That evening she got a call from Jon.
"Which hat you got on tonight?" she asked, seeing his serious expression.
He fumbled around his bald head like he was feeling it.
"I suppose it is my Ambassador's hat. I was thinking about you going dirtside. If you want, I can delegate some of my authority to you – give you the protection of diplomatic status and write a letter about it, so they have less ability to hassle you."
"But if I do that, how will my going down help the next citizen of Home who has to cross USNA territory and can't claim diplomatic status? They can disown any courtesy they show me, as being a special case, not broad treaty rights," April suggested. "You don't intend to issue papers to every Home citizen going dirtside do you?"
Jon looked abstracted for a moment, like it was worth considering.
"No, I don't suppose we could get away with that."
"Then I think I'll pass on that, but thanks for worrying about me," April told him.
"I do. Be careful down there," he begged.
Chapter 14
April was enjoying a few days being at home, without a flight. After her last nerve racking trip to NLV she got an invitation from Ruby and Easy, for dinner at their place and that was today. She had never eaten Easy's cooking. Peeling open rations in zero G did not qualify as cooking, even if you did slop hot sauce on it to gag it down.
But she met Easy first at the North gate, to have a game of zero G hand ball, before going over. It was a bit different than North American rules. The serve line ran all the way around four walls of the court and the far wall was four meters square, but twice that deep from the serve line. You had to wear footies as well as gloves and could use your feet too of course. It was nice to be able to play again. The court had been shut down for awhile when they were bringing the Rock back, because the owner of the court, Jim, was the one who rode the rock back until it was in a stable trailing orbit behind Home.
Perhaps stable was too much to claim. It would require an occasional nudge and the distance between it and Home varied a little from day to day, but it stayed pretty much on the same track as Home. A bonus was anything that came at Home from behind had to pass the Rock and the militia was using that fact with the owner’s blessings, to set up a missile battery on the asteroid. Jim's function had been pretty much to ride along, to make sure nobody waited until it was almost back to Earth and hopped on saying it was abandoned and claiming salvage. Her dad had talked to her the other day about that. He felt they needed a treaty everyone would sign onto, affirming that if public notice was given that a mass was property in transit and not abandoned that it would be the equivalent of cattle rustling to grab it. So Jim's career as a Rock sitter was probably doomed.
But his current job was good for him. Everybody seemed to like Jim. He had a medical problem with his bones that made low G a necessity. In fact, if he went through to the South dockage to ride a shuttle to another habitat he had to take the center route. He couldn't take the spin in the outer rings and he sure couldn't take a ride down to Earth. The ride up had almost killed him when he was much younger.
When April showed up at his desk for their reservation, she was struck with how much he looked like the new merchant, who had opened the general merchandise store near the cafeteria. They both were compact and had the same slightly off proportions because of a bigger head. But Jim had that bloated look from zero G, that drugs could not entirely eliminate. He had a paper book open on the counter, with a hefty rubber band stretched across it to keep it flat, but he was looking at some paper money with visible skepticism, usually reserved for Yuan. It was a bunch of Tongan notes and the top one was an old frayed bill in a sort of rose color, that said two Pa ‘anga.
"You been getting any of these?" he asked and handed the note to her. It had a watermark on one end and a portrait of a very serious heavy duty dude on the other. He was in a fancy uniform with a stand up collar, but he had that no neck sort of look, that said you didn't want to arm wrestle this guy. April turned the note over and it had a picture of some ladies working on what had to be some kind of rug or mat on the ground, in front of a thatched hut and palm trees. It said National Reserve Bank of Tonga in English along the top.
"Yeah, I've seen a few of them. You'll probably see a lot more, because Tongan flagged vessels are doing our supply run and the Japanese seem content to leave it that way."
"Do you know which way this currency is running? Is the exchange tending up, or should I dump ‘em?"
"You'll have to go online and look Jim, but long term, maybe the next two or three years, I think you very well might see Tonga's fortunes improve dramatically," April confided to him. "Just keep it to yourself that I told you. It's not a sure thing."
"Thanks April," Jim said smiling big. He had a set of chompers you couldn't believe, when he bared them in a big smile. "I have to start saving my money again. That new guy, Ames, was in to play and was talking to me when the Tongan lady went in to play, after his singles. He asked a whole bunch of questions about my bone disease and I had to admit, I have kind of given up following the research for the last six or seven years, because they didn't seem to have any treatments on the horizon. He wants to look into it and see if something couldn't be done for me. Wouldn't that be a hoot? Do you know, he has run through about the top half dozen handball players on Home? And when he played today, they wanted the cameras relaying his match to a party running, over at the animal house. I guess they had forty or so construction workers watching the big screen there, while they had off shift lunch. The iron workers all think they have such superior zero G skills, they can't believe a Grounder that just recently came up here could whip ‘em at handball. But a lot of money changed hands and each time the odds are favoring the doc better as he whips ‘em. I'm no fool, I bet on him today before they all wise up."
