The City of Three Moons

By JM Bolton

In 2548 The Council of Ruling Houses of Earth lost the Colonial War of Independence, however, it could still sign new charters with any colony interested in continuing their economic relationship. This is the story of a team sent to reestablish contact and open negotiations with a colony that had been “lost” during the long war.
The planet Eoshia has two moons and occasionally a third that is actually a large asteroid that moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun and then back around Eoshia every five hundred years. The life cycle of the native Eoshians is synchronized with this moon. For part of their life they exist within a global consciousness called Unity. Other times they inhabit a physical body, but only when the third moon is in the sky. As the third moon moves away, the physical bodies die, and their consciousness returns to Unity. The only Eoshians who remain in physical form are guardian/scouts who will prepare for the return of Eoshia's population.
The Eoshian human colony managed to survive during its time of isolation, but had to cope with things such as climate, which was gradually growing warmer, a large poisonous nocturnal animal, called the lamia. Even something as minor as a scratch from the lamia leads to madness and death. To safeguard against the lamia, anyone caught outside after dark is exiled.
The team from Earth includes Dr. Riley Griey, an empathic doctor, and Colonel Mac McKenna. Shortly after they land, they are joined by a representatives from the Proxima Empire, one of the larger and more aggressive of the newly liberated colonies, who want Eoshia for themselves.
Dr. Griey has her own agenda - to find out why the colonists have managed to live many years beyond a normal human lifespan despite the primitive conditions on the planet. She also wants to find the medical empath, Becca, who had been exiled from the colony because of her work with victims of the lamia . When Riley is accidentally caught out after dark, Mac tries to save her, but is himself attacked and badly injured by one of the lamia. He and Riley are banished from the colony and take refuge with Becca.
To find help, McKenna and Riley set out to find a group of scientists who more than 100 years ago, were sent to study the planet. Mac & Riley hope they have will have a cure for the lamia bite, and have answers to many puzzling questions about the planet. However, the Proxima have found the scientists’ first and, in an effort to force the scientists to divulge information that will allow them to control the planet, destroy ponds full of large aquatic animals that are actually the young of Eoshia in the beginning stages of metamorphosis. Enraged by this desecration, the Eoshian guardian/scouts and Unity declare war against all humans. McKenna and Riley have just a short time to contact the ship that brought them and arrange to evacuate the colonists. To add to the confusion, however, the Proxima chose this time to attack the main colony and hold them hostage.
After some fighting, bribery, treachery, and so forth, the team from Earth manages to get off planet, taking the colonists with them. The Proxima ignore the warnings and are, we assume, destroyed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JM Bolton
• Release date: Jul 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781575500140

JM Bolton

A former newspaper feature writer and science author, JM Bolton has written more than 20 books, both fiction and non-fiction, and is the winner of the Quill and Scroll and a Royal Palm Literary Award for fiction. Her publishers include Ballantine/Del Rey, IDBPI, and Fat Pony Music Books. She has freelanced for several publishers, including Barron’s Educational Series, where she worked as a writer and content editor. An artist as well as a writer, Bolton designs book covers and does scientific illustrations. Currently, Bolton is arranging music and working on her 12th music book. Her resume includes several genres, including historical, science fiction-fantasy, textbooks, and how-to titles.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Tattered remnants of cirrus clouds laced Eoshia’s night sky, limned by the glow of one pale moon. Somewhat later a second, larger moon rose, dimming the distant scattering of stars and painting a long rippling reflection across the sea. The third moon, the last member of this lunar trio, wouldn't rise until dawn, by which time the other two would have set.

This particular night on Eoshia's largest continent, a guardian called Prss came out of her cave, great eyes blinking sleepily. A breeze whirled around her, filling her wing membranes and tugging them away from her sides. To her ears the moving air made a noise like chimes, joyous, teasing. "Come, fly ... fly with me," it whispered.

Ignoring the wind’s seductive caress, Prss resisted; duty came first and she had too many responsibilities. The guardian held her arms against her body compressing the wing membrane, deliberately grounding herself while she opened her mind.

