As I was handed my diploma, many thoughts flew through my head. Of course, these questions had been manifesting themselves throughout the years; questions of my future and what was to come. And then, as I was sitting back down in the rows to hear the final speaches of my professors, a thought popped in I did not expect: 'I wonder if they will catch us?'


I laughed. In fact, I laughed a little too loudly, and a few eyes glanced in my direction. My friend Thomas, sitting to my right, leaned over and asked me, "What's so funny? It's not like Our third grade Calc teacher is saying anything exciting..."
"Well, you know how when you went up there, getting your diploma, some thoughts of your future can run through your head?" Thomas nods in understanding. "Well, for some strange reason, I thought 'I wonder if they will catch us?'.
"HA!" Thomas laughed in honest suprise and humour, "That's a pretty good one!"
But Thomas was too loud, and one of the students in front of us turned around in annoyance. We stayed quiet for the rest of the ceremony.

Later, during the after-party, I saw Thomas hanging out by the cake. I walked over, planning to start some timid conversation when he yells, "Guess what everyone? Mark wants to know if they'll catch us!" Spontanious laughter occured throughout the room. A student to my right jeered "What, you think they'll boost their engines at 200% and ram us from behind?" "Well, I think they should try the moon shot again... but of course they'd have to accelerate around over 50 moons to do any good!" a younger girl scoffed. I laughed, and blew it off, but yet something was still in the back of my mind that in my lifetime, no this century, something was going to change.

I finally worked my way over to Thomas, who was currently digging through the cheeses. Looking up from a plate-full he asked "So, I never heard. Which branch are you joining?"
Snatching a cracker, "Well, I was thinking over going into observation district of the information branch, though any other district there would do." He rolled his eyes, replying "I guess that makes sense with your earlier question, but I'm just going to remind you about reality here." Pulling his hands from his face, he finished the food in his mouth and replied in an austere tone "The statistics show that we are currently in a gaining period, and with the newest minor engine set to come on in 23 years, we should gain another bit on that amount. That sets the catch rate at 400 years. I mean really, for that question to be in your mind, you either are planning revolution or expecting them to make a jump as drastic as from the Clark Era. If it's the first, no one need remind you the result from the Gilford revolution, or Heck any of the countless revolutions and revolts before. If it's the second... well then you must be seeing something no one else is." He slouched back against the wall and continued stuffing his face. "Besides" I scoot back as some food shots from his mouth, "With the Second vehicle within 60 years of completion, we may see the a ship which doesn't even have to flee." I nodded and replied, "Don't worry about me. I wasn't suggesting revolution or an unforseen advancement of theirs, I just had fleeting thought... thats all."
I waved, grabbed a doughnut, and walked off to enjoy the rest of the party.

Many things occured over the next few months, of note to most people, first 'away-home' and introduction into the observation district, but most of it flew by with relative ease. It was a good era, a happy era. An era with purpose, and that helped to streamline the schooling and work-introduction process heavily. It was not untill I was out on an observation recon, not my first, as I had gone through a few previously, that I felt myself wake up again, and the thought propped through my head once again. 'I wonder if they will catch us?'

It was because I saw a flash... though no sensors registered it in the DS (Duck ship, the origin of the name is unknown, which is common) and my later countless reviews of some of the tapes and cameras on the DS show no flash, I know I saw it through the MO (Magnification optical, pronounced 'Moe').

I saw a flash of light come from the front of the Lientono.

"Well", the director, sitting in his chair, pen tapping on his desk, "It only makes sense that you get the promotion after the retirement of Mr. Hancloon. His recommendation for you pretty much puts it in the bag, and your excelent and nearly perfect record during all your observations, even your 23 backup-manager experiences make this decision difficult, but not unnerving. It's going to be a difficult road for you, surpassing 2 levels, more like 2 and a half levels of promotions and heirarchy and being placed in the largest observation section of this ship, but it's your passway now!" We shake hands. "Congratulations, and Good luck!"

