by L S Roebuck
“The American Spirit will be long gone by then,” Amberly replied. “Is there a quicker way?”
“Not without getting the hard key from Dek,” Skip replied.
Lydia whistled. “Transfer me the message. We have a few processor banks that were taken down for routine maintenance, and I haven’t brought them back online yet. I am sure no one will miss them if they stay off the main process grid while I use them to see if we can crack this message. Who knows, we may be lucky and successfully guess the key without having to go through too many of the permutations.”
“I think I can get the hard key from Dek,” Amberly said, glancing knowingly at Lydia.
“How?” Skip asked.
“She has her womanly wiles,” Lydia responded, using her two hands to draw the silhouette of a woman’s body for Skip.
“North won’t like that,” Skip said, matter-of-factly.
“North doesn’t need to find out,” Amberly replied. “In fact, its probably best that we keep all this to ourselves until we figure out what is going on.
“Fine,” said Skip.
“It’s a race, Lydia. You see how fast you can crack this message, and I’ll see how fast I can ‘borrow’ the key from Dek,” Amberly said.
“Why do I get the feeling you know more than you are letting on?” Lydia smiled weakly at Amberly.
“Because you are right.”
“Are you sure North’s shift ended a half hour ago?” Amberly asked Verne.
“Based on your correspondence with North over the past year, I have been able to construct a crude approximation of what North’s schedule is. However, I am not sure. Why don’t I just call him?”
“No, no. I want to surprise him.”
Amberly was hanging out in a junction lobby just outside of the main entrance to the Magellan Marine headquarters. The lobby had no exterior viewports or walls. An on-duty Marine did a manual check of identification even after the biometrics of those entering were computer-verified. Amberly tried to casually wait outside the door and not draw attention. The Marine on guard didn’t seem to pay her heed. A regular stream of Marines and support staff came in and out of the main door. Amberly played with Verne as if reading the latest news, etc., so as not to look awkward. She would periodically glance up when the sliding door opened, but had not seen North exit the HQ yet.
From the headquarters, one could get direct access to the military’s half of the main hangar bay, to station-wide environmental controls, and to the civilian central command, where bureaucratic engineers could monitor and control much of the waypoint’s functions. In the center of civilian central command was a three-dimensional map that showed locations of tube cars, temperature readings, and live status conditions of all the runabout Valkyries and corvettes assigned to Magellan. Intra-station broadcast and announcements, though rare, could be made here. Authorities could, with the right code and a flip of a switch, broadcast emergency commands that would be heard everywhere in the station.
Across the lobby from the sliding door was a portal that opened into a barracks unit. The barracks housed about half of the Magellan Marine contingent. The rest of the Marines, like North, lived in civilian housing around the station.
Besides access to the headquarters and the barracks, the lobby connected to a broad corridor that led directly to a tube station a few tenths of a kilometer away. Contractors’ offices and other non-military Marine support operations could be accessed from the hall, and on the far side, where it opened into the tube station, were several restaurants and a food market.
It was well past 14:00, and Amberly told Joti and Dek she’d be back with North’s expired ship access card by 16:00. That gave her two hours to make up enough with North to get access to his apartment, and then hopefully find his used access card.
The sliding door to HQ opened, and Amberly heard a young, energetic baritone voice she immediately recognized as North. Amberly smiled, messed with her hair and pinched her cheeks. She had her plan in place to fish an invite back to North’s place, and plan or not, she did want to patch things up after the disastrous Shard Cave date.
She was about ready to pounce on North when she realized he was not alone. There was a shapely dirty blond hanging on his every word — and hanging on his biceps: Flora Dillington! Flora was wearing a tight black dress and her hair was up in a beehive, exposing her ivory neck. Amberly decided to retreat and quickly ducked through the Marine barrack door and out of sight. Amberly heard Flora giggle.
“Was that Amberly Macready? I swear I just saw her duck into the barracks,” North said to Flora. Flora ignored the questions, and pulled North by the elbow.
“Come on, I’m hungry! Let’s have Asian!”
