April 2: Down to Earth

by Mackey Chandler

  "I have it linked to my spex now to demonstrate, but I'll delete that link when you have it slaved to yours. Vest – cool inside twenty degrees from ambient and color white," she instructed

  The vest faded to an eye dazzling pure white. "Vest, make the white look like snow." It became less glaring and slightly blue with little sparkles and a grainy look. “Feel inside," Heather invited her.

  The interior was chill to her hand and seemed to be getting colder as she felt it. She had worn powered garments before, studded with nano gap cooling beads, but nothing that chilled this fast. "How many exterior colors can it do?" April asked impressed.

  "It's not just a matter of color," Heather assured her. "Vest do, Swamp Grass,” and then in quick succession she called for Oak Forest, Scrub Pine and Urban Brick. "However this is the better way," she suggested and told the vest, "Blend to Environment."

  Heather picked the vest up and shrugged it on. It creeped April out when the vest wiggled like a living thing and adjusted to Heather's size. "Adjust size," Heather instructed and grabbed the bottom edge at her hip and pulled it down to her knees. "It just whispered in my ear, that if I pull it any lower, it will not have as much ballistic protection," she told April. The vest had assumed the exact color of the wall covering behind her.

  "That's amazing! That has to be some seriously advanced Nano," she insisted. "If it wasn't for your face you'd almost blend into the wall."

  Heather didn't say anything – just grabbed the high collar and repeated the adjust size command. As she tugged, the collar grew into a hood and then she reached to her chin in front and blended it closed seamlessly in the front.

  "Can you breathe OK? Can you even see me?" April worried.

  "You’re a little foggy, but I can see OK to walk and it knows to stand off my face on the inside. See the roll of material around the arm opening? You can pull that down into a sleeve, but those are the limits of what it can cover. However we have something else here," she explained, taking the vest off and picking something else up from the case.

  It looked like the sheerest pair of silk pajamas. Folded they were only about the size of her com pad. "This can do the same exterior colors and patterns and will keep you warm or cool, but it has very little ballistic protection. It will stop a knife thrust and small caliber pistol fire, but nothing like the vest. If the vest lets anything through, it would have killed you already. For example 20 or 40mm cannon fire, or a direct hit with a mortar will shove you so hard the blunt trauma will kill you, even if it doesn't bust through. But it's a lot better than any armor we had, to send you down in. You get two sets of the light stuff, just turn it inside out and don't wear one set for a day and it selfcleans."

  "Jeff and I are really stretching our credit with these folks, so pay attention to this. If you have to abandon any of this Earthside, you tell it through your spex to self destruct. If that doesn't work, or your spex are gone, here's what you do." She opened the vest and pointed out a red dot, about the size of a one EuroMark coin inside and then produced a small square of thin material with a similar dot in the middle. "Give it a low power shot from your pistol," she instructed.

  April pulled her pistol, turned it down to five percent power and held the trigger down for perhaps a second, muzzle just off the dot. For a second nothing happened and then a ripple spread from the dot as the fabric changed texture. As she watched it divided into small squares and seemed to bead up, like it had suddenly turn liquid. The droplets seemed to shimmer for a moment as they disappeared, like they were evaporating and then they were gone. April felt with her hand and there was a film of tiny slippery balls, that rolled easily between her fingers.

  "That's freaky," she allowed.

  Heather nodded agreement. "A match, or even a hand lens focusing sunlight on the red dot will suffice. Our friends don't want to share this with the Earthies just yet."

  "Then we shouldn't take it Dirtside," April insisted, "because there is always the unforeseen, that would leave it in somebody's hands if I were killed or disabled."

  "Maybe so, but after all the trouble we went to – please take them," Heather implored her. "Modesty is nice and all, but you mean more to us than perhaps you realize."

  "Thank you," was all April said, embarrassed at her depth of feeling.

  "This is from Jeff," Heather laid a case between them, a little narrower and longer than a com case. When she touched the pads at opposite corners it unfolded under power and locked open silently into a compact carbine.

