by S. H. Jucha
When the aggressors constructed the figure of an animal, Alex grew interested. The ships sailed, and those inside the walled city celebrated their victory and hauled the wooden creature inside. It was their undoing.
Alex played the ending several times, while his mind searched for parallels to his intended visit to Artifice’s system. His thoughts seized on the concept that was trying to elude him. It wasn’t a parallel that he was seeking. It was the inverse of what the Greeks had done.
Slipping into the sleeping quarters, Alex paid a quick visit to the refresher, and then crawled into bed.
Renée curled against Alex, stretching an arm and a leg over him. “You didn’t watch the whole thing,” she accused, her voice thick with sleep.
“The good part I did,” Alex replied, kissing the top of Renée’s head. “To quote, Julien, I find the idea intriguing.”
Renée smiled and drifted off to sleep. Alex stayed awake for a while longer, while he considered ways to fool Artifice with his own Greek ship.
-36-
Fêtes and Goodbyes
Alex linked to Tatia in the early morning, while he rode a traveler to the Our People. He sent,
Tatia said. She waited for Alex’s affirmation of her compromise, but it didn’t come.
The last thing Tatia heard before Alex closed the comm was his laughter. His last statement disturbed her. She jealously guarded her command of the fleet’s ships and disliked the idea of risking them to the sisters. The conundrum for Tatia was that she absolutely trusted the SADEs who occupied avatars. Some of them were captains and commanders of her fleet. However, the sisters were enigmas to her, and that left her with unanswered questions.
Miriamal, who had handled Alex’s transmission for the Freedom, considered what she’d heard and decided to speak to the sister aboard Alex’s traveler.
Having come to a decision, the Sisterhood was quiet on that subject. Now, they waited for an opportunity to test the concept of whether the sisters could fight a battle better than their human counterparts.
* * *
The fêtes were to be held in three major locations: the grand parks of the two city-ships and the secondary park of the Our People. As Alex requested, the expedition’s ships were emptied. The sisters, aboard the Tridents, diligently scanned space for any sign of transit from enemy ships.
Two educational staff escorted Ude from the Freedom to the Our People. He would have this one last chance to join the other children. It was also Ude’s last opportunity to reconsider his decision.
The Our People’s secondary park was dedicated exclusively to the New Terra’s children, the educators, and the professors. The smaller space evinced all the engaging trimmings of the much larger, grand park. The trees were a few meters shorter, the stream less prevalent, but it was as colorful and delightful a location as any of the green spaces aboard the city-ships.
When Ude stepped out of the lift, he witnessed children running, playing, and shouting. It was the first time that all the children, wild and not, had been allowed to play together. That, in itself, made the evening a special occasion.
The professors intended to keep their eyes on the wild ones to ensure that they interacted well with the other children. As it turned out, their oversight wasn’t necessary. The Freedom’s young, children and pups, provided excellent buffers for the engagement of the children.
Etoya’s staff was busy with the babies, who now were age one and a half or more. They toddled around, trying to join the others and kept their minders busy.
Nata saw Ude and broke away from her friends to run to him. She joyfully hugged him.
Of all the members of his band, Ude would miss Nata the most, but the ache in his heart didn’t change his mind, and Nata had made up hers. She wanted to stay with the wild ones. The band needed one or the other of them, and Nata wouldn’t abandon them.
Nata took Ude’s hand and led him toward the places where the members of the band played. Ude would spend the evening refreshing friendships. The satisfying part of his time with them was realizing that, with the help the children were receiving, the band, especially the youngest ones, would manage to become a part of Omnian society someday.
But, in the end, Ude chose to return to the Freedom. He had pledged the previous band leader to seek safety for the ones in his care and find a way to take revenge on the entities that tortured them. It was an oath that he took to heart. The band was safe, thanks to the Omnians. That meant he had one last duty to fulfill. Alex Racine had said that revenge wasn’t his way, and Ude accepted that. He was determined to bide his time. He believed that someday the opportunity would present itself, and he could fulfill his promise.
The city-ship’s grand parks were beginning to fill up, while the children’s fun was fully underway. The engineering team had set up holo-vids for the guests to communicate visually across the intervening spaces. Vid cams picked up images and audio to transmit them between ships.