“Sure, Flora,” North replied, and the two headed for Chinatown, a popular Chinese-themed restaurant with an open dining area on the Beltway that faced the tube stop nearest the Marine HQ. North wasn’t positive he saw Amberly, though her red hair made her hard to mistake for someone else.
“May I help you?” the Marine manning the barracks reception, surprised at the sudden entrance, inquired of Amberly. She wasn’t positive, but she thought she recognized the Marine as Eli Wong, one of the low-IQ grunts in the strike force under North’s command.
“Um, actually, no I was just hiding from someone,” Amberly opted for the truth.
“Is everything okay? Do I need to contact civilian police?”
“No, no. Everything is fine, Eli. It is Eli Wong, isn’t it?”
“Yes ma’am,” Wong replied, and then after about 30 seconds of silence spoke again. “Oh, a lover’s quarrel is it then?” the guard teased.
“What?! No,” Amberly thought the question was awkward and rude. “We’re not lovers.”
“Oh good! Then North won’t mind if I ask you out?” Eli said in a half-serious way as he examined Amberly. North was right, he thought. She was one of the most beautiful women on Magellan.
“Wait… how do you know about North and me. I mean, there’s nothing to know, but how do you know?”
“Oh, I just assumed you were North’s girl,” the guard smiled, seemingly amused to put Amberly on the spot. “The red hair and all. Also, North just got off work, and you said you were hiding from someone, and, well I did the math.”
“What?! Is North calling me his girl?”
“No ma’am. I just assumed because he took you out to the Shard Caves. I mean, wouldn’t you think that if a man takes a woman on a posh trip like that, there must be something between them. But far be it from me to judge the Lt. Commander.”
“Does everyone know about that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, Private Wong, you can tell everyone it’s not true. I am not North’s girl, woman, lover, anything.”
“Very well, ma’am. Means there is hope for the rest of us,” Private Wong joked.
Amberly shot a pointed glance at Wong, and quickly slipped out the door. Once she was back into the lobby she glanced down the hall past a half dozen or so pedestrians to see North and Flora as barely recognizable dots on the far side of the hall. She started to pace toward them, keeping her distance because she did not want to be seen by them — yet.
“Verne,” Amberly activated her infopad. “Would you send a message to Kora? Ask her if she’s interested in having dinner with me in 15 minutes. Maybe at Chinatown?”
“Request acknowledged. Do you want me to reserve a table for you and go ahead and order your most popular menu choice?” the helpful infopad replied.
“Wait for Kora’s reply,” Amberly said. “I’m not really interested in a table for one tonight.”
“If Kora says no, shall I invite someone else?” Verne asked, as Amberly noted that North and Flora did indeed slip into Chinatown, so she slowed her pace. “May I suggest Lydia, Skip, North, Kato, Maria Dino or Dek Tigona? I took the liberty of adding Dek to your contact list.”
“No Verne, that won’t be necessary. Just let me know when Kora responds.”
; The corridor that ran from the tube stop to the Marine HQ was about five meters wide, spacious for a waypoint. In the way of decor, the hall was sparse. The military contractors had simple doors and some of them had windows that exposed reception or lobby areas or just office space. One of the larger offices on this corridor, however, had invested in a bench with two planters on either side of the seat. Amberly sat there and waited. The short shrubs grew with artificial light as well as some natural stellar light that was “piped” into the interior of the waypoint with fiber optic cabling. Connecting fiber optics to an exterior viewport of the ship that had regular stellar light was expensive, but this office belonged to Waypoint Research Group, the largest off-planet science corporation, and they had credits to burn.
Amberly couldn’t help but bring to mind that Flora worked here, making quite a mint, and potentially having access to North nearly every day. She couldn’t rationalize these feelings of jealousy concerning North, and she wished they would escape like atmosphere from a hull breach. She did care if North and Flora were – she cut off the thought before she could complete it.
