Chapter Fourteen
SAVANNAH DIDN'T LIKE his answer. She said, "I'm afraid of high places. So explain it to me anyway."
Unquill looked out the window, a thoughtful expression flickering across his face.
"They're called the Soonseen. At least, that's what we call them. They have a name for themselves which we can't pronounce. Soonseen is the closest pronunciation we've been able to make. I believe you'd call them aliens. In point of fact, they are protoplasmic beings with psychokinetic potentialites which have-"
"I don't understand those words," Savannah said.
"Ah yes, do pardon me," Unquill wiped his forehead with his hand. "Such things are assumed as common knowledge today. Suffice it to say they are...aliens. Yes, let us use that word. They gave us the skycarts over seven hundred years ago with only two conditions: we must not alter any of the material they give us and we must always use the routes they established. We are not allowed, for instance, to drill a hole in the bottom of the craft so that we might enter from below. Nor are we are allowed to place the skycarts on top of their rails, lest we break our agreement. In such a case, the Soonseen would take it all away from us. So they have promised.
"As a result, we invert the gravity of all buildings which use the skycart system. Have you seen them, significant citizen? Their ships still orbit the planet, watching over us."
Kenneth frowned. "I saw them, but-" he paused. "I saw them in space?"
"Ah yes, we are in the thermosphere at present-very high up," Unquill said. "In the measurements of your time, we are perhaps three hundred miles above the planet's surface? I don't know if that number is correct, but-"
Savannah gulped. "We won't fall, will we? Not from up here?"
Unquill laughed. "Oh no, no, we shall not. Many live up here. Mind you, it's not the most ideal place to live. The temperature is very hot up here. Much radiation shielding is required just to make a passage across. The fact that we can see out the window without getting burned-that's a mystery we've never yet been able to figure out.
"That is why we honor the conditions the Soonseen have set before us. They have made the impossible possible. They gave us extra room at a time during our history when we thought no more room existed. The human race, do you know, has always perceived personal space horizontally. Yet, no one had ever thought to view it vertically. That is the frontier we explore-the frontier of the sky."
Savannah didn't understand how the sky could be a frontier. She kept her questions to herself as they disembarked the craft, entering another hallway. This time, Unquill did not pace himself so quickly. He took a few steps, waited for her and Kenneth to catch up, then took a few more steps. They proceeded in this fashion until they reached an unmarked door.
Unquill placed his palm upon it. The door opened.
A blast of cold air greeted her as she entered.
Savannah put her hands in front of her face.
She had always heard people complaining about the middle school never having a strong enough air conditioning unit. She had never heard anyone complain about the air conditioning being too strong, yet those same faculty members who always grumbled during the months of May and September would struggle in the situation Savannah endured.
Unquill urged her forward with a hand on her back.
She took a few steps forward.
The cold air stopped assaulting her.
She looked back and up to see a frosted metal vent blasting its fury all over Kenneth, who let out a yelp of surprise. Turning forward, she beheld the room she'd entered. All manner of people came and went. A large round kiosk manned by twenty people stood in the center of room. Some stood in lines to be served. Others moved through the lines as some moved back to make space. Savannah saw other people emerge through portals like the one she'd passed through. They went under the cold air. They seemed not to notice.
"Here we are," Unquill said. "Williamsport Station. From here, it's just a short journey to the Council of Thirds."
Savannah didn't like the word "journey." To her, that implied a lengthy process. For as high up as they were in the sky, it also meant she'd be sitting in a vehicle Unquill called a skycraft for a bit longer, perhaps a while longer, with only a layer of metal between her and a very long drop.
Though if she understood Unquill correctly, she'd burn to death before she hit the ground. She tried to picture herself igniting in mid-air even while she plummeted endlessly. She dismissed the picture from her mind.
"I hope it's a short journey," Savannah said.
UNQUILL RETRIEVED HIS transit pass for inspection. Together with Savannah and Kenneth, he stood in line behind seven others. He had only seen the Council of Thirds twice before-once for his induction into the Constabulary and again when the Hinjo problem had first been discovered.
During the trip from the Constabulary to the station, he could only think about what might cause him to violate the rules, as Kenneth had suggested. In the middle of his fourth century, he had no complaints. Many people lived longer than he had. The oldest recorded person, to date, happened to be a man of 1100 years whose body had finally given way to the dictates of time.
Another few hundred years wouldn't go amiss, Unquill thought. So why throw all that time away?
He could only come to one possible conclusion: his life was coming to an end, no matter what he might choose for himself. He, like the majority of citizens in the world, had been forbidden to view his own end or any circumstances surrounding the end of his life.
If indeed he was Hinjo, the Council of Thirds would have no choice but to view that information from the time stream themselves.
Then Unquill would know for sure.
In a room full of people taller than himself, the two children at his side drew stares from all directions. The badge pinned to Unquill's chest proclaimed him to be an officer of the Constabulary. That badge alone, he perceived, kept curious citizens from grabbing up Kenneth and Savannah for their own purposes. Unquill had never liked his badge, nor had he ever made a point of reminding everyone why no one crossed the Constabulary.
Yet now, stuck amidst a sea of strange faces, he felt glad of his place in the time stream.
Minutes passed. The people in front of him received their service, then went on their way. When Unquill's turn came, he stepped forward.
A tall woman wearing the black and silver Transit Company uniform sat in front of him. She, like all the other representatives, shaved her head as part of the company's dress code. Unquill presented his identification card.
The representative said, "Greetings, citizen Hester. How may I service you today?"
"I am in spatial transit from the Constabulary to the Unbroken Tower," Unquill said. "With me are two citizens from the time stream. Please make the necessary arrangements."
The woman blinked. No one asked to visit the Council of Thirds. In fact, everyone did their best to stay away from there as often as possible. She said, "Certainly, citizen. One moment," she pressed a series of buttons on the translucent display in front of her. "And there you are. Skycraft 91024 is ready and waiting for your departure. Have a safe journey, citizen."
Unquill led Kenneth and Savannah to the 91000 block of departures. With only one hundred thousand skycrafts in service, Unquill couldn't help wondering if he'd been handed the short end of the stick. Savannah stayed close to him, hiding in the shadow of his torso. Kenneth seemed not to notice that, by comparison to his own size, he walked about in a world of giants, for walk they did. They walked their way across the oxygenated building. Unquill had heard once that people had gotten lost past the 50000 block. He made a point of stopping at every kiosk he saw to verify their location and destination.
Savannah rode on top of his shoulders by the time they passed the 70000 block. Unquill felt himself growing weary, despite all his conditioning for any possible temporal necessity, such as having to run away from any large armed force he might encounter. Kenneth continued on, though he appeared ready to ke
el over himself.
Unquill had by now lost track of how long he'd been walking, or how often he'd seen another person look at the girl upon his shoulders, then the badge on his chest, before looking away.
The crowd thinned out by the time he reached the 90000 block. Unquill sat down in a row of black metal chairs, huffing out his breath. Savannah climbed down off his shoulders. When Kenneth sat down next to him, he fell asleep at once.
Staring straight ahead, Unquill saw a display which said in red letters, "91024 Departure."
He knew the skycraft would wait twenty-four hours from the time he registered his departure at the service desk.
He could afford to wait a moment to catch his breath.
Journey Through Time (A Time Travel Adventure Collection Part 1) Page 14
