It was the time of darkness in the northern hemisphere of Helix-One. The highlands of Ísandur reflected the Great Void. Blackest sand and wind carved ice, caverns and wave-like glaciers littered the landscape. The prismatic window of the atmosphere refracted and reflected the light of billions of stars upon the still surface of a place called The Mirror. There sat a young girl with her grandmother watching the sky pour out over the rocks and ice. 

"Do you see the significance of this place, Sio?" the older woman asked her younger counterpart. Her voice was low, reverent, muffled by the shell suit hood and neck gaiter worn above her mouth-mask. 

The young girl did not answer. Sio sat silently, watching the stars dance ever so slightly. Of course, her grandmother would say it was her eyes perceiving light interacting with the air, but it did not stop her from believing the stars danced to the Symphony, that thing to which all life and all creation set their course. Her grandmother spoke her muffled speech once more.

"This place is where this planet observes the melody of the sky, however limited." 

Another moment passed, but Sio and Yuka did not mind the silence. Silence was part of the Symphony. 

They sat together in silence. The older woman observed and calculated, while the younger gazed and wondered. Yuka was the clan's astérthan, or star-observer. She held her station with pride. She was the first and only astérthan from their family. Harmonies come in their own time, do they not?

 "You must know that an astérthan seeks only to create a perfect reflection of the stars." The older woman reached out and from her palm brought forth an image that imitated the sky. Sio then saw the intricate designs of the galaxy map hovering just above her grandmother's gloved fingertips. Yuka pinched the edge of her small galaxy-map with her other hand and moved her fingertips outward. Sio watched the blur of miniature starlight and streaks of data streak at the motion and then stop. It displayed one large orb infused with milky-white stratums with dark lines pooling into sections of black. Sio knew this to be the planet they lived on. Sio adjusted her neck gaiter as it slipped past her mask. She watched intently as her grandmother brought the orb closer. She pointed at a small sight where glass ice accumulated on the orb's surface. 

"Here we are, grandmother," Sio said, her breath hot against the mask letting expiration into the open air. 

"Indeed, Sio. Good for you to know your geography. That will serve you well into the future." Yuka said. "Gaze upon your home, Sio. Know it and carry it with you. There is a reason yet why the Symphony brought your song here and not elsewhere."

"Yes, grandmother," Sio replied. Her grandmother was a devout follower of the Symphony despite her rebellious choice of vocation. It was due to her love of the Symphony that she pursued the arts of the astérthan, but she was not born with the sense of the Symphony. Yuka loved the Symphony; each morning, she would rise early to greet the Home Star and study its blinks, and each evening, she would collect data from the thousands of suns in the sky. 

But something made her pause. The surface of the ice sparked a light in the corner of Yuka's eye. She looked up from her pondering and there on the horizon flared a streak of light. It was slight, but soon it grew to a large mass vibrant with color. Excitedly, Sio placed a small hand on her grandmother's arm.

"Grandmother, the Comet of the North!" she exclaimed. Quickly Yuka grabbed her holo-camera and began recording the phenomenon. 

"Good eye, Sio! Perhaps we'll make an astérthan of you!" Then as quickly as it came, the comet disappeared over the horizon. There was a pause between Sio and Yuka as they watched the tail end of the comet peak over the glacial surface. It was an awe of the place.

"It is time to go, little one. Help me pack up the equipment." Yuka said. Sio jumped up from her seat on a nearby rock promptly and began to pack up the telescopes, holo-cameras, and data-tablets as she was instructed. "Let us return to the tent. Tomorrow we set off to return to the village."

"Yes, grandmother." 

It was not a long trek to their thermal tent and Sio quickly set the equipment in their storage chest as she did each night they were done with their sky-watching. 

Morning came like any other under the red dwarf. Deep hues of reds and purples colored the sky in shades and layers. Sio woke to find her grandmother's sleeping cot empty, but heard rustling outside. Quickly, Sio fastened her mask, neck gaiter, and hood on her head and then her layers of gloves upon her hands. She unzipped the thermal tent to find her grandmother packing other equipment they had left out to collect data while they slept.

"Good morning, little Sio. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough, Grandmother." She said, "Should I pack our tent?"

Yuka brushed off small formations of ice off of the data pikes and nodded toward Sio motioning her to get started packing their cots. Sio obeyed, and returned to the thermal tent. Yuka pulled out some of the rations in storage and slapped it on a hard surface of shale. Upon impact it expanded and began smoking. One thing I will not miss, she thought, flash-heated meals. Sio, bag in hand, plopped the now-packed cots onto the snow-covered sand outside and sat on a stool next to her grandmother. She stared at the flash-heated packs brewing whatever mystery concoction they would soon consume.

"Your face may be covered, little one, but I can sense you are looking forward to this meal as much as I am."

"Do we have to eat...that?" Sio pointed with her chin as she adjusted the straps on the thermal tent. 

