The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (portable ebook reader .txt) 📕

clear or beautiful like the gemstones we are used to. They harvest them for industrial purposes, to put on cutting edges and such.”

“Ah, well that makes sense,” Derek said.

“They’re pretty neat to look at. One of the locals had one from when Stalin was mining them, and it actually took on the graphite grains that were there previously. Which means it must have formed instantaneously.”

Derek and Smith nodded, then stopped to look around and take in their surroundings. To submerge yourself in this world of gems and otherworldly beauty was a nice step back from the world outside. Not that the outside world wasn’t beautiful, but it was stressful. I hoped that one day that would be different, but even then, I had always needed a place to get away from everything. This place would always be that for me.

It took a long time to reach the bottom of the crater with all of us being ever so careful to not fall backwards down the wall. When we reached the group of people at the center, setting up camp, it was heartbreaking. Tears fell from a lot of faces, but not enough. I stood back to do a quick head count and was baffled by the number I came up with. Forty-two. We had forty-two people left out of the sixty we had back at headquarters. My breath caught, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I collapsed to the ground on both of my hands and knees, trying to catch air. Just breathe, I told myself.

Finally taking a full breath of air, my lungs filled and the tears ran from my face onto the bejeweled ground, casting shadows of tears onto the other jewels and surrounding ground, multiplying. When I finally looked up, I realized everyone was looking to me. The struggle inside myself to hide was overwhelming, but when I looked around, I had a thought. No one else is going to stand up, it has to be you. You got them here, now get them out.

Standing up, I took a deep breath in and looked to the sky. Earth stared back at me and granted me the courage to continue on. “Once again, Leslie has taken everything from us.” I let silence hang in the air for a few moments. “He’s taken part of our family. I’m so sorry for your losses. I understand, some of those bonds can never be replaced.” A tear ran down my face. I truly did understand. “And I don’t know about you, but I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want you to take it anymore. I don’t want anyone to take it anymore. I’ve had enough. We’ve given chances. We’ve given them the option out, and they didn’t want it. I’m tired of giving chances. I'm tired of giving them the upper hand. I’m tired of playing by the rules! I say we take action. Tonight. While it’s dark. While they least expect it. Without warning. Without regret. We go into their camp tonight, while they’re sleeping, and we end this. Once and for all. Who’s with me?” When I finished talking, I was out of breath. Huffing now. I wasn’t sure if it was the panic earlier, or the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but I knew I didn’t mind.

Facing the smaller crowd now in front of me, I didn’t see any reservation. All of them nodded slowly, until they all seemed completely on board. One raised his fist in the air, and the rest followed. Their symbols of unity, the imperfect three intertwined circles, on each of their arms, raised high. It was power. Unity.

THERE WASN’T MUCH PLANNING necessary for this attack. It was simple. Go in quietly, do the deed quietly. Leave quietly if there was anyone left. To kill someone in their sleep felt animalistic, and somehow colder than fighting someone in hand-to-hand combat. They had no chance. There was no game to be played. They just lost without knowing it. And despite the lack of planning, there was still a lot of discussion.

People had moral difficulties with it, as did I. There were in-depth discussions about whether it was right or wrong. What circumstances made it right or wrong. Or whether we cared. Basically, everyone came to the same conclusion, that no matter their moral obligation, it was necessary and we had no other choice. It weighed heavy on our thoughts, but it didn’t stop us.

WE WAITED THROUGH THE day for the time to come for us to go. We had to wait until curfew at Leslie’s camp, and then a little bit after to give people time to settle in and fall asleep. People shared whatever food they had and became a community once again. Runs to the lake to gather water were quick and efficient, and before we knew it, dark had settled over us. It was time.

“Everyone gather around,” I said. People stopped talking and left their groups to form a circle around me. Once everyone was ready and listening, I spoke again. “Everyone knows what we’re doing here. Right or wrong, we’re all in this together. This is for Circadia. This is for the hope of a better world. Like we said, we don’t need a plan this time around. We just have to get out there to do it. Everyone ready?”

People nodded in agreement. I turned around to grab my axe and began scaling the crater wall. Behind me, I heard people grabbing their weapons and tools, and they began to walk towards me. With a jolt, the footsteps behind me became inaudible due to the overwhelming noise of an explosion. Noticing the glinting light off of the jewels, I looked up into the sky to see a spacecraft entering our atmosphere. Rapidly shooting a glance towards the space team, I asked, “Are we supposed to be expecting anyone right now?”

“...not us,” they answered.

Turning my attention back to the sky, I watched as the parachute deployed, illuminated by