Everyone's Island

by Kris Schnee

  The pale kid returned. "What's that robot for?"

  Garrett fielded that. "Right. Um. This here is Zephyr, the latest creation of Hayflick Technologies. He's designed for --" Paul the reporter was gesturing again. "He's an intelligent underwater scout unit with turbo-speed swimming and advanced learning systems with blast-processing capability." Thumbs-up from Paul.

  Miz Shakla said, "We're about out of time. Thank you all for speaking with the class."

  "No problem," said Garrett, as the video cut off.

  A few minutes later Paul came back on, in private. "You get a gold star, for the most part."

  Alexis said, "I'm sorry we snapped at them a bit. It's not our place to talk about things like that."

  Garrett sighed. "Can you cut out that part where I got angry?"

  "That was good material!" said Paul. "It was what people need to hear. Say, when you get your real equipment set up, flash me some footage, hey?"

  When Paul was gone, everybody sat around. "I guess that counts as public service," said Garrett. "Man."

  Martin had watched. "You do have the right idea about this place."

  "Not much of a 'place' yet," Garrett groused.

  * * *

  "Tierra, tierra!" said Tess. "Land!"

  Garrett was sprawled on his tiny cot and moaned in response. Martin and Alexis shook him till he sat up scowling. It was the middle of the night.

  "Tierra!" Tess explained.

  Martin said, "That's backwards. Land's coming to us."

  Tess prodded them upstairs to see lights on the horizon. "That must be it!"

  Garrett grunted. Alexis leaned on him pleasantly. They made coffee and sat on deck, watching the ship and straining to see what was hopefully behind it. "Santa's sleigh," said Garrett.

  The radio crackled. "This is Santa Maria, seeking research ship Constellation."

  Garrett jumped up to stand by the radio. "That's us! I mean, Constellation here." He gave an ID and convinced them to approach. The ship was already changing course enough to let them see what it was towing. He hurried belowdecks to fetch the spyglass, then took turns with Tess using it.

  The floating farm squares they'd built were nothing. "Castor" was floating up to them like an office building, an island, or maybe a Japanese wooden sandal with the usual two wedges beneath it. His sense of perspective was thrown off, but really it was the same building he'd inspected on land. A grey concrete slab atop two big boxes, made to withstand the sea's pounding at minimal cost. Simple lines and angles. Functional, if not elegant.

  "May I?" asked Zephyr, who had come up to the deck with Martin. Tess was about to hand the antique spyglass to the robot but she saw Garrett grimacing at the thought. She gave it to Martin instead with an apologetic shrug.

  After an agonizing delay, the platform reached the designated spot. The ocean churned and thrashed and made Constellation tremble. When the thing was finally hovering over the seabed and unleashed to bob as the current willed it, Garrett brought his boat closer and stared at it again.

  His stomach churned to see his new home shaking like that. Visible below the waterline was the array of concrete pipes that had been attached to the underside, like inverted cups, to create a "pneumatically stabilized platform." The waves would press on the air trapped inside the "cups" and create pressure differences. Valves linking the cups would let air flow back and forth, like giant bellows. The system would not only steady the platform, but generate electricity too. Nice clean engineering. Hopefully he was seeing it with the stabilizers off.

  As Constellation came around to the north they found the landing dock. It was just a padded concrete wedge that jutted from a pillar, with a metal door and a staircase leading up.

  "Nice, huh?" he said to Tess.

  "It looks like there's scum on the concrete already."

  He frowned at that. It was inevitable, though. They docked and he stepped off, feeling wobbly. Under his hands the steel staircase railing felt huge and jagged as he climbed. Tess bounded ahead, two stairs at a time. They stood on concrete amid a jungle of crates and drums. So much stuff. What a lot of work to do!

  The others joined them, looking around at everything. Garrett went towards the platform's edge and Tess followed. He felt like he was on a high-dive platform, a little dizzy when he looked down at the waves. Still --

  Garrett said, "This actually belongs to me! This gigantic thing!"

