A Hop, Skip and a Jump (Family Law Book 4)

by Mackey Chandler

  "Might as well try throwing shoes out the lock if the antis miss," Thor said.

  "I'd order that too, if we could get them down there in time," Gordon said.

  Four more mechanicals sounds punctuated the silence.

  "One gone," Thor announced, about the inbound missiles.

  >WHAM< A loud noise overloaded the pad speaker.

  "Second missile detonated on fail fusing at extreme range," Thor said. "Jump in seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,"

  "Damage control on way to shuttle hanger. Hanger was in vacuum. Pressure failure in storage. Pressure drop in corridor section by hanger. Pressure drop in the galley. Com and controls up. Crap, there were two cooks working prepping for dinner. We lost crew," Thor said.

  "Did you get him?" Gordon asked.

  "Damned if I know," Thor told him. "We jumped seconds before the critical action. He sure as hell holed us straight through. You know that fancy little shuttle we took off the Twelve Palms? Damage control says there's about enough of it left to fill a ship duffel."

  Lee reached over and exited the video as it ended.

  "Oh my. That had me holding my breath," Sally said. "Gordon sounds like he is ordering lunch instead of launching missiles and fighting for their lives."

  "Yes, Gordon took out three ships in that engagement," Lee said. "The Fargoers were just incredulous he would think to inform Fargone Control he was changing his destination in the middle of a battle."

  "Thank you, that gives me a lot more insight into Gordon," Sally said.

  "On the whole, most crews would rather have a watch like the two you sat," Lee said, not sure Sally was getting what she was trying to teach her.

  Sally smiled. "I did take your point, Dear, But I took several lessons away from it."

  "Some other time I'll show you the recording of when a Centaur ship attacked us and the Caterpillars attempted to defend us," Lee offered. "If anything it's more exciting."

  "Save it for now please," Sally said. "My heart rate isn't back to normal from this one."

  * * *

  The next morning Lee wanted to sit on the bridge again, and grabbed a coffee and three breakfast sandwiches from the mess to eat up there. Talker was there but just nodded hello to her. Sally was sitting separately, her head together with Ha-bob-bob-brie over a pad, speaking so earnestly Lee didn't want to interrupt them. The Hin hadn't tried to shadow her or ask to stay close on the Sharp Claws, which was a relief to Lee who thought he might want to assume the role of bodyguard right away. Apparently, irrationally or not, he still saw their own ship was a safe zone. The other Hin thought he was insane. By their culture being able to live as a singleton he was insane. Perhaps they were more correct than she realized given this stuff about dreams. But as she thought about it eating breakfast, she concluded, what did it matter? There were probably other Humans who would question her sanity since she deviated so far from the norms. If he didn't ask she'd order him along when they went to conference with the Centralists. Thinking about how The Three, as they were styled, lived and their history, a bodyguard should be a status accessory. Why not acquiesce and make a virtue of a necessity?

  * * *

  "Born, do you have a minute to help me with a visitor seeking information?" The Derf referred to by Humans as Bacon, spoke out of Born's screen. He was an official of the university. In a Human university he might be called a dean, but his role here went beyond that. Interdepartmental Coordinator would be as accurate a title. He wasn't about to blow him off, because Bacon sat in judgment over his utility to the university, and how worthy Born was of funding and less measurable aspects of status. Bacon, and his peers over each college, as well as the chief librarian worked together in committee, serving the function of a provost. In the Derf language he was a Leader, which was far too modest a title in translation to English.

  "But of course. Do you want to send him over here, or should I come meet him in a private room?" Born asked. Bacon was entirely too busy to play at being a public information officer or search librarian. Born immediately suspected it was somebody of note or means who was imposing on the Leader. If Bacon wanted to hand them off to Born he was more complimented than offended. There were plenty of professors and non-teaching researchers who were kept far away from the public, because they would offend and alienate those who endowed the university or had influence with the Mothers and trade councils.

