Chapter Text
Soft plumes of dust drifted up from a rose-colored desk as an ancient tome fell to its surface. Like everything else in the room, the desk had been carved from stone, directly where it sat. Millions of years of geological events had crushed and shaped sand into multicolored layers, and an entire cave complex of it now held a small settlement of people on the planet Bexar. Bexar had once been a thriving planet, with multiple cities and citizens on the brink of space faring capabilities. That had been hundreds of years ago, though, and Jasper was determined to find out what went wrong.
Jasper’s dark, wavy hair was cut in the fashion of his clan, short on the sides, and longer down the middle. With the texture of his hair, though, it generally just looked like an unkempt mess. Large curious eyes quickly pored over the pages of the book he wasn’t really supposed to be looking at. It was a history of his people, written down when they were first driven underground by a people called the Wraith.
Jasper shook his head, squinting at the page he’d just turned to. “This doesn’t make sense,” he whispered to himself, trying to keep his voice from carrying in the canyon like caves his people called home. He’d gone deep, into the caves mainly used for excess storage when the Bexarans had first moved into them. It had been generations though since there’d been any excess, and they were seldom used anymore. Still, one couldn’t be too careful when breaking taboo.
“Why would they hide this from us?” he said again, this time forgetting to be quiet. He didn’t think about it, though, simply turned another page and then switched to another book. The cave was full of them at this point, some he’d been given, some he’d stolen, and some he was working on writing. He was the official History Keeper for his clan, the only thing that had kept him from getting into serious trouble so far.
Jasper sighed as a bell chimed through the sandstone. Bexaran life wasn’t easy enough for him to have the luxury of doing nothing but studying history all day. It was time for the evening planting in the various hydroponics caves and Jasper was part of the planting team. He quickly put his books back in their hiding places and made his way to the main part of the complex, hoping the shift change would be chaotic enough that no one would notice which passageway he’d come from.
When he reached the town’s central hub, scores of people were moving from corridor to corridor, either heading home or heading to work. As he’d hoped, there were way too many people for anyone to really pay attention to him or where he’d come from. He fell into step with the others going to the hydroponics caves, striking up a conversation with one of his coworkers.
The hydroponics caves were some of the largest in the complex, along with the dormitories set up for unwed adults. Rows and rows of green plants stretched as far as the eye could see, hanging from constructed lattice works. Jasper was part of team in charge of a vining plant that made sweet fruits, good for eating and drinking, and they planted in stages so that the town would have fruit most of the year. As he walked over to join his team, though, two armed guards appeared and gestured for him to join them.
Jasper swore under his breath and then gave the guards a friendly, but confused smile. “What can I do for you, gentlemen?” he asked, but he could hear the guilt in his voice.
“We need you to come with us.”
Jasper tried very hard not to look around, though he could feel his team’s eyes on him. Instead, he simply nodded and went with the two men, who quickly led him back to the central hub and down another passageway. Jasper knew exactly where they were going. It was the passage that would lead them to the governor’s office and the Council chambers. He’d seen it plenty of times before. Still, his gut was churning, and he couldn’t help but think this time was different.
They rounded a corner at the end of a narrow, protected passage, and stepped into a large chamber with carved pillars and a long table in the middle. The table was surrounded by chairs left over from a bygone era. They were soft and upholstered, something Bexarans didn’t see often anymore. The biggest surprise of the chamber, though, was its relative emptiness.
Jasper glanced around, his eyes finally settling on a tall, middle-aged woman. She was leaning against the back of one of the chairs, looking thoroughly exasperated. When her eyes locked on Jasper’s though, her features hardened, and she stood and crossed her arms.
“Governor,” Jasper said, pleasantly.
“Jasper,” she sighed.
“I imagine you’re tired of seeing me in here.”
The Governor held up her hand, silencing Jasper and startling him. He was right, this time was different. He watched as she turned to the table behind her, picking something up and then slowly turning back toward him. Jasper’s eyes widened as he saw it was one of the forbidden books he’d been studying.
Jasper held up a hand and quickly said, “I can explain.”
The Governor shook her head. “We’ve spoken to you about this, given you countless warnings, and yet you still persisted in your research.”
Jasper sighed in frustration. “Why is it so wrong to want to know why our ancestors moved into these caves?”