  Alexis was at his side already. "It's going to be amazing."

  Tess looked skeptically at the platform.

  "We'll make it work," Garrett said, with a goofy grin plastered on his face. He was looking not at the platform but at the almost-empty ocean around it. "We did it! We got the resources together and put a farming station out here!"

  Martin smiled, but what he said was, "No. You bought things made by other people's hands. Now let's see what yours can do."

  "Yeah. You're right." Garrett slid away from the wall, watched the sea a moment longer, then turned to face them. "Let's get to work."

  13. Martin

  Martin hitched a ride to Cuba with the departing transport ship. It was nice to get away from the Castor group for a while, for the sake of privacy and rest. He was getting a little old to be hauling gear around in muggy weather, but that didn't matter. He was doing God's work.

  Cuba was a strange place these days. It had been known in his youth as a time capsule, stuck decades in the past, but now only poverty held it back. There were some genuinely charming old buildings and visionary new styles mixed with Soviet garbage. Businesses were moving in, some to take advantage of the aggressively low-regulation environment and some to exploit the cheap labor. Or to set up shop for political dealings. Since Martin's last visit, the initial thrill of being free had worn off for the locals; the new flags were faded. But some of the chaos had died down too.

  In the shadow of a crumbling apartment building stood a beautiful cafe overlooking the shore. He sat at a table of rough-hewn wood. He had a soda at one hand, his computer spread in front of him, warm wind blowing through open thatch walls, and tourists swimming with dolphins outside. Not a bad place to work.

  As earnest as young Fox's people seemed, they were the practice squad. He hoped to get them demonstrating the basic operations of growing and processing a crop. Then he'd bring in people who would streamline the process and scale it up. Maybe he'd keep Garrett on as the dreamer: a technically competent administrator who would keep the team inspired, focused, and happy while others did the actual work. The others were of dubious usefulness, but they worked well together, cheaply, and he only needed proof-of-concept results from them. Then they could stay, or not. It would take many years to pay off the initial construction cost.

  Martin had projects in other places. Parts of a small aerospace concern in India, an unusual village in Africa, a biotech firm in Mongolia, and some friendships he'd maintained in Texas and his homeland of Utah. He had almost nothing left for himself.

  His first love, the nanotech business, was practically stalled. So he'd had to look at the bigger picture and become a longshot player. The human race needed a longshot, preferably one influenced by America and the Word of God. It had been revealed that bad times were coming, not that you needed revelation to see that. If people were to accomplish what they'd been put here for -- the right to become the apprentices of God -- it would have to be soon. Martin had had a blessed life for the most part. It was his duty now to throw a few seeds and see what sprouted. The world needed new knowledge and ideas, new sources of strength and adaptability, to deal with whatever was going to happen. Martin wasn't sure whether he believed in the coming of "one mighty and strong"; the world had already had the original, after all, and plenty of pretenders. But he had a more sober belief in people's ability to accomplish great things. Now was the time of testing for the species. Martin was one of those called to prepare the way.

  Though his own comfort didn't matter, he was glad to be here on the island with good Net access and
better food. He soaked up news from his various contacts, and relaxed. He could shop this afternoon for some gear on Garrett's wish list. Then he could fetch the little motorboat and head back to -- well, he might as well start calling "the floating platform" by its proper name. To Castor! He lifted his drink.

  There was a message from a stranger who'd made it through Martin's mail filters. Something about business opportunities. Martin answered cautiously; the guy wanted to meet in person.

  A reply came when Martin was about to leave. "I'm in town. Are you free?"

  * * *

  The stranger had a powerful handshake and hair that was growing out of a crewcut. "Walter Eaton," he said. "Pleased to meet you."

  Martin looked over Eaton's brand-new tourist clothes and the way he sat up straight at the table. "A military man?"

  Eaton nodded. "United States Marine Corps, recently retired."

  Martin tried a salute, then bought him a drink. After a minute's chat he said, "What's your interest in Castor?"

