[Incorporating everyone's suggestions and some slight plot changes inspired by Frank, here's the rewrite... finally. ^-^;] Chapter One: Exodus Kender of the Asteroid Belt was not a young man anymore. He had been a young man when he'd first journeyed to Earth, first met Rowan... a young man with dreams beyond planets, beyond kingdoms. But just a few short years after his young wife died, he followed her on the longest journey, an old and tired man. He'd lived on an small asteroid, in a village so small that it significantly grew in size with the addition of a single man and his daughter.=20 Kender had worked often and late at the Forges, as if work could fill the emptiness inside him... and perhaps it had, for a time. He made farming tools, and furniture, simply, but with skill; and he made cannon for Navy ships. The one or two proxies who'd approached him to make cannons for= pirate ships had emerged the worse for the experience. Some said that simply= beating them might not have provoked anyone, but when Kender began urging other Forge-workers not to make weapons for pirates- well, there was no real proof that Kender's accident had been anything other than that, an accident. And= of course, who was there to stand for him... and who would they accuse?= Kender's only relative on VesVes had been his little half-Terran daughter, and she'd been shipped off to CereCere to live with her aunts, almost immediately= after her father's accident.=20 Those who'd known Mira as a child knew she'd wept for her mother. But her father's death seemed to build a wall around the child, closing her in,= alone with her own grief. She listened to no one, cared for no one... Her aunts cared for her as best they could, which all the neighbors thought was very good of them, considering the circumstances. For if you asked Kender's sisters, they would tell you plainly that they'd never approved of their brother's decision to marry a Terran woman. The sickness couldn't have been helped, of course... well, yes, there had been medicine, but hadn't you= heard about that? Ah, the medicine was manufactured on Mars, from some native plant, and on its way to Terra, a band of pirates from the inner planets hijacked the ship. The medicine didn't arrive, and Kender's wife had died.= It certainly proved that Kender never should have left... but he had, and now look at the child. A Terran face and a Belter name, and it was quite obvious that she'd never fit in anywhere, sullen and rude as she was. She couldn't live in a room with any of her cousins, for she simply wouldn't sleep at decent hours. It was certainly not Kender's sisters' fault. Oh, they'd tell you if you asked, it was a pitched battle just to keep her fed and clothed. And that was why the girl was twelve and couldn't sew, couldn't cook, and wasn't on the road to knowing any sort of trade. No, it certainly wasn't any reflection on Kender's sisters. They had certainly tried...=20 The years passed, and Mira drifted away from her aunts and cousins. She stayed with them only sporadically, choosing instead to do odd jobs and run errands at the docks. She worked for a bite or two of food, a place to sleep for the night, sometimes a coin or two... and always, the latest dockyard gossip found its way to the childs' ear, for one so small could hardly run telling tales, could she?=20 Mira's aunts did not approve. As inhabitants of the Asteroids, they= certainly respected the choices of individuals, but still, it was clear to them that the girl had simply not grown up properly. Why, she was almost sixteen, and still wild as ever, with no ears for good counsel. Still bitter and= troubled, no manners at all... and no looks either, being skinnier and shorter than= any of her cousins who'd reached fifteen years of age. The girl was simply trouble, and senseless at that. What possible reason could the girl have for hanging around the shipyards all day? And not just any shipyards, but the dirtier and more unreputable ones at that! Spending her time with dockhands, and undesirables... Of course her aunts respected her rights, but it was a most unbecoming habit. None of them could recall exactly when it had= started, but it was certainly time for it to stop. They'd let the girl have a loose tether for quite some time now, and if no one put their foot down, things were only going to get worse. Why, the girl's disrespectful attitude might even rub off on their own offspring, which would be completely unacceptable... And so one day in the marketplace, Mira was cornered by the three eldest aunts and told that she would be moving in with one of them before the week was out. She'd get a decent job, perhaps in the market or in customs, and if she worked hard and didn't steal, she might make something= of herself after all. That night, Mira stared up at the stars for a very long while, from her shadowed corner in the twilight market street. Quietly, she checked her= pouch to make sure all her belongings were in their place. She'd never really considered anyplace on CereCere home, so she didn't look back or to either side as she made her way along the road to the shipyards. Small structures= on either side were darkish blue lumps against the ever-present void. If she looked closely at the horizon, Mira could almost see the spires of the palace, lit with a dim glow from the thousands of lanterns that were always kept burning in its courtyards. She'd seen the palace once. She wondered vaguely if there were sights anything like it where she was going. She turned, then, and slipped through