Clarkesworld Magazine Finisterra by David Moles (audio)
Apr 30, 2013
Bianca Nazario prepares for a daring parachute jump, reflecting on the dangers of the sky. She encounters the stunning yet tragic world of poaching as she witnesses the brutal realities of Zeratan slaughter. With engineering skills from her family legacy, Bianca designs a plan to save these majestic creatures. As chaos erupts during a warden attack, she grapples with guilt and impending collapse of her home, eventually embarking on a mission to educate local children in balloon building. Themes of duty, survival, and legacy intertwine throughout her journey.
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Sky As Living Archipelago
- Sky is an immense, quasi-artificial ecosystem whose scale reverses familiar notions of horizon and gravity.
- Bianca and Erasmus Fry observe the archipelago of living Zeratans as islands and organisms simultaneously, highlighting its unnatural design.
Industrial-Scale Poaching Revealed
- Poachers systematically slaughter Zeratans by crippling fins and destroying neural centers to harvest materials.
- The killing process is fast, industrial, and grotesquely efficient, revealing economic incentives driving ecological collapse.
Valadez's Poaching Business Model
- Valadez explains his business: train poor boys to kill Zeratans and sell their skins and bones to wealthy buyers.
- He says buyers will use a skyhook and FTL tug to lift whole Zeratan carcasses into orbit for sale.
