The Stars Within

By Alex Arch

Thomas fights to beat cancer. Colette fights to save the human race.

 

A colonial miner crippled with debt, Thomas must flee his home to cure his recurring cancer. With his health declining at an alarming rate, his options are limited. Spend his last days surrounded by his loved ones or leave them behind for a slim chance to live. The choice is impossible, the prospect grim, and not for him alone.

 

A pragmatic military hero, Colette enrolls in a mission to thwart an alien invasion. She always gets the job done… unless Mia's involved. She must then put her feelings aside as always or risk jeopardizing her assignment for the woman she once loved.

 

Two battles. Two realities. For one to succeed, the other must fail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Champagne Book Group
• Release date: Jul 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781957228716

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The Stars Within

ALEX ARCH

CHAMPAGNE BOOK GROUP

The Stars Within

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Published by Champagne Book Group

2373 NE Evergreen Avenue, Albany OR 97321 U.S.A.

~~~

First Edition 2022

eISBN: 978-1-957228-71-6

Copyright © 2022 Alex Arch All rights reserved.

Cover Art by Simon Prévost

Champagne Book Group supports copyright which encourages creativity and diverse voices, creates a rich culture, and promotes free speech. Thank you for complying by not scanning, uploading, and distributing this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher. Your purchase of an authorized electronic edition supports the author’s rights and hard work and allows Champagne Book Group to continue to bring readers fiction at its finest.

www.champagnebooks.com

Version_1

To my mother, Danielle, who passed away from

this heart-wrenching disease and, without whom,

I wouldn’t be the man I am today.

Dear Reader,

Please accept my sincerest and humblest thanks. It means a lot to me that you took the time to read my story. This book is as close to me emotionally as it gets, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

Cherish your loved ones, enjoy every day, and always stay positive. One last time, thank you.

Alex

Chapter One

The Disease and the Cure

THOMAS

After he caught the word cancer, Thomas lost focus. His vision blurred. He struggled to breathe. Every sound muffled except the old clock from another era going tic, toc, tic, toc, tic, toc, like the thoughts bouncing inside his skull.

Not again. Why me?

I thought I beat this.

Shitty Company making us work in those awful mines.

How am I going to keep working?

They’re aware it makes us sick, and they won’t pay a damned cent.

I don’t have enough money for the meds.

What are the side effects?

It’s already hard to get by as it is.

I should’ve left this planet years ago.

Come on, Thomas, you knew the risk.

It’s not like I had a choice, though.

I’m gonna have to tell everyone again.

Molly, Sam, the guys.

The baby…

The baby.

Shit.

Mr. Hundstrom! a voice called through the veil. Are you okay?

Thomas’s vision cleared. Mythrium dust covered everything from the old clock to the furniture to his clothes and skin. He wiped the silvery blue powder on the desk with an indifferent finger, revealing the natural mahogany color underneath. Like many others, his cancer was courtesy of this dust, yet its value outweighed any risk. He remembered his hair being blond once, before the blue particles clung to it. He shook his head, mesmerized by the glittering snowfall it created.

Am I gonna make it? he blurted through his tight throat. Of the many questions massing in his mind, it was the only one to flow through his lips.

Dr. Falsteid rubbed his nape. Well, Mr. Hundstrom, uh… Things would be different if we were on a main planet. They have better equipment, better installations… better everything there. They wouldn’t even have to cut you open, and the nanobots would remove the cancer cells from the inside. Here, The Company pays for your treatments. Believe it or not, mining colonies aren’t exactly their priority when it comes to releasing funds—stars, they barely pay me more than a miner.

Judging by their matching jumpsuits, the doctor told the truth.

The fucking Company, everything’s their fault, Thomas said, snapping his hand toward the exit. There’s proof mythrium makes us sick. Do they give a shit? No. Rich people only want colonials to send it in space so they can keep traveling the stars. No one cares if we breathe this crap, if it covers our skin or if we die mining it for them. There’s an accident every other day in the tunnels for star’s sake, and they don’t even have the decency to compensate us when we get hurt.

