Travels of the Orphan (The Space Orphan Book 3)

by Laer Carroll

  "Scout test vehicle 3, you are cleared to park in the orbit you requested."

  "Thank you. Proceeding now."

  Jane tapped a few virtual buttons on her control panel. And Scout jumped.

  <>

  More than a year had passed since the Lizards had arrived at Venus. In that time the newest inhabitants of the Solar System had demonstrated the power of a very advanced race. Using unlimited energy and versatile transmutation they had completed the cloud city, furnished it, moved almost 10,000 Lizards into it, opened up a Visitors City, and set up a free taxi service for visitors to and from orbiting spaceships.

  There were over a dozen vehicles in orbit when she emerged only a few yards from spatial coordinates assigned to her craft. One was a big space shuttle from the Cat's mile-long spacecraft S-347 leased to a Chinese airline. Most of the rest were Earthly vehicles part of or leased to various governmental or scientific or commercial interests.

  Two were Galactic in origin. Egg shaped, the length of a football field, one was smoothly rounded and gold, the other faceted like a jewel and blue. They were the private yachts of the two captains of Galactic spaceships.

  Now why were those two frenemies in the same space at the same time?

  Jane put aside that puzzle to exit Scout through its airlock wearing her spacesuit. The suit was not needed as the twenty-foot round Venus City space taxi was pressurized and its airlock open and married to Scout's. However Jane wore the suit whenever she was off Earth. In a rolling suitcase she carried clothing and other necessities for a multi-week stay in Venus City.

  The top half of the taxi was transparent so Jane had an interesting view of the ten-minute flight from orbit through the atmosphere to settle into a docking cradle inside the floating city. She was struck once again at how lovely the clouds below the city looked, all light pearlescent grey.

  Jane exited the bubble-shaped craft at the end of a tunnel which opened into a check-in center somewhere in the middle of the five-mile-wide pancake shape of the city. It was on the top floor and so she could see the sun through the transparent covering some 500 feet above. It was larger than on Earth but a bit dim. The covering could not be completely transparent else it would be too hot inside the city.

  The covering was blue with a touch of green, giving the illusion that it was a sky matching the color of the actual sky on each of the several hundred Lizard home worlds.

  Jane walked from the taxi to the large two-story building of the check-in center. It took her only a few minutes to navigate the interface of one of the several dozen upright tablet computers positioned at head height on a metal pole. She checked in to Venus City, showed her driver's license, and made a reservation at one of the hotels.

  The robotic interface chimed, showed a stylized Lizard face like that of a cartoon, and said, "Welcome, Colonel Kuznetsov. A guide is now waiting for you at the exit."

  The exit was a hundred feet along a large hallway which she shared with a dozen other Earth inhabitants. Most were human but there were half a dozen Cats too. Those seemed to be Kits (who could be up to thirty years of age) or young adults. They were happy and chatted among themselves. They must be gene-adapted to be Earth inhabitants.

  The guide was a floating robot which looked like an eagle-sized butterfly. It oriented on Jane as she approached and moved a few feet to meet her. Its "wings" were spread and unmoving, looking more like a fan opened to cover a face than actual wings. The surface was green with two gold spots in the center of each wing which vaguely recalled eyes.

  "Colonel Kuznetsov. The City welcomes you. If you'll follow me we will get you settled in to your hotel."

  Outside the check-in center was a large concourse like a multiway street. For what looked like a mile in each direction were numerous shops and restaurants like those in any large Earthly city. Jane marveled once again at how quickly the Lizards had created and, even more impressively, populated an extraterrestrial city. There were hundreds of people in the concourse, mostly humans but also Cats and Lizards.

  And it all seemed perfectly normal and everyday. In just a few years the Solar System had become a Galactic society, the aliens as normal and everyday as anything else.

  How quickly people adjusted to change! How the extraordinary became ordinary!

  The concourse was crossed every few hundred feet by side streets with more shops and restaurants. Jane and her guide passed one such side street. Down one side was what looked like Chinese businesses, the other side African. Though she couldn't be sure as it took only a few minutes to pass by.

