by M. D. Cooper
The noise of the water from the shower had gone quiet, but Erin barely noticed. She and Martin quietly kissed. Outside, the night noises of insects and nocturnal creatures were loud.
At some point, Isa joined them. When she slipped under the covers, they welcomed her into their movements. Together, the three of them entered into the dance they had perfected over the years.
Later, when the dance was done and Erin was finally gliding into sleep, the last emotion she felt before she drifted off was relief. She wasn’t sure the battle between her and Martin was finally over, but it seemed they had called a ceasefire.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
STELLAR DATE: 05.24.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Family home, eastern shores of Ithaca
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
The atmosphere at the family’s clifftop home had returned to something like normal after Martin, Isa, and Erin returned from their short break on the Island of Aeolia, though perhaps things were not exactly the same as they’d been before the invasion drill. Martin wasn’t sure that would ever be possible, when he and Erin thought and felt so differently, but he hoped the truce would hold.
He wanted to take Jude into work with him again. The last time, things had gone well. When they’d been living at Martin’s site on the Med, Jude had been too young to swim in the deep water where the exciting creatures like blue whales were growing, so Martin had only been able to show him the whales from a boat. But now that his son was older, he felt confident about letting Jude swim with the sea mammals at the marine park, and allowed him to do so on their last visit. The animals had taken the delighted boy for several rides and performed tricks for him.
Martin had also been impressed with how Jude had shown no fear of megalodons and other ‘sea monsters.’ He’d jumped up and down in excitement and begged to be allowed out of the submersible to swim with them. Martin had been forced to threaten to take him back to the labs if he didn’t settle down.
Isa and Erin agreed that Jude would love another day at Daddy’s workplace. Isa was returning to her gallery to check that the repairs had been made, and Erin was heading up to the space station. Martin kissed them both goodbye at the front door and then returned with Jude to the terrace, where they had stored his little submersible.
“Ready for another day at the safari park, Jude?” Martin asked.
“Yes,” he replied, beaming. “Are we gonna float down to the sea like before?”
“We are. Then we’ll go to see Lindsey, Pietr, and Margot again. What do you think about that?”
“OK.” Jude’s little face was troubled. “Can I see the octopuses too?”
“Sure, we can see them too.”
“I want Octy.” Jude ran back into the house to grab his octopus toy.
The plushie had become his favorite possession after Martin had told him about the real octopuses and their garden at the park. When Jude returned with the soft toy clutched in his small hands, Martin picked up the submersible and they walked down the terrace steps into the garden.
Jude trotted along behind Martin as they followed the path through the formal pattern of low hedges to the fence, where Martin unlocked the gate. After they passed through it and then the windbreak of slim pines, they encountered the sea breeze. It was very strong, which meant the sea would be choppy. Martin began to have second thoughts about his decision to take Jude with him to the park. Even though the conditions under the waves would not be so turbulent, they would also not be ideal, and Jude was still very young.
But he was locked in. Isa and Erin had already left. If Martin didn’t take Jude into work, he would have to take him all the way to his daycare center in Heliopolis, which would make him very late for work. He decided he would have to keep Jude with him in a submersible and not allow him to swim in open water. It wasn’t worth taking any chances.
Martin made Jude hold his hand as they neared the cliff edge and the little shed that held the a-grav packs. The wind was blowing in treacherous gusts. Martin took out two packs, strapped a pack to himself, and another, child-sized pack onto Jude. He also put on the harness that would secure Jude to his body. Martin and Jude were finally face to face with their packs on their backs and Martin holding one of the submersible’s handles.
He activated both their packs and gripped the submersible as they lifted from the ground and floated out over the cliff’s edge. Martin guided them well away from the cliff face so that a surprise puff of breeze wouldn’t crash them into the rock. As they floated down, Jude smiled and made ‘woooo’ noises. Rather than heading for the deep water as he did when he dove into the sea, Martin floated them toward a narrow strip of private beach that belonged to the house.
They landed on soft sand. Martin removed their packs and left them propped against the cliff. He put Jude into his submersible, ready to swim with him to the marine safari labs.
The process involved in bringing Jude to work with him was time-consuming, but Martin didn’t mind. He hoped his son would want to come in with him as often as he could when he was older. There was nothing like learning on the job, and Jude had already shown that he’d inherited his dad’s fascination with all things aquatic.
Another inconvenience of taking Jude into work was that when they arrived, they had to enter via the submersible bay. Though Jude’s vessel was small, it was too large to fit through the waterside entrance to the labs.
