In the Shadow of the Rings by Frank Kennedy (grave mercy .txt) 📕

Only about ten minutes later, as the celestial convergence began to wane, did voices rise, laughter return, and cheers punctuate the night. The sounds grew into a roar as the sun’s final light fel away, the rings returned to their artful silver beauty, and the moon rose toward the highest bands, soon to overtake them and continue its lonely journey.

The party began. Clinking glasses, fish rol s, poltash for al , and trivial banter dominated the rooftop. Yet Ryllen and Kai stayed close.

After many introductions – Ryllen wasn’t about to remember al

these names – he and Kai found a quiet spot.

“What you said earlier, Kai, about the Divine sending us the wrong message. What did you mean?”

Kai threw back a blue liquor and grinned.

“You’re in now. It’s good a time as any.” He pointed to the rings.

“Beautiful, right?”

“You know they are.”

“My mother once told me, ‘Evil hides inside beauty.’” He leaned in close, his voice dampened to a whisper. “Most people here already know, but most Hokkis would close their ears before they’d listen to the truth.”

“What truth?”

“Those rings wil be the death of us. You’ve heard about the growing issues with agriculture on the continent?”

“Sure. Everyone has. Poisoned soil, a drop in arable land. Why?”

“Nobody knows when it started, and it’s never been made public.

But the rings are losing their orbital integrity. Most of the time, when chunks break off and fal into the atmosphere, they burn up. Not al .

Just enough.”

“What’s fal ing through is poisoning the land?”

“Minus a science lecture … yes. Don’t ask me about the timetable.

Some think it’s a temporary cycle. Others say the end is inevitable.

Here’s the good news: The oceans aren’t impacted. At least, not yet.

Saltwater dilutes the poison.”

“Kai, why am I just hearing about this? Shouldn’t everyone be warned? And how does Green Sun know so much?”

“Many people know. Most don’t talk, for their own good. It’s not like we can remove the rings. And where else do we have to go? Huryo?

To live in the swamps? No, our best hope is Green Sun. We’re patriots and soldiers, and we’re going to protect our own.”

“Against what?”

“Not what. Who. Or maybe it’s whom. I forget. Listen, Kai, do you think the growing number of immos is a coincidence? How about the interlopers trying to compete against our seamasters? The Lagos have always controlled the seas. They’re growing desperate on the continent. They’re turning their eyes to us. In time, The Lagos wil be

the last refuge for a safe, clean Hokkaido. We have to protect it.”

Ryllen’s heart chil ed. Now he understood.

“Patriots. Soldiers. We’re an army.”

“You’re damn wel right, we are,” Kai said. “Without Green Sun, we have no defense against these bastards. So, we do whatever’s necessary to keep them out. In the old days, whenever there was regional trouble, the Chancel or Sanctums would cal up the Ark Carriers. They’d send battalions of peacekeepers to put down our nastiest threats. Those monsters are gone now. The Lagos needs new monsters. People wil ing to go anywhere, obey any order, to protect our islands. You’re part of it now, RJ.”

Pride, dread, and a swel of enthusiasm consumed Ryllen.

“This place has never treated me the best, but it’s the only home I know. Thank you for tel ing me the truth, Kai. I’m committed.”

“Good. Tomorrow you’l start your training. In a few days, classified briefings. After that, you’l be in the fray.”

“The fray? How far do we take it?”

In another context, Kai’s twisted smile might have terrified him.

“The Chancel ors used to have a saying. ‘Victory is morality.’

Green Sun’s only goal is victory for The Lagos. There’s nothing we won’t do.”

Kai didn’t have to say more. Ryllen understood the subtext.

Perhaps if he had a family who cared or a comfortable life in the Haansu District free of bigotry and disdain, he might have had qualms. His stomach might have turned at the idea of taking on the inevitable dirty business of soldiering.

Yet for the first time since he arrived on Hokkaido, Ryllen Jee felt important, needed, and loved. For the first time, he was trusted.

And The Lagos were, after al , a paradise.

Who wouldn’t want to defend paradise?

2

The Idiot’s Mother

Standard Year 5363

YLLEN JEE KNEW MOTHER would never approve. His R adoptive siblings, who’d been looking for an excuse to excise him from their lives since Father died in the reprisals, would disavow him. He was, after all, a perpetual reminder of the deal that most likely sealed Father’s fate: Adopting an off-worlder from Chancellors in exchange for “special investment considerations.” Ryllen never learned the financial details, but side glances and stern whispers cried with ample volume.

Few walked the streets of Pinchon who were not Hokki, descendants of the ancient Koreans forcibly migrated from Earth and given a new home world, Hokkaido. Outside of a smal cluster of rarely seen former Chancel ors who “went native” during the final years of the Collectorate, Ryllen knew of no one else who bore his physical hal marks of the Anglo-European gene pool. Consequently, his efforts to dress Hokki, to bury himself in Pinchon’s Modernist culture, and develop his own unique style of braids, met with uneven success. Some looked past his obvious difference, but