  The hotel was a ten-story Marriott across from a similar hotel with the Hilton name and logo atop it. The guide led her to the check-in desk and vanished, which was Jane's only clue that it had been a hologram.

  She was welcomed and given a hologram guide like a floating fish with fanlike moving tails. It took her to an elevator and vanished.

  Her hotel room was a suite, large enough to hold parties but too big for one small woman.

  Jane hung her few outfits in a spacious closet where her clothing seemed lost, amusing her at this possible statement of her own insignificance in the world (worldS plural she corrected herself). Likewise her few toiletries seemed lost in the spacious bathroom with a huge lie-down tub with a complicated shower head.

  She changed out of her spacesuit into jeans, blue tennis shoes, and a gold tee-shirt with a photo on its front of the lead guitarist of a popular band. Then she sat on the big couch in her living room and turned on the TV with the remote lying on the glass coffee table in front of the couch.

  "Welcome to Venus City Marriot." came a text message on the screen, echoing a mellow (female?) voice. The hotel's robotic guide proceeded to give her choices of what she could do in her room and in the hotel.

  Jane skipped the complete list and was about to turn off the TV when the robot said, "You have a message. Shall I display it?"

  Jane clicked the green YES virtual button on the screen.

  A Cat's face appeared on the screen from (apparently) another hotel room. Jane recognized Elizabeth, the captain and owner of S-347.

  "Hello, Jane. This is Elizabeth. When you get settled in today, I'd love to have dinner with you at your hotel. We'll be joined by our associate, Jorel."

  With that the view blanked to be replaced with an image showing a Lizard sitting on a couch. The Lizard lifted a hand in greeting. Jane guessed it was in a hotel room in the same or a nearby hotel as that of the Cat. For all she could tell all three of them were in the Marriott.

  A few seconds later the Lizard image was replaced by a screen which let Jane reply.

  She spoke up.

  "Replying to dinner invitation by Elizabeth, owner and captain of Centaurus Spaceship 101347. Yes, I'd love to see you and your, ah, associate here in the Marriott Hotel. Seven o'clock seems like a good time."

  When she finished the screen was filled with a text version of her words. Blinking below it were the Words: CORRECT? and REVISE? Jane said, "Correct" and the words were replaced with MESSAGE SENT.

  Now what did a Colonel in the Space Force wear when meeting the informal heads of the thousands of Cats AND the Lizards in the Solar System? Two beings three thousand years and two thousand years old?

  Nothing she had in her meager wardrobe. And the answer came to her, as it would have to all the trillions of women before her and surely would for all the trillions who would come after her: SHE HAD TO GO SHOPPING!

  <>

  Jane refreshed her almost not-there makeup and used the toilet, then left the hotel room.

  It was not-quite lunch time so Jane kept her eye out for food venues as she strolled back the way she'd come from the check-in center. This was a random choice, as the concourse in front of the hotel and its rival hotel opposite looked much the same in either way.

  Perhaps it was the side street with a Chinese (or Oriental?) theme which drew her, for it was down that street she detoured on her way to shopping for an outfit.

  It w
as indeed a street dedicated to an eclectic Oriental sensibility. She saw in the three-block-long street shops and restaurants for every country in Southeast Asia. Jane settled on a restaurant in the Lao-Sze-Chuan chain, a favorite of hers on Earth.

  Inside the décor was modern with red and gold accents. She was met at the door by a maitre d' in a long blue silk dress. In Beiping dialect Jane asked to be seated at a table for one near the window. As it was early, the young man said, there are several. Jane picked one at random.

  She continued to speak Mandarin to the waitress, an older woman in a gold dress with blue accents.

  The waitress brought her a requested iced tea, not a usual choice in a Chinese restaurant but available, as were other items on a limited menu of laowai or non-Chinese food.

  But for an appetizer Jane chose vegetarian noodles in egg/potato soup. She slurped it appreciatively; she'd missed the Chinese food she'd come to love in the three years she'd worked for (they thought) the Southeast Chinese government's space program.