April didn't know if she approved of that or not. She suspected Dr. Ames must bet heavily on himself. So he shouldn't be hurting for cash flow, waiting for the gene business to pick up. She suddenly realized she would have to decide what was fair and not, when she had the same ability.
Jim took her bills. She gave him USNA dollars and he was probably relieved after the Tongan notes, that she didn't try to unload Brazilian money or something on him. He didn't take transfer, just cash. Easy had gone into the court ahead of her.
"April, you've always been straight with me, just like your granddad. Can I ask you something confidential and not have you talk it around?" He looked unusually serious.
"Absolutely Jim. I do know how to keep a secret."
"Am I repulsive? I mean do you think if I asked a normal woman out, she'd be offended?"
"Normal as compared to what? Because your bones break easy?"
"No. I'm a dwarf. I mean I'm a pretty big dwarf and I don't have the extreme proportions, but I'm still a dwarf. I'm a hundred and fifty seven centimeters long, but only cause I got in zero G soon enough and pretty much stay here. Otherwise, I'd be shrinking every time I had a little fracture. When Dr. Ames was in here and the Tongan lady left after paying, he gave me this long warbling whistle and said, ‘Well, are you going to ask her out?' I said ‘What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?" He said "Jim, the lady begged you to tell her where you go to eat and leaned across the counter smiling and batting her lovely eye lashes at you and told you her life history." He imitated her voice with a husky, - "Hi I'm Peggy. Who are you? You cute little fellow you." – 'You ignored her hitting on you about as hard as she could without risking prosecution for sexual harassment and you were a crab with her. That was your cue to ask her to dinner foolish boy. I may be able to do something about your bone density, but I don't know where to start to work on the other density," he said - tapping his head. "I told him if she likes dwarfs she must be some kind of pervert. He said that may be, but if she had a thing for bald guys, he would accept that from a happy Polynesian goddess and not examine it too closely. It was very confusing," he concluded.
"Yeah?" he said.
"If I wanted to date somebody six inches taller than me, it wouldn't matter at all. So why would six inches shorter bother me? But it don't matter because your just a little too old for me, to feel comfortable dating and some spark just isn't there. But it isn't for most of the guys I meet, so that doesn't mean anything. I'm just not ready to date anyone I know. But I'm with Dr. Ames. It looks a little like you are determined not to be happy. Give it a chance, OK?"
He just nodded, like he still couldn't believe it.
"Is it time to go yet?" Easy called from the hatch.
"There's nobody in the slot after you, play over if you want, since I held you up."
"Thanks Jim." She shot for the door like she had jets.
"What color walls you want?" he asked surly.
"Black."
His eyes got big. "It's a black ball. How you going to see it? Can you even set it black?"
"Court set walls black," she commanded.
In about a half second they faded into deep black. Easy actually let out a soft moan. He held the ball up and for the first time ever they realized the ball was really dark gray. They'd never seen it, except against a bright surface.
"Uh, that's too Gothic," he admitted. "It gives me the willies. It's hard to see the corners even. It just kinda goes out forever after the serve line, like being in an open lock with no suit on." That was not an mental picture that appealed to a vacuum rat.
"So maybe you are rattled enough to tell me why you're mad at me?"
"Oh that! That's no trouble at all. I'm steamed, ‘cause you risked your sweet little buns being a hero and playing fair, with those slime ball Security Goons. Do you have any idea at all how it would tear our hearts out to sit in our living room and see you get shot because you were even stupider than an Earthie who can't figure out which end of his pistol to grab? Flipping over like a trapeze artist, so he has a chance to shoot you in the back while you're turned away?"
"Oh, you saw that?"
"Did I see it?" he asked incredulous. "It was on BBC and licensed to just about everyone by National Geographic, for the whole next day. It wasn't viral, it was an information pandemic. There may be a Mongol shepherd somewhere in the Gobi desert, who had a busted pocket com, so he didn't see it, but I wouldn't bet on it."
"So, Easy do you think then, my face might be fairly well known on Earth?" she asked innocently.
"Why?" he asked, with deep suspicion.
"Well, I was thinking of taking a little Earthie vacation," she said softly.
He started to say something and words failed him. "Court walls pink," he commanded.
"Anger management color?" she asked.
He nodded yes, mute. Drinking in the calming color.
"Court, top wall yellow," she said
He managed a begrudging smile at that.
"Court, bottom wall bright purple," he added. He seemed pleased with it.
"Court, right wall tartan plaid," she raised him. Surprisingly, the computer knew it.
Going for the win he said, "Court, left wall green with orange Polka Dots."
"How big?" the computer finally broke down at the lunacy.
"Fifty millimeters with double spacing," he demanded. It was made so. Only the two small end walls were still pink.
"Court, enter hatch wall black," he said to finish it off.
"Your serve," he invited, "five wall, corner pops played."
They played into the next period as Jim had invited and came out friends still. When they came out the players for the following time were there early, so Jim let them go in. They were about to leave, when the couple stuck their heads back out the hatch to stare at them. Public rudeness was rare in Home, but the man looked hard at them and said, "You are some sick people," before ducking back in.