One of the anticipated events of the evening was the unveiling of a new dance. It was an invention of Renée and Cordelia. Years ago, Renée’s introduction of the waltz to the Omnians and the rescued Independents from Daelon had been a tremendous hit. Thereafter, she searched her collection of vids for other dance routines. In most cases, they were taken from the vids obtained from Idona Station and came from an age before the collapse of Earth’s governments and the rise of United Earth.
Renée would show the dance section of the vid to Cordelia, who would program the routine for the SADEs and diagram the steps for the humans. A link would be sent expedition-wide to humans, who could watch the vid, hear the music, and practice the steps. It wasn’t unusual to see crew members, in their off-time, pairing up and practicing.
This evening, Killian was aware that Vivian attended the evening with her new male, teenage friend. He saw her exit the lift, holding her friend’s hand, and he was happy for her. She’d made tremendous progress from the frightened child he first knew. Now, nearing sixteen years of age, Vivian wore her Méridien beauty well and walked with confidence.
Killian didn’t wish to intrude on her evening. Slowly, he melded into the background to stand and chat with other scout SADEs. The subject, of course, was Artifice’s system and how best to help the expedition’s fleet penetrate it and force Artifice into surrendering.
Music filled the parks, and humans and
SADEs enjoyed the atmosphere. The Dischnya were present, but most of them were busy enjoying the food, which was abundant. Homsaff had kept the warriors training hard for future encounters, which she perceived would soon come. Tonight, the Dischnya were hungry and making the most of the fête’s plentiful food and drink.
Cordelia made an announcement that the evening’s dance for couples would soon start.
Vivian was surprised that Killian hadn’t contacted her. They’d never missed a dance, ever since that first occasion, when Killian had held her on his arm and swirled the two of them around the dance floor to the wonderful sound of string instruments. That was a magical time for her, a time of peace that chased away the darkness in her mind. Vivian had long outgrown her fears of the enclosed tunnels of Daelon, where, as an Independent, she had been incarcerated with her mother.
For his part, Killian had no fears to erase. But, he’d experienced a special moment when Vivian, as a child, attracted by the odd coloring of his face, felt a moment of relief from her fear.
Despite her youth, Vivian was able to mentally step back and take stock of the moment. The technique of removing herself from her immediate thoughts was developed over the years to understand where her fears came from and how to confront them. She glanced down, realizing she was holding her friend’s hand. She had a sense of what Killian had seen, and she could imagine his reaction. Her SADE was being considerate. She wasn’t angry, but she was annoyed.
Killian said.
Vivian heard her friend’s musical tones. They were his laughter and were notes from their waltz.
Killian excused himself from present company and made his way over to Vivian. It occurred to him that he’d understated the role Vivian had played in his own development. In the past years, his contact with Alex and Vivian had resulted in changes in his hierarchy, algorithms, and code style. He could see the changes, but he couldn’t have imagined the subtle manner in which the programs combined.
An analogy occurred to Killian, which made him smile. It was as if his prior existence had been limited to walking, taking one step at a time. Now, he danced, his programs intertwining in a wonderful choreography that allowed him to experience nuances he could never have envisioned enjoying. He lived more fully than ever before.
When Killian reached the young couple, he greeted Vivian and introduced himself to the boy, who immediately blurted, “Thank goodness, you’re here, Killian. I thought I was going to have to dance with Vivian. I like her and all, but I never practiced the steps. I was too busy with my engineering classes.”
“I’m happy to relieve you of your burden,” Killian said, winking subtly at Vivian. He offered Vivian his arm, and they walked away
“A burden, am I?” Vivian asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Your pardon, it was only meant to placate your friend,” Killian replied.
Cordelia announced the evening’s dance, the quickstep, as Killian and Vivian arrived on the dance floor. They’d become a fixture of this event. Their participation was an indication of continuity for the Omnians, humans and SADEs. Life went on with a measure of harmony if Vivian and Killian were dancing together.
Vivian smiled and held out her hands to Killian. She said, “Come, plaid man, let’s demonstrate to these individuals how this is done.”
