Chapter 1
First Chapter in my novel.
“Careful, careful! You don’t want to drop it, Vayne!”
“Yeah Boss, I know all ready.” There was a grunt from the younger man as he shifted the weight of the giant metal box in his hands. “Oof! Geez, how did Dahlin ever find this thing anyway?”
“Oi!” the older man shouted, “You almost made me drop this thing!”
“Sorry!” Vayne called out sheepishly. “Anyway, you never answered my question Boss. This thing was buried pretty deep here.” One blue eye scanned the pit they were in while the other silver one took in the sand slowly sliding down the sides. “We’d better hurry up, sand’s starting to cave in.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the Boss grumbled, “of course I know. Don’t forget who it was that taught you all you know about this job, brat.” At Vayne’s indignant look he hurriedly continued, “And Dahlin found this by way of sandstorm.”
“Eh?” Vayne raised an eyebrow.
“Got caught in a sandstorm on her way back from the last trip to Miel.” As the two men slowly started going up the ramp the Boss wheezed out, “She barely survived as it is. If it weren’t for her enhancements she probably wouldn’t have made it. Anyway, she said when the storm blew over the corner of this was sticking out of the sand.”
Vayne grunted as gravity shunted most of the box’s weight onto him. “Sure could use her freaky strength now.”
“Stop complaining, I want to hurry up and get back to the shop so I can find out what this is and what it’s worth!” Slowly, the two of them made it up the ramp and out of the pit. When they finally reached level ground they slid the box onto the back of the big R-craft hovering by the pit. It sagged quite a bit under the added weight, but the round disk managed to stay floating.
“Arrgh, my back!” Vayne groaned as he leaned backwards the moment he was free to do so, stretching out his spinal column. There were a few pops as he cracked it.
The Boss snorted in exasperation at Vayne’s dramatization of the whole thing, climbing up next to the box and heading towards the control podium. “Quit your whining and get up here!”
“Yeah, Boss.” Vayne mumbled sarcastically. Hopping onto the R-craft, he brushed the jagged strands of black hair from his eyes, wishing his hair were just a little bit longer so he could tie it up in the heat. “Want me to check this out first?”
“If you really want, not like it’s going to make much of a difference. We can’t open it up here.”
Vayne laughed and tapped the metal markings on his left temple, making the silver eye next to it glow. “You know you’re just dying to know what’s inside…what the-!?!”
“What? What is it?” the older man asked anxiously, carefully steering the R-craft around the various giant rock structures surrounding the area. As soon as he got past those he switched to auto pilot and joined Vayne in the back.
"I can't get a viewing on this thing!"
The older man frowned and ran a hand over the metal box. "You can't see through this thing? Sure it's not your eye malfunctioning?"
"I'm sure," Vayne answered, tapping on other markings to change the settings of his eye. "I can see through the R-craft just fine. By the way, it looks like you're going to have to replace the f5 bolt of this thing soon, it's starting to wear away."
"Damn," the Boss swore, "this thing had better bring in some money then, those bolts are expensive. You sure you can't see through this? How the hell can that be possible? I thought you Silver-Eyes could see through anything inanimate."
Vayne's eyebrows furrowed and he tugged on one of the two longer locks of hair that framed his face on either side at the front, something he did as a habit when he was thinking. "We can, or we should...but there have been rumors..."
"Rumors?"
"Vivorium," Vayne breathed out, awed. "They say the eye can't see through vivorium because its structure is similar to that of living things. I can't say for sure because I've never even been near vivorium but...if this thing is made of vivorium..."
"We've hit the jackpot!" the Boss crowed, slapping Vayne on the back. "That daughter of mine, got the sense of a true scrapper, I say!"
Vayne nodded absently, his eyes narrowed. "But still, why would there be a huge box of this in the middle of nowhere?"
"Boy," the Boss said gravely, his eyes serious, "you have no idea what you'll find as a scrapper. The Last War left devastation in its wake, whole cities destroyed, towns obliterated. There are hundreds, even thousands, of ruins out there. Most have been buried or scattered by 500 years worth of wind and sand."
Sighing, he took out a rett, reminiscent of the ancient cigarette but without nearly the same amount of harmful side effects. Breaking off the end, the Boss inhaled deeply before continuing, "The Blackout century didn't help. Lots of stuff was lost or forgotten during that time. Guess humanity was just struggling to get back on its feet after the war. Only in the last few centuries have we been able to emerge and do something besides just surviving. But so much technology had all ready been lost. Everything we know now is just what we've managed to figure out from what's been left behind in the Last Cities. You should know, you're from one, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Vayne scowled, "Miel. Not that I had much of a chance to play around with the higher tech. Don't know about humanity as a whole, but I was just trying to get by."
The Boss laughed. "You did pretty well, got yourself here didn't you? That's something. And you chose the best profession there is! We scrappers are a major reason why technology has advanced so rapidly. Without our finds to study lots of the stuff you see today wouldn't have been possible. Remember that; don't let anyone look down on you because you're a scrapper. Take pride in what you do, Boy. Ah look, we're back." With that, he ambled over to the control panel, talking to Dahlin via the com, getting ready to land.
"Yeah," Vayne murmured softly, his hand drifting up to his left eye. Absently tapping the silver markings to turn off its higher functions, Vayne said, "I will; I do."
