I have been making progress on The Storytellers (Book 2 of the Enanika Series). Here is part of Chapter 10.
The bookshop heater clicked every few minutes and the old wall clock near the philosophy shelves announced the passing of time. When the Reading Rooms breathed quietly, so did Anu. And so did Michael.
Anu was shelving a box of donated books and a folded paper slipped from between the pages of an astronomy atlas. It fluttered to the floor like a winged prayer. She picked it up. It was a map of stars.
Sol (Earth’s sun) lay at the centre, surrounded by star systems within 13 light-years. It wasn’t all the star systems within that range. Only some of them, making it… selective. All the more interesting.
Anu carried the map to the front counter. Michael looked up from balancing the previous month’s accounts.
“What have you found?”
She put the map down and said, “Our local stellar neighbourhood.”
Michael adjusted his glasses and studied the names:
Proxima Centauri. Alpha Centauri. Barnard’s Star. Wolf 359. Luyten 726-8. Sirius. Ross 154. Ross 248. Epsilon Eridani. 61 Cygni. Epsilon Indi. Procyon A. Tau Ceti. Kruger 60.
“I thought there were more stars than this within 13 light-years of us,” he said.
“There are.”
“Then why these?”
“These are the ones that have particular relevance to Earth,” explained Anu…
