Burning Day Read online

  A day of celebration turns to horror as six engineers turn to their clan robots for a chance at planetary survival. A small chance.

  A human colony preparing to celebrate three hundred years on its new world is suddenly faced with an enemy that hearkens back to their early days on Hera.

  The giant bots that saved the colony have been dormant for nearly two centuries. During a celebration that proves the engineers have kept them ready for battle, the party turns into a race to save lives and get to the bots.

  The engineers have been responsible for the mechanical stability of the bots. They are not pilots. The pilots are in the city, two hundred kilometres away. There are six surviving bots and six engineering clans that care for them. It is up to the engineers to get the bots up and running so that they can get the right pilot for the right job. If they can get the bots moving.

  Six women, six stories, and six very different AIs giving them attitude.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Burning Day

  Copyright © 2018 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-1245-6

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  Burning Day

  Innate Wright Book 1

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Corbyn kept watch while her friend, Nexi, finished harvesting the honey from the crimson bees.

  With the basket of honeycomb clutched in her arms, she nodded to Corbyn. “Ready to go.”

  “Right. Get on the cycle. I will be right behind you.” Corbyn lifted her crossbow and took aim. The bolt shot free and nicked the wing of the incoming bee. The creature hit the ground near the hive and got to its feet, shaking itself.

  The first cycle was leaving, so Corbyn waited until Nexi was far enough away before she followed. The crimson bees were three feet long, and their stinger could pierce bone. There was no sense in dying for the treat of honey.

  They headed for the ridge that protected their colony. Corbyn kept her gaze on the mirrors on her cycle as she increased the speed to keep pace with Nexi.

  As they neared the ridge, the door in the ground opened and they cruised onto the ramp that would take them to the expanded, subterranean city of the bot repair engineers.

  Corbyn watched the opening in the surface of the expanse until the door closed. She turned back to Nexi. “How much of a haul?”

  “Three hundred pounds. That last load broke a record.”

  Corbyn surrendered her vehicle to the automotive clan and helped Nexi uncouple the trailer for delivery to the food prep clan.

  “So, do you think it will make it to the celebrations?”

  Nexi chuckled. “I think that ten percent will. The rest is going to the brewers.”

  Corbyn chuckled. “Good. I have to go to the armoury and check in the bow. See you this evening?”

  “If you can. I doubt you will be able to see your hand in front of your face during this party.”

  “You aren’t wrong. Well, then, Happy Burning Day.”

  Nexi nodded. “Happy Burning Day.”

  Corbyn cradled the bow in her arms and headed toward the armoury. Her last job of the day was done, and now, it was time for the party of the year, or every five years. Burning Day was an epic celebration. She had to take a shower and wash the dust from her skin.

  Tonight was about getting back to her birth-guild and celebrating their bot’s ability to fire his systems, stand, and return to his resting posture. Her week of acting as security was over, and it was time to be home with her people.

  * * * *

  Xaia checked and double-checked the sensor readings for the bot of clan Turo. The hydraulic levels were low, and she suspected a leak. With a sharp whistle, she brought in two more engineers, and together, they put their skills to the problem. Everything had to be perfect for Burning Day.

  * * * *

  The tomatoes were growing well, but they weren’t ripe enough for harvest. Lido selected other fruits and vegetables that would do as well for the evening banquets.

  The moment that the ration train from the city was gone, they were going to bring out the good stuff. They didn’t want to irritate the city into ignoring the important part of the shipment. They didn’t need food anymore, they needed the possibility of life and that would hopefully be on that train.

  Lido pushed her harvest cart from one grow station to the other until her cart was full. Her food was in the hands of the preparers from that moment on. Food prep was the rarest of engineering skills, and it was highly prized. Lido didn’t have that skill, so she had to make up for it by encouraging her garden into amazing feats of production by using calculations, precision, ingenuity and a lot of interesting seeds. She was doing her best for her people, and today, she would get to see them enjoy her best at the after-party. She loved Burning Day.

  * * * *

  Nyvett scrambled to finish up her paperwork. She could hear the murmur of voices preparing to escalate into a roar. The added sense of urgency didn’t help her calm.

  The requisitions had to be in order and all items filed into the city archives. If the burn were successful, all that Bot City wished for would come whizzing along on the monorails.

  She really despised the slacker who had her job during the last Burning Day. If she ever had a chance to greet her in the exercise ring, she would kick some serious organizational ass.

