Chapter 1

The bright Azura sun beat down upon the yellow grass of the wide plain. A cool breeze swept across the scattered, sun-bleached boulders and rustled the short grass. Far away, blue snow capped mountains towered on the horizon. Thin sheet clouds floated lazily along the firmament. Nothing could be heard except the wind and the occasional call from birds circling overhead.

Over the crest of one of the many low hills in the plain, someone approached, jogging towards a rock formation a few meters ahead. She was a girl of seventeen wearing a black jumpsuit, elbow pads and shin guards. Her shoulder length hair was a deep brown and her matching eyes were locked intently on the cream-colored rocks ahead of her. She was moderately athletic with light skin. Her face betrayed the faint sighs of faded freckles. As she hurried down the other side of the hill, she stopped to listen to a low hum that seemed to be getting closer.

A device that she wore on her wrist suddenly began to beep. She glanced down as large red letters blinked “proximity alert” - “proximity alert”. She gasped and broke into a run, sprinting with all her might towards the towering rocks. Before she could reach them however, a small VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) craft zoomed over the horizon, sped towards her and would soon overtake her. She turned around and pressed a green button on the side of a device she wore on her other wrist, which she pointed towards the intruder. Two red bolts of energy issued from the weapon’s single barrel. The VTOL nimbly dodged both bolts. The VTOL fired back with a spray of the same red bolts. Jessica McKinley (for that was her name) ducked her head as the bolts went wide by about five inches. With renewed haste, Jessica proceeded on her run to safety.

“If I could just get to those rocks, I would have a great shot at him,” she thought to herself. The VTOL swooped over just inches from her head, forcing her to the ground. She rolled over and fired repeatedly into the air after the craft, missing again. The VTOL swooped around for another pass. Jessica looked back and fourth, seeking something to get behind. She spotted a medium sized boulder about two meters to her left.

“That’ll have to do”, she whispered. She jumped up and dove for it as the VTOL fired another volley. She made it! Her feet disappeared behind the boulder just as the bolts hit it, glancing off. Then VTOL flew behind a rock tower but to Jessica’s surprise, the VTOL didn’t come out on the other side. After ten seconds, she began to get worried.

“Where is he”, she hissed aloud. She then spotted a larger boulder near the base of the rock tower and quickly ran to it. She waited five seconds and then she decided to take a look over the rock. With a roar, the VTOL shot up in front of her. Jessica’s eyes widened as she tried to run again but she only got a couple of feet when a bolt hit her square in the shoulder. She was thrown off balance and fell face down in the grass. The VTOL flew a few feet ahead of her and slowly lit down on the grass, its quad propellers coming to a stop. Jessica glanced at her wrist communicator. This time the big red letters “Game Over” flashed on the screen. A door opened up on the side and a boy of about sixteen with a buzzed hair cut the same color as Jessica’s and hazel eyes, stepped out into the sun and lifted the visor on his flight helmet.

“That was your last life, sis,” he beamed “Admit it. I won the match fair and square.”

“Aw! That last hit was just a lucky shot, Norm,” Jessica said, smiling as she got to her feet.

“Lucky? You were right there in front of me.”

“Well it didn’t take much skill on your part then.”

“You crack me up Jessie.” Norman shook his head. “Well, do you want to play another set, or what?”

“Okay. But this time I get the Flier.”

“Why? I’ll still beat you anyway.”

“We’ll see about that, buster.”

They laughed together and then Jessica jumped into the cockpit of the “Azura Flier”, donned the helmet and lifted off, hovering over Norman.

“Hey Norm”, Jessica spoke into the intercom.

“Hey what?”

“I have two words for you… start running.” She pressed the trigger on the joystick and fired several shots at Norman (missing intentionally)

“Hey! That’s not fair,” Norman yelled back through his wrist communicator. “You have to give me time to plan strategy!”

“Right. And activating the engine silencers to sneak up on me was fair?

“What are you on today? Are you high?”

“Let’s see just how well you think on your feet Norm.”

Norman spun around and started running franticly away. “Agh! Freakazoid! Freakazoid! Help! Mad girl in a hoverjet! Help,” Norman yelled as he ran.

“Bwa ha ha ha ha! Your doom is at hand,” Jessica yelled sadistically, firing another shot at Norman’s feet. “Okay. Okay. You can stop running now bro. Let’s start this right.”

“You’re evil.”

“I know. Well, what are you waiting for? Plan strategy.” Norman started running again to find a strategic location to fight from.

