Story and characters are (c) Lars E Hellberg

Exploring the Mainland

3

The next morning, the sun rose in a beautiful display of colour. The rainclouds had drifted eastwards during the night, and now they were glowing red and yellow above the rising sun. Tailchaser, up early as usual, sat on a sea-side cliff, watching the show. Behind him lay the bay, where a flock of fisher-birds screechingly greeted the first fishermen on the docks. It was still half an hour until the fleet of fishing boats was to set out. Despite the noise from the birds, there was a calm, serene feeling to this morning. As he was in habit of doing, Tailchaser leant back and watched the sunrise, totally at ease with the world. Of his seven years, he had spent every morning of the last three out here on the cliff.
The stormfront that had drenched them yesterday was not yet finished, and from time to time he could see lightning leap from cloud to cloud. At times, single clasps of thunder would reach the shore. But, as the sun rose, ambivalent feelings sneaked into Tailchaser's mind. He felt happy for his friends, about to set out on their greatest adventure, and he couldn't help being more than a little envious. At the same time, though, Renno's sense of foreboding seemed to be contagious. Mainland was dangerous. What Renno had told him was no news to Tailchaser. As an explorer-to-be, he had studied what was written about Mainland, and found that there was really not much to find. Eight hundred years of mapping, exploring and settling on Mainland had resulted in nothing more solid than lots of stories and a rough coast-line map. Anyone trying for deeper inland was forced back, or killed, by the hostile land. All the attempted settlements were abandoned, and within a few years there were hardly any ruins left to find. Stories of hordes of grass-eating animals that would attack anything out of the ordinary, of ferocious carnivores that stalked the land, of plants that grew so fast they could advance upon sleeping prey, were thrilling fun during lazy days under the sun, but now it was turning into reality. Unafraid for his own sake, once that day arrived, Tailchaser could not help but worrying for his brother and his friends. Being left behind, unable to help, was the worst of all.
Hearing the victorious roar of the fisher-birds, Tailchaser snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see Firstlight's impressive fleet of fishingboats set out. Avoiding the thunderclouds to the east, nearly all the boats set off for the rich waters off Mainland. Try as he might, he could not single out his parents' boat, nor that of Rajme's father. The distance was too great; Mihio, with her keen sight, might have been able to recognise single boats, perhaps even read out their names. About a kilometre out, the fishermen signalled as one with their foghorns, gaining answers from the boats of Landing Site and Seaside. The reassuring sight of normalcy shifted the clouds inside Tailchaser's head, but it didn't make them go away.

Back at the house, he made himself breakfast, and had just sat down to eat when Renno came in. He rummaged around in the kitchen, took a seat, yawning, and started munching on a slice of unbuttered bread.
"'Morning, bro. Up with the sun as usual?"
"Good morning, Renno. Yeah, it was a great sunrise. You should've seen it."
"No thanks. I'd rather sleep. Comin' with us today, TC?"
"I guess so. Final shopping round, wasn't it?"
"Mhm. This sandwich is tasteless!"
"You can't call it a sandwich if you don't put something on it. That's just bread."
"I didn't butter it? Where's the cheese?"
"In the fridge, where it's always been."
Renno tried his best to make a sandwich, a task that wasn't easy for one still half asleep. Tailchaser could not help smiling at him. Renno's half-finished efforts were interrupted when the doorbell rang.
"Them'll be that. I'll get it."
"No," said Tailchaser. "I'll get it. You get some clothes on."

An hour later, the train arrived at Landing Site, spilling five exalted youngsters. It was still quite early, and with the whole fleet of fishing boats out at sea, there was not much people. They had decided during the journey to look for a tent first, while they still had fairly plenty of money. Manahara's Sporting and Exploring was the choice de connoisseur. There were no other customers, so they were treated to special service by Mr Manahara. The huge bear showed them around the store.
"So, you want a tent for four."
"Yeah," said Chaige. "Waterproof and light, preferably with some kind of mosquito net."
"Waterproof's not necessary."
"Not everybody's a racoon, Mihio."
"First Mainland outing, is it?"
"How could you tell, Mr Manahara?"
"Quite easily, Mr Chaige, everybody wants a bug net on their first outing. Then they realise they don't need none, and buy a cheaper tent. 'Sides, your names and pictures are put up for next week's outing."
"Thanks a lot for telling us. Most folks'd sell us the net and keep the cash."
"Well, I can say it without shamin' myself, I feel for you guys. I never was the explorer myself, and I'm rather impressed of your guts. Here, tell you what. This'ne over here, two years old model, last of its kind, fifteen hundred."
"Fifteen? That's quite cheap. Almost suspiciously cheap, if I may say so."
"That's because, Mr Chaige, most folks go for the latest models. 'It's all right if it costs a bit, when we get the best stuff on the market.' This is the best model. Anything comes later, 's no better."
"Mhm. Give you a thousand."
"A thousand crowns! Just now you told me how cheap it was."
"Ah, to haggle, perchance to bargain."
"A rough one, eh. Thirteen hundred."
"Eleven."
"Twelve hundred an' fifty, and that's my bottom line."
"Eleven seventy-five."
"You're a robbing scoundrel, Mr Chaige, but you have a deal."
"Somehow, Mr Manahara, I don't think you lost too much on it."
"Should we go and see what your friends are looking at?"