Jim was embarrassed and surprised. "What was that all about?"
"After they go, tell the Court to restore to the previous color scheme and check it out," Easy instructed him. He was sorry he wouldn't be there to see his face.
Supper went smoother. Finally over dessert, with everyone sated she eased back to the problem. "You know I appreciate what you were saying about my tactics over on NLV, but I don't have any formal training. I've really just been kind of winging it. I was talking to Jon about that and he has nowhere to train his people either. I have projectile guns I have never shot. We need some training programs. If you can figure out how to do them, with the cubic we have, everybody will be grateful to you." She explained how they would probably have lunar property to train on eventually also.
"Jon needs police training and the militia needs military training. What kind, depends on what kind of doctrine they intend to pursue. For example, if we are never going to put a force on the Earth's surface, no point in training for it. Even the civilians need access to some sort of training, if everybody is gonna run around carrying. I can train for special forces and small unit insertion. You need somebody more like Margaret, for more conventional forces. Our space weapons and tactics are unlike anything made before so we'll have to make those up from scratch. There's no substitute for live weapons training, but if you want, I think we can set up a live fire exercise monthly, if we use wax bullets and goggles."
"I feel that's better than laser simulation. You feel something hitting you, not just hear a buzzer and you don't believe they really got you. We just have to get cooperation from the cubic owners and do it the best shift and time for them. I'd like you to run through basically a combat handgun course, before you go Earthside. And I seriously recommend you get used to wearing a fancy armor vest as part of your outfit, anytime you go out on the street down there. We can have cooling beads on it so it's comfortable. You will go armed won't you?"
"Oh yes. That's why I'm going, among other things. We want to utilize the terms of their surrender down there a little, under their noses, because they seem to be forgetting they lost."
When she got up to leave, she handed Easy two small black rectangles. "What's this? Memory?" he asked turning it looking for marks or contacts.
"A present. Jeff is making these and they will be on the market in about three months. You wear one inside your suit and one outside. The one inside absorbs all the stink. Next shift you switch them and the fresh one cleans your suit, while the used one bleeds all the stink off to vacuum. I begged him for one of the prototypes for you," April admitted. "Just hold it against a surface and it grips. Jeff says it holds on like a bug unless you grab both sides to lift it off."
"How does he come up with all this stuff?" Easy marveled.
"What's really irritating, is if you ask him he'll say," – "It was obvious."
Chapter 15
As far as the eye could see were pine trees. They covered the rolling hills packed tight. One of them had a mast added, not very noticeable, just the stripped shaft of a small sapling, that was lashed to the trunk of the bigger tree as far up as a man could safely climb. About where a lumberjack would top a tree off before bringing it down. On the end was taped a small module, which could watch almost half the sky. It was made to see the special coherent light from a laser, even against the background of the bright sky. But when the message came it was on a dark moonless night, when one of the many man-made stars racing across the sky flickered for a moment in intensity.
A mile away you would have seen nothing, but the pine and its brethren on that one hill were bathed in its faint illumination. Much later after the moon had risen and the noise of the early night had faded, a figure moved silently through the pines, stopping often to check in the deep shadows with some instrument he raised to his eyes. Of all the seemingly identical trees he went unerringly to the one with the sensor and dug in the pine needles at its base.
The common com pad he pulled out was in a plastic bag, not because it would be damaged by the soil or some rain filtering down. But just because he was fussy and neat. When he saw there was a message,
he traded the memory for a blank and replaced it under the forest floor carefully leaving no sign.
"Well we told ‘em." April said needlessly, after watching her grandpa transmit their acknowledgment. "Now we'll see if they make one of the rendezvous."
Chapter 16
April wasn't miserable. She was stiff and a bit sniffly and tired which was unusual for her, early in the morning. But it really wasn't so bad. She had been inoculated Monday and spent Tuesday doing normal things but yesterday, Wednesday, she had holed up in her room, because she might be contagious before the symptoms showed. Before she went to sleep last night, she thought she might have felt something. Just a funny feeling in the back of her nose. But when she woke up this morning there was no doubt, even before she opened her eyes.
What was really miserable was feeling trapped. She had a cooler with drinks and some sandwiches and had lugged the microwave in from the kitchenette. She didn't want to roam around out in the house, even if nobody else was home, for fear of leaving a hot spot on a knob or handle, waiting to infect someone. She still had a little appetite even though she was sick and thought about heating up a couple breakfast sandwiches. It seemed like a big effort and then one of the few things she had to look forward to today would be gone. Her pad dinged lightly and she answered it, to find it was Heather, with Jeff hanging behind her as usual.
"How are you feeling?" she wanted to know.
"I don't feel real good. Just want to lay still. Nothing I can't deal with and no worse than I've caught by accident before."
"Have you had breakfast yet?"
"Nah. I have some sandwiches here, but haven't bothered yet. I will," she promised.
"Good. We just came from the cafeteria and have breakfast for all three of us. We'd like to visit and share it with you."
April 2: Down to Earth Page 15
