Traveler_Losing Legong

by Tim Dennis

  Where could it have-

  Hiss.

  Sach stood in the doorway. "Gabrile would like you to come back to the lake house."

  From his position up on the table it was obvious that the neckline of Sach's blouse was far lower than it needed to be. The collar was high at the shoulders, but loose, the untied flaps opened slightly by the breeze. Sach followed his eyes down her blouse. She pulled apart the lapels and looked in. Myles climbed down from the table.

  "Yes. We should go. Right away." and then, with Sach still staring down her blouse, "They're fine. You're fine. Let's go."

  She took his word for it and gave up on the breast exam. His own bubble-chair re-appeared at the window and the breeze stopped. Myles follow Sach a few steps towards it, turned back to the table, grabbed the pork and beans and climbed in after her.

  The bubble-chair brought them to the lanai before Myles had finished his meal. As they settled onto the beach he gobbled down what remained, tossing the bowl into the air as he stepped out. A swarm of tiny spheres engulfed it.

  "What the hell was that all about" He shouted, seeing Gabrile and the others sitting around their little table. ToEv stood to intercept him.

  "No one was hurt, Myles" He said. "We explained that the Legong settlement was not wanted, but they sent it anyway."

  "That's not the point!"

  It's not?

  "No!" Myles said aloud. "You don't know these people, you don't know what they're capable of. You don't understand Legong. People are desperate, willing to do anything, they want to leave, to change things. They've got weapons, tactics honed over hundreds of years, they're just getting started."

  "You're not speaking for them, Myles." Said Gabrile in a annoyingly cloying tone.

  "It doesn't matter if I'm an official Envoy-"

  "That's not what I meant." Gabrile looked at him with pity. He'd preferred her anger, even her disdain. Myles stopped talking.

  "You are desperate, Myles." Gabrile's pity began to look more like compassion. "You feel abandoned by your own people and unaccepted by Earth's. It is these feelings you project onto your fellow Legongs. You must have patience." That took the wind from his sails and Myles forgot the point he'd been trying to make. "It's you that wanted to leave, and Myles, it was you who were willing to do anything."

  "Yeah, well," Myles tried to deflect her. "I've not been honing tactics for hundreds of years. I'm barely thirty." Gabrile smiled.

  Pig, feeling safe now that Myles had eaten, re-manifested in his subconscious. "Hey. She's doing that twisting-of-words thing. She's avoiding the subject by tossing it all back on you."

  "We need to discuss this." Myles said. "I need to know what's going on. I have a responsibility to my people, whether officially sanctioned or not."

  ToEv reviewed that morning's meeting. Six, through Pestano, had issued an ultimatum, demanding that the Colony be allowed to establish a settlement, insisting that Earth, being their ancestral homeland, must accept the colonists back. Gabrile had stated unambiguously that the colony would not be allowed back.

  "I should have been there." Myles said. "At the meeting."

  "Pestano specifically requested that you not be." ToEv said.

  Myles paced. "My family, they've been transported to Eden. I need to see them."

  Myles hadn't noticed Gwirionedd. "Everything we've sent through to Legong space has been destroyed." She said. "I don't think it's wise to antagonize them at this time. They're completely unpredictable. We may need to disable their Ripping technology completely."

  "What? And prove Six right? Blast Legong back to the dark ages?"

  "Myles, that's not what we're talking about." Said ToEv. "The Rip must be closed, it's a safety issue."

  "You don't need a Rip." Pleaded Myles. "Just send a Sputtie, or let me take ToEv's ship to Eden."

  "We can't. We don't actually know where Eden is." Gabrile announced.

  "But ToEv's ship, it took us there."

  "Yes." Gabrile answered. "It's Norte, you see. She suffered a great inhibition against sharing; power, emotions, knowledge, she shared almost nothing of herself. When she enlisted the ship in helping her locate navigation technology she impressed upon it her pathological need for secrecy."

  "You mean it won't tell us?" Myles asked.

  "It may no longer know. There are things about your people we did not anticipate. We didn't prepare for... pathological behaviors." Gabrile tried not to offend. "Your family is well, Myles."

