Tumbler

by Brand Gamblin

  In her years of living among the asteroids, Libby had seen some large rocks. She'd seen rocks big enough to hold a whole city, and some that were as large as Alaska. But this was, by far, the single largest rock she'd ever seen. It looked more like a planet than a claim. It was huge and chunky, with slablike sections poking out at irregular intervals, looking more like mountains than the irregular stalactites that some asteroids had. On one section, a series of worklights highlighted the largest dig Libby had ever seen. And it positively glowed in the darkness. The lights reflected on a metal that had the too-bright shine that distinguished it from silver. It was the largest platinum mine she had ever seen. She gasped, not believing it for a moment. The scale was just too big for her to wrap her head around. It was just too big to be real. The rock itself was the size of South America, and the worklights defined a square of space the size of Texas.

  After a few moments, she shook off the amazement, and headed for the rock. In this area, there was nothing else even approaching the size of a claim, so this had to be Woody's rock.

  In one corner of the mammoth site sat a tiny shack. Libby headed straight for that shack, as the homing beacon got louder in her head. She landed as soon as she got near. Libby jumped easily off the runabout and promptly fell down. The gee force felt almost as strong as Earth's gravity. As she rolled over onto her side, Libby chastised herself. Of course the gravity would be worse here. This rock was massive, and it looked to be completely solid. She crawled back up to her hands and knees, and slowly stood. She took careful, halting steps through the door. Once she was inside, she gasped again, and fell to her knees.

  The room, for there was only one, was sparsely decorated, with just a bed, tub, and desk. A collapsible sink sat next to the tub, just over the toilet. In one corner was a table with a hotplate, and a single set of dishes and cutlery. Under the table was a stack of dehydrated meals. Just add water and heat.

  The roof was riddled with tiny holes, like a gangsters den. In the bed, Libby could see Woody's form, curled up in a fetal ball. He was wearing the suit, but as Libby crawled up to him, she could see that one of the tiny asteroids had punched through the suit. A silver-dollar sized hole was leaking blood slowly.

  Libby could feel the tears now, and didn't know how to fight it. She grabbed Woody's shoulders, and shook him, pushing her helmet up against his so he could hear her, "No! You gotta get up! Come on! You don't go like this!"

  His eyes fluttered, and he weakly raised a hand. His glove rested on the side of her helmet as his eyes focused. He smiled at her through blue lips, and said, "I shoulda guessed it'd be you, comes to get this old mule."

  "Yeah, I'm here, and you're hurt, so let's get you moving." She tried to raise him, but he crumpled bonelessly, as though there were no more energy in him.

  He clasped one hand to her helmet, and pulled her back into contact with his. "Lissen up! I don't have much time."

  "You're going to be fine. I'll just get -" There was a loud ringing in her helmet, as Woody thumped the side of it, hard.

  "Quiet, girl. Now look. This suit's swiss cheese, and the body in it ain't much better. There ain't no extra suit, and I couldn't survive changing them if'n I had one." He took a shallow breath slowly, and locked eyes with her again, "I'm sorry. Elizabeth. I'm sorry. I want you to know that."

  Her hands clenched and unclenched as she tried to think of something, "You don't have anything to apologize for."

  He shook his head slowly, "You gotta understand, I didn't mean for it to end like this. It's going to be hard for you, but don't let it turn you into me. Got it?" He pulled her helmet to her, as he leaned forward into it, "Do NOT let it make you like me! You should have friends. You should have . . . people."

  Libby couldn't think of what to do. She just held him close and rocked back and forth, letting the tears fall. She heard him whisper, "I'm sorry." One more time, then she felt his embrace go slack.

  Libby took him with her when she went back to town. It was the only thing she could think to do. She didn't remember the flight at all, she just traveled back with her mind on autopilot. She carried him into town, holding the thin man in her arms like a baby. She went back to the Hail Mary, and although the place was buzzing with activity, everything stopped when she came in the door.

