Chapter Nine
Cariad was just in time to catch the final shuttle flight to the planet surface before the beginning of the quiet shift. All the way down, she wondered what had happened to the child and man who had gone missing. Osias hadn’t replied to any comms since he’d sent her the message, but Cariad guessed he thought the disappearances had something to do with the Natural Movement and that was why he’d contacted her.
It was the first time she’d arrived at the settlement by shuttle after dark. Lights shone in a line around the shuttle field and at the landing stages, and the small town’s streets were also marked out by dim yellow solar lanterns, glowing softly with the energy they’d absorbed during the day. The only other sign of the impact of human civilization in its new home was a
