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Shaye—daughter of Cpt. Frank Penway and his wife, Elle. |
"Seph"—Joseph, General McClaren's aide |
Tressa Dooley—Sage Dooley's wife |
Ty—Tyrone McClaren, the only son of Jubal and Duana McClaren |
Willow—Nathan's sister in (Homeplace) |
The Aegean Plateau (Aegea) |
- Oldtown—the location of the first settlement, now old |
- Midtown—west of Oldtown with finer homes for officers and upper class |
- The Outpost—an outpost with a small settlement and facilities for the military, in the central portion of Aegea |
- Westland—a military post on the western end of the plateau. The Great House of Jubal McClaren is here. |
The Poison Forest—the jungle below the Aegean Plateau, but known to the Genon people as the Great Forest or the Land of Cloud and Leaf |
Homeplace—the home of the Exiles |
CHAPTER 1 – First Flight |
"It's possible to fear so much for your own life that you waste all of it in a safe place."Hal Dobbin, just prior to boarding the final flight of the spacecraft Aegean C, one hundred nine years ago. |
In Aegea |
The country's most important inventor, Mr. Sage Dooley, perches in a large basket near the edge of the precipice, his pulse racing. The draft of warm air rushing up the cliff face snatches up the giant kite carrying it aloft. The harness and basket attached to the kite lurch upward. The kite line shoots off the large s... |
He selected this very spot on the wall for the kite experiments for two reasons: First, because it's far from any populated settlement (away from nosey onlookers). Second, it's one of the few places where the wall sits at the very edge of the plateau. On one side of the wall, solid ground is just thirty feet away. On t... |
In recent months, Sage Dooley and Dell ran multiple experiments on the updrafts here, using larger and larger kites. Last week, they used this rig with stones in the basket to simulate the weight of a man. Today, he told Dell they were only going to test the kite again, but at the last minute he got into the basket and... |
Sage knew his window of opportunity had arrived last night when there was a flurry of military activity and all high-ranking officers were called to gather at General Fairmont's house in town. Although no one said so, Sage was relatively certain it was a "death watch." |
With everyone's attention focused on the final moments of Aegea's current leader, Dooley knew it was his best chance to slip away from his guarded home, travel to the northern edge of the plateau with Dell . . . and attempt to fly! It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up—after all, he would be thirty-three years old ... |
Although he's only a few hundred feet above the plateau, the jungle at the bottom of the cliff is nearly a mile down. Does he dare lean forward in the basket and look down to see what it feels like to dangle from a kite thousands of feet in the air? Not yet. Instead, he turns around to look at the vast expanse of wild ... |
He thought he would be frightened, and he knows he probably should be, but he's not. Never in the entirety of his life has he felt so energized . . . so free! He would be willing to continue his ascent if not for the limitations of the line keeping him earthbound. He turns again in the basket and looks at the line. |
It's like a navel string, an umbilical cord, he tells himself. I wonder what would happen if it broke . . . or if I cut it? Several scenarios spring to mind—none of the imagined endings involves a safe landing on the plateau. |
A wisp of a low cloud briefly engulfs him and he whoops with delight. When it moves on, he dares to glance down the cliff that drops away for thousands of feet and he's almost dizzy. Then he looks back up to the expanse of the plateau and a realization hits him. He is the first person to see such a view from the air in... |
A hundred years ago, the plateau was mostly covered with stands of ancient trees, meadows, and boulders that had tumbled down from the mountain peaks over the eons. Today the plateau is crisscrossed with fields, pastures, orchards, and roads etched into existence by five generations of people. To his left, at the easte... |
The basket jostles in the wind and the small telescope fastened to a lanyard around his neck swings back and forth. Oh yes, he remembers, I have a spyglass! |
He braces his feet against the sides of the basket and slowly loosens his grip on the rim to hold the spyglass. He looks to his right, out into "the country" out where there are orchards, fields and pastures—flanked by the military outpost of Westland. The bright golden hue of the Great House of Westland is easy enough... |