Killian grinned. He’d downloaded the program, when Cordelia broadcast the link, and integrated it into his avatar’s subroutines. What he’d mastered was how to improvise the steps, and it was this portion of the dance that Vivian loved. At times, if her feet couldn’t keep pace with Killian’s steps, she’d lean on his arms and let him carry them both.
Cordelia’s up-tempo music filled the park, and the two friends fairly skipped across the dance floor. Their lively steps celebrated the emergence of a sixteen-year-old girl and a century-old SADE, both of whose personalities were in bloom.
Other couples were in evidence on the dance floor: Tatia and Alain, Ellie and Étienne, Mickey and Pia, Julien and Cordelia, Z and Miranda, Emile and Janine, and many more.
Alex slipped up beside Renée and slid an arm around her waist. He didn’t surprise her. Renée dedicated a small implant algorithm to keep her informed of Alex’s whereabouts.
“You’re late,” Renée scolded.
“But ready,” Alex whispered in her ear.
“I wonder how many dances they will have together,” Renée mused. She meant to question whether life would interfere with their close relationship. She suspected one day Vivian would find that special partner, and her life would diverge from Killian’s.
Alex misunderstood Renée, and said, “Many more, if I have anything to say about it. They’ll have the rest of Vivian’s life to choose whether they wish to dance together. I don’t intend to spend the lives of this expedition’s members recklessly.”
Renée berated herself for bringing up a maudlin subject. This evening was supposed to be a fête, not star services. “Come, my love,” she said. “Show me how well you’ve learned this dance routine.”
Alex issued a minor groan. It was a ruse. After the original waltz, he’d worked diligently to learn each new dance. He enjoyed holding Renée in his arms and moving to the music. The couple’s dances were unique and a contrast to the freeform style exhibited by New Terrans, when Alex was a youth, not that he attended many parties.
The fact of the matter was that Alex would never be a graceful dancer, not like the individuals he saw in the vids. But, what he lacked in grace, he made up in power. Alex moved his mass with alacrity and enthusiasm. It was the kind of distinction between a traveler’s agility and a Trident’s power, and Alex definitely exemplified the style of a warship.
-37-
Indecision
The next morning, messages flew between the fleet’s personnel, as the Our People prepared to set sail. Alex chatted briefly with the professors, who he admired for their courage in abandoning United Earth’s explorer ship, when they had no idea of whether the Harakens would rescue them.
The small group of ex-Earthers had contributed greatly to Haraken society and later to the Omnians and the Dischnya nests. They continued to be a positive force to educate the young of many cultures. The New Terra’s children would receive the benefit of their wealth of experience.
Hector waited until the comm traffic through the controller slowed. There would be a great deal of time to hold conversations, while the city-ship cleared the system and made transit.
where you’re going,> the sister replied.
Hector repeated his checks on the controller’s statuses of ship systems, bay door positions, personnel roster, and nearby vessels. Satisfied all was in order, Hector signaled the primary engines. Despite the tremendous power of the multiple engines, the giant city-ship moved slowly. But, with each hour, it gathered greater and greater velocity.
Hector chose to take a vector that headed his ship above the ecliptic. Within a half day, he was sufficiently clear of the system’s gravitational pull and made his first transit for Omnia.
When Alex was informed of the Our People’s transit, he turned to his list of preparations for the expedition. Mickey’s name was at the top. Alex contacted the controller for Mickey’s location. As expected, the engineer was in one of the labs, and Alex decided to visit him and work off some of the midday meal.
“Mickey, I’d like you to collect some metallurgic samples,” Alex said, when he found the engineer.
“I’ve got samples from every version of metal the drones have been making,” Mickey replied.
“Good work, Mickey. Then you have only one more subject … Faustus.”
“What are you thinking, Alex?” Mickey asked.
“We know that, according to the Nua’ll, Faustus is an adjunct of Artifice,” Alex replied. “While I’m not exactly sure what that means, it occurs to me that it might apply to more than the entity itself.”
“The box Faustus is in,” Mickey said, stabbing a finger at Alex.
“Precisely,” Alex replied. “Knowing the composition of that material might be quite useful to us, in the future.”
“Consider it done,” Mickey said, adding a conspiratorial grin.
