Free Dominion by Scott McElhaney

coffee shop or a diner.  Children chased each other, throwing snowballs with no regard to others around them.
    The villa could have been transplanted from anywhere on Earth and he’d have been none the wiser.  Throughout it all, he saw many animal-drawn carriages as well as the odd steam-driven vehicles.  For a fictional society, the place was very much alive and populated.
    “It’s a fishing village,” Night Rain offered, “Some cities thrive on coal, others on oil, and others on farming.  This place doesn’t have a lot to offer beyond that which we take from the sea.  Commerce here is driven by seafood and bane ore.”
    “And while you might emigrate to the North with a healthy appetite for affordable seafood, you will most likely lose that taste before long as it’s the only meat available in the North,” Sky Listener added.
    “Yeah, but there’s such a variety of seafood that we’ve got more to choose from than those countries who dine on summer fowl and oklen calf all the time,” Night Rain argued, “Even oklen calf gets old after a while.”
    Sky Listener shrugged, forfeiting the argument, but he still didn’t seem to agree.  The villa gave way to an industrialized area where the buildings were larger and the smoke stacks higher.  Windmills were as common here as they were in the village, but these ones were significantly larger in size. 
    The journey took about a half hour before they found themselves in what appeared to be a newer village.  This was evidenced by the abundant presence of tents and open fires.  The buildings that did exist were newer and cleaner in appearance than those of the previous cities.  Hawke worried for a moment that they would be spending their evenings in cold tents, but even so, those tents had tiny chimneys that suggested heating was hopefully available inside.
    “Welcome to Star Village,” Night Rain said as the vehicle finally came to a stop, “Home to the world’s finest astronomers, physicists, and cosmologists.  We offer the best equipment for stellar studies which isn’t even available at the universities in Komasch.”
    “Indeed,” Sky Listener said, “If there’s one place a spaceman such as yourself would feel comfortable, it would be at Star Village.”
    The door opened, greeting them with a biting chill.  Kashuba drew tighter the blanket she had turned into a makeshift shawl.
    “I promise to see that you two receive the proper attire,” Night Rain said by way of apology.
    Their hosts exited the vehicle first, then waited as Kashuba and Hawke stepped down.  The wind was angry and cold, easily sinking beneath their blanket shawls.  Hawke held his own blanket tighter as his eyes searched for a refuge from the cold.  That was the moment he saw the enormous iron rainbow stretching across the span of the horizon.  He was immediately awestruck by the implied size of the buried ship.
    “An amazing feat of engineering, wouldn’t you say?” Sky Listener asked, appreciating the expression on Hawke’s face.
    “For centuries, people assumed it was just a giant metal arch built by some ancient race.  Legend told of it being part of an ancient celestial calendar and it was once thought to be a monument to some long forgotten god,” Night Rain added.
    Kashuba shivered, equally enthralled by the sheer size of the metal arch.  She tucked her chin into the blanket, trying to keep the chill from her neckline.
    “Forgive me,” Night Rain said, concerned suddenly with his guest’s welfare, “I forgot my manners.  Let’s get you two out of the cold and I will see to it immediate ly that you receive the proper attire.”

 
    Eleven
     
    Their permanent quarters for the time being would indeed turn out to be one of the many chimney-topped brown tents they’d spotted earlier.  Unlike the thin vinyl tents found on Earth, these ones were all made of a very heavy fabric that was clearly sturdy enough to stand up against the arctic winds.  The tent