by Robin Roseau
"Good," Colonel Blue said from the back seat. "If you switch around, it's good to take your time. Make sure you know where everything else, even if it's a craft you fly often. There's no rush."
"Yes, Colonel," I said.
"All right," said Cecilia. "This is going to be a little like the difference between a spry buggy and a heavy wagon pulled by six large horses. Give yourself more room for everything you do. I can wedge this baby around like it's your trainer, but you can't, and I better not see you try to do so."
"Yes, Governor," I said. I moved us to the take off end of the runway.
"Apply power gradually," she said. "Let it take a few seconds, or the craft can get away from you."
I nodded. I checked the systems one more time. I checked for other traffic once more, both on the displays and by looking around. Then I asked, "Ready?"
"Ready!" they both said.
I applied power. Then more, and more, until we were pressed backwards into our seats. It had never felt like this when she had flown us.
"Cecilia?"
"You're doing fine. Lift gently now. A delicate touch."
I pulled on the control on my left. The nose lifted, and we sprang into the air. I relaxed pressure, and then we were climbing at a saner rate.
It took no time at all to reach two thousand meters.
"Oh my stars," I said. "Oh my stars."
Colonel Blue smiled. "Someday I'll let you try the controls of Darkstar. If you aren't careful, you can literally squish everyone aboard."
"I don't think I'm ready for that."
"No, perhaps not."
I turned us south, following the coast. And then I glanced at the airspeed. "We have a malfunction."
"What?" Colonel Blue immediately said, leaning forward.
"Airspeed. It reads oh point nine. Is that even the right instrument?"
"And this is why we do checkouts," Colonel Blue said. "And this is why I'm in the backseat. Did we forget something, Governor?"
"Um. It's not broken, Chaladine. It's measuring airspeed as a mach percentage."
"A what?"
"How close to the speed of sound we're traveling."
"Sound?"
"Yes. It varies with conditions, but sound travels through air about 1200 kilometers per hour."
"We're flying at 1100 kilometers an hour?"
"Yes. You'll have to go higher if you want to go faster. This jumper doesn't like exceeding mach one at low altitude."
I glanced at Cecilia.
"Ah, yes," said Colonel Blue. "This is exactly why we do checkouts."
I glanced back at her. "You knew I wasn't ready for this jumper."
"You're doing fine so far," she said. "But perhaps you will wish to pay attention to where we're going. Isn't there a village down here somewhere. Do you want to fly past them like this?"
"They've seen jumpers before."
"At this speed and altitude, we can be somewhat startling," she cautioned. "That is all."
"I..." I began a gentle turn out over the ocean until we were pointed north, two kilometers from the coast.
"Very good," the Colonel said.
"Can we go to Sudden?"
"If we slow down."
So I waited a minute or so then began to pull the power back... and back... and back... Everything grew somewhat quieter. We were still flying at 300 kilometers per hour, but it was a lot quieter.
"If you wish a circle of Sudden," Cecilia said, "I prefer 150. That's a comfortable speed."
"Does it get mushy?"
"About 100," she said. "150 is a good getting a look speed."
"Right."
I waited until we flashed past the resort before I began pulling more power. It felt like we were at an idle before we slowed to 150. My altitude control wasn't perfect, either, and if I'd flown like this during my last ride, I'm not sure I would have passed.
"I'm not doing well."
"You're fine," Colonel Blue said. "We'll discuss more after we land."
I kept us off the coast, but then as we got there, I turned into the harbor entrance, flashing past the headlands, still 1500 meters below us. We passed over the town, and I did a circle. Then Cecilia said, "Take us back out of the harbor, but then turn around and give me the view."
So that's what I did, circling the town in a clockwise direction so she could see.
She sighed. "I love this planet. I miss Centos Four, but I love this planet. The towns are small, and everyone knows each other. The food is good, the weather lovely, and everyone is so friendly."
"Even if the customs are unusual?" I asked.
They both laughed. "Even if," Cecilia agreed.
"Speaking of loving this planet..." said Colonel Blue. "I have a little leave time built up, and my commanding officer is growing increasingly insistent I use some of it. Darkside has a mission or two coming up, but after that, I'd like to spend most of my time here. Would that be all right, Governor?"
"Of course, River." Cecilia said. "How much time do you have accrued?"
"Five years."
"Five years?" I said. "You have five years of leave waiting for you?"
"I won't use it all. Maybe a couple of years. Is that too long?"
"Absolutely not," said Cecilia. "You could immigrate if you wanted to."
"I'm not ready to leave Darkside permanently. I've been putting this off because I'm terrified they'll take her from me. But she's due for a refit. Normally I'd oversee that, but my C.O. is threatening me. I'm going to have to leave her with my executive officer to oversee."
"You're always welcome, River." Cecilia smiled. "Will you stay with Sartine and me?"
"I'd like that, although not for the entire time. I was wondering. Are these galatzi trades always permanent?"
I laughed. "Sartine seems to have started something. They are normally permanent, but they don't have to be. Are you offering to carry a child?"