What else can he see? Sage turns his head to the left and focuses the lens toward town. The movement of the kite makes it difficult to use the telescope, but he finally manages to spot the three-story, bright white house of the general, standing out against the earth-toned houses and green trees that surround it. |
And, what is that? The basket bobbles. He repositions himself in the basket and braces his feet again before he can give it a better look. A large flag flaps in the breeze above the general's house. It's a black flag. The general must have died. |
The tense voice of his assistant, Dell, drifts up on the breeze and interrupts his thoughts. "Are you all right? Should I pull you in now?" |
Dooley lets go the telescope and grabs the lines of the harness. |
"Yes!" he calls back, "Reel me in!" |
Dell is understandably nervous. Sage Dooley is considered "one of the most valuable living assets" on the plateau. Beginning with Hal Dobbins, a scientist who survived the crash of the Aegean C, Sage's talented ancestors were among the small contingent of technicians and scientists who vastly improved the living condit... |
That's his lot in life: a hobbled foot and the constant presence of guards. Often, Sage feels as if he's trapped—and it drives him to take risks. Dell understands. That, in and of itself, would be enough to make them friends. Add to that Dell's loyalty, physical strength, and his rarely given (but generally practical) ... |
Sage wrote a letter early this morning stating that he alone was responsible for his actions—that Dell was unaware of his plan and therefore not accountable for the outcome of the flight. Even so, if he got badly injured again or died in an accident, Dell might stand before a tribunal and face consequences. The look on... |
Dell is heaving on the crank with all his might to wind the line for the kite back on the large spool, but the increased tension on the line causes the kite to momentarily rise. |
Sage wants to observe the operation of the ratchet on the side of the wheel, but something in the distance catches his eye. He turns his head and squints at it. Yes, there is definitely something moving at the top of the wall that surrounds the plateau. It's only because he's up in the air that he can see it at all. He... |
It's a tram car leaving the wall and swiftly gliding down its cable into the jungle below, carrying one of the large crates the military uses. He can see there is an insignia on the crate, but from this distance, it's just a smudge. He wonders, Who would be doing this? And why would they be doing it today? His focus tr... |
Although test runs of the tram he invented to transport people and goods down to the jungle were successful, General Fairmont changed his mind and shut it down within a week of its completion. Like so many other of Sage Dooley's inventions, the tram will remain a secret project that will collect dust unless an "urgent ... |
Dooley frowns and looks again. The tram car has disappeared out of view . . . and he can no longer see the two figures who were watching it from the wall. Perhaps someone else is using the events unfolding in town to do things unnoticed. |
CHAPTER 2 – Runaway Servant |
"Your fortunes can change in a single day. Who knows? Be faithful, for today may be your last day of mourning, or your last day of prosperity."—A proverb of His own People. |
Westland, on the Aegean Plateau |
Her questions rush out in an angry torrent. "What do you mean, 'Shaye ran away?' Didn't I tell you to stay with her? How could she have run away? Why didn't you stop her?" |
Raymond stands, rigid as a wooden post in the center of the salon, knowing his fate may hang on his answer. Sweat from the back of his head trickles down a crease in his leathery neck, past his loose collar, and down between his shoulder blades, but he doesn't dare move. If Duana McClaren, the ishi (the matriarch) of t... |
Wringing a tired old hat between his hands, he clears his throat and begins. "Well, ma'am, I took her to her room just like you said, and I stayed right there by the door, and I didn't go anywhere while she packed her things." He pauses to clear his throat again, and she takes a step closer to him. |
Sensing the very air around him filling with the static charge of her ire, the cadence of his speech speeds up and words fly out of his mouth in one long sentence. "And after a while I felt some concern, so I knocked and then I opened the door, but she wasn't there and I saw how she must have gone out the window on the... |
He pulls his elbows even closer to his body while he waits, eyes shut, head already tilted against the expected volume of her response. Who would have thought he could be in so much trouble so early in the day? |
