The Edge

by Dave Cardwell / FoolsErrand 

'Join the race to the Edge' proclaimed the recruitment screen. The Edge; the fringe of the Galaxy, humanity's next big adventure. Cal stood staring at the advertisement. He placed his hand on the glowing screen, closed his eyes and listened. There it was, the whir of the ventilation system. When you grow up on a space station it was always there, your ears simply zone it out. Cal made himself listen to it; it reminded him of how precarious life was for an orphan on the stations. Now in his twenties, Cal had grown tired of just surviving; this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

***

Some of the passengers groaned in their sleep as the beat up passenger shuttle banked gently out of the vast freight lanes. Soon a hazy orange planet loomed large in the observation port. Its pockmarked surface dominated by a large impact crater that they would soon be calling home. Cal gazed at the rocky world; he yearned to feel the rock beneath his feet, connected to something more than metal.

"Welcome to the farm, nothing but crops and cattle as far as the eye can see," announced the pilot wearily as the shuttle set gently down on one of the landing bays. The access ramp opened, and the cabin was flooded with light from the planet's two suns. The shadow of a tall man, waiting at the bottom of the ramp, was cast over them.

"The name's Buck, and I'm in charge around here" he spoke with a deep gravelly voice. "And just so we are clear, there ain't no fortune here. But if you work hard, then someday, and it ain't going to be soon, you might just earn enough to get off this little rock of mine," and with that he let out a raspy laugh. The passengers stared at the wizened face framed by a red bandana; he looked as though he was a relic from another era. They all eyed with curiosity the brass arm that glinted in the daylight.

"Now, follow me, and you'll get the tour," he barked.

Cal shaded his eyes as he set his foot on solid rock for the first time—he had looked forward to this moment his whole life, and now it had arrived.

"Is there something wrong with you boy?" enquired Buck mockingly as he watched the young man take his first tentative step.

"No sir," replied Cal, "just my first time, is all," but Buck wasn't listening, he was already yelling at one of the other passengers. Cal stared out across the plain, shading his eyes from the Suns, pasture lands stretched to a rocky horizon, it was beautiful.

Orientation began with the dormitory buildings where each arrival was allocated a bunk. Buck laughed heartily as each man was disinfected in the medical centre.

"You must be the kid from the stations. I think you might like it here" he chuckled as Cal disappeared into a cloud of the delousing powder. Cal was surprised Buck knew anything about him and was about to reply, but as the haze cleared, Buck had moved on.

Next, they went across to the personnel office to sign contracts. Most of which seemed to be waivers in case of death or serious injury. Then, as the unfamiliar Suns began to set, Buck took them out to the plain where he produced a battered box of Ecrivain's Specials, offering one to each of the men. It was his first act of kindness all day, for many it was their first cigarette ever. Buck laughed with pleasure as the small group coughed and spluttered through their first few drags. Cal savoured the fuzzy head; he was still adjusting to all the space. For the first time in his life, Cal could see a horizon and not just the thick walls of a radiation shield. Some of the other new arrivals weren't too sure, but Cal was, he liked it here.

As the spluttering subsided, Buck pointed out across the auburn sky.

"We are standing in the middle of a vast ancient crater, ringed by mountains on all sides, you'd do well to stay away from them, they are made from radioactive rock churned up from the bowels of the planet when the crater was formed, lifeless." In the distance craggy peaks could be distinguished against the quickly fading daylight.

"The crater is filled with some of the richest soil in the galaxy. We can grow almost anything. Over there is one of our herds, now look up." The sky was dark overhead, but the silvery thread of the freight lanes could be clearly seen above them.

"The food we supply goes to every station in the sector, for many years we have been the engine for humanity's expansion, that's the way I like to think of it anyhow, now I'll let you fellas get settled in, work starts early." And with that Buck strode away back towards the living complex, his brass arm clinking gently by his side.

The weariness of the day fell over the men, and they sat in silence tolerating the last of their Ecrivains.

