A Christmas Miracle on Dewdrop

Dirtball & Dewdrop

Gravesen blinked at the image on his full face display as his grip shoes offered their soft not-quite-rip sound as he strode around the bridge and ignored the duty ensign who monitored comms as the crew once again checked systems. A few new yellows in the long sleep pods and a handful of other items, none seemed serious so he'd delegated and Harris was a solid young officer and knew what reports would interest him and hold the rest. He'd never quite understood why she'd accepted this posting, 'career officer' may as well have been deservedly tattooed on her forehead but this one-way mission meant the balance of her career would be spent in this system without broad opportunities for advancement. There'd be the need for shuttles between the two planets and system exploration but otherwise?

He sighed. He was old and ready for a solid planet beneath his soon-to-be retired feet. The chrome domes claimed long sleep didn't age you. But it 'stretched' you, Gravesen was convinced. You didn't look the age, but there was something deep you felt.

"What am I looking at?"

"We don't know," said Daniel Auvray, the meteorologist who sat across from him in his display, as it was for all of them, "but it looks like---"

"Lights," said Abigail Gibson, "a grid of lights."

"It's ocean, Gibson," Auvray said quickly, "ninety percent of Dewdrop is ocean. There's a large island nearby, well, large compared to many. These 'lights' are around a number of smaller islands and reefs west of that island and it's not like phosphorescent plants are rare across settled space."

"But a grid? So that means---"

"Gibson, Auvray," Gravesen's voice was firm, "discuss it later."

He ignored the sharp inhales and a couple of laughs.

"Hanying," he continued, "probes. Quick."

"Good trajectory on both," Qiao Hanying said, "but as expected flybys to get them in-system quickly. Orbital probe around each in place in three months. True binary planet, both essentially Earth-size and nitrogen-oxygen atmospheres orbiting each other and orbiting Dazzler. Lengths of days and years close to Earth's as well. Just one thing."

An atmospheric analysis graph replaced the fuzzy lines of lights.

"Both planets have numerous volcanoes, Lohani says so far observations confirm the models from observations, tidal forces from each other," she paused and the geologist spoke.

"High levels of CO2," Devesh Lohani said, "sulfur compounds. Means we can't differentiate from industrialisation. We saw five big eruptions on Dirtball on the flyby, one on Dewdrop. Means they're likely constant. Probably earthquakes too. Building codes will need to be stringent, right Gibson?"

The engineer snorted. "Bricks won't be popular. But boats will do just fine on Dewdrop."

"Taylor," Gravesen interrupted the soft laughter, "life?"

"Abundant on both," the biologist said, "at least when it comes to plants. What land there is on Dewdrop is covered by heavy growth, nothing's large enough to have much of a rain shadow so no deserts. As for Dirtball, it's not quite 40% water so plenty of desert interiors but everything from jungles, grasslands, plains, mountains. At the speed of the flyby not much chance to determine animal life. But."

Everyone's eyes squinted as a picture fuzzy from extreme magnification appeared.

"Is that...," said Gibson but she paused and Renee Taylor continued.

"For all intents and purposes it's a herd of sauropods. We'll get good pictures once the orbital probes arrive."

"T-Rexes too?" Auvray asked with a light tone.

"Probably. At this scale even the AIs can't get much more. But a biome won't have these giants without everything between them and microbes."

"Dinosaur safaris!" Devesh Lohani blurted out cheerfully and whoops responded but ended quickly as double chimes sounded and yellow warning lights did a slow double strobe.

"There won't be anything large on the islands on Dewdrop and other than Auvray's lights we didn't see anything even on the day side view. But it'd have to be whale size and near the surface."

Gravesen broke the short silence. "No cities? No development?"

"Not at this scale, Captain, neither," Taylor said, "no cities but we'd not yet see villages, especially if they're in jungles and forests. Can't be more than villages on Dewdrop, if that. We do see 'roads' on Dirtball but it'd be a fair guess those big beasts are migratory and those are just game trails. And like Lohani said, with the volcanoes they override anything we'd detect for industrial emissions."

"So which one are we aiming for?" Daniel Auvray asked.

"We have time, Hanying says we have three months to commit to one or the other for our arrival in a year. We'll wake up the civvie colonial leaders after the burns are done and decide with them."

