Earth Girl

by Janet Edwards

  ‘But I’m not sure I want you to do that,’ said Fian. ‘Of course I was angry when I found out. I’m still angry for that matter. You lied to me right from the start. Maybe later you believed what you were saying, but …’

  He paused for a moment. ‘Jarra, I need time to think about this, and I need to understand exactly what happened. Tell me the whole story, right from the beginning. I’m confused about which people are real, and which were made up, and what you knew at the start and what you found out later. I need to get it sorted out in my head, so please explain.’

  ‘What’s the point? It won’t change anything.’

  ‘Jarra, a few hours ago I was incredibly happy, and now my life has fallen apart. I think you owe me a proper explanation, don’t you?’

  ‘It’s a long story.’

  He shrugged. ‘This is a long sled ride.’

  So I told Fian all of it, starting with the crazy ape kid in her room in Next Step, and he just sat there listening. By the time I finished, the broadcast channel was beginning to get busy. Teams were arriving at intersection 3, and Dig Site Command sent two of the Earth teams to take an initial look at the crash site.

  ‘Sounds like we have quite a few Earth teams here,’ said Fian. ‘That makes sense I suppose.’

  That was it? I’d just told him my whole mad story, and he wasn’t strangling me, he wasn’t yelling at me, he wasn’t saying a word about it. He was doing the dig site equivalent of discussing the weather. What the chaos did that mean?

  It took me a second before I realized it meant Fian was doing the right thing, the sensible thing. We were here to rescue people, and that meant playing our part as tag leader and tag support, not fighting with each other. When the Military trapped on Solar 5 were safe, Fian could yell at me all he wanted, but not now. I forced myself to answer him.

  ‘Well, obviously us apes don’t run away off world during a portal outage,’ I said.

  ‘Stop calling yourself an ape, or I’ll start calling myself an exo,’ said Fian. ‘Plenty of expert Earth teams is good news. How will we manage to dig in all this snow? You won’t be able to see the rocks to tag them.’

  ‘I think a crash landing spaceship, with hot shields from entering the atmosphere, might have melted the snow a bit,’ I said.

  ‘Good point,’ said Fian.

  ‘I’ve just reported that we’re approaching intersection 3,’ said Rono on the team circuit. ‘Dig Site Command already has enough teams assembling mobile domes, so we’re to park our sleds and take a break from the impact suits at the base camp. There should be some food there when they’ve got things organized.’

  Fian and I peered round the side of the orange cover, and saw what was ahead. A line of sleds that looked like a vid scene of a pre-history traffic jam, and a bunch of domes that were either complete or half assembled.

  ‘That’s a lot of mobile domes,’ Fian said in awe. ‘I make it ten. We’re building our own settlement here.’

  ‘That’s a lot of sleds,’ I said. ‘We’d better remember where we park ours.’

  Rono pulled our sled in at the side of the clearway, and the rest of Cassandra 2 parked neatly behind us. The dumper sleds from Thor 3 drove straight on. They seemed to have instructions to head somewhere specific.

  We hiked along the uneven surface of the clearway, to reach the gaggle of domes. Someone was helpfully writing on the doors in large letters. Medical 1, Medical 2, Food, and three Rest Rooms were already labelled.

  ‘Food first,’ Rono led the way into the dome marked ‘Food’, and we lowered the hoods of our impact suits.

  Inside, several people in suits labelled Achilles 1 were unloading boxes of packaged food. Upturned boxes were being used as counters holding trays of drinks and food. I noticed masses of standard food dispenser cakes among the packaged stuff. Presumably someone from Achilles 1 had had the bright idea of getting those from their food dispensers and bringing them along.

  There was another team ahead of us, so we formed an orderly queue. Fortunately, there was no risk of the cake running out before we got there. There were more teams arriving in the dome and joining the queue behind us, so once we had the food we took it across to one of the domes labelled ‘Rest Room’, and joined a crowd of people who were already sitting on the floor and eating. The heat panels were on maximum and there was a stack of thin metallic emergency blankets. It was blizz to take off my impact suit and wrap myself in a blanket. You learn not to be too modest on camping trips, and none of the people in this dome were leering Betans, but the blankets were still nice for more than just warmth. It’s a bit embarrassing wearing just a skintight in front of a crowd of strangers.

