Dying Star Arc
March 2041
Months passed. Years even. The first few months were by far the hardest. We tunnelled under the ground, and lived and worked in manmade caverns for a time. A few still do live there, but most have moved into the settlement proper. The construction of the settlement took about three months, but it would've taken much longer if it hadn't been for the automation and constant rate of construction by the robots. They're amazing machines. I never saw anything like them in Palestine, their incredible. Without them, I imagine colonising the asteroid belt would've been impossible. After the settlement went up, things began to take off. The hydroponic farms were built deep under the surface to shield them from as much radiation as possible, hangars were built on the surface, and crews of prospectors began scouting both Ceres itself and passing asteroids for mineral resources and water ice.
The Persephone left for the Earth's moon, laden with tonnes of ice and minerals. A stockpile of resources that was mined after the ship's departure was stored in a new tunnel system, constructed on the far side of the settlement from the original one. Seine had me advise her on leading the colony, as a representative of the Palestinians. First this was unofficial, but after the creation of the Freehold on the moon, I became a member of the Legislative Council of Ceres, with Seine becoming the Governor of Ceres.
Mohammed and I were established as leaders among the Palestinians. I represented those that saw the benefit in working close together with Seine and the other foreigners. Mohammed's group was less cooperative, actively working to undermine the Legislative Council and Seine. A number of the miners, encouraged by Mohammed, formed an organisation called the Independent Ceres Miners' Union, or the ICMU. Though the ships that the ICMU uses technically still belong to the Freehold, Seine decided that it was fine to leave them alone as long as the supply of resources was unaffected.
Privately, however, me and Mohammed still met up to talk as friends, although sometimes it was hard not to think or talk about the fact that we were still opposing each other. We don't get to talk too often since we're both busy all the time. I'm busy with the Legislative Council, and Mohammed is busy going out on mining expeditions. Because of this, it was only every couple of weeks that the two of us got to meet up.
Mohammed is among those who are still living outside the settlement, out in the tunnels. I'm heading to meet him today, not as a personal visit this time, but because he told me that there was something he wanted to show me. There's more than enough room for all the people currently on Ceres within the settlement, but many of the Palestinians (mostly Mohammed's followers) decided to remain out in the tunnels. For the most part, they choose not to out of a desire to not live in the same place as the foreigners, and to keep some of their Palestinian culture alive. Even so, the dangers of living out in the tunnels convinced myself and a number of others to move into the settlement. In the tunnels, radiation levels are much higher than in the protected settlement, and there's a constant risk of collapse. And the carved-out compartments that they live in are probably more at risk of caving in than the tunnels proper.
Walking through the tunnels is bound to get you lost if you're not paying attention, even after two years living here. The new arrivals are going to struggle, I think to myself with a smile, but then that reminds me what new arrivals also means.
The Persephone has finally returned from Luna (the Earth's moon) and coming with it is a new set of colonists. About another fifty new faces, just about doubling the size of the colony instantly. Among those new faces, however, is a more familiar face. Mr Matthews. Mr Matthews' arrival also brought bad news for me. Seine will be returning to Luna when the Persephone leaves again, with Mr Matthews staying back to take her place as Governor.
Of course, I don't want Seine to leave. I've talked about it, argued about it, with her a lot over the last few months. She doesn't want to stay, however. Not for me. I'm not enough for her, I suppose. That's not how she puts it though. She says that it's her job, her duty, to go back to the moon. Seine says that there's things bigger than the two of us that mean she has to return, but I don't care about any of that. I don't know what she means by that. She should stay if she wants to stay, it's that simple. But she is going to go back to Luna, and there's probably nothing I can do to change her mind. Maybe I should be getting angry and upset, and not talking to her, but if she's already made up her mind, then I don't want to waste these last precious moments that we have together.
I finally arrive at Mohammed's compartment. As always, the entrance is marked by a patterned green curtain. I call out to him, as I move the curtain aside, and enter. I hear Mohammed respond, though I can't make out what exactly he says, as I come out into the compartment's main room. Mohammed walks out of the other room, at about the same time, and comes over to greet me.
"Sayyad, it's been awhile. How are you?"
Mohammed seems overly happy and excited. It hasn't really been all that long since we last saw each other, less than a month, I think. It makes me more curious about just what it is that he wants to show me.
"Yeah, I'm good. And, how are you?"
"Good, good," Mohammed responds with a smile, "come on, follow me."
Mohammed leads me into the next room. After that he stands there expectantly, as if he's waiting for me to notice something. I take a look around the room, but I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. The room is pretty bare, and there isn't much in it, so if it was something obvious, then I should've been able to find it pretty quickly.
"What is it? I don't see anything."
"Over there," Mohammed points towards his dresser. A lot of the furniture from apartments in the settlement that aren't being used were relocated out into the tunnels for the Palestinians living here to use. At first, I don't see anything, but then I notice there's a dark shape on the wall, mostly hidden by the dresser.
"A hole?"
"Yes, a hole."
"Where does it go to?"
"Up to the surface. Or more correctly, a few metres below the surface."
"How did you manage that?"
"All the tools we used to dig the tunnels are still just lying around. We used those to dig, and the mapping that comes with them, to work out where we were."
"But what do you need a tunnel for?"
"We're going to destroy the Persephone."