by Jason Gurley
Catrine stops, looks around, then down. Oh. Tasneem. Hello.
You, Tasneem repeats. I need to talk to you.
Tasneem climbs up onto the catwalk, breathing a little heavily.
Catrine says, You met Varien, didn't you.
Yeah. And who told you to pick up a writer?
Nobody, Catrine says. She pulls her hair back and knots it. I just figured you could use the help.
Tasneem takes Catrine by the arm and pulls her into the engine alcove. You shouldn't have done that, she says. We're strapped enough. That kid, he looks like he could eat three times what you and I do, and still go to bed with a grumbly tummy. We don't have that luxury.
He writes, Catrine says.
So what? I write.
Yes, Catrine says, but you're busy, and you might not have noticed, but you're getting sloppy.
Fuck you, sloppy. Busy -- okay, I'll take that one.
You are sloppy. You're getting trite, Tasneem. You want to rouse up the commoners, get the Machiners cheering, you have to do better. You can't --
Whoa, hold on right there.
No, Catrine says. You're getting sappy. You're lamenting the sun. You're writing about the mountains. You're writing about flowers and deer and pure-water streams.
Those things are important to me, Tasneem says. They're important to mankind. If we can't get them back, we're --
Tasneem, Catrine says. Nobody has ever seen them before.
Tasneem takes a step back as Catrine steps forward.
You forget sometimes, Catrine continues, that you're the only human who remembers the homeworld.
Tasneem is quiet.
Not to mention you're writing about something that doesn't even exist anymore. Even if we coax the Machiners into revolution, and even if we win, we can't fucking take Earth back. Earth is a shit heap, Tasneem. You said it yourself -- it won't self-correct for another twenty thousand years. We fucked it up. We win this war, and what do we get? To go back to our metal cans in space, Tasneem. So fuck you and your flowers and rainbows and lighthouses, Tasneem. Fuck them, and fuck you. You need help.
Tasneem stands silent for a long moment.
Catrine steps back and turns around, rubbing her eyes. Jesus, she says. I'm sorry. I'm just --
You're just... right, Tasneem says softly.
Catrine looks over her shoulder.
You are, Tasneem says. She shrugs. You're right. Hell, maybe I'm the wrong person to fire up a rebellion. Maybe I'm old.
Well, Catrine says, you are. You're very, very old.
Five hundred forty two years, David supplies.
Yeah. I know.
But, Catrine says, you're also brilliant. Alright? You are. You just need help with things. Nobody expects you to do it on your own.
Tasneem leans against the wall. This kid, she says. He's good?
Catrine shakes her head. Well, no. Not yet. He's promising. You'll have to help him.
I don't know, Tasneem says. Kid looks really green.
Everybody was, once. Give him some time. You don't like him after a few months, I'll take him back myself.
Tasneem looks up. Yeah?
Yeah, Catrine says.
Catrine turns to leave, and Tasneem says, Where've you been?
Catrine stops. Saffron, she says.
Is that where you found the kid?
Yeah. He was --
I don't care what he was, Tasneem says. You were gone a long time.
This time, yeah. I was.
Longer than the last few times.
It's getting harder to find supplies in the belt, Catrine says. I don't know if the Citadel is stripping stations or cutting off the freighters, but everybody's starting to feel it.
I don't like it when you're gone so long.
Catrine's face softens. Tasneem, she says.
I know, Tasneem says. I know.
It's just -- we talked about it, you know? We decided --
I know, Tasneem says.
We decided.
Yeah.
Alright, I -- I should keep --
Yeah, Tasneem says. Keep doing whatever you were doing.
Catrine starts to leave, then stops again. You'll be easy on the kid?
I'll be easy, she says.
Okay.
Okay.
When Catrine leaves, Tasneem puts her face in her hands and says, Goddammit.
David says, That's always a little weird for me.
Tasneem pulls her wristband off and slips it into her pocket, and David goes silent.
