The Dark Poet: Empires of Dust

Empires of Dust

Skye Maelstrom Faust

One

The sun dawned over the blue-white Earth, shining on Lunar Fragment 36 and the space station next to it. Fragment 36 had been there since the nuclear explosion that had created it. Now it was slowly being drained of it's valuable minerals.

Lenore, a state-of-the-art mining station, had just finished its last assignment on Fragment 23 ahead of schedule. So, the crew was given a day's shore leave, to be spent on the surface of the Fragment.

The year was 2014 of the Common Era, but only a few men alive knew that. For all they knew, it could just as easily have been 2004 or even 1984. But on Earth, in the civilized hemisphere, it was spring. The long, hard winter had finally yielded to flowers blooming and birds chirping.

But, in space, it was cold as always, with no possible way of measuring time. The five men and three women who were now leaving the station for the small asteroid were all prisoners. Their captain, a cruel woman, was rarely generous, especially with a day's work left unfinished. She and her bodyguard, who was half-machine, enjoyed playing with the prisoners of the forced-work station for sport.

This time, though, she was serious.

"Fire."

And with a blast of searing heat, all eight prisoners were reduced to radioactive ashes. A heartbeat later, a small nuclear explosion turned Lunar Fragment 36 into a rapidly expanding sphere of dust.

Two

"Three hours ago a small explosion was detected in European Union space. Intelligence reports intercepted from low-level communications indicate that a small mining station had fired on and destroyed an asteriod. Eight political prisoners, who had been captured in the last major assault, were all killed.

"The station, Lenore, is run by Natasha Sigfreud and her only son, who has been cybernetically altered. She is regarded as a threat by the Union. They believe that she may have added to the station's weapons capabilities.

"If our sensor scans are correct, she has installed six additional disruptors, to make twelve total. After detecting a temporal distortion, we discovered that she has also installed an engine that can take the station up to a cruising speed that would rival any cruiser.

"But none of this explains why the Union regards her as a threat. She has remained loyal to them up to now. Expanding the stations navigation and defense systems are well within her rights.

"We suspect she may have something else. That's where you come in.

"We want you to board the station, destroy the cyborg, and take over the station. Find out what exactly Natasha is up to. We would prefer her alive, so we are giving you the authority to offer her citizenship. But if it is necessary, kill her."

The machine beeped as it clicked off.

Three

"Come on, Natasha..."

"I can't tell you over the intercom."

"Fine. I'll be right up."

"No don't-" she was cut off. I hadn't switched it off. Neither had she.

That machine. It's lost it's mind again. What would CyGen back home think of this Union mongrel?

There it is, coming around the corner. It knows I'm here.

Insane machines are dangerous. I should've asked her how to turn it off. I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me vaporizing her only offspring, even if it is a mindless mix of bolts and screws...

I scanned the room.

He shut everything off in this mess of a room. But he must not have noticed that he also destroyed the ceiling just above us. The comm panel up there on the next floor looks like it's still working, despite the damage. I'll have to climb up the wall using hand-clamps.

And that thing is still coming after me...

"Peek-a-boo."

Great. It's playing games with me.

Here goes. Hand over hand up the wall...

"Hanging off the ceiling isn't good for you, Jack."

Stupid thing remembers me. It probably thinks its a child again.

"No, Harold, it's not. Now if you don't mind, you're in the way."

Great, he's hanging upside-down in my way. How did he get up there so quickly?

I put my hand across his face as I reached for the contact.

"Natasha."

"Yes, love?"

"This thing is trying to kill me. I need you to tell me where his power switch is."

"My dear. I'm so sorry, but he doesn't have one." I watched her sympathetic face turn to her son.

"Harold!"

"Yes, mother?"

"Be good to Jack, okay?"

Four

"Natasha..."

"Jack..."

It felt as if our bodies were suddenly intertwined. Our hands reached for each other, our arms wrapping around each other's bodies. And our lips touched and locked. Like fire...

The voice of a machine interrupted us.

"No! She is mine."

The cyborg ran down the stairs toward me. I reached for my blaster.

Natasha covered my hand with hers. "No, Jack, he won't hurt you."

But I was so sure she was wrong.

The smell of burnt steel filled the room.

"My God, Jack, that was my son..."

She began to weep.

There was nothing I could do, but watch her...

She had refused citizenship in exchange for information regarding the secret weapon she might have.

She refused with good reason. She had no secret weapon.

The disruptors and cruise drive she had were stolen from Union ships she had attacked and destroyed.

She wanted to commit suicide.

"There's no hope any more, Jack, nothing. Not even for you..."

And Space Station Lenore began moving toward the outer rim of the Solar system. The disruptors set themselves to self-destruct.

The last thing I remember is seeing ashes and dust. Dust everywhere...

"It does not exist. It never existed." (George Orwell, 1984)

-- July 22, 1997.

The Dark Poet