Slowly, gently the soul of the planet entered her consciousness. Tenuous at first, but then stronger, this Unity filled her and she was absorbed into the collective identity of her race. Unity embraced every consciousness that had ever existed on the planet, billions of minds joined as one, belonging, reassuring, directing, remembering; life in its total, past, present, future; encompassing time, space, and dimensions beyond. And now something new. An alien presence floated through Unity, learning and being learned, beginning to meld and join the chorus. Unity/Prss examined this newcomer curiously, not afraid, seeking to understand. Differences, however strange, presented welcome opportunity for growth, and when Unity encompassed this difference, it would be even stronger, just as it had the other times when aliens had come to Eoshia.

Satisfied, linked, and complete in her awareness, Prss raised her face in the moons' silvery light and gave voice to the waking song, praise to the Three Lunar Sisters. Small creatures froze in their nightly foraging as the undulating chant reached them and, hackles stiff with alarm, prepared to scurry to safety. Then, abruptly, the sound ceased.

Moonlight filtered through the branches of a thorn tree growing on the cliff above the cave, mottling the guardian's reddish fur with light. Snout wrinkled, she sniffed the wind, casting, searching, and found a thin thread of scent, tart, tasting of iron, telling her the aliens were still in the city, locked behind their wall.

As the big moon rose higher into the sky, Prss spread her wings, leapt into space, and flew toward the sea, her sharp eyes automatically scanning the shadowy landscape below. Nothing moved except other night creatures. She saw a small rodent foraging, searching for seedpods, unaware of a silent carnivore watching, hidden in the deep shadows beneath a shrub. A little further on, a cloud of nocturnal moths investigated some night-blooming flowers, luminous in the darkness.

Nothing unusual disturbed the night and so Prss turned her mind to other activities. First she would bathe in the pool by the reef and since she felt hungry, catch some little green crabs along the shore. After that she would check the nesting places. But these activities wouldn't take all night. There would still be time to go back and watch the strange, furless ones who had invaded her planet. Sometimes they ventured out after dark -- not often, but every once in a while -- and then she could go hunting!

Chapter 2

The growling of her stomach told Riley it was past dinnertime. She left her reader on the untidy mess of the desk and went into the small bathroom to splash some water -- real water! -- on her face. Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she ran her hands through her red hair, trying to tame the curls. It was starting to grow out, and since she no longer had to wear a combat helmet, she thought maybe she’d just let it get long again. She tilted her head, trying to decide, and realized it didn’t matter just then. She was hungry! Tucking the unruly wisps behind her ears she left the cabin.

She passed through a narrow access corridor opening onto a catwalk crossing high above one of the ship’s huge cargo holds. This shortcut from the cabins to the crew’s common areas was a more logical route than the original ship designers had planned, but then the FHC Lucas had been built during wartime, a monument to bureaucratic expediency and minimum-bid construction. The interior had since been modified by custom and need.

Even though it was well into the night cycle, people still worked in the area below and Riley paused to watch. Sounds echoed in the vast space and recycled air carried a pungent odor of lubricants and the tang of hot metal. The blue and green logo of Earth's Pioneer Program stood out against the gleaming white sides of the big shuttle parked there surrounded by piles of shipping containers, supplies for the mission. This was the vessel that would take McKenna's team down and through the atmosphere to the surface of the planet, Eoshia. At one time five shuttles rested in the immense cargo bay, but one by one they had been dropped above other worlds. In the morning this last one would be launched before the Lucas continued on her way.

Tomorrow morning it begins, Riley told herself, a shiver of anticipation and more than a little apprehension brushing over her. It was hard to believe so little time had passed since the initial briefing back on TerraSeven. The time she spent working in the orbital hospital there seemed so long ago.