  Fian had come to sit next to me, and I looked nervously at his face. He seemed strained, but quite calm and a bit thoughtful. He spotted me looking at him, and his eyes flickered round the members of Cassandra 2 sitting around us. He leaned across to whisper in my ear. ‘We can’t talk here, but you aren’t leaving. We’re going to find a way to sort this out.’

  That was nice, but unrealistic. I whispered back. ‘We can’t. I’m an ape.’

  Fian frowned at me, and I got another whisper in my ear. ‘Shut up. The clueless exo is in charge now. You got yourself in trouble as usual, and your tag support has to rescue you.’

  I suddenly wanted to giggle and cry at the same time. Things were too big a mess to sort out, but at least Fian didn’t seem to hate me anymore. I couldn’t cry in front of all these people, and important things were happening on the broadcast channel, so I tried to concentrate on that.

  ‘This is Dig Site Command. The crash site is five minutes east along the Loop from our base camp, and then a short distance due north across the rubble. We’re marking the safest route with glows, so stick to it. No taking short cuts in any circumstances. We’re running this rescue under the same procedures as a multi team dig, though we’ve obviously got more teams involved than any previous operation. Pereth of Earth 2 has handed over team command to his deputy and will be our Site Leader. I think most of you will know Pereth.’

  I glanced across at Rono. ‘Pereth is good,’ he said simply.

  ‘This is Site Leader Pereth,’ said a new voice on the broadcast channel. ‘Dig Site Command are just parking their sleds at the base camp and getting properly set up, so I’ll give you a situation report while they do that. Bear with me if I go quiet occasionally, I’m running a site as well as talking to you.’

  There was a short pause before he continued. ‘We can’t get a proper sensor net up yet, and naturally sensors are being badly affected by the solar storm, but we’ve located where the ship is buried. They seem to have hit a tower cluster and brought down two towers on top of them. There are two further towers making the area very hazardous, so our first step is taking those down. Earth 2 and Earth 8 are setting charges at the moment.’

  ‘He sounds so relaxed.’ Fian shook his head in amazement.

  ‘When the towers are down,’ said Pereth, ‘we can start organizing the main rescue work. We have a lot of teams with substitutes from one, or in some cases two other teams, which is potentially confusing. Since the most urgent instructions are likely to be going to the tag leaders I’ll be addressing teams by the team designation of their tag leader. Make sure you know what that is and remember it.’

  Rono laughed. ‘Team 2, that means you’re designated Asgard 6 for the rescue.’

  ‘I’m going to have twenty-four working teams on the site,’ said Pereth, ‘and this is going to be a clock excavation. You’ll be working as double teams, and obviously I’ll keep people together where possible. As usual for the clock, positions are based on the ancient clock face. Earth 2 teams 1 and 2 are together at one o’clock. Cassandra 2 and Asgard 6 are at two o’clock.’ He ran through a whole list of team names.

  ‘What’s a clock excavation?’ Fian asked me in a whisper.

  I shrugged. I didn’t know either.

  Rono pulled a face. ‘Twenty-four tag leaders on site … I’m glad
I’m not running this. We usually do a clock with six, and the previous highest ever was twelve.’

  ‘I think Dig Site Command are back with us now,’ said Pereth, ‘so over to them.’

  ‘This is Dig Site Command. Solar 5 are you on our broadcast channel yet?’

  ‘This is Solar 5, Colonel Riak Torrek commanding.’

  Fian raised an eyebrow at me. ‘The Colonel who did your Honour Ceremony,’ he said in a low voice.

  I nodded.

  ‘This is Dig Site Command. Is your ship still level and the shields green? We need to blow up two ruined skyscrapers near you and your area will be hit by shockwaves and rubble.’

  ‘This is Solar 5. We’re within five degrees of horizontal, and the shields are stable, but you shouldn’t attempt this. It’s our job to protect civilians, not put them at risk rescuing us.’

