Resurrection - Chapter 1

NOTE: This story needs to be slightly retconned to take into consideration the events of YC121.03.18 that established that Ca'lik'bar is a subsurface mining colony and not an open air mining colony.

The Imperial Spaceport is an immaculate, gold and white structure, dwarfing all other buildings in the city of Ca'lik'bar on Anath II, Aridia. It is a conduit for ores and minerals extracted from below the surface of this nondescript planet to reach the greater Empire of which it belongs. The businessmen, Imperial Regulators, and Imperial Navy personnel that keep it all running also travel it's corridors. It is a shining beacon surrounded by the squalor that is the city.

Ca'lik'bar is home to mostly Ni-Kunni and Khanid miner families and to those that offer their services to them. There is little happiness there. Those families that are lucky enough to work the mines worry when their employment will be terminated, as the cheaper to operate and more efficient asteroid mining ships continue to increase in numbers. Those without, do what they can to survive. Cooking, cleaning, entertaining, begging, and even less dignified activities all are offered to the Elite of Ca'lik'bar, and to even the lowest mine worker.

Mitara Newelle, capsuleer, Captain of Preatoria Imperialis Excubitoris, waits in line to exit the Imperial Spaceport and enter the place of her birth, which she has not set foot in for over 20 years. Those next to her regard her with disdain at her less than tailored cloths, and disheveled look. She plays the part, keeping her head down, not looking any of them in the eye. Finally the guard scans her id badge. He gives her a puzzled look and opens his mouth to ask something. The glare that she gives him steals his voice, and he simply waves her though.

The assault on her senses as she steps out of the spaceport and into the huge expanse of the cities' market plaza is overbearing. The aroma of hundreds of types food, animals, and the sweat of the thousands of vendors and their patrons make her gag. She tries to block out the droning buzz of activity all around her as she moves her way through the plaza to one of the main artery streets that eventually lead to mineshaft R-37. Along the way a Khanid boy leaps in front of her offering some type soup. She smells it, fights back the urge to vomit, and pushes past the boy. As she starts down one of the many wide streetways, she stops to watch a troop of teenage Ni-Kunni perform a synchronized dance. The few people assembled watch with subtle amusement, cheering once in a while at some feat of acrobatics. After a few moments she continues on down the street.

It is less crowded now, and the smell isn't as horrible, but there are still the occasional civilians looking to earn their next meal. She walks for some time and the bustle of business gives way to the calmer and quieter atmosphere of the residential districts. She muses at the size and condition of the apartments. The amount she spends in broker fees in a month on the interstellar market could refurbish the buildings 10 times over. It isn't until she feels something tugging at her sleeve does she realize how far she has gone, and into the slums at the outskirts of the city. The sight of her childhood neighborhood stops her cold.

“Lady, some change for a song?”

Even with Mitara's low class disguise, the young Ni-Kunni girl sees someone of greater wealth than she.

Mitara looks at the child - dirty, malnourished, uneducated. “What song will you sing for me, young one?”

“I don't know the name. My mommy taught it to me. It's really old so I don't know what the words mean, but Mommy says it is about how God will provide to the faithful.”

“Very well.” Mitara produces a coin from her worn overcoat and shows it to the child, then crosses her arms expecting that services be rendered first. The girl smiles awkwardly and begins singing in undecipherable words, that may at one time have been of the oldest of language in the Scriptures, but after generations of being passed down have become nothing but nonsense. Mitara listens for a time before her mind starts to wander ever back, back to her life before being a Newelle.


***


The two siblings stood at the entrance of mine shaft R-37. The boy several years younger than the girl, barely able to hold the worn and beaten violin case. The girl held the instrument like she had seen in a picture, running a stick across the dirty and rusted strings. It had been about a year since the two discovered the treasure while scavenging through the dumpsters of an apartment building on the other side of the city. In that time she had learned a few ways to coax the thing into producing some tones that did not make ones teeth hurt. Every day, at every shift change, they would come in hopes one of the miners would toss something, anything – a coin, a piece of bread, something; into their case. If they were lucky enough, they would bring the booty to their mother, who would wait emotionless under the back alley rear stairs of a run down apartment building. Her heart and ability to provide for her children were broken several years prior, when her mate left off world as a slave. While his needs would be met, even if it was in a life time of service to another, they would have to fend for themselves. The betrayal, hurt, and fear were too much, and her mind left her.

“Look mother! Cheese! And a candy!” The young girl exclaimed as she and her brother ran to what they called home. Their mother greeted them with a blank stare. “Kaleb, divide this while I get us some water.” She takes a couple old metal cups and goes to the rail well at the corner of the building, dunking them into the barrel. Upon returning her younger brother has torn the cheese into four parts. “You take two, mother and I will have one, you need it to grow.” The daughter puts a single bit of the meal to her mothers lips, which instinctively take it. The bit of cheese is followed by a drink of water from the misshapen cup, again the mouth muscles react on their own. The two children quickly devour their scraps in silence.

“Can I go first?” Kaleb asks, as he smiles an unusually perfect smile for one of his class. His sister responds with a smile of her own, “Yes, but don't take too long.” The boy quickly picks up the piece of candy and plunks in his mouth, careful not to bite down on it. “Now me!” she says to him after a several seconds. Her brother takes the candy out of his mouth and hands it to his sister. She raises it to her full Ni-Kunni lips, eager to taste it's sweetness. They both start to giggle with glee as they take turns sucking on their deserved pay.