by M. D. Cooper
“Shit! Come on, people!” said Erin.
Erin almost didn’t hear him. As Walter had been giving his answer, the rate of increase had flattened out and then leveled off.
Did someone, at some point in the last hour or so, do something right?
Holding her breath, Erin watched as the rise in readings continued to slow. Then the primary equatorial extractors began to show decreasing levels—the rate began to fall.
“Don’t stop what you’re doing,” she said, “but I think we may okay.”
One by one, the rest of the readings also finally began to drop.
The tension melted from Erin’s muscles.
It was late evening before everyone had finished their reversions and rechecked all of the configurations and settings, leaving the team tired and cantankerous. The mood at dinner was low. After a day of exhausting work, they were no farther on than they had been when they began.
Erin wasn’t keen on conversation either. Weeks of work hadn’t improved the PETER’s functioning, and she’d formed a near-concrete belief that Leif wasn’t working alone. She hadn’t forgotten the look that had passed between him and Reiko when he suggested the drinking match. Had that day’s close call been an attempt to divert attention from Leif?
Erin was about to announce she was going to bed—where she planned to watch some messages from her family—when Walter said,
She had gotten so used to studying them that she had to look twice to see what he meant.
“Core!”
The other engineers lifted their bowed heads and stared.
“Look at the levels,” she urged. “Check the levels!”
“Stars!” Lark exclaimed. “That’s amazing. How is it possible?”
“I don’t know,” Erin replied. “But almost every single reading is almost smack dab in the optimal range.”
“It might be a blip,” said Jere. “A temporary effect from what we did today.”
“That’s true,” Erin said. “We’ll take another look in the morning and watch things for another couple of weeks, but….”
For now, the energy extraction systems were functioning normally again.
Like any engineer, she hated it when something magically fixed itself. That meant the problem could recur, and they’d be none the wiser as to how. But maybe careful examination of the changes during the day would unlock the clues.
Even so, if the ring continued to operate nominally, the TSF engineers would leave, Lark and Fazir could go back to their usual shenanigans, and Erin could return to Martin, Isa, Jude, and the babies.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
STELLAR DATE: 05.12.8942 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Attica
REGION: Athens, New Canaan System
The crowds were thick at Attica Spaceport. Hordes of people had arrived in time for Landfall Day. Athens was famous for its anniversary celebrations, known to be the best in New Canaan. Isa searched among the people in vain; Erin’s small stature made her more difficult to spot at the best of times, let alone among a crowd of thousands.
In the end, it was Jude who located her first.
“Mommy Erin!” he shouted. He pulled his hand from Isa’s grasp and bolted toward a milling group.
“There she is,” said Martin, peering over people’s heads.
Isa finally saw her. Erin had picked up Jude, and he was clinging to her like a monkey.
“Aren’t you getting a little big to be picked up?” asked Martin when he and Isa reached the pair.
In truth, he was. Jude had inherited his father’s long legs, and though he was only five years old, on Erin’s small frame, they hung well below her knees.
“I don’t mind carrying my best buddy,” said Erin. “You are my best buddy, right?”
Jude answered, “Yes, I am, Mommy Erin. I missed you.”
“You did? How much?”
“This much!” Jude spread his arms wide and almost knocked himself free of Erin’s grasp.
“Careful,” said Erin, clutching her son. “That’s a lot, but I think I missed you even more.”
“I don’t think so. Are we going to see the fireworks now?”
“Soon,” said Isa. “Let me say hi to Mommy Erin too, then we’ll get out of the crowd.”
Erin put Jude down, and the three parents hugged.
“It was a great idea to suggest we bring Jude to Athens for the celebrations,” said Isa. “We’ve all missed you so much. It’s been a long month waiting for you to come home.”
“Very long,” said Martin. “How much longer do you think you’ll be here, Erin?”
“Let’s go to the stands,” Erin replied. “We can talk about it there.”
They walked out of the spaceport and down the road that led to the seating set up to view that evening’s fireworks. Afterward, more celebrations would take place. It would be an exciting evening for Jude, and Isa was glad of the opportunity to see Erin face to face. It was worth the two-day trip from Carthage, though it would be sad to say goodbye again. She didn’t like the way Erin had dodged the question when Martin had asked her for an ETA.
They found seats toward the front of the stands, which were already humming with life. People were pouring into them from the direction of the spaceport, and from the tourist resorts farther out. The night was balmy and the Cradle was shining down in all its brilliance.
“I can only stay a little while,” said Erin as they sat down.
“What?!” Isa said. “How come? I thought you were going to stay in Attica with us tonight.”
“I was, but things have progressed a lot over the last few days. I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure, but we’ve fixed the problem. The PETER is working as well as the day we arrived in New Canaan—its energy extraction is properly tuned again, and Athens’ seismic and tectonic activity are about back to normal. I’m returning to help pack up the temporary seismometers tonight. They’re on the other side of the planet, where it’s daylight. Then tomorrow I’ll meet you at the spaceport and go home with you.”