• • •
Varien is in the corridor outside of Tasneem's quarters when she climbs down the ladder. He holds up a piece of paper, and gives her a half-smile.
Come with me, she says.
She walks past him, and he scrambles to his feet.
Should I read this? he asks, but Tasneem doesn't answer.
The metal catwalks clatter beneath their feet as he follows. The ceilings are low, and Varien has to walk hunched over. Tasneem steps through a doorway, and Varien ducks, but trips over the metal collar below the door. He tries to catch his balance, but thumps his head into a metal pipe fastened to the wall.
Tasneem doesn't turn around as Varien rights himself.
His head is throbbing, but he follows, clutching the sheet of paper.
• • •
This ship is a piece of shit, Tasneem says.
They step through another narrow doorway, and Varien is relieved to discover that the next room has a much higher ceiling. He straightens up, rubbing his neck, and almost doesn't notice the enormous viewport that covers the far wall.
Tasneem walks up to the glass, leans on a rail.
What do you see? she asks.
Varien squints at the view through the glass. It looks like a -- is that an asteroid?
Tasneem nods. It is.
It's huge, he says. How are we so close?
That asteroid is large enough to sustain a small orbit, Tasneem explains. We're strapped into that orbit, along with a few smaller rocks. You'll probably hear them hit the hull from time to time. Sounds like a small bomb going off. Do you know why we're in the belt?
Catrine said that you're hiding out.
Catrine is right, Tasneem says. And we are. Before Catrine came along, had you heard of us? Heard our broadcasts?
Varien shakes his head.
Right. Well, that's what we're trying to fix, Tasneem says. Too few people hear us. Did Catrine explain anything else to you? What we're hiding from? Who we are?
Only a little, Varien says. She said you're kind of a legend, and that I'd never get another opportunity like this in my whole life.
But she didn't tell you what we're doing.
No, not really. Just that it could be dangerous.
What did you do back on Saffron? Tasneem asks.
I sorted.
Sorted. You sorted what?
I sorted the rocks the miners brought back.
Tasneem says, And did you like that? Sorting rocks?
I didn't like it at all, Varien answers. Nobody did.
I'm curious, then. How did Catrine know that you were a writer? Tasneem asks. If you were busy on the sorting lines, I mean.
Varien blushes. I -- well, we -- we didn't meet on the sorting lines.
Tasneem sets her jaw. I see.
Calm, Tasneem, David says. He's not responsible for whatever you're thinking.
And you just happened to mention that you were a writer, Tasneem says.
Something like that, Varien says.
Right.
Breathe. Catrine's the one you're angry at right now. Not the boy.
Tasneem exhales slowly.
Alright. Okay, she says. Look out the window.
Varien does.
Tilt your head, now. Look at the ship itself. You can see some of it. Do you?
I see -- huh. I see more rock.
That's right, Tasneem says.
It's on the ship? On the hull?
/> The ship is a piece of shit, like I said before, Tasneem says, but I called in a few favors, and had a few things fixed up. The ship may look like a rustbucket on the inside -- and it is, don't get me wrong -- but the exterior is signal-shielded and masked with actual rock. Not the entire ship, but a good portion of it. Enough of it to fool a passing ship.
You really are hiding out, the boy says.
Yes, Tasneem says. You could call us outlaws, even.
Varien shakes his head. This is unbelievable. Who are you hiding from?
• • •
What do you know about the Council? Tasneem asks.
Varien shrugs. They're overlords. They live on the Citadel. They make the rules.
Why do you think that is?
I never thought about it, Varien says. It's always been that way.
It wasn't always, Tasneem says. What do you know about Earth?
I know we came from there. I know it's uninhabitable.
Where were you born?
On Saffron, Varien says. My parents were born there.
Have you been anywhere else? Tasneem asks.
This is the first time I've ever been on a ship, even, Varien answers. We didn't really have the ability to travel.