the shadows of the back streets of the port city. Only a few lanterns were lit around the hangars and landing fields, meaning of course that it was night. People from outside the belt never seemed to understand that 'night' and 'day' varied widely when you= were on an asteroid. It depended on the asteroid's shape, your current rate of spin and turn, your orbit, and just where you happened to live... but it was down-time at the shipyard. The glow on the rounded horizon to Mira=92s left= was the sun setting, not rising. The gates were closed, it was quiet, and all= but a very few of the hangars were closed up. The gates were locked, of course, but as Mira approached the locked gate,= she slipped a hand into the pocket of her cloak, and pulled out a twisted piece of metal. Forcing it into the lock, she moved it carefully, manipulating the tumblers of the lock till she heard a faint click. She grinned, and tugged= on the lock. It didn=92t open. Mira sighed. She didn=92t really have a lot of experience picking locks. She gazed at the gate, and finally took off her jacket and tossed it through the bars. Getting down flat on her stomach, she grunted, exhaling completely as she wiggled under the gate.=20 It was almost humiliating to be able to get into the shipyard like that,= Mira grumbled to herself as she brushed dust and gravel off her clothes, and put her jacket back on. Although, it did help make up for her embarrassing absence of lock-picking skills. She just didn=92t have enough practice, she thought as she stowed the set of picks in her pocket. Mira didn't need to steal to live, and so she didn't. Though if she had chosen that path, she probably would have been independent of her aunts a lot sooner. She almost grinned. If this worked out, she'd never have to see them again. They probably wouldn't be too sorry either. As she skulked, Mira reached into her pocket and brought out a tiny shard of crystal, graven with a single rune. A miniscule light-charm, it was the girl's only real experience with magic. She squeezed it tightly, and it= began to glow, becoming warm to the touch almost immediately. She wrapped it in= the loose end of her jacket sash, the heat glowing through to her chilly= fingers, and walked on. It seemed like forever, but Mira finally reached launching= bay twelve. Apprehension and excitement mingled inside her, made her heart= thump. Taking a deep breath, she entered the hangar through the main door. Lights were on inside the ship, and faint noises emanated from the hold. Clearing her throat, Mira stepped past a few wooden crates, half-filled with jars of spice, and placed a foot on the gangplank of the Fortune.= "Captain?" she whispered. "I got her." said a masculine voice from behind Mira, grabbing her= arms and pinioning her firmly. She bit her lip, holding back a cry of panic as a= thick hand clamped over her mouth. She dropped the light-charm, and heard it hit the floor, bounce, and rest at the foot of the gangplank. Mira swallowed, trying to keep calm, as a tall, fierce woman, barefoot and dressed in casual sailors' clothes, padded out onto the gangplank. Her pale gray eyes observed the situation calmly.=20 "Let her go." the woman directed, running a hand through her long= blonde hair. It was the first time Mira had ever seen it unbraided.=20 "Hello, Captain Terebi." Mira said shakily. "Thought I'd find= you here." "You seem to know more than you should... What are you doing= here?" Terebi aimed her terrifying stare at the girl. Mira brushed the wrinkles from her jacket, and made her way up the= gangplank. "I have a proposition for you, Captain Terebi."=20 Terebi looked back at her first mate. "Keep filling the crates."= she said, and walked into the main cargo hold of her ship. "Well?" Mira bent and picked up her charm, wincing slightly at the heat it exuded, and turned it off with another firm squeeze. Stowing it in her pocket, she followed the captain. "Well... I=92ve known for quite a few days you= planned to skip out on paying your docking fees." Terebi=92s gray eyes showed not a flicker of emotion. "And?" "I=92ll pay them." "You? How could you-" The captain stared at Mira, and= reconsidered. "Why?" "I want to come with you." Terebi looked surprised, which was a first in Mira's experience.= "You=92re not serious." "Straight business proposition, all plusses for you. You've spent your= entire stake on spice, and you're headed to Jupiter." She swallowed, hoping= the rumors she'd picked up were correct. "But if you leave this dock= without paying, no one in the Belt will trade with you again. If I can just come= with you, you can pay the fees and stay on the right side of the law..."= Mira had promised herself she wasn't going to babble, but her mouth seemingly had a mind of its own. "You know me, Captain, I've done errands for you in= the past. I can be very useful, I know ships like the Fortune inside and out,= and I can help with repairs and upkeep. I'll be no trouble, and..." She swallowed, and stopped talking. Terebi crossed her arms, and thought about it... Mira took a deep breath,= and stared at her toes. "You're a Belter." the captain finally said. Though she felt no loyalty to her father's homeland, Mira still didn't like the derogatory nickname that came with it. But she merely answered= "Yes."=20 Terebi frowned. "I'm not, so I don't know about these things... but try= to be honest with me anyway. Am I violating anyone's rights if I take you with= me?" =20 Mira swallowed. "What you=92re thinking of is a family contract."