Gods and the Stars (Gods and the Starways Book 2) by Steve Statham

Author:Steve Statham
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Statham Communications LLC
Published: 2018-03-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The Reluctant God

Mik awoke to find Apex standing, staring into the smoldering fire, rolling the data capsule from Apollo in his fingers. He looked troubled, and Mik wondered if he’d slept at all.

After a moment, Apex noticed Mik was awake and turned to him.

“You can tell Apollo the answer is yes. I’ll load the technical details he requested onto this…relic. You’ve got your new world, Mik. That is, if Apollo isn’t crazy and we can pull off his plan.”

Apex didn’t elaborate any more about Apollo’s message, and Mik decided not to press. Apollo had been rather scarily serious when he’d spoken with Mik about the importance of the data capsule.

By the god’s demeanor, it seemed to Mik that Apex had not arrived at his decision until that very moment. The god exhaled deeply and squatted next to the fire. He began feeding it small twigs to bring it back to life.

Mik got up from his cot and groaned as his muscles protested. The hike through wild terrain, under heavier gravity than he was accustomed to, had introduced new forms of pain to his body.

Apex saw his discomfort and waved a hand in his direction. “Here, let me help you.”

He began feeling better almost immediately, and Mik realized that Apex had activated his blood riders, most likely to deliver more oxygen to his muscles.

“Thanks,” he said, and stretched. He wandered off to find a place to drain his bladder, then circled back to the fire. He picked up one of the small tree branches that the robots had gathered during the night. The bark was rough in his hands, the texture unfamiliar. A long, slender thorn stuck out from the side like a bone emerging through skin. It looked in general like something from the trees in the arboretum of The City, although he could tell it wasn’t something that grew there. It was exotic in its simplicity.

“I’m going to take this back to The City,” he said. “I want something I can place in people’s hands from the new world so they’ll believe it.”

Apex smiled. “Many years ago, I sent a shipment of wood to Tower for use in The City. It was from the first mesquite trees harvested on this world. It was supposed to be a morale booster. But I never followed it up, and it might have been forgotten. That was long before you were born, maybe even before your father.”

“Flamewood! That’s what we call it in The City. It’s rare, and only used in the most exclusive places. I always thought it was just a fable that it came from the new world.”

“That’s a shame,” Apex said. “Another failing of mine, not to follow up.”

The servitor robots rumbled up again, as they had yesterday, bearing hot tea and warm loaves.

They sat in front of the slowly growing fire to eat. Mik couldn’t help but notice that Apex was in a somber mood. The almost jaunty god of yesterday was staring intently into the flames, his expression utterly serious.

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