Their leader Mac McKenna and Seresin, another team member, came around the shuttle's hull deep in conversation. They’re probably rehashing their military triumphs, she thought bitterly. Especially Colonel McKenna, the man ... no, she amended, the hero who ended the siege of Hoy-Dontjn. He was famous from the vids and newscasts, from his actions that led to the Feds winning a decisive battle against the rebels. It had been a major triumph, but unfortunately too late for the planet, and too late to enable the Feds to win the war. Still it had been a spectacular feat and it made McKenna famous ... well, as famous as anyone got in that stupid war.

Not stupid, her mind argued. If the Feds had been reasonable and willing to deal with the colonies as equals there wouldn’t have been any reason for the war. but the Ruling Houses had been unwilling to negotiate, to lose control of their colonies, of their investments; they financed the colonies and therefore believed they owned them and their profits forever. After a couple hundred years, however, the colonists thought differently. It made perfect sense that they would want independence since they no longer needed the support of their Earth-bound masters.

But that was all over now, and 20/20 hindsight was only useful for learning lessons, as her father always said. Too bad he had been one of the casualties of Hoy-Dontjn.

And McKenna? Hero? Maybe. But not to her family. She was the only one who survived.

Be fair, another part of her mind insisted. McKenna didn’t kill them. And he saved the planet.

Yet Riley couldn’t forget. The war destroyed her home and family, changing her life and even her career. She was still a doctor, sure, but not at the wonderful medical university where her father once presided, not on the beautiful world where she had been born, and definitely not surrounded by people she loved. That world and that reality were gone.

Yeah, but you can’t blame it on McKenna, the rational part of her mind insisted. And you aren’t the only one who suffered loss. Everyone who survived is scarred. You can bet even he lost something or maybe even someone because of the war.

Ha! the irrational side protested. But Riley’s ire lessened, swallowed up in the constant flow of thoughts.

What motivated the man, she wondered? Was it fame? Power? Or was he just one more of the displaced people who, having grown up with the war, were trying to find a reason for living in peacetime?

Are you thinking of McKenna or of yourself? that other part of her mind demanded.

McKenna, she responded, evading the issue as always.

He’s as displaced as everyone else, logic insisted.

Him? The Great Hero? How could that be possible? And thus she banished logic.

He wasn't handsome, she decided, settling for the superficial. He was too thin, his face lined, broken up into harsh planes and angles. She couldn't guess how old he was. There were white streaks in his thick dark hair, but that didn’t mean anything. Whatever his age, he carried himself well, moving with ease and controlled power. There was strength in him, both physical and mental. The assault on Hoy-Dontjn had been almost ten years ago, and, except for the silver in his hair, he didn't seem to have changed at all.

Yes, she had to admit, there was more than a little magnetism about the man, a definite sensual attraction. And with that her mind skidded to a halt, appalled.

Think about something else! Anything!

Seresin, she decided, looking at the other man in the cargo bay. Seresin was definitely what you'd call good-looking in a sleek sort of way. His dark hair was worn straight and cut level with the bottom of his ears, a popular style with military officers during the latter part of the war. Even though everyone on the team was a civilian now, some people just couldn’t let go of the past. His hair and deep blue eyes fringed with dark lashes made an attractive contrast to his pale skin, a look he apparently cultivated along with the military spit and polish that characterized his dress.

Yes, he was undeniably attractive, but she didn’t have good feelings about him. The enmity born between them at the first briefing had more or less diminished with familiarity. There was a flare-up now and then, but for the most part, they’d settled into a business-like relationship enforced by the necessity of working together. But he obviously resented her and so it wasn’t a comfortable affiliation. She could never be sure if he objected to her because she’d been a pax-major and out ranked him, or because she was a woman, or maybe both. She knew a few cultures still held onto antiquated notions that women were somehow inferior and needed to be kept in their place, whatever that was. Maybe he was one of them.

As for feeling, Seresin radiated purpose and energy. She could feel something else, too ... something ... something not quite right. It was mirrored in his behavior. He didn’t actually avoid people, but he didn’t really fit into the team either, and she wasn’t sure why. The feeling was hard to describe, but since it wasn’t health threatening, as far as she was concerned it could just stay a mystery. Quite frankly she didn’t like him enough to want to probe into his psyche.