I walked out from his room feeling good, I could gain more controll, gain more knowledge on the Lientono, and solve this riddle that's been plaugin my mind. The increase in pay helped as well.

The Lientono was the monster in most of our movies, it was the strongest and most horrible flavor of alcohol served in any bar, and it was the personification of fear in everyone's nightmares. But in reality, it didn't do much. It was just an object talked about in school, and only viewed once and a while through a screen by those whose jobs involved leaving the Colony. To most, it didn't mean much. For some reason, and one I don't even understand, it means more to me.

What we are taught in school, and told by our parents early on, is that the Lientono is a Colony, another Colony flying at unknown speeds through space, and that it is following us to destroy us. It is humorous that only that much is really 'known' about the Lientono.
Most historians place the start of our chase at anywhere from 15,200 years ago to over 27,000 years ago. Since those unknown days, our two 'Colonies' have been in an inter-galactic pursuit.

Many changes have occured in 'The Indianpolis', the Name engraved into the side of our Colony. Revolutions, counter-revolutions, the rise and fall of empires, and even a 'dark-age' of multiple kingdoms fighting for control. The last revolutionary 'junta', the Gilfords held control of the Colony for 156 years. It was only 311 years ago that rebellion re-took the Colony and re-established the United States.

"Brownsburg station", The speaker in the rail-line announced. I got off and walked through the streets of the smaller town. It was bright and bustling. I stopped by the courthouse, gazing upon it's columns and the statue in it's front. Images from the Gilford era passed in front of my eyes, from a video shown in history class. There were a few shots of the Brownsburg Courthouse, the statue stripped from it's platform, the columns broken with shrapnel and neglect, and one of the columns had a piece of metal sticking from it's side, the second to the right, and on it hung a man. The noose wrapped around his neck held a sign on his chest that read 'rebel'. I looked around. The Statue was back in it's proper place, a small sign next to the original read that it had been recovered from a chance re-encounter with a Inter-galactic comet as the Colony passed. That is one lucky statue I thought. I blinked the images out of my head and continued on.

I passed through the stalls of the local market. These were the kind of folk whom still grew their own gardens, and sold the extra for profit. The prices were low, displaying the United States success with their economic plan, and also leading to my purchase of an apple from an cute 6-year old girl. "Thanks for your purchase!" She yelled, her mother smiling at me as she tended to an elderly man buying a tremendous amount of bananas.

I walked on.
The United States had one thing going for them that hundreds of past governments had missed. They had purpose. The had hope. They had the ability, however minute, to suggest that the emblem of our nightmares could be defeated. No, they didn't believe they could 'outrun' the Lientono, as they had always been gaining on us. The Lientono's engines increased their outputs at a pretty constant rate. Any observationists could only make guesses as to what type of engine could gives such a result, but the result occured none the less. Our engines on the other hand only sped up through our constant advances in innovation, which was unfortunately not nearly as close to constant. This made a chase in which the Lientono was almost always gaining on us, and in a few 'gaining periods' we would be a little faster for a while to get more time in our escape. No, the United States had a plan which the populace craved and created the stability which our society now profited from.

They were building a second Colony. 'The Freedom' was being built for the last 289 years, and it's promise of the ability for people to 'split off' and either one of the two ships could escape from the Lientono and figure out a way to help, or both ships could find a way to challenge the Lientono together. Already, the government had been encouraging a larger population growth so that the new colony could be built faster and the new space could be settled quicker. Already, 20% of the United States now Lived on The Freedom, though it was not as nice as the already fully functioning Indianapolis.

I glanced across the air (the open space inside the Colony, referred simply to as 'the air') and covered the 'sun shaft' (the cylinder that lights the inside of the cylindrical colony) with my arm so I could see what rain was coming across to Brownsburg. I had neglected to check the weather forecasts for this area when I made the trip down here after work. I guess the excitement from the promotion and the details I had learned about the shell of the Colony discovered in a small farm outside Brownsburg had clouded my thought process.

