Vol 4 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Departure

There was a blue planet with a very large moon

90 percent of the planet was covered in water, and the poles were covered in ice

There was an oval, potato-shaped continent in the northern hemisphere of that planet

The southern part of the continent was a brown desert But as the latitude increased, the land exploded in a splash of green

There was a inning at the desert The mountains, capped with snow even in the middle of summer, ended abruptly about halfway up the continent The two rivers on either side of thethe ht north and into the sea

There were two nations on the continent, one on either side

In the east was the Roxcheanuk Confederation, also known as Roxche It was made up of 16 countries and territories

In the ere the Allied Kingdoms of Bezel-Iltoa, also known as Sou Be-Il It waswith a handful of small subordinate countries

For eons, the people of the East and West had warred against one another with the Lutoni River between them

In ed alliances, and Roxche and Sou Be-Il were formed almost simultaneously What folloas a cold war, one massive war, and many smaller conflicts

But about 20 years ago, the cold as ended by a certain incident

The threat of another Great War was beginning to fade

The capital of Roxche was the Special Capital District, a region independent of any country within the confederation

It was on the northeastern end of Roxche, very far from the East-West border but also a fair distance from the sea

The Special Capital District was a circular area about 30 kilometers in diameter It had been built when Roxche was first formed

The city center was home to the presidential residence, the Confederation assembly Hall, civic centers, and courthouses Outside the center was a business district croith department stores and hotels Further outside was a residential district full of aparts

And on the outskirts of the Capital District, in the 9 o’clock direction, was Capital West Station

It was one of the city’s three train stations, and also the largest owing to the fact that more of the continent sprawled out to the west

The station boasted alot next to the lass dome The dome covered over ten platforms, and about 20 sets of tracks split off to the west

Just through thelobby

The floor was tiled, and overhead was the great glass dome

Across from the doors was a line of ticket s; to the left, a restaurant, and to the right a pendulu the massive pendulum, which could probably kill a man if it fell

There was a smallcut into the face of the clock, which displayed the 8-day lunar cycle The display showed a s that the full moon had just passed

Benches were arranged under the pendulum clock There was also a stone monument inscribed with the words ‘Capital West Station Rendezvous Square’

It was 9:45 in the

The rush hour crowds had cleared out, e trains floated over from the platforms

The bright sulass dome, but the wind from the wide-open doors kept the station cool

Seron Maxwell sat alone on a five-seater bench, reading a book

Seron was 15 years old, and of average height He was slender in build, and his long ars made him seem even slimmer

His slightly long hair was a shi+ny black His eyes were grey

Seron wore beige pants and a white button-down shi+rt, along with a light black summer jacket

On his left wrist was a simple but expensive watch Next to him was his favorite leather suitcase

As Seron turned the page without a word, a boy with blond hair approached He wore light brown cargo pants and a green T-shi+rt The boy was short, but he had a muscular build

There was a thin metal chain around his neck—it was not a necklace, but a

Seron did not notice the boy

The boy—Larry Hepburn—waited one minute, until it was 9:46

“Hey Seron! How’re you doing?”

There were lines of people waiting for taxis, busesout, and several ordinary cars at the intersection in front of the station

Most of the cars were s them was a limousine

It clearly stood head-and-shoulders above the others The li as a truck and wide to boot Its white exterior made it seem difficult to approach

Larry, and Seron—carrying his suitcase—stepped out of the station and approached the car

“We don’t need to wait for the others, Larry?”

“Nah We all ether, and I ran into Nick just noe were both getting off our cars Jenny aving at us e got here You were the only one left, so I went to get you”

“I see Is that it over there? The big limousine?”

“Yeah Megotta hand it to Jenny’s folks This baby’s a top-grade Jones Motors limousine It’s worth about 10 years of a normal person’s salary” Larry raved

The back seats were configured so that six people could sit in rows of three, facing one another The ere sh from the outside

At the back of the car was a trunk large enough to fit everyone’s luggage, as well as a spare tire

It was practically tradition in Roxche for cars to rub bu with such an expensive car The other cars at the intersection gave the limousine a wide berth

Next to the car stood a uard

He was in his forties and had short brown hair The man wore a black suit, and was tall and well-built With honed eyes he scanned his surroundings

When Larry and Seron approached, he bowed courteously

“This here’s Seron Maxwell” Larry said to the bodyguard “He’s the last newspaper club uard Mr Edward Kurtz”

Seron greeted Kurtz

Kurtz replied with a bow and a hand over his chest “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask”

Kurtz first asked if Seron needed to take out anything from his suitcase for the trip, then received the suitcase Then he opened the door for Seron and Larry and placed a hand at the top of the frame so they would not hit their heads on the way in

Seron thanked Kurtz and moved—

“Wait, I’ his way ahead

“Huh?”