  ‘This is Dig Site Command. We aren’t civilians, we’re archaeologists! You’ve already breached site regulations by entering New York Main without proper clearance, so we expect you to quietly follow instructions.’

  The Colonel laughed. ‘We apologize for failing to get clearance. We were far off our planned flight path, losing control, and didn’t know where settlements would be. I’d been on your dig site for an Honour Ceremony recently, and the ruins are obvious from the air. I knew no one would be in them during a solar storm, so I aimed for the middle.’

  Rono gave me a startled look. ‘Solar 5 crashed here because of Jarra’s Honour Ceremony!’

  I was grazzed, but Fian gave a sudden laugh. ‘Crazy things always happen around her.’

  Pereth was back on the broadcast channel. ‘Earth 2 and Earth 8, status check please.’

  ‘This is Earth 2, charges set and withdrawing from site.’

  ‘This is Earth 8, final charge just set.’

  ‘This is Site Leader. Withdraw to Loop everyone.’

  ‘I’ve got to see this,’ said Rono, and he started putting his impact suit on.

  Rono wasn’t the only one. Everyone in our dome started putting on suits. When we got outside there was a crowd standing there. I spared a moment to look at the bulky enclosed sleds labelled ‘Mobile Command’, and then joined the rest in staring north east at the two nearest ruined towers.

  ‘This is Site Leader. Solar 5, seal your suits, check shields, and report when braced for impact please.’

  ‘This is Solar 5. We’re ready.’

  ‘This is Site Leader. Earth 2, fire charges.’

  One of the great ancient giants crumpled and fell in a thick cloud of dust. Even at this distance, I could feel the ground shake under my feet.

  ‘This is Site Leader. Solar 5 status please?’

  ‘This is Solar 5. We got shaken a little, but no damage. Ready for second one.’

  ‘This is Site Leader. Earth 8, fire charges.’

  The second tower seemed to hesitate and think about it for a moment, but then it too toppled to the ground. A second dust cloud billowed up to mingle with the first.

  ‘This is Site Leader. Solar 5, how are you?’

  ‘This is Solar 5. No damage. That felt closer though.’

  ‘This is Site Leader. Site teams get your working sleds and head out along the Loop in clock face order, one o’clock first. I’ll guide you to your positions.’

  Fian and I followed the others back to the sleds, and Rono pointed us at a tag support sled. We climbed aboard, Fian went to the controls, and we started moving with the other Cassandra 2 sleds. We were going to dig up a spaceship!

  31

  We drove along the Loop for a few minutes, and then turned north through the ruins, following a path marked by twin lines of glows. I could see the crash site ahead, marked by the thick pall of dust still hanging in the air. The rest of the ruins had their white blanket of snow, but here it had melted or been buried in falling rubble. We reached the end of the marked path, and Rono led our group of sleds around a curve marked by occasional single glows until we parked by one.

  ‘This glow marks our position at two o’clock,’ said Rono. ‘There’s a vid bee hovering above each glow, recording images and transmitting them so the Site Leader can view the site from any of the team positions.’

  I looked across the crash site, counting the other eleven glows that marked the circle of the huge clock face. Another single glow marked the centre of the circle. After a few minutes we heard Pereth speaking on the broadcast channel.

  ‘This is Site Leader. Set up boundary glows in red, and start with ten markers per clock point please. As you can all see, we have a huge area to cover. Solar 5 have to take their shields down to use their escape hatches, but they can’t do that until we shift the rubble off the top of the ship, and they’re buried pretty deeply. To prevent dangerous landslides, we’re aiming to dig out a gently sloping crater within our clock face that will be deep enough at the centre to uncover the whole top of the ship.’

  Rono unpacked two red glows, and a set of markers from one of the sensor sleds. He set up one of the glows on each side of us, showing the boundary points between us and the neighbouring teams at one o’clock and three o’clock, and then placed evenly spaced numbered markers along our section of the circle.

  ‘This is like a cake?’ Fian asked me. ‘We have to dig out the slice of the cake between the red glows?’

  I nodded. ‘I think so. We dig out one twelfth of the cake.’

