Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Four (section)

===Starry Nights===


Evening arrived.  The five Terran expatriates ascended to the higher levels of the Fang, above the atmospheric glimmer, to where the stars could be seen all day and night.  Since the Space Wolf home was built on the planet’s magnetic north pole, seasons lasted a long time here.  By the time the group arrived on the destination floor, the hour was late.

The deck was an oddity.  On a proper space station, it wouldn’t have even been considered.  That said, nobody doubted its effects.  The majority of the deck was taken up with the same machinery that kept the rest of the Fang stable: power conduits, atmospheric venting systems, void shield generators, anticoncussive field projectors, an inertial dampener and antigrav system so the people inside weren’t thrown against the walls with every step.

The rest of the deck, however, was a single, massive, open space, with two-meter thick polarized armorcrys windows stretching from deck to ceiling, and completely undarkened.  The polarizer kept the sun as a simple white/yellow disk in the distance, with no glare, but the rest of the sky was unfiltered.  Trillions of stars, galaxies, nebulae, planets, and more were visible from the room.

Freya led the group across the open floor.  Aside from a few colossal iron chairs, bolted to the deck in places, the floor was bare.  No carpets or tiling covered the metal deckplates.

“This is the Observation deck,” Freya said.  “I used to nap up here when I was a tiny kid.  When the sun was up, I’d lower the polarizer by a fraction and read by the sunlight, or tan if I wanted.  The Rout comes up here to look down on the world and see their homelands from the skies.”  She sank into one huge chair – clearly meant for Power Armor.  “Amazing, isn’t it?”

“People pay private pilots hundreds of thousands of credits to fly them up high enough to see this back home,” Remilia said.  She walked up to one edge, peering down.  “…Good thing I don’t get vertigo.”

“It’s magnificent, Freya,” Jake said.  He gingerly peered down too, and immediately backed up.  “Okay, that’s a long way down.”

“I’m going to guess that the Wolves justified this to themselves by saying they could spot hostiles or something from here, right?” Alex quipped.

Freya laughed.  “Got it in one.”

“Well, it’s an awesome view,” Alex said.

As the other four were talking, Venus slowly walked right up to the window surface.  The heat from her drew a wisp of vapor from the thin condensate on the inside of the window as she traced one obsidian finger over its surface.

“Like it, Venus?” Freya called.

She didn’t answer.  She slowly spread both hands out on the surface, staring blankly at the galaxy beyond.

“Venus?” Jake asked.

“I’m okay,” she said under her breath.

Jake walked up behind her.  “You okay?”  He hadn’t heard her.

“I’m fine, Jake,” Venus said.  “It’s…unforgettable, isn’t it?” she whispered.

Jake looked at her curiously.  “It is.”  He glanced out to follow her vision, and saw only the mass of stars beyond the sun.  “Looking for Nocturne?”

“It’s…over there,” she said, pointing indistinctly to one side.  Her eyes wandered across the ocean of multicolored dots.  “I should be recording this,” she said, pawing at her pockets for a vox or camera.

“I am pleased to see you taken by the view of our world, Lady Venus,” a deep, growling voice said from behind them.  Alex turned to see a Wolf in light grey robes moving up behind them.  The Marine had a single mass of tangled blonde hair down the middle of his back, but the tattoos on his face covered nearly all his visible skin.  “I am Konnar, Priest of the Runes.  An honor,” he said, bowing slightly.

“Likewise, sir,” Venus said, returning the gesture as the others bowed.

Freya scrambled up from her chair.  “Konnar, good to see you, Brother,” she said.

“You as well, little sister,” he said in Juvjk.  Turning back to the others, his brilliant blue eyes settled on Venus, still watching the stars out of one eye.  “It is captivating, is it not?”

“It’s magnificent.”  Venus glanced back at their host.  “What are the major constellations?”

Konnar walked up beside her.  “There, directly ahead…that large red star.  That is the highest of the Falling Stones.  Below it there, and below there…those are the others.  Our ancient kin took them to be rocks, falling down the side of the walls of the stars.”

“I see them now,” she said.  Her eyes narrowed a bit.  “And…that circle of blue stars, beside them?”

“The Waters of the Moon.  Long before man tamed the wilds, the spirits of the ancient wolves traveled to the moon to slake their thirst for water.  Finding an abundance, they sent some to Fenris, and some to the sky.”

Venus nodded in silence.  The Marine looked down at her with an odd look in his eyes.  “Your people have a story like it?” he asked.
“We do.”  She shifted her shoulders.  “When the world was colder, and the forests still grew, Kesare and Kessarghoth, the Eldest Drakes, crawled through the tunnels of the Mountain of Death.  When they went to the surface for prey, they saw a great dragon, larger than either of them, terrorizing everything in its path.  Kesare attacked the dragon in anger, for the drakes and dragons are ancient foes, but was thrown back upon the rocks.  Kessarghoth struck next, but could not bring the dragon down either.  Finally, both slid back amongst the crags, where the dragon’s fire breath could not reach them, and lured the beast forward.  When it drew too close to the top of the mountain, Kesare struck again, and held it still, while Kessarghoth lit the mountain’s heart on fire.  The molten heart of the mountain burst forth, and propelled the dragon out into the endless night, where it rests now…” she trailed off, searching the sky.  “Right…about…there,” she said, pointing at a brilliant red star.

“After that, the world was wreathed in fire from the bleeding heart of the world, and the waters turned to acid, and the forests to stone.  Kesare and Kessarghoth were hated by the stars for causing such damage to their home, and throwing the great beast into the heavens, and all the good water was taken away by the stars, never to be returned…and there it is,” she said, pointing at a dim blue star near the shining red one.