= she said. "That doesn't apply to me; my parents are dead. And I was born on= Terra, so they never followed that particular custom anyway." She let out a deep breath, trying not to let her lips tremble. Terebi raised her eyebrows. "Well then... give me the money." she= said. Nodding earnestly, Mira dug her purse out of her bag and tossed it to= Terebi. The captain examined the contents, nodded, and walked past Mira, out of the hold. "Help Pell pack the spice." she finally said. "And make= sure you watch how he's doing it; the jars are thin glass... too damn fragile to bang= around in a crate." "Yes, Captain." Mira allowed herself a smile, and followed her.=20 Suddenly, a thought struck the gray-eyed captain, and she stopped. The money in this purse... did she earn it all this money by doing errands for people like me? And she's obviously been keeping it all a secret, all this time-= and just waiting for someone in my particular... situation to come along... Terebi turned to Mira suspiciously. "What=92s waiting for you on= Jupiter, girl?" Mira raised her chin. "I can=92t say." Terebi leveled her gaze at= the girl, and waited. "But I... it's... well, it's legal. Strictly speaking." "Just like this whole scheme, right?" Terebi shook her head. Well,= it was good enough for her. She pocketed the purse and made her way out of the hangar.=20 They launched that night, just the three of them on the small ship, loaded down so heavily, Mira didn't think she'd be able to lift. She felt quiet inside, as the stars surrounded the Fortune and her sails. Leaning against the rail, watching CereCere fall away into the void, she almost felt empty. Well... it had been a long day, and there would be plenty of time for excitement tomorrow. Mira shrugged, and turned. Time to find a place to sleep. Mira woke the next morning in the closet-like astrogation room of the Fortune, rolled up on a bench in an extra sheet. She listened, but could= hear nothing above deck. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, and ran her hands through her hair. One day gone, [amt. of days] more till Jupiter. She shivered, leaning against the wall, and pulled the sheet tighter around herself. It was cold on the Fortune. She couldn't imagine how Terebi and= Pell could stand to walk around barefoot. Groping around under the bench, she found her stockings and sandals and pulled them on. Dressing the rest of the way, Mira made her way to the ship's mess. Pell was already there, sipping what smelled deliciously like coffee.= "Morning." Mira said, picking up a ship's biscuit and getting a glass of water from a barrel in the corner. She chewed thoughtfully as Pell drank his coffee. "So=85 everything going well?" she finally asked. It was a rather stupid= question, but the silence was getting to her.=20 "Yes." Pell said thoughtfully. "You stayed out of the way, so= Terebi's watch was quiet; I hope mine will be too." "Oh, I'm sure it=85" Mira paused. "It will be. I'll just....= go below." She gulped down the last of her water and left the mess. Pell snorted, and went to relieve Terebi. It was dark in the cargo hold, though the deck above had some sort of crystals built into the planks that let the light from the lanterns at stern filter through. Mira pulled out her light-charm, and held it for a moment; but she'd forgotten. Away from the planet, it only glinted faintly; it'd take twenty minutes for the silly thing to start glowing out here. She squeezed it again, turning it off, and looked around... Settling herself in= a crevice, Mira curled up against the curve of the hull. Still half asleep,= she leaned back and let her mind drift. Perhaps, she reflected, she should write her aunts a letter. They might not care much about what she wanted, but they'd probably be relieved to hear she wasn't dead. She could mail it after she'd been on Jupiter for a good long time... But she'd have to ask Terebi for some parchment, and a pen and some ink. How long was a watch on this ship, anyway? Sighing, she resolved not to worry about it, and to think= about her letter instead. She'd have to plan out what she wanted to say exactly... Mira's eyelids fluttered, and she closed her eyes as she thought of Connet, the white-haired woman who'd taught her to read. She'd lived in a spare room above a dockside inn that her son owned, and Mira=92s father had often spent= an evening in the main room of the tavern downstairs. It was for Connet's sake, after her death, that Mira=92s aunts let her associate with KesKes at all. Mira's oldest and best friend, KesKes was Connet's granddaughter- and a girl who took the Asteroidian custom of individual rights to their farthest extent. Mira's aunts knew her as a foul-mouthed, slovely tavern wench, but Mira only noticed her kind heart and ready laugh. That was the one case in which Mira's aunts' sense of propriety had backfired on them; they felt unable to shun any of Connet's relations,= so Mira had socialized with KesKes to her heart's delight. Mira briefly considered writing a letter to KesKes, but KesKes couldn't read... her= cousin could, though. She'd write one to him. It occurred to Mira that it was odd, just how she=92d encountered each of= the significant people in her life. It had been KesKes, who=92d introduced her= to Bay... tall, redheaded Bay, who could fix any ship, and she'd done work for him almost regularly for some time. Bay had sent her on that errand to PallaPalla, where she'd met Toran... the reason she was on this ship. She closed her eyes, remembering that day. Would he remember her? * * end chapter one * *=20