"This is the only food we have left for the journey. As much as we don't like it, it will have to do." Yuka said this as she opened one of the heated meals and stuck an aluminum utensil with two prongs in it where a lump of what appeared to be burnt animal flesh in gravy. Yuka pulled down her mask and took a small if not begrudging bite out of the chunk and chewed with much difficulty.

Sio opened her own pack and did the same. They sat in silence as they chewed, each contemplating the sewer-like flavor of the mystery meat from the packets with little enthusiasm. Sio, having had enough of the less than satisfying meal, stood and placed the leftovers back into the zip-able packet then walked over and pulled the outer straps of their thermal to collapse it. She rolled the tent into a smaller bundle and tied the security straps around it making it much more manageable to carry. Yuka opened her mouth to protest leaving any leftovers but the argument died in her mouth when taking one more bite felt a gristle pop in her mouth. Yuka stowed her own leftovers in her outer pocket, and began packing the stools and data pikes into their large container. Sio moved to grab the tent and Yuka steadied her as she leaned backwards.

"Careful, little Sio, that one's not as light as it looks."

Sio tried again, this time able to balance it while leaning forward and nodded to her grandmother. Yuka threw on her pack and prepared the large container for transport. It followed on its rover wheels over the rough terrain with relative ease. It would take half a day of walking to reach their village, if there were no stops along the way. Sio was but a child, but a child trained in walking the tundra, which eased Yuka's mind. If there was one good thing that came about being a salt miner it was their resistance to the harsh conditions of Helix-One. Sio, if anything, looked like she enjoyed the journey. Often she would spot rock formations emerging from the ice. Look there! She would say a face in the mountain! Or A Catlani-sphinx track! Or even Jericho's hand touches this place!

Yuka felt the vestiges of youth in her bones awaken with newness at her granddaughter's mirth. She would caution young Sio, of course, to be wary of her surroundings as this far out of the village spawned a great many dangers, but a child ought to be a child, she thought. It was just before eventide when Yuka saw the lights of their village on the horizon. 

"Sio, look there!" she laughed at her sudden mimicry of the child.

"Home!" Sio exclaimed. Sio ran a ways forward but stopped and turned around waiting for her grandmother to catch pace. Yuka shook her head. She did not slow nor speed up. Sio stood impatiently, but did not make a move to run ahead. It was good that she waited, for Yuka caught a glimpse of the village over the hill where Sio stood and there was a crowd. 

As they got closer, Yuka noticed this was not a welcoming party that her son and daughter-in-law had prepared. There was anger in their movements and among the crowd were a great many of Yuka's old salt miner kinsmen. Her son and daughter-in-law were not among them. One of them noticed Sio and Yuka and pointed with their chin at their arrival. A few of them turned on their heels.

"Vile woman!" screamed a man from the entrance of the village. "Look what your rebelliousness has wrought!" 

With little time to consider his words, Sio stepped in front of her grandmother as if to defend her, but Yuka held her arm to keep her in place at her side.

"What has it wrought this time, Lurio?" replied Yuka calmly. 

"Three of our miners are gone. This can only be a sign that the Symphony is displeased with you, and has brought my daughter down with you for all that I have tolerated!"

Yuka did not reply, only looked upon the crowd that Lurio surely had spilled his bile to. Another from the crowd came forward and spoke. Otheyo was his name. He was the leader of the salt miners, the head of the power-plant operations.

"It's true, Yuka, your children did not ascend when called out of the mines. We thought they were delayed, but it has been days. Lurio's daughter, too, has not returned." He said

"Has there been a search party?"

"There has, they have yet to report any success in picking up their trail." Otheyo opened his palms outward toward the sky, a sign of wariness among their number.

Yuka could feel her pulse quickening and air becoming thin. Sio grabbed her grandmother's hand. They looked at each other through goggles, seeing a mirror of terror there. Yuka took a steadying breath and held Sio's hand tighter. 

"I will search for them." Yuka's voice carried a weight. Such was a voice where little could be done to argue it. Yuka knelt before Sio, still holding her hand. Sio was shaking. "I will find them."

"Madness, woman!" Lurio cried out, "You would orphan this pathless child further?"

"She will not be made an orphan, Lurio. Or did you forget this clan's promised kinship?" Yuka stood letting go of Sio's hand and putting her hands to her chest as a sign of defense.

 Lurio met her confrontation with closed fists touching each other. His stance was tight, aggressive. Yuka could only shake her head.

"Did you not just return from The Mirror?"

"She has not made her pact, Lurio. This was a trip for my observation."

"So be it!" Lurio said, spitting out of his mask to the floor. "Leave the child truly Pathless." He stormed away, shoving past the crowd that had gathered around them. Yuka dropped her hands to her sides. Otheyo motioned for the crowd to disperse but held back a few fellow kinsmen. 

