And that time I was not consciously eavesdropping, but watching — on a sunrise flight with my aunt Tethys, who pointed out when we were approaching the long, broad Valley of Settlement, where the first colony on Karis had been built, before there was need of a spaceport. There, she pointed out, the original burnt-over ground of the Landing, the radial streets of the original place, the foundations of long-gone structures. All could be read in the low light, red-and-gold as the sun barely cleared the horizon. 

Tethys was not the archaeologist; her wife Yuki was, but Tethys had a broad curiosity as befitted a clan-politician and high administrator. 

I watched, enchanted, as the Original Settlement built itself in imagination, for unlike some things the grownups pointed out I could see it straightway, that plan revealed in the raking rays, gold in the grass, deep blue in the shadows; the streets, the central plaza where the landing craft had scorched the soil. 

Martisset is a very old name in our family; I am named, it seems, after an archaic god of war, and the name has been borne by generations of the Astok great-clan. The Martisset before me was a great-uncle who served fifteen years as a starship captain. There was every expectation, on everyone’s part including mine, that I would do the same.

***

During the second half of October, I will be posting character interview excerpts for this year’s NaNo novel, Inside the Jump. This week’s excerpt comes from the interview with Martisset, an archaeologist in search of humanity’s Original World.

My NaNoPrep is based on the thirty-day character questionnaire. Who are your people? This is a magical tool for finding out! Watch my NaNoFeed posts for more information about ways to use the character interview to generate plot.

Weekend Writing Warriors offers eight-sentence excerpts from a variety of writers; see the other excerpts here.