“At least let me pay…”
“Absolutely not.” Sebastian refused and the two parted friends. The shop again quieting as the lights turned off and the memories slumbered again in the darkness of night.
***
Entering the store was fresh in Simon’s mind, even now, so many years later. He could close his eyes and remember the scent of the ancient books that lined the walls, feel the soft fur of the now extinct examples of animals long preserved through taxidermy, see the treasures and odd trinkets in his mind. The weight of Daniel Tehom’s watch was a heavy comfort on his wrist; it had become a constant companion from that day forward, always warm to the touch, smooth and buttery, almost an extension of himself.
“Sebastian?” he asked when the phone rang and was answered. “Simon Tehom… we met a few years ago in the…”
“Yes, I remember. How are you Simon?” the friendly voice answered, again as if the two had been speaking for all the years between.
“Good, very good… busy, as I am sure you have heard. I’d like to offer you a place on the Tehom One, I’ve been asked to hand pick a few people and you are on my list.”
“What? I… Surely there is someone younger, or… more valuable to your expedition than me Simon? I am a nobody.”
“I could use a friend, but more than that Sebastian, we are going to be making history, reaching forward into an unknown future. I’d like someone who not only remembers the past and where we came from, but also respects it. I think that kind of reverence is important on a journey like this.”
“I can’t rightly say no to that… though, like a lot of people I was too old for the lottery but still thought of the adventure you are going on. You really are offering me a slot?”
“I am, you won’t be able to bring much though.”
“Yea… that is going to be difficult, but I am a caretaker, none of this was ever really mine in the end.”
“If you are certain I will send a car for you next week, I will have my people work with you on a pick up schedule.”
“Can I bring anything at all, or just a bag of clothes?”
“We are allowing a small box of personal items, sentimental items, heirlooms, that kind of thing. Everything else will be provided on site.”
“Alright. With the storm we all know is coming from the west, people like me aren’t going to fare well. Honestly, I… I am sure you have many more phone calls to make.” Sebastian laughed lightly, “Good hearing from you Simon, you… we are going to have a grand adventure. See you in Texas.”
The two hung up with one another and Simon moved on to the next name on his list. Sebastian lowered his head and looked around at his various collections and relics, his eyes welled up not out of avarice but in sadness and guilt for agreeing to abandon the treasures around him. Still, it was an adventure he couldn’t refuse. History wasn’t just in the past, it reached beyond and forward too.
Chapter Sixteen: The Xiang’s
Not every member of the passenger list handpicked by Simon Tehom was broken or downtrodden. As could have been predicted the ranks filled with the families of a few minor politicians who had demonstrated their honesty and humanity over the years. There were middle class heiresses who on the surface were wholly unremarkable but a deeper examination revealed deep threads of integrity, personal strength and a predisposition for grace under pressure. The weighted gender ratio toward females was of little issue. For every three females hand chosen a single male joined the lists, Simon made every effort to make those men count. Added to the list were doctors, scientists, university professors, child prodigies, gifted teachers and extraordinary talents which represented both genders.
Simon took to sitting quietly at his desk, going over his life trying to remember people who had treated him well, honestly or otherwise made a positive mark in an uncommon way. Although he refrained in his mind from using the words reward or payback, it was not lost on him or anyone else the weight of the task at hand.
The west Texas winter had been a rarity, nearly six inches of snow marked the last winter season any of those chosen would spend on Earth. The small passenger ships had been transporting passengers slowly and deliberately to the TOGS; the three month journey from the Earth gave ample opportunity to weed out mental distress or those mentally unprepared for space travel and confined spaces. The smaller ships were cramped, uncomfortable and stressful by design, three months of discomfort made the arrival aboard the Tehom One less of a traumatic event and instead a welcomed relief.
***
A knock at Simon’s office door surprised him and shook him from his thoughts.
“Yes? Come in.” Simon answered; Liberty must have been out of the office as the guest came unannounced.
“Ambassador Xiang, I wasn’t expecting you today. Please do sit down!” Simon had long learned to be boisterous and welcoming to the stern and serious Chinese Ambassador and liaison between the Company and the Chinese Government. The parity between the two men had never been friendly and seemed to Simon more of a dance of sparring partners even after a decade of monthly meetings.
“Mister Tehom, I…” Xiang stopped and turned away to look out the window, Simon caught uncharacteristic emotion on the Ambassadors face before he turned. “…I need to talk to you, on a personal matter.” He finally continued.
“Ambassador? Is everything alright?” Simon walked over to the seemingly ancient man who was in his eighties.
“Mister Tehom, I am not here in an official capacity. I am here to ask you a favor, one that may very well cost me my life.” Xiang stood unwavering staring into the evening sunlight that flooded the office window.
“If you are here on a personal matter, maybe after all these years you could actually call me Simon?” Simon smiled and attempted to ease the mind of the seemingly emotionally unstable man.
“It is unacceptable in my culture to address someone by their first name when coming to them as an inferior asking for charity Mister Tehom, but you can call me Zhenkai it is my given name.”