"These are the few that have searched for the missing, take a partner to accompany you, I will look after Sio." He said. Yuka inclined her head and bowed a sign of deep gratitude toward Otheyo and motioned for one of the rescue party to grab the supplies next to her. She had to prepare for a trip into the mines quickly. The clansman offered to grab the thermal tent from Sio, but she resisted. Yuka once more knelt beside Sio.

"Little Sio, give our kinsman that tent, you will be staying with Otheyo while I search for my children." She cooed. Sio, still trembling, took off the straps of the tent and handed it to their clansman who accepted it and went off toward their home. Yuka put a hand on either side of Sio's shoulders wiping away at some frost in her goggles that had accumulated there. "Be brave, young one."

Yuka embraced Sio, curling her into her arms into a tight grip before releasing her. She motioned for Otheyo to guide Sio to his home as she stood. She watched as Otheyo guided Sio away from the entrance to the village toward one of the homes further inward. Yuka then straightened her own pack and began the trek toward her family home where her kinsman would be waiting.

It took two hours local time for Yuka to ready herself for the night trek into the mines, which was much too long for her liking. Helix-One was unforgiving, but even more so at night where temperatures could easily reach 194K. Her old salt miner gear was still intact as she cared for it as much as she did her equipment, knowing one day she would need it. She did not anticipate, however, that she would need it to find her own children lost in the mines. Yuka could not help but think the worst might have happened. Her son and daughter, even Lurio's kin, were experienced salt miners. She feared a mine collapse perhaps or exhaustion of the ventilation system in their shell suits leaving them unconscious. Yuka stopped herself from thinking further thoughts; it would not help her now. She needed to focus on finding their trail.

Yuka followed her kinsman to the mines where the search party had last seen the miners. She passed equipment; temporary shell tents, drills, and movers already touched by the ice. She made her way into the entrance fastening her harness to the guidance rope made by the other miners earlier that season. Her kinsman paused.

"The mines are a bit unstable further in; we suspect that's where the others were cut off."

Yuka nodded. They descended into the mines. Yuka and her kinsman got deep enough to enter into a chamber where several passages opened before them. Yuka paused and called out to her guide. 

"Has every passage been checked?" she asked. Yuka's kinsman shook his head, leading her to a narrow way where it appeared untouched by tools. 

"This is where we sent a scouting party, but none saw any sign of the mining crew."

Yuka placed herself where she could peer into the passage. She turned on her goggles' light and caught a glimpse of a small cavern. 

"I'm going in." she stated. 

Mechanically she pulled out rope and offered it to her kinsman who accepted it without argument. Good, she thought, I need not another distraction. She entrusted him with her safety line, this man she did not at first recognize. She looked closer at her guardian and noticed some mannerism about him that looked familiar. She traced in her mind back to where she saw him fidgeting. Auburn, she remembered. This man's name was Auburn, Lurio's son-in-law. It was implicit in their trust then. They both had the world to lose. Yuka nodded to him, and he nodded back while checking the tightness of the rope he had just fastened to his waist and neighboring hooks. Yuka started her descent. She had grown used to mines that were difficult to pass through, they were the reality of her previous vocation. She descended with about as much difficulty as a semi-inclined hike up a dirt path. If she could do it, she knew her children would have little problem navigating this way down into another section of the cavern. 

Descending a little further she heard the faint sound of water rushing through. She inched further into the crevasse and felt in the open air. She crawled on her belly toward the rushing sound and found herself in a large cavern. Her beam of light from her goggles barely touched the ceiling. She felt a tug at her rope, and she tugged back. She took a hook from her pack and hammered it into place using a nearby rock, then tied a line of rope around the hook so as not to lose herself. Soon Auburn had reached her. Yuka gestured to him to walk toward the water where she was standing, then pointed to where the water was going. 

"The water runs that way, if I was my son and I needed to excavate for salt I'd start where the water was coming from." Auburn grunted agreement. They both made their way to the source of the water and found it trickled from a set of sources. 

"Yuka," Auburn said. "Look." Auburn pointed with his chin toward one source in particular. It led further away but there was something shining in the distance. Both Yuka and Auburn, after marking their way back, approached the shining object. As Yuka got closer she started to make out a shape of a pick, a standard one by the looks of it. They approached the pick, Yuka knelt down and studied it. She did not like what she saw. There on the tip of it was a rusty red color; blood. She followed the trail of it with her eyes, finding it led to another passage. A faint rustling from the other side of the cavern could be heard.

Otheyo had caught up with them. His suit was stretched out in a few places, and some seals were not zipped properly, certainly causing the man discomfort in the freezing cavern. His posture was urgent and stiff, but he fell forward as he slipped on ice in his hurry. Yuka steadied him. "What has happened?"

"Sio. She's run off, I'm sure she's here in these mines." Otheyo said. Yuka's blood ran cold, colder than the night. 

"We must find her, now!" Yuka ran toward where they were before and frantically scrambled up the passage Auburn cried out behind her. 

"Careful, you'll do more harm than good rushing. She couldn't have gotten far in these mines."

"You don't know my granddaughter."