Page 49 of Stars At Dusk

Despite their perilous existence, the residents here had tried to make their tunnel sections as comfortable as possible. They’d formed into camps and settlements, essentially their neighbourhoods complete with governing committees.

They built rudimentary shelters from reinforced synth boards. These were small, cramped, dark single-room huts with dirt or rock floors. It was common for five or more family members to live in one shack. They decorated their boarded hovels the best way they knew how. With colourful posters and prayers on the walls and rugs on the floor, they were just enough to hold a few sleep pads and electromagnetic battery heaters to boil water, which they could cook their noodles and chow.

Over the years, this semi-autonomous population had expanded exponentially. The high density and lack of infrastructure in the tunnels resulted in acute drainage and sanitation problems. Zane and Kainan had worked with Eden II’s council for years to establish a sewage system to reduce stagnation levels and the probability of water and airborne diseases.

The most vulnerable in Luna Pika were its young children. Thousands of them, through no fault of their own, lived in extreme poverty without access to sanitation, electricity, clean water, medication, adequate education, or the fundamental rights of any child.

That was why Kage had set up a Sable Group internship program aimed at helping Pika kids find a path to a meaningful existence on Eden II. He saw himself reflected in the eyes of the young Pika boys. Their simmering anger and bitterness was the same that had churned inside him after he’d been orphaned those many years ago. He’d raged against his leaders, fought and rebelled against them, secretly wishing he’d had a father figure to guide him. Helping these kids, and especially his intern Aran, was his redemption. Lest they fell into the vice like hold of the gangs and drug lords who lurked in the shadows of Eden II.

Which was why finding the young man today was urgent,Kage thought as he gunned Void X towards the settlement of East Pikani, where Aran lived.

The young man had been a no-show at work yesterday, his first day back after study break. He’s also gone AWOL today.

Kage had comm’d him a few times with no answer. Then Mirage informed him that the results of the Orbital Technician Engineering course entry exams had come through. Aran had failed his second try.

Given Kage knew how hard Aran was on himself and how easy it was for him to get sidetracked by the seductive pull of a lawless Pika lifestyle, the Sable Rider knew time was not on his side.

The news had come just as he’d been heading home on the shuttle from Skylab. He’d noted the message, made sure Harlow was home safe and then moved swiftly. To his flyer, parked at his space in 498’s garage.

He’d taken one of the more deserted sky lanes leading to the entrance of the tunnels and slipped into the subsurface, weaving deeper into the silver-veined warrens.

So far, Kage’s ride has been unremarkable until the flyer’s headlights caught a brawl in the recesses ahead. His eyes narrowed at seeing a man swinging a neo-steel bat at a huddled figure.

Kage instantly brought his flyer to a stop and leapt out, it’s engine still growling behind him. He charged towards the screaming pair, their faces obscured by the churning regolith. At the sight of the burly Edenite warrior, the attacker tried to whirl away from their victim, but Kage was faster, stronger. He drove the man down with akapostrike and wrestled him to the ground. He placed a heavy knee on the man’s spine and pulled a pair of electromagnetic cuffs from one of the many pockets of his jumpsuit. Thekinaialmost slipped away under him, and Kage snarled. He pushed the man back down and slapped the cuffs on the wrists of the figure struggling under him. The instant they locked on the man, he stilled and crumpled into a heap, tapped out by a quick zap of the cuff’s power circuit.

Kage leaned back, panting slightly. ‘Ko’sawa?’ he called out to the young victim, staring at him with large eyes.

The boy, barely 13 years old, nodded that he was fine.

‘What was that about?’ Kage asked the kid softly.

‘He wanted my sale chow,’ the child said, matter of fact. He bent to the ground, gathering bundles of wrapped food items and placing them onto a misshapen tray.

‘You need care,’ Kage pointed out, noting the blood seeping from a cut on the boy’s forehead.

‘Nada,’ came the reply. ‘If I be late, mymaminwill kill me.’

Kage knew his argument was a lost cause. Women were fearless in the fight for survival down here, and he knew Pika mothers especially were not to be tangled with. So he dug into his pockets and found a clean handkerchief, a pre-loaded schill card with enough for a few meals, and a handful of free healthcare care tokens redeemable at any of the dispensaries that The Sable Group funded in the tunnels. He handed these silently to the boy, who shyly took them and tucked them into his trews.

‘Use them,’ Kage said roughly.

The kid nodded, then darted away, disappearing almost instantly into creases of the basal subterrene.

Kane sighed, then activated his node and initiated a link.

Xion? Got my location?

Naam. What’s happening?

Saw a pair going at it in the tunnels. Some Pika man beating on a kid, barely a toto.

Nada!

I’ve got the kinai in restraints.

The kid?

Gone, brother. Y’know how it is.

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