Friends in the Stars

by Mackey Chandler

  They stopped at a snack bar and got a couple of cups of coffee for the Red Tree Derf watching their hatch. Lee knew if she tried to tip them cash money they would refuse, but she had yet to have a worker refuse a big coffee with honey and cinnamon. They chatted a bit to establish nothing unusual had happened during their watch. There hadn't been any attempts to gain entry or too close an interest in their dock space.

  Lee would expect them to report any irregularities but stopping to chat encouraged that. It showed she didn't regard them as menials who could be ignored and respected their work. The older of the two looked surprised and then pleased to see Mike with them. He was kind enough not to make remarks about how he knew him when he was knee-high.

  Gordon formally released them from guard duty, informing them they would take the ship out now after doing an inspection and checklist. When they were inside Gordon informed Lee he would check spaces and stores. She was invited to check their freight was secure 'If you please'. Such official courtesy was a command idiom Gordon had adapted from Human custom.

  Lee gave Mike a come-along tilt of her head. He not only picked up on that gesture but gave an acknowledging nod without being asked. That was pretty encouraging. He just might fit in the ship's routine fairly smoothly.

  "You don't have to slide down the ladder like I do," Lee told him. "It's something you can learn how to do eventually to save time, but we're not in any great ripping hurry if you want to take hold of the rungs and go slower today."

  Lee just cupped her hands on the sides and slid down the ladder, feet rolled in a little to put the hollow of her instep against the rail just like her hands. Mike decided to go the safer slower way for now. She explained what she was looking for when she examined the way their freight was secured. Most of the foam boxes bore the Capital Provisions Logo behind a shrink wrap holding them on a lightweight pallet. A web net over it was fastened to the deck.

  The items the Mothers sent from Red Tree worried Lee more. Per her instructions, the pallets with the home-made goods had an additional plastic bag over each pallet load to contain any leakage from burst containers. Lee just wasn’t sure the packers at the Keep understood how ship’s freight got handled.

  For Mike, Lee used it as a teaching moment to detail the sort of forces their freight might experience and contrasted that with other items they might need to carry, She pointed out some of the unused deck dogs and strap binders stored in the compartment and discussed how those might be used.

  Going back up to the command deck, Lee showed off a little. The life-extension treatments she'd gotten while visiting Central and Home in the Earth system included some other functional gene mods. She was both faster and stronger than the average Human and went up the ladder like a monkey.

  Gordon was already strapped in the commander's chair. Lee made sure Mike was belted correctly in his second-row seat and moved up to her seat beside Gordon.

  "We're stocked sufficiently and alone," Gordon informed Lee.

  "OK, that's the first thing you've said that I don't understand," Mike said. "What do you mean, 'We're alone'. Why wouldn't we be?" he asked.

  "I never undock before I've checked every cabin and storage area big enough to hide a person or a body. You might find other stuff stashed away too, although you can’t search every small cabinet and drawer without need. In a larger ship, I might assign a trustworthy officer to conduct the search, but it is never skipped in my command."

  "Even though you had guards on the ship?" Mike asked, surprised.

  "Yes, somebody might have hidden aboard before they were in place, even in this small a vessel. All sorts of people had access to the ship when it was in final finishing, and when it was brought over to the station. Once here we had people bring the dedicated stores aboard. There are things like soap and sani-wipes, bedding and staples for the galley. We intend to keep a month’s worth of supplies as a base. There was another supplier of fresh food, who stocked the larder for us with about three weeks of stuff like coffee and sandwich fixings. Lastly, the Mothers’ supplies for the survey team were stowed. A lot of people were in and out of her. People contrive to be left behind. There aren’t sensors in every locker and cubby, and you might be shocked how small of a space a Human like Lee can fit into.”

  “There’s even a special word for it in English,” Lee said, “stowaway.”

  “It would have never occurred to me to attempt such a thing,” Mike said, amazed.

