by M. D. Cooper
Cary turned to Erin. “Is it OK if we take Jude out onto the lake? Last time he was here, we kind of promised.”
“Sure,” said Erin. “That’s fine. He’ll love it.”
As Tanis and Joe’s daughters were taking Jude down to the water, Isa and Martin finally made it out onto the deck.
“We put Jude’s bags in the hall,” Isa said. “Sorry, there are quite a few.”
“No problem,” said Joe. “Do you have time for a drink?”
“We do,” Isa replied. “We don’t need to be at the spaceport for a while. We wanted to allow plenty of time to get Jude settled in before we leave.”
“Great,” Joe said, sitting down in an armchair. “Let our servitor know what you’d like.”
“I don’t think we need to be concerned about Jude missing us,” Erin said to Isa and Martin, looking beyond the deck to the open threshold of the boathouse, where Cary and Saanvi were putting a lifejacket on the little boy. “He seems to feel right at home.”
Martin had walked straight to the railing that ran around the deck and was watching the children. He turned around and said, “I’m not sure that Jude’s safe out there.”
The servitor had arrived and began delivering their drinks as Tanis asked, “Out on the water? Joe told the girls that they have to make sure Jude’s wearing a lifejacket whenever he’s anywhere near the lake.”
“Ease up, Martin,” Isa said. “The kid’s in the sea more than he’s out of it. He learned to swim before he could walk, remember? I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Martin appeared unconvinced, but he didn’t reply, simply returned his attention to the boathouse.
“I’ve been coming over here a lot, Erin,” said Isa with a knowing glance in Martin’s direction. “Probably too much, but Jude is really comfortable with the girls.” She looked meaningfully at Tanis, who returned a conspiratorial smile.
“Not at all,” she said. “We love seeing you, don’t we, Joe? It makes a nice change to talk to someone who isn’t a politician or in the military.”
Erin said, “We really appreciate you guys looking after Jude.”
“No problem,” Tanis replied. “It’s the least we can do, after everything you three have done for New Canaan.”
“That’s nice of you,” said Erin, “but I’ve only been doing my job. And now I get the cherry on the cake! An entire space station project all to myself. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Is she going on about her space station again?” asked Martin, who had managed to drag his attention away from what was going on at the lakefront.
“Erin’s very welcome to talk about the new space station at Troy,” said Tanis. “I’m interested to hear about her plans.”
“See?” said Erin. “If the governor of New Canaan is interested, what do you have to complain about? Better than a boring old aquarium.”
“A boring old aquarium?” Martin’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. “Are you referring to what will be New Canaan’s largest marine safari park, featuring an unheard-of range of underwater environments and aqua experiences?”
“Yes,” Erin said. “Exactly. A boring old aquarium.”
Isa said, “Please excuse my husband and wife. They love to wind each other up.”
Martin had become distracted once more, however. He was looking out over the lake, where Cary and Saanvi’s boat was gliding across the water. Saanvi was sitting with Jude in the bow and handing him a mini fishing rod.
“Looks like it’s fish for dinner,” replied Tanis.
“I’m sorry, but that really doesn’t seem very safe,” Martin said.
“What do you mean?” asked Isa. “Jude’s wearing a lifejacket, and the girls are great at looking after him.”
“Yes, but….” Martin’s jaw muscle twitched. “I should go over to the boat and help them out.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Isa.
But Martin was already walking down the steps to the lawn.
“What’s he planning to do?” Tanis asked. “We only have the one boat. I guess he could ask the girls to come back to the shore and pick him up.”
“Oh, he won’t bother with that,” said Isa resignedly.
Martin was striding into the boathouse.
“Is he…?” asked Tanis. “Don’t tell me he’s going to swim out to them.”
“Yeah, he is,” Isa sighed. “Honestly, ever since he got his mods, he’s been worse than ever.” She said to Erin, “I’ve been bringing Jude here to give him a break from Martin taking him swimming all the time. Now that Malcolm can deal with everything at the seeding site, Martin’s had the freedom to focus all his attention on Jude, which means swim, swim, swim.”