* * *

The two ended up playing two more sets because just as Norman predicted, Jessica lost that next set too. But she surprised him in the last set by pulling a tricky maneuver and winning. By this time it was getting late.

“Hey Norm,” Jessica spoke up.

“Hey what?”

“We should start getting back to Base Camp 3.”

“You’re right Jessie. Let’s go. Hey, it looks like it’s going to be another red night,” Norman observed as he scanned the sky. He climbed into the co-pilot’s seat of the Flier and they both headed back towards a large blip on their global locator screen. As they traveled over boulder and plain in the fading light, Jessica switched the craft to autopilot on and looked out the side window. She watched the yellow grass fly by as the wind moved it in undulating waves. She loved this beautiful planet, which had been her home for many years. The blue mountains still towered in the distance, their high peaks covered in thin wisps of cloud. Jessica couldn’t even remember when she first left Earth with her family to live here under contract with the Holocomm Mining Company where her father was overseeing the azurestone mining operations near this sector. Although she had been back to Earth several times with her father, she knew little outside Azura. She watched, as the sky became a dull red, cast by Azura’s twin red moons that came into visible range about once a week.

Soon the bright lights of the base camp mining compound and the various other smaller lights of the miner’s homesteads came into view. Base Camp 3 was rather large, the second largest on Azura. In the center stood the large building containing the mining offices, warehouses, and heavy equipment depots. The big twin power generators were located beside this building. Surrounding the main complex were the residential houses, all interconnected by wide concrete sidewalks. On the outskirts of the camp stood Base Camp 3 High School and recreational facilities.

Jessica piloted the hover jet to the McKinley home and landed beside it. The hum of the engines died away. She and Norman got out, folded the wings up, and pushed the Azura Flier into a storage shed. As they neared to door to their house, sweet vapors of roasting meat met their nostrils.

“I think Mom has supper ready right about now,” Norman observed. Jessica opened the door and let Norman and herself in. They walked into the kitchen where their mother was taking a platter out of the oven. She turned a round to meet the two teenagers with cheerful blue eyes and a wide when the two teenagers walked in.

“Ah. I’m glad you made it on time. Let me put this on the table and then we’ll be ready to eat,” she said cheerfully. Jessica and Norman unzipped and hung their jumpsuits on the hanger by the door, leaving their casual clothes underneath, and sat down at the table in the dining room. Soon their mother brought in the roast and sat down at the table with them. “Its beef roast tonight, kids.”

“Imported or replicated?” Jessica asked.

“Imported directly from Earth yesterday.”

“All right!”

“Your Dad will be a little late tonight. He’s still out surveying the new azurestone deposits that the workers found this morning.” A worried look crossed Jessica’s face.

“Well I hope he gets home soon. It look like there’s going to be another storm tonight,” she noted.

“Yes I know. It’s the third time this week. Don’t worry though, your father promised he would be home before things got ugly.” Carol McKinley decided to change the subject. “Well how did your laser tag game go today? How many sets did you play?” Jessica’s face quickly brightened up.

“Oh it was a riot,” she answered with a big grin. “Norman lost.”

“Once,” Norman stated emphatically.

“Okay, I’ll admit it. I lost twice.

“That’s more like it.”

“But I let him win the first time.”

“Sheesh! You’re evil sis!”

“I know.” The family talked a while longer until there was a knock at the door.

“I believe that’s your father, kids,” said Carol as she got up to answer the door. She opened it and a tall man with a buzzed haircut like Norman's and refined, black mustache with several gray streaks in it, wearing brown pants a white shirt, and a black Holocomm coat with an ID tag pinned on it that read “Peter McKinley - District Manager” stepped in.

“Hmm… Something tells me I’m home,” he announced with a smile, looking around the room.

“That’s funny. We came to the same conclusion,” replied Carol, walking over to and hugging her husband with a certain amount of flourish.

“What’s up Dad,” Norman called from the table.

“Hi Dad,” echoed Jessica. “Did you make Holocomm any richer today?”

“Sure did,” answered Peter. It’s a big one all right. Looks like that azurestone vein runs through the entire mountain. The company will be glad to hear this.” Carol got right down to business. “Why don’t you join us for supper?”

“I think I will.” The now complete family sat down at the table again. They all joined hands and said grace over their meal, and proceeded to dig in.

“Another freighter should be arriving from earth tomorrow to empty our azurestone stockpiles,” Peter started up as he lifted a fork full of green beans to his mouth.” It’s about time too. We’ll need the storage space for all this new stone that we’re going to mine. How is that report coming Jessica? About the civilized history of Azura?”