  "It strikes me as strange, because it's financially doomed." Eaton set aside the paper umbrella from his drink and sipped. "Besides the high startup costs and the risk, how can you expect to profit by growing crops? Farming has hardly ever been a booming industry."

  "If I can net a penny an acre, I just need a lot of acres." That was his standard comeback. "I take it you have something else to suggest."

  "Biotechnology," said Eaton. "If you look into the legal regime, you'll see that it's impractical to do research on the mainland anymore. It's gotten as bad as nuclear power was for decades after Three Mile Island."

  "I don't think so. There are still plenty of discoveries. Nanotech is the taboo field."

  "Regardless, some researchers are impatient. Your platform might make a useful place for simple but controversial experiments. Blue-sky research."

  "You mean unethical research. Cutting up babies and the like."

  "No," said Eaton. "I know of companies that don't kill babies, but instead work with bacteria, plants and so on. I could put you in touch."

  "I see. And what's your interest?"

  A shrug. "A finder's fee from their side. What I'd like from you is a chance to visit."

  Martin considered. "We certainly have the space, if not the amenities. I imagine you've camped in worse places. Why?"

  "I have. But I've never been to a structure like yours, and I've never lost the tourist bug. Besides, I can put the trip on an expense account if I make myself useful scouting the place. For where to put a lab."

  Martin said, "Interesting proposal, sir. I'll have to discuss this with my business partner, but in the meantime I'd be happy to look at information from you." Martin tried to look noncommittal, but this was great news! Any outside source of profit above the stature of a brothel was worth considering. Here, Eaton was saying, would you like a pot of money for hosting a respectable high-tech business? The main question was how to keep an eye on what these researchers actually did. It was possible that even Eaton didn't know.

  Eaton said, "I'll send you the details. Will you be in town for long?"

  "A few days."

  "Too short to go back with you. We'll be in touch." When Martin nodded, Eaton stood, dismissing himself.

  Martin watched him go, and smiled. This was a nice surprise!

  14. Garrett

  Garrett scowled at the inside of the cargo door, in what they were calling North Tower. "This is a nice surprise." Alexis was knocking on the metal from outside.

  The radio crackled. With the main network down again they were relying on walkie-talkies. Alexis said, "What's the problem?"

  "They gave us a locked door without a key."

  "Come on, they wouldn't do something that stupid. Could you have dropped it?"

  Garrett patted his pockets again. "So I'm that stupid?" Sweat trickled down his armpits.

  "Calm down. Maybe it's in that mystery box."

  Garrett grunted. He'd been trying to keep things organized, but entropy was taking its toll. He stood and glared at the warehouse room: lots of cardboard and styrofoam under dim bulbs. "Is Constellation moored, at least?"

  "It's secure. How about we leave this stuff on your doorstep for now?"

  "Fine." He trudged upstairs to deck level in time to meet Alexis and Tess coming up the outside stairs. Everyone squinted in the sunlight, but Garrett didn't have to keep hold of his hat. "Not much wind today." The sea looked lifeless.

  "Oh, yeah!" said Tess. "I got a windvane working! That's something." She'd been sweating figuratively as well as literally, trying to prove she could get the computer network fully functional.

  Garrett followed her to look. Sure enough, she'd gotten the white pinwheel turning on the roof, looking lazy but more active than he expected. "Wind's stronger up there," Tess noted. "And I got it to charge the main battery!"

  "It's not enough. There's the sensor net, and Zephyr and the radio and the battery rechargers and whatever else we've got draining our power."

  Alexis said, "What's with you today?"

  "It's not me, it's everything. Nothing works!" Garrett slapped the wall of the deckhouse.

  Besides the tenuous electricity supply, which had already cost them their frozen food, and the flickering sonar and water-quality network, the farm itself wasn't working right. The point of being out here was to demonstrate profitable aquaculture, right? But there were parasites in the fish and so on. "Are we that unlucky?"

  "Quit it," Alexis said. "Didn't you experience enough of Murphy's Law back home to expect minor problems like these?"