  The Site Leader was talking again. ‘We’ve already encountered problems because the solar storm is causing lift beams to flux erratically. That means a lot of rocks will get dropped by the lift sleds, and there’ll also be problems with tag support lifelines. Everyone on tag support, remember when you pull your tag leader out of trouble, keep them quite low in case the beam drops them. I’ve had to rethink plans a little, to try and keep everyone working as much as possible while still keeping risks to a minimum. Normally we double team by running two independent teams near to each other, but we’re going to try something a little different today.’

  He paused. ‘All teams call in when you’re positioned and markers are set.’ The various teams around the clock face called in that they were ready, and Pereth continued. ‘Tag support sleds for your first and second teams move to markers one and two respectively. Team leader and sensor sled for first team will be working with the tagging crews. Everyone else is the lift crew and should wait at your clock positions.’

  ‘I’ve no idea how this is going to work,’ said Rono on the team circuit, ‘but I’m betting Pereth knows what he’s doing.’

  Fian drove our tag support sled round to marker two. The other tag support sled was a short distance away at marker one.

  ‘That’s looking good,’ said Pereth. ‘Our sensor net is up, but people on sensors will already see that interference from the solar storm will be making their job really hard. Team leaders please look for dangers visually as well. At least the aurora is helping us there by turning night into day. Tag leaders should tag rocks working along the line between you and the centre glow. You’ll need to mark smaller rubble than usual because we’re going to have to load everything into dumper sleds and shift it away from our dig area. Contact me with any questions, otherwise we’re ready to start.’

  ‘This seems complicated,’ said Fian on the team circuit.

  ‘It’s going to be very complicated,’ said Rono, ‘but only our Site Leader needs to understand the whole plan. The rest of us just trust him and follow directions.’

  I tagged rocks, while nervously aware the rubble beneath me wasn’t just unstable, but still actively moving in places as it settled under its own weight. Visibility was difficult too, with the weird coloured light from the aurora, and the fog of fine dust in the air. I was deeply thankful for the impact suit air system, which saved me from having to breathe the filthy stuff.

  I was a fair distance into the circle when Pereth started talking again. ‘Tag leaders return to your tag support sleds please. When they’re back, I want the tagging crews to shift round t
he circle to markers five and six and start work there.’

  I headed back to the tag support sled, and Fian drove it round to marker six.

  Pereth was giving instructions again. ‘Everyone else is lift crew, and should go to markers one and two to shift tagged rubble. There’ll be a dumper sled either there already or arriving. Only lift rubble when the dumper sled driver is safely clear of the site on the nearest sensor sled. I don’t want people getting rocks dropped on their heads.’

  That lot of instructions didn’t really concern me and Fian. For us, it just meant that the rubble I’d tagged was now being shifted, and I was working at a safe distance from any falling rocks. I concentrated on my tagging, moved position when ordered, and let our Site Leader worry about who he was shuffling to where and why.

  We shifted to and fro sideways several times, and I suddenly realized this was reminding me of something. When I was a kid of about 7 years old, I was in Home with Issette, and Keon, and everyone, and the staff used to get us doing dancing. We’d all be in a circle, holding hands, and one of the staff would call out the steps to us. Two steps left, then two steps right.

  This was similar in a crazy sort of way. The Site Leader was calling out the steps, and the circle of tag crews and lift crews danced to his bidding. After a while, we started to learn the dance, and could guess where he would move us next. When he had us all move in towards the centre glow, mark out another smaller circle and work there a little before moving us back out again, I nearly laughed. That was so like the dances in Home as well. Boys step in and out. Girls step in and out.

  The dance was working. We were starting to dig out our crater, moving in and out so that we didn’t have any dangerously high banks of rubble. There were problems of course. At any point in the dance, some tag team would be struggling with a huge boulder or girder that sprawled across the areas of two or even three markers.

  We had our turn at that of course. ‘We’ll have to cut that up into small pieces to get them on a dumper truck,’ said Rono, as I approached a vast length of diamene. ‘Our two tag leaders had better work together. Keren get a laser gun and do the cutting. Jarra follow him along and tag please.’