Vyyda

 

Book 1

The Haver Problem

 

By

Kevin Bliss

 

  

© 2013 by Kevin Bliss

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design by Paul Ludenia

www.imagineimages.com

 

It’s late in the day, but such is preferable to ‘not at all’.

 

With Loving Thanks To:

EMJB, JB/(JB), CD, MR/BR, ER, SG/KG, NV, DDS, PL

 

 

On the Meaning of Vyyda

 

Vyyda [vahy-duh] noun:  1. A life well-lived.  2.  A worthwhile existence.  3.  Any life experience providing genuine fulfillment.

 

            Vyyda.  The men and women of Salgine claimed it was an invention of their people -- the word and the meaning.  This was prior, of course, to their settlement being unceremoniously wiped from the map of human existence.  Others swore it originated with their ancestors.  Most notably, Lanefeld mine veterans (rough around the edges though they were), engineers of the Scullie-Elldebon-Vone cluster, the mercurial cargo “joks” of the Debrea region and even the culturally-insulated laborers of Lydacole.  Dozens more, too, told the story of contributing Vyyda to the very limited lexicon of absolutely common words, shared across the expansive territory beyond the yoke of Earth’s rule, Uncontrolled Space, commonly known as U-Space.

            [Note:  The term, “uncontrolled”, a misnomer, suggests that Earth could not keep U-Space settlements in line.  In truth, they could harangue, harass, attack, abuse, beat, bully and decimate most settled regions of U-Space with impunity.  The veil surrounding Controlled Space was designed to keep people of the uncontrolled region out at all costs, ever since mass migration from the home planet began in the 2150’s]

            Despite mixed tongues and widely varied cultures, nearly everyone in U-Space agreed that Vyyda meant a life well led. (One unusual exception came out of a settlement owned and operated by the Rype Systems Company whose meaning of the very same word had to do with a particular sort of chronic digestive disorder.) 

            The word had been around so long, in the midst of very poorly kept histories, that an objective observer would have to claim lack of compelling evidence as to whether it was the Salginians or the miners or engineers or cargo “joks” or the clannish denizens of Lydacole who deserved credit.

            In truth, the origin hardly mattered since it was the power of the concept of Vyyda that had served as a defense against the dreary outlook faced by the vast majority of U-Spacers for centuries.  Interpreted in a thousand subtly different ways, a life well led gave hope to men and women imprisoned in marginal existences.

As a central fixture in U-Space life, Vyyda could be a wish, a greeting, an encouragement or reminder, passed from one person to another in conversation.  For some, Vyyda was as simple as the financial wherewithal to indulge themselves in creature comforts.  Others found a life well-lived to be the improvement of the lot their children experienced.  Still others would claim Vyyda in the opportunity to move freely between settlements to find the most promising opportunities available.

Of course, there were many souls with no answer for what Vyyda meant to them.  Such a void could lead to aimlessness or even reckless behavior (an all too common throughout U-Space).  Then there were those who hadn’t drawn a bead on Vyyda, but weren’t giving up hope.  Individuals not unlike a single, seemingly insignificant young man who privately envied those fortunate enough to live their own Vyyda.  Bearing the somewhat unusual name Dorsey Jefferson, he hoped that his meaning of the word would make itself known and that it would be something within his reach.