  Strange that here on Venus she could find what seemed like genuine Chinese food.

  For an entrée Jane had boned fish in a soup of Rattan peppers spiced with Bell peppers. She asked for and got flat bread to go with it and an imported white wine.

  As she ate and drank Jane reflected on calling "imported" a German wine here on Venus. She wondered if it actually was shipped from Earth or was transmuted from Venusian air. It didn't matter to her, as the duplication would be atom-for-atom identical to the real thing.

  Although it did matter to Cats and Lizards. Authenticity had value for them because it was so easy to copy real objects perfectly. Both sets of aliens had elaborate ways to judge and authenticate products. It seemed silly to her, but she supposed that when she was a few hundred or thousand years old she might feel differently.

  She shrugged off the distant future and enjoyed the meal.

  The question of authenticity re-occurred to her as she was paying her bill with a credit card, adding a 20% tip. She said to the waitress, "Is the wine shipped from Earth or is it made here? I don't care, but I'm curious."

  The woman said, "It actually is from Earth. You're welcome to use your authenticator on it if you wish."

  "I don't have one. I don't even know what one is."

  The waitress looked around at the crowd. It was still sparse, still a bit early for lunch.

  "May I sit?"

  "Certainly. If it won't get you in trouble."

  The woman sat, saying, "I'm one of the owners. And it's still early. As to authenticators, they are small, like this credit card of yours."

  She placed a small apparently wooden tray on the table before Jane. Atop it was Jane's credit card and a small paper receipt for the payment. Jane took the credit card but left the receipt. She wasn't about to carry that millions of miles back to Earth.

  "By law, both Cat and Lizard law and several other Galactic societies, every copied item no matter how small must contain a tiny molecule that IDs it as copied. We operate under those laws and could lose our license if we offered copies as authentic. If it's labeled authentic, as our wines are, you can be very sure they are.

  "Not everything we sell is authentic. For instance, the flour and sugar are copies, the spices are authentic."

  The woman glanced away from Jane as a group came in the door, two Cats (young Jane was sure) and four humans (also young). Jane, sensing the woman's concern, said, "Thank you. May you eat well," still in Mandarin.

  The woman smiled, said "Thank you" in English, and rose to greet the customers the maitre d' was ushering to a table.

  Jane finished sipping her wine, watching the new customers as she did so. They seemed so happy and so natural in their company, two Galactics and four earthly humans. They must all be at least moderately well-off to have come to Venus. Perhaps they were on some education/work program at a university. She knew some Kittens were attending universities now.

  Much of the afternoon Jane wandered, going in shops and even buying a few items she would take back to Earth with her. When she'd filled one large shopping bag she took advantage of the service most of the shops offered: couriering the bag to her hotel at the end of the day with other purchases by customers.

  The shops were a mix. Some offered very expensive items such as wearables from Armani. Some seemed to be Mom and Pop stores (on Venus!). In between were medium-sized versions of international department stores.

  After much debate with herself Jane chose her outfit. It was a very-light-grey coverall like a chic version of the Space Force work coverall, a one-piece item with a press-closed front down to her waist. It was close- though not tight-fitting to her slim feminine form. The material had a subtle shimmer when it wrinkled, like near-microscopic fairy lights of blue and red and green and gold.

  <>

  She showered when she returned to her room with her outfit in a plastic cover. Dried off, she applied her minimal makeup, highlighting the color of her lips only a tiny bit and darkening her lashes only slightly.

  Then she descended to the dining room.

  She spoke to the human greeter at the entrance to the Marriott dining room. "I'm meeting a Cat and a Lizard. Their names--"

  "I recognize you, Colonel. Come this way."

  Their destination was a large private dining room. A large table may have been replaced by a smaller one seating four. One seat was a Cat seat. It and a human seat opposite it were occupied by Elizabeth and Jorel. They both rose and greeted Jane.

  Jane said Hello back, took the menu from the greeter, and sat.