"Well," the astrophysicist broke in, "maybe..."

"Out with it, Hanying," Gravesen growled, "six minutes to burn."

"We might have a signal on Dirtball. The interference from the star and the gas giants means the AIs aren't certain and it was below threshold in the initial analysis, but with deeper analysis there's some sort of signal. It could be natural but it's not right frequency for lightning or other natural sources. We'll keep processing but might need to wait for the orbitals."

New chimes sounded and double red strobes showed. Multiple surprised grunts were cut short as needles buttressed the crash couches for the burn.

Strange Realms

Sirena was finally alone as she watched the horizon approach Shamu and it would disappear in less than a twentyfourth and not too long after Swegl would rise. She'd asked the boy to accompany Old Melon back to his nest, had sweetened it with a public request he guard the oldster. Any serious threat, such as sharks or orcas, were beyond unlikely in the settlement but the holiday weeks brought with them the 'cuda breeding season and people caught by a frenzied 'cuda mating ball had been killed by the always annoying but usually not deadly creatures. But it had been a thin reason and they'd both known it.

But Aisha had read her mind and asked to accompany the pair and for the boy after to also escort her and her child home, "just in case." Sirena had fought down a hooted laugh at the crinkled smile and winked eye from skin the color of Madagascar's volcanic stone. She'd noticed the just-developing swell of Aisha's abdomen, she'd create a birth song for the new arrival.

The Sister had risen beyond its place in the triangle but the spot remained dark. Old Melon had left her the crystal and she'd confirmed there was no star visible where the light had been, which confirmed denial of a supernova. But her eye also hadn't been sure it hadn't seen... something.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe it was time, her nest's song was loud. But.

"You're still here," Sirena felt the arms wrap around her shoulders and the soft voice in her ear, "not planning to sleep this night?"

Sirena put her own arms over Beatrice's. "Why aren't YOU with your beautiful little girl and that lovely hunk of yours?"

Sirena heard and at the same time felt the air of her friend's amused hoot on her neck and blonde hair bounced.

"They're asleep with the little one curled on Alphonse's chest. I won't be needed for a couple of hours, she only has eyes for her father," Beatrice said and with a last squeeze she slid to stand alongside the singer and each kept an arm around the other before she used her left hand to cup her left breast, "if it wasn't for these she wouldn't care about me at all!"

Sirena reached over and cupped Beatrice's other round milk-filled breast. "That little one can't be disappointed, these are awesome."

"Hmmf," Beatrice hooted and laughed softly and reached across her body to her friend's chest, "only now are mine anywhere near as tremendous as these wonders. And mine will be emptied before another full orbit. But yours will still be... when are you going to find a mate?"

"Not enough Alphonses," Sirena laughed and Beatrice offered a snorted hoot.

"Well, I ain't sharing," they squeezed each other and held for a moment, then two sets of eyes looked at the blank spot in the sky, "I heard it went away."

"Yeah... and it's definitely far away. Way past the Sister. But... not... not like the stars. I don't know. I'll talk more with Old Melon, he knows more about the sky than anyone. We should send messengers to the other settlements in case they saw it as well."

"Maybe it's what you told Aisha, the star in the east for Christmas."

"It is that time. Maybe the Kringle will really come this year then... and fat old Lobster won't need to dress up for Aisha's little one and the rest," both women laughed but it cut off with hard inhaled breaths.

They stared at the sky and pulled each other tighter for a moment before Sirena shook herself and loosened their clench and Sirena slid her arm from Beatrice's back. She moved her hands to the little pouch around her waist while Beatrice rubbed her back. She withdrew the crystal and raised her arm.

"Is it...," Beatrice's voice was strained.

"It's back," Sirena said as she adjusted the crystal's focus, "and... I think..."

"What? Think what?"

"I think it's moved. A... tiny bit. Maybe. Sharky and Shamu don't move relative to each other. But this has..."

"It's the Kringle," Beatrice said with forced gaiety.

"Yes," Sirena hoped her amused hoot would lighten her friend's mood, "but we probably shouldn't tell the little ones. And Lobster. Yet."

Beatrice's laugh seemed only slightly forced. "Yes. Now what?"