I understand, Mr. Hundstrom, Dr. Falsteid answered with more cool than Thomas had, but there’s really nothing I can do—

Of course not, Thomas said. You’re barely a real doctor. The only reason you’d end up here is if you failed med school or have a criminal record or something. No other sane doctor would be foolish enough to come to this barren, dead planet.

It was uncalled for, but he needed to vent.

Maybe some doctors actually want to make a difference. Falsteid put his glasses on the desk. But their hands are tied because The Company won’t provide them with the resources they need. I’ve given the same diagnostic you just received three times today; each time I was forced to dispense those pills and nothing else. Why? Because it’s the only thing I have to offer. They’re not considered expensive on any of the main planets. On the contrary, they’re the cheapest option available. It’s not much, but at least you have a chance.

Thomas blew out a breath. He needed to channel his anger toward the proper targets from now on. Like The Company, his cancer, or even himself for deciding to come there in the first place, not the doctor trying to save him.

I’m sorry, Doc. It’s just… With all the money I owe for my equipment, the rent, the food, the baby… It’s almost two months’ salary for one pill bottle. I shouldn’t have said that.

Dr. Falsteid put his glasses back on. Don’t sweat it. I’m used to it. He slid a small orange container across the desk. Here, this one’s on me.

Stunned, Thomas blinked a few times. Thank you, he said after the initial confusion dissipated. Thank you.

He swiped the pills and hurried outside the office in case the doctor changed his mind. After closing the door behind him, Thomas inspected the glowing packets, then put them into his jumpsuit’s pocket. The waiting room bristled with patients. How many waited to receive the same bad news he did today?

He crossed, sight on the elevator to avoid their following gazes filled with questions and pushed the button leading underground with excessive force. He already lost enough standards from the time spent at the doctor’s appointment. Getting back to work was his prime concern. It was deducted from his pay in the end since he was responsible for his digging. He stabbed at the switch repeatedly. It was better than standing idle, even if it wouldn’t bring it any faster.

When the doors finally slid open, he proceeded inside and selected the only basement where mythrium wasn’t depleted. Lights went dim between each floor.

B-Five, a feminine voice announced.

He rubbed his face with both hands until his short beard prickled his fingers.

Maybe I should shave it. Keep the dust from massing there.

The doors split into a massive tunnel. Workers welded twenty-foot-high scaffolds on each side while others gathered sap from smaller mythrium veins. He moved between them, men shouting across the tunnel’s length and plasma cutters ripping through the silvery blue, glass-like roots.

He put his hand on the recognition system. Welcome, Mr. Hundstrom, another feminine voice said. Entry time: 11:34.

Yeah, fuck you too, he said before going deeper into the tunnel instead of taking a left to reach maintenance. After news like this, he needed to blow off some steam.

He strolled at a snail’s pace since he clocked in, hands buried in his pockets, fidgeting around the pill container. He conceived announcement scenarios on his way to Sam’s boring machine. The white and red giant exhibiting his friend’s digging team logo, a mole wearing a soldier’s helmet on its flank, awaited at the tunnel’s extremity. It filled the passage from top to bottom, its three drills covered in too many plasma cutters to count like a massive open-mouthed creature gnawing at the ground.

His best friend perched on a scaffold near the vehicle. His feet dangled carelessly in emptiness while he crammed a sandwich into his mouth. Behind him, workers emptied bag after bag loaded with mythrium dust the machine had extracted. It explained why he was on break. Every day they sent tons of dust into space to fuel spaceships. It never was enough.

Sam foraged in his lunch box while engineers traced the route which contained the most mythrium on electronical devices. He acknowledged Thomas’s presence with a subtle gesture. After years of friendship, they understood each other more than anyone. The need for words sometimes became superfluous.