  "Oh, neat," April said smiling. Heather could see she didn't have to sell this.

  "It's got a bit more juice than a pistol," Heather explained.

  "It has Jeff written all over it, the way it opens silently. Thanks."

  When they were done her gramps had another detail for her.

  "I asked Jon to call the USNA State Department for me and tell them a citizen of Home was traveling to USNA territory for the first time on Earth and ask an address for me that could be contacted if you ran into any problems with customs, or being denied any rights in our terms of surrender. Open your pad and I'll give it to you. I suggest you have it come up to voice as ‘State Department' instead of the lady's name.

  April consulted with her mother about traveling. She had been away on missions and spent nights over on other stations commanding the Happy. A couple times she had even gotten a room to sleep, when she couldn't just sleep in the ship, because of people coming and going, or moving freight. But she had never taken a non-business trip away alone for a stretch of days, where she would be going to amusement parks and fancy restaurants. She might have packed a fair sized bag of her favorite outfits, but her mom pointed out that almost all the value of them was due to having been lifted to orbit, so it made little sense to take them the other way. She could do some shopping, the like of which was not available on Home. In the end she did take one extra clean outfit in case she couldn't shop right away.

  The bag she took could hold her pad, scanner, spex, com pad, carbine, the extra outfit and lunar items. It had a few small pockets for things like a pen. Heather tested, to make sure her pad would get all its messages below. It had worked perfect before in Australia she remembered, but it was nice to have it checked for North America. Heather also loaded a GPS program that ran off three different systems. On her grandfathers advice she took a roll of various North American bank notes, with a rubber band around them. She had a shopping list that included a hat and sun screen. She was excited to think at lunch that she would be eating supper in Hawaii.

  * * *

  When she got to the gate she was pleased to see a cluster of friends seeing her off. Her parents and gramps, Jeff and Heather, Jerry, Easy and Ruby, Margaret and Doris. Then she realized with a pang her brother wasn't there. Get used to it, she thought. Something permanent had changed between them, that wouldn't be healed she was sure. But she still was surprised he wasn't here, as a show for the rest of the family if not her. She put it out of her mind and hugged everybody goodbye.

  When she got to Heather and Jeff they both hugged her together, not in turn and each kissed her full on the lips without hurrying, not a little peck. When they backed off she could see her parents had a stunned look and her grandpa had a silly big grin. Then, when she stepped back she was horrified to see Adzusa, Genji Akira's assistant was standing back with a pro camera. No surprise that she'd have the newest most expensive video gear made. She intended to look her up and bawl her out, as soon as she got back from her trip, for recording her private send off. Of what conceivable interest was that to the public?

  She waved a final goodbye to everyone and stepped off towards the gate. The nervy little reporter Adzusa came around the knot of people and closed on her as she left.

  "You shouldn't come down the tube Adzusa. You're supposed to stay back at the gate if you're not departing," she snapped irritated.

  "Why, that's exactly what I'm doing April. I'm riding down too, so we're traveling companions today," she replied
, all happy with the idea.

  "Did my grandfather set you on me as a babysitter? I'm gonna kill him if he did."

  "Why no. Not at all. Akira has friends in the State Department, who told him yesterday you were coming down. He called me and I'm very interested in seeing what sort of a welcome they have for you. You have to admit, you seem to a dependable source of awards level photo opps. I'd have just given anything to have caught that footage Williams got of you on New Las Vegas."

  "You don't think you are going to trail me around while I'm down there do you?" April kept moving along, so Adzusa had to keep up. "I won't put up with it. I intend to be able to relax a little now and then. Not see you lurking behind every bush with a camera, waiting for me to pick my nose."

  "April, be nice. Have I ever put anything on one of our sites showing you yawning, or any other unflattering pose? You have a mystique with the public if you don't know it and it would be stupid of us to tarnish it. As far as picking your nose - you are so genteel, I doubt if you'd do that in your own room with the lights out, for fear of offending yourself."