  “There’s a history of it going back to the days of sailing ships,” Lee said. “On Earth, my cousin told me people crawl up the landing gear and stow away on aircraft, even though it kills lots of them. If you hang around Spacers, and our crew from the Little Fleet in particular, you’ll become familiar with all the ways in which people stowaway, smuggle, hide stills, gambling equipment and other sources of amusement, divert supplies and manage to transport their own goods to trade at various ports of call. You’ll find that even among Derf, the level of obedience to regulations never approaches the level the Mothers maintain in a clan keep. The Fargoers make it an art form, and my friend Talker assures me it is the same among both the Badgers and Bills.”

  “I see,” Mike said. His tone, however, said he didn’t see and disapproved. He was obviously scandalized. Even Lee could tell.

  “I have a clear systems board,” Gordon said. “Let me get clearance to drop off and start a jump run and we will have plenty of time to talk.”

  Lee and Mike listened. It was interesting chatter, and Gordon named Lee as an apprentice pilot, but still his number two.

  Once the ship was following his flight program, Gordon looked back over his shoulder, concerned. “This flight you’re just with the two of us and no crew. I have no idea who may give you a lift back home when your tour is over. It might be a big ship like the Retribution. Let me give you a little advice. If you are obsessively obedient that’s your business, however, if you see little actions among the crew that aren’t by the book but won’t endanger the ship or get it in trouble with the port – mind your own business. In particular, don’t go running to the Master or an officer and report it like a good little boy. They likely are aware of it and won’t thank you for making them either officially notice it and clamp down, or publicly give it a pass.”

  “I’m having a hard time with that,” Mike admitted. “That puts me in the position of trying to excuse myself later if there is loss or damage because of the rule breaking and I didn’t report it. If regulations are too restrictive then the rules should be fixed.”

  “Sweet screaming little gods on fire, you should have been an Earth lawyer!”

  Mike was wide-eyed at Lee’s outburst. “I respect your strong reaction is sincere, but you have to explain it much more for me to understand why.”

  Lee sucked in a long breath, and tried to compose herself. Gordon found his screen of sudden interest again and left her to her own devices to defend her stance.

  “Have you ever found any of the Mothers’ directions uncomfortably restrictive?”

  “I’d rather not be critical of them to others,” Mike said.

  Gordon looked over his shoulder, with narrowed eyes, all pretense of reading his screen gone.

  “A barracks lawyer and a potential politician,” he accused the young Derf.

  “Aren’t the Mothers politicians too?” Mike asked.

  “Yes, but you might be as careful about saying what kind of politicians,” Gordon counseled. “Indeed, just the wrong tone of voice saying the word might forever damage your standing with them far more than arguing policy. Young Lee here has contended with them over major issues, over how they dealt with outsiders, and got a good hearing. But she never once hinted they might put personal issues over the good of the clan.”

  “I don’t think they would either,” Mike told Gordon, “but I do think everything they decide assumes their continuing to be in tight control is necessary for the good of the clan before everything else. I don’t want to challenge that. I just want
to be out from under their thumb myself. I’m pretty sure the way I’m leaving is less disruptive to everybody, and much easier than the way you had to leave, just walking off without any support or idea how you’d make a go of it. It had to be hard, and it took a long time to make anything of yourself, didn’t it?”

  “It was pretty rough,” Gordon admitted. “I didn’t eat well or often for some time. I had to go through a series of menial jobs until I had some experience to offer people.”

  “Was it hard to mend the breach with the Mothers and get back in their good graces after just walking away?” Mike asked with no subtlety at all.

  “If you send them a few hundred thousand dollars Ceres each time you get a payout from an exploration claim and then bring them a couple captured space ships when you make war for them they tend to forget any small slights they felt years ago.”

