open once the elevator descended back towards the planet and it's populated surface. Station workers ushered the unfamiliar faces through a doorway, reminding them to grab their luggage on route; they were not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged possessions. Worried and concerned looks spread across many of the travelling men and women, a couple clutched their luggage closely to their chests.
They walked down the large, uninviting corridor; no attempt had been made to pretty up or finish beyond the basic standard. Unnecessary expense had been spared. Finally, the passengers reached a check in gate, where a bored looking official vaguely looked at individual's paperwork and sent them in the correct direction. Closer checks were usually performed later anyway, so this man didn't give a damn about anything but finishing with these people and getting back to watching the porn he'd downloaded on the pc.
"Ah, the Nebula is docked in lock 5. Take the left corridor, follow the signs.... Next! Going to Belt? The Solar Flare is in docking bay 2. Go right, follow the signs.... Next! D7-429c... really? Sucks to be you. Docking bay 7. Left, follow the signs. Ship is the Star Chaser. Next! Ah your ship isn't in yet. Go to the Waiting Area, left, follow the signs..."
One by one, the travellers slowly followed the signs, though most had to ask directions of any station workers they encountered. Fortunately, these burly men and women were quite used to lost passengers and patiently guided them to where they needed to be.
The Star Chaser was a slimline ship meant for large numbers of passengers and long journeys through space. Its last shipload of homeward bound travellers had gladly left their hospitality a few days past. The final checks of its surface and system were being performed and the crew had returned from their short surface leave. Long haul crews never asked nor received much leave as the world's around them changed too fast, making it easier to stick with what and who they knew on ship than try not to think about the disconcerting differences they experience each time they return to their former homes.
Its Captain was Tian Zhao, a bear of a man, who usually sported a rough, unshaven look and whose taut stomach was due more to the lack of opportunity to drink beer and eat junk rather than to exercise. He was impatient, hated insubordination, liars and giving away anything for free. But he also had a soft spot for his niece and Vice Captain, Xu Lin. When station workers or passengers met Xu Lin, they were always surprised by her feminine and attractive appearance, surely she would have a better life living planet side with a worthy man supporting her. However, after meeting with her cold glare or on occasion her legendary body throw, they kept quiet. Xu Lin was born and raised on a ship travelling through space, she would die on a ship travelling through space.
Right now, the woman was overseeing passengers board the ship. They were mostly men. This was not surprising considering most of them were headed for D7-429c's mines. A few might be troops assigned there, likely having fallen out of favour back home and the odd nutty kid, fresh out of medical school seeking adventure. Han Huan, one of the crew, headed over to speak with her.
"Xu Lin," he called her by name, rather than her position. There was little formality between crew members on her uncles ship. "Could you check this guy out for me? His papers look a bit dodgy." She frowned but followed her subordinate towards a rather pitiful excuse for a man, he was shorter than the average and looked as if a fresh breeze could sweep him away.
"Hello, I'm Vice Captain Xu Lin," she introduced herself politely. "May I see your papers and I.D. please." He nervously handed them over. She glanced at his papers which claimed that the man was heading to the mines for work. Her eyes scanned his feeble frame sceptically. "You are a miner?" The man gave her a vague affirmative, so she looked at his I.D.
"Xu Lin!" Her head automatically turned to address the speaker. "The workers have given to all clear, want you to sign the report."
"Be right there!" She called back and hastily handed the paperwork and I.D. back to the passenger, before ushering him on board.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Han Huan asked.
"Yeah," Xu Lin replied. "Probably a bankrupt sap who had no choice but to sign up for the work. It happens." Han Huan agreed with her last statement before sorting through the last of their passengers and taking them to their cold sleep pods.
"Welcome on board The Star Chaser," he told them. "You will be our guests for the next 12.7 years, which is the length of time it takes to journey to our destination, planet D7-429c or what the current immigrant population like to call Fortonine. Once we have left the station, we will put you into cold sleep, to ensure you arrive in body and mind exactly how you left here. So say adios to Terran Prime, you won't be seeing it for a long while."