Martin swam into the bay with Jude, and when the water had drained away, he emerged with his son into the complex, still wet from his swim.
He dried off and went to see Lindsey, who was once more in the planning room poring over the holo of the site.
“Hello, Jude,” she said when she spotted him. “How’s my favorite boy? Can I have a hug?”
Jude skipped over to her and obliged.
“How was your trip?” she asked Martin as she put Jude down.
“Really good. What’s been happening here?”
“Lots. The soft opening’s been going well. We’ve had four tour groups come through, and they all loved it. They were all influential people, too, and should help to spread the word.”
“No octopus ambushes?”
“No, thank the stars. You must have made an impression on them. They’ve been good, so far.”
“Great. I was planning on paying them another visit today to reinforce the message. What do you think?”
“I think that would be a good idea. Just stay away from the sea monsters’ site. We have another big picotech deployment happening today. Earnest’s coordinator said we need to avoid the area for a few hours.”
“Is that to make the viewing platform at the edge of the ocean shelf?” Martin asked.
“That’s right. After that, the only buildings we’ll have left to do are the hotels that serve the maglev stations, and then we’ll be done. Full opening next week.”
Jude was wandering through the holo of the marine park, sweeping his arms through the large marine organisms that were swimming around.
“As early as next week?” asked Martin. “That’s hard to believe.”
“We’ve accomplished a huge amount in a short period of time,” Lindsey said. “I really appreciate your involvement. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I’ve loved being here.”
“Can I count on your support for a while longer?” asked Lindsey. “There’s still plenty to finish off and then there’s the upkeep, and I have a few more ideas I’d like to try out.”
“I’m not sure yet, to be honest, Linds. I’m worried about the situation on Troy. From what I’ve heard, the place is a bomb that’s about to go off.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that too. I hate to think what might become of the park if that happens. But maybe it won’t come to anything.”
“I hope not,” Martin said. “If the situation cools down, I’d love to stick around. I have a few ideas of my own for this place.”
“I’d love to hear them, but later. Today’s
visitors will be arriving in ten minutes.”
“Maybe you could come for dinner later,” Martin offered. “We can talk then.”
“It’s a deal,” Lindsey replied.
“Daddy,” said Jude, grabbing Martin’s leg. “When are we going to see the octopuses?”
“Very soon,” he replied.
“You go ahead,” said Lindsey. “I’m going out to the front entrance to greet the visitors. Pietr’s joining the tour today, along with the guide.”
“He is? That’ll be a treat for them to have an expert along.”
“I thought so too. Have fun with the octopuses!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
STELLAR DATE: 05.25.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Messene Station
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
On the eastern end of Messene, Erin was working on what had become her favorite part of the project: the engineering academy. The building was nearly complete. Erin had stretched the budget in certain areas and reallocated credits here and there in order to spare no expense on the place. Her efforts were entirely justified, in her opinion. With the colony’s generally accelerated timetable on everything, New Canaan had a shortage of top-class engineers, and the system had long been suffering from the effects.
< ‘Jude’s brother or sister’? Walter, are you in cahoots with Martin? Or is Eamon in on it too? All three of you are working on me to push the sibling for Jude agenda. Stars!>
A vision of Martin swimming through the sea, his belly distended with a pregnancy, popped into Erin’s head. Her husband looked like a genetic experiment gone wrong, She snorted with laughter.
Linch and MacCarthy lifted their heads from their consoles to look at her.
“Something Walter said,” Erin explained.
“Must have been a good joke,” said MacCarthy.
“Only to me.”
The two engineers returned to their work.
“We’re done,” MacCarthy said, referring to the newly built academy. “Ready to seal her up.”
“Wait a minute,” said Linch. “Can we double-check that the corridors are to spec?”
“Sure,” responded MacCarthy uncertainly, “if you want. But I’m positive they’re laid correctly.”
“I was just wondering….” Linch said. He turned to Erin. “Were you planning on doing any teaching at the academy?
She frowned, puzzled by the question. “I hadn’t thought about it. Maybe. Why are you asking?”
Linch didn’t answer her. Instead, he leaned toward MacCarthy and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “We’d better add a third to the corridor widths.” He jerked his head at Erin. “Give her some room to navigate.”
MacCarthy sniggered, and Linch guffawed.
“Aw, come on, guys,” Erin said. “Aren’t you ever going to let me forget about that?”
“Of course not,” Linch said. “This is way too much fun.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
STELLAR DATE: 05.25.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Isa’s Gallery, Heliopolis, Ithaca
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
The cleanup crew had done an excellent job at the gallery. Apart from the empty spaces left where smashed or irretrievably damaged artwork had been removed, the gallery looked like the drill hadn’t even taken place. It was in just as good, or even better, condition than it had been before the opening event.
