East of the Sun, West of the Moon tcw-4

by John Ringo

  “And when you build a roof?” Linda asked, smiling. “And please call me Linda, Mr. Keating.”

  “Ah, I don’t do roofing, miss,” the man said, shrugging. “Afraid of heights. Don’t even do high walls if I can avoid it.”

  They had reached the gates to the inner camp and were passed through. The camp on the far side was centered around a lake and more substantial, with two-story wooden buildings filling most of the space. She also noticed that the few people in view were all wearing badges on lanyards. A secure area, then, something like the inner areas of the War Department.

  They were led to one of the closest buildings and to another waiting room, this one fitted with comfortable chairs and a wall clock; it appeared to be some sort of a rec room. There were a few books and magazines scattered around. Although from the looks of the books and magazines it was a rec room for mostly males, probably the Blood Lord guards.

  There was a pleasant-faced older woman waiting in the room and she nodded as they entered.

  “Welcome to Icarus Camp, I’m June Lasker,” the woman said. “In a moment I’ll be interviewing each of you and explaining what’s going on. I know you’re all upset and I’ll ask you to try not to take it out on me. I’m just as stuck in this as you are,” she added with a smile. “So, what did the net bring in this time? Names, in other words.”

  “Josten Ram,” Josten said. “So, what is this all about?”

  “I’ll be informing each of you individually,” June said, referring to her clipboard. “Ah, one of the pilots. Mr. Ram, if you’ll accompany me?”

  “Icarus,” Keating said, settling in one of the chairs. “How fascinating.”

  “Icarus?” Linda said, sitting down next to him as the Blood Lords filed out of the room.

  “A Greek myth,” Keating replied, musingly. “The inventor Daedalus and his son Icarus built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Thereafter, Minos imprisoned them in a tower so that Daedalus couldn’t tell the secrets of the Labyrinth to anyone else. But Daedalus constructed wings of wood and wax and the feathers of the seabirds that flew around the tower. Then he and Icarus flew out of the tower. Daedalus had warned Icarus not to fly too high, lest he get too close to the Chariot of Apollo, the sun. But Icarus, drunk with the glory of flight, flew too high and the wax melted from his wings, casting him into the sea and to his death.”

  “And that means… what?” Linda asked.

  “Oh, many hypotheses exist,” Keating said with a twinkle in his eye. “They could be planning on seeing if we can survive a high drop into the sea. A low-order hypothesis, I’ll admit,” he added with a chuckle.

  “Or they could use an inventor to build a labyrinth,” Linda said, getting into the game. “All you’d have to do is rewrite your particle theory equations then run walls from one set to another. That would be labyrinthine enough!”

  “Do you really think they were too complex?” Keating asked, worriedly. “I found them elegantly simple, myself.”

  “Some of us, sir, are mortals.” Linda sighed. “I think I stayed with it up to the second theta transform and then I went out to a party and tried very very hard to forget. I’d thought I was pretty good at transform equations until I tried to keep up with you.”

  “Well, such things take time to fully explore,” Keating replied unhappily. “But we can take a look at it here,” he added, pulling out a scrap of charcoal and picking up one of the books. Turning to the back page he found a clean area and started inscribing equations. “The second theta is a quaternary transform—”

  “Linda Donohue?” June said, from the door.

  “Later, Professor,” Linda said, tapping him on the arm. “I’d be fascinated to try to figure it out.”

  “Do you know who is sitting in there?” Linda snapped as the door closed.

  “Manuel Sukiama and Geo Keating?” June said, leading Linda down the corridor.

  “And do you know who Geo Keating is?” Linda said, angrily.

  “It says he’s a particle field theorist,” June answered, pausing to consult her clipboard.

  “He’s not just a particle field theorist,” Linda snarled. “He’s one of the finest minds in history. And he’s been working as a day laborer in Raven’s Mill! The man is a legend in his field and he’s sitting in there sketching equations that not two people on Earth can understand! If we still had things like Nobel Prizes he’d take the Nobel in physics every year!”

  “I’m…” June said then paused. “I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of him. But I’ll be very polite when I interview him. And I’ll try to explain his importance to Commander Herrick.”

  “Herzer Herrick is here?” Linda said, her eyes widening in horror.

  “Yes, he’s… well, we need to have our in-briefing,” June said, tilting her head. “Is… do you and Commander Herrick have a… background? I know that he has had… a number of lady friends.”

  “It’s not that…” Linda said, her face tightening and then a look of horror even worse than the last crossing her face. “Oh, God, Countess Travante isn’t here, is she?”

  “Yes,” June said, raising an eyebrow.

  “I need to leave,” Linda snapped, looking around wildly and panting in panic. “I don’t care what this is all about. I need to leave right now!”

  “Two things,” June said, glancing at one of the Blood Lord guards in the corridor. “The first is, you cannot leave. Period. You can try to run, but the camp is guarded and you will not be permitted to leave after entering the camp. So… just calm down. The second is, we need to talk about why you were brought here. But not in the corridor,” June said, gesturing down the hall. “Come on, find out why you’re here, then make decisions.”