"I know from my songs that it shone for about a twentyfourth and it's been gone for two. I'm going to watch it. Shamu will set in less than one and I want to see if this stays or not. It will follow Shamu but not until after that. You should go, be with your family."

"No," the blonde head shook hard, "Chelonia is a very good baby, she won't want me for more than another twentyfourth. I'll stay with you."

They snuggled closer, both to offer mutual comfort and for warmth in the air that had chilled even more. Despite its color, the mystery light didn't offer any warmth.

Part Two

Lost Shiny Things

"Sirena," the voice was soft and strained, there was a moment of what might've been multiple soft voices before her name was called again, firmer, "Sirena... are you in?"

The singer's sleep-fogged brain finally recognized the voice. She sighed. But. There was something in the tone. And as her brain gained consciousness she listened more closely for a moment. Then she called out as she slowly untangled herself from her bed.

"Nigel, just a moment, please."

There were definitely two or three others with that young man and some sort of commotion. He'd started like a puppy after that Christmas concert, he'd followed her and offered assistance and to run errands for her when he wasn't working in his family's business or doing the minimum to complete his mandatory education. His wasn't a great mind but he was clever and had worked out that offering the Melons a willing gofer to fetch and chase would get him in, if not her good graces, a position where she couldn't simply keep him away.

She hooted a sigh as she gathered her hair and squeezed the lampplant and waited a moment for it to brighten before she moved to her nest's closed curtain. Whoever was with Nigel was nervous, almost frantic. She opened the curtain. The sky glowed but Swegl hadn't yet risen.

She faced two people, a man and a woman, Nigel's back mostly to her as he held a hand from each one. She guessed that was as much to keep them from fleeing as anything else. Their mouths opened as they looked at her and their eyes widened and they hooted with stress. She didn't recognize them as individuals but their colors and partially shadowed faces from the streetlights indicated they were hunters. Such people lived in the outlying reaches and travelled widely to find and catch prized prey and they normally came only to the outskirts to trade their valuable catches. To be at her door?

"Please," Sirena raised her arms in a placating gesture and hooted reassuring tones, their eyes settled slightly, "please be welcome to my nest."

Their bodies remained stiff but they stilled. Their faces revealed they knew of her and had most certainly attended concerts that she gave regularly as she travelled across the entire region, her celebrity meant she was used to being recognized by strangers. But this reaction was odd. Then again, they were at her door at an unusual hour.

"Nigel," he turned at her command, "why don't you introduce me to our guests?"

The boy's head swivelled from her to the pair then back but he didn't seem able to find his voice. The woman spared a sour glance his way then spoke.

"He is Sy and I'm Bebe, this boy," the woman's voice started shaky but firmed and she offered a simultaneous hoot to bolster her confidence and add the enhanced diminutive on her guide, Sirena fought back a smile, "has led us to you. We have..."

The male, Sy, clutched at a sharkskin pouch held in front of him. There was something in there large enough that it covered much of his abdomen.

"Sy, Bebe, welcome," Sirena said quickly to forestall more discussion and she pushed aside the curtain to her entrance, "please come inside. The hour is early and my neighbors will not appreciate us. I have coffee and cake."

She turned sideways and swept her left arm to offer guidance. She hooted soft and pleasing chords. After a shaky moment Bebe smiled and pushed past a still-frozen Nigel to enter, Sy followed. A hard look and Nigel finally entered as well. Sirena closed the curtain. She was lucky, without a mate or even the prospect of one and with no children she'd have normally been relegated to tiny quarters in one of the 'singles' districts. She'd lived in one as a newly-independent teen and they had their advantages, easy and varied hookups at your beck and call high amongst them. Most eventual matings, like her friend Beatrice's, came from such and other people simply moved from one such district to another and even across settlements well into their adulthood as they wore out their welcomes. And more than one woman had found herself a beautiful if roguish hunk and taken his sperm and cast him to the waves and wind, not that such men minded. Not all were Alphonse. Sirena had been raised in a creche formed by such women for mutual support and she'd never ruled out that path for herself.