But she doesn't say a word. Instead, her eyes search the room until she sees a vase on the table between the two upholstered chairs, not far from the fireplace. It's only inches away from her hand. She slowly leans over, wraps her fingers around the slender neck of the container, then hurls it with all her might into t... |
Raymond's eyes pop open and his shoulders involuntarily jerk up at the sound of the delicate vessel crashing against the cold stones. But he doesn't leave his spot—even though several shards of the vase have flown out, striking the legs of his baggy work pants before bouncing to the floor near his sandaled foot. His ga... |
She folds her arms and slowly inhales. It's been years since she last gave into the urge to smash something . . . but it's so satisfying, she must fight the urge to find more objects to throw. Fortunately for Raymond, another idea pops into her mind and she turns to ask him, "Where is Shaye's roommate?" |
This is a totally unexpected turn in the interrogation. She might as well have asked him to lay an egg! Completely dumbfounded, he shrugs. "I don't know, ma'am. Keepin' track of her isn't part of my job." |
"UHH!" she cries, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Go across the road to the office on the post and tell the duty officer I need to speak with him right away." |
It's almost as if her words are bouncing around in his head. He needs to slowly replay them in his mind so they can sink in. He starts to nod, but Duana continues. |
"And once you've done that, go and bring that girl back here." |
His mouth drops open. "Shaye? I told you I have no idea where—" |
"No! Her roommate, Raymond, her roommate! That round, sort of ugly little woman. What's her name?" |
"Yes, that's it. After you tell the duty officer I need to speak with him, find out where Chessie is supposed to be today, then go fetch her and bring her back here." |
"Yes'm." His head bobs up and down, but he's waiting to see if there are further orders. |
Duana closes her eyes. "Now, Raymond. Go right now." |
Once he's absent from the scene, one could imagine that the elegance of the room would reassert a sense of dignified serenity there. Situated just beyond a lavish dining room, this dark-paneled salon, or "sitting room," has wide windows, a high ceiling, fine furnishings, and a large fireplace. Indeed, Duana herself ref... |
After a minute of steaming back and forth across the rug, mumbling arguments to herself, Duana walks to a window. Her feet have stopped moving, but her clenched right hand continues to strike an angry cadence against the window sill. Staring at the trees in the distance she wonders, Where could Shaye have gone? She can... |
For seven long years I've waited. She turns away from the window. Certainly no one could accuse me of being unkind. When I moved her out, didn't I arrange for her to share one of the rooms in the new building where other servants would gladly sleep? Perhaps I was too kind. |
Duana now replays the words of her written communique, already on its way to her husband at the other end of the plateau. |
You need to know that something happened which requires your immediate attention. If I had been allowed to signal you about the situation, it might have been resolved by now, but the captain left in charge at the post wouldn't allow me to have a signal relayed through the tower, so don't be shocked that you are finding... |
This morning, Shaye attacked Jariel, struck her, and knocked her down! Jariel was very traumatized. |
I know that you and Mosha both have a sense of duty regarding Shaye, so I decided to simply trade the girl instead of punish her. |
Remember when Nob the butcher approached us and asked to have her as a match for his son? I know you opposed the trade, but under these new circumstances, I thought it would be the wisest thing to do. I was willing to set her transgressions aside and let her walk away. I sent word to Nob, but as soon as Shaye was infor... |
Shaye's years of privilege have led her to think she is above all rule, and her open rebellion sets an example for others that cannot be tolerated. She knows you are away, and if we don't mount a search for her, I fear she will return to the house and attempt to inflict harm on us. I want your men to help find her, and... |
CHAPTER 3 – A New Leader for Aegea |
"There can only be one leader. It is, therefore, decided on this day, exactly four years after the crash of the Aegean C according to the calendar of Earth, that in order to insure our continued safety and survival, the military shall retain the right to protect and govern all people through a central command while we ... |
Ty McClaren is awake early. Again. |
Was it the chilly night air that woke him . . . or the dark dream he knows he's had before, but can never quite remember? |