***

Over a month had passed, and Cal sat on his small ranch speeder, watching the dust as one of the herds appeared over the horizon. He gently nudged one of the docile animals as it came close, it looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Dying ain't much of a living, boy," he said tenderly to the beast as it moved off to join the safety of the others. Cal found the animals endlessly curious, genetically engineered to provide maximum yield and nutritional value. He had seen a picture of an Elephant once, and the cattle reminded him of an elephant that had been squashed but without the trunk. They were docile, most of the time, but their weight and clumsiness made them dangerous. It was said that Buck's arm was lost when one of the beasts fell on it. No one had the guts to ask. One thing was sure, though, they tasted good. Cal had grown up on synthetic algae, nutritious perhaps, but the texture and smell paled in comparison to fresh meat. Feeling the warm Suns against his face, he pulled on the controls to swing his speeder back towards what he now called home.

As Cal slowed to a stop at the maintenance bay, he saw a crowd gathered at the cantina; all huddled around an information screen.

"What's going on?" he asked one of the assembled ranch hands.

"There's an old freighter de-orbiting," came the excited reply.

"You mean arriving here? Is it the sexycores again?" Trying to understand the excitement.

"I mean, it's de-orbiting, crashing, the crew have abandoned ship, and it's going to hit the northern prairie, next to the range."

Buck appeared as he always did when he sensed the men weren't working.

The men parted to let the boss through. Buck bent over to study the screen, and for a moment looked lost in thought. He stretched back up to full height.

"It's coming down outside the crater, happens all the time, now get back to work," he snarled. "That corn ain't going to process itself."

There was a disappointed sigh, and the men reluctantly drifted back to their duties.

Later that evening as dusk fell, Cal and the other off-duty herders went out onto the roof of the cantina to watch. He flicked through an old comic from the pile that lay about, Fray #7; it was all about vampires and zombies. It reminded him of the people on the Space Stations where everyone was out for themselves, and most were only passing through looking for the next place to plunder. He threw it back onto the pile then poured himself another shot of tequila. The glass nestled heavily in his hand and he closed his eyes and listened. Cal had grown to love the silence.

It was an hour or so before a distant blaze emerged on the horizon. It burned brightly for a moment against the starry background then quickly faded away.

"Probably didn't even make it to the ground," mumbled one of the men, a little underwhelmed. Cal, a little addled by too much tequila, stayed on the roof a bit longer to gaze up at the stars. But just as tiredness was creeping in, his attention was drawn to Buck who had emerged from his living quarters. He could see the distinctive green glow of an Ecrivain's Special in his hand. As Cal watched him climb onto his speeder and quietly idle it out of the settlement, he thought for a moment that perhaps Buck had glanced up at him. Buck had kept the lights carefully switched off, and only as the transport entered the plain did the lights flash onward. Cal's eyes followed the speeder until the dusty red glow of the turbofans was lost to sight. "Would you look at that," he wondered aloud, turning to find that he was alone. His breath misted the air; it was time to get some rest. They start early round these parts, he thought to himself.

Cal woke as the first sun broke the horizon and checked his communicator that showed the duty rota for the day. He sighed as he saw he was on a perimeter check again, Buck had been putting him on the perimeter for the last month. There was another long, dusty shift on his speeder ahead. Buck's transport sat caked in the red residue of the iron rich soils in the maintenance bay. Must have been quite a journey, Cal thought to himself as he refilled his water tank.

Perimeter duty was primarily the search for any lost or injured cattle. It always struck Cal as a futile task. The cattle had had the curiosity bred out of them, so getting lost was unlikely, and biologically they had so few things that could go wrong. In fact, every member of the herd had an end date—its chemical reactions would just cease, and within a short period it would be processed for shipment off the planet. Cal broke the monotony of the day by zigzagging in and out of the corn fields. So it was with more than a little excitement that late in the morning he saw on the horizon what could only be the remains of the downed freighter. It was sitting just on the fringe of the radiation zone, where the terrain becomes mountainous. A thin ribbon of smoke stretched up into the sky. It was evident the atmosphere hadn't been kind to the ancient hulk. The reactor still smouldered gently, and as Cal approached, he could see a gaping hole in the scorched hull of the craft. He reached for his communicator then stopped himself; perhaps it was easier to beg for forgiveness he thought, he wanted to explore. As the engine of his speeder wound down, the silence that was left added to the forlorn appearance of the freighter. He switched on his torch as he entered the shadowy innards.

