Free Utopia Gone by Zachariah Wahrer

Part One
    The man sat on the beach and watched as the
bright blue star settled on the horizon. He had no name because
such things were superfluous when you were the only intelligent
life in existence. When he had to give himself a label, it was
usually that of “brown”, a characteristic of his highly tanned arms
and legs.
    The last of the fiery blue disc sank and the sky
began to grow dark. Soon small points of light began to speckle the
entire sky, the tiny dots forming patterns the man knew so well. He
was unaware of when he had begun to notice the patterns. The man
was also ignorant of how or when he had gotten here.
    He knew the schedule of this place perfectly, so
when the huge moon crept above the horizon, he wasn't surprised. He
could see lands and seas when it was illuminated by the star, but
this time the disc was dark on the side that faced him. This
allowed the man to see bright lines forming irregular shapes and
strange geometries.
    Growing sleepy, the man decided to return to the
squat little hut that was his home. He covered the distance
quickly, the luxuriant sand giving way to fine grass, the grass to
pebbles, the pebbles to a slope covered in larger stones. He had no
trouble finding his way, even in the dark, for he had covered
almost every square mile—if not every square inch—of the planet.
The man knew it all, and knowing the shape and size of his entire
world gave him peace of mind.
    When he finally reached the hut, he ducked
through the low doorway and entered the one small room it
contained. The structure was only three meters to a side, but it
was large enough for all his needs. The man remembered when he had
lived in a nearby cave, but after building the hut, he now only
used that for food storage.
    Stretching out on the springy fronds that
comprised his bed, he closed his eyes. A light breeze stirred the
large leaves that formed the hut's roof, lulling him to sleep. He
had no dreams. His night was peaceful.
    It wasn't until the star rose again that the man
awoke. He got up, did the small amount of cleansing necessary, and
left the hut. It was a beautiful morning and it appeared the
weather would be pleasant for the rest of the day. He decided, on
what seemed the spur of the moment, to walk around the planet. It
had been awhile since he had completed a circumnavigation and he
deemed it was time.
    It was possible to complete the trip in the
course of a single day, but it would require him to push himself.
He had no desire go that hard, so he opted to make it a two day
affair. He would stop for the night in the opposing hemisphere.
    The man knew he wouldn't need much in the way of
supplies. The planet was fertile and had plenty of food if one was
industrious enough to harvest it. Many of the plants were edible,
tasty even. Almost all the small wildlife produced excellent meat,
delicious when cooked with the right spices. The man rolled up his
frond sleeping mat and stashed it and a couple of small hunting
tools into a roughly sewn leather bag. He slung the bag over his
shoulder and was ready to leave.
    His bare feet had long ago grown accustomed to
the different types of terrain found on the planet. The hot sands
of beach and desert, the jagged rocks of the mountains, the grassy
fields of the plains: all were enjoyed and cherished for their
pristine beauty and solitude.
    As he set out on his journey, he rejoiced. The
trip would take him through lush forests, across mountain tops,
along a beautiful beach, and then end with a short swim across one
of the planet's oceans. His heart felt as light as his feet.

Part Two
    Maxwell Dent—Captain Maxwell Dent to the men he
commanded—stood on the command deck of the United Enclaves of the
North cutter class ship “UENN Wake Darmekus”. It was a shiny new
vessel Captain Dent was more than happy to command, even if it was
only just a system ship. He wished it had been named something more
fearsome, but since it was honoring a mythical hero, he