Descending Road - FROM THE DEAD by Dana W. Paxson

FROM THE DEAD

12440 CE

They angled through the section of the ship Doug had worked to repair.

“Man, what hit us here?” Enrique asked, more to himself than to Doug.

“The ship said it was a mass of metal,” Doug said. “I was brought up to help fix it back around six thousand. I thought I was going to die then.”

“You mean you escaped, and stowed away, and then you had to do repair crew work? Man, you got the short end of that one.” Enrique shook his head. “Me, I got out of that stuff when I swapped with Tommy Chi. He took my spot on the repair group.”

“He died before he could come up,” Doug said. “I saw his body.”

“What a fucking coffin this thing is.” Enrique bashed a hand at a bulkhead, bounced away, recovered. “A big fucking coffin built by the esteemed Hau Ren Combine to bury a big load of suckers who don’t happen to be full Sinese.”

“They didn’t bury you and me and the rest who made it,” Doug said evenly. “They got us here alive.”

They passed an armored window filled with the creamy radiance of a brilliant orb. Doug grabbed Enrique‘s arm, hooked a handgrip, and pointed. “What’s that?”

“That’s Layo Lamba, the moon. The sun Pué is behind us, and that little marble past the moon is Opo Bira Lima. That’s where we were supposed to go.”

“Why can’t we get there?” Layo Lamba glowed with the effulgent light of the new sun, its surface golden instead of gray like that of the old Moon back at Earth. Doug turned to look at Enrique.

The other man seemed bemused. “It’s beautiful. But we’re all going to die right here, because everybody’s dying every time we try to work hard enough to get somewhere. It’s just so fucking hard.” His face softened, and he bit his lip.

Doug came beside him, and held his shoulder; eventually Enrique‘s arm came up around Doug‘s back. The moon and planet shifted slowly across the window. Finally Doug said, “It’s always hard.” He remembered Geordie, and Jan, and the loneliness came in a rush. “Here’s what happened to me.” And he told Enrique about Jan, and his brother, and Turchenko, and Wenrock, and Geordie, and Nye, while Layo Lamba shed its light on them, and the distant sounds of voices and metal whispered at them in the ancient halls of the travel-spent ship.

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	FROM THE DEAD 12440 CE They angled through the section of the ship Doug had worked to repair. “Man, what hit us here?” Enrique asked, more to himself than to Doug. “The ship said it was a mass of metal,” Doug said. “I was brought up to help fix it back around six thousand. I thought I was going to die then.” “You mean you escaped, and stowed away, and then you had to do repair crew work? Man, you got the short end of that one.” Enrique shook his head. “Me, I got out of that stuff when I swapped with Tommy Chi. He took my spot on the repair group.” “He died before he could come up,” Doug said. “I saw his body.” “What a fucking coffin this thing is.” Enrique bashed a hand at a bulkhead, bounced away, recovered. “A big fucking coffin built by the esteemed Hau Ren Combine to bury a big load of suckers who don’t happen to be full Sinese.” “They didn’t bury you and me and the rest who made it,” Doug said evenly. “They got us here alive.” They passed an armored window filled with the creamy radiance of a brilliant orb. Doug grabbed Enrique‘s arm, hooked a handgrip, and pointed. “What’s that?” “That’s Layo Lamba, the moon. The sun Pué is behind us, and that little marble past the moon is Opo Bira Lima. That’s where we were supposed to go.” “Why can’t we get there?” Layo Lamba glowed with the effulgent light of the new sun, its surface golden instead of gray like that of the old Moon back at Earth. Doug turned to look at Enrique. The other man seemed bemused. “It’s beautiful. But we’re all going to die right here, because everybody’s dying every time we try to work hard enough to get somewhere. It’s just so fucking hard.” His face softened, and he bit his lip. Doug came beside him, and held his shoulder; eventually Enrique‘s arm came up around Doug‘s back. The moon and planet shifted slowly across the window. Finally Doug said, “It’s always hard.” He remembered Geordie, and Jan, and the loneliness came in a rush. “Here’s what happened to me.” And he told Enrique about Jan, and his brother, and Turchenko, and Wenrock, and Geordie, and Nye, while Layo Lamba shed its light on them, and the distant sounds of voices and metal whispered at them in the ancient halls of the travel-spent ship.