  Nyvett ignored the sounds of gathering crowds outside and kept her focus on making sure that Bot City requested everything that Gleaming City had to offer. They were running low of male genetic material from the pilot lines, and that was a dangerous situation. Their population depended on infusions from the city and since everyone in Bot City was female, they were at a distinct disadvantage when it came to maintaining their population without it.

  Nyvett was beginning to hate Burning Day.

  * * * *

  Hima was finishing her rounds, and it didn’t take long. There were only two new mothers in the ward, and they were repeat offenders so had their new ones firmly in their control.

  “Don’t fuss over us, Hima. Get to the party. You want a prime spot to watch the bots fire.” Keddeela smiled.

  Limra agreed, “We will be fine. The babies are both latching, they are thriving, and we are as safe as we can be. You head topside and watch the burn. You have earned it.”

  Hima checked on them and updated their charts. “Fine. Wow, you two are bossy.”

  They chuckled and Limra murmured, “Of course we are. We have two years before these little darlings head to the crèche. This is our time to boss folks around and bend them to our will.”

&nb
sp; Hima rolled her eyes.

  “Which bot are you assigned to? Which clan?”

  Hima wrinkled her nose. “Dbor clan, Bot Len. He’s a good guy with a lovely sense of decorum. I was lucky that he had such a friendly and forgiving temperament.”

  Keddeela twisted her lips. “I am of Clan Turo with Bot Ai. He is one tense guy. It must have something to do with his being our first line of defense.”

  “That might do it. I am always amazed at how bright the AIs have remained.”

  “Well, any guy personality with women crawling all over him, buffing him, wiring him and keeping in him like-new condition should be glad of company and practice their wit.” Hima smiled. “Len has gotten a little lazy on that front, but a nice round of chess usually perks him up.”

  She stayed with the ladies until she couldn’t avoid it any longer. It was time to wear clan colours and get to her section.

  It was going to be an excellent Burning Day for Clan Len.

  * * * *

  Duel slowly completed the burial of the eldest member of the Aka clan. Durina had been like a mother to her and was definitely kin.

  The stone that Durina was settled in would mummify her, and from there, the keepers would move her into a memorial monument.

  Duel completed the seal of the capstone, and she stepped back, announcing, “The burial of Durina of Aka is complete. You are dismissed.”

  The tiny crowd bowed slightly to her, and then, they left the underground catacombs.

  Duel leaned against the sarcophagus, and she sighed. “This was not the day or the way you wanted to go, Darina, but climbing bot exteriors is not an old woman’s game. Still, I know you wanted to go out on your bot, I just wish it hadn’t been for one last climb.”

  She patted the cover stone fondly. “You will be missed Great Grandmama.”

  A voice called from the catacombs, “Duel, get to your post. She will be there to chat with tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Mistress Rasa. I am on my way.” One final pat and she left the dead behind. She had a Burning Day to attend.

  Chapter Two

  Sound buffeted her from every angle, but Corbyn’s view of Myx was unobstructed. His red exoskeleton and black highlights gleamed in the reddening light.

  “So, Corbyn, how was work today?” Her sister Neeth came up and elbowed her in the ribs.

  “It was fine. It isn’t a bad job, and it is a nice break every few weeks. It certainly gets me out into the desert more than most of the occupations.”

  Neeth looked toward Myx. “You had the skills to be his primary, you know. He isn’t fond of Lebith.”

  “I know, but while I love the work, I need more than just being a repairer and companion to a creature thirty times my size and has no function other than to remain on alert.”

  “We were born to do it.”

  “And our society has been structured to get around the ennui. We have our weeks away from the bots and then our weeks with the bots. It is a nice change, and I am genuinely looking forward to being off the protection detail and back with Myx as of today.”

  Neeth sighed and her shoulder’s slumped. “Good. Lebith is getting put out by his lack of reciprocal emotional responses. I think she has a crush on him.”

  “Oh, damn. That isn’t good.”

  There were only two ways out of the clan structure, one was death and the other was to become obsessed with the bot that your clan maintained. It wasn’t an honourable way to go into Bot City service, but it was a direct one.

  Corbyn looked around and smiled at the other clan members that she had grown up with. The sea of exclusively female faces was a familiar one. Everyone seemed eager and confident. This burn was going to make for an exciting evening.

  Across the valley, she could see the clan platforms alive and waiting for the metre to indicate the correct level of dimness. Only when the sun was down could the city see their efforts. For now, it was time to join the party.

