Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5
The shuttle ramp rises and the port irises closed. Ham & Shay’s family are tucked safely inside, ready to depart to this new world. Lo takes a seat at a window, thinking to wave goodbye to his old home.
There is a vibration and the sensation of weight as the shuttle launches off the deck toward the open hangar bay doors. Lo looks forward, but cannot see the outside view they offer, yet. But seconds later they clear the mining station and Lo has the first real view of what has been his home for as long as he can remember.
Huge clouds of gasses mix, swirl, float lazily as the view expands out Lo’s window. Red, orange, gold, pink, beige to deep leather brown, he sees more colours than he has ever seen in his life. The shuttle does a large banking loop, gaining altitude around the station – Lo watches, shocked. Sitting deep in a brown/gold cloud, the refinery is an angry rusted hulk belching smoke from large chimneys at its top. His former home is a stain, a scar in an otherwise breathtaking view.
A brief sadness touches Lo, but he quickly shakes it off. Life was hard. Life had been very hard. All that Lo has known is now just a dwindling speck of dirt.
Lo watches. And remembers. A safe distance from the station now, the shuttle kicks on full thrusters and Lo is pushed back into his seat. He closes his eyes against the pressure. And remembers.
