The Allotment
Kyana tossed what little belongings she had into a dilapidated, much ripped and patched bag. She wasn't sticking around waiting to be rounded up with the rest of the unlucky Allotment "winners" on Syrius 6. Death by lethal injection wasn't on her agenda today.
Syrius 6 was on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy furthest from the more affluent star systems clustered around Nova Prime. Bet they haven't had their Allottment drawings yet, Kyana thought bitterly, chances are they never will.
She stuffed the last shirt into her bag. She then rummaged through the food unit taking out packs of dehydrated vegetable stews. Assorted dried fruits and grains. All the food on Syrius 6 was dehydrated except for the Port at Mugsy's, the local Pub she frequented on the outskirts of the only mining town on the planet.
Due to the inhospitable climate, no food could be grown in the hard packed, rocky soil. Below freezing temperatures prevented any type of plant growth from flourishing. All the food was purchased from their nearest neighbor, Ferrus, using Salium as the source of trade.
Kyana added five one liter bottles of water to the bag then sealed it shut. She might need to purchase more supplies on Ferrus as her selection was limited. There was no telling what kind of climate or living conditions would be found on the solely uninhabited planet she planned to search for. According to Wils and Moss, the planet existed in the furthest corner of the Milky Way.
If the hidden planet was so secret, she wondered how Wils and Moss found out about it. More to the point, why didn't the leaders of Nova Prime inhabit it yet? Something was sketchy about the whole thing. The planet in question held a mythology that couldn't be proven. She could be going on a fruitless search but anything was better than staying here waiting to die.
The search could take years before she found the planet. If so, she would expect to use some of her hard earned fetils to purchase extra supplies before continuing on to the shipyards on the Outer Rim. From there, she would purchase a small space craft with the rest of her fetils.
Rumor had it that the planet had an abundance of vegetation and wild life. It contained large bodies of water and fertile soil in which to grow plentiful crops. No more dehydrated packs. Kyana had difficulty imagining it.
Wils even speculated that fruit trees grew in abundance. One only had to reach up and pluck the fruit off the trees. Kyana wasn't sure she believed Wils. He had an annoying habit of telling the most outlandish tales. He once told a tale of a two headed beast he fought on Prexis. He claimed it breathed fire so hot that it burned off all his body hair including his eyebrows. Of course the story was a hoax. Prexis was a water planet that contained giant sea creatures that were gentle and benevolent. Wils was drunk after all as he was nearly every night.
Kyana added a bottle of ion drops to the bag and a first aid kit. It was her Dad's. Every miner was required to carry a first aid kit down in the mines. Should a miner get hurt, there was no time to take the injured to the surface for medical attention. Mining was the name of the game on Syrius 6. Miners were easily replaceable so lives were considered of little value.
The tent she had purchased was somehow crammed into the bag. She had spent her hard earned fetils from the Salium mines on these items and she had no intention of leaving them behind. Her one regret was not having bought a larger bag to fit all her personal items and supplies. She would have to sacrifice a few items then.
Kyana hadn't wanted to draw attention to the fact that she was leaving, so her purchases had been spread out over the course of the long winter. She had to make it appear she was just acquiring supplies for her trip to the lowlands during the short growing season.
In fact, she had made it known at the Pub about the details of her fake trip. She told Wils everything about her itinerary, knowing he'd spread the news for her. She'd rather her friends thought she was going on her annual vacation rather than simply abandoning them.
Kyana winced internally. Was it abandonment? After all, they looked after her when her Dad died. They made sure she had plenty to eat, a place to sleep and ample warm clothing. Kyana was of two minds about this. On the one hand, she simply didn't want to subject them to witnessing her death. On the other hand, she hadn't wanted to leave without saying goodbye. She owed them that much.
According to the rules of the Allotment, no one was allowed to reveal their status to anyone else. Should the results of the Allotment be revealed before the proper time, the "winner" was subjected to jail time until the day of the public execution. No one was allowed to leave the planet. A celebration of sorts was going to be performed on the day of, honoring those who so bravely sacrificed their own lives so that others might live. As if the "winners" had any say in the matter.
Seven days. As soon as Syrius 6's third moon was full, the mass killing would begin. Kyana planned to be long gone before then.
Checking her bag before she sealed it, she set it down near the door for quick retrieval come morning then headed for Mugsy's for one last pint of Port. She would miss the bitter taste she knew, the kickback that landed in her throat. The numbness that dulled the ache of so much loss. Her Dad died a year and half ago. Her Mum died when she was six. If it weren't for her Dad's friends, she'd have perished long ago.
Outside the building, pedestrians of the small, but crowded mining town jammed the streets heading for their favorites pubs and late night gambling establishments. What else was there to do in winter? Syrius 6's sub-zero temperatures made life a miserable existence combated only by copious amounts of drink and the draw of doubling one's earnings. Who wanted to sit alone in their dwelling after being cooped up in the mines all day?
Mugsy's Pub was three blocks from Kyana's place. She walked quickly, dodging pedestrians going in the opposite direction. Not too many frequented her Pub. Little more than a hole in the ground, Mugsy's was dark and musty which is the way Kyana liked it. Crowded with a handful of loyal customers, Mugsy's contained a familial feeling that the newer more elite establishments had not.
The Port was cheaper, the advice free and the people entertaining. Even if Kyana heard the story of how Wils eluded Nova Prime Patrols for the thousandth time, she preferred the company of the people she had known since childhood.
Upon entering the Pub, a smoky warmth enveloped Kyana soothing her numbed fingers and toes. She paused at the threshold, allowing time for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting before settling up to the bar. Fiona, the scrappy red haired matron and owner, smiled at Kyana. "What'll you have?"
"Your best hot Port," Kyana said, placing a handful of fetils on the counter. "It's cold one out there."
"When is it not cold?" Fi teased. The fetils disappeared in short order. Friends they might be, one couldn't live on friendship alone. Not with bills to pay.
"Only on other planets." It was an old joke. Citizens of Sirius 6 had never experienced a warm day in their lives.
"You think it will thaw in time for your annual trip?" She set down a cloth napkin on top of which rested a steaming pint of Port.
"It had better or my trip will be ruined." The lie slipped out too easily. She had repeated her story so many times that she half believed this time next week, she'd be taking the Tram out to the Valley for her vacation. Guilt weighed heavily on her. Lying to the only friends she had on this miserable backward ice planet caused some sleepless nights. Knowing she wouldn't be coming to Mugsy's tomorrow night set her emotions spiraling.
She slugged back the Port in an attempt to wash away the guilt. The heat of the Port warmed her all the way down to her pinky toes which always seemed to be perpetually numb no matter the number of socks she had on.
"How's work?" Fi asked.
"Work is work. Seems we have to dig deeper into the mountain now. The vein we've tapped is running dry. I don't know what that means for the future of Syrius 6 if we can't mine enough Salium."
"I do," Moss said from down the bar. "Less Salium means less money. Less money equals less food and resources. We're Nova Prime's largest supplier. What do you think will happen when we've run out? Thousands of people out of work, slowly starving to death while Nova Prime locates another more bountiful source of Salium. One thing for certain, Premier Perra won't be digging into her own mines on Nova Prime. She wouldn't dare tear up her beautiful planet just to satisfy their energy needs."
"You're not wrong," Kyana answered. More guilt wedged into her heart at the thought of abandoning her dearest friends. If she could take them all with her, she would but she barely had enough fetils to pay for her own flight. She thought of the bag she packed, of the trip she arranged and suddenly wondered if she was making a huge mistake. Yes, she would die in six days but at least she would die among friends. Surely that was worth something.