Cal's boots crunched over the debris as he clambered his way down the now slanted corridor. He stopped periodically to rummage through some of the storage units, looking for nothing in particular just anything that he could trade. As he pulled out overalls and tools from a locker, his brain suddenly snapped to attention. He could hear a noise close by ... there it was again. He stopped to listen. Again a sporadic burst of noise, someone else was here. Cal took a few steps closer to the source. It was emanating from just behind a large warped vent that lay in his way. He crept purposefully forwards. Cal's eyes now accustomed to the gloom began to see an ethereal yellow glow just behind the vent. Using a tangle of cables above him, he eased himself up to peer over the vent. A pair of glowing yellow eyes turned to look at him. The startled creature quickly stuffed all the shiny objects it had collected into a small sack then hastily scuttled off deeper into the freighter.

"Hey" he called, pulling on the cables to haul himself over the vent. When all of a sudden the paneling overhead gave way and collapsed, trapping his leg, Cal cried out in anguish as he found himself unable to move. As he struggled, he realised he was now trapped and alone. He lay back on some twisted metal, cursing his bad luck. As he did so, two glowing eyes appeared close by.

"Hey," shouted Cal again, not sure what he was looking at. The features of the creature were obscured by a thick cloak, the only other distinguishing feature was the small sack hung from its belt. It tilted its head, studying him. After a moment or two, it seemed to come to a decision and reached for a long piece of twisted metal to wedge it under the collapsed paneling. A large piece of tubing served as a pivot, and the creature pulled with all its might. It squealed with what sounded like delight as the plates of metal shifted just enough to free the leg. Cal cheered loudly and instinctively inspected his leg, expecting terrible damage but found nothing more than bumps and scrapes. When he looked up, the creature had gone. It could be heard scurrying off down the corridor. Not caring about stealth anymore, Cal crashed his way through the debris of the freighter. Noises in front of him let him know he was closing in on his unlikely saviour. He could see the cloak, the creature couldn't have been more than three or four feet tall, and it skipped deftly through the wreckage. Light spilled into the hull up ahead; the small figure was heading outside. On reaching the opening, Cal pulled himself through, taking a moment to untangle himself from the loose cables that now seemed to be strangling the insides of the freighter. His eyes baulked at the brightness of the suns but focussed in time to see a small, wheeled vehicle racing away across the prairie. Cal ran to his speeder and fired up the turbofans to give chase. Quickly becoming clear that he had the speed advantage, he started to make up ground. The figure with the yellow eyes turned to look back at him then veered off towards the craggy foothills of the mountains. Cal had been warned to stay away, but his curiosity had been piqued. It was worth the risk, and he pulled hard on his controls.

The terrain became increasingly rocky, but it was soon clear that they were on a well-worn trail and it was leading them into a large deep canyon. By now there was only a short distance separating the two. Suddenly there was a plume of dust thrown up ahead of him, and the grating noise of metal on rock echoed up the canyon. The small figure had misjudged the size of one of the many small boulders and been thrown into the rocky wall. Cal slid to a stop by the wreckage. The small, cloaked figure lay prone on the dirt, and mangled pieces of machinery lay all around.

Cal approached the brown cloak and rolled the little figure onto its back, it groaned in discomfort. He stood back in astonishment when he saw the two glowing eyes; he could see the pale skin of a small part human part rodent-like creature with a bald head and four small limbs. In its hands, it still clutched the small sack of treasures it had collected from the freighter. The creature spoke in short audible bursts, and it was hard to make out any distinct words. In the end, it lifted its short arm and motioned to a cave in the distance. "You want me to take you there?" Cal asked, overcome with empathy for the small creature. Realising he had already decided what he was going to do, he lifted the creature into his arms. Surprisingly light. Cal trod to the cave, the creature winced from time to time, its glowing eyes fading just a little. On reaching the opening, he set the small creature onto the ground and stepped cautiously into the cave.