  Mike nodded, looking intense. “I’m going to get experience very much like the crew of an exploration company doing a detailed survey of a new world. Then, if I want to walk off either there or back on Derfhome I’ll have something to offer a ship’s company. I’m sure I’ll get to do a little bit of everything in a crew of six. Setting up camp and tearing it back down, map making and site survey, collecting and classifying specimens. That’s what you two did on this world we’re going to isn’t it?”

  “It is, but we just made a start on it and my parents got killed one night and we had to withdraw with a very sketchy survey,” Lee said. “If they give you a chance to be the camp cook, I very much recommend gaining that skill.”

  “Thank you,” he said, obviously surprised at her advice.

  “We’re of a similar age,” Lee guessed, “or at least a similar stage of development. It’s true I’ve argued policy with the Mothers. The difference being I’ve seen other worlds, other races, and other cultures. I spent time in jail on Earth and lived with relatives who depended on negative tax charity to exist in a horrible, horrible, demeaning political system. I’d rather live with the Badgers than other Humans on Earth. You know the defects and shortcomings of Red Tree, but let me tell you, there are much worse places to live than under the Mothers’ thumb. Before you think to sweep the clan system away, without carefully considering what would replace it, you need to travel and work and see how much worse it is other places.”

  “I think maybe you read too much into my wanting to leave,” Mike objected. “I don’t see myself ever having the means to change how the Mothers run things. Most folks seem happy with it anyhow. I just want to go off and try other things myself.”

  “You sounded like you might be a budding revolutionary,” Lee said. “That’s something I’ve been terrified might happen if the clans and the trade towns don’t come to some sort of accommodation with each other. We’ve been very encouraged the Mothers have reached out to the Central and Badger embassies. In fact, sending you off to work for the clan instead of leaving you no choice but to walk to town like Gordon had to do seems like a very positive step to us.”

  “This way they get some use out of me,” Mike said. “I knew a couple of the others in the survey group. I sort of figured we were all being sent off where we couldn’t make trouble and still be useful.”

  “Australia,” Gordon said, cryptically. They both looked at him with no comprehension at all.

  “The British had a worldwide empire and sent off criminals and trouble-makers halfway around the world to Australia. It was cheaper than keeping them in prisons and had the benefit of opening up a strange continent where everything seemed bent on killing them. It was full of deserts with poisonous creepy-crawlies and snakes.”

  “It’s frustrating, Gordon knows Human history better than me,” Lee said.

  “It’s pretty smart if they came up with a similar solution all on their own,” Gordon said. “I don’t think the Mothers know much more Human history than you do.”

  Lee had a sudden realization. Her mouth formed a brief O of surprise, then she clamped it back shut, but not before Gordon saw it.

  “What is that burnt smell? Are you overloading the logic circuits again?” Gordon asked. Mike had no clue what the byplay meant.

  “I might have done something stupid,” Lee admitted.

  “Again?” Gordon asked.

  Lee nodded, suddenly shy. The fact she would admit such a thing so freely was more instructive to Mike than anything they had said before. It displayed amazing trust.

  “I asked the Mothers if they left the survey crew a satellite phone. They said it never occurred to them. I said I’d take one to them so we could arrange things easier. Silly me, I thought it was an oversight, or they didn’t want to let the crew get used to the luxury of having a phone because they’d expect it back home.”

  “But you’re changing your mind now?” Gordon asked.

  “Yeah, what if the Mothers didn’t leave them so isolated because they were cheap like I was too quick to think? What if they were welcoming a little distance between them as Mike suggested, and you sort of inferred too?”

  “Did they all facepalm, and say ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’ right away?”

  “They just ignored it. I was kind of irritated they didn’t at least ask me to share the com code once they had a phone,” Lee said.

  “I predict, if you never bring the matter up again, neither will they,” Gordon said.

  “Yes, but if I give them the phone like I planned I may open the whole can of worms again,” Lee worried.

  “Just give them the phone and invite them to call you,” Mike said. “If the codes to reach the Mothers via commercial drone are on the phone wipe them. I bet they never ask for them. I sure wouldn’t. They didn’t volunteer to come all this way hoping the Mothers would call up and start micro-managing them. Believe me, none of them want to explain to the mothers why they incurred charges for interstellar messages.”