"I-" She paused. "I haven't had any. I think if I were going to have a child, I would want it here. But I don't know how I feel about leaving. We're here a lot, because we're based in this area, and my C.O. gives me a great deal of leeway where we park between missions. But we're not based here, and we could get yanked away with little notice."
"A galatzi trade is about children," I said. "If you are not offering to be involved in producing children, then you should pursue other choices. You can still have a relationship here. But not a galatzi relationship."
"I-" she paused. "I don't know. Maybe. I want to think about it. If I decide I want to do this, can you arrange it, Chaladine?"
"No," said Cecilia before I could reply. "If you decide to pursue this, you see your vendart. That is me. I will then arrange something. I may work with Chaladine or go around her to her father. I may offer you to Sartine. I may speak to another vendart. If you have a particular village you prefer, you will tell me at that time. But you come to me. Now, if you have questions, you may ask whomever you like."
I sighed.
"What?" Cecilia asked.
"If she came to me, then I could trade her and get someone for Sudden at the same time. Sudden wins and it doesn't cost us a brother or sister."
Cecilia laughed. "If she comes to me, then it makes it possible for me to fulfill another of these thirty-seven requests I have piled up."
"She's only offering to stay for a year or two," I said. "You can't give her away for a year but take someone for a decade. She's an Imperial Colonel, but that's not balanced."
"Maybe I can convince her to stay longer."
"Sitting right here," River said. "I can hear you."
Cecilia switched to Talmonese. "You know once a Talmonese man gets his hooks into her, she'll never leave."
"You know I learned Talmonese, Cecilia."
Cecilia laughed.
"And how sure are you I want a man?"
"You know," I said, "the Talmonese men have a reputation, but it doesn't compare to the Talmonese women."
"Best lovers in five par
secs," Cecilia said with a laugh.
"Besides," I added. "I don't think even the Colonel will figure out how to untie herself from a galatzi prisoner's knots."
Ahead, the resort was approaching. "Did we want to go anywhere else?"
"Let's see three good landings," Cecilia said. "It's going to be heavy coming in, so flare a little earlier and be ready to add power."
I didn't like my first approach. Neither of them said a thing, but we were still fifty meters from the ground when I gave it power and pulled away from the ground. They waited until we were back at five hundred meters before Cecilia said, "What was wrong?"
"It felt bad," I said. "We were fast and high besides."
"Good call," Cecilia said. "Don't overcompensate the next try."
I did better. From in back, the colonel asked, "Are we good?"
"We're still fast."
"Make a decision."
I applied power. They were quiet until again, we were at five hundred meters.
"You could have landed that, but we're not in a hurry," Colonel Blue said. "Once we're done, I'm going to show you a few things."
The third time was the charm. I was a little low, but I gave it some power, and we settled down over the runway, then rested in ground effect once we finally came to a stop. Without a word, I turned us around, went back to the beginning, and took off again.
I didn't do three. I did five. Neither of them commented, but finally I took the jumper back to it's berth, set it down, and did the shutdown process. I slumped.
"That's enough for me today."
Cecilia chuckled.
"Everyone switch," Colonel Blue ordered. "Cecilia, you're back here."
We rotated. Colonel Blue worked efficiently, and we were off the ground a lot faster than if I'd been flying. She took us out over the ocean at five thousand meters then said, "Chaladine, I'm going to show you military style maneuvers, but only if you promise you will never try them without a damned good reason."
"But you're going to show off? What's your good reason?"
She laughed. "Five decades of practice make these routine for me."
"Fair enough," I agreed.
She turned us back towards the coast, and we were doing five hundred kilometers an hour. We flew right over the runway, and she cut power and immediately banked the craft hard to the left.
It scared the shit out of me, and I shrieked. We dropped like a rock, and the forward airspeed bled off to nearly nothing. She dropped the nose, reduced the bank, and a few seconds later, we settled down over the runway, consuming barely the length of the jumper before coming to a stop.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I promise, I cannot imagine a reason to ever want to do that." She laughed and we took off again.
And again we headed out over the ocean, then she turned us back. We were very high, but we weren't going as fast, so she pulled the power and put us in a left bank, but it was sane, and we spiraled down, landing in exactly the same place. It felt far more graceful.
"That one isn't so bad," she said. "Arthur can teach you once you have more experience." Then we took off again.
This time, she did a normal approach, but she was both fast and high.
"I'm not going to like this, am I?"
She killed the power and laid the craft on its side, our belly in our old direction of travel. A second later, she dropped the nose, and seconds after that, we did what felt like the final stages of the landings I normally did.
"Do not ever try that, Chaladine. Promise me."
"Promise."
"Okay, another one Arthur can teach you."
This was almost the same, but the maneuver was far gentler, and we bled speed while descending, landing easily.
Through all this, Cecilia didn't say a word. But once the colonel parked the jumper, she quietly said, "Go ahead. Approach me for a galatzi trade. See who I give you to. Just try it."
River and I both laughed.
Tranquility
"I love it here." Savannah sat down next to me. I was seated on a ledge overlooking Indartha. Somewhere behind us, most of the family was playing some game I didn't understand.