Furrowing his brow, Seron followed Larry inside

Thanks to the slass, it was dark inside the car It took some time for Seron’s eyes to adjust He took a seat next to Larry, at the rightreeted him in turn

“Goodquite well”

The first voice ca hair sitting at the leftmost seat that faced forward

It was Nicholas Browning—Nick—who had fair skin and a slender build He had silky back-length hair and cool green eyes As usual, he was easy to irl Today, he was dressed in a sie pants

“What took you? New rule: the last one to arrive has to work harder than the rest at the camp President’s orders”

The angry second voice ca backwards, across from Nick

It was Jenny Jones, the petite girl with light brown eyes and short red hair She was the president of the newspaper club and the daughter of the president of Jones Motors Today she was dressed co-sleeved shi+rt and a pair of shorts

“Welcoot here on tiirl next to Jenny

It was Natalia Steinbeck, slender and tall with her hair neatly pinned up She was Larry’s childhood friend, and the daughter of the world-renowned Steinbeck musician couple Larry called her ‘Lia’, and the other members called her ‘Nat’ Today she wore skinny jeans and a white summer sweater

And finally—

“Good , Seron It has been a while How are you?”

Next to Natalia, at the rightht across frotailed girl

Her black hair was tied into pigtails with ribbons She had fair skin and dark eyes, and—though she did not look it—was a year older than the other cluba yellow cotton dress

The first thing Seron sahen his vision finally adjusted to the dark was Meg’s dark eyes, looking straight into his The sirl he loved most, which he saw for the first time in 17 days

Seron thanked Larry profusely in silence as he responded blankly and cooly, no different from any other day

“Good ”

After placing Seron’s suitcase in the trunk, Kurtz walked around to the driver’s seat on the left side of the car

Though Seron could not see, behind Meg—in the passenger seat beside the driver—sat a second bodyguard A woman in her late twenties with short black hair, dressed neatly in a pantsuit

There was acut into the pane of slass that separated the back of the car from the front

Kurtz opened theand advised everyone to put on their seat belts, as they would be departing

Seron and the others put on their 3-point seat belts and sat back in the comfortable leather seats

Kurtz asked Jenny if they were ready Jenny allowed him to set off

The lian to move

They left the intersection and slowly hfare

Lining either side of the street were endless rows of departlass passed by them

“All right The 3305 newspaper club summer camp is officially in session This camp will run until we’ve come back safe and sound to the Capital District Prepare yourselves for soonna let any of you drop out, got it? Re a battle In fact, it is a battle And there’s no justice in battle, did you know that? It doesn’ta total psycho for a story—until he goes to jail, he’s simply a subject for you to cover! If you have time to cry, put down your handkerchief and snap a photo instead!”

“Sure, chief We all know” Natalia said lazily and turned her gaze to Seron She pointed at the two large paper bags under her feet “Want soot snacks and fruit—loads for the trip There’s juice and tea too if you want”

“Not right now, thank you —Jenny, thank you for providing the car and the accoravity

“Well, well! You get fresh sheets and a crisp new ardens or the shed” Jenny grinned The others—Natalia, Meg, Nick, and Larry—quickly jumped in

“Thanks for everything, chief! I’ in your honor and give you a live performance”

“Then I will sing this song Nat made I am too thankful to thank more, Jenny Thank you”

“Truly, you are the epitoenerosity, Jenny Has there ever been such an honorable leader in history?”

“Nope None at all I’reat commander”

Seron’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked around at the others, ere clearly enjoying themselves too much

“Too bad Looks like everyone’s gonna get a bed” Jenny admitted At that er street, which had a tram lane down the middle

Seron spotted the street sign, then And he looked around

Then his eyes fell on so to his left

“Sarcey Avenue, huh…” He mumbled, awestruck Larry nodded

“We’re gonna be invited to the wedding, right?”

“I’ day” Nick chimed in

“The wedding?” Meg wondered, tilting her head

“Over there, Meg on the left side of the limousine

Meg leaned forward and looked to her right Not noticing the blank panic rising to Seron’s face as she drew near, Meg scrutinized the building and scanned the sign next to it

“Ah! Yes! Of course yes! We all will be invited to the wedding! We certainly are!”

