by Tim Dennis
"Let it drop Myles." Bento said. "It doesn't do you any good to get agitated like this. That's what screws up your implant."
Myles shut up and walked out of the small pilothouse onto the catwalk that bridged the deck. Harry looked up with sympathy, but quickly turned away when Myles took a step towards the stairs. Each of the three stayed in their chosen spots until Bento pulled the Skimmer up onto the beach on the Main Island.
Relief crews had almost finished the docks, and there were plenty of Cabs sitting idle in the sand, so Bento called one up on deck. As she exited the pilothouse, Myles climbed in the Cab. "Where are you going?" She called.
"I'm going to talk to Krykowfert. He's the one who sent Traveler down here. Maybe he can convince the Council to lay off him." Myles commanded the Cab to go. It unbent two pairs of legs and climbed back over the ramp to the beach.
"Why'd you let him take the cab?" she asked Harry.
"You'd rather I'd stopped him? Look" Harry pointed up at his cafe overhanging the bluff. "People expect me to be open by now. All I've got ready is day-olds."
Bento grunted and walked down the ramp, climbed over the side of a vacant Cab. "C'mon." Harry walked around to the front, opened the forward panel and stepped through like a civilized human being.
Bento drove the Cab up to Myles's house and leapt out, waving Harry on. She went in and called up the stairs.
"Myles!" No answer. She went through the kitchen to Myles's back garden. The lizard looked up at her as it dragged a fresh piece of meat through the sand, backing into a crevice between two stones, dropping it to flick its tongue. The neighbor kid watched from his side of the wall. "Hey, you." Bento called to him. He backed away. "You see Mr. Tugot come through here?" The kid didn't speak, revealing the answer instead by glancing up the hillside behind the houses. Myles was almost out of sight, at the crest of the hill. Just a few meters beyond was the Shuttle Station. Bento was about to climb after him when the breeze brought agitated voices from the direction of Harry's Cafe.
A half dozen citizens gathered around Harry on the Cab-park by the front door. A Shield Guard troop stood in the doorway, preventing anyone from going in.
"What's going on?" Bento asked.
"It's a meteor!" A voice from the crowd responded. The gathering grew larger as curious onlookers wandered up from City Center. Three Shield-Guards exited the cafe carrying a smooth surfaced, dark blue rock.
"A meteor?" Harry pushed past the Guard into his cafe. Bento addressed the Guards.
"Lieutenant Bento Urbo," she said, "Surface Infrastructure. What is this?"
The Guards looked at each other, uncertain if an SI Guard had authority over them, even if she was a Lieutenant. "Uh, a rock, Sir."
A few snickers. Bento looked sternly at the group of bystanders. Mallick pushed his way to the front of the crowd and stood toe-to-toe with one of the Guards. "Things like this wouldn't happen if you were back in your ships instead of dropping out of the sky where you're not needed."
"Leave them alone Mallick," Bento said. "These kids don't set policy."
"It's an omen," another voice from the crowd, "and that Earth-man's a harbinger. We're being dragged backwards-"
"It's a rock, you crazy Edenist!"
The crowd was growing angry, more at each other than the Guards. The Guards with the rock retreated to the cafe entrance, the Sergeant standing at the door looked to Bento uncertainly. She took a few steps away from the cafe and tried to draw the crowd's attention.
"This is a cosmic event," she said, "not a religious one."
Mallick stood at the back of the crowd and cupped his hands to shout. "Earth diverted us here and only Earth can lead us to Eden." Judging by the reaction he inspired only Bento had heard the sarcasm in his voice. He was anything but a Believer. But Mallick's jibe hit its mark and the crowd erupted into debate. One distraction was as good as another, so Bento let the crowd entertain itself while she ushered the Guards to a Cab. Mallick enjoyed the chaos.
"It's the Council, they're the ones taking crews out of Shield Guard for this new Council Guard."
"The Council has been managing just fine for generations. It's Krykowfert, he's the one rocking the boat."
The Cab skittered away and Mallick's demeanor changed. His mixing backfired. That last comment struck a nerve. Bento injected herself back into the crowd before Mallick could cause more harm.