  It was more than a soothing statement. Gabrile's manner was matter-of-fact, not consoling. Was she messing with him again? Turning his feelings back on him, using it as a weapon to unsettle him? "How do you know that?" He asked.

  "I don't Myles, you do."

  As she spoke the words Myles knew them to be true. Although his desire to connect with his distant family was real, his fear was not. Without knowing how or why, he just knew. They were fine, all of them.

  "Do you really want to go?" Gabrile asked.

  "You can't be an Envoy back on Legong, or on Eden." ToEv added.

  Myles was angry at Six for forcing herself on Earth and angry with ToEv and Gabrile for ejecting them. Yes, he wanted to be an Envoy, to be a bridge between their worlds, but Legong had already denied him that role and despite Gabrile and ToEv's encouragements they'd not included him either.

  "I need to go. Away, I mean. Somewhere else. I need some time to think. I can't be around you right now. Can that be arranged?"

  Myles turned down a meal and went to sulk in confused solitude. He found his bags and collected up his clothing and personal belongings, debating whether he should just return to Legong.

  "But your family is on Eden." Pig paced as Myles packed.

  Maybe Krykowfert will Transport me to Eden.

  "How will you get to Legong?"

  There are dozens, if not hundreds of Legong ships in Earth space... Councilor Six has an open Rip...

  "Then why didn't you go with Pestano?"

  Myles felt he should be much more agitated than he was, but no matter what series of events he recreated in his mind, no matter what indignant offense he rationalized the right to, he felt calm. He knew, without any means of knowing, that his brother was safe and happy with his family on an Eden that he may never see again, that his parents were stressed and worried, but well cared for.

  You are holding them in a place of pain. A new voice, surprising both Pig and Myles.

  What?

  Myles considered his own thoughts for a moment. He wished he could let his parents know that he was fine, to soothe them so they'd be free to do what was right for themselves.

  How can I tell them?

  You don't need to tell them. They'll know.

  His mind quieted, letting in the noises of the forest and the gentle lapping of the waves. Myles abandoned the collection of his possessions and lay on the bed. He must have fallen asleep, for he woke to find Nafasi standing over him.

  "Do you people always hover like that?" Myles asked.

  Nafasi's skull had mostly healed, the pale bald scar was already darkening and a fine peach-fuzz of hair was evident.

  "Sorry Peto killed you." Myles added.

  "Death is not such a simple transition. It was not my time." Nafasi helped Myles move his belongings into a bubble-chair and the two set off to the only other place on Earth Myles knew.

  45

  Harry stood on the cafe deck with his customers, looking down on the smooth, convex back of the massive disk hovering over the lagoon. No living Legong had seen a ship of that size inside an atmosphere, ever.

  The ship silently slipped towards Tugot Key and let its long silvery tongue lap at the shore. Part of Harry feared he was witnessing the first wave of the Earth invasion, one of the more paranoid rumors competing with the truths of Mallick's rebellion, but a calming implant-check revealed it was 'only' Bento, putting the new Ark and its crew through their paces before loading it with undesirables for Transportation. At this distance it
was impossible to see what was happening on the farm, and Harry's implant would tell him nothing.

  Bento sat at a picnic table with Myles's parents. A dozen Eden Project troops stood at the far end of the Tugot Farmyard, milling about at the base of a twenty-crew K-Ship.

  "The whole operation?" Dad asked. "It's not just a few buildings around a courtyard, Bento. We've got three hundred animals on this Key, several thousand on the others. Each Key has its own systems, its own structures."

  "Most of the animals are already in stasis, and your workers are already gone." Bento said.

  "That's because the Council has called them up. And what about Li and Nari? We haven't heard from our grandchildren since you took them." Pressed Dad. Things were getting heated. Bento lost control of the conversation.

  "This must be a big move up for you." Mother accused.

  "I'm trying to explain," pleaded Bento. "You know Asha went to Eden, she's still with Li and the grandchildren. Think for a minute- Krykowfert wouldn't send his only granddaughter to a penal colony. There's something else going on. I don't have all the details, but this isn't what it looks like."