  "No, he's in my office. Why don't you join us? I've sent for refreshments and we're comfortable. I've cancelled my afternoon appointments because his story and inquiry is interesting. I remembered you are doing research for the Red Tree Human and your English is excellent," he complimented Born. "If your associate on that project is there, feel free to bring him along. I understand Musical has had some practical experience with the matter in which this fellow is interested."

  "I'll invite him. I'll walk over as soon as I post an absence message and close up," Born said.

  The fact that Bacon remembered his Badger research partner by name, who wasn't even a university member or alumni, surprised Born. Until last week it wouldn't have offended him if Bacon had needed to consult a faculty list to make certain who he was.

  Last week Bacon had asked him to come by his office and inquired about Lee Anderson's research project. Such outside funded projects were not forbidden. Indeed commercially sponsored projects were encouraged. But he still thought the Leader might tactfully inquire if he was able to carry his other duties and this new burden too. While he'd never outright forbid it, Bacon's disapproval would make most faculty drop a project or push it off onto some subordinate rather than risk Bacon's good will. Instead Bacon had asked if he needed an increased budget because a close relationship with the High Hopes Exploratory Association seemed desirable to him.

  When he informed Bacon that Lee had given him an unlimited budget for off planet data searches it rendered him speechless. To his credit as a fund raiser Bacon hadn't asked how he planned to test the limits of her generosity. Such largesse was uncommon. He was pretty sure having a patron who supplied an unlimited budget for anything fixed him in Bacon's mind.

  That visit was the first time he'd been invited to Bacon's office. Leaders lived on campus, and their office was a buffer between their private residence and the public. If he wished to keep someone at arm's length the university maintained all sorts of meeting rooms from cubicles for two up to conference rooms like a theatre. It hadn't offended him at all he wasn't invited to sit for his last brief visit. Now he was being invited back, and it sounded like they planned a luncheon, given the hour. This was definitely a step up, and couldn't hurt his career at all.

  Born called Musical at his new diplomatic facility the Badgers shared with the Bill race, urging him to come. He suggested Musical get a cab, specifying priority service and meet him at the west entry to the campus. They could go around to the east side, since motor transport was excluded from the campus, and walk to Bacon's office. By taking the vehicle they would arrive near the time a walk across campus would have taken them if Musical had been with him today. He'd be happy to pay the fare.

  Crime was very low, even more so on campus, but Born locked his facility. There were a few Derf who left the clans who never adapted. Petty crime was a problem that hadn't existed just a few decades ago. Somebody not bright enough to make a go of it in the trade zones might steal something so specialized it had no market, and would be impossible to sell, but stole it simply because it looked shiny and expensive.

  Born was standing outside the entry pillars when Musical's cab pulled up.

  "So who is this visitor your boss wants us to help?" Musical demanded when Born seated himself in the auto cab.

  Born held up a single primary digit to wait, a gesture he'd picked up from Lee. It seemed each finger or combination had a different social message with only the fourth finger strangely ignored. He instructed the cab where to go so they could be rolling before engaging in conversation.

  "He's not really my bo
ss," Born insisted. "He's not my employer who could fire me."

  Musical didn't say anything, but shaped his face differently, a form which Born suspected was skepticism in a Badger.

  "Did you ask who this visitor is?" Musical inquired.

  "If I asked too much detail Bacon might think I was trying to decide if I wanted to come deal with him or not. I'd hate to create that impression. I'm happy to help any way I can."

  "Not because he's your boss or anything," Musical said with a carefully neutral tone.

  "He honestly can't fire me," Born assured him again, "but he can make my life miserable and dead end my career."

  "Mmmm . . . I guess by that standard Singer isn't my boss either," Musical mused.

  "Let me pay the cab," Born offered, as they approached the east gate. He ignored Musical's last statement. Some things were just too dangerous to agree with.