  They saw a small woman in an environment suit, covered in black oil, limping as she walked, carrying one of their friends in her arms. Libby set him down on one of the tables being used as a makeshift medical bed, and stood there as people swarmed around. The doctors, despite being short-staffed, dropped what they were doing to come help. Libby opened up her helmet and threw it on the floor, "He's gone. I just brought him back here because. . . I dunno, I just brought him back."

  The people looked at her sadly. Some heads bowed, others silently cried. Libby let it wash over her, and joined in the sorrow for a moment, then turned to Miriam.

  The huge woman had come out from behind her bar for the first time, as far as Libby knew, and was staring silently down at Woody. Libby whispered to her, "I don't know what he wanted, but we need to find out. I don't know how to do that."

  Miriam nodded resolutely, "I'll see to it." Then she looked up at the group, "All right. We'll have time for this later. Right now, we have to stop it from happening again. Get back to your stations."

  Many people passed by the table, touching his hand as they slowly walked back to their work. In the end, it was just Libby and Miriam. Miriam looked at her and said, "So, are you done, or are you ready to help some more people."

  Libby nodded, still looking down at Woody, "I'm ready. Just point me in the way of the -" as she took a step, the incredible pain in her side flared again, and she grasped the table to keep from falling down.

  Miriam was at her side in an instant, one arm under her shoulder, guiding her to another table, "You aren't ready for anything, young lady. You're going to stay right there until one of the doctors has a chance to look at you."

  Libby tried to argue, “No. They don't have time. They have too many people, and I don't have time to wait. I need to be out there for -” As Miriam pushed her back down onto a table, Libby passed out before she could finish.

  Chapter 22

  Libby woke to a bright light shining down on her. She opened her eyes to see a white corridor, with rooms branching off at regular intervals, and one fluorescent light in the ceiling. A single blue line ran down each wall. Looking around her, Libby could see that she was still lying on a table, one of many in the hall. There were other tables, with other people. They all looked worn and tired, wearing hospital gowns. Libby slowly realized that she fit right in with them.

  She was lying on her side, her good side. Breathing was difficult, and she could feel something tight around her chest. The pain was still there, but it was a dull ache, not the pain that she remembered from earlier.

  She felt extremely tired, which she attributed to painkillers. As she dozed, she thought about Woody, and it made her want to go to sleep. She curled up closer and squeezed her eyes tight.

  There were footsteps in the hallway, coming closer. She opened her eyes to see Dora crouching next to her table, resting her chin on the edge, with her hands holding the table on either side of her head. Dora crouched there for a minute, just looking at her. She didn't smile, "Hey."

  Libby blinked at her, "Hey. How's everybody?"

  "Good. They're all really busy, so I figured I'd come down here and see how you're doing. Dad said he'd come by later and see you." The girl's voice was a flat monotone. Libby wasn't sure whether it was due to the fatigue or the shock of what was happening. The enormity of it was still sinking in for Libby.

  "So," the girl continued, "How are you doing?"

  Libby half-shrugged, "I guess I'm okay. What happened to me?" One hand moved over the hospital gown to the spot where her ache was.

  Dora's eyes followed her hand, "The doc says you broke a couple ribs."

  Libby frowned, "Really? That's all?"

 
Dora's eyebrows raised, "Sounds pretty bad to me, broken bones and all."

  "Yeah, it's just, in the movies you hear about the hero breaking ribs and still fighting through it all. Still helping people in danger, that kind of thing. As bad as this hurt, I thought I'd at least get a serious injury out of it." Libby closed her eyes, thinking about the people who were still out there, needing help. She squeezed her eyes shut as she said, “Guess I'm not much of a hero.”

  "Libby?"

  "Yeah."

  Dora's voice was still toneless and flat, "Movies aren't real."

  Libby smiled, and stuck out her tongue, "You know what I mean. There's probably still -" Her eyes popped open and she sat up, "Mike!" The pain came back suddenly, and she dropped back to the table. She gasped and held her stomach, "What about Mike? He wasn't there with you."