Tasneem nods. Do you know where I was born?
Varien shakes his head. Where?
Have you ever heard of Seattle?
No. Is that a colony?
How about Washington? she asks.
No.
America?
Varien looks blank. No, ma'am. I mean, Tasneem. No.
Walk with me, Tasneem says.
Maasi
I was born in a hospital in the city of Seattle, in the state of Washington, in the country called America, on the North American continent of Earth. There were twenty-three babies born the same day as me, in the same hospital. Do you know how many of them are alive today? Tasneem asks.
Varien shakes his head. How were you born on --
None of them are alive today, Tasneem says. Do you know how many people lived on Earth when I was born?
Varien listens quietly.
There were nearly five-and-a-half billion. Do you know how many of them are alive today?
No, Tasneem.
None of them are alive today, she says. Do you know why?
No.
None of them are alive today because I was born over five hundred years ago, Tasneem says. I'm an artifact of Earth which was.
Varien blinks. But -- people don't live that long.
I lived that long, Tasneem says. I had a special treatment, and I've outlived every person I've ever known.
You've been alive for five hundred years, Varien breathes. Was that what Catrine meant when she said you were a legend?
That's part of it, maybe.
What's the other part?
Have you ever heard of the Machine Revolution?
Yes, ma'am, Varien says.
Tell me.
I learned about it in study. We had studies on Saffron when I was young. Nowadays there's no time for studies, though. Everybody has to work. Even the little ones have to do something now.
And they taught you about the Revolution?
Varien nods. The Revolution was a bunch of revolutionaries who tried to destroy the Citadel.
Well, it was much more than that, Tasneem says. Nearly four hundred years ago, the Council declared itself humanity's royalty. It seized the station fleet by force, and deceived a number of citizens into resurrecting the Onyx program. You know what the Onyx program is, of course.
Yes, Tasneem.
A small faction of those citizens rebelled from within the Citadel, Tasneem continues. Do you know what happened after that?
They blew up the Citadel, Varien says. Well, part of it.
A very, very small part of it, Tasneem corrects. They made a hole big enough to escape through, and they ran. Haven't you ever wondered where all of the Machine colonies came from?
From the people who escaped?
From the people who escaped, Tasneem says. They scattered across the solar system, and as their numbers grew, they bound together in dark places. They floated in the black, they claimed the orbit of the farthest planets for their own. They built satellite stations and rag-tag colonies. And they had babies, and their babies had babies, and nearly half a millennium later, here you are, Varien. You're a child of the Machine Revolution. I bet you never thought of it that way.
Varien shakes his head. Never. But how does --
What do I have to do with that old, dusty story?
Varien nods. Yes.
Tasneem looks over her shoulder at the lanky boy. Varien, she says. I led the Revolution.
• • •
This is the galley, Tasneem says. I like it here. It's... comfortable.
Varien looks around. It's nice, he says.
Tasneem laughs. Oh, bullshit it's nice. It's a heap. Everything on Maasi is a heap. But it's a lovable heap, you know? It's home.
I bet you get all the gourmet meals here, Varien says.
Our chef hails from Stratos, Tasneem says. The dirty mine shafts of Stratos. I swear, you give her a cupful of ore dust and some water, and she can make roast duck.
You're lying, Varien says.
Yeah, of course I'm lying, Tasneem says. We eat like hell. We're outlaws, remember?
Outlaws, he repeats. Can I ask you something, Tasneem?
Maybe, she says.
Was the treatment you had -- was it Soma? I've been turning it over since you told me, and I can't imagine how it could be.
You've heard of Soma, she says.
Well, yeah. I mean, it was a big moment in history. But everybody who took it died.
Do you want some coffee? Tasneem asks.
I -- okay, Varien says.
She pours two cups from a stale pot. It's shit coffee, but I probably don't have to tell you that now.
I've never had good coffee, Varien says.
So we're good, then.