As Meg trilled excitedly, the lin labeled ‘Ulericks Real Estate’

Afterwards, the club members talked about their summer break so far

Seron infor at his home in Weld He also added that he was almost finished with his homework

Larry had gone to his fa, boating, , and obviously did not touch his homework

Meg had met her friend Lillianne Schultz, and had attended a party with other Westerners where she met the fat colonel who quietly thanked her for her help with the Murdoch incident

Natalia had lazed around at houitar, not the violin

Nick had relaxed at ho teased by his sisters as usual He had finished his homework

Finally, Jenny had been hard at work rebuilding the newspaper club

“What were you working on?” Asked Larry

“Stuff” Jenny replied

The limousine left the perfectly planned roads of the Capital District and entered the Republic of Daurade, a member state of the Roxcheanuk Confederation

For soh a suburb inhabited mostly by people who commuted to the Capital District for work

There was more land available outside the Capital District, so the apartave way to detached houses It was orderly to the point of being boring because the district had been planned meticulously from the bottom up

Soon, the street led to an interchange—they were approaching the autobahn, which was the highway that connected the cities of Roxche

The lie rahway that made excellent use of the flatlands of Roxche

Like an airstrip, the asphalt continued endlessly into the horizon in the distance

The li Trees on the side of the road, which had been planted to protect against the wind, seemed to fly past

Soon the suburbs gave way to nothing but endless green plains

Farmlands that provided produce to the Capital District stretched on to the horizon

“Ah, we’re on the autobahn” Natalia said suddenly “That means it’s time to bust out the snacks”

“What’s the autobahn got to do with snacks? Explain in 100 words or less, Lia” Larry demanded

“‘Don’t sweat the details, shortie’ I’onna run out of words here” Natalia replied

That hen Meg threw out a question

“In Roxchean, the road for cars only is called an autobahn? Then… what country’s language is the autobahn?”

The answer came, not from Larry the machine-lover, but from Nick the history buff

“It coe, once used in the nation of Casna at the easternmost tip of Roxche The word ‘autobahn’ si of Roxche, but the Confederation Minister of Transportation who planned the autobahn came up with the name ‘autobahn’—perhaps because he was from Casna, or perhaps because he wanted to show off Or perhaps both There were other suggestions for the name, such as ‘Transnational Freeway’, ‘Roxche Arterial Expressway’, ‘Confederation Defense Highway’, and ‘High-speed Freeway’ But well, they siant in its simplicity”

“I understand” Meg gasped Natalia nodded

“I’ve been a Roxchean all my life, but I never knew any of that”

“Let me explain a little more about the autobahn, then” Nick said “As Roxche is composed mostly of flatlands, canals have always been the primary method of transportation From prehistory to now, Roxche has been crisscrossed by canals This is where the saying, ‘Roxche must be crossed by shi+p’ comes from But eventually, automobiles were invented and trucks and cars cahways for ease of long-distance travel However, this caused souess what they were?”

A moment of silence followed the pop quiz

But Seron finally answered

“The canals got in the way”

“Indeed I expected no less fro built had to cross the canals at points along the construction, whichbridges over thee shi+ps, which h that such shi+ps’ h underneath Ah, speak of the devil Look over there—”

Nick pointed out theon the right

Outside was a wide canal that intersected with the autobahn

It was lined on either side with concrete, which had been shaped into a park and a bicycle trail A large freighter slowlysmall ripples on the calm surface

The autobahn cli over at quite a height before descending to the ground again

The lirew louder as they approached the climb

“Technically, we’re not crossing a canal but the Leine River The Leine and Tarès Rivers are two of the most important rivers in the East, as they supply freshwater to the Capital District The Leine flows directly into the North Sea, so if you were to set a small boat afloat it would eventually wind up at Port Watts” Nick explained

Larry chimed in “True, but that would take days And FYI, Port Watts is a et arrested if you wandered in”

“As you can see, wider roads call for wider bridges Should the architects avoid crossing canals whenever possible, or prioritize straight roads at the extra cost of the bridges—this hat made it so difficult to introduce the autobahn A similar problem occurred when the railroads were built, but train tracks are narrow and can be raised whenever necessary The autobahn unfortunately does not have that option There’s quite a few interesting stories about the land supply and the budget wars fought during the planning stages Supposedly there was even a shi+pping war between trucks and shi+ps”

“There are no speed limitations on this road, no? When I first heard it, it was very surprising” Meg asked

“There are sections with speed lienerally there isn’t” Seron declared

“There’s a 130 kilometer per hour limit in sections like cities, since there are a lot of interchanges And in places where they had to add a curve in the highway But there weren’t any lio as fast as you wanted anywhere But back when the autobahn was first built, the only cars that could go that fast were either sports cars or really expensive”

“If I remember correctly, there was a terrible accident on the autobahn about 19 years ago A heated debate followed, after which the speed limits were placed on certain sections” Nick chimed in Larry nodded

“So into every car around him An entire fae uproar because they were the daughter, son-in-law, and grandson of a former cabinet minister”

“I’ve seen that article before” Said Seron “In an old newspaper archive, I think Although I don’t remember the minister’s name”