  Dora nodded, "He was doing his rounds when the comet hit. He was refueling the La Paz family, and when they went to ground, he joined them. He pulled his runabout indoors, and they all took shelter in the most secure room. They held their position until the big crunch was over, then he took them on his runabout back to town. He's been doing what you were doing ever since. That's why he's not here now, he's still going out to check on the people we still haven't found."

  Dora's eyes got a far away look, and she said, "I wouldn't want his job." There was a long pause as Libby thought about that, then Dora said, "I mean, it was bad when you went out there, but it's been almost a day now. At this point, when Mike finds them, they don't need help anymore."

  Libby tried to fight off the weariness, but it suddenly felt like much more than the drugs. Her friends, the whole city, everything was destroyed, broken. She reached out and took Dora's hand. They stayed like that for a long time, not saying anything.

  When Libby looked up, she saw another familiar face, standing behind Dora. Jimmy looked like the walking dead, pale and drawn, with dark streaks across his face and suit. His eyes looked haunted and tired.

  "Jimmy?"

  He moved forward with energy she wouldn't have expected him to have, "Yeah, it's okay. Don't worry. You're going to be fine. I just wanted to check in. When I got back, I heard you were in here. What happened?"

  "I had a run-in with some debris. Turns out, in zero gee, a medi-kit can fly at mach one, which is cool unless you're in front of it."

  He nodded, and laughed mirthlessly, "Funny."

  "What's that?"

  "You got hurt by a medikit. Just seems funny."

  She smiled, "I hadn't thought of that. So, where have you been?"

  He blew out a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair, "Oh, jeez. I've been running around so much, I don't even know. They had me on dome engineering at first, which was basically breaking off the damaged plates of Blessed's dome, and then welding in new ones. Then I was helping with logistics, getting food, water, and air to people. Now they've got me leading the construction section."

  She frowned, "Construction? What part are you building?"

  He looked away suddenly, shrugging and smiling sheepishly, "Well, all of it. I mean, there's a lot of construction that need doing, and they want me to help out by coordinating, I guess." He shrugged again, "Turns out I have kinda a knack."

  "Wow. Jimmy, that's huge. Congratulations, I guess." She didn't quite know how to feel about that, but she didn't want to say it.

  He said it for her, "I don't know. I don't like getting a promotion this way. It feels wrong."

  Libby understood, but she still didn't know what to say, so she changed the subject, "Hey, Jimmy. Remember my ore? The block I was bringing to town. I don't suppose . . ."

  Jimmy looked down at the floor, pulling on one sleeve with the other hand, "Yeah. I'm really sorry, Tumbler. Nobody's seen it."

  Libby didn't know what she was expecting, but that hit her harder than she'd thought it would. Her little nest egg, the thing that she had been working on all that time, and now it was nothing. Just another dangerous missile, possibly ricocheting off of some honest farmer's house, or else rolling out into space as an incredibly valuable cube of trash.

  Jimmy touched the side of her face gently, in a surprisingly tender gesture. Libby was too mixed up to understand any of it, so she just blinked up at him. He said, "I'm sorry to be the one who tells you this, but there's more. We've started charting the areas nearby, starting with Blessed, and moving out from there. I've tried to check up on what we knew about your stuff, and your rock, your claim, has been lost."

  Libby just closed her eyes, feeling the tears start up again. Her friend dead, years of work lost, and now, no way of starting over. It was like she had gone back to zero, like she was starting over, just like that first day. She thought about seeing Sam in the corridor, saving his life. It seemed so funny now, but she didn't feel like laughing.

  Jimmy continued, seeing her expression, "Now, that doesn't mean we won't find it. Lots of the homesteads have just moved, and we're finding claimed rocks all the time. It's entirely possible that we will find it. . . we just haven't yet."

  A new low voice boomed in the corridor, "That's all right. Don't worry about Libby. She'll be fine." Libby looked to see Ira walking up to the table. He stood next to Jimmy and said, "I'm so sorry, Libby, for what's happened. But you're going to be all right."

  He knelt beside Dora and brought his face close to Libby, "Twice now, you've saved my daughter, but you've also saved my boys, and my wife. I know you've suffered a lot tonight, but I swear to you, I'm going to see that you are taken care of. You're family to us, and I will see to it that you are all right."