“Zhenkai? I knew that, it is in your file, but our diplomats instructed us all to never use it.”
“Until now such usage would have been inappropriate.”
“You should tell me what is going on, I am very confused.”
Xiang Zhenkai looked into the sunlight once more and finally turned toward Simon. “I am a loyal Chinese citizen Mister Tehom, I believe in my country and in our way of life. You need to know that.”
“You have never given me cause to question that.”
“As Ambassador and as high ranking as I am in the Chinese People’s Party, combined with my previous military experience I am privy to things well beyond my circle of influence. This project has been seen by many in my government as a military concession to avoid an all out war many thought was unavoidable, a war that could be won of course, but at great cost.” Xiang paused a moment as if taking a breath, “At first many thought that the spacecraft was a ploy to build a weapon, our initial offer of assistance was a deception in order to gain access to assess the threat. When our own scientists finally concluded that the spacecraft was benign and the Tehom Consortium was being totally honest the surprise was felt throughout my government. These past few years, our working relationship and slow dismantling of the Republic of Texas has shown you to be a man of your word.”
Simon nodded and looked at Ambassador Xiang curiously.
“One year ago, I was a part of a discussion… or rather I was a member of a panel listening to a discussion on the future, my Government has turned its eyes away from this part of the world and has accepted that the events here will turn out as previously agreed to.” The Ambassador stopped and crossed his arms, “I can assume that this office is secure?”
“We are just as paranoid as you are Ambassador, you can speak freely here. Nothing leaves this office.” Simon reassured.
“The purpose of this panel and discussion was to keep our Empire from becoming stagnate and utterly repressi
ve. When there are no more enemies, warmongers make enemies of friends.”
“Are you saying that our situation has changed, and you now see us as enemies?” Simon furrowed his brow and looked genuinely worried.
“Absolutely not, you misunderstand me. The Tehom Consortium is not a country; the Republic of Texas exists in name only at this point and is no threat and that is the danger. They are worried that we will turn inward and destroy ourselves after we have won everything. They are worried about Civil War.”
“I can understand the danger you are speaking of, there are many empires in the past that…”
“Spare the history lesson, we understand each other.” Xiang interrupted. “My country is turning to the Russians to replace the enemy of the west; it is a natural progression the only two major world power nations left. It is a natural progression but a dangerous one. I am worried.”
“Worried? I can understand that. Your government wants a war with Russia?” Simon looked panic stricken but kept his voice low.
“It didn’t start that way, it started as political maneuvering and friendly competition. Healthy competition between allied states was all that was initially desired to keep both sides healthy and sharp. But tensions are high and our relationship has frayed exceedingly quickly, so quickly that it surprised everyone and has put a mark of danger on the region.” Xiang shook his head sadly.
“You spoke of a favor?” Simon asked suspiciously.
“All of the Chinese and Russian nationals are already off the Tehom One correct?”
“Other than the ones on the passenger lists that your government approved and the same from the Russians. The two of you make up about ten percent of the passenger list for an increased genetic diversity.”
“But workers, there are no more laborers or non-Tehom personnel working on the project?” Xiang raised his voice, frustrated.
“No Ambassador, not for about three months now.”
“Good, good. That is very good.”
“Zhenkai, you have to let me in, I am lost. Why are you telling me all of this? I cannot stop your country from going to war.”
“I am not here for them; I am here for my family. My life has been in service to my country, my own children and grandchildren are grown and have benefitted greatly from my lifetime of loyalty and service to China. But this project, it is bigger than us all. It is bigger and greater than any one nation. I am here to ask you to consider a final request. Outside is my car driven by my Grandson Xiang Longwei, he is twenty two. Also in the car are my great grandchildren, Xiang Fen she is seven, Xiang Chun she is twelve, Dandu Yun she is fourteen, and Xiang Hao my great grandson he is five.” Xiang looked desperate; a sort of maddened desperation filled his eyes.
“You want them on the ship. Three girls and a boy. What about yourself?”
“Three girls, two boys. My grandson would not leave his own son alone. I cannot go, if I were to come it would complicate the exchange and it would seem an act of betrayal, the remainder of my family and I would be considered political traitors and be purged. I will be lucky to retain my life as it is once I return to China. I have done much for this project, I have fought many battles for you…”
Simon interrupted, “Ambassador you do not in any way need to prove your service to both this project nor for your country. You are an honorable man and I can see now that we are friends you and I, your family will be my guests aboard the Tehom One. It would be an honor to have them with us.
“You will not have to make room?”
“We will be launching with several hundred empty slots, as you know we are struggling with about a four percent loss on the journey to the ship, mental breakdowns, stress induced psychosis and claustrophobia. People we have to return back to earth for a variety of reasons. There is more than enough room; we are having trouble filling the shuttle beds to capacity as it is. How did you get them from China?”
“Secretly and dishonestly. Bribed several officials and my pilot and smuggled them across the ocean. When we left Austin all four children were hidden in the trunk of my car. Even here this must be a secret Mister Tehom, discretion is key. No one can know they are here, they must not be on a passenger list submitted through the official channels.” Xiang spoke quickly and stammered through his slight accent.