He took the small door connecting the tunnel to a maintenance shaft, then ascended on a precarious ladder leading above ground to an abandoned room he’d found during his second year on this planet. He and Sam often snuck there to relax during their shifts. Its remoteness ensured no one ever discovered it. Thomas peeked into the room, regardless. If a superintendent learned he slacked after signing in, they would subtract standards from his pay.

There were only two chairs in the room’s center, both facing a wide window with an impressive view of the world they helped create. When he first came there, it was a luscious planet with trees and various bird species. The intensive extraction left it barren, as if they ripped its life force away along with the mythrium dust. Only yellow dunes remained, grains pushed by heavy winds trailing from their peaks like flags planted by a conqueror.

Thomas, my man! a deep voice echoed on the metallic walls from behind.

He turned around. Hey, Sam. Gotta make this quick. We only have fifteen minutes before the superintendent makes her rounds.

His friend’s dark skin, covered with a silvery powder veil, was paler than usual. Yeah, I know. How’d it go? he asked.

Thomas’s hesitation must’ve given him a hint.

Ah, shit man. Not again. Sam took him in his arms, hitting him with a soft fist on the back from time to time.

Thomas reciprocated the hug. It lasted an eternity, with him focused on holding his tears at bay rather than truly enjoying it.

Sam broke it off first. Darker skin paved its way to his chin in streams coming from underneath his glasses. He kept Thomas’s shoulders in his hands. Have you called Molly? he said after a sniffle.

Thomas concentrated on the floor, unable to withstand the pain he inflicted on his friend. He bit the interior of his cheek. Not yet, he said through the ball in his throat. I couldn’t find the strength. I don’t want her to cry… Not again. I’m the one who told her to come here, that I’d make some good money before we’d move to a main planet. Her parents were right. It’s a scam. Now our baby is gonna grow up without a father because I didn’t listen.

No, no, no, don’t talk like that, Sam said. You’ll get through this. You already did once, remember? You’re the strongest guy I know. Besides, there’s no way I’m letting you get away from those poker debts. He gave a sympathetic smile and seated Thomas on a chair. I’ve got something for you. Something I’ve been saving for a special occasion. I wouldn’t call this one special, shitty more like, but at least it’ll lift your spirits.

Sam went to a corner and fumbled around, removing a metal sheet from the wall. He plunged his arms inside. When they reemerged, he brandished two bottles wrapped in brown paper.

Beer? Thomas said. Where’d you get this? It’s impossible to find.

There’s another pilot who makes it. Sells it for a fortune, but I’d say it’s worth it.

Sam opened a bottle, passed it to Thomas before uncapping himself one. A loud clink resonated when they touched their bottles together. They both took a swig and exhaled. It didn’t taste exceptional. Still, it was a balm for Thomas’s foul mood.

It’s not fair man, his friend said. We’re the ones doing all the hard work. Without us, they wouldn’t even be able to fly their stupid ships into space. There would be no colonies. Are they grateful? No. They don’t give a shit. They say the military needs mythrium to protect us. From what? They should protect us here, from them.

Thomas scoffed. We’re nothing but numbers to The Company. Mining planets aren’t even named. I figured I was going to be different, you know? I’d make my money and leave, but after the rent, the food and… cancers, there’s barely anything left. Like it or not, we’re stuck here.

"You’re stuck here, his friend said with a sly smile. With my pilot salary, I’m free to go anywhere."

Sarcasm was like a second language between them.

Thomas gave a thin smile, and they sat in silence, drinking. Yeah, right, you make the same amount I do. You can’t even afford decent beer, he said, attempting a joke after a while. Anyway, the superintendent will start her rounds soon. We should go. He downed the last sip left in his bottle before throwing it through the glassless window. He watched it disappear between dunes, pensive.

Hey, Tom, Sam said, his tone serious, if anything happens to you—nothing will—but if something does, do you really think I’d let your kid grow up without a father figure?

Thomas’s eyes brimmed with liquid. He hid behind the welding goggles usually resting on his forehead to prevent the overflow. Thanks, Sam, he managed before descending through the dark hole.

COLETTE

Colette sat on the bare chair placed by the board, unease settling in the room like a blanket. A single glass of water rested on the plain white table