  She smiled and her eyes drooped, "That's very sweet of you, Mr. Davis, but I can't take charity. A friend of mine taught me that there isn't any value in something that's handed to you." Libby suddenly remembered who it was that had told her that, and she winced again.

  Ira nodded and stood up, pulling Dora softly away, "That's all well and good, but you're not getting rid of us that easily. You get your rest. We'll be here when you wake up."

  Chapter 23

  The next few weeks were something of a blur for Libby. When she got out of the hospital, she was immediately moved to Miriam's apartment, where she was assigned bedrest in a close, dim guest room that was redolent of incense. Miriam would drop by occasionally to make sure Libby had all her painkillers and sleep. Libby insisted that she was well enough to work, and several times, Miriam pushed her back into bed. Eventually, when Miriam came home to find Libby passed out in the hallway outside her apartment, Miriam agreed to let her do some work, if she promised to do it from bed.

  So Libby took up some of the record-keeping work for the community. She logged information about what homes had been lost, what claims were still missing, vital statistics about people both missing and found. In a few weeks, she learned more about her neighbors than she'd ever wanted to.

  By the time Libby was up and around, the construction had started in earnest. The thread network that held Ceres in contact with its satellites had been rebuilt, and all the tethers were set up with special failsafes that could allow them to be cut at any moment. Some people had found their homes again, others had started rebuilding. The local banks had so much business with new mortgages, they were able to drop their interest rates dramatically, and out of self interest, they did.

  Lots of people who had been in temporary shelter were able to move out to their new claims, or temporary sheds on their old claims. There was an incredible loss of equipment, which made all of the remaining equipment far more valuable, and therefore, almost impossible to get. Everybody was starting over, and despite it all, they didn't despair.

  As she walked through Blessed, Libby could feel it. These people who had lost so much were still able to laugh and chat with each other, glorying in the fact that, through it all, they were not beaten. It was astounding to Libby, who had always felt like an outsider here. To see how these people could so easily keep their spirits up through such crushing adversity was nothing short of amazing to her.


  As soon as she could move, the Davis family invited her over to their rock. Although it had been cracked open, it was still a workable claim, and they had built a shack right next to the location of the old home. At one point, some miners found the half of their rock that had broken off, and they used guidance thrusters to bring it back to the original. Even though it wasn't attached, the Davis family still had a solid claim on both halves of the rock.

  When she got out there, the family made her a huge meal, celebrating her health and their new home. She couldn't help being touched by their generosity, and said so. Then Ira looked at her from across the table, smiling.

  "Well, dinner's not the only reason we asked you out here tonight. See, when we had them build this shack, we told them we needed five rooms. A bit extravagant, I know, but a necessity. One common room for eating, cooking, playing. One bedroom for me and the missus. One bathroom, one room for Howie and Mike, and one room for you and Dora."

  Libby nodded through all of that, stopping at the last. She smiled, "Well, that's awfully nice of you, of course, but I just couldn't -"

  "You can, and you most certainly will. There is no person in this universe that we are more indebted to than you. You've saved all our lives, and we have no intention of forgetting it. You've done too much not to be family now."

  "Mr. Davis -"

  "Ira"

  She paused, "Mr. Davis, you've all been very kind to me, but I simply cannot accept charity. I'm out here to make it on my own. I have to make it on my own. I appreciate all you've done for me, but I have to live in my own place, work my own claim. I have to build my own family." She paused, "I just have to."

  It was a long time before Ira spoke, "I understand. But there's something you need to realize. Since that comet came through here, people all through the area have lost things. It's going to be hard going for everyone. There's not enough resources, not enough energy, and not enough manpower to go around. It is going to be hard for everyone, and in hard times, the only way that people make it through is by pulling together and working as a group. We want you to be part of our group, and you are going to need the help. So maybe, just for now, stay with us as a guest. Help us rebuild, and we'll help you rebuild. Nothing wrong with an arrangement like that, is there?"