  "How do you mean?" Father asked.

  "First off, I'm not officially qualified for any of these - promotions - Krykowfert's been giving me. I have to guess the only reason I'm in this position is that he figures you'd be less likely to put up a fight."

  "Well, you've gotta admit we're an odd choice." Said Mother. "There must be plenty of young, eager farmers who'd jump at an assignment like this."

  "I could point out you're the best, the originals, but I suspect it's got as much to do with Myles as anything else."

  "Have you heard from him?" Mother asked.

  Bento shook her head. She twisted around, checking that her crew was remaining in or near the ship. "All I can say, all I know, is that the scale of construction on Eden is far greater than what would be needed for a simple penal colony. You should see the new Ark in the lagoon, there are a dozen more under construction in Eden space. I can't tell you anything more, I just don't know anything, but I wouldn't do this if I thought it was putting you in danger. Please." Bento ignored an attempted implant connection from her crew, keeping her focus on Mom and Dad Tugot.

  My parents... She thought to herself, then opened her own implant link and did a quick search. Since accepting her posting to Eden, her own parents had been added to the Transportation list.

  "Look." She said. "The manager of Farm-ark Four has joined the Council Guard. I can move you there as his replacement, but it will only delay things a few days." Behind her, her troops had begun unloading equipment from the ship.

  "What about Myles?" Dad asked.

  "He's listed on Krykowfert's rolls as an Envoy, and he's not marked for Transport. I think Krykowfert's happy leaving him on Earth." Bento.

  "He stopped by before he left, brought that little lizard." Mom.

  Two of Bento's crew approached and spoke aloud. "Lieutenant, We have a schedule."

  Bento replied without turning around. "I told you to stay with the ship."

  "But you closed your implant loop-"

  "Go!" Harsher than she needed to be, Bento was opperating at her limit. The young troopers looked hurt. They turned and sulked their way back to the ship. Bento stood up. "I'm sorry. If I don't get this done Krykowfert's going to send someone else."

  As soon as they saw her move, her crew went into action. Bento kept her implant links closed and surprised everyone by shouting her orders instead. Each one had a job to do, and soon buildings were lifting off the ground and attached to Cargo-Cabs for the move down to the lagoon. Two idle Guards stood at the bottom of the K-ship, holding Skimmer Blades and looking around for something to float. They started towards the house.

  "Not the house!" Ma yelled. She stood between them and the building. Bento waved the Guards away. They just shrugged and set the Blades back down. One sat on the ground while the other leaned and entered deep into an implant entertainment. Bento was too busy to pay attention, other crews needed supervision.

  The work took most of the afternoon, during which time Bento avoided showing her crew any further evidence of her closeness with the family. After the buildings were moved, the few animals remaining in the outer fields were retrieved and put in stasis. It was getting late, her crew needed to be fed.

  46

  The building was one in a line of stone structures, each pressed against the next in a hodgepodge of nonuniform blocks. Two or three windows lined up until one building changed to the next, then they'd jump to a slightly different height, carry on a little further and jump again. Myles wondered how Nafasi could identify his particular building in this kaleidoscope of unique shapes and colors. He left Myles and his baggage on the curb and pointed up to the top floor. Myles offered 'goodbye' to which Nafasi replied "au-revoir.'

  The apartment was smaller than his home on Legong; wooden beams overhead, with one tiny bedroom and a kitchen squeezed into a narow space along the outer wall. Only the toilet had a door. Not a single straight line in the place. Couldn't have been Makered. In fact, Myles wondered why it had been made at all.

  "Who would choose to design such a cramped and inefficient space?" asked Pig.

  I dunno. Looks old.

  "Pre-diaspora? Couldn't be."

  Myles got up and walked to the window. They sky was blue, a cool breeze ruffled the curtain. Looking across the roofs of the city Myles imagined the hundreds of similar apartments tucked up under them, peaking out through windows rimed by tiles and wooden frames. It felt more as if he were looking at a painting than an actual city, something fanciful, an imagined place pieced together from half-forgotten memories and faded images.