The Outer wall shaft which was right outside of Brownsburg had not been kept up in over 1,500 years, but fortunately, it had been major locations of the Craven Dictatorship and the Brownsburg Republic in the distant path, so it was not as discarded as some of the more southern shafts. It had been a major city during the initial launch, or at least it is theorized as much, but over the years has been destroyed and re-taken enough times to downsize it to it's small town status.

While the original rig for the descent to the wall (I say and think descent, but of course, it is simply out from the spinning Cylinder that is The Indianpolis, and mearly feels like down) is gone, the rails, made from Carbon nano-tubes are still in failry good condition. It helped that this shaft had simply been sealed multiple times. There were some shafts I had seen around which water had filled, especialy those around Eagle Lake.

Our ship for the exit had already been loaded into place, ready to go out the airlock. The system had been repaired and tested quite a few times before I even arrived here, so I didn't have any fear for it's safety. Well, almost none. Accidents have happened onboard The Indianpolis. We had a legend which floated around that roughly 400 by 1,000 Kilometers of the cylinder was ripped off once, nearly 0.3% of The Indianpolis' entire mass, killing an unimaginable population. It was only recently, 42 years ago, that a hidden room was discovered in a destroyed building containing artifacts from over 6,000 years ago. One of these was a book, which we scanned as best we could, and eventually slicing, from which we gathered that the 'legend' was not really legend but historical fact. It was 1,000 years before the dark-ages during the Hamoco Dynasty (roughly 9,500 years ago today).

That was when the Observation district was really able to branch out. It became more of an observation and discovery district. And it was through those discoveries that it became what it is today, no longer on the sidlines of district power, for what politician gives money to an organization which watches an enemy who never changes. But no, some of the technology found in that small room was more advanced than we had, and was able to help boost industry and increase tax revenue.

And it was just such a 'room' which had a chance of being discovered again today. During a routine check of the hull (done by Machines with AI), a moderator (instituted to watch over the machine's actions, in case of incidents [a leading suspect for the cause of the legendary break-off of the 400 km piece]) noticed a panel that was shifted. It in fact, had an acess panel behind it, to an unkown location. We were going to try to find out about that location now.

At 1,000 ft below ground, the gravity was a little heavier, but not terrible. It was then they would have to wait for a pass to line up with the Outer Wall Shaft so they could exit to the non-moving exterior wall of The Indianpolis.

"Are we going to make a good clear pass today?" I asked the chief of the ship. "Sure are!" he replied, "The upcoming pass, 'The Ultimatum', is completely clear [he pronounced it clar] from any debris and has a window of 20 hours for pass-through." He spit out his gum into a trashcan and quickly tossed another stick into his mouth. "It'll be another 4 days before the next pass, but we probably won't need to use it." As he said such, heavy machinery drove by in the backgroun which carried boxes of food, enough to last a month for our crew at least. His eyes caught mine staring at the boxes, "Well, it never hurts to be careful". "Indeed" I replied. I waved at him and headed into the ship to get my bearings. [for those doing the math, the piece that broke off and it's % put the total size of the ship at somewhere around 100,200,000 square kilometers (much weight is located in the engines of the ship) which is almost the size of all of earth's dry land, so the has roughly 1/4 the land of earth, but is not covered by nearly as much water as it's atmosphere is artificially maintained.]

The 'Corn Husk'... terrible name by my view, but it has great reputation and is in good condition, set out at exactly 16:00, as this pass was timed well with what we had established as 'standard clock'.