  "We don't have to be adversarial. If you would just give me a chance, I can even be a resource for you in Hawaii. My family lived there when I was a child. My father went to Oahu for his company when I was eight years old and stayed until after I was grown and left home. Then he decided to retire there. So when I go home to visit, this is where I go."

  "If you want me to show you around I'm like a native. I can take you to all the out of the way places to eat, that the tourists never would bother with, beaches the mainlanders rarely will hike in to see. It would be a fair trade for the story I'm getting and I'd sit and listen to your input to guide me, what you felt was an acceptable story without being too intrusive. See? I'm trying to work with you. I haven't been back in three years myself, so it's time to see the folks again. And then I promise I won't try to follow you when you leave. I'm really not such a terrible person, if you'd give me a chance."

  "Are you offering to take me by your home then, or are you carefully keeping your personal life untainted by the object of your story?"

  Adzusa looked as shocked, as if she had slapped her in the face. "I never considered you'd care to come to my home. You've never invited me to your home and I always thought you didn't like me. I mean really-seriously-disliked me."

  "I have very few people to my home. I can literally count them on my fingers. I live with my parents and brother still, so it really isn't my home and it's awkward to invite people. But to be perfectly honest I figured you were only interested in me as a story. I'd have thought if you came to my place it would just be an interview. You aren't always very easy to deal with as a reporter you know. I certainly don't have any enmity for you, no, but you can be irritating as hell when you assume you are going to be mistreated. Margaret said she came as close to killing you one day in the cafeteria, as she has with anyone in civilian life. So if you want to have a different relationship now that's fine. Just let's make it clear, because I'm not much good at convoluted social games. In fact that reminds me. I understand it's illegal to run verifying software, to check if a person's public statements are true. I'm going to voluntarily allow anyone that wants to, to do so. So you're the first I'm telling right now. Go ahead and run anything you've got on my statements. Just tell the real numbers and with what software you analyzed them, if you make it public."

  Adzusa looked stunned. "Nobody does that. I won't try to talk you out of it. After all, it's a reporters dream. And I still want to cover you as a reporter. Especially, I want to see how these Earthies treat you when you arrive. But if you want to get to know each other and I can play the tour guide I'd like that. I won't abuse it by filing stories about every hot dog stand you stop at and yes, if you care to come meet my parents I'd be pleased to take you home. My father would be delighted to meet you. He alternates between telling me how ridiculous your latest foolish exploit was and asking me why I'm not more like you. You'll find him very loud and opinionated," she said smiling at some private memory. "But beyond covering you professionally, I've always had the highest regard for you as a person. I'm sorry that never was apparent to you. I guess I thought it would be obvious, from the stories I posted."

  "Truce then. Let's see if we can be friends, beyond the reporter and subject relationship," April said standing by her seat. "Why don't you tell the second officer you need to move to the seat here beside me and we'll talk about what we're going to do on the way down?"

  When Adzusa returned she had her switch without any trouble, settled in the next seat over and asked, "Do you have reservations for a car and room?"

  "Yeah, I picked a place online, on the beach and got a room for three days. It's prepaid so I can't cancel it. I didn't think about a car. I assumed there would be transportation available from the port. It's a combination spaceport and airport - they should have all sorts of transport into town shouldn't they?"

  "Yeah but public transportation is yucky," Adzusa assured her. "And to get around you need your own car. You can get a rental at the airport, but to get something comfortable you need to pay a premium. They are discouraging people from owning private cars on the island, so it's outrageous. How about if I teach you how to drive?" she said with enthusiasm.

  "As long as you feed me supper first," April demanded.

  "We're on California time. We'll be dropping back and doing lunch again."

  "Four meals a day," she considered. " I like vacationing already."

  "Has anyone every described a cruise ship vacation to you and how they feed you? It's their shameful little secret. It busts every current taboo about conspicuous consumption."

  "I'm all ears," she assured Adzusa.

  They chatted about unimportant things for awhile, then suddenly serious she asked April, "Do you know how many citizens of Home have been down to North America since the war?"