Yes, ma'am.
Tasneem, she corrects.
Tasneem. Right.
He wrinkles his nose at the coffee.
I told you, she says. Here, come with me. There's more to see.
Varien's question hangs in the air, not quite forgotten.
• • •
She shows Varien the crew quarters. There are six bunks altogether. Four are lived-in -- blankets and pillows and books and old photos taped to the wall. Two are empty.
Has Catrine showed you your bunk yet? she asks.
Not yet, Varien says.
Your pick, Tasneem says. I'd recommend the bottom, though. Not so far to fall on the rough nights.
Rough nights?
She shrugs. It's the belt. Sometimes you get hit here.
Your quarters are nicer, Varien says.
When you're five hundred years old, you can have the big room, Tasneem says. But trust me, it's still a piece of shit.
It was Soma, wasn't it, Varien says.
Tasneem sighs. Tenacious, aren't you.
I guess. How did you survive? Soma killed everybody.
Varien, Tasneem says, slipping past him. There are some things we're just not going to talk about.
But that's why your hair is partly white, isn't it, he says, following her. I read that Soma turned people's hair white before they died. But yours is only a streak. Something happened. Something had to have happened.
Tasneem turns around, startling him.
You're young, she says, so I'll cut you a break. But from this point on, when I tell you to let something go, you goddamn let it go. Do you understand? Saffron is not so far away that we can't throw your ass back.
Varien nods. Okay.
She stares him down for a long moment, then brightens. Let's introduce you to the crew.
• • •
There are six of us aboard the Maasi, Tasneem says over her shoulder.
She takes the stairs two at a time, and Varien follows. The corridor here i
s particularly narrow, and he has to turn his shoulders so that he doesn't get stuck.
Tight here, she says. You'll get used to it.
He follows her through a maze of smaller and smaller corridors, until they emerge in the engine room. The room has a lower ceiling than most, and in its center, a great flywheel spins quickly. Varien watches it until the lights leave red tracers on his vision. There's a small catwalk around the engine, and a woman is kneeling in the dark.
We start here, Tasneem says. Varien, meet Megumi Ishiguro.
The woman looks up. New recruit? she asks.
Varien nods. I think so.
She steps over to him. She's incredibly small beside him, and reaches up a hand to shake his.
Megumi, Tasneem says, is our engine tech. We spend most of our time idling, like we're doing right now, but when we have to run -- and we do have to run sometimes -- she's the spark that lights us up.
Megumi, he says. It's nice to meet you.
Call me Ishy, she says.
Ishy?
Yes, please.
Ishy, then, says Varien. I'm Varien Dulcek.
Ishy looks at Tasneem. He's -- well, he looks quite capable. What's he here for?
Varien, I'm told, can write, says Tasneem. I've seen no evidence of it yet.
Varien holds up the sheet of paper he's been carrying. Evidence, he says. It's right here.
Tasneem ignores him. We'll find out if he stays.
Ishy turns to Varien. Well, welcome aboard. For now, I guess.
Tasneem has already turned and stalked away. Come along!
Guess I better go, he says.
Guess you better, Ishy says.
Varien offers a half-smile and a shrug, and follows Tasneem back into the network of tiny corridors.
Ishy returns to the engine, shaking her head.
• • •
I would have liked to talk to her more, Varien says.
Tasneem keeps blazing a trail through the guts of the ship. Later, she says. When we know if you are staying. If you're staying, you can talk to all of them all you want. If you stay, you're family. But this family is small for a reason, Varien. We're a family not of blood, but of circumstance. We're all here for one reason or another, but our purpose is the same.
What's our purpose? he asks.
You listened to the broadcast, Tasneem says. I know what's in your hand. Your answer should be on that page.
Varien looks down at the sheet of paper. Maybe, he says.
The Maasi is the most important ship in the history of mankind, Tasneem says. What we do from within its walls will be remembered for not decades, but millennia.