  “Crap,” Linda said, glancing at the Blood Lord and shaking her head. “Let’s go. I’ll listen. But Megan is… crap. I’m gonna die…”

  “I think we need to talk, dear,” June said, patting her on the shoulder.

  June’s office was comfortably appointed and she gestured Linda into a chair, then collapsed behind her desk.

  “I didn’t ask for this job.” June sighed, opening up a file and shaking her head. “But I got it for my sins. Miss Donohue, the reason you were brought here is that when you applied for your job with the government you listed a background in quantum engineering. That was your hobby, pre-Fall?”

  “Yes,” Linda said, shrugging. “I tinkered at it. Particle field generation theory, ionization theory and fusion mechanics.”

  “A mission group is being formed that needs persons with your background,” June said. “Whether you agree to go on the mission or not, you will be confined to this camp until the completion of the mission. Even the fact that we are gathering such persons cannot come to the attention of New Destiny. Therefore, for reasons of security, we can do that under the War Powers Act. Your employer, which is the government after all, will be informed that you will be ‘away’ for a period of time and that you must be given your previous job back. You may send a note to one person,” June said, pulling out a printed card and slipping it across the desk. “That is the only communication that you will be permitted.”

  Linda looked at that card and blanched. It was preprinted with a trite message about being unavailable for at least two months and helping out “the War Effort.”

  “This is bullshit,” Linda snapped. “Damnit, I work for Duke Dehnavi! You can’t do this to me!”

  “That is as it may be,” June said, sighing. “As I said, I hope that people won’t take this out on me. At a later time you’ll have people to shout at that are much more responsible for your predicament than I. And they’re better at being shouted at.”

  “Herrick,” Linda spat.

  “He is one, yes,” June said. “Can I ask you your… background with Commander Herrick. It won’t affect your being here; that is set in stone. But it may affect your participation in the mission.”

  “No, you may not,” Linda answered, shaking her head. “What a nightmare!”


  “Yes,” June said, shaking her head. “That is one adjective used for it. Insanity. Power-mad-myrmidons. Idiocy. Stupidity. Shanghaied, a very old term which I fortunately recognized. Insanity, again. Nightmare. One gentleman, who was a student of ancient literature along with being a qualified pilot, used ‘Kafkaesque’ for which I needed an explanation. But you haven’t gotten to the good part, yet.”

  “And what is the good part?” Linda said angrily.

  “The mission for which you are being asked to volunteer,” June said, smiling humorously.

  “I’m not going to like this, am I?” Linda said.

  “Probably not,” June replied, shaking her head but still smiling. “But let me get most of my spiel out before you start screaming, okay?”

  “Ooo-kay,” Linda said cautiously.

  “You’ve been brought here to join a mission to retake the returning helium three refueling ship,” June said. “My bet is that your response will be: ‘You are joking.’ Possibly followed by either: ‘Right?’ or ‘Tell me you’re joking.’ That’s as opposed to more stereotypically male responses such as: ‘No fisking way.’ ”

  Linda opened her mouth and then closed it.

  “You’re not joking,” was what she finally said.

  “No, I am not,” June replied. “New Destiny intends to capture the ship so that they can monopolize the fuel. So are we. We hope that you will be willing to participate. In your case, you have background in the engineering tech used on the ship. Whether you participate or not, you will be kept at this facility. If you chose not to participate in the mission, we’ll still ask that you accept a support position. However, the mission positions are far better paid. Far better.”

  “How much?” Linda asked.

  “You are classified as a Level One Engineering tech,” June answered. “That is nineteen hundred credits per month and a twenty thousand credit bonus upon mission completion, based upon mission performance.”

  “That’s a lot,” Lind said, frowning. “But explain the mission performance thing.”

  “The credits are banked,” June said. “There’s nothing to spend them on, anyway, and you’re given full support here. If you agree to perform the mission and then refuse at the last minute your salary is recalculated at minimum maintenance, which is thirty credits per month.”

  “That’s less than what a day laborer makes!” Linda snapped.

  “You’re being supported, unlike a day laborer,” June pointed out. “That is also the rate at which you will be paid if you refuse to support in any fashion. If you agree to do the mission, go on the mission and then are unable to perform under the conditions, you get the training money but not the bonus. That is the ‘mission performance’ clause. If you are unable to complete the training or drop out, you get the full pay up until that time, up to two weeks before the mission. Backing out in final training reverts you to maintenance pay. Now, I’ve talked about the pay, but there’s more to this mission than money. It’s a very important…”

  “Can it,” Linda said. “Appealing to my patriotic side is like appealing to my male side; it doesn’t exist.”

  “Very well,” June said primly. “Then I’ll point out that the monthly pay is nearly twenty times what you make as an IS-6 and the bonus is enough to make you mildly independently wealthy. The pay rates are gauged with your point in mind. You get the money in lump at the completion of mission or it goes to your designated beneficiary. I suppose I don’t have to add that risk of loss of life on the mission is high?”

