The Time Stone (The Time Stone Trilogy Book 1)

by Robert F Hays

  “The shuttle to the liner Mariposa leaves in thirteen hours. Meet me back here at 8 a.m..”

  “How long does it take to get to La Raza?”

  “Seven days.”

  Jim looked around to make sure that no one was close enough to overhear. “I thought that this parallel space travel was almost instantaneous.”

  “It is, but the liner has to go to a jump point. It can not jump straight from orbit. For details you will have to ask someone that did not sleep through high school inertial physics as I did.”

  “I take it that the jump point is close.”

  “Not that close. Are you familiar with the term ‘warp drive’?”

  “Yes, Scotty explained it to me.”

  “Good, then you know about it.”

  “What can I do while waiting for departure time?”

  “There are fifteen lounges, twelve bars and fourteen restaurants. Take your pick.”

  “How about getting some sleep?”

  “Follow this corridor to the end, turn left and look for a sign that reads In-Transit Accommodation. Use your ticket disk. For ticket holders it’s free.”

  “Thanks.” Jim picked up his bag and prepared to leave.

  “Oh, I can tell you, you and your sons have made quite an impression on my children. All I hear around the house now is Cowabunga dude.”

  Jim lowered his head. “Sorry ‘bout that.” After his customary apology he had another laughing fit which he tried to control while walking.

  Jim walked down the corridor. He realized that the name he gave was a good one. He didn’t have a single recoding of Mick Jagger in his collection. The ones he owned he had loaned to a friend on Old Earth and never got them back. It was also an easy one for him to remember.

  At the door to the in-transit accommodation a computer voice requested that he place his ticket in the slot of a scanner. “Mr. Jagger your accommodation booth is twenty four C.,” was the information it gave him.

  Jim just smiled, he was getting used to the name. He entered and walked down a row of large horizontal lockers stacked three deep. An overhead sign told him he had reached row C. Turning left, he located a locker marked 24 and inserted his ticket into the slot above the number.

  It opened, the door swinging upward. Just enough space for him to climb in and sleep. Being the middle locker, it was at lower eye level. Inside was a comfortable looking bed, a flat video screen and a bank of controls for heat, music and a wake up timer.

  Jim settled in, closed the door and soon fell asleep.

  Chapter 12

  It was 6 a.m. Jim had slept for nine hours. The length of time was mainly due to his wound. He was still recovering and no matter what the advances in technology, sleep was still the best medicine.

  A row of vending machines provided him with an evening meal. After eating, he found a public 3V room which showed the updated local news. The news made no mention of the attempted murder, or the two dead men he had left lying in the street. In fact, it may have been the first time that the news hadn’t reported a word on the Old Earth family since their arrival. It was apparent that the inspector had arranged a blackout on his activities. That included mention of the two recently deceased would be assassins. It wouldn’t have been difficult for the inspector to guess who shot the killers. A small projectile, chemically propelled from an Old Earth artifact, was not the weapon of choice for most criminals.

  Seeing the boy’s pizza commercial surprised Jim. On closer inspection he discovered that the faces of the boys had been altered. The subtle changes made them unrecognizable as his own children.

  Jim was keeping a low profile and talked to no one. He used the information he had learned from Alfred to act as best he could like a farm boy from Concord.

  * * *

  “Mr. Jagger, this way sir.” Bonthrone beckoned him to follow and exited through a door behind the counter. “Mr. Jagger, I hope you are not carrying anything that’s illegal to transport. We’ll be passing through security detectors.”

  “Illegal? Like what?” Jim’s hand went to the carry bag where he had deposited the Colt.

  “Fresh produce, illegal drugs, weapons, things of that nature.”

  “We had similar security on Earth. How does it detect fruit?” Jim tried to sound as casual as possible. He primarily wanted to know their method of detecting weapons, but thought a round about way the best.

  “A sniffer. Very accurate. It detects the aroma from the fruit. It can sniff it out no matter how it’s wrapped.”

  “What if you have just eaten, say, an apple? Would it key on the apple smell on your breath?”

  “No, it can tell the difference.”

  “How ‘bout weapons?” Jim unconsciously held his breath after asking the critical question.

  “Detects the energy fields around the power pack and core. Even when completely shut down, it can still pick out a laser pistol.”

  Jim exhaled with relief.

  They passed through several arches which Jim presumed were the detectors. He held his breath at each. No alarm was heard, but the possibility of a silent one still bothered him.

  They went down a long, wide tunnel. A moving sidewalk acted as a conveyer belt. Luggage, cases and the occasional autoserve traveled the same route. Spaceport employees walked in both directions, some in coveralls, a few wearing a uniform which Jim presumed to be that of the liner’s crewmen, possibly officers.

  “I take it that this is the service entrance.”

  “Yes, it bypasses the main passenger walk. You have no idea how many famous people have entered by this method. Last month I escorted Preston Nash exactly the same way you’re now going.” Bonthrone turned his head to see Jim’s reaction. He appeared unimpressed.

  “Oh... yes... Really? Who’s Preston Nash?”

  “You have not been able to see much 3V yet?”

  “No, not really. Too busy. Have you ever had a member of the Montoya family from La Raza?”