"Listen," she said, "Harry's is obviously going to be closed today. Gimme a day to dig into this. Once we've got the facts you can all come back to Harry's and debate things over coffee and pastries."
All but Mallick laughed at the obvious sales pitch, and burgeoning angers diffused. The crowd thinned a little, falling into cliques as they filtered away, reviewing histories, myths and current events. A few hesitated, seeking spots along the bluff to sun themselves.
"Give it a rest, gramps." Bento stood in front of Mallick, trying to impress her authority on the taller man.
"You wear that uniform, do you know what it means?"
"It means I'm a loyal Legong, doing a job that's important to the prosperity of the Colony."
Mallick sneered. "You're just a kid. You don't know what it was like. We had homes-"
Bento felt a slight twinge of sympathy for the displaced polar-settler. "You still have a home. The Tugots have been good to you."
The graves of Mallick's parents and grandparents, his and thousands of others remained in the north polar regions. Unprotected from the constant hail of penetrating meteors, anyone who dared visit them would be damned to join them. Thanks to Krykowfert's self-reliance initiatives. Bento watched Mallick walk back toward City Center.
Harry stood in the middle of his cafe, staring up at the neat hole in the center of the ceiling. Bento put her arm around him. He was shaking.
"What are the chances?" He asked.
"Pretty remote, actually." Bento looked up at the hole, almost the exact shape and size of the rock itself. Immediately beneath, shattered flooring revealed pulverized rock. "I'll get a Maker," she said, "And I'll sign it out, by the book."
"Was that Mallick?" Harry asked.
"Forget him," Bento said, "he's just a bitter old man." She saw that look in Harry's eye, the one that made her feel low despite all her achievements. "You can't just blame Krykowfert, Mallick would have had to have moved anyway." Harry's face didn't change. "It's not just Shield Guard you know, Legong's magnetic field is weak, a lot of cosmic radiation reaches the polar regions. Those settlements would have been evacuated eventually, even without the meteors."
"I don't know what I'd do if someone made me leave my home. My life is in this cafe. I built it," actually Bento built it using Makers 'borrowed' from S.I.Div, "I spend most of my time in it, I know that kitchen like it's a part of me. Every day I'm surrounded by friends, people I've known for years. What must it be like for all those refuges? It's not just buildings and dirt. It's lifetimes of effort, failures and successes. Home isn't just where you live, it's where you belong. How would you feel?"
10
Myles's trip up from Caldera was uneventful. The shuttle was not full, but neither was it as empty as for his previous trip. Same with Central Command's Shuttle Lobby. The Guard was awake this time, but no more helpful. He watched Myles wander back and forth between elevator portals. Despite the lack of assistance Myles managed his implant well enough to locate Krykowfert's office.
"Can I help you?" Feric assumed the demeanor of a receptionist.
"I want to see Krykowfert."
The door to the Director's office was wide open, and Myles could see Krykowfert's feet up on his desk.
"He's not available right now. He's in conference with the Council."
"He's in his office."
Ooo! Getting a little snippy are we?
Feric feigned a look of patient despair, got up, and closed Krykowfert's door. "Yes Advocate Tugot. He is in conference in his office. I understand you have difficulty with your implant, but on Central Command much busi
ness is settled via implants." Myles turned beet red. Feric felt a touch of sympathy, but pressed her point. "I understand you have several nephews, perhaps one of them could loan you a manual link?" The look on Myles's face made her feel she'd pushed it a bit too far. She offered Myles a seat by her window.
He waited patiently, trying to re-ignite his courage. But time passed, and there was nothing to be gained by wasting his words on Feric, so he accepted a cup of tea and laid back on the settee, looking up at the launch rails and shuttle lobby above.
We're on the inner edge of the torus.
Yeah.
That makes us several levels 'higher' than the main sectors, which gives us a smaller spin radius, which should translate into weaker gravity.
Myles grasped the concept but not the math. There was no artificial gravity, there was only the force felt while being spun against the outer rim of the enormous ring. The closer to the center, the slower you moved, the less force you felt.
