Derin Edala

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23: Execution

The ship proximity alarm went off. Something was approaching. We’d been expecting it for days. At least I figured it was days. Tension had long ago fucked up my sleep cycle. If it was the military, we’d have no hope against them. We’d have n...

Wandering Star 13: Smon's Earth

Well, there’s one way to get more details on Smon – ask Smon. Smon had certainly wanted some time alone when she’d left, so rushing over to her egg (not egg… cart?) immediately is probably not a great idea. She returns to the hive to pass ...

Wandering Star 12: Baby Blues

Smon is fascinated by the communication tower. As the pair approach the hive, she points up at it. “You see other star from there?”

“Stargazers see stars from up there, yes.”

“Stargazers.”

“Men, with job to see star...

22: Plans

Follow my logic.

We had two systems of superlightspeed travel at our disposal. Neither could be used until we’d finished dealing with the shielding issue, but that was fine. Blue dashing we used quite often, to outrun things; it gave us li...

Wandering Star 11: Star Farms

The pair stare awkwardly at each other. Silence stretches, and Tyk realises that neither of them are really sure how to interact. There’s absolutely no way that Tyk would risk biting or shoving anyone with a fragile newborn boy in their care, an...

21: Anticipation

The first thing I figured I should do was find out how far away from home I was. This turned out to be a lot harder than you’d think. For one thing, the map was pretty zoomed out, and I hadn’t been intending to film it at all so I didn’t hav...

Wandering Star 10: Redstone River Hive

Explaining to Smon that she wants her to come on a small walk to see many people isn’t difficult. Smon dashes into her egg and returns almost immediately with a small bundle of silk containing… objects of some kind, Tyk supposes. She can’t s...

20: The game of lies

I resisted the urge to pull the laptop apart again to find out which way the current was supposed to go, because I already knew it wouldn’t tell me. Why would it? Instead I spent a couple of days, or at least I assume I did as I didn’t have an...

Wandering Star 9: Jaws and Arms

“Claws,” Smon corrects. “Arms, claws.”

Tyk considers this information. She has seen Smon put food in her mouth with said ‘claws’, but for a creature without mandibles, that would be expected. No; that’s not the problem with Smo...

19: A failure of imagination

Queen Tatik paced restlessly. This rogue Princess nonsense was getting out of hand. She should be well into consolidating more of the outlying regions of the Empire by now; there were several minor planets near the edge of her territory that conta...

Wandering Star 8: Men, Women, Stars

Such a journey, with such company, is not a quick or easy thing to arrange. The hive isn’t going to simply send two children off towards the Northeast and pray for the best. There’s a whole caravan to arrange, of escorts and guards and scouts ...

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18: We can only try

Judging by how many photos and videos Charlie took on the Stardancer, I had expected her to have more footage of human voices from before she joined the crew. She didn’t; it was just the one birthday video. I watched it. The video wasn’t surpr...

Wandering Star 7: The Hiveheart

Different hives construct their hiveheart differently, but the Redstone River Hive’s heart is fairly average, so far as Tyk is aware. It’s made up of fourteen people, which is a little on the low side for its size but not markedly so, and the ...

17: Alive, apparently

I sat in the driver’s seat of my trusty little car, brushing a stray floating camera lens out of the way to get a better look at Kate, who was sulking. Actually sulking, arms crossed, slumped forward, pouting. Everything.

“I’m sorry I ...

Wandering Star 6: A Destiny Forged

For several seconds, nobody moves.

“Oh, come on!” Tyk ducks around her mother and heads for the egg. “She’s not going to hurt you. She’s just a baby. See?” She marches right up to Smon before her mother can grab her and sticks he...

16: Blatant disrespect for the electromagnetic spectrum

Ugh. The last time I was this hungover I woke up without eyebrows. I’d fucked up the calculations somewhere. Or just drank way more than I thought.

Since it was simple arithmetic and I was supposed to be keeping a spaceship running, I real...

Wandering Star 5: The Echo Stone

Smon steps back out of the egg. Kesan immediately hovers, clearly wanting to retreat but refusing to leave his daughter alone. Smon stops, stares at him a moment, repeats that mandibles-up gesture of hers, and retreats slowly back into the egg, wa...

15: Hold my beer

The problem with space is that there’s a limited supply of everything.

Not that we’re necessarily short on things. Just limited. Everything has to be recycled – water, air, organics. Recycling efficiency is time; any loss puts a limit ...

Wandering Star 4: A Star Is Born

She’s the ugliest thing that Tyk has ever seen.

Tyk was right to be concerned that the early hatching might indicate problems. The larval star that stumbles out is similar to a person in some ways and different in others; she’s much dark...

14: This is my crew

I told myself that I could afford the luxury of feeling sorry for myself while my body finished healing, and then it was right back to work on Project: Get Home. In actual fact I didn’t even have that long, because the thing about trying to heal...

Wandering Star 3: A Simple Walk

The hum of dozens of wings wakes Tyk. It takes her a moment to remember why she’s outside and why the sky is full of men. Right; the tremor. Ayan.

Most of the men flock, of course, to Ayan, fussing over the new layer and assuring her that ...

13: A call into the void

Turns out being a space pirate sucks.

Sitting there alone on the floor of my ring, naked and in pain that was only becoming more distracting as the flesh-sewing endorphins wore off, I tallied up all the various ways that my life was in immed...

Wandering Star 2: Escape Route

Tyk feels her body slow down in automatic response to the dirt pressing in on all sides. There’s no particular danger in their situation, she knows; she’s been buried before, as a training exercise, and knows perfectly well that there’s enou...

Wandering Star 1: Rotting Rhizomes

You’re not supposed to do it, of course, but it’s not unheard of for parents to try to ensure good destinies for their daughters by timing their conception carefully. Most hatchings take place under somewhat clear skies, so the gods that bear ...

12: Trust

I had thought, hoped, for a little while, that Charlie might be immune to the drake toxin. It had held up remarkably well for far longer than anybody should with just one sting in them, let alone several. But after making its final declaration on ...

183: LAUNCH

It’s movie night.

It’s a very special movie night. A half-day marathon of all of my favourites, one year since our return to the Courageous, and the three hundred strong population of the ship necessitate the use of a proper pro...

11: Hooray for Piracy

What the hell was I supposed to do?

I wasn’t overreacting, was I? Maybe… the captain had gone to Earth and abducted a human, knowing the stories. She was on the run from the Queen in a flying prison that was ridiculously ill-equipped for...

182: CLUSTER

Captain Klees drafts a letter for Antarctica congratulating and thanking them for the successful launch, and noting that some last minute repairs to the shuttle were necessary and we’d had to build new docking arms that did, do our great relief,...