Her musing was interrupted as Pac, McKenna's aide, came into sight below. He was a short, thickset man of uncertain age, with a weathered face below a closely cropped head of gray hair. His bright eyes seemed alert to everything, and he was quick to fill in where an extra pair of hands was needed. Right now he held a broken casing, trailing a tangle of wires. He spoke, but his words were lost in a sudden clangor as someone working right under her dropped a heavy metal object. As McKenna turned to respond, he caught sight of Riley up on the catwalk. One of his eyebrows rose and a tiny half smile tugged at his lips. The other men looked up to see what attracted McKenna’s attention. Seresin nodded at her, but it was just a reflex without any real meaning. She raised her hand briefly in response before turning and continuing on her way to a belated dinner.

Chapter 3

When Riley arrived at the officer’s dining area, no one was there except a steward busy in the background and Keisha Frasier, another member of the team. The young woman sat picking at a salad, eyeing the vegetables as if she wasn't sure of their identity.

How do they synthesize lettuce leaves? she asked when Riley greeted her.

They’re not synthetic. They're hydroponic.

Keisha looked with renewed interest at her plate. You've just given me back my appetite. I was afraid to eat them.

Riley laughed and started to move off.

Would you join me? I mean, well, unless …?

I wouldn’t mind some company, Riley interrupted the young woman’s stammering. She seated herself across from the team’s xenoarchaeologist. I just spent the day reading a very long paper about Eoshia's unique microflora and fauna.

You mean germs?

In layman’s terms.

Any problems?

I don’t think so. It looks like our universal antidote should take care of anything we’ll come into contact with here.

The steward came and took Riley’s dinner order.

Keisha leaned forward after the man had gone. I can’t believe the great service on this ship. You’d think it was a cruise liner instead of military transport.

Riley grinned. Even though the war's over, all the warships are kept fully supplied and staffed, just the way they were three years ago. And I’m glad for that, the food's great!

And I wondered about that, too. Keisha reached for the bread. I know ships have synthesizers. I mean, I've read it. I wasn’t sure about the lettuce, though. I don’t have a lot of experience with artificial food. I thought this program was just more inventive.

They do synthesize some things, but real food tastes better, don't you think?

Heavens, yes!

Riley nodded. They have a protein vat on board, and fish tanks, as well as a yeast farm. And hydroponics. You should ask for a tour. I think you'd enjoy it, especially the nulgrav fish.

Poor fish. Don't they get confused swimming upside down and sideways?

It doesn't seem to bother them. They were bio-engineered to live in null-g.

Keisha sighed. I have so much to learn about traveling in space.

Is this your first time off-world?

Yes. But you were born in the colonies, weren't you?

Yes. On Hoy-Dontjn. Riley’s dinner arrived and she picked up a fork.

The bios said you were in the military. Did you know Colonel McKenna? The younger woman’s asked fervently. I know he directed the battle at Hoy-Dontjn.

It had to be hero worship, Riley decided. Or a crush. I’m afraid I was only a lowly major, she admitted. I spent most of my time in mobile hospitals.

"But you were in combat. Keisha said, her brown eyes fixed on her companion. It must have been horrible!"

Doctors aren't actually combatants, you know. That’s what the pax ranking is all about. But I did spend time just behind front lines. And you're right, it was horrible.

I'm surprised your Guild allowed doctors that close to the fighting.

Doctors go where they're needed, regardless of the danger. But let's not talk about the war.

Sorry. Keisha picked at her food for a moment. So, when did you go into space?

Shortly after the liberation of Hoy-Dontjn.

That must have been exciting. I mean, going into space.

Not as much as you'd think, Riley replied, and dodged away from that subject too. Where are you from?

Denver. The Mile High City. My life isn't nearly as interesting as yours. I was born in Denver and I went to school in Denver. I never left until after I graduated.

Then where did you go? Riley asked, glad to get the subject away from her own past.