“Careful, careful! You don’t want to drop it, Vayne!”
“Yeah Boss, I know all ready.” There was a grunt from the younger man as he shifted the weight of the giant metal box in his hands. “Oof! Geez, how did Dahlin ever find this thing anyway?”
“Oi!” the older man shouted, “You almost made me drop this thing!”
“Sorry!” Vayne called out sheepishly. “Anyway, you never answered my question Boss. This thing was buried pretty deep here.” One blue eye scanned the pit they were in while the other silver one took in the sand slowly sliding down the sides. “We’d better hurry up, sand’s starting to cave in.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the Boss grumbled, “of course I know. Don’t forget who it was that taught you all you know about this job, brat.” At Vayne’s indignant look he hurriedly continued, “And Dahlin found this by way of sandstorm.”
“Eh?” Vayne raised an eyebrow.
“Got caught in a sandstorm on her way back from the last trip to Miel.” As the two men slowly started going up the ramp the Boss wheezed out, “She barely survived as it is. If it weren’t for her enhancements she probably wouldn’t have made it. Anyway, she said when the storm blew over the corner of this was sticking out of the sand.”
Vayne grunted as gravity shunted most of the box’s weight onto him. “Sure could use her freaky strength now.”
“Stop complaining, I want to hurry up and get back to the shop so I can find out what this is and what it’s worth!” Slowly, the two of them made it up the ramp and out of the pit. When they finally reached level ground they slid the box onto the back of the big R-craft hovering by the pit. It sagged quite a bit under the added weight, but the round disk managed to stay floating.
“Arrgh, my back!” Vayne groaned as he leaned backwards the moment he was free to do so, stretching out his spinal column. There were a few pops as he cracked it.
The Boss snorted in exasperation at Vayne’s dramatization of the whole thing, climbing up next to the box and heading towards the control podium. “Quit your whining and get up here!”
“Yeah, Boss.” Vayne mumbled sarcastically. Hopping onto the R-craft, he brushed the jagged strands of black hair from his eyes, wishing his hair were just a little bit longer so he could tie it up in the heat. “Want me to check this out first?”
“If you really want, not like it’s going to make much of a difference. We can’t open it up here.”
Vayne laughed and tapped the metal markings on his left temple, making the silver eye next to it glow. “You know you’re just dying to know what’s inside…what the-!?!”
“What? What is it?” the older man asked anxiously, carefully steering the R-craft around the various giant rock structures surrounding the area. As soon as he got past those he switched to auto pilot and joined Vayne in the back.
"I can't get a viewing on this thing!"
The older man frowned and ran a hand over the metal box. "You can't see through this thing? Sure it's not your eye malfunctioning?"
"I'm sure," Vayne answered, tapping on other markings to change the settings of his eye. "I can see through the R-craft just fine. By the way, it looks like you're going to have to replace the f5 bolt of this thing soon, it's starting to wear away."
"Damn," the Boss swore, "this thing had better bring in some money then, those bolts are expensive. You sure you can't see through this? How the hell can that be possible? I thought you Silver-Eyes could see through anything inanimate."
Vayne's eyebrows furrowed and he tugged on one of the two longer locks of hair that framed his face on either side at the front, something he did as a habit when he was thinking. "We can, or we should...but there have been rumors..."
"Rumors?"
"Vivorium," Vayne breathed out, awed. "They say the eye can't see through vivorium because its structure is similar to that of living things. I can't say for sure because I've never even been near vivorium but...if this thing is made of vivorium..."
"We've hit the jackpot!" the Boss crowed, slapping Vayne on the back. "That daughter of mine, got the sense of a true scrapper, I say!"
Vayne nodded absently, his eyes narrowed. "But still, why would there be a huge box of this in the middle of nowhere?"
"Boy," the Boss said gravely, his eyes serious, "you have no idea what you'll find as a scrapper. The Last War left devastation in its wake, whole cities destroyed, towns obliterated. There are hundreds, even thousands, of ruins out there. Most have been buried or scattered by 500 years worth of wind and sand."
Sighing, he took out a rett, reminiscent of the ancient cigarette but without nearly the same amount of harmful side effects. Breaking off the end, the Boss inhaled deeply before continuing, "The Blackout century didn't help. Lots of stuff was lost or forgotten during that time. Guess humanity was just struggling to get back on its feet after the war. Only in the last few centuries have we been able to emerge and do something besides just surviving. But so much technology had all ready been lost. Everything we know now is just what we've managed to figure out from what's been left behind in the Last Cities. You should know, you're from one, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Vayne scowled, "Miel. Not that I had much of a chance to play around with the higher tech. Don't know about humanity as a whole, but I was just trying to get by."
The Boss laughed. "You did pretty well, got yourself here didn't you? That's something. And you chose the best profession there is! We scrappers are a major reason why technology has advanced so rapidly. Without our finds to study lots of the stuff you see today wouldn't have been possible. Remember that; don't let anyone look down on you because you're a scrapper. Take pride in what you do, Boy. Ah look, we're back." With that, he ambled over to the control panel, talking to Dahlin via the com, getting ready to land.
"Yeah," Vayne murmured softly, his hand drifting up to his left eye. Absently tapping the silver markings to turn off its higher functions, Vayne said, "I will; I do."