Steph Bennion - Hollow Moon

The author would like to thank Karen for friendship, wine and invaluable helpin proof-reading Hollow Moon; Victor for the front cover artwork; and ofcourse Sarah, who despite all evidence to the contrary, has kept me sane inthis big, bad city.

BARNARDS STAR has another name, for some call it theRunaway Star. In the skies of Earth this faint red sun lurks in theconstellation of Ophiuchus the serpent bearer; hidden to all but theastronomers, yet close enough to tantalise the scientists, dreamers, crooks andbelievers who saw in the heavens the age-old lust for adventure. This is astory of the future, a time when human ingenuity has bridged the vast cosmosand many millions have staked their claims where distant suns burn fierce in thesky.

Drifting around Barnards Star was a monument to both theimagination and the folly of humanity. Like the first tools of prehistoricancestors, the lonely crater-pocked asteroid had been shaped by human hands, aninventiveness betrayed by the caldera-like cones of silenced engines, theconcrete carbuncles and single vast airlock shutting out the unforgiving vacuumof space. Beyond this door was carved yet another niche for survival, anincredible land of homes, farms, families and friends where there should benone. This was the forgotten ark of a planet few cared about, circling a suntoo dim to see.

Yet for all humankinds wondrous endeavours, the oldsquabbles and struggles remained. For every traveller who came to explore,another came to exploit. The strange hollow moon had become a place to hide, arefuge for the runaways fleeing the rank and file of someone elses great game.Unbeknown to them all, their tiny world now turned upon the fate of a girlbarely sixteen, one whose quiet exile was about to be shattered by a storydriven by those who saw destiny as just another human invention, a tool harderthan stone.

Barnards Star offered the only light in the black. Itwas after all the Runaway Star.

RAVANA REACHED for the next hand-hold and pulled herselfhigher, annoyed beyond belief at how easily she had once again let her waywardelectric cat lure her into such an idiotic predicament. The cliff was scarilyhigh; below her was a ten-storey drop to the rocky shelf left by a previouscollapse, which itself formed the top of a nasty slope of rubble that tumbled afurther three hundred metres to the ground. Her right leg was doubled up withher knee against her chest, held there by bare toes wedged in a crevice justcentimetres wide. Her other foot was at full stretch and precariously poisedupon the narrow ledge that seemed to be the last decent foothold to the shallowcave above.

Daddy wouldnt buy me a bow-wow, she mutteredtunelessly, inadvertently adding her fathers Australian twang to the Indiantones inherited from her mother. It was an odd combination at the best oftimes, which this definitely was not. Why didnt he buy me a bow-wow? Ive gota stupid cat, thats acting like a

She cursed as her foot slipped and sent a cascade of rockfragments rattling down the cliff. Trying not to panic, she forced herself higher,then gave a brief grimace of triumph as her head finally appeared above thefloor of the cave.

Something small and furry slunk from the rocky shadowsand greeted her with a pathetic meow. Ravana blew out of the corner of hermouth to dislodge an annoying strand of hair and glared at the cat withill-concealed contempt.

Electric pets are not supposed to lure their humans intorisking life and limb! she scolded, feeling a headache coming on. What do yousay to that, cat?

The black bundle of fur looked at her and meowed again.With one last determined effort, Ravana heaved herself into the shallow caveand sat back against the cliff wall, breathing heavily. She was no athlete andher slim body was not used to this sort of strenuous exercise. Her sweat feltclammy upon the scar on the side of her face and her weak right arm achedbadly. Trembling, the cat jumped onto her lap, its pitiful whining subsiding asshe stroked its fake fur. It was impossible to stay mad at it for long, even ifRavana did often wish the cat had an off switch. Yet even electric pets hadrights these days.

She had first discovered the shallow cave just weeksbefore; or rather, her cat had found it after a previous solo wandercross-country. This was the second time it had homed in on this almostinaccessible cliff-side perch. Whatever it was that lured her cat to this placewas also making it act very oddly. She had never seen her pet so agitated.

The cave was roughly a third of the way up the huge,partially-collapsed cliff face at the end of the inside-out world that was thecolony ship Dandridge Cole. From thishigh vantage point the whole interior of the hollow moon was laid before her.It was a world hewn deep inside a spinning asteroid: a vast cylindrical cavernfive kilometres long and a kilometre wide, where the fields and the trees andthe stone buildings clung limpet-like to the rocky cavern wall. The position ofthe sun was the strangest thing of all, for at this height she was almost levelwith the tiny yet immensely-bright golden globe that sat suspended betweenthree radial pylons at the centre of the long cavern. The air was clear andlooking down she could see the tops of the trees dotting nearby grazing land, aview that became increasingly dizzy as she followed the foot of the cliff withher gaze until finally she was staring straight up. Directly above her, nestledagainst the cliff face on the far side, was the Maharanis palace, a placestrictly off-limits to people like herself.

Ravanas gaze lingered upon the distant palace. Herperspective shifted and now she was looking down upon the house and gardens, towhere a movement in the grounds had caught her eye. Two figures made their waytowards the main building; even from this distance, she was struck by the oddway in which they moved. With a start, she realised they were wearing whatlooked like lightweight spacesuits, albeit without helmets. This was unusualenough within the hollow moon but more so here. It was said that the Maharanihad exiled herself from the modern world for good and looked down upon thespace-age trappings of the twenty-third century as she would something nasty onthe sole of her shoe.

Ravana frowned, wondering how her own life had ended uplike this, where watching two distant strangers had become the height ofexcitement and adventure.

Two spacemen, she told her purring cat. I wonder whattheyre doing? And why am I asking you? You only care about leading me astray!

Unaware they were being watched, the two spacesuit-cladfigures continued their furtive progress through the palace grounds. Theirfaces were pale and haggard, betraying a world-weariness echoed by theirpatched grey survival suits.

Inari, the shorter and fatter of the two, moved with aclumsy and hesitant air of bemusement. He was aware his slow progress annoyedhis colleague, who had crept ahead through the secluded undergrowth with a sly,cat-like confidence, only to double back again upon finding Inari had fallenbehind. The palace ahead was an impressive building of carved stone, woodenverandas and domed turrets, but as Inari stopped to stare it was something elseentirely that captivated his attention.

Hey, Namtar! he called. He gave a noisy sniff, wipedhis nose with a hand and used his sticky digits to tap the taller man on theshoulder. Funny, huh?

With a sigh, Namtar turned to look at what his accomplicehad found so amusing. One of the Maharanis gardeners, unhappy with his lot,had planted the flower beds so that a rude word was spelt out in scarlet blooms.

My dear Inari, could you please keep your feebleutterances to a minimum? whispered Namtar irritably. Like his colleague hespoke English, albeit with a cultured Russian accent rather than Inaris coarseGreek tones. Neither man sounded entirely trustworthy. It would greatly aidour illicit enterprise if you could endeavour to concentrate what few braincells you own upon the task in hand!