A while later, they were sitting at a café, sipping away at sodas or, in Renno's case, coffee. Chaige had just been officially elected as Hero of the Day, for saving them a whole lot of money on the tent deal. They had also taken the opportunity to buy whatever accessories or clothes they needed. All except Rajme, who would be shopping the following day. Next stop would be the foods market, for both fresh and freeze-dried food, and drinks for the outing. Chaige and Mihio would buy new backpacks, and Renno was to buy some whole clothes, not that anyone thought it would do any good in the long run. Tailchaser was on the hunt for a pocket knife and new hiking boots. But there was plenty of time, and thanks to making such a bargain on the tent, they had plenty of money.
"I don't know 'bout you guys," said Mihio, "but I wanna catch a movie."
"Didn't know one was on the run," said Renno, earning a few very uninspired laughs at a joke they had all heard many times before. "How about the amusement park?"
"We've got too much baggage," said Rajme. "The theatre?"
"I wanna go to a bookstore," said Tailchaser, "but a movie sounds great."
"I agree with Rajme and TC. We've got too much to carry for the amusement park, and a movie would be, indeed, nice."
"Well," said Renno. "The Hero has spoken. I, find myself outvoted, and yield. Raj, decide, please."
"Well, how 'bout the clothes stores first, then the bookstores, then a movie, then back home. Okay?"
The agreement was unanimous. They spent the next two hours buying clothes, food and the rest of the things on their lists. After visiting a few bookshops, it was time for the cinema. The movie was a typical action story, where a bold heroine rescued a couple of poor farmers from evildoers, rejecting her reward and riding off into the sunset. There were five quite different faces leaving the cinema. Renno, amused, but not touched; Tailchaser, fascinated; Rajme, agitated and action-hungry; Mihio, moved, and with a longing look in her big eyes; finally Chaige, contemplating the technical solutions of the filmmakers. It was now early afternoon, and they had done all their shopping for the day. After a late lunch at a sea food restaurant, Renno spotted a tourist guide, showing a group of people around the capital. A short debate later, they followed this group of people, all from Southern Atoll. As they approached the actual landing site, the guide told a story the gang had heard lots of times.
"...this place still shows the mark of this historical occasion. You can see that the ground is scarred and burned. In fact, nothing has been able to grow here since Landing Day, almost exactly seven hundred and ninety-six years ago. As I'm sure you all know, our ancestors did not arrive with a seeding ship, as is usually done when colonising a planet, but in three ships, the Vector, the Starshell, and the Inaccurate Angle, all filled with people and equipment. Whether they were refugees, or a different kind of colonisers, or even criminals, we may never find out, as they destroyed their records when they dismantled the ships. Their technology is still used, as it holds us with electricity and powers our fishing boats. They made their homes around this place, naming the town Landing Site, the island Settlement Isle, and their new home world Sanctuary. Fighting against a hostile environment, on a planet that did not seem to want them, they finally managed to turn this beautiful archipelago into our home. Next, we will visit the Firstcomer Museum, a place where we store and display interesting artefacts and object that are of no use to us now, but that once belonged to the great galactic civilisation..."
The guide's voice trailed away as he brought the tourists away from the landing site. The gang had all visited the museum lots of times, and had no interest to do so now. Instead, they sat down on the lawn in front of the Landing Monument; a large statue depicting captain Walker of the Inaccurate Angle, crouching and holding a handful of soil from his new home world. A quick draw of lots sent Chaige to buy ice-cream, while Rajme went over to touch the base of the statue.
"This always makes me feel so inspired."
"That's because you're a space-head," said Mihio. "You can't wait to see the Rajme Statue being raised."
"You laugh. But think of it; to discover something completely new. To set foot on a foreign world!"
"I wonder why they haven't contacted us," said Tailchaser. "The others, I mean. The rest of the galaxy."
"Poor TC," said Renno. "You've still got all those physics classes ahead of you. Radio won't work, because of the sun's intense radiation. Drowns everything out, except for the short-waves the fishermen use. And they only work up to fifty km, then it's just hiss."
"Yeah," said Mihio, "but they could visit us. Wouldn't that be something!"
"Do you know how big space is? They could search forever and still not find their way here. We're far from Earth, and even farther from galactic centre."
"Yes, but it's been eight hundred years! Someone should have happened upon us."
"Mathematically speaking," said Chaige, who had returned and started to distribute cones, "Renno is right. You don't happen upon a planet. If you don't know it's there, and search for it, you won't find it. No one just cruises around in space."
"What do you know, fox-boy? Don't spoil our hopes!"
"D'you think there are still humans around?" asked Tailchaser, hoping to avoid a fight between Mihio and Chaige.
"I doubt it," said Rajme. "According to the Firstcomers' records, those they didn't destroy, there haven't been any for thousands of years."
"I wonder what happened to them?"
"Theories are," said Chaige, adjusting his glasses, "that they went extinct shortly after establishing the galactic network of colonies. They left their legacy to us, the genimen. The word's supposed to stand for genetically altered animals resembling men. But nobody knows for sure whether they created us as we are, or if we were just experiments that evolved after they were gone. Some believe that they changed themselves into us, and that we are actually humans."
"Sit down, professor!" Renno pulled at the fox's shirt. "You make my head hurt. What's the time?"
Exactly six minutes later, they arrived, panting, at the train station, just in time to catch the last train to Firstlight.