  “No, that’s pretty obvious,” Linda said. “I’d guess I get to think about it.”

  “Yes,” June said. “Most of the interviewees do. I’ll have you escorted to Security where you’ll be issued your initial badge, then to the transient single female quarters. There’s really nobody that you can talk to who is in support or on the mission team about the mission until you perform it, however.”

  “That’s fine,” Linda said. “I just want to think about it for a bit. Where’s Mr. Keating going to be?”

  “That depends on whether he agrees to perform the mission or not,” June replied. “If he does, he’ll go to permanent quarters. If not, he’ll be in the transient male quarters, which is on the top floor of the same building you’ll be in.”

  “I’d like to talk to him again, whatever I decide,” Linda requested.

  “That will have to wait, I’m afraid,” June said with a shrug. “Let me call the guard. I do hope you agree to perform the mission; we need you.” She paused in thought and then shrugged again. “I could talk to Commander Herrick and try to have you assigned as… I guess Mr. Keating’s assistant. He’s somewhat aged; I’d suspect he would appreciate some assistance.”

  “He’s been working as a day laborer, remember?” Linda said, shaking her head. “He can probably break me in half. But if he agrees to do the mission and if you can get me assigned as his assistant… I’ll go. I don’t know what help I can be to him, but he’s an important man, a genius. And, okay, absentminded. Maybe I can be of use.”

  “I’ll make a note of that,” June said. “Now, let me get you an escort.”

  “I think I can find the quarters if you just give me directions,” Linda said.

  “If you’re wandering around without a badge, you’re likely to get killed by one of the guards. And we wouldn’t want that.”

  “I can tell I’m going to love it here.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Well, twelve of the thirteen techs and pilots are present,” June said. She was meeting over dinner with Herzer, Megan and Evan to discuss the personnel situation. “Only five, six with Mrs. Boehlke, have volunteered. One, a computer tech, has most pointedly and emphatically declined. The others are ‘thinking about it.’ The thirteenth, one of the pilots, appears to be among the missing; the Rangers can’t find him anyway.”

  “Joie’s here?” Megan asked.

  “Yes,” June said, smiling and shaking her head. “She is most spectacular is she not? She is ‘thinking about it.’ Herzer, I have a question?”

  “Yeah?” Herzer said, taking a bite of steak. It was military steak, thin and tough. He’d already made a mental note to see about the quality of the food available for the mission. He didn’t care one way or another, but it was going to be important to morale.

  “What is your history with Linda Donohue?”

  Herzer looked puzzled and shrugged. “Don’t recognize the name. None that I know of.”

  “She apparently recalls you,” June said, primly. “And she is quite afraid of you and Megan. Megan in particular.”

  “Describe her,” Megan said, just as puzzled.

  “Twenty-five,” June said. “Got that from her records; could be anything from seventeen to seventy. Redhead. Good looking. Slim. She works in Duke Dehnavi’s office.”

  “Oh, crap!” Herzer said, blanching.

  “The doxie?” Megan quipped, raising an eyebrow. “Whatever is she here for?”

  “Engineering,” June replied. “She’s got background in particle field generation. She’s said that she’ll go on the mission, but only if she’s assigned as an assistant to Geo Keating, who is listed as an Engineering Tech Three on the basis of his background.”

  “Geo Keating?” Evan snapped. “You found Geo Keating? Good God!”

  “Okay, who is Geo Keating?” Megan said, smiling.

  “He’s a brilliant field theorist,” Evan said, shaking his head. “He was offered a Key and turned it down! Said it would interfere with his work! An amazing mind, a true genius.”

  “He’s been working as a day laborer in Raven’s Mill,” June said, shaking her head. “Quite philosophical about it. Rather absentminded. He volunteered. No particular interest in the money, he just wants to examine the equipment on the ship. Something about radiation effects and shielding. I couldn’t follow it.”

  “Where is he?” Evan asked, standing up.

  “Permanent quarters,” June said.

  “Evan, we
’re not done here,” Herzer pointed out.

  “We’re close,” Megan said. “I’ll go talk to the males about the importance of the mission, you go talk to the females. Then we’ll switch, tomorrow, for the holdouts. See how many we can get.”

  “The only female holdout is Miss Donohue,” June said. “And she’s willing to go if she can be Mr. Keating’s assistant.”

  “I wonder what she thinks she can get from that?” Herzer mused. “I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.”

  “Like Evan, she seems to be very impressed by Mr. Keating,” June said with a shrug.

  “We’ll see,” Herzer said. “I think I need to talk to her, first.”

  “Okay,” Megan said, nodding at Evan. “Now we’re done. Have fun talking to Mr. Keating. Don’t stay up all night.”

  “I won’t,” Evan said with a grin.

  “You,” Linda said, bitterly, when she saw who was at her door. “Come on in,” she added, waving at the sparse quarters.

  “Let’s head down to the rec room instead,” Herzer said, grinning faintly. “Not only is it more comfortable but it’s less likely to cause comment.”