The Skiing on Xorax

[Joe Manning 0]

"I've never heard of a Bynar colony. Hell, I've never heard of Bynars being that far from their homeworld."

 

"Apparently, these Bynars are rebels. Yes, I know, seems impossible. How can they rebel if they're all hooked up to the same computer system? But it's not like we haven't seen examples of this before -- we've seen Borg who managed to break themselves and others away from the collective. Somewhere along the way, these Bynars developed some kind of fundamental disagreement with the rest of the population of Bynarus. So ... they decided to break away."

 

"Wouldn't they die if they broke away from their home computer?"

 

"That doesn't seem to be the case, does it? Maybe they've found a way to remain tied into the Bolarus computer. Or maybe they've developed their own separate computer. These Bynars that appeared in the Council Chamber -were- quite a bit different from other Bynars we've encountered. Either way, they aren't telling. And we have no business prying."

 

"We do have business prying into this colonial venture of theirs. What's their interest in the Hyades cluster?"

 

"Unknown. Seclusion from the homeworld? Fear of reprisals from the remainder of the population? The Hyades cluster has not been heavily explored. We know it's rich in tritanium. A few corporate groups back home are talking about launching colonial expeditions in a few years; that doesn't seem to bother the Bynars. They also don't seem to have much interest in the world with the tritanium. They were more interested in one of the cluster's less hospitable worlds -- a barren, irradiated rock."

 

"They can survive the environment?"

 

"I think they don't plan to. -These- Bynars have a thing for 'underground lairs.' Kinda like in the old superspy vids, right? It's one of the ways they distinguished themselves from the others on Bynarus. Don't ask me why. They're planning to build a fairly elaborate subterranean complex and use it for the purposes of 'shelter and experimentation,' to use their words."

 

"Experimentation?"

 

"Don't ask me."

 

 

Something smelled awful in the cargo hold. Joe's eyes scanned the hold for the culprit several times; each time he found his gaze resting on the Nausicaan's motorbike. That thing would have to be cleaned soon; Pher's exercise sessions wouldn't draw quite so much of a crowd with that thing lingering around, then he'd have to hear it from Pher.

 

He looked past the motorbike and noticed that his skis had been knocked down. He shook his head and circled around the bike to pick them back up. He'd made only one purchase before Qob left Tranquility. Four sets of skis had been sitting in the bargain bargain bin at Edger's Emporium, and for good reason -- who in their right minds would think about skiing the irradiated dust mounds of outer Tranquility? They were extremely old and in desperate need of reinforcing, but how could Joe pass up the price? He'd been to Xorax colony twice before; he wasn't going to let the third visit go by without a little skiing.

 

For Xorax was a planet covered in snow and mountains -- two things somewhat conducive to skiing. Two other things Xorax was covered in were wind and heavy gravity. Not so conducive to skiing ... but quite conducive to thrilling, dangerous skiing. The dense world's surface gravity of 1.8 G's made for a more rapid downslope, and the winds that swirled heavily against the snow-blanketed slopes demanded cautious control. It was a popular activity for Hyades hobbyists and tourists, though the planet's natives frowned on such frivolity.

 

Let them frown, Joe thought. It was not like the natives ever emerged from their subterranean complex.

 

Within the longest and highest mountain range on the Xorax surface, a vast network of corridors connected the homes and labs of the colony's elite engineers and scientists (predominantly Bynar and Vulcan) with a visitors' plaza that catered to businessmen looking to fund productive research, shoppers of high-tech merchandise, and the few tourists who were interested in either meeting a Bynar or placing their lives on the slopes above. It was not the thriving center of commerce that Tranquility City or Andus Station boasted, or even the tourist haven of a New Risa or Vega, but the corporate grants seemed to do an adequate job of keeping the colony's economy in good shape. And the scientists certainly preferred the relative isolation.

 

After all, the Bynars and Vulcans had left Tranquility when the planet started becoming too crowded. Popular history held that the Bynars founded Tranquility long ago, before the War, before the Beholder invasion, before the Gular Consortium ever began sniffing around the Hyades cluster for tritanium. They had started the colonial buildup with a small research center. As word of the research center spread, the Bynars picked up assistants from various races, most notably the Vulcans. By the time the Gular fleet showed up in the Hyades cluster, the Bynars had already advanced the terraforming process a great deal and half a dozen or so platforms were constructed on the surface. It was said that the Bynars begrudgingly allowed the Consortium to construct a few of their own platforms alongside the research center. From there the colony developed gradually into a city, somewhat out of the Bynars' control. When the Beholder Crisis and, later, the Civil War turned Tranquility into a popular destination for refugees, the Bynars and their assistants decided that they would need to relocate a more secluded area.

 

Thus, they found their way to Xorax and began burrowing into the mountain range like moles on hyperstims. How they managed to construct such an extensive network of facilities in so short a span of time was anyone's guess; perhaps they'd begun settling Xorax earlier, around the same time they came to the Hyades cluster. No one knew for sure. The colony's administrators -- leading scientists and engineers in a variety of fields -- were a mysterious lot.

 

The underground network suited the inhabitants well. Deep steam vents within the mountains kept the facility well heated; an elaborate piping system shunted most of the heat to the Vulcan quarters, of course. There was no gravity management; the Vulcans preferred the high gravity, and no one would be complaining if it turned away tourists. The Bynars seemed to prefer living underground ... but with the Bynars, who could really be certain?

 

Labs were spread throughout the mountain range -- astronomical observatories near the peaks and geological observatories near the active base, experimental physics labs in deep isolated pockets where 'disasters' could be contained, even whole subterranean biodomes where biologists attempted to breed Margosis falcons and botanists attempted to create miracle crops that could feed Bull's Head. Scientific discovery for its own sake was all that drove the colonists. No profiteering, no interference in the politicking of Bull's Head's power groups, not even a desire for accolades. Heck, for all that the Bynars were the rumored founders of Tranquility, the Bynars themselves never took much credit for it; perhaps they weren't proud of what the original colony had turned into. They took in only enough wealth to keep the research funded (or to open new avenues of research) and knowledge gained was the only reward they sought.

 

Of course, a little paranoia was injected into the whole equation, the only blemish in an otherwise perfectly sanitized system. Maybe it was a natural byproduct of genius, maybe an attribute specific to the Bynars, or maybe the result of endless feuding between the colony's scientists and engineers, but the colonists by rule trusted no one. There were no ports for ships to land or even exterior entrances to the facility; all visitors needed to remain in orbit of the planet, undergo screening by colonial security, then await retrieval by the colony's matter transport system. The administrators would not even allow ships or craft to land on the surface near the colony; assault drones seeded throughout the mountain range would activate and zero in on any vessel entering the atmosphere. Once inside the facility, visitors needed to suffer ever-prevalent video surveillance -- even within the hotel rooms -- and doors with "Access Restricted: Authorized Personnel Only" stickers could be found at every turn. Woe to anyone who strayed into restricted areas; trespassers, so rumors told, ended up as test subjects in the labs.

 

Fortunately, the colony's transport managers allowed access to the surface (and subsequent retrieval, thankfully) for anyone wishing to brave the slopes. It would be dangerous, Joe knew, but he was sure he wouldn't be alone; surely he could find others on the crew crazy enough to join him.