Out on the lake, Martin’s head broke the water’s surface and then dipped below it again.
“Unbelievable,” said Erin. “Do we even have time for this? How long is it before we have to leave for the spaceport?”
“About half an hour,” Isa replied.
“You know,” said Tanis. “Jude really is one hundred percent safe with the girls.”
“Of course he is,” Isa said. “We know that. Martin knows it too, or he wouldn’t have brought him here. He just gets….” She looked at Erin for the right word.
“Twitchy?”
“Yeah, twitchy,” said Isa. “It’s the first time ever he’s been away from Jude.”
“He seems so overprotective,” said Erin. “But I guess it’s different for me. I’m used to leaving Jude with you and Martin.”
“Well it’s my first time too,” Isa said, “but I don’t mind. Jude will be happy as a clam here with Tanis, Joe, and the girls. I can’t wait to get back to Athens. Mikkel’s Cocktail Lounge, here I come!”
“It’s going to be great,” said Erin, her gaze focused on the lake, where Martin’s head had appeared next to the boat. He was talking to Cary and Saanvi.
“What will you be doing in Troy, Isa?” Joe asked.
Isa’s eyes lit up as she replied, “I’m opening an art experience center. I have a place lined up, I just need to fit it out and set up my installations.”
“Cool,” said Joe. “What kind of installations?”
“They’re amazing,” Erin said. “Isa’s invented a new perceptive experience. She records natural landscapes and makes them dynamic and interactive, adding her own artistic twist. It’s hard to describe. If you’re ever in Troy, you should check them out.”
“We certainly will,” said Tanis.
They talked about Isa’s and Erin’s plans for a short while longer, until Martin emerged from the boathouse, his hair wet.
“Everything OK?” Erin called to him as he walked across the lawn. She gave Isa an amused look.
“Yeah,” Martin replied. When he’d returned to the deck, he added, “I wanted to check that Jude knew he mustn’t touch the fish hooks.”
“You could have asked one of the girls to tell him that from here,” said Erin.
“I know,” Martin said. “But I wanted to tell him myself.”
“That’s what being a parent is like,” said Tanis. “I wonder if we ever get to stop worrying?”
“I hope so,” Isa said. “But we only have one child to worry about. You have two on your mind.”
“We only have one for now,” Martin said. “We might have others soon.”
“Huh?” Erin said. “We might have other kids soon? Did I miss out on a discussion?”
“Then I did, too,” Isa laughed. “I think Martin’s been talking to himself. But if we do want to have more children, I want it to be remembered that last time, I was the one who took one for the team. If we do have another baby, it’ll be your turn to carry it.”
“What?” Erin squeaked. “Why? I don’t see why Martin shouldn’t do the honors, considering it’s his idea.”
“Me?” Martin asked. He mused for a moment and added, “Like male seahorses?” before returning his attention to the lake.
�
��You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” said Isa.
“That would take some serious mods,” Erin joked.
“Isa mentioned you’ve already had some mods done,” said Tanis, clearly attempting to distract Martin from his worries.
Her ploy worked. Martin’s features relaxed as he replied, “I did.” He lifted one side of his shirt, displaying three slits at the base of his ribs. “I was never comfortable with the idea of body modification, so I’d been putting this off for a long time. But when I accepted the offer to consult on the marine safari project on Troy, I decided I had to take the plunge. Sorry for the pun. I thought if I was going to do it, I might as well go the whole hog. And it’s been fantastic. I never realized how inconvenient rebreathers and face masks were until I no longer had to use them. No more fear of getting the bends, either. I can go as deep as I like and resurface as quickly as I want. No more salt tongue, even. I wish I’d had it done years ago.”
“Glad you like them; I’ve had them in the past too. Did I ever tell you about the time I stopped the assassination of the Jovian oligarch on Europa?” Tanis asked with a wink.