Giving up on sleep, he stands, but stops to wrap his blanket around his shoulders before he closes the shutters on the window to his room. After lighting the lamp on his desk, he sits down while holding his hands near the flame to warm them. The leather-bound book he was reading earlier is still on the desk and he open... |
He rubs his eyes and endeavors afresh to concentrate on the book, but a conversation he overheard between two cadets last week starts to replay in his head the same way it has a multitude of times. |
"No, I'm not going anymore." One of them says, lowering his voice. "Can you imagine what our parents would say? What they'd do to us?" |
"What do you mean 'our' I'm just having a good time, you're the one who let that girl think she actually meant something to you. And now you're as dull as geometry while you hole up here avoiding your Genon girlfriend." |
"She wasn't my girlfriend and I'm never going to see her again." |
"Come on. We can go some new places. Even if we see her, just ignore her. You didn't promise her anything, did you? Even if you had, what would it matter? What can she do to you, what could she say that would matter? How many times do you think this very scenario has played itself out since the beginning? Unless she's ... |
In an effort to stop the replay, he pushes his hands forward and accidentally knocks the box off the desk. He drops to the floor and crawls toward the box. It opened upon impact and the hand-carved comb it held is nearly a foot away. |
He lunges to pick up the comb, and inspects it for any damage. Holding it in his hand, he wonders, Why didn't I insist on going home? What must she think? That I lied when I said I loved her? That she doesn't matter? For a moment, he pictures her in his mind—her long black hair and the golden eyes that captured him, ev... |
He places the comb in the box and sits on the floor. "I must get home." |
And do what? What possibility is there that this could ever end well? How can I make this up to her? |
Two hours later, all the cadets waiting for morning classes gather in the open courtyard that occupies the space between the dorm and classrooms where instructors are preparing for another day of lessons. Several young men employ their energies kicking around a small ball made of animal hide. Onlookers watch two cadets... |
Brilliant sunlight breaks into every crevice of the stone courtyard while Ty McClaren leans back to stretch out along the top of a short wall near the front steps to the dorm. It's one of the few places freshmen cadets are allowed to sit in the courtyard. |
"Hey, move your feet," his friend, Carl, commands. |
Ty doesn't move or open his eyes. "My feet were there first." |
Ty looks up, squinting at the silhouette of his friend in the bright light. "I just got comfortable." |
The young McClaren swings his legs back over the wall, and as soon as he does so, two more cadets hop over from behind and perch in the space. |
"Hey!" Carl complains. |
Ty shrugs. "Tough." |
Soon, the bell signaling the start of the day's classes will ring. Ty turns so he can straddle the wall and lean against the end post. His head finds a perfect balancing point on the stone cap topping the post, and he closes his eyes again. His lack of sleep and the warmth of the sun quickly melt into sleep. |
He's walking out of the back of the house in Westland, Shaye and Mosha are buzzing about in the kitchen, planning their day. Outside, fresh laundry is flapping on the lines, ready to be gathered and folded by women sharing the day's gossip. At the tables behind the house, the workers are sharing a meal. He and Basil wi... |
Ty jolts when Carl shakes his shoulder. "Ty!" he says in an urgent but low voice, "Have you heard?" |
The two cadets nearby stop their conversation and turn to listen. |
"Heard what?" Ty asks. Looking around, he realizes that all the activity in the courtyard has stopped. Cadets are milling around in groups having serious discussions—and many of them are glancing in his direction. |
Carl brings Ty's attention back into focus when he speaks again. "All the colonels have been summoned to the old man's house. Robert says it means Fairmont is dead or dying." |
An older man in uniform comes out of one of the classroom buildings and rings a hand bell, shouting, "Three minutes to get to class!" |
The collective groan usually heard at First Bell is absent. Instead, the cadets slowly move toward the classrooms, still speaking quietly in small groups, occasionally turning to look at Ty. They all stop talking and watch when the teacher of his first class enters the courtyard and walks directly up to Ty. |
"Your father has requested that you return to your room until further notice," he says. |
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