  "Iced tea," she said to the young waitress who had joined the greeter in the last few instants. "Give me a few minutes, please."

  Then she turned her attention to her companions, seated to her left and right.

  "To what do I owe this unexpected honor?" she said.

  "Pure coincidence," said the Lizard.

  "A random happy circumstance," said the Cat. "The Universe does deliver them upon rare occasion."

  Jane took the iced tea glass from the magically reappearing waitress, nodded at the woman, who discreetly left, and took a sip of the tea. Finding it as expected unsweetened she set about remedying that situation while gazing at the two alien entrepreneurs. She raised an eyebrow.

  "Coincidence. Random circumstance. I'm an innocent, I admit. But I don't believe that for a microsecond. Spill."

  "Spill," the Lizard said to the Cat. "So evocative. Calling up unpleasant images of involuntary elimination."

  "Typical crudities from a crude race," said the Cat to the Lizard. "No wonder in the Galactic milieu they are called Monkeys."

  Jane smiled and applied herself to her menu, quickly choosing a faux steak (clearly labeled in the menu as synthetic) and vegetable side dishes (labeled authentic). She chose, in very brief discussion with the waitress, a red wine to go with her meal.

  She turned her attention to the two aliens who had continued their observations of the crudities of Monkeys. Jane broke in on them.

  "Who came up with these labels? 'Cat' is obvious, 'Lizard' complete nonsense. But 'Monkey'? First time I've heard that label, but I'll grant some truth to it.

  "Now if you are done playing comedic tit-for-tat--and how many millennia have you two clowns practiced your act?--maybe you'd tell me why you two are met and why I'm included."

  The Lizard looked at the Cat then Jane.

  "We wanted to educate you a bit on a few matters. If you don't mind listening."

  "I have no false pride. Especially about Galactic matters I freely admit I'm ignorant. Educate away."

  Elizabeth said, "We noticed that your most recent space vehicle is designed to be easily and quickly adapted to be several kinds of war vehicle."

  Jane cut in. "That bothers you? And how did you come to know classified data?"

  "On the contrary, it pleases us. Earth authorities have too long ignored the possibility that predators will bypass Saturn and attack you. Those who do understand the danger assume,
or hope, that the Human Interstellar Confederation will protect you. They are almost certainly right. Not only can the sentinels call in the Guardians with all their enormous destructive abilities, you have residing on Earth at least two human Galactics whom we believe would be great helps in fighting off an invasion."

  The Lizard said, "As for the issue of classified data-- Your encryption is so easily bypassed that it's almost a sin not to read what you're hiding."

  Elizabeth glanced at Jorel with an expression Jane found no difficulty interpreting as annoyance.

  "An alternate view is that we are your allies in any coming war and should have access to your military data so that we can coordinate our defenses with you."

  Jane was herself guilty of treating encryption of important information cavalierly. She shrugged.

  "So you would render aid in case of an attack?"

  "Our two ships are very capable but the extent of our help would be to protect the two Cat colonies and this one Lizard colony. Only if Earth's victory is in balance could we spare some of our military units to assist in ensuring your victory."

  Jane was quiet for a time. So were her companions, letting her digest what they'd told her. She turned her attention to appreciating her meal while her subconscious sorted out the information she'd taken in.

  A thought occurred to her.

  "You mentioned a couple of Galactics living on Earth. Who are they? What are they like?"

  "We don't know," said Jorel. The Lizard was annoyed, or at least Jane interpreted his expression that way.

  "They are Galactics and can hide themselves from other Galactics. We only infer their existence from some historical incidents and those could just as easily be coincidence. Further, Earth is home to some individuals who might also be the causes of those incidents. They might be called Children of the Travelers."

  He shut up and chomped on his greens with unusual vigor.

  Jane looked at Elizabeth.

  "The Travelers are a race even more advanced than the thirteen races whom we believe to be the most advanced organic beings of this section of this spiral arm. We can only perceive them as something like ghosts, barely visible. They are truly immortal, living billions of years at least."