How much weaker should it be?
Myles gently lifted his hand off the armrest and tried to remember how it felt in the Bar.
Try a cup.
Myles got up, refilled his tea cup and tested its weight.
That's too light. You need something heavier.
He looked around the room. Nothing much that was movable. Myles took off his shoes and held them in one hand, again trying to remember what their weight felt like 'down' on the main level.
That bowl of fruit is ceramic.
Hey- it's hand-made!
...and I bet it's heavy.
Myles placed his shoes on top of the bowl of fruit, took the large bowl in his two hands and lifted.
Does that feel unnaturally light?
As he stood there with his bowl of fruit and shoes he became aware that Feric was watching him silently from her desk. He carefully put the ceramic fruit bowl back on the table, removed his shoes from it, and walked back to his seat. As casually as possible, he slipped his shoes back on and looked out the window.
"The Director will see you now."
Without looking up, Krykowfert pointed at Myles and snapped his fingers, flicking his wrist towards the three chairs under the curving window.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tugot." Krykowfert said. "What can I do for you?"
Myles sat up and tried to look like a seasoned Advocate. "I escorted Traveler down to Legong, as you asked, only to have Council Guards drag him back up the next morning. Is he under arrest? As his Advocate it is my job to know."
Krykowfert flopped into his favorite chair and crossed his legs at the ankles. "I know Tugot, it's ridiculous, but completely out of my hands I'm afraid."
"But you're the Director of Shield Guard." Myles said, surprised by Krykowfert's candor. "I didn't think anything was out of your hands."
Krykowfert affected a look of sad resignation. "There was a time, yes, but I was younger then. You know, of course, that the Council has decimated my command, cannibalizing troops from Shield Guard to form this new Council Guard of theirs. Legong needs a police force, they say. Legong needs more freedoms, I say!" Krykowfert leaned forward and smacked Myles across the knee. This was not the Shield Guard Director one learned about in school. "But what of it Tugot, he's an off-worlder, an Earther at that. What'd you call him? Traveler?"
Myles turned red again. "Uh, my Dad called him that. 'Honored Guest' seemed a little, well, you know."
"Yes, yes. I see your point." Krykowfert sat back, waiting for Myles to drive the conversation. Myles took a moment to re-order his thoughts.
"Where is he?" Myles asked. "I mean, is he being held against his will? I don't buy this nonsense about protective custody."
"The only people Traveler needs to be protected from are those nine hoody-robed geriatrics!" Krykowfert watched Myles closely to see if he'd chosen the right epithet. Myles frowned, pinched his lip and tilted his head a little to the right.
"The Council?" He asked.
"You know those two you met before your trip?" Krykowfert again leaned in conspiratorially.
"Norte and Peto?" Myles asked.
"You know where they are now?" Myles shook his head. "They're on his ship, trying to figure out how to work it. It's like a Cab you see, or a Skimmer, but no one can establish a connection."
"Does Traveler know about this?" Myles asked.
"Oh, yes. He's quite accommodating. In certain ways." Krykowfert's eyelids fluttered. "Come, Tugot. Let us walk. These rooms become confining after a while."
Without waiting for a reply, Krykowfert rose and marched out of the office. Myles ran to catch up, working hard to keep pace with him.
"Do you have any plans while on Central Command, Tugot?" It felt like small talk, but Myles suspected Krykowfert never invested energy in 'small talk.'
"No, I just came up to discuss this with you, as an Advocate. I thought you might have some authority in this situation."
"Would you like to discuss it with the full Council? I should be able to get you an audience without going through all the scheduling hassles. I think my pull still extends that far."
"Do you think it'd be worth anything?" Myles asked. Krykowfert shrugged.
Myles had developed the impression that they were headed to the Rim Bar, but at the next turning Krykowfert led him into an unfamiliar corridor.
"I'm sorry, Myles," Krykowfert said, "if this was a wasted trip. I'm sure you must have much work to do back on Legong."
Myles didn't, and he suspected Krykowfert knew that. His role was chiefly ceremonial, he had the skills and passed the tests, but the Council had never assigned him a constituency. It seemed there weren't enough Legongs that shared his interests to form a lobby.