  * * * *

  The party was getting into full swing around her, but Xaia was nervous. There were too many unfiled repair reports. She had done her job in verifying functionality, but her attention to it shouldn’t have been necessary to begin with. Ai’s awareness of his surroundings had been compromised, and her frantic efforts to fix him had caused her to do what she dreaded. She had spilled her blood in the command deck of the bot, and he had started to wake. Keeping him calm and static had taken all her efforts to render him dormant again, but he wanted to rise, and he wanted to run. She hoped that he was calm enough now to burn without moving.

  * *,*,*

  Lido sipped at her fruit juice and watched the metre climb toward the burn. The Padu clan were partying, and some of the newer adults were seeing their first burn. It took a lot of effort to get nearly everyone above ground, but this was the one thing guaranteed to bring out every citizen.

  She looked at the other structures across the valley, lit and teeming with the engineers of Bot City. There was excitement in her blood, and even seeing several burns in her lifetime did not deaden the joy. Her plants would wait until tomorrow. Tonight, her focus was on watching Cio fire his systems to prove he still lived.

  She smiled as she drank the fruit juice and remembered her first time doing maintenance on him. She imagined that there were others around the valley doing the same. Working on the bots was a rite of passage for every citizen of the city. You were responsible for your bot and its survival.

  A clan that couldn’t maintain a bot in strong enough form for Burning Day was broken up and dispersed by aptitude. The clan that had been assigned to the collapsed hulk of Dif had to live with that every day. It had only been twenty years since they couldn’t start their bot, but they still remembered the honour that followed the next Burning Day when their new clans cheered with them when the burn began.

  Rissa came up and stood beside her, looking out over the valley. “Are you excited?”

  “Of course. I have put a lot of work into him.”

  Rissa grinned. “Me too. Cio is a sweetheart compared to Dif.”

  “He really is. He’s charming and polite, even making an effort to remember your name, or at least your mother’s. It’s a pleasure to scrub the tiny corners of his systems during my maintenance week.”

  Rissa laughed. “It really is. He’s a gentleman.”

  “I hear most of them are, but Cio is definitely one of a kind.”

  They each toasted that, Lido with her juice and Rissa with wine. The show was about to start.

  * * * *

  The huge projection formed above the bots, and all chatter slowed while the tale of the colonists of Hera was played out.

  Nyvett had punched up the resolution, so it was being broadcast with vivid colour and clear audio. The tale of their people wasn’t particularly heroic. After their colony was established, an alien incursion arrived and tried to expunge the new infection. A war began that took ninety percent of the population and used all of the landing craft. The ship’s engineers crafted an army of robots, and they defended the city until their numbers dwindled from fifty to twelve.

  When the invaders were driven off, the city administrators applauded the creative efforts of the engineers and asked that they would always keep the bots battle ready.

  The engineers agreed, provided that the city would always keep the pilots ready as well. To prevent corruption from taking hold, the pilot DNA was to be integrated into the engineer bloodlines to ensure that only authorized engineers could work on a specific bot.

  Nyvett looked down at her hands as that particular absolute was read out. Most of the citizens believed it, and those who knew differently kept their mouths shut.

  After so many generations, the bloodlines of the pilots were blurred, and any engineer could work on any bot. It had happened so many times already, that the basic ritual of blood transfusion from existing clan to new members was considered the ritual that gave access to the bot. It was as close to
religion as Bot City got, but it was effective. Burning Day was the perfect example. It wasn’t the bots that they were worshipping, it was five years of hard work that went untested until the critical moment. They worshipped their own labour, which suited the origins of their society. Results were the only thing that mattered.

  Her elders nodded toward her and jerked their heads. It was time.

  Nyvett rose to her feet and joined the others in watching the last of the light fade, the projection ceased, and the breaths of the engineers of Bot City were held as one.

  * * * *

  Hima wanted to bite her nails, but it was a habit she couldn’t indulge. Since she had gone into the medical field, nibbling at her nails was a psychological exercise and no longer a physical one.

  Far out on the valley floor, next to their bot in a shielded chamber, was their elder. As the clock flicked down to zero, the gathered citizens were watching closely, holding their breaths as the time clicked to zero.

  * * * *

  Duel was leaning over the edge, her gaze fixed on Kab’s burners. When the signal was given, even at her current distance, she could see the flick of white flame that burned brighter and brighter. The moment that the cascade of fire came to life, she breathed easier.

  Around the valley, five other bots flared up. Duel smiled at the bright and glowing life that filled the valley. If the City could see it, there would soon be a signal.

  The monorail began to hum, and all of the towers could feel it. A second screaming cheer went up as the delivery of rations and textiles made its way to them.