Amberly found herself studying the thin leaves of the plants while she was waiting. She did not know enough botany to identify the species, and she was disappointed in herself, making a mental note to study up on Magellan’s plant life when she had a chance. The hallway had a steady stream of traffic, with people walking in pairs and trios, mostly leaving work and heading for the tube to catch a car to one of the residential districts, or perhaps out to eat at a restaurant or the commons.
Verne chimed. “Kora confirms she will meet you at Chinatown in five minutes. I’ve made reservations.”
Amberly stood, smoothed her blue blouson jumpsuit. Kora had the outfit custom made for Amberly for her 18th birthday. Kora repeatedly told Amberly the jumpsuit was very flattering, exposing Amberly’s pale shoulders, and hanging delicately off her petite frame. Amberly thought the outfit inappropriate for professional use, so she rarely wore it to the lab. Perhaps she wore the blouson to impress Dek this morning, she thought. North, aware it was a birthday gift from Kora, always complemented Amberly when she wore it.
Chinatown was a marvel of waypoint environmental design. The front of the restaurant opened into the tube station lobby, making the eatery appear larger than it really was. The tables offered significant privacy for a waypoint because each was surrounded by an elevated indoor rice patty. The restaurant was laid out like a checkerboard, with table squares surrounded by rice patty squares, where green rice shoots grew several feet above the three-foot-high planters. Rice took a lot of water and space to grow, so the restaurant grew some of its own, at the expense of seating capacity. Still, the restaurant was one of the lushest places on Magellan, and the scarcity of seating made the restaurant all the more in demand.
The maître d' of Chinatown was one of Kora’s myriad of admirers, and after Amberly had filled in Kora that she was spying on North (though she said nothing about Chasm or Skip’s intercepted message), Kora convinced the host to discreetly seat them at the closest table to North and Flora.
“Okay, I’m starting to worry a little bit about you,” Kora said, as she poked at her soy tofu on rice. Natural rice was an expensive meal on Magellan, but not out of the reach for an occasional outing. Some people liked to top their rice with tofu or artificial protein cubes, but Amberly preferred to eat the delicacy plain.
“I’m not being as stupid as you think I am,” Amberly told her older sister. “There is a lot going on that you don’t know about that I can’t tell you right now, and you’ll just have to trust me. But I think I’ll be okay.”
“You know I trust you. Just remember you can trust me, too,” Kora said, taking sip of hot tea. “I’m here if you need me. … Don’t look now, I think North spotted us.”
Amberly was trying to figure out how she was going to play this. She needed to figure out a way to get into North’s apartment and hopefully find that access card. Her back was to North and Flora, but she could tell by Kora’s expression that North was coming over to see them. Amberly turned in her chair to see the Marine a few paces away, smiling that infectious smile, and tracing his hands through the rice grass.
“My two favorite Macready sisters,” North stood at the end of their table and took each of their hands. His grip was strong, firm and gentle. Amberly gave his hand a squeeze back and then withdrew hers from his.
“Hi North,” Kora said in a saccharine tone. “Didn’t I just see you with that one girl, um, Flora, right? Flora Dillington?” Kora knew perfectly well who Flora was, but she was playing Amberly’s game now.
“Oh, her,” North said, suddenly embarrassed as if he hadn't thought the Macready sisters had noticed Flora was his dinner companion. “That was just business, I mean… Waypoint Research is going to be providing new cartography for our unit, and we were just having a business dinner to discuss the details… and… really it was just business. She’s already gone back to her lab.” North was answering Kora, but he was looking at Amberly’s face at this point. Amberly face was stone, not giving any emotional hints for North.
“Not really our business who you do business with, right Amberly?” Kora looked at her sister and smiled slyly. “Thanks for coming by and saying hello, North.”
“Well, good to see you both,” said North, who was disappointed Amberly had said nothing. He figured she was still steamed about the Shard Caves. He shrugged, turned and started walking away.
After he had taken a few paces, Amberly called out, “Wait.”
She rose and walked over to him as he stood between the growing green grasses. Kora wanted to follow, but she knew better and just looked down at her plate and played with her food.