“You what?” Martin asked, while Isa added, “The Jovian who?”
“Jovian Combine,” Tanis said to Isa. “They controlled most of OuterSol. They had an odd sort of oligarchy, and the head was simply known as ‘The Oligarch’. Anyway, I got caught up in an assassination plot against him that would have seen me framed for the deed. I ended up getting modded into a squidwoman for the job.”
“That sounds fascinating…a real squid, or some sort of fantasy creature?” Martin asked, the expression on his face a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
“I had my arms and legs removed, and then lots of tentacles added. Was the strangest undercover work I’ve ever done. But we saved him—though the asshat blackmailed me later. We managed to turn it on his head, though.”
“Waaaait a second….” Erin couldn’t keep the wonder out of her voice. “Was that when a pod of orcas captured the oligarch and demanded freedom for Europa in exchange for his return?”
“Yup, good ol’ Gerald,” Tanis replied. “He certainly turned that situation to his advantage. So anyway, I think the mods will serve you well, Martin. Back on Mars, I used to swim deep with the dolphins—always thought about getting gills just for that.”
Erin shook her head as she regarded the governor. “You’re just full of surprises.”
“That’s my MO,” said Tanis.
“OK, we should be getting along,” said Isa. “We don’t want to miss the shuttle.”
Martin’s forehead furrowed once more. “Is it time to leave already?”
“I’ll ask Cary to bring Jude over so you can say goodbye,” said Tanis. “He knows he’ll be staying here for a while, right?”
“Oh yeah,” said Isa. “He’s so excited. He hasn’t shut up about it for days. He’s brought nearly all his toys to show to Cary and Saanvi.”
“We’ll send you a packet every day to show him so he doesn’t miss us too much,” Erin said. “Won’t we, Martin?” She paused when he didn’t respond. “Martin?”
His eyes were focused on Jude as the little boat headed back to the boathouse. “Sorry, what?”
“I said we’ll…. What’s wrong?”
Martin had stopped watching Jude, but he wasn’t listening to Erin either. His head was down as he concentrated on a message arriving via the Link.
He looked up. “Sorry, that was Lindsey out at the marine park on Troy. A massive sinkhole has opened up in the seabed right in the center of the site. She’s asked if I can go straight there to help out. I think I should.”
“Oh no,” Isa said, her face falling.
“It doesn’t matter,” Martin said. “You and Erin can go to Athens without me.”
“But we don’t want to go without you,” Erin protested.
“That’s right,” Isa said. “It won’t be the same.”
“Well I don’t know what to do,” Martin said. “Lindsey really needs my help.”
“I guess you have to go in that case,” said Isa, disappointment deadening her tone.
“Yeah, you should go,” Erin said. “I know what we’ll do. Let’s postpone our Athens trip for a couple of months. This problem with the sinkhole will be fixed by then, and I’ll be well into the space station construction. It won’t hurt to take a week off. Could you close your gallery for a while, Isa? Or leave someone else to look after it?”
“I suppose so,” Isa replied. “All right. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll only be starting work a little earlier than we’d planned.”
“Sounds good,” Tanis said. “I’m sure we’ll be free to look after Jude then, too. Though the girls are going to be disappointed.”
“We’ll be back soon enough,” Martin said. “But for now, we’ll go straight to Troy and take Jude with us.” He looked happier than he had for the entire visit.
CHAPTER FIVE
STELLAR DATE: 04.08.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Heliopolis, Ithaca
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
Anger and frustration gnawed at Myrrdan’s agent. Sitting in a hotel room balcony that overlooked Troy’s capital city, Heliopolis, the agent brooded on the challenges of stealing New Canaan’s prized technology and unique advantage in the struggle for galactic power: picotech.
In the years since the arrival of the Intrepid, picotech had been employed several times, but each of the agent’s attempts to steal the tech had failed. The failure that stuck out most painfully was that of the idiot Nathan Hart. Hart had enjoyed the luxury of two separate opportunities, yet twice he’d been unsuccessful.