"Please be seated," she indicated a bench that would fit her three guests and Bebe led the little parade but she stopped suddenly and Sy bumped into her with a questioning hoot. Sirena followed the woman's gaze to what the singer thought of as her 'hobby table,' common in a Melon's quarters but otherwise unusual. It was covered with trinkets, shells, even a couple of pieces of metal, rare and prized. Bebe's arm bent at the elbow and it seemed to point to the pair of crystals placed on a protective woven grass mat on the stone slab. The crystals were rare, but not vanishingly so, and Melons across all settlements searched out the raw materials and crafted them. Margarets would also have them and they would be given as valued gifts. It was not unknown for even hunter families to have acquired one, distance seeing advantageous for those who plied the open waters away from the regular routes among settlements. But Sy seemed to grip the pouch more firmly and nodded slightly as their eyes took in the crystals.

"Please," Sirena said with a firmer voice, "be seated."

They slowly roused themselves and did so. Sy's death grip on the pouch now in his lap continued. Sirena fussed and retrieved four bulbs of coffee and little treats made from a sweet kelp that only grew north of Madagascar and was seeds were jealously guarded by the locals there. If her guess was right this couple were from the opposite direction. She placed the offerings on the stone table.

"I refuse to discuss anything of importance," Sirena said with an amused but firm tone, "without my coffee in the morning. Please, help yourselves."

She sipped the inky contents of the bulb. She knew it was for the moment just the anticipation but the fog in her brain lifted a bit more. After a delay, Bebe smiled and sipped and finally Sy freed one arm from its clench and followed suit. Nigel squirmed on his seat. He's worse than the little kids in the choir, Sirena thought. But her mood lightened as Bebe's face lit up with a bite of the little cake, she nudged Sy and his reaction mirrored hers. Like her large quarters, the kelp cakes came through her celebrity and a couple such as these would not often see the like. She returned quickly to her cupboard.

"Please have more," she set another pair of little cakes in front of the couple, then tapped at her waistline, "more than I need for myself!"

Sirena smiled quickly at the stout Bebe's hoot which was a 'sure, bitch,' but more amusement than reproach. The woman and the man were both older than her and their skin showed that age but their firm muscles showed their work. Sirena's fitness regime was artificial and her curvy but smooth-skinned and balanced figure was a necessity given her need for public appearances but these two? They had the imbalances that showed hard work. This was all just... strange. She stayed silent and let them drain their bulbs and replaced them. Nigel hadn't touched anything and seemed to have become one with the stone on which he sat.

"Goodwoman Bebe, Goodman Sy," she didn't know their relationship or their village, that was Nigel's role having brought them, so she fell back on neutral politeness. Bebe's quick smile and nod and eyes that darted to the silent young man and back indicated her understanding.

"Now that our brains work," the singer continued to quick smiles from the pair, "let us discuss the reason for your visit despite my lack of proper preparation."

The place was a bit of a mess. No, quite the mess. Oh well, it would add to her reputation. In some fashion. She was glad now she'd not invited the handsome traveller she'd met at the previous evening's reception. She'd sang two numbers but had herself just returned from the northern reaches. And he'd promised he had business that would keep him around for a handspan of days while she too had a break from appointments... Ah. Life.

"Madame Sirena---," Bebe started but Sirena put her hand up with palm exposed and fingers wide, the woman stopped.

"Simply Sirena, Goodwoman," Sirena added and the woman nodded.

"Sirena, we went to this boy's father," she added the diminutive hoot again on the 'boy' and this time he seemed to notice and blinked but said nothing, "and we asked to be taken to the Old Melon. He told this son to take us as he's been helping the Melons, the father said."

Sirena smiled and nodded to that to confirm and encourage the woman to continue. Her voice carried some nervousness but wasn't shaky.

"But instead, the boy said we needed to come and see you first, he cannot speak now but he said you're more Melon than the Melons! To show what we...," her voice faltered and faded. Sirena followed Bebe's and Sy's eyes as they flashed to the pouch and back and they looked at each other. An interesting claim from the boy, actual female Melons weren't unknown, there was one in the main settlement. Plenty of women had the necessary brains but not always the manual dexterity or more, the combination of curiosity and obsession to acquire the skills and solve problems to serve the populace and there was scant memory of any becoming the New or Old Melon. But, she thought, me?

"What you found," Sirena hoped her delayed response was unsurprising and she said and Bebe nodded, Sy looked fretful, Nigel blinked again as the two women looked quickly at him, "such an honor, to come to me. But why?"