  The Hall of Nature was an old institution. It pre-dated Human contact and had various areas with special exhibits and museums. Its Biology section had some of the few samples of extinct Derfhome animals outside clan keep trophies. It had been added to and updated as far as space allowed without ruining the classic architecture. Now the section called Mechanics had associates like Born who couldn't be fit in the original hall, so they were housed in satellite buildings. Although the original was impressive, dramatic, and far too expensive to duplicate today, Born preferred his modern building. Mechanics included physics, but the expansion of the discipline into deeply theoretical studies such as particle physics and quantum phenomena would have required kicking all the other sciences out.

  Instead the building retained the department heads and historical displays and the newer and expanded studies were located elsewhere. Deeply set into the earth and with stone walls made after the style of an old fortress it didn't need modern air conditioning to maintain a moderate environment. The room they entered off the public hallway was impressive enough, but it was just for the Leader's secretary and her scribe. Their desks sat on opposite sides facing each other, leaving the path to the inner door clear. She waved them through, forewarned to expect them. Her scribe looked up from his work, interested, but he didn't interact with them at all.

  Bacon's office was cool with a ceiling a good four meters overhead, and a few short windows for light near the ceiling. Most things Bacon needed to read would be shown on a modern computer monitor he could adjust. A modern light fixture over his desk was turned up just enough at the moment to make it a pool of light in the gloomy room. There was a lounge of low upholstered furniture off to one side with tables and a buffet table against the wall behind them. A couple Derf sized chairs faced the desk, and behind the desk a wall held shelves of old fashioned bound books, both in the Derf and Human styles, the Human sort arranged vertically and the Derf stacked flat.

  At first, Born thought something had happened to cause the mysterious visitor to leave early, then a small pale face looked from behind the chair back. It was a Human, and the shoulder high chair for a Derf was high-backed for him. He hadn't seen his legs dangling in the dark room, though his eyes were still adjusting when he came in. The man, a young man Born judged him to be, was more surprised than Born. However he was staring mouth dropped open in surprise at Musical not Born.

  "Are you a Badger?" the Human asked, surprised and maybe a little excited.

  "Yes, we got stuck with that label by the Humans," Musical admitted. "Looking at photos of the animal it's not a bad comparison. Badgers seem to receive decent press, I mean, we could have been tagged as rats or possums. Badgers seem to be regarded as whimsical and intelligent. The Derf have nothing similar to us, thus the Derf word for Badgers is . . .Badgers."

  "What a treat! Not one in a million Humans has ever seen your race in the flesh. This is my first trip off Earth, well except for the Moon which isn't any big deal, it's like visiting your back yard, and here I get to see not only Derf that are uncommon enough, but a Badger!"

  Musical did a shallow plié with a little bow like a ballet dancer for him. It wasn't any cultural thing, he was just cutting up over the Human's gushing enthusiasm.

  Bacon stood, worried the Human would take offense if he understood it for a jest, and suggested they move over to the lounge where everyone could be seated, before Musical could do something else cute.

  "This is Mr. Ambrose . . ."

  "Doctor Ambrose," the Human interrupted.

  "I neglected any titles because I'm sure Musical isn't familiar with the Earth system, and even Born might think you a physician," Bacon said. "Musical is the Badger, Born is the Derf." Bacon said, rather curtly.

  That was apparently as much introduction as it Bacon was going to offer now. The terse manner was probably because he wasn't used to being rudely interrupted. Whether the Human could tell Bacon's brevity was a sign of irritation Born couldn't tell. The man's face betrayed no strong embarrassment, and he certainly didn't apologize. Normally when introducing colleagues Bacon would have said a little about each one's area of study and perhaps even offered a thumbnail history with their professional relationship to him.

  A staff member came in and put a coffee service on the table. Bacon made a subtle gesture to him with a cutting motion of one hand. The server twitched slightly in surprise, but made a single short nod. Born suspected that meant their luncheon was cancelled.

  "Is your area of study in quantum phenomena such as I do?" Born asked after an awkward silence, which neither Bacon nor Ambrose seemed inclined to end.