He continued to follow the man through corridors, which although not officially closed to the public, would be more likely traveled by maintenance crews than Advocates or Parliamentarians. They shortly arrived at a large door guarded by two Shield Guard troops wearing insignias Myles didn't recognize. They stepped aside, allowing Krykowfert to lead Myles through.
Inside several similarly clad guards sat or stood at consoles or panels, monitoring floating images that Myles assumed showed Diverter Bases in the outer system. Before them, a large tr'indo looked not out into empty space, but down into the K-ship hangar. The external door wide open, a ship slowly glided in.
"I am sorry I was not able to be of more use to you." Krykowfert said. "Perhaps I can compensate for your disappointment by giving you a ride home?"
Instead of a normal elevator a cubical pod rose up from the hangar deck and attached itself to an airlock next to the tr'indo. Entirely transparent save the floor, through it Myles could see a similar box hovering beside the K-ship he'd just watched land. The most powerful Skimmer could only sustain a two or three-meter altitude, these boxes shot up and down at will, ten, twenty meters, and hovered there with apparent ease. Myles had never seen anything like it.
Yes you have.
When?
Oh, the Earth ship; Krykowfert's new class of ships.
Right. Yes. Of course.
Instead of dropping down to the hangar deck, the pod hovered sideways and attached itself to another K-ship. Myles and Krykowfert walked through another small airlock onto the bridge, where five Guards of that same unfamiliar insignia sat before floating images. The first showed all the views one expected would be needed by a pilot, the second, a communications console. The other three were idle.
They launched smoothly into space, but moved away from Legong. Just as before, he felt no perturbations in the sense of gravity. No matter how quickly, or in what direction the Earth-ship moved he remained comfortably seated in his chair. Krykowfert's new ship shared much of the Earth-ship's qualities. It was almost as fast, and although not perfect, the sensation of being tossed about as the ship maneuvered was slight compared to the actual forces the ship must be experiencing.
Krykowfert watched, reading Myles's face as he digested the experience. He smiled, and turned his attention to the
main f'window.
In the blackness of space a ring of small ships sit at the apexes of a hexagon of white light. The lines of brilliance connecting them took on the appearance of solid structures, stretching and thickening as the ships moved apart from each other. Myles noticed a seventh ship, larger than the others and positioned in line with the hexagon's center. As the frame expanded sheets of light flashed across it, leaving behind sparkling dots and twisted, vibrating lines that faded quickly. On the next flash one of the lines lingered, the frame increased in intensity and the line lengthened. It split, forming a pair of lips pinched together at the ends. The lips parted, bending the line almost into a circle, snapping shut and flapping open repeatedly.
The Guards at their consoles sat stone still, each in a tight implant link with who-knows-what. One of the images showed a close up of the seventh, center ship. Awkwardly shaped with multiple arms and seemingly random protrusions, the only recognizable features being three small Launch Rails attached in a bundle. Another Guard watched an asteroid, held close to the Rail-ship and the Frame by glowing bands of blue. Dozens of little Cabs crawled over its surface, emitting hazy white beams and leaving behind piles of crystalline dust to be scooped up by more Cab-like things running along behind. From a built-up structure on the asteroid's broad, flat, face issued a sparkling band of blue, green and red, terminating on one of the ships holding station at a vertex of the frame.
"Look Tugot! Now! Look!" Krykowfert shouted.
The dancing ribbon of light snapped into a circle and held for moment. Myles felt there was something strange about the stars within. The circle flexed, the frame shifted, stars winked out and reappeared as they were alternately eclipsed. From the Rail-ship shot a barrage of probes, one two three. The first one shot right through the center of the circle, the circle wavered, the edges flapped and the second and third lozenge flew past it into the distance. Myles shifted and craned his neck, as if trying to see around the ring of light. The first probe had passed through without exiting.
The circle collapsed into a line and the line slipped and rolled itself into a dot and then was gone. The hexagon of white light dimmed and a ship not unlike Bento's Skimmer leapt off the asteroid's surface towards the Rail-ship.