“You’re coming home, Mommy?” said Jude. “Woohoo!”
“That’s great,” said Martin. He reached over Isa and Jude and gave Erin’s arm a squeeze.
“We had something of a breakthrough,” said Erin. “To be honest, I don’t quite understand it, but I’m tired of being away from home and I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“What does that mean?” asked Isa.
“It means I’m grateful we have a fixed PETER, even if I don’t know how we fixed it—for now anyway. I’ll be happy to see the backs of the Transcend’s engineers. Earnest is going to be back from his current project in a few months, and then he and I will go over everything together.”
Isa groaned.
“Just a short visit,” said Erin. “When the babies are older.”
Isa threw her arm over Erin’s shoulders. “It will be wonderful to have you home again. I’ve been dying to hold the triplets, they look so cute. You should see them.”
“I have seen them. You sent me about a million images, remember?”
“Oh yeah, I do remember doing something like that.”
“And Martin sent me another million.”
“You did?” Isa asked Martin. “I thought we agreed I’d be the one sending the pictures.”
“I don’t recall coming to a final agreement on that matter. But…” He held up a finger. “While I have the attention of both of you, I’d like to suggest a few more names.”
“No,” said Isa, shaking her head emphatically. “No more name suggestions. No Harpo, Groucho, or Zeppo. No Blossom, Bubbles, or Buttercup. No Athos, Porthos, or Aramis. And definitel
y no Ed, Edd, or Eddy.”
Erin burst into laughter, alternating between snorting and guffawing. “Athos, Porthos, and Aramis? Who the hell are they?”
“Famous historical figures,” Martin replied loftily.
“They sound like famous male historical figures. Am I right?” asked Erin.
“Maybe.”
“Ed, Edd, and Eddy are definitely boys’ names too,” said Isa.
“Boys names can work for girls,” Martin said. “They would certainly be unique in New Canaan.”
“Three girls called Ed, Edd, and Eddy would be unique in the galaxy,” Erin said. “But you aren’t serious, are you? Isa, what’s going on? We talked about this, remember?”
“Don’t worry” said Isa. “We can always overrule him.”
“Huh,” said Martin, folding his arms. “You two are always ganging up on me.”
“You think it’s bad now?” said Erin. “Just wait until the triplets have grown up a bit. You won’t know what’s hit you.”
Martin’s mock umbrage faded. He said, “I can’t think of any other people I’d rather have pushing me around.”
His statement was met with smiles, and then the countdown to the beginning of the firework display was announced over the Link: they had ten minutes to wait.
“I guess this is where I leave you,” said Erin.
Jude’s eyes had been wide as he stared around the stadium, but at Erin’s comment, his attention snapped back to his parents. “Oh, Mommy Erin, do you have to go so soon?”
“Yes, we’ve hardly seen you,” Isa echoed. “Can’t you hang around a little longer?”
“I guess a few more minutes won’t make any difference.”
“Great,” said Martin. “But why not leave your team to do the dirty work and stay here with us? You can go back and say goodbye to them in the morning.”
“I told them I’d come back, and I’d rather not bail on them. Besides, it’s the last time I’ll see the Transcend’s team of engineers. They’re leaving straight after we finish. Tanis wants me to maintain a good relationship with them for diplomacy’s sake, so I have to go back to thank them for their help, wish them a safe journey, yadda yadda.”
Isa gave her wife a sideways hug and put her other arm around Jude. Erin and Jude were holding hands on her lap. It was wonderful news that Erin would be going home with them the next day, more than she’d hoped for on the flight over.
“Mommy Erin,” Jude said. “Why do we celebrate Landfall?”
“It’s when everyone arrived in New Canaan.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense. Landfall is a place, not a time.”
“Well, it’s….”
Erin looked to Isa for help with the explanation, but how could they explain the journey of the Intrepid? The hundreds of years of struggling and fighting across the depths of space in order to arrive at New Canaan…. It was hard to convey the vastness of space and time to one so young.
Carthage was the only place Jude knew—or rather, remembered. As far as Isa could tell, he didn’t recall that terrifying time in Troy when he could have drowned.
“Popcorn!” Jude exclaimed, noticing a vendor walking along the base of the seating.
Grateful that Jude’s capricious young mind had relieved her and Erin of the need to deliver a difficult explanation, Isa reached out to the vendor over the Link and paid for a box of popcorn. He lifted a box from his container, and it was passed up the rows of people to her.
As Isa gave the box to Jude, Erin said, “I’m sorry, but I must go now.”
“Awwww!” Jude protested.
Isa said, “I guess you’d better. Can you let us know as soon as you’re done and on your way back?”
“Sure I can,” said Erin.
She kissed all three members of her family goodbye and walked along the row, now full of people, before disappearing.
* * * * *
Isa watched the spot where she’d had her last sight of Erin. The uneasiness she’d felt the previous time she’d been on Athens had returned full force. Despite the good news that her wife would be coming home with them the next day, she couldn’t shake the feeling.