  "No, I'm an astronomer. Bacon called you to help me because he said you are working with Miss Anderson of the High Hopes Exploratory Association. It seems I timed my visit very badly. I'd hoped to inquire of that association and all the principal directors just left for Earth. We crossed over actually," Ambrose said with a wry expression. Born had just recently learned to recognize that subtle twisted smile as a contrary expression of chagrin in Humans.

  "And you ended up here, how?" Born inquired.

  "Well, the gentleman I came to investigate is an academic," Ambrose said, "so when the directors of the Exploratory Association proved unavailable to find him it seemed natural to seek help at the largest and oldest Derf institute of learning that just happily happened to be close at hand. Bacon seemed to be the dean of the College of Sciences as close as I could tell by auto-translation. I'm trying to find a fellow named Ernie Goddard. He submitted several papers to The Fargone Journal of Astrophysics that are quite interesting. He had a unique opportunity to make observations across an unusually long span of light years. He proposed a number of mechanisms in the formation of brown dwarfs by super nova events. It will likely be some time before others are in a position to peer review his theories by direct observation."

  "But you're from Earth," Born noted. "Do you subscribe to the Fargone Journal? Is this an area of particular interest to you?"

  "The University of Toronto is the home of the Trans-Solar Journal of Astrophysics," Ambrose said. "It's an open journal subsidized by the university. They do subscribe to the Fargone journal and we get summaries of several other related Fargone open journals. We did inquire about Mr. Goddard and they replied the paper was submitted from Derfhome and they had no personal information about him. They indicated Mr. Goddard made a submission by ship mail and a rather generous contribution to help cover publication costs. They don't require that but welcomed it. It took a month to get that reply, so it seemed best to come make a direct inquiry when a back and forth by ship mail could drag on quite a long time. The expenses would end up a significant fraction of just sending someone. I was also currently available and willing to come right now."

  "Are you an editor of the Solar Journal then?" Born asked.

  "Oh my goodness, no." Ambrose did manage to look embarrassed at that. "I'm not nearly far enough along in my career to have such a prestigious position. I'm simply an adjunct instructor of Introductory Astronomy at Toronto. They follow a traditional calendar and I wasn't scheduled to teach for three months
in our summer, so I was available to come. In fact I probably would have had to claim negative tax income to get by, which really looks bad on your record. Fortunately, I recently became engaged to the daughter of my dean, who is an editor of the Trans-Solar Journal of Astrophysics. My fiancé asked her father to find something for me. He very kindly found this assignment to keep me busy and employed. I've always wanted a trip outside our Solar System too. It will be the Fall semester when I get back and I'll be back teaching again."

  Bacon and Born exchanged a glance. Bacon seemed subtly amused. Born could guess why. When a clan Mother didn't approve of a declared intent to marry they often found an urgent necessity to send one of the happy couple off to trade town work. Romance, like air, abhors a vacuum, and a void is often filled by another partner, or such a removal affords one time for contemplation, uninfluenced by the other's hormone stirring presence. Born had to wonder if Ambrose was naive and didn't appreciate the risk of having neither fiancé nor post upon his return to Toronto?

  "Our university lacks entire departments some larger institutions have. Or several areas of study may be consolidated under one school. We don't really have a course in astrophysics," Born explained to the Human.

  "I assume you checked the composite list of all papers on our local net?" Born asked Bacon.

  "Yes, "A Wave-front Compression Model of Brown Dwarf Formation" was not listed. I did a partial title search just to be sure. There was nothing," Bacon said.

  "I know the fellow who approves and archives papers for Astronomy," Born said. "He's the sort who feels no urgency to file something if he's continuing a dialog with the author. Let's inquire and see if perhaps he has something pending by that name."

  Bacon waved at the large wall screen by way of permission to Born to do such a search.

  His pad address book had a work contact for the fellow he had in mind and he was soon had a video call connected.

  The Derf answered his own com. He was a grizzled old fellow, gone to full white all over the muzzle and ear tips. He had to be a hundred and twenty if not thirty. His eyes were sharp and his head erect however. He started to greet them in Derf and then seeing Ambrose switched to English. "What can I do for you boys?" Given his age it was no insult.