  Bonthrone turned his head again, this time with a pronounced disapproving frown. “No, I doubt if I would give service to people like that.”

  “How about religious leaders?” Jim was now changing the subject as much as gathering information.

  “In about twenty minutes I’m due to escort some church elders this way.”

  “Children of the Prophet Elijah?” Jim had stopped walking.

  “No, I don’t think so. Mormon I believe.”

  Jim started to walk again. He considered taking his own pulse to see if it was still there.

  They arrived at a lift tube. Bonthrone stopped and the door opened.

  “I’ll leave you here. When you get out of the tube there’ll be an autoserve. Just tell it your... ah... traveling name, and it will guide you the rest of the way.”

  “Thank you Mr. Bonthrone, I appreciate the assistance.”

  “One thing I would like you to know. The money does not all go to me. I split it with the work crew. We’re in financial competition with the news media. They would pay quite a lot to find out who travels this route.”

  “Ever had a problem with someone that wanted to be paid by both sides?”

  “Not in the fifteen years I’ve been here.” Bonthrone extended a hand which Jim shook. “And, if I may say, cowabunga dude.”

  “And a cowabunga to you too.” Jim waved as the lift tube door closed.

  The autoserve guided Jim through a cargo storage room. Stacks of light blue cases were piled almost to the ceiling. Heaps of luggage were secured by a frail looking net to bright orange pallets.

  “Why is the luggage secured and not the cargo?” Jim asked the autoserve, knowing he wouldn’t get a reply.

  “The cargo cases have electrostatic bases which hold them one to another and to their pallets.”

  “Huh?” Jim exclaimed looking down at the autoserve, then to the man behind him. The crewman was wearing gray coveralls with a utility belt and pad under his arm.

  “Chris Brevis is the name Mr. Young
or should I say Mr. Jagger. I’ll be the cargo master on the liner. If you have any problems with other passengers bothering you just let me know.”

  “What can you do for me if that happens?”

  “If they get too obnoxious, you can always hide in the cargo hold. The price of fame. I’ve had people take refuge there many times before.”

  The man was in his early thirties, medium height, with an interesting smile that turned his mouth up further on one side than the other. His speech was quite articulate and showed a degree of self-confidence.

  “I take it that you’re part of the escort service,” Jim said while tugging at the net. “This looks too frail to hold down so much.”

  “A complex carbon silicon fiber. Can only be made in zero gravity.” Chris looked at his pad. “We had better hurry, the rest of the passengers are boarding now. It’s a three hour ride to the liner. It’s in geosynchronous orb... ah... it’s right above us.”

  Jim put on a phony smile. The habit of people underestimating his knowledge was annoying him. “Will wonders never cease.”

  Chris walked over to a slow moving conveyer belt carrying palettes of cargo through a large opening in a wall. “Mary, how soon ‘till the shuttle’s loaded?” he called to the other side of the line.

  “A couple of minutes,” called a woman Jim couldn’t see. “How many passengers? Just you?”

  “Nope, there’s two of us.”

  The woman laughed. “What? Another movie star or a billionaire industrialist going to a secret meeting?”

  “You should know, my lips are sealed,” Chris called back then continued on toward a door.

  The door slid open and they walked down a short corridor to another, more substantial door with a transparent window. Chris placed his hand on a box on the wall and the second door slid open. Inside, were four seats. Chris took one and indicated a second to Jim.

  “Cargo lift will depart in two minutes,” announced a computer voice. “All passengers will be seated and secured during the entire trip.”

  “Are there seat belts?” Jim said, looking around.

  Chris reached out and touched a tab on the arm of Jim’s seat. Two arms came out from low on the backrest and secured Jim’s hips.

  Jim looked the small compartment over. “So, what’s the G force when we blast off, or whatever the current term is?”

  “Pardon?” Chris said. “What G force? The artificial gravity is set to one G. Would you like it decreased or increased?”

  “No, the force pushing you back as you accelerate going up.”

  Chris laughed. “This isn’t an ion drive propulsion ship. We’re going up on a… uh… space tether, also known as a space lift. It’s like riding a lift tube.”

  “Space tether?” Jim said. “You’ve got those things?”

  Chris’ face dropped. “You know what they are?”

  “From science magazines and internet… ah… datanet websites. They’re long rope like things, a hundred yards… uh… meters thick that go from the ground to space and you go up and down on elevat… ah… lift tubes on the outside of them.”

  “You had them on Old Earth?”

  “No, they were only theoretical, in the planning stage.”

  “Well, we have them now. There are three on this planet with connections to the biggest cities. Anywhere else and you have to get to a space liner by ion drive ships.”

  “Just a minute,” Jim said. “I thought a space tether had to be on the equator.”

  “Close enough,” Chris said. “We’re at latitude fifteen degrees north.”

  “But that’s in the tropics. Batalavia City is in the sub tropics.”

  “Let me guess,” Chris chuckled. “You took the number 34 underground tube train from the city and it took an hour and a half. That thing goes at over nine hundred kilometers an hour. You are now over thirteen hundred kilometers south of the city.”