The agent had even gone to the expense and trouble of supplying the man with superior body modifications to help him on his second attempt, but all to no avail. What was more, Hart’s endeavors had alerted the New Canaan Government to the fact that their precious tech was under threat from within the colony. As a consequence, the security around the picotech’s employment had become and remained airlock-tight.
If Hart hadn’t died after his second failure, the agent would have killed him. The man’s incompetence had wasted their best chance. Such a favorable circumstance had never been repeated. The government only ever used the tech in well-hidden areas and under heavily armed protection. Myrrdan’s agent was confident that the security services had not detected any of the further attempts at theft, but that was small consolation.
As the years had passed, the agent’s frustration had grown. Every day that went by was another opportunity for the Transcend or another hostile power to invade the system and seize the tech for their own. That could not happen. The picotech must be Myrrdan’s, and it would be his alone after he used it to destroy New Canaan.
The agent gazed absently at the cityscape, lost in thought. Heliopolis glared with reflected sunlight from the sea of white buildings, stark and clean against an azure sky. The city’s main thoroughfare lay below the balcony and it was filled with Trojans out in force. Hawkers had set up stalls on the sidewalk, selling freshly picked local fruit, sticky, sweet nut confections, meat pastries, cream-filled buns, and other street food, and they were inviting passing pedestrians to sample their wares.
An unusual sight caught the agent’s attention: a woman walking six pets on leashes. The animals were a new kind that was becoming fashionable in the colony. An inventive genetic engineer had mixed canine, simian, and another ‘secret’ organism’s genes to create pets that were very smart yet also highly loyal. The simian genes seemed to have provided the greatest influence on the animals’ appearances and behavior, from what the agent could see.
The six pets were walking obediently, yet they were also intensely curious about everything that was going on around them. They were watching the street food sellers with great interest and seemed to be paying special attention to the handing out of purchases. The agent stood up and peered over the balcony, watching the spectacle more closely. The woman appeared to ignore her an
imals’ nosiness, only holding tight to their leashes as they strained to inspect the food on offer more closely. Passersby stopped the owner to ask questions about the beasts. She began nodding and pressing a hand to her chest with fake humility as she appeared to accept compliments with great pride.
The agent grimaced. New Canaanites were irritating beyond belief. So smug and self-satisfied about their little worlds. The day the system was wiped from existence could not arrive soon enough.
Suddenly, one of the pets turned its attention away from the food stalls and, for no apparent reason, began to jump up at its owner. The animals already reached the woman’s thighs, so the force of the creature leaping up almost knocked her from her feet. Then, even more inexplicably, four more of the pets joined in, leaping up at their mistress from all sides. They were pushing her with their front paws before dropping to the ground and immediately jumping again. They didn’t appear to be doing her serious harm, though their actions were vigorous and intense.
The owner’s surprised wails and shrieks drifted up from the street, above the hubbub of street noise. Bystanders’ reactions were predictable. Those who were closest tried to help the woman, grabbing the animals’ leashes and trying to hold them under control, but the pets were strong and full of energy and they soon wriggled free, immediately resuming their seemingly odd and pointless behavior. Other pedestrians only gawped.
Myrrdan’s agent was becoming bored with the trivial incident, but then one of the animals did something interesting.
From the distance of the hotel balcony, the agent was able to observe the wider picture of what was really happening. The sixth pet, which had been standing still while the others misbehaved, unfastened its harness. It was as if the animal had been waiting for its moment. A quick check around told it that its actions hadn’t been noticed, and then it began to edge away from the group.
Myrrdan’s agent smiled wryly, assuming the animal was going to try to escape, but the smile faded when it became clear that escape was not the creature’s intention at all. After carefully checking out the nearest hawkers, the sneaky pet slipped across to a stand, climbed up onto the structure, and stuffed its cheeks with sticky clusters of nuts. No one except the agent noticed what the animal was doing. The creature then filled its hands with the confections before jumping down and scooting back to its owner.