“Oh it’s going fine-Agh! I just remembered that it’s Monday tomorrow! Do I have to go to school tomorrow?

“No, Not at all. You don’t really have to go to school till next month. Just tell me when you need help on your ten tons of make up homework.” Jessica got the point. She sighed and continued to eat. Suddenly a loud crack was heard outside followed by a sizzling sound. They all knew what it was. The dreaded Azuran ion storm had begun.

“I hope they raise the force field soon,” said Peter. Presently there sounded a faint hum and a blue dome began to materialize over the entire compound. “We must be of like mind.”

“Can I be excused?” Jessica asked.

“Sure honey go ahead,” Peter replied. Jessica got up from the table and walked down the hallway to her room.

“Computer? Music. Softly,” she said as she stepped into the room. Soft rock music began to play quietly in the background. The walls were painted the azure blue color of azurestone. Her bed stood in the middle of the room against the left wall with its foot towards the right wall. A window spanned the length of the left wall. On the left side of the bed was a table with a lamp with a blue tinted shade along with a small azurestone ornament and on the right side of the bed was her personal Computer Input Console and view screen. At the foot of her bed, against the wall, there was a large closet and dresser with a collection of books lined up along the top of each. The dresser also contained a fold out desk. On the side of the room directly in front of her was the door to a bathroom. The ceiling was bordered all the way around by a string of small yellow lights. Jessica proceeded over to her book collection and began to look through them. She flipped all the books one way and then the other and then back again.

“Computer,” she finally growled in exasperation. Locate ‘Edward of Algevar’!”

“EDWARD OF ALGEVAR IS ON YOUR DRESSER JESSICA,” replied the computer in a stilted voice. Jessica look down and stared at Edward of Algevar which glaring rudely back at her.

“Oh,” she said sheepishly and then wondered why she was getting embarrassed in front of a computer. “Oh shut up computer”, she said, taking the book and lying down on her bed.

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND: ‘OH SHUT UP’.”

“That’s the truth. Computer, activate personal assistant unit LD98-44.” In the corner of her room, a large white disk shaped droid lit up with green and red flashing lights and hovered up in front of Jessica with a soft whirr. “Hello Forty-four. Are your power cells fully recharged? The robot responded, “Yes, thank you. You will find that I am fully functional and ready to follow your orders, Jessica.” Jessica smiled at this super- intelligent machine, which was also her very good friend.

“Do I have any new messages Forty-four?” A screen popped up on the top of Forty-four and displayed a list of information.

“Yes. You have two new messages. One is from Josie on Idonia and the other one is from… uh. Norman.”

“What? Read the one from Norman first.”

“Norman says: ‘Hello from the other side of the hall. Don’t forget to take a shower tonight ‘cuz you don’t smell that nice.’”

“Thanks Norman,” said Jessica, rolling her eyes. “Send message to Norman: ‘Take your own advice, Norm.”

“Sent. Receiving new message. It says: ‘I already have, Jessie.’”

“Send message: ‘I believe you need another one. I can still smell you from all the way over here.’”

“How is it that I always get caught in the middle of your bantering?”

“Because you’re the personal assistant unit.”

“Oh, I see. And you’re a human who can’t hover on her own or communicate over vast distances instantaneously or stay home while your friend has to go to school.”

“Okay Forty-four. I already got the runaround from my Dad. Let me read the one from Josie now. Don’t look at it, though.”

“Why? I already know what it says anyway. It’s stored in my memory banks.”

“Oh yes, I forgot about that. Okay, present the message.” Jessica sat up and scooted up to the screen to read the message. “Hmm… Josie wants to know more about Azura. She says that it sounds pretty different than her planet of Idonia so far.” Jessica finished reading the message and the she got up to take Norman’s advice. After she had finished, she lay down on her bed and began to read her book.

She looked out the large window above her head. She watched as the ion charges flashed and glanced off the protective force field. Even these things of danger and destruction were beautiful to her. She could see all that power raging outside and stay safe in the knowledge that it could not harm her. Jessica continued to read for about an hour and then was ready to hit the sack. She looked at the azurestone ornament on her bedside table. The stone put off a constant blue glow. She’d heard that azurestone only glows when it is on Azura, especially during ion storms. Jessica then turned from the scene and lay down. “Computer, lights,” she said. The light went out and Jessica dozed off.