  “Cargo lift is departing,” announced the computer voice

  “Wow!” Jim said and stared at the window in the door. The hallway disappeared downward. The sky appeared and he saw the space port buildings slowly descend.

  “I thought you’d be impressed,” Chris said.

  “Uh… yeah…. uh…. Couldn’t they have made that window bigger?”

  Chris laughed. “You would take the incognito route. On the passenger lift they have a full panoramic view.”

  “Damn,” Jim said and slapped his knee. “Can I get up and go look out the window?”

  “Company rules. You heard the announcement. You must remain seated and secured.”

  “Damn,” Jim said.

  Chris continued to smile. “Every port we come to, I go up and down on one of these a dozen times. It’s routine to me. I forget that most people get excited about the trip.”

  “And I have more reason to get excited than most,” Jim said as he leaned forward to look up at the approaching clouds. “I saw tons of freight going through that door. Can this thing lift so much?”

  “It’s hardly any weight at all. The underside has an anti-gravity shield. The whole shuttle weighs a hundred kilograms at the most.”

  “Anti-gravity? It stops gravity from working? How come we’re not floating around?”

  “The floor has artificial gravity plates that’re keeping you firmly seated. The space liner also has artificial gravity.”

  “Will we see the spaceship through that window?”

  “You will, but very little of it. The side will suddenly appear then you see the inside of a loading dock.”

  “Damn,” Jim said.

  “I have a 2D monitor so you can see the whole thing.”

  “No thanks,” Jim chuckled. “I want to see it in person. On a monitor, it’d be like watching Captain Kirk docking with the Enterprise.”

  “Pardon?” Chris said.

  “An Earth 2V program,” Jim said.

  “Clouds coming up,” Chris said.

  Jim looked out the window again, disgusted that it was all he could see. “How fast will we be going?”

  “Fairly slow in the atmosphere, but when we’ve cleared the stratosphere it increases to over ten thousand kilometers per hour, then we slow again as we approach the space docking port. You won’t feel anything; the change in speed is gradual and the artificial gravity compensates for the forces.”

  “And I still won’t get to experience zero gravity.”

  “The liner has zero gravity games rooms.”

  “Really?” Jim sighed. “But I don’t think I should go there either.”

  Chris took a long look at Jim. “Why not?” he said. “That beard is a good disguise. I wouldn’t have recognized you if I didn’t already know who you were.”

  “The way I talk would give me away.”

  Chris nodded. “You do use some strange expressions and terminology,” he said. “And you would attract a lot of attention. The people really like you. On the 3V interviews you come across as a very friendly and unpretentious person, someone they’d like to know. That’s why I introduced myself as Chris Brevis and not Cargo Master Brevis like I would with a stuck up movie star or football hero.”

  “And I’m Jim, not Mr. Young.”

  “Mary, the lady I spoke to down at the cargo dock is in love with you. She said, if she got the chance, she’d seduce you and run off with you.”

  “Is she good looking?” Jim chuckled.

  “If you like the hefty, muscular type,” Chris laughed and looked down at the pad in his hand. “It says here you’ve booked a two bunk shared cabin in tourist. With the money you’re making you could well afford a stateroom in first class.”

  “It’s to complete the disguise. I really don’t want to be kidnapped by a muscular woman who’s in love with my 3V persona.”

  * * *

  The public areas of the liner Mariposa were spacious and built to accommodate three thousand passengers. Jim’s cabin was not so roomy; it was designed for only two. Fold down bunk beds and a bathroom make up the bare neces
sities for sleeping and bathing. He pulled down both beds and tried each in turn. He found that he was considerably lighter in the top bunk. This made him feel uncomfortable, so he threw his gear on the bottom to claim it before his roommate arrived.

  Jim had to avoid all voice controlled computers. The cabin valet service was useless to him. A pad over a chest of drawers contained information on the liner. Regular games rooms, zero gravity games rooms, observation deck, bars, restaurants, all those areas he couldn’t go. ‘Maybe next time,’ he thought to himself.

  The cabin door opened and a man entered. “Randon Pervis, Steven’s Electronics,” the man said, sticking out a hand.

  Jim shook it. “Mick Jagger.”

  “Hope you’re having a better time than I am. Spaceport mixed up my luggage, the attendants were rude. I hate space flight, there’s always a hassle. What company did you say you represented?”

  “I didn’t.”

  The man continued to unpack. “Whatever. I hope you are not one of these party people, women in and out of the room at all hours. I will not put up with carrying on like that.”

  “No. I mostly like staying in the cabin and reading.”

  “Good. That’ll give me some company. All these idiots who think this is a space amusement park make me sick.”

  Jim had known this man for less than five minutes and already disliked him. When he met people, Jim usually took notice of such things as physical appearance and dress. With this guy, he didn’t bother and just continued to read the ship’s data pad.

  The man paused from rearranging the top bunk and stuck his head below it directly in front of Jim’s. “Like something to eat?”

  “Uh.... yes.”

  The man turned and tapped the cabin valet control. “Liner food is renowned for its lack of quality, but when one is hungry, it’s all that’s available.”

  Jim had recently eaten but thought that he should take advantage of the man’s voice.