  Is this what all of Earth looked like before the diasporas?

  Pig joined him at the window, looking out across the scene. Myles turned back into the space. He felt connected, part of the scene he was gazing at, not apart from it. This wasn't a Legong city, there was no City Center for the first settlers to hide in, no cluster of frightened blocks clinging to its base. Myles thought of his own little pastel house. The yard behind it ceased to be a barren, unstable hillside. His memory morphed, the hillside was now an extension of his home, shared by himself and the little lizard he sometimes fed. This wasn't a tiny apartment, confining him to the few dozen square meters within its walls, it was just one private place in the midst of a city that was his, filled with people like him, living shared lives.

  He woke refreshed and eager. Today he would need to eat, and that meant shopping, or visiting a restaurant. He stood over his small dining table, looking down at the static image Nafasi had left him. Like a f'window, but unchanging; the pigments making up the image permanently embedded in the flexible sheet. It was a schematic depiction of the region around the apartment, with a hand-scribbled 'x' marking each point of interest.

  "You're going to have to take that with you," said Pig.

  Myles picked it up and stepped onto the landing, took a deep breath and went down to the street. He stood on the raised strip of pavement, a feature that appeared to bracket most, if not all, of the solid-surfaced streets, and surveyed the neighborhood. Earthers were a busy lot. People came and went, each seeming to have somewhere to go, something to do. Opposite his own building was a grocer, a small-time food purveyor not entirely dissimilar to Harry's completely unnecessary cafe back on Legong.

  How's Harry doing?

  "Harry's fine," said Pig. "Focus."

  He looked at his sheet of streets and buildings. Nafasi had marked the location of the cafe he'd found the day that - the day that he'd found the cafe. He'd learned that the shuttle that had taken him underground to the truss-tower was called 'le metro' and that too, Nafasi had marked.

  His first day amounted to little more than figuring out how to feed himself. The Grocer attempted to explain what to do with a variety of foodstuffs, but Myles knew how to cook, sort of, and was more concerned about managing his budget. So the Grocer explained: there w
as no budget. One just took what one needed. There were no possibility of scarcity of any item, be it manufactured or grown. Myles wondered. Without the structure such needs imposed, how did people fill their days?

  "How civilized" He commented. "But I do not expect the system would work on Legong."

  The next day Myles traveled a bit about the city, walking along the river and stopping in cafes and restaurants when the mood struck him. Unlike that first visit, the streets did not clear around him. Pedestrians didn't cross to avoid him and mothers made no attempt to hide their children. He met with mostly smiles and nods, the occasional 'bonjour' slipped in. This language issue was the most curious of all. For hundreds of years, perhaps more than a thousand, no human had spoken anything other than Earth-standard. Except for children, making up their own secret language at playtime. Myles tried to adapt. Certain words were easy to grasp, their repetition in obvious situations revealing their meaning. He'd tried one or two, delighting his test subjects.

  The city itself, the buildings, the layout, appeared to be an ancient place, but Legong wisdom taught that little had survived the diasporas. Questions brought hesitant answers, he learned that most of what he witnessed had been reconstructed. He wondered how much of Earth was reconstructed, if all of it were maudlin representations of a lost past.

  "Go ahead," goaded Pig. "Test that theory. Try another city."

  I've only just begun with this place.

  Myles didn't feel ready for more changes. But if he couldn't master the language at least he could use a map, and that he did, exploring with gusto. The locals seemed to accept him easily enough, so the next few evenings he spent at the counter of a wine-bar, in the company of Earthers. Warm and welcoming to a fault, after a couple nights they reminded him too much of home, of family and Bento, people whom, if Pestano was to be believed, had already moved on without him, merrily colonizing Eden.

  Or Earth.

  That brought Myles back to why he was here, why he'd come to Earth or at least why he'd stayed. None of the Earthers he'd met so far had said anything about the Legong fleet. He'd asked to be left alone, to be apart. At that he'd succeeded. Perhaps it was time to re-engage.