Stars of Charon (Legacy of the Thar'esh Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

there were
sixteen.”
    “My
point exactly,” my teacher nodded. “Memories of words are fleeting, the number
of kargs changes in the telling, as do the number of days they traveled between
rains. Such tales are stories that have lost their truths. They are fun to tell
around the campfire, but the real story was lost the day that Tinaeas died
alone on Canter’s hill, and his Charon slipped away unmet. All we can do is
guess what truly happened.
    “The
truth of his victories is brief and fleeting without the truth of his life that
was never remembered. Do not hold tight to stories of adventure, and do not
hold onto anger when you are wronged. For vengeance and violence are fleeting
and weak.”
     
    On Lee’s
orders, Chen began the synthetic therapy the next morning. There were
injections and sonar treatment sessions that shifted around my entrails. It
wasn’t painful, but it was uncomfortable. As Chen explained it, they were using
synthetic stem cells to build new organs to take over for my own organs which
Chen referred to as “ornamental.”
    After two
weeks my artificial liver began to function. Chen was excited when it seemed to
rouse the rest of my systems. Within three days I was a fully functional,
eating and defecating human being.
    “Well now
Elicio, it seems we fixed you up right,” Chen was rightfully proud of his
success.
    “Thank
you Chen,” as I spoke I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled. It was a
gesture I had seen him make several times when conferring with other patients.
    He smiled
broadly, “Well, off to work with you! It was a pleasure having you here for the
last few months. They are saying we have 190 days until winter sets in, so
we’ll need to make sure that we’re ready.  Lee said he’d send someone down to
set you-ah, there she is. Ju-lin! Over here.”
    Ju-lin
was young and pretty with long brown hair and a small mouth. She looked
familiar. I thought she had been another patient at some point; I’d seen dozens
of people coming in and out of the hospital with scrapes, bruises, and broken
bones.
    “I see
you found some clothes,” she said with an unceremonial nod. “Good. The green
jumpsuit’s an improvement over the whole naked covered in mud and leaves
thing.”
    I flushed
red with embarrassment. Of course, that’s where I knew her. The smaller one of
Lee’s companions who had found me in the woods.
    “Still
haven't learned to talk, eh?” She rolled her eyes and gestured for me to follow
her.
    She
didn’t wait, and was halfway across the room before I caught up to her.
    “Chen
says you understand Common well enough,” she continued as soon as I got within
earshot. “So first, let me say, welcome to the Downs, as we have taken to
calling it. Not the best name. But it’s a name, and every place needs a name.”
    As she
spoke we stepped out through the hospital doors into the sunlight. Ju-lin
absently pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from her jacket and slipped them over
her eyes. I squinted and shaded my eyes as I struggled to adjust to the light
and look around. What had been a pile of storage crates unloaded from the
colony ship a few weeks before had exploded into a small city. I turned behind
me to look at the hospital, it was one of a dozen prefabricated buildings in
the Downs. From my time with the Slate I had learned that most colonies landed
with a dozen or so basic prefabricated structures, including a hospital,
several sleeping barracks, a hydroponic greenhouse, cafeteria, a number of
utility support structures to handle waste, water purification, and a 3D
printing facility to create any tools the colony may need.
    “Keep up
Berry,” Ju-lin called over her shoulder without looking.
    I decided
to ignore the nickname and again jogged ahead to catch up.
    “So, old
man McCullough’s first rule of the colony: work. His second rule: work. And his
third rule, any guesses?”
    “Work?”
    “See there,
you can talk,” she nodded to the left and we turned