Amberly walked up to North, and, facing him, took both his hands in hers. “Listen, I feel like I have been unfair, and I … wanted to say thank you for taking me to Shard Caves. I mean, I should have been flattered. I was flattered. I am flattered. And I want you to know even though we disagree sometimes, I am thinking about what you said. You are a true friend.”
North didn’t expect this apology. Amberly was getting more and more confusing to North every time he talked to her. “That’s kind of you to say,” North said.
“What I am trying to say, if I can spit it out, is that I have something that I wanted to give you to say thank you. May I bring it by your place, in say 30 minutes?”
“Sure. That would be great. Maybe we could finish the conversation we started?”
“If you think it’s a good idea,” Amberly said.
“It’s always a good idea … and a bad idea, I suppose, to talk with you.”
North turned and walked away. Amberly thought she would be able to pull this off. She felt bad because she realized deep down, she was going to be using North’s attraction for her own purposes. But Amberly wanted few things more than to connect with her late mother. North’s emotions seemed a small price to pay: she needed that access card.
Amberly returned to her table and sat down to eat again.
“Well, how did it go?” Kora asked.
“I need to hurry up and finish this,” Amberly answered as she attempted to maneuver a clump of grain into her mouth with her chopsticks. “I have a date with North in 30 minutes.”
Kora smiled. “That’s good, right?”
North had commonplace quarters on Magellan. In some ways, he was fortunate because he did not share barracks with the other Marines. His parents, farmers on Arara, were wealthy enough to help North buy his own place when he arrived for service on Magellan in 2594. His parents grew corn, soybeans and ligrains in the fertile plains on Arara’s small continent, Ingram. Ligrains were a bland grain that was a genetically modified cross between lupins and lentils.
They also bred cattle. It wasn’t until 2580 that the first breeding bovines had successfully made the journey from Earth alive. That it didn’t happen sooner wasn’t for lack of trying. Bovine just didn’t survive well in space, and with an average lifes
pan of 15 years, they had to get the cattle to give birth to at least one generation of offspring in space.
On some of the first attempts, it was unclear if the cows died of space trauma, or if some of the homesick passengers on the deep space ships went stir crazy and really started craving beef. Eventually, an enterprising soul named Jabari Mandela managed to get two sets of breeding cattle to Arara. Upon arrival, North’s family traded half of their farmland, several million credits, and a farmstead home to Jabari in exchange for a pair of his cattle. The investment ended up being a good one, because Jabari’s cattle did not adjust well to planet side life, and his bull would not mate. North’s family’s cattle did breed, and soon they purchased Jabari’s cow and had built enough of a herd to start selling cattle for beef to wealthy Ararans.
By the time North had enlisted in military service, his family was one of a few growers who owned their own deep space freighter, which exclusively delivered foodstuffs to the three waypoints closest to Arara: Waypoint Marquette, Waypoint Cortes and Waypoint Magellan. In the first six years of service, the freighter had made two roundtrips to Cortes, with stops coming and going at Marquette. On its third trip, the ship took in one more waypoint. It brought tons and tons of foodstuffs when it arrived at Magellan two years ago. North’s father, Ogdin, captained the vessel himself, leaving Jabari in charge of his farm on Arara, because he wanted to visit his son. North’s mother had died two years earlier from the Araran Sweats, a flu-like illness caused by a superbug that evolved from a virus that was probably brought to Arara on one of the first colony ships.
Ogdin had sold his stock of vacuum-sealed beef on Cortes and Marquette, but he did have about 20 pounds of beef jerky for his son as a gift. North, who had not had animal protein since he left Arara, vowed to make his jerky last until his father returned again, which would be in seven years. North had not been as disciplined as he had hoped, and had eaten through half his stock in two years.
Today, he wanted to be generous and impressive, and with Amberly on her way over, he set some jerky out along with some crackers on the table in the center of his living area. The table was just over a meter wide and took up more than three quarters of the floor space in the living area. The table could be folded up into the wall, but usually North would just leave it out.