"I remember they have casinos with things like this... " she waved a hand over the machine, "in Monaco and some of the European countries. I think the Americans do too in Las Vegas don't they?
"Oh yes," Feng agreed. "Chinese people travel to all the casinos as a very special vacation. They are among the biggest betters, what they would call high rollers, and get treated like royalty by the casinos."
"No kidding? Heather has this thing about betting. She isn't comfortable with it, but this isn't Central and I don't have any problem with it at all. Would you show me how this works? I've seen it in movies. I know the little ball goes around, but I don't know how the betting and such works. I'm very interested," Annette told Feng.
"Chao used to be a mechanic for a casino and fixed the roulette wheels and one armed bandits," Feng said, making a pulling motion in the air. "He can tell you all about the games and a hundred funny stories about the silly things customers do and the inside workings of a casino."
"I'd love to hear that. You know, this is a really big volume," Annette said, looking around the garage and machine shop, imagining. "How long do you think it would take to make a similar space, but a bit more decorative?"
Chapter 15
April's stirring woke Jeff. "Good morning," he said, smiling.
April grunted something unintelligible and scowled. She got up and went in the bathroom. When she returned her hair was wet from the shower and she merely looked peeved not frightening.
"Are you OK? Rough morning for some reason?" Jeff asked gently.
"It's dropping my caloric intake to reset my metabolism. I don't remember it being this hard when I was little. I'm not used to feeling this hungry or grouchy," April scowled.
"I'll shower and we can make some breakfast," Jeff suggested.
"I don't want to cook. I don't even want to watch you cook," April said before he could offer. "Shower and we'll go to the cafeteria. I can get stuff off the hot bar faster than making it here."
"I'll hurry," Jeff promised. April didn't tell him not to.
"Are you sure you need to cut back?" Jeff asked April in the corridor.
"I'm not sure," April admitted. "We have some extra supplies laid in. It may be a month or two from now we are short if at all. But I feel obligated not to carry on like normal until we know. It looks bad, and I just wouldn't feel good about myself if I did."
"Then by all means do what you feel right," Jeff agreed.
The cafeteria wasn't that busy for the hour. April got scrambled eggs and bacon. It was obvious they weren't short of fresh food. Eggs from dried or precooked bacon was pretty obvious. They weren't there yet. They'd probably offer a lot more starches when things got short. She could do oatmeal and breads once she was reset. She'd just have to keep her intake very low or the gene mods would kick in the boosted metabolism again.
"I'll get coffee," Jeff volunteered when they sat their trays on the table.
April looked around. There was a couple she didn't know sitting far from the coffee pots like she and Jeff were. She'd sat a couple tables away because they seemed to be having a serious discussion and probably wanted privacy. There was the usual crowd by the coffee, but diminished from the usual size.
Jeff returned and sat a mug in front of her. "You didn't have to wait on me," he said.
"I just got distracted people watching. There's a new fellow in the group of self employed and retirees that hang out by the coffee pots. I guess now that he's married they'll have to do without Ben Patsitsas," April said, picking up her fork.
"Speak of the Devil!" Jeff said.
April looked up and Patsitsas was entering with his recent bride, former USNA President Martha Wiggen, and the couple April knew as Ferdinando and Sancha Jimenez. She was a little surprised they felt comfortable in anything as plebian as a cafeteria, but they looked relaxed. They took food from the hot bar just like April had, not wanting to bother with a custom order. They sat behind Jeff over toward Ben's previous breakfast companions and he waved to the ones who looked up at them.
April blinked and then looked down at her food. She didn't want one of them to look up and see her observing them or the look on her face she hadn't been able to entirely switch off. Jeff however noticed.
"Is that just your surprised look or is it your dismayed face? Anything I should worry about?"
"Just surprised. Nothing that's a problem at all," April insisted, "except the jolt you get when you suddenly realize that something was staring you in the face before, and you finally twigged to it."
"Ah... and what sudden enlightenment rushed upon you?" Jeff asked.
"Don't look but the Patsitsas and the Jimenezes just sat down behind you," April said.
"Yes, I said that. But why shouldn't I look? I know them all and believe we are still on good terms," Jeff asked reasonably, "It would be natural to look and even wave hello."
"Because if they look at you they'll look at me," April said, "and I still don't have my face under control. They are super smart and politicians and will interpret the slightest strained or off expression."
"Do tell. Explain more please," Jeff said, as he started on his breakfast.
"They all came in together. They didn't meet here," April said as if that explained everything. "The odds are against perfect timing to meet up in the corridor. They are dressed very casually and it just isn't their nature. The Jimenezes in particular probably have dressed up for years to have breakfast with each other. After all what will the help think? I'm actually surprised Ferdinando owns anything as casual as a pair of khakis and a sweater."
Jeff picked up his pad like he was sending a selfie and routed it to his spex to look behind him. April stopped talking seeing what he was doing.
"Yes, well Ben might have loaned them to him. They do seem of a size. Ha! That got you again didn't it?" Jeff asked, amused. "Why?"
"Well the timing, and then they sat down and when couples do that it's usually either the guys together and the girls together to talk or boy-girl-boy-girl so they are each with their spouse. They sat down boy-girl with the other one's spouse. It was just too... natural. It wasn't a mistake and then they laugh and get up and correct it. They're just comfortable that way. Very comfortable."
"Well, none of my business. I must say you're much better at reading these little social clues than me. It doesn't really change how we might do anything with them. We don't have to worry if it's OK to invite both couples to a party now, do we?" Jeff said cheerfully.
"You're right. It seems like it could be complicated," April said. "For them I mean."
Jeff looked at her over his coffee and lifted an eyebrow. "Some people think our lives could be needlessly complicated," he pointed out.
