As he sat high up on their mossy perch, Rovender took out his woven sleeping mat and unrolled it. “For once many of the clouds have cleared away,” he observed. “We may get to see the Rings of Orbona tonight.”

“Rings?” Eva looked up. A chilled desert wind played with her hair, blowing her bangs into her eyes. With the onset of night she was no longer uneasy about being out in such an open space.

“Oh, yes.” Rovender unhooked his lanterns from the overloaded rucksack. “Orbona is encircled by quite an expansive set of rings consisting of asteroid fragments and dust.”

“How long have they been here? The rings?” Eva gazed up at the dark clouds wandering across the horizon.

“Shortly after Solas was established, an enormous asteroid was discovered heading on a direct course to Orbona,” Rovender explained as he lit his lanterns. “The Ojo family used an immense sonic weapon, much like a boomrod, to disintegrate the asteroid a safe distance from our atmosphere. Over time the fragments began to circle the planet, forming the rings.”

“Did you see it?” Eva asked.

“Oh, no,” Rovender replied. “This was long before I hatched. But there remain records of it in my clan.”

“Where do they live? Your clan?” Eva stared into the glow of Rovender’s lantern as he handed it to her. She glanced down at Muthr, who was working on the Goldfish under the pale blue glow of the Omnipod. With the sun long gone, the cool of night pervaded the land. Eva could feel the climatefibers in her tunic and jackvest warming her.

“The Cæruleans, which is my clan, live quite a distance from here. They arrived in Orbona several generations before I hatched, during what was called the Great Migration. They traveled many light-years aboard a ship filled with passengers, led by the great king, Ojo.” Rovender handed Eva her bedroll and a blanket.

“Where did they come from?” Eva stood, unrolling the mat. “Why did they come here?”

“They came from many different worlds, most with just the belongings on their backs. Our village shaman was but a nymph when she arrived here, carrying only a necklace from her mother and the severed foot of her slain warrior father.” Rovender lit another lantern. He found his pouch of seedpods and offered some to Eva.

“But why here?” Eva grabbed the seedpods and popped them into her mouth. As soon as her damp tongue touched the husk, it split open, producing several small seeds, which tasted nutty. Eva spat out the husks, as she’d seen her friend do, and put another handful into her mouth.

“Many traveled from dying war-torn planets.” Rovender’s voice was distant with recollection. “You see, the Ojo family had the ability to reawaken dead planets—bring them out of their hibernating slumber. They picked Orbona for its climate and extreme distance from our past worlds . . . and past lives.”