random excerpts from

the Runner

by Peter J. Ponzo

About a future world threatened by a time-space anomaly that eats galaxies.

The hero is a black youth, Runr, found living alone on a strange planet. He grows to become the keeper of the Afrian people and, together with his unruly brat daughter, possesses the power to divert the star-eater.

PROLOGUE

The way of the galaxy can now be seen, it runs to here from where we've been.
And all the stars shall wink their last when here is now and now is past.
Carmichael, A.D. 2207


            Runr stood at the peak of the mountain, bare feet firmly planted in the hard crusted snow, green eyes gazing at the dark sky now punctuated by points of light. The wind shrieked up the slope, his blue robe billowed and his hair rose in a wild tangle - but he felt none of the cold of the mountain. One by one he watched the stars wink then vanish until the void of space was a black sheet without light. Then came the glow, first faint then growing in luminosity like a cosmic maw that slowly opened in the night sky to reveal a bright red throat filled with stars.
            It was devouring galaxies.
            The ground shivered beneath his feet as the mouth descended. He alone might save Afria. He raised his hands and began to sing, the rising and falling song of the crystals. Flashes of phonarite blue reached up from the mountain, spears of light rising to meet the opening jaws of space. He heard the echo of his song as though the galaxy had joined him in chorus. At the base of the mountain his people stood, the Afrians, silent but for a murmur. Then the jaws engulfed him and he was falling, up, into the hole filled with stars. The jaws closed and all was dark and he knew that he had failed.
            Yet, from a distance, he heard once more the echo of his song and saw the slim figure of a girl in the blackness. Aura. She could save Afria, but she smiled, that enigmatic and disdainful smile, then sang, then was gone.
            Runr awoke, shivering. Tawna stood by his bed.
            "Keeper, you have dreamed," his mate said quietly. "Is it of the evil which comes?"
            Runr sat up and stared without expression at his daughter, Aura, who leaned against the wall, smiling. After a time he spoke to Tawna.
            "It comes - and will devour us."
            He looked again at Aura for some sign of understanding, of compassion, but the tall black youth was silent, her face bearing still the thin smile, her eyes flashing green in the dimly lit room, her rust-colored hair falling in random curl across her shoulders.
            The keeper slid out of bed, drew the blue robe over his head, stared once more at his daughter.
            "Do you know of this thing that comes?" he asked. "Do you see it in your dreams, as I do?"
            "I do not dream," Aura said, still smiling. After a pause she added, with a note of contempt, "... keeper." Aura turned and left, without another word.
            "Do not grieve my keeper," murmured Tawna. "Our daughter is young, but one day -"
            Runr waved his hand and fell back onto the bed, closing his eyes, and Tawna backed slowly from the room. The keeper began again to dream, not of the star-eater, but of his youth, the beast, C-phon3 and the halcyon days of tranquility.

PART FOUR

CHAPTER 1
Earth Plot


            The picture window was at least twenty feet wide and as high as a man. Through it one could see a forest, green, almost blue. The trees were mostly white pine and the floor of the forest was covered in a golden carpet of needles. One could hear the blue jays' noisy chatter and the sweet and mysterious song of mourning doves. Although the forest was just beyond the window and occupied almost the entire panorama, a clear patch of sky was barely visible above the trees. A red tailed hawk, wings wide and stiff, wheeled lazy circles.
            Jacob Cruder gazed out the window for a long time. The forest was too close, too confining. He reached for the plastic cube by his side and punched 039. The scene slowly faded and was replaced by a hill of wild flowers running down to a sandy shore. The sea, azure with occasional patches of deep blue, rolled onto the beach. Listening carefully, Jacob could hear the murmur of the sea and the cries of the gulls which circled endlessly above the shore. He leaned forward. He had never noticed the mountains on the horizon, faded mauve, topped in clean white snow. He must look for that again, the next time he chose 039.
            He stared at the cube in his hand. Old Earth Inc. Scenes from the Past it said in gold letters on the black shiny surface. The door chimed and he punched 000, rose wearily from his comfortable seat and headed toward the door. Behind him the ocean scene vanished. Text appeared momentarily: Old Earth Scenes discontinued. The scene was replaced by a window, opening onto a dark swamp, overgrown with grey moss and filled with black and rotting logs.


            Deep in space, beyond the Phrinene sector and moving slowly by stellar reckoning, the spacial anomaly had stabilized. It had taken centuries to reach this configuration, but now the gravitational vortex had clearly established a physical connection between parallel subspaces, like a tear between sheets into which could fall all things material that existed in galaxy space. And things did fall: first stellar dust, then errant asteroids, and now ... stars. The precursors which radiated from the spacial whirpool flickered, tentatively touching an asteroid, a planet, a star - guiding the vortex.
            And it devoured them .

PART SEVEN

CHAPTER 3
Precursor


            Both transworld vessels were now in orbit about Afria. The black hole could be clearly seen, covering nearly a third of the night sky. About its periphery, stars winked then vanished as the star-eater approached. Sal muttered, " ... and all the stars shall wink their last when here is now and now is past."
            Kevn and Gry stood quietly, in L-47, then the android spoke.
            "Master Kevn," TOM said, "there is the remote possibility that the star-eater may be diverted, away from these coordinates. The trajectory is a function of the local gravitational fields generated by massive objects; a geodesic in the space-time continuum, including the effects of the nearest subspaces. A temporal variation in local mass density would have some influence on the projected path and -"
            "If we give it something to follow," interrupted LIZ, "it will follow. Isn't that what you mean TOM?"
            "Exactly!" said TOM triumphantly. "If we hold up a carrot, it will move to ingest the carrot."
            "A stellar carrot I presume," said Kevn.
            "Precisely, master Kevn," said TOM.
            "And where will we find a star to toss in its path?" moaned Sal. "And just how will we tow this star to a favorable location, a location far from Afria?"
            There were several minutes of silence before a voice was heard over the comlink with L-13.
            "May I make a suggestion, please?" It was TIM, the android aboard L-13. He spoke softly, nervous, his voice quivering slightly.
            "Please do!" cried TOM with evident pleasure. Then TOM turned to Kevn. "Would that meet with your approval?"
            Kevn smiled and nodded, recognizing TIM's bashfulness, a strange characteristic for an android.
            "Go ahead TIM," said TOM. "We're all ears!"
            "I beg your pardon?" said TIM hesitantly.
            "Please give us your suggestion," said TOM. "We are listening."
            "Well," began TIM, "I believe that the disturbances which precede the gravitational anomaly -"
            "We call it the star-eater," said TOM.
            "Yes, quite so, the star-eater. Well, the disturbances which precede the star-eater ..." continued TIM.
            "We call them precursors," said TOM with some pride.
            "Yes, precursors. I believe that the precursors sense the presence of massive objects and guide the ... the star-eater. If I may speculate, the appropriate response would be to have the precursor ingest a massive object. It would not require a stellar mass ingestion but -"
            "Feed it a planet!" cried TOM. "Isn't that what you mean, TIM? Don't wait for the star-eater to eat the Afrian sun. Instead, feed the precursor a planet!"
            They all stood quietly for a while, thinking ...

WEED (unfinished)   and   Sharlain   and   Runner   and   Pink   and   Willow   and   Digger