Paul Collins - Earthborn The

Alarm made Gillian look up and catch sight of someone fading into the mottled green foliage high up on the slope. It could have been a trick of the light, and she dismissed the thought as she returned her attention to the pair. Neither seemed to heed her scrutiny of the slopes, as though they didn't want to give weight to her suspicions.

"Alone," Gillian said simply. "It's Snow's End Festival." She lifted her hair, which still fell in clotted knots. "I'll pass as one of the jabbers." She looked at Mira. It struck her as odd that she hadn't spotted it before. Mira too had opted for an unfashionable style. Bruick material, she thought with wry amusement.

Patrick looked fleetingly at Mira, then directed his attention to Gillian. "I'll not ask about your quarrel with Bruick. But me and Mira aim to settle an old score." He shook his head slowly. "Just don't get in our way, girl, is all I ask."

The exuberant voices of children at play were joyous. No matter how long Welkin lived on Earth, he would never fully get used to children having fun. At their age, he had been learning the rudiments of quantum physics; slightly older, he was being strapped into sims to battle ever-increasing odds in order to ascertain his full potential as a fighter pilot. Ironically, if he and Lucida had remained on Colony, they'd possibly have been in the combat teams strafing the Earthborn.

Welkin remembered trying to explain time dilation to Budge.

"You see, Budge, four hundred years of Earth time would be like only, say, one hundred years our time." He laughed. Colony physicists would have been appalled at his bumbling maths.

"Th-that's cr-cra-crazy," Budge had said. He had looked across to Sarah for confirmation. Sarah had poked her tongue out meditatively and considered the little she knew of time dilation.

"Something like this, Budge. In space, only three generations would have elapsed on Colony in the same time span as twelve on Earth."

Budge had smiled as though he believed they were razzing him.

Unperturbed, Welkin had pushed on. "You see, according to relativity ... let me explain on a different level." He'd closed his eyes in concentration. "Colony was traveling at something like fifty thousand miles per second, which would have had a time-altering effect on the people traveling at that speed, relative to, say, people here on Earth. If you could have seen us while we were moving, say, from five years out, you would have noticed that everything, including our clocks, had slowed down. We would have appeared not to have aged as much."

"Sh-sh-sure thing," Budge had said and laughed at them for being fools.

"Enough of relativity theory," Sarah had said, closing the discussion.

Welkin grinned. Dialogue like that seemed to flash in and out of his memory. How Sarah had become so knowledgeable was beyond him. Maybe that's why she'd been so special.

He felt rather than heard the presence of someone beside his hut.

"Hiya," Lucida said in the Earthborn vernacular.

Welkin rubbed his leg and winced. It still sometimes gave him hell. He bent and stretched it several times. The tightness dwindled to a dull throb. He dragged himself up and shook his head. "You were right. I really needed that sleep."

"I left it as long as I could. Everyone's asking where Gillian is. So I guess she's gone."

"I guess." He rubbed his stiff neck and winced as a headache grew more acute. He turned to face Lucida. Right now all he wanted to do was go back to bed.

"You can't do this thing alone, Welkin. You know that, don't you? I suggest we attack the Stockade, with everything we've got. They won't be expecting it."

"It's too soon to launch an attack on them," Welkin said firmly. "It's too heavily guarded." At Lucida's pleading expression he turned abruptly and pulled aside the door flap. "Look out there, Lucida. What do you see? Tell me straight."

Lucida put her arm around his shoulders. "I see a lot of people who are free of tyranny. I see happiness, Welkin."

"What I see are a bunch of young kids and a few older kids who think of themselves as adults who are too immersed in their everyday lives to look beyond tomorrow. Sure, it's what Sarah wanted. To have a united family with no worries beyond what to cook for dinner ..."

"We've fought Colony and Bruick these past six months, Welkin.

Don't ever forget that. We've lost too many friends to sweep that aside."

"And you're asking a lot more people to participate in something that's not their concern. They came to us because we offered security and freedom from hunger."

Lucida blinked, taken aback for a second. "And that's what we've given them."

Welkin massaged his temples. The last thing he wanted right now was an argument with Lucida. She'd always been the smarter of the two.

He tried to fight his bewilderment but couldn't. "What crazy scheme have you come up with now?"

Lucida smiled. Welkin was so funny when he couldn't think straight. "I've set up a Committee meeting."

"When for?" He sounded bored with the idea.

"Now."

"I hate it when you do this to me," he grumbled as he pushed past her into the eye-numbing glare.

Welkin sent Lucida ahead. He needed time to gather his thoughts. He paused by a water pail and splashed icy cold water over his head, and immediately felt wide awake.

People parted for him as he made his way to the shack in the middle of the settlement.

His hair was still dripping wet when he opened the door to the Committee room. It was no grander than the rest of the dwellings the family used, but it had a wooden door rather than a canvas flap.

Everyone looked up when he entered. They'd been discussing something without him, although he didn't resent that. No major decisions could be made without a full hearing. Efi sat at the head of the table and waved to him when he entered the room. "Yia."

"Hiya," he returned and nodded to Elab, Harry, Zedda, Budge, and Con. He observed how old the two Earthborn had become lately.

Finally he acknowledged the newcomers: Lars, Devan, and their latest recruit, Zocky.

"Sorry I'm late. I just couldn't get up." He glanced out throughthe window. "Seems like everyone's expecting some major change. Quite a crowd gathered outside."

"Ta nea kikloforane gligora —sorry, news spreads fast," Efi said. She concentrated. "Word is that Gillian has taken several families with her. To start afresh somewhere."

Welkin regarded her alertly. "It's always been our way to tell the united family our plans. Why in Space would they—"

"Because a few things have happened lately that they've been unaware of," Lucida reminded him.

"Since Bruick's control over the Monbulk area, we've decided to keep some things secret. His spies could be anywhere."

Even in this room, they all thought, but no one voiced the opinion.

Zocky leaned forward across the table. Her long blond hair, squared-off features, and powerful body made her popular among the people. Beside her looks and intelligence, she had charisma, so much so that she had been appointed the Committee's spokesperson.

When she spoke, the others listened. "Since Sarah's death, the united family has dwindled alarmingly.

This is agreed. Yes?" She swept the congregation with her wide blue eyes.

There was a murmur of assent.

"It is common knowledge that shortly Colony will resume its raids. Which is why many of the smaller families have fled even though a lot of the passes are still snow blocked." She waited for any objections to her assessment, but the others kept silent.

"Therefore, we need to give confidence to the remaining families, let them see that we're doing something, that we are protecting them. We need to hit back at our enemies!"