  Gordon regarded him anew. “You know, you may not be as dumb as you look.”

  Mike took that for high praise coming from Gordon and just nodded his thanks.

  * * *

  Wilson handed Pamela a document folder with her mission statement and authorizations. It was plastered with warning stickers and filing codes. The zipper had a seal across it with the copy number 3 repeated. The original agency file 0 would be archived, and Wilson would have number 1. Pam would put this in her safe of course, not take it to Derfhome. The agency thumb drive Wilson gave her was keyed to her DNA and could be safely taken on her mission, as it was impossible to alter or add to it. Changes and additions would need to be done on copies kept in a secure environment.

  Wilson had to read her the primary header by department policy and law. They were sitting and he read it in a bit of a sing-song voice as fast as he could get it out of the way.

  Document key, approval date, initiation date, authorization tree, classification level, copy numbers, event response and reasoning details, document preparer, routing and handling, encryption keys, as well as line items for things like that had not happened yet but might in the future such as reviews, declassification and attachment of other documents and images. Finally, he read off the number of lines in the document and that no errors were listed.

  “Here are your funding credentials, travel documents, and a credit card. Your keys for making reports and your cover bible. Most of that is true, as far as having worked for the department. What you did for the department is not detailed in your cover story since the public can’t very well check that. I’m sending Kirk Fuldheim as your subordinate. He will have slightly different duties than you, but be required to explain his actions in detail, and can only appeal home if he feels your orders completely negate his portion of the mission. I’m of the opinion you aren’t friendly with Kirk and perhaps not vise-versa, but he has analytical talents you will utilize regardless of how you regard each other’s personalities. This is an excellent opportunity for both of you. The department never has enough people fit to conduct fieldwork, even less so for off-planet assignments. I
have every confidence you will be successful,” Wilson said, wrapping it up.

  It was almost like the affirmation that her father taught her a good salesman gave a customer after a deal was sealed Pamela thought.

  * * *

  “We see a thrust on this disk when we put a radial electric field on it.”

  “That’s interesting, add it to the list of things observed to investigate, but it isn’t what we are looking for, to get sidetracked with it,” Musical insisted.

  “Well, it’s still an effect nobody has demonstrated before,” Born said.

  “Yes, it has an unusual symmetry, but what can you do with it?” Musical asked.

  “You could build an electric motor from it,” Born said.

  “More efficient than what we already have?” Musical demanded.

  “Well, no, not really.”

  “With some unusual shape we can’t do right now?” Musical asked further.

  “Not that I can see,” Born admitted.

  “We’ll have years of things like this to research, but spin it down, ground it out, and let’s see what it does with a magnetic field,” Musical said.

  It took a few minutes to come to rest and Born watched through the observation port to make sure the grounding contact touched the shaft and withdrew.

  “High voltage discharge is retracted. Magnet coils positioned and locked down,” Born reported. “Spinning it up to 100k rpm. You ready to activate at base rpm?”

  “Yep, recorders running, the magnet will put a five-tesla field across the disk for a full turn. If nothing interesting shows we’ll double the spin and charge up for a 50T field. You didn’t forget and leave your phone in your pocket again did you?”

  “No, once was expensive enough to teach me,” Musical said.

  “OK. Up to speed, activating magnet,” Born said.

  There was deafening > BANG <, the top of the centrifuge containment bulged, and a cloud of flour fine concrete dust slowly descended from the ceiling. They both turned to run without needing to discuss it. The Derf, Born, being massive turned slower, but caught up with the Badger in a few long steps and scooped him off his feet from behind like a toddler, not even breaking his stride. Having an extra set of arms also let the Derf close the door behind him so quickly that just a few wisps of chalky dust followed them into the hall. Once there he stood uncertain what he needed to do next.