Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #13 April 2015 | Page 152
Aleameth is a planet with a cruel master: her sun. Her people live in fear of the end of
their world; crammed into covered cities, only their ancient taboo against conflict and
violence sustains their fragile society. One scientist conceives a bold plan, and, gathering
together a loyal and determined group, sets about trying to save an entire race of people.
However, their efforts pit them against powerful foes, who, just when it looks like they are
about to succeed, unleash an implacable and terrifying force. In desperation, they turn to
an unlikely ally.”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faisollus-Kate-Charles-ebook/dp/B00557KLAW
Prelude
The dark yellow star dominated the ship’s small
viewscreen, the curve of its horizon just visible in the
lower right-hand corner. The star’s edges were blurred
by the constant eruptions from its disturbed surface,
throwing super-heated gases millions of miles into
the void surrounding it and causing the pin-pricks of
light from more distant stars to shimmer and blink in
the haze, mimicking how they might be seen from the
planet’s surface. Although the ship had thick plating
protecting its occupants from the heat and radiation,
and the temperature inside the craft was set at a constant temperature considered to be the optimum for
working, the two scientists still sweated inside their
loose jumpsuits.
It was, Getri reflected, probably partly due to a psychological reaction to being so dangerously close to
the star itself, and partly the pressure of this excursion,
which was considered by all of them to be the last
chance they would have to gather the data that would
prove their theories before their funding ran out. With
that thought, she turned to her husband, sitting just to
her left, and monitoring several screens at once. His
face was set in a frown, but she knew how much he
would be enjoying himself, never happier than when
immersed in data. Smiling, she leaned across,
“Soqal, how’s the data stream to the surface holding?”
He nodded, turning his head in her direction, but still
looking at the screen.
“Fine, no problem, stream is good. Front-end collection is taking too long though. We need to be closer.”
Getri turned back to the screen and considered. They
only had a limited time off-planet, and a rapidly
diminishing number of trips they could make. They
needed to get all the data they could, as quickly as
they could risk it. The unceasing activity on the star’s
surface was largely unpredictable, but their algorithms,
calculated after months of data collection, should be
able to give them an indication that an eruption was
building in their area. At this distance that should give
them enough time to get clear before the boiling gases
enveloped their ship, an occurrence that no amount
of shielding could guard against. Any closer and they
would have much less warning, perhaps no time to get
clear.
Soqal shifted and looked at her briefly. As she was
guiding the ship, she was nominally the senior on this
trip, and it was her decision. The look, though, told her
that they needed to do this, that the risk was necessary.
Getri returned the look, and nodded, toggling the communication link to the planetside base. A rectangular
comms window superimposed a view of the base onto
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