PROLOGUE
For nearly a millennium, life
in The Quadrant, an
artificial enclosed world built on Saturn's largest moon Titan, has been
calm and orderly, but a gradual breakdown of what was once a just social
order now causes widespread upheaval. Angry that rising crime produced by
overcrowding and poverty on the populous Outer
Boardz threatens their very existence, the elites of The Quadrant pressure
the authorities to "crack down." As they try to quell increasing
disturbances, the Enforcerz
succeed only in intensifying them, inviting terrorist attacks from the growing
Underground and creating
even greater hatred between the "haves" and "have nots"
in The Quadrant.
Harsher policies result in increasing
prosecutions of more "offenders," who are exiled to the dreaded
Downshaft, below the Boardz,
where thousands of the disenfranchised are forced to do the menial work
of The Quadrant. As this "Hellhole" begins to fill up, rumors
of festering disorder and chaos in Downshaft bubble to the surface and spread,
causing even more alarm and polarization among the population. With tensions
high, an election to choose The Quadrant's next leader approaches. Confident
he can exploit the situation, Axon Kronstadt,
a ruthless former Quadrant bureaucrat, emerges, seemingly out of nowhere,
to declare himself the "poor man's" candidate for Director
of The Quadrant.
Most of the powerful in The Quadrant
scoff at the Kronstadt candidacy, but some wealthy "Privates"
support it. A few who understand Kronstadt's insatiable drive to power,
appreciate the brilliance of his timing almost as much as they fear the
magnitude of his threat: Kronstadt will stop at nothing to become total
dictator. Those who help will be rewarded, and those who stand in his way
will be exiled to the Outer Boardz, sent Downshaft, or terminated.
As turmoil mounts, the power factions
of The Quadrant draw their battle lines: "The
Nine" wealthy Privates who control the Directorship, despite their
own divisions -- four of their number lean toward Kronstadt -- manage to
put up Bruxton Laneer, a
former Praetor of the Purse, as the establishment candidate to run against
Kronstadt. Many in the Quadrant establishment support him, but some don't.
The Inztitut, with two
of their own on "The Nine" and much to lose if Kronstadt wins,
supports Laneer. Though they have no great love for the establishment, the
mainstream leaders of the Underground see Kronstadt as the greater threat,
and make plans to thwart him.
Awakened by these rumblings, long
dormant powers in the Quadrant begin to stir. Galadrina,
a fortune teller from the Outer Boardz who was once a powerful kourtezan
in Krania before the Great
Purges thirty years earlier, renews a friendship with Alicia Zerb, a
former protege and now powerful member of "The Nine." Together,
they form a secret alliance to fight Kronstadt. A mysterious and elusive
old Discon, Drakmar the Blind,
regarded by some as the "Prophet of Downshaft," predicts that
"one not of The System
will soon come to destroy The System and save The Quadrant."
And, strangest of all, Tal Remick, a young student at the Inztitut, with
little power or inclination to play a role in these momentous events, stumbles,
by chance (in a library basement) onto one of the great treasures of The
Quadrant. His discovery of "The
Portal," a small computer-like device with a thousand years of
recorded history of The Quadrant stored in its memory crystals, promises
to reveal secrets about life in The Quadrant that many in powerful positions
want to keep hidden.
As our story opens, Tal has learned
from "Old Dusty," a seemingly harmless
old professor who was with him when he discovered the machine, that The
Portal has been handed down through generations of skolars at The Inztitut.
When history was driven out of fashion after the Great Purges, The Portal
was no longer seen as a tool for research and fell into disuse. "Old
Dusty" informs Tal that there is something unique about this particular
device -- besides the now illegal histories contained in its memory, it
can respond to special keys which will unlock secrets about The Quadrant.
Taking a chance, he tells the young student that there are several keys
hidden somewhere in The Quadrant: "If they can all be found and used
to access The Portal, the greatest secret of The Quadrant may be revealed."
Unknown to Tal and "Old Dusty,"
their discovery has been witnessed by one of several student spies planted
at the Inztitut by the deadly Weemer, Kronstadt's
chief assistant. Not long afterward, Tal's rooms are torn apart by Weemer's
henchmen in search of The Portal, but at "Old Dusty's" behest,
Tal has hidden it, and they find nothing. When Tal returns, he realizes
he can no longer stay at the Inztitut. He must flee, taking The Portal with
him, and he must keep it out of the wrong hands until he can find the keys
that unlock the last great hope for The Quadrant.
For questions or comments E-Mail qman@pon.net
(C) 1997, 1998, 1999, by Richard Gabrio, all rights
reserved