Isa took a tour of the building just in case she’d missed something. At the same time, she mentally checked the data files of her installations to make sure that nothing had interfered with them. Everything seemed untouched. All she needed to do now was replace the holoprojectors and then she could open up the place to paying customers.
The planned opening date had come and gone. The invasion drill had seen to that. Any visitors to the gallery on the original first day of business would have received the message that it was closed until further notice. Isa hadn’t wanted to name a second date in case there was a hiccup in the restorations.
Now she was faced with the problem that all the interest generated by the opening party and Tanis’s attendance had faded away. She had to re-advertise and tell potential clients that the gallery was finally open for business.
It should have been an easy task. Isa already had a list of appropriate feeds and physical sites that sold advertising. Yet when she tried to submit her ads, her applications were bounced back. The sites didn’t recognize her business license number.
Isa tutted. Something had gone wrong somewhere. There had been some kind of bureaucratic hiccup, possibly due to the invasion drill. She’d advertised before without any problems. Trying to track down the source of the problem, she checked with the government office that awarded business licenses.
She was standing on the upper mezzanine, at the same window she’d looked out of when Singh had gone on his weird political rant soon after they’d met. When Isa saw the response from the government about her license, she was so shocked, she went to the nearest seat and sat down. Her license had been withdrawn. She looked up the reason. It read: ‘Fraudulent application to the invasion preparation compensation fund’.
For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She hadn’t committed any fraud. She checked she had the right account, but her personal details were there plain as day. Isa went over everything she’d done when she submitted her compensation claim. If anything, she’d under claimed. She’d left her artworks out entirely because she couldn’t put a price on them.
She was sure she definitely hadn’t done anything wrong, but then it hit her. Singh.
Her landlord had brazenly told her he was going to exaggerate his estimation for damages to the building. This had to have something to do with that. While Isa had been away on vacation, Singh’s claim had been investigated. Perhaps an inspector had visited the building to assess the true extent of the damage, and her landlord’s ruse had been discovered.
The authorities must have assumed they were working together. Singh had been found guilty, and she’d been tarred with the same brush. No wonder her landlord hadn’t been in touch all the time she’d been away. She also hadn’t heard from him since her return.
Isa tried to raise him across the Link, but, predictably, he didn’t answer. She left a message, asking him to explain if he knew why she’d lost her business license.
She cursed. So is this it, then? Has my ability to do business on Troy been permanently revoked? What can I do?
She’d invested so much time and money. She’d paid to upgrade Singh’s building with specialized electronics to run her installations. All her displays had been designed to fit in with the structure’s unusual design. What if Singh’s properties, including the gallery, had been seized or their operations frozen? Even if Isa managed to have her license restored, if she couldn’t run her business in Singh’s premises, she might not find a similar place to rent in all Heliopolis.
Had everythi
ng she’d done been for nothing? The despair began to turn to anger as Isa realized she had no idea how to fix the situation.
She tried to contact the Trojan Business License Authority, only to meet another dead end. All the channels led to requests to submit formal queries, which would be ‘placed in a queue and dealt with as soon as possible.’ No one was available to talk to her, not even an AI. It was ridiculous. She needed answers right away, not whenever an anonymous official got around to her query.
The entire situation was way too frustrating. Isa decided she would go to the TBLA in person and try to speak to someone face to face. She was going to open her gallery and she was going to open it soon.
She leapt up and marched to the elevator, calling an autocab as she went. When she reached the first floor, she stamped out of the building. The autocab hadn’t arrived, but she was too agitated to stand and wait for the vehicle. She set off down the bustling street, telling the autocab to track her and meet her en route.
She strode along the streets, passing the same stores and establishments that had interested her only a few days prior without a second glance. The pinnacle at the top of Troy’s parliament seemed to be mocking her.
Erin had confided in Isa once that every Trojan she’d met had been an asshole, and Isa was inclined to agree. From the snooty women at the shooting range to her deceitful landlord and the unbearable Elora Pennypuddy, they were all assholes.
Every single one.
As she sped along, Isa tried Singh again. No reply. Then she tried The TBLA.
‘Please complete—'
Isa cut off the connection.
Government House came into view at the end of its broad avenue. She walked all the way to her destination without the autocab reaching her. Disgusted, she canceled the request. She stomped down the avenue, drawing some stares with her determined stride. She ignored the onlookers. They were probably all Trojans.