"Hello," he called. No response. He took another step into the cave mouth. Was that a sound in the distance? He took a few more tentative steps, and the cave opened into a larger clearing. He was about to shout again when he realised standing directly in front of him was another of the creatures, same eyes only this time wearing a grey cloak. They stared at each other. It let out a garbled outburst then fell silent. It gesticulated angrily at Cal. Cal watched the performance with mild amusement and was about to speak when the creature suddenly pulled out an oversized weapon from under its cloak and shot him. Cal felt a sudden impact as his world went black.

***

The water was icy. Cal spluttered as he opened his eyes, just as another of the creatures drenched him with a second pail of water.

"Ok! Ok!" He shouted, "I'm awake". Both his arms and legs were bound, and he couldn't move other than to see his surroundings. Cal frantically checked himself over, looking for the wound caused by the shot, but other than a throbbing headache there was none to be found. He was sat on the floor of an enormous circular chamber, shadows from a large fire danced on the rocky walls. There were seven or eight of the creatures watching him with curiosity, seemingly laughing every time he struggled against the restraints.

"Hey...is that from my speeder?" he demanded as one of the creatures passed by with a saddle and other assorted parts. More joyful noises came from his captors. But the noise stopped as a creature in a beautiful purple cloak entered, immediately giving orders in their clipped high pitched dialect. Four of them grabbed him roughly and dragged him across the floor.

"Hey stop that," yelled Cal starting to fear for his safety. The creatures shrieked with amusement. Cal tumbled himself over to see where he was going, and his heart sank. In the next chamber was a massive fire that had a large heavy duty pot ominously suspended over the top of it.

"Oh please," he pleaded, "please don't eat me". He struggled against his restraints, but they were just too strong. He was thrown roughly onto the floor.

"Please, don't eat me," he said again searching for someone to listen. The fire crackled menacingly. The creatures all fell silent.

Then came a laugh. A deep hearty laugh.

"These little critters ain't going to eat you, boy" came the voice. Cal twisted to find its source, and out of the shadows stepped Buck accompanied by two of the little creatures.

"These are Jawa; they live off seeds and mould. Not leather skinned knuckleheads like us" Buck laughed again, this time mimicked by all the Jawa in the chamber. The Jawa who had shot him earlier approached him.

"No not him," Cal squealed, and the Jawa paused

"That Jawa is a she" Buck corrected

"I believe that........woman's planning to shoot me again" Buck waved away Cal's concerns, and the Jawa cut his restraints loose. Cal sat on the ground rubbing his wrists.

"You told us there was nothing here?" Cal found his voice

"You said the mountains were dangerous?" He added accusingly.

Buck stretched himself up to his full height.

"Many years ago a dust storm hit us, the cattle were spooked, and they stampeded through the compound. I followed them on my speeder and eventually got in front of them, but the wind caught me and flipped me over. I was done for. As the hooves trampled me, I made my peace and waited for the end.......but it never came. These little critters saved me, put me back together and gave me this." He held up his brass arm.

"Beautiful, ain't it. In return, I promised them that I would keep their secret and keep them safe and have been doing it ever since." The assembled Jawa listened intently.

"You know, the first settlers hunted them for sport, can you believe that. Perhaps we ain't so enlightened as we think. So the Jawa came here and hid in these mountains. Eventually, no one remembered they existed, that's the way they like it, and that's the way I....we want to keep it." Cal felt the enquiry in Buck's voice. The Jawa maintained a reverential silence, perhaps sensing the importance of the conversation.

"You helped one before," Buck added after a pause.

"Perhaps you could help them all?"

Cal thought about his first encounter. The Jawa didn't have to come back, it chose to support him, and now he knew he must do the same. He had spent his whole life on the space stations where nobody cared for anyone but themselves. He now realised that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

He looked Buck in the eye and nodded.

Buck smiled warmly with more than a little relief behind his eyes.

"You know, this could be a perfect place for someone like you to get that fresh start, and besides I ain't going to be around forever." He reached out his hand to help Cal to his feet. The Jawa clapped their approval and bowed respectfully to the two men.

"Now let's be getting back before we are missed."

"Problem is, I think they may have taken my speeder apart."

"Let's see about that," Buck answered cryptically. They walked out to the entry to the cave, where two speeders sat awaiting their arrival.