“I understand. The last passenger manifest has already been submitted anyhow, my family and the last shuttle are scheduled to leave next week. Planned launch for the TOGS is still February fourteenth; they will ride in my shuttle. For security and paranoia we are launching six shuttles at once, two are decoys, one is mine and the other three are filled to capacity.”
“So early? What will happen here on the ground?”
“The step up in schedule is for surprise and security. The Tehom Consortium will still function for a year to act as mission control; it will be a full five years before we pick up the speed to fully leave the solar system though. The main challenge is still the capture of the large water ice asteroid so we will need all our ground telemetry for that. But after a year we expect to be on our own out there.”
“To be honest I think at this point you are wholly forgotten by both the Russians and the Chinese, neither wants to see you fail.” Xiang finally sat down and relaxed slightly.
“Our perceived danger is a domestic one, terrorists, religious fanatics, people who were ruled out as candidates and are angry. We are getting everyone to the TOGS as quickly as we can, officially we still have about 25 passenger shuttles going back and forth but they are minor supply runs not for passengers and even those may stop early.” Simon looked down at the waiting vehicle that looked empty. “Come, let’s go meet your family.”
The two men stood and walked together to meet the ragamuffin children obviously neglected in their secret escape from China. The three girls stood silent and respectful greeting Simon warmly in very broken English, the younger boy hid behind his father in shyness toward both Simon and Xiang.
“I am Xiang Longwei, Mister Simon Tehom I am very happy to have meeting you.” Longwei spoke in heavily accented English and extended his right hand in an obviously unfamiliar western gesture.
Simon took the young man’s hand and shook it politely.
“We are very glad to have you and your family here, welcome.”
It was not lost on Simon that the three girls arrived without either of their parents, only the boy Xiang Hao had come with a parent, his own father. So many parentless children were aboard the Tehom, Simon sometimes wondered if he was creating orphans and collecting children, the guilt sometimes overwhelmed him.
The children and Longwei their guardian were placed in a small secure house close to the center of the Tehom compound. They never ventured outside, they never answered the door, their paranoia of political assassination and fear of being discovered consumed their every thought. Each of them was technically a traitor and a fugitive, a fact not lost even on the youngest.
Chapter Seventeen: Arrival
The three month journey from the Earth had been next to maddening. Twenty seven people including two crew members cramped into a tiny cargo shuttle the size of a school bus allotted no privacy or personal space. Eleanor Tehom had finally grown accustomed to the weightless environment and spent her days conversing with the Xiang children learning Mandarin Chinese. Other than her mother and father, Eleanor was glad to have Sandra Wright and Colleen Rush on the same shuttle. Music became a constant feature on board, Sandra and Eleanor spent hours a day teaching Colleen to play the guitar. The nonsensical strums of nominal musical value at first were met with groans and annoyed comments of displeasure, however over time the music became a welcomed companion and ritual to everyone on board.
Liberty and Simon had over filled their own shuttle by two people, by the time the TOGS appeared as a shiny metallic dot to the naked eye the air had grown stale. Secretly this last flotilla of shuttles, ten in all, would be the last to leave Earth. The ten Shuttles carried 252 people, the final families and passe
ngers that would call the Tehom One Generational Spacecraft home. For Simon leaving behind anyone who wanted to go was extremely difficult, and when the final shuttles loaded Simon couldn’t leave behind a pair of children that had missed their own shuttle weeks prior due to a miscommunication. Simon loaded the girls into his Shuttle and refused to heed the warnings of his engineer on board.
The two girls, Della and Nellie Compton were twins and true orphans, their names had been put into the lottery by a nun who had lied about their age. Although they met the minimum age limit by the time the launch would occur their inclusion was a bending of the rules. They would be the youngest children on board at four years old. Eleanor adored them.
The two girls were their own constant companions, floating together in the passenger compartment. They would make up stories of moon princesses and knights, dragons and dinosaurs; no genre was beyond their imagination. Eleanor would sit for hours with a book in her hand and not read a word of it; the stories told by the imaginations of the two were far more interesting and entertaining.
The Tehom One grew in the window, closer and closer, but still seemed so far away. The other shuttles could be seen outside, but only barely. Eleanor would listen to her father getting constant reports from both Earth and from the TOGS, both ends of the journey start and finish awaited his arrival on board with a sort of panicked impatience.
Their little extended family grew close and friendly, the Xiang children opened up finally and their English improved vastly. Even little Hao was quickly becoming bilingual. He couldn’t keep up with the Compton girls, but it was not for lack of trying.
Eleanor did her best to only look at the TOGS in the window once a day in the morning after she woke up. The constant waiting and impatience she had learned to temper with a detached and reserved concentration on constructive tasks. Music, Language, and her father had loaded a series of business and personnel management manuals on her electronic reader, dry reading but he had insisted.
Tehom: The Tehom Legacy Book One Page 13