As it began to darken, they were again assembled in Rajme's room, together with a chirpily happy Chara, who practised her growing teeth on Tailchaser's fingers. The history lesson had left its mark on them, and they were all quiet and contemplative. It was clear that the stories of space ships and discoveries appealed to four of them. Only Renno would say no to a passing starship, offering a lift. Sanctuary was his home; no, Firstlight was his home, and although he enjoyed their outings, he thought it was just as nice to get back home. To Rajme, he reminded her of her father, who had trained to become an explorer, then settled down as a fisherman. She, herself, accepted danger as a part, a vital part, in fact, of adventuring. Much of the fiction produced took up the subject of The Return, where the people of Sanctuary were reunited with galactic society, with variously utopic or dystopic results. No matter, she thought. The adventure would be worth it. Renno considered this as the point of view an adrenaline addict would bring up. Chaige, Mihio and Tailchaser were somewhere in between these two opposites, regarding the thought of The Return with a mixture of apprehension and excitement.
"So, what are you guys doing tomorrow, then?"
"Don't know. I guess we can actually have fun, since you're going back to Landing Site."
Mihio nimbly ducked a wild swing from Rajme, then straightened herself up, and got a serious look on her face.
"No, really, I don't know. Any ideas, guys? We can't all go shopping again."
"I feel like relaxing," said Chaige. "Let's go swimming."
"How 'bout going on a fishing boat? Oww!"
"Just pinch her nose, TC, that'll help. No forest outing without me, okay?"
"Sure, Raj," said Renno. "I'm with Chaige. Going fishing would take the whole day. Mihio?"
"With Reckless Rajme out of town, let's chill out. I'm sure she'll drill us the next day."
"You bet! I'm not going to Mainland with a bunch of lazy-assed slackers."
With that, she started shouting and ordering, military-style, and Chaige and Tailchaser leapt to their feet and started saluting her.
"You know what?" said Renno. "She'd make a perfect space hero."
"Really, why?" asked Mihio, smiling dryly.
"She's so full of hot air, she's never in danger of suffocation."
They were both giggling when the game was interrupted by a slamming door. Seconds later the door to Rajme's room was opened, and her mother entered. Rajme hugged her, fiercely.
"Mom! Hi! I've missed you!"
"Hello baby! Isn't your father home yet?"
"I heard the foghorns a while ago, so he should be home any minute. Guess they had a big catch today."
"Look, Chara, mommy's home," said Tailchaser, handing the infant over. "Hello, Mrs Melody."
"None of that 'Mrs', Tailchaser," she answered, as Chara let out a long wail. "I don't believe it, she takes to nobody but you."
Tailchaser took Chara again, and she snuggled up against him, instantly quiet. Melody went on to greet the rest of the youngsters, and then left with Rajme behind her.
"Well," said Chaige, "should we let them have a peaceful family reunion, or do we crash the party?"
"I think we should go," said Mihio. "Raj doesn't show it, but she misses her mother when she's away."
"I know I would," said Renno, "if my mom or dad worked at the steel mines. Coming, TC?"
"I'll just put Chara to bed. That last holler made her sleepy."
After a quick goodbye, and thankful looks from Rajme, they all went home.