"I...I don't understand" Cal said mystified

"They are tinkerers, mechanics, the Jawa can put almost anything back together, you'll see, comes in handy."

Buck and Cal bowed their farewells to the Jawa when a disturbance broke out behind them. The injured Jawa came limping out of the cave shouting after them. As he reached Buck, he rummaged through his small sack full of salvaged treasure and put something into his hand. Buck leant over as the Jawa whispered conspiratorially into his ear. As Buck straightened up, the Jawa took a step back and bowed ceremonially. Cal was about to ask but before he could speak Buck motioned him on.

"Time to go." Buck grinned.

Neither spoke much as the two speeders cruised back across the plains, it was only when they arrived back at the maintenance bay that Buck spoke. "You see, perimeter duty ain't that bad?"

"Buck... Did you want me to find them?" Buck let the question hang in the air and reached into his pocket. "Here, they wanted you to have this" and handed Cal a Silver Star.

Cal took it a little stunned and smiled warmly as he rubbed his thumb over the words US Marshal.

"Best you get some rest, work starts early," Buck said as he turned and walked away. Cal was sure he could hear the old ranch hand humming to himself.

Last Frontier Saloon: Intermezzo

by Jinn Tiole / jinnis

Dave leans back, lips curled in a tiny smile, and sips his booze. One of the card players drops the hand and starts clapping softly. Soon other guests follow his lead. Our impromptu audience consists of twenty persons or more, counting the welders and some miners of the Spider's crew as well as the regulars from station admin.

Jen takes advantage of the break in storytelling and hurries from table to table to serve drinks. She does an excellent job filling the guests' tankards and draining their purses while I sense a pang of guilt for sitting here and let her do all the work. Swiftly I rise and move to the bar to give my employee a hand pulling beer. From behind the tap, I observe Lin scanning the room, always on the lookout for troublemakers. Satisfied, she turns her undivided attention back to Dave.

"Great story so far, mate, but what happened next? It's not fair to end a tale on a cliffhanger. What did Cal do with the star once he got it from his new Jawa friend?"

Lyddie nods in support, eyes wide. Dave shrugs and shakes an Ecrivain out of a crunched red-and-white packet. In one fluent motion, Salty snatches the fag out of his fingers before he can light it and crumbles it to blueish-brown dust.

"No, you don't, not while my daughter sits between us."

"No reason to flip. Sorry girls, that's how my story ends. Either Cal lived happily ever after, or not. Fairy tale endings are not my specialty, I'll leave that to Lyddie's mum."

The girl grins wide while William refills Dave's glass, brushing obnoxious remains of destroyed Ecrivain to the increasingly littered floor. He winks at Lyddie before he picks up the thread.

"Well, we know Cal lived an interesting life, don't we? He became the first major of the united Terran-Jawa community. During his term the colony prospered. Its ability to provide reliable food supplies substantially increased the rate of space expansion."

William collects the star and knuckle-walks it along the fingers of his right hand.

"This piece of metal has a truly amazing story. I like how it found a new owner in Cal. It almost seems to choose a certain type of people."

Lin raises an eyebrow. "Sorry, Sir William, this sounds a wee bit esoteric from a rock solid businessman."

"Simply William is fine, without the Sir, makes me feel out of place. Esoteric? Perhaps, but isn't it obvious? First Ruby and her crew who saved the day for Mars colony. Then Jeff's bald spur-of-the-moment acquaintance, Chris, who decided to do the right thing, unconcerned by personal consequences. Finally, Cal helped the native Jawa and succeeded to ensure their rights as sentient species alongside humans."

Salty nods. "You got a point there. However, not every star-owner was lucky. Remember Paul, the doomed Mars pioneer? Or even Eliza? And what about the unknown bloke who's starship crashed in Jawa territory?"

"Get me right, I don't say the star is a lucky charm. But it tends to end up with people who have a special destiny to fulfil. Don't believe me? Ready for another story?"

Mumbled consent and a few more calls for drinks are the answer. Jen and I hurry to satisfy our customers' needs. The night turns out promising, tip-wise. At last I fill two glasses with my best rum and we join the crew at the central table. William lifts his drink.

"Cheers! Listen to the story of Sureshot Sam and his girls."