"It's beautiful."
"It is," she said. "I love the entire planet."
"We were so afraid you would hate it."
"Me in particular?"
"Well, the family. Some of you haven't really enjoyed the trip. Nothing is up to the standards you expect."
"Their loss," she said. "We're leaving in two weeks."
"I know. It's going to be too quiet without all of you."
"It won't be quiet. There is so much to do here. I wish I could stay and help."
"Why don't you?"
"I have commitments," she said. "Maybe someday though. I'm still young."
I smiled.
"What do you miss most from Centos Four?"
"My implant doesn't work out here," she said. "From up here, I can reach the satellite-"
"The what?"
"In the sky is a big radio."
"I don't see it."
"It's in space, and it's painted dark to avoid reflecting light."
"Oh."
"But my implant doesn't like using the satellite. I don't like the lag it causes. It's disconcerting. On Centos Four, only the most remote locations have no local uplink to the planetary net."
"Indartha is remote."
"On Centos Four, there would be a radio tower on this mountain somewhere."
"Oh, I see."
"I don't miss it in the fashion that I can't live without it. I miss it in that I am used to being able to access the web everywhere. It's habit. It's just a thought, and I can grab the information I need. Or I can set up a conference call. I can reach my family from here-"
"Wait? You guys can talk without talking?"
"Yes. And sometimes we do that. But only a few of us have implants. Me, my sister, my parents, Arthur." She looked over her shoulder. "That's it."
"Not everyone?"
"They're expensive. It is unusual for parents to pay for them. So either you get rich, or you find a way to get an employer to pay for it. Arthur got his from the military, and it has all the hush-hush upgrades I don't have."
"I see. What else do you miss?"
"My house. It's comfortable, with everything where I want it."
"All the features?"
"It's not that. My pillow. My blankets. My fuzzy slippers. You see?"
"Yes, I understand."
"There are things I miss that I'm happy to be without. The noise."
"Noise?"
"Your towns are so small." She paused. "Our capital city is called First. It's where we landed first. It's not a very creative name, but it's fairly common amongst the various colonies. Chaladine, there are two million people living within a hundred kilometers of the center of first."
"I-" I paused. "I don't think I'd like that part."
"There are some advantages. With that many people, you have a wider variety of businesses. Far more types of restaurants than in a town of five hundred thousand."
I shook my head. "The numbers are staggering."
"But you see? Good and bad. More choices, but more noise. Here, you know everyone."
I nodded.
"I wouldn't mind more choices of restaurants. Someday when you visit, we'll spend a month just trying different restaurants. You'll hate some but absolutely love others, and at a few, you'll think I'm insane to suggest you try something, but if you do, you'll love it."
"I'd try them if you promised not to get upset if I don't like them."
"Of course. So, more restaurants would be nice. A few more stores. If we could get some money flowing into the planet, I might open a few restaurants."
"You're a cook?"
"I am, but not the way you mean. No, I wouldn't operate them. I'd pay people to operate them. But I like owning restaurants. I own four on Centos Four. Three are in First and one is far in the south, in mountains not that different f
rom here. We ski there in the winter."
"Cecilia has a video. She showed it to Sartine once, and that's why Sartine knew she could handle living here."
She laughed. "I made that video. That was a very, very long time ago. My restaurant isn't in quite the same area, but it's the same mountains. It's at the top of a mountain, and the view is amazing."
"Maybe you'll take me someday."
"I'd like that," she said.
"So, is everyone rich?"
"No. My parents are insanely rich. Cecilia and I are, well, quite comfortable. Arthor is comfortable, but not to the same level. Corinne is doing well. Shawn and his partner are somewhat laid back. The rest? It varies. By Talmon standards, maybe most of us are rich. Delilah is not and probably never will be, unless she either marries into money or changes her attitude far more than I expect." She paused. "You can do well in The Empire making some choices, but if you want to truly succeed, it takes sacrifice. You do what it takes to get an implant. For most of us, that means a twenty-year commitment. When someone is only twenty or thirty, twenty years is intimidating."
"I suppose."
"Nothing would stop someone at, oh, say, my age from deciding to take that kind of commitment, but if you got to my age without doing it, or without having the opportunity, you probably aren't going to."
"The opportunity?"
"Companies don't pay for implants for anyone without the brain to use it and the drive to make it pay for them. You have that kind of drive, but not everyone does."
"Ah. I think I understand."
We sat quietly for a while. Then I said, "Savannah?"
"Yes?"
"Did you know I asked Cecilia to arrange a galatzi trade for me?"
"Yes."
"I asked your mother this, and she never gave a straight answer. Do you think I was foolish? I don't know if I could ever learn what I need to learn for it to be worth it. And ... I don't know. She'll give me to someone I don't know. That person won't know our customs. She won't know Talmon."
"I think you are offering to make the sacrifices we talked about a few minutes ago. I imagine that's why you brought it up now." I nodded. "I think perhaps there were other ways to achieve the same ends, but I think there are other reasons you want it done this way."