The Devil's Nebula
“Her mother, father and sister were still asleep, so she rose quietly and eased herself through the door.Two hundred huts lined the deserted clearing. Halfway down the row was the long-house where her people held many of their gatherings. At the far western end was the second long-house, where the Harvester dwelled.Across from the dwellings was the edge of the fissure and the long, long drop to the river.Quickly she left the hut, hurried across the clearing to the fissure, and peered down. The sides fell away steeply, cloaked in jungle vegetation. The sun had not yet risen high enough to illuminate very far into the chasm, and the lower reaches were swathed in darkness.A little way down the incline, beside the broad flight of steps which her people used on ceremonial occasions, Maatja had a favourite tree where she liked to sit and watch the stars come out. Many years ago her father’s father and thousands of other humans had ventured across space in a vast starship and settled on World..., and she still found the idea amazing.When Maatja had asked why her people had come here, her father merely smiled and said, “We were called, Maatja.MoreLess
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