“Everyone knows why.”
“Yes, but only the stories we’ve been told. No one knows anything about the Wraith, not really. We don’t even know if they’re still out there. What if we could move to the surface? What if we could make...some kind of alliance with them?”
The Governor scoffed in disgust and held up her hand for him to be quiet again. “I’m sorry, Jasper, but we can’t have you spreading these ideas. They’re dangerous.”
Jasper felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. “What are you planning to do?”
“You want so badly to know about the Wraith...we’re going to let you find out.”
“You’re banishing me?” he said in disbelief.
“It’s a time honored punishment,” the Governor answered.
“That no one’s used in two generations!”
The Governor cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “You’ll be stripped of your clan.”
Jasper instinctively reached up to touch the serpent like tattoo on his shaved right temple. He shook his head in shock and took a couple of steps backward.
The Governor nodded at the guards, who took him by the arms to restrain him. “You’ll be given a shuttle and provisions.”
“Never to return, I imagine,” Jasper said, bitterness in his voice.
“That is the idea. I’m sorry, Jasper, I really am, but we warned you.”
The ancient Bexarans had been an advancing technological people before the Wraith found them and drove them underground. They’d held on to a few things though, including escape shuttles should they ever need to evacuate the planet. Hundreds of years had gone by and they’d never been used for anything other than banishments. It was in one of these old, barely functioning shuttles that Jasper found himself a day later. The Council had given him enough time to gather his things, say his goodbyes, and have his tattoo burned away, a procedure meant to inflict pain, and mark one as a traitor to their clan for life. The truth was, he was happy to be banished with that mark. Now and then, someone would offend their clan but not enough to be banished, and their lives became like living ghosts, ignored by everyone they once knew and loved.
There were very few people alive that knew anything about the technology of the shuttles, just a few techs handpicked by the Council. It had been preprogrammed with the coordinates to an uninhabited planet, away from the prying eyes of the Wraith...at least, it had been, hundreds of years ago when the Bexarans were thriving members of the Pegasus galaxy. The only thing Jasper had to do was get comfortable and enjoy the ride, as it were. He had everything he needed to start a new life, and under different circumstances, he would have been excited at the prospect.
Instead, all he could do was flinch at the increased sunlight as the shuttle emerged from the underground elevator shaft, and then stare in awe as it broke through the atmosphere and headed out into the stars. He watched for a while, scratching now and then at the healing burn on his head, but found his eyes and heart growing heavy. He tried to push away his sorrow and exhaustion, but before long, he drifted off into an uneasy slumber.
The shuttle was old, and Jasper had no idea how any of it worked, so the journey was slow. Over what felt like weeks, the shuttle plodded its way through what looked like empty space. At first, Jasper spent his time exploring the small shuttle, seeing if he could figure out its systems and figure out where he was going. Unfortunately, he quickly realized that figuring out how to get back home was probably the last thing the Council wanted. He turned to reading the books he’d been allowed to take with him and going through his supplies, trying to make a plan for his future. After a few days, though, his relative boredom began to turn to nervousness.
Jasper glanced over at the dash controls of the shuttle. After days of study, he’d finally gotten a basic idea of what the readouts meant, but he still had no idea how they worked. His gaze moved above it, to a series of scratches he’d made, trying his best to keep track of how long he’d been gone. There were five of them. He slowly scratched the sixth with a button he’d torn from his shirt. As he did so, he tried to push back the thought that maybe there was no planet, no new life. Maybe banishment simply meant being sent off to die in space.
He dug through his provisions, even though he knew exactly how much he had. He’d started rationing them as soon as it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a short flight. He had enough for at least a week, but he truly hoped it wouldn’t be that long. He sighed, crossing his arms on the dash and putting his head down on them. Tears welled up in his clear blue eyes, but he violently wiped them away. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind, but as he did so something on the dash began to beep and the shuttle change trajectory.
Jasper slowly lifted his head and looked out the shuttle’s window. A gasp fell from his lips. After days of seeing nothing but blackness and stars in the distance, something different had appeared in the distance. It was only a small dot at the moment, but he knew it was a planet. And it was quickly getting bigger. Jasper grinned and then let out a whoop of joy.