This is a story I'm writing as part of NaNoWriMo, which is a month-long event where writers from around the world focus on writing each day of the month of November in order to finish, or create a piece of fiction.
I did start this story before November but decided to use this month to try and get this one finished, or at least get a good bit of it written.
Cancia came and went; the bright lights of the densely populated heart of Talirda. The mega-city was a sprawling mass of steel, and stone, that conquered vertically as fiercely as it did horizontally. Those looming buildings gradually fell away, until all that was left was stunted imitations where funding ran dry. It was obvious and marked in steel where the ones with deep pockets turned off the taps, and said, "this is enough."
The holo-vids at the time, showed verts of the proud people of Free Space putting in the work to rebuild. Corporate interests, namely, Mutzo Industries, proudly stated that they would, "help everyone and bring back the world we knew. Jex would rise once more, the world would heal, and Talirda would be better than it ever was.
They helped no one but themselves, and earned much more than they could have possibly dreamed of. People like M'Trada were left behind. Everyone he ever knew or cared about was subjected to a life unlike anything anyone deserved. They were given a chance to rot in the shadows of this idealized world. People came in droves to Jex, and most ended up disenfranchised and rejected. It's not easy to have dreams shattered.
"We're heading further north than I expected." M'Trada said, while he smacked the console believing it to be faulty.
"What's your problem with the north? You don't seem to like anywhere," Arien said. M'Trada could almost hear her eyes rolling in their sockets.
"I don't have much of a problem with the north. But, there isn't much up here." He replied with a shrug as he looked and the darkness a head growing in the distance. Civilization was disappearing quickly.
"Yeah, nothing at all. Apart from the largest industry on the planet."
They reached the destination. Lights in the void. Landing pads were lit by red emergency lighting and flood lights. Dead spots were interconnected with dim strips of illumination. The Oridium Mines.
M'Trada knew it by name only, and that was the extent of his knowledge of the place. For someone with his lifestyle, Oridium, and the process of mining it was of little concern. He heard someone in a bar talking about heading up to work the mines, and apparently, the benefits and pay were good, but that blurry recollection was faded and distorted.
He took the ship down for a landing on a clear pad, and the dots below moved to avoid the descending craft. Tuners, cleaners, or collectors? He couldn't say, but it was common for people to come with their hands out whenever people came to land.
"If you want to stay here, you can. I appreciate the company on the journey, but there's no real need for you to involve yourself here." M'Trada said with a sigh as he turned off the engines.
"I'll come along. Not much point sitting here. Besides, I think we should stick together. There's no saying what we could be walking into." Arien said. Her words rallied some comfort in him, and in a way, he felt pretty relieved.
The approach of boots on the ground caught M'Trada's attention, and he turned to watch some scruffy Human with a limp.
"We've been expecting you, you're late." He snorted at the end of his sentence and spat a glob of mucous on the ground. "We expected better from Crovin. Alid's, heh, high and mighty." He taunted.
"Well, we're here now. I wasn't aware of a time limit." M'Trada replied as he hopped down from the transporter.
"Crovin sends his apologies, for the delay, and the attitude of the pilot." Arien said. Her voice was different. Before, she was soft-spoken, almost to the extent of being naive. Not anymore. Now, she was out-spoken, condescending, with a hint of venom.
"Keep him inline, or you might have to call for new passage." The man snorted so hard that he let out a cough. After scratching himself, he stared at Arien as she led the way.
"Come along, M'Trada, keep up." She said, while walking to the staircase of the landing pad.
He was unsure what was going on. It was as if the person he got to know died before him. He listened to the Human grunt as he stared at Arien, then he looked at M'Trada with his tongue sticking out slightly; as if it was too large for his mouth.
"She's something," he commented with a nod, as he licked at his lips and sucked some lose saliva back into his mouth.
M'Trada had a hard stomach, but the man made his scales itch. He stepped forward to catch up to whoever this woman was. Arien, if that was her real name, clearly worked for Crovin, and had been instructed to partner up with him.
I knew it was too good to be true.