There was no reason for it that she could understand. When Erin had been working at the outer rim, building the secret shipyards, Isa had missed her but she hadn’t worried about her at all.
“What’s wrong?” asked Martin, raising his voice over the noise of the crowd.
“I don’t know. I’m tired of Erin always going off and leaving us, I guess.”
“But she’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be glad when she’s away from those TSF people.”
“Me too.”
Maybe that was it. The Transcend was not well-disposed toward New Canaanites, and Erin had been forced to work with their engineers for several weeks. In contrast, when she’d been building the secret shipyards, Erin had been among friends.
But now the PETER was fixed, and Erin wouldn’t have to work with the Transcend engineers any longer.
“When are the fireworks gonna start?” asked Jude through a mouthful of popcorn. He was kicking his legs.
“Don’t eat and speak at the same time, sweetheart,” said Isa, “and try to sit still. It shouldn’t be long now.”
The stands where they were sitting looked out over a lake. In the warm, sticky stillness of the night, the expanse of water acted like a mirror to the sky above, reflecting the Cradle as radiantly as the real thing. Somewhere beyond the lake, banks of fireworks sat, waiting to be set off.
All the seats seemed to be filled. The place was humming with anticipation. As the seconds counted down to the scheduled start time, conversations dried up, and gazes focused on the lake.
Isa began to record the view; the event would make a great addition to one of her installations set in Athens. Her worries began to ease as she contemplated the fantastic achievement they were about to commemorate.
The colonization of New Canaan hadn’t been entirely smooth and easy, but the colonists had overcome the challenges and created a thriving, exciting place full of possibilities. Now, anyone who had gumption and imagination could fulfill their dream.
A single stream of light burst from the lake and streamed upward. It was the signal that the fireworks were about to start.
“Do you see that?” Martin asked Jude.
In response, the little boy pushed his box of popcorn into Isa’s hands and clapped in excitement. His body was tense and his eyes bright as they reflected starlight and the long tail of light left by the rocket. Isa realized this would probably be the first Landfall Day celebration he would remember. She hoped it would be a good one.
Then the lake erupted.
Dazzling lines of light and color rocketed into the night sky and burst into showers of sparks. The millions of pinpoints of light then burst again and again, until the sky was a riot of rays almost as bright as daylight. Whizzes and crackles filled the air.
Jude squealed with excitement and bounced out of his seat.
Before the first display had faded away, another was launched. Rockets zoomed upward like arrows. They flew higher and higher, seeming to reach the stratosphere before they exploded, and the deafening sound ricocheted from the stadium and off the surrounding buildings.
A fizzing golden and silver shower descended until, at about a hundred meters above the ground, it changed direction and drifted down over the crowd. People leapt up, trying to touch the glittering sparks. When they did, the tiny dots of light burst on contact. Jude also jumped up, trying to catch the sparks, but when he did, he found his hands full of air.
Meanwhile, the third stage of the display had begun. This time, the fireworks remained low. Long, luminous vapor trails spread across the lower half of the sky. As the pyrotechnics moved, the trails crossed, and in a few moments, Isa realized they were creating an intricate pattern. Layer after layer of warp and weft of sky fabric was laid down, and music from the display drift
ed over the crowd. When the pattern was completed, the entire scene exploded.
Jude jumped and screamed and then quickly burst into giggles of excitement laced with fear. “I want to sit on Daddy’s lap,” he said to Isa, though she had to read his lips over the noise of the crowd and the fireworks.
She picked him up under his arms and passed him to Martin, who accepted the keyed-up child.
The fourth part of the display took place even lower down. Rivers of fire were spreading across the lake, doubled in the reflective surface so that it looked as though flames were boiling up from the depths. Isa continued to record, entranced by the scene.
The display had been going on for nearly an hour, and Isa was wondering what else the organizers had thought up to entertain the crowd, when she had the sudden sensation of being pushed by something she couldn’t see, as if a tsunami of air had hit her and passed her by.
Confused, she tried to figure out what had happened. Is the sudden pressure part of the display?
Hush and bewilderment fell over the crowd as it reacted to the same sensation.
Then an explosive crack assaulted Isa’s ears. The noise was different from a firework, and none accompanied the sound.
Isa looked at Martin. His arms were wrapped around Jude and his head was down, as if he was listening to something on the Link, but when Isa checked, she couldn’t find any news of what had happened.
Perhaps he is speaking with Eamon.
He lifted his head and looked her, his expression fearful. “Where did Erin go? Did she tell you?”
“I don’t know. All she said was she was going to the other side of Athens, where it’s daylight now. Why?”
“There’s been a massive eruption.”
Isa’s guts clenched. “Where?”
“A volcano called Poros.”
Isa didn’t need to check. She knew Erin was there.
That was what had been causing her anxiety. Somehow, she’d known Erin was in danger.
Martin had asked the same question. They waited long seconds before an answer came.
Isa wanted to shout at her wife, ‘You think so? What kind of an answer is that?’