I spent a year in Mexico City, at La Casa Antiqua, and then two years at the Smithsonian Institution. That's when I decided to go into xeno. Do you know there were only seven xeno majors when I was in school?

I guess there’s not a lot of work for xenoarchaeologists.

That’s true. We haven't found that many alien artifacts. I think if we really looked, though, we'd find a lot more.

Maybe. Riley finished her serving of catfish and started on a salad. How’d you get assigned to Eoshia?

My professor, Doctor Hogarth, put my name up. He was one of the first xenos allowed in the city back in '55. He always wanted to go back, but his health isn't good, so he recommended me instead. She grinned, suddenly. I’m glad he spoke up for me. I can't imagine them choosing me when so many others applied.

Well, you're not exactly inexperienced. I read your articles about the Winokur artifacts in the La Casa Journal. That was excellent work.

You read that? Keisha's face lit with pleasure. I didn't think anyone except professionals read the Journal.

To be honest, at the time I didn’t have a lot of choices. Riley chuckled at the memory. During the peace talks I was stuck on a tiny space station on the backside of nowhere for almost a year. I had nothing to do but read and help the resident medico cure hangovers.

Keisha wrinkled her nose. Sounds boring.

You wouldn’t believe! But the public library had a complete collection of the Journals.

How fortunate for you! the archaeologist giggled. You must have been desperate to read those!

Yeah, I was. We had no live Tri-V reception, and even vids were limited. So I read everything in the library. Well, almost everything. There was this one recording about the generation of static electricity on hull plating. I passed on that one, she concluded with a rueful expression. I dunno, you think I might have missed something useful?

Keisha sputtered for a moment as she finished trying to swallow her drink, and both women burst into laughter.

Oh, I needed that, Riley said, wiping her eyes.

Me, too. Keisha took a deep breath. So, while we're talking about archaeology, what do you think of Eoshia?

The city? It's certainly different.

I think it's beautiful. Look. She took a holo disk from her pocket and projected a miniature city in the air over the table. I was studying this before you came.

Where'd you get that? Riley wanted to know, delighted by the perfect rendering of streets and buildings.

It was Dr. Hogarth's going-away present. This recording was part of his work when he was there."

The hologram crackled and shivered as Riley reached her finger toward one of the tiny golden stone structures. It’s intriguing, she admitted.

Just think, tomorrow we'll be walking on these streets, kicking up dust that has been undisturbed for hundreds of years.

The hologram showed narrow pathways between row upon row of stone buildings the same dusty golden color as the barren plains stretching off to the east. In the city, however, plant life proliferated, trees, shrubs, and vines growing wherever seeds could take hold. The buildings stretched into the distance, an immense labyrinth of organic shapes eerily distorted to eyes accustomed to the geometry of human construction. Instead of flat roadbeds, the streets followed the natural flow of the ground, rising and falling, and slanting to one side and then another. Occasionally the roadways opened onto a broad avenue or a plaza.

The indefinable alien-ness of the geomentry, as well as the color of the construction material made it easy to imagine that the city might be some fantastic rock formation rather that a great artifact. Keisha touched the controls and turned the hologram so they could look down into the city. The green plants were even more obvious from this angle.

There has to be some kind of underground water source, Riley commented. Look at all that vegetation.

I suspect a natural subterranean reservoir,’ Keisha agreed. Or it could be part of the city. Tunnels for water systems or maybe sewage. Or a combination. That’s one of the things I’ll investigate."

I’d love to know who built all this. Riley said.

And where they disappeared to, Keisha added. And why there’s nothing left. Not even a skeleton. No pictures, no sculptures. Nothing.

Best guess is that an ice age killed them off, said a voice from behind them, startling the two women. Mac McKenna stood there, his rumpled jumpsuit looking as tired as his face. Sorry. I’ve been watching for a couple of minutes. I thought you knew I was here.

No problem, Keisha said, smiling warmly. Come and join us. That is ... have you had dinner yet?

He pulled a chair away from the table and dropped down wearily. Am I too late?

I think they serve round the clock. I'll get the steward, Keisha offered, rising to her feet.