  "Minor problems! We've got nothing to show for our efforts after spending a fortune and all this work! What am I going to tell Martin?"

  Tess scuffed the deck with one shoe. "I got the windvane working."

  Garrett sighed. Since she was responsible for a lot of the electrical work, it sounded like he was blaming her. "Sorry, Tess. You did a good job. It's my fault I didn't plan better."

  "No," Alexis said. "It's no one's fault. We'll get everything fixed if we keep working at it, somehow. We deserve a break."

  "There's too much to do for us to slack off."

  "Do you even know what day it is?"

  Garrett blinked. "I've lost track."

  "Exactly. I'd like to stop and relax, and you definitely need it. You're not going to get anything useful done till then. And you've been working Tess hard."

  "I'm fine," Tess said, but she was looking as wilted as Alexis' flowers. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

  Garrett stared out at the dull ocean. It felt meaningless and obstinate. But Alexis was right as usual; he was worthless in this mood. "I've had enough swimming and sun for one day," he said. "Let's do something nerdy."

  * * *

  So three engineers and a robot spent hours sitting around playing games, in the middle of the ocean.

  "The phoenix shoots a fireball!" Tess said, rolling dice. "What's your armor?"

  "Leather," Alexis said.

  "Figures. Roll two-d-ten."

  Zephyr said, "I have dice-rolling functions. You could ask me to generate random rolls."

  Garrett answered, "It's not the same getting computerized results."

  "You think that I'll cheat?" Zephyr was playing the paladin in their adventuring party.

  Garrett had been surprised to learn that Zephyr played games like this until he remembered the bot's designer was his geeky friend. It'd be nice to get a game going in person with Val sometime, when they weren't both overwhelmed. Garrett took one of the dice and showed it to Zephyr. "What is this to you?"

  "A primitive random number generator." A blink. "Also a geometric primitive."

  "It means something. Touching the object puts you in contact with the meaning of it. I don't think I can explain, but it's more fun that way."

  Zephyr's ears drifted in circles. "Using the object has emotional value. Part of this value comes from the tactile feedback?"

  "The touch? Maybe, but also I've held dice like this o
n many fun, wasted nights."

  "The object invokes memory. The memory is: past events in which you felt the same thing?"

  "Something like that," said Garrett.

  "My assessment is: each of you has an internal model of the game we're playing. This model contains: estimates of where each character is, and estimates of what they can do. Is that right?" Zephyr got a round of slightly puzzled nods, and added his own. "That's good. You're like me, then."

  Garrett wasn't sure whether the bot really felt it, what with that near-featureless face and rigid body, but his tone seemed pleased. For his own part Garrett was happy to stop thinking about work for a while.

  15. Tess

  The ocean had Tess surrounded. She was only around ten meters underwater, the length of a room, yet it was another world. Dim, blue and cold, wavering like a dream past her goggles and the scuba regulator in her mouth. Nearby, Alexis drifted, looking around and serving as her dive buddy.

  Learning to dive had been like a video game. You got different levels of licenses for each skill, you could spend no end of money upgrading your gear, and there was an experience curve that affected even how quickly the air ran out. More confidence meant a lower heart rate, and hers was a hummingbird's. Tess vented air, watching bubbles drift by her face and feeling her vest slacken. Sinking through the ocean's "layer", a depth level with strangely segregated water, chilled her suddenly. Nearby, the inverted-cup structures of Castor's stabilizing units loomed with weird shadows on the seabed like a giant's teeth.

  She couldn't tell anyone, but it was a thrill to move through the water -- to have it rippling over her through the dive skin she wore. It was one of the few times she felt like she had a body, like she wasn't a hovering spirit that interfaced with an ugly, buggy viewpoint on the world, helpless against its limits. Here she could feel physical, real, even sexy.

  Not that Garrett ever noticed, of course. With his up-close experience with a truck, then a wheelchair, then surgery, certainly he needed no reminder that he was only human. Or cyborg, though he didn't like her calling him that. And having Alexis around made him think of Tess as just a kid.