Time keeping had been lost over 8,000 years ago. It wasn't that we couldn't time our clocks with the Sun Shaft, but that we couldn't time the Sun Shaft itself. The 'dark-ages' were, at some points, Actually 'dark'. There were moments when one of the squabling monarchies, the Holy Regan Empire, actually gained controll of the Sun Shaft and turned it off in retribution for attacks on their country. It's normal 24 hour cycle lost, the Colony plunged into darkness for the longest period of what we estimate to be 20 days, though there were a few times before that as well for shorter periods. Fortunately, the provinces they had conquered rebelled against them during the darkness, and that incident overthrew their leadership, and restored the Sun Shaft cycle. It would be forever off, though, until in what we refer to as year 0S (s for standard), the Cliff empire, which controlled a large % of the Colony, made a deal with the country controlling the light, and helped them to re-set the sun to time correctly with the major passes (or what they saw as the major ones) to the outer walls. This was also when the year was determined to be 400 days. It was during this great setting of the time that the Colony was able to begin modernizing again, though it was slow, civilization re- develop from the ruins. Today's year would be 3,267 by Standard, but being a historian, I can't help but put things in terms of the very measurements I use. When you use carbon-dating, you only see objects in terms of distance from the present, so I have a tendancy to look at events from that perspective. To me, 'the Standard of Cliff' didn't occur at year 0, but 3,267 years ago... but to each his own of course.

I was sitting in the Observation room of The Corn Husk when plunged out of the pass and into space. The engines fired and soon the ship ceased it's momentum away from the Colony and we floated the rest of the way through the shaft that lead through the non-moving outer shell. The shaft was set sideways into the shell, so that a craft leaving would be able to go somewhat with momentum tangent to the spin of the Colony without crashing into a wall. Some historians had theorized that the pipes and 'rail-lines' on the walls of these areas showed that in the beginning, motorized elevators ran along the walls, but these 'rail-lines' and pipes (nothing more than dust sometimes) were long out of business.

We finally exited the shell and reached space. Not really outer-space, as there were multiple shields projected around the craft to allow it to distort it's environment and what it was passing through to allow us to gain our extreme speed. From this location, looking out from the observation room, I could see both 'the nets', the entire wall of The Indianpolis, and, when using an MO, the Lientono.

I found that The Corn Husk's MO was particularly up to date. It's magnification ability was enough to zoom in enough to make out all of the word "Lientono" on the front of the craft. I tested the MO even more by searching for the alusive 'second word'.

The truth is... we don't actually know the name of the pursuing Colony. In fact, we don't even know if it is a colony. We know it's pursuing us, both from our legends and from our recorded times. It has always been there, getting slightly larger or smaller depending upon our speed.

"Lientono" is named because that is the word written on the front of the craft. Large enough that when magnification was re-developed, roughly 6,600 PS (Pre-Standard) we could read it. The follower in the forgotten times was nameless until that point, given the name of random dark dieties. It was in the year 3,243 Standard that an Observer, Ramon Donovan, saw the second word, using his much more advanced MO. About 48 Degrees clockwise from the 'o' in Lientono, lies a smaller word 'Chief' on the side of one of the panels. I had seen it before, not in person from an MO but in picture, and it seemed as though it had been marked by hand, on the side of one of the panels that wasn't perfectly touching the panel next to it. The Corn Husk, however, did not have a powerful enough MO for that.

The captain propelled himself into the Observation room, tape on his hands to stick to the walls (I myself prefered the tape to be on my feet). "We should get to the spot on the panel in around 2 'ours. Since it's roughly One Eighth the way between this shaft and the Bristan one, it's not too bad. Though, the Bristain shaft has seen better days, even compared to this terrible shaft he'r." I nodded.

The Bristain shaft had been the location of Canton's Republic (not really a republic mind you, more a monarchy, but thats what they called themselves). A small city-state that was profitable for some time. When the Glifford's took over nearly all of the Colony, they had difficulty at first eradicating Canton's Republic, which made many friends being a trading nation. They managed to, though, but the only way possible was with bombing that tore through Bristain shaft as well as Canton's republic.

I pushed away from the MO and landed back into the chair where I could relax for the 2 hours until our arrival.