One of the scooters wasn't holding a charge, he explained to Riley with a tired smile. He crossed his arms on the table and leaned toward her, I wanted to make sure that was fixed before we dropped.

This was the first time they had been alone, and she could feel a mélange of emotions coming from him. One of the most prominent was warmth. For her? She wasn’t sure why this might be. They didn’t know each other well enough. How did she feel about him? Well, there was a definite attraction. But that only stood to reason, she quickly excused herself; he was male and it had been a while since she had any male company ... not that she anticipated anything with McKenna! Under the circumstances, she told herself, any male would have this effect on her.

Yeah, right, that other part of her mind argued. You don’t feel this way about Pac or Cameron. Or Seresin.

Gods, definitely not Seresin!

Nonsense, she insisted. And her confusion made her voice a little sharper than it might have been as she answered him. I thought Seresin was responsible for the equipment.

He grinned ruefully at her. He is, but I've got him busy double checking the cargo. The ride down will be bumpy and I don't want to break anything.

What about the colonists. Won’t they be able to supply us?

He shook his head. Maybe. But since we don’t know for certain we’re taking everything we’ll need for the duration. I tried to contact the colony again today, but... He shrugged and then stifled a yawn. "I know they're down there. The bio-scans registered over two thousand people. There seem to be three separate settlements. We’re landing beside the largest one.

But that's beside the point, he continued. We don’t know what conditions are like in the colony. It might be a mistake to expect them to supply us for six days, much less six months.

So we supply ourselves, Keisha said as she returned to her seat.

Yes.

They discussed supplies and the mechanics of the landing as Riley finished her dinner. Although McKenna's body radiated exhaustion, his eyes were alive. She had to admire his magnetism; he had a low-keyed but undeniable charm. Maybe this was why his troops had been so loyal to him. And if Keisha's attitude was any indicator, he had certainly won the loyalty of this troop quickly enough!

You’re attracted, too, her logical mind insisted.

Am not! the mental child responded.

Somewhere in her mind was laughter.

These seats taken? came Cameron’s voice, catching her wandering attention. He and Seresin dropped down into the empty places. You all ready for tomorrow? the biologist asked.

Yes, Keisha supplied, her eyes bright with excitement. We were just talking about it.

It will be interesting, Seresin commented. These people have been out of contact with other worlds for ninety-three years.

I never understood why they weren't involved in the Colonial War. Keisha said.

They didn't have space-flight capability or the technology to develop it, McKenna explained. The planet is essentially an agricultural world. The colonists are members of a primitive agrarian cult and they don’t rely on heavily technology. But on the other hand, that’s probably why they managed to survive after they were cut off from Earth.

The planet's too far away from established ship routes, Seresin volunteered. Plus it was too new and under-populated to be of value to the rebels. I bet the Eoshians didn't even know there was a war.

They didn’t see or hear from anyone from Earth for ninety-three years, Riley offered. I bet they noticed that.

Colonies are encouraged to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible, McKenna broke in, forestalling Seresin who had turned to Riley obviously preparing a pithy retort. And this group seems to have been successful. According to early reports Eoshia established Terran food stocks and adopted a number of the native plants and animals. As for shelter, they had the whole city.

I want to know more about the city, Seresin said. I want to know why would someone build a city, especially one this big, and then just abandon it.

One theory is that climate was responsible, McKenna answered. There was an ice age and evidence that glaciers came south and covered the main continent.

Food sources would have been affected, Keisha commented.

All of this is covered in the geological reports, McKenna added.

I read them, Seresin said. And I also read about this rogue planetoid that’s entering Eoshia’s orbit. What’s that all about?

It’s responsible for the climate changes, Cameron, the team’s biologist offered. There’ll be some unusually high tides and probably an increase in tectonic activity—volcanoes, earthquakes. And a rise in the planet’s temperature too.

The whole mission promised to be an unholy mess, Seresin thought scowling. "So we’ve got volcanoes, earthquakes, and a weird-looking city. I saw the holos. Are we sure