  "No. I never tried to find out. Not many I'd think. Not to hurt your feelings, but most of my friends call it the slum ball. It was fear that they'd ship us down, after they took over the station as part of seizing the Rock last year, that made Jeff and Heather and I decide to resist. We figured we'd never get back above the atmosphere, once we were branded as trouble makers."

  "I bet Jon Davis knows," Adzusa commented. "In the last year, since hostilities, about a hundred Home citizens have been down to France, Japan, Tonga and Australia. And once down they have gone all over the world. But not one citizen has been back in USNA territory Earthside. Just satellites controlled by North America. Keep that in mind please," Adzusa begged her. "All those people avoiding USNA territory says a lot to me. Nobody feels safe to do it."

  "How about you? April asked. "If you are Japanese born, don't you have to wear a foreigners card? Or did you naturalize?"

  "I have permanent legal residency, as does my family. You only have to wear a card if you are passing through, or on a limited visa. I thought it was silly to agree to wear them anyway. Conquerors do not agree to wear a license, to pass through the conquered territory. They go where they please."

  "It was just so stupid when we went to other stations and they wanted to issue them, that I guess we didn't argue, because we thought it made them look worse than us. Just petty really. We made jokes about it and felt they were giving themselves bad press not us."

  "Well, I guess it's too late now, but I think that to the average person in North America, who has to be hassled with permits and ID and red tape every day, that card says to them you are still under some degree of government control, or you'd tell them to shove their silly card."

  "Thanks for pointing that out. If somebody brings it up, I'll try to have an answer ready."

  "You seem very close with Jeff Singh and Heather Anderson. Do you want me to drop the human interest side of the story, or can I use that? The pic of them kissing you goodbye was really touching and shows the soft side of you as a person, instead of just a killer of space ships and revolutionary. But I can drop it if you just wan
t to stick to politics."

  This woman knows exactly what to say to me to get me to agree to anything, April thought to herself. Touching indeed! I was angry at her shooting our pic like that and now she makes it sound like an opportunity, instead of an invasion of privacy.

  "Use whatever you want," she offered aloud. "If they weren't ashamed to show their affection for me in public, I won't shame them by acting like it's something to hide. They deserve better than that. They are my very best friends and business partners."

  "Is that all?" Adzusa asked, fishing.

  "No, they're co-conspirators too," April added. Let her truth analyze that, April thought.

  The space plane bit into the air finally, nose high and riding on a sheet of fiery air trapped under its flat belly. April realized she should talk with Jeff about this. They should not be dependent on the kindness of others, to buy a ticket to the Earth's surface. Home should have at least one craft capable of an Earth landing. And she'd prefer one that didn't have to land on a big runway. Feeling the deceleration pulling towards her feet was strange. She was used to taking it flat on her back. When she came down before to see her grandparents she'd never thought it strange, but now she was used to something else. The pilots allowed you to watch their approach on the flat screen in the seat pod back in front of you, or through spex. She not only watched in her spex but recorded the experience, since landing on an island was a novelty. She had landed in an airplane from Australia before, but that was quite different. It seemed like a lot of ocean and the island looked awfully small. It rushed in at them and April reflected on how backing up to your destination in a regular space ship, removed much of the drama of seeing it grow large in the ports.

  Chapter 22

  When they hit the runway, the G forces braking on the ground were higher than bleeding off speed in the atmosphere. At the end of the runway they stopped braking while still rolling slowly and a tow tractor slid in from the side and grappled their nose gear on the move. Space planes didn't carry taxi motors in the wheels, like airliners. The crew was telling them to remain seated until they were at the terminal, but there was no cabin crew, just a flight crew and several of the passengers ignored it, getting their carry on items ready and standing at the front of the cabin ready to disembark. April always thought that was silly, to stand there swaying in the aisle, instead of having a little patience. Her mom was usually one of the last off a plane and it still made sense to her. All the anxious people standing in the aisle looked uniformly unhappy.