Forever Free

Music=
1. Shelter
  -Mikal Cronin












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UFOtext=
I. The Passage
“Ozymandias. Did you see the destruction of the Lotus?”
Astira wrapped her salted roast fish in dried subterranean seaweed. Ozymandias gazed at the stars along the bright edge of the galaxy. Along the fringe a pink ribbon of light outlined the canyon below. Sunrise was only minutes away. After a moment he turned his telescopic eyes back toward Astira.
“No. The destruction of the Lotus occurred before my earliest memory.”
“Which was?”
“On Trantor. I was turned on shortly after the destruction of the Lotus.”
Astira winced. That was millennia before the Foundation.
“My birth mission was to assist Princess Leizu in her escape. She would remain forever free. Since then I’ve stood guard to this very day over the ruins of the Lotus.”
Astira’s mind turned in a slow whirl...

II. The Emperor’s Island 
“Stop!”
Joshua froze. The officer of the Union of Worlds stood at the street corner, waving his pistol. Joshua frantically considered his micro-tree of reactions. Primal instinct= he bolted down the alley. An ultraviolet laser etched a deadly tattoo of trailing black ash on a dirty stucco wall. He sprinted to the short dead end. He whirled around & turned over a trash bin- breathless- a trapped animal. Only a few more seconds...