"Yes, but that's different," April objected. "They're all Earthies and older."
"I think you are underestimating them," Jeff said.
April looked over at the couples again, her face under control now. "You're right. I have to remember Earth Think isn't hereditary or something. They're all smart and I have to give all of them credit for bold action."
"Think of your grandpa," Jeff counseled. "He was once an Earthie too."
"He was wasn't he? It seems almost impossible now," April said.
* * *
"I've got some bad news," Doctor Lee said.
"Oh joy. I put out enough fires I thought I might get to sleep tonight. What now?" Jon asked.
"The retired gentleman that has been kind enough to pass information to me sent me an e-mail this morning. He said they did a limited pilot run to make vaccine for this new strain of flu."
"What is limited in this game?" Jon said.
"A few thousand doses. Enough to check for adverse reactions more than effectiveness."
"And were there any? Serious reactions I mean. I've had a flu shot and got a bit of a hot bump for a day on the injection site. I don't imagine that's the sort of thing they'd care about."
"Yes, but the reaction was not in patients but the eggs. The
virus kills them," Lee said.
Jon knit his eyebrows in thought. "There's an alternative method of making vaccine isn't there? I'm sure I read something about that."
"There is, and cheaper, but it has proved to have more long term undesirable effects. Especially if you have multiple doses of similarly prepared vaccines one after the other. Besides that this means they have pretty much wasted a month and it will be another three months before they can produce an improved VLP vaccine."
"Doc... In three months things are going to be such a mess down there distributing it will be a big problem," Jon said.
"Exactly."
* * *
It was 1000 hours and Barak had heard nothing from Acting Captain Charlotte Dobbs. They'd tested all the embedded motors over the last couple days. One had done a self shutdown because the feed line for reactive mass had failed. He had no idea if it had frozen because of a localized defect or something had been left inside the line from being manufactured. He was dead certain he'd carefully removed the end caps and not introduced any foreign materials when he hooked it to the motor and to the central plenum. He'd inspected the receptacles the line plugged into and verbally confirmed to his suit record that they were clean before inserting lines in them. Every critical operation was verbally acknowledged, even though his helmet camera recorded the operation too. April's grandfather Happy had drilled that into him. It had amused Harold as pointless ritual.
Rather than dig up the offending line Barak, with the help of Deloris, laid a new one in a parallel ditch. There were other lines with the bad feeder they might damage opening the old trench. Once it was backfilled and sealed they painted a new warning band on the ice above it. The new markings were dashed to differentiate it from the solid band marking the first run.
Barak expected Dobbs to start retesting the last motor right at the start of the official 0800 workday. But he'd hadn't had any communication from her at all. He was sitting ready in his suit liner, waiting. If it failed again he wanted to be able to go out and troubleshoot it quickly. He'd have to help Deloris with her suit. He wasn't even sure what Deloris was doing today. Alice, he knew, was busy with environmental work. He didn't want to call either of them and ask what was going on. Not in the clear on channels Ms. Dobbs could monitor.
He'd been ordered out to work twice now. Barak hadn't really been told if he was still confined to his cabin or not, he wasn't certain. Charlotte wasn't given to saying things in great detail or very precisely. Indeed sometimes she seemed to think they were mind readers.
On the other hand he'd gone to the galley and gotten self-heating meals and snacks and hadn't been reprimanded for it. If she even knew. It would have been ridiculous as shorthanded as they were to make the ladies bring him his meals. He considered going looking for one of them to ask face to face if they had any idea what causing the holdup, but he didn't want to run into Charlotte by accident in the corridors and set her off.
Finally he decided to lie down in his bunk. He was too wound up to read or watch a video. A coffee sounded good but that was a bad idea if they had to go suit up again. He set his com pad for extra loud and put it in the corner by his head. He laid and thought about everything. Trying to think if he'd forgotten to tell Jeff something vital. Agonizing over what he might have done differently.
Why had he hit Jaabir? He didn't really remember deciding to hit him. It was when he'd yelled at him he was pretty sure. Not just the yell but he's closed in on him fast while yelling in his face. He hadn't stepped toward Jaabir. He hadn't needed to. Of course he'd been standing right in front of the hatch to the flight deck. Perhaps he'd just intended to move Barak aside, but that wasn't how it felt.
When it got right down to it he'd been frightened. He remembered it was almost like an electric jolt through his chest that he'd never experienced before. His people just didn't yell at each other like that. None of his family or friends. He'd gasped and struck not only without thinking but without holding back. He flexed his hand, still amazed he could hit like that. It was still sore if he bent it too far. It ached after replacing the feed line. He'd never been trained to box. Or any other martial arts at all.
When Deloris came in she was surprised to see Barak in the bunk.
"I half expected to get called to go out with you today. Did the new line feed fine without any problems?"
"I have no idea. Charlotte didn't use me," Barak said. "I haven't heard boo from her today."
"Neither have I but I already knew what I was going to do today if you didn't need me." Deloris looked thoughtful for a moment and spoke aloud. "Yuki-onna, connect me with Alice Evans please."
Barak was always amused when she used please and thank you with a computer.
"Hey, what do you need?" Alice said, audio only.
"Have you talked to Charlotte today?" Deloris asked.
"No, since I stepped out of the hatch this morning this is the first time I've talked to anybody, if you discount cursing at the double damned sensor that won't give me a reading on the number three water tank so I can do a resources inventory," Alice said.
"Neither have either of us. Yuki-onna, I'm concerned about the welfare of Commander Dobbs. Could you please confirm she is well and not in any distress or ill?" Deloris inquired.
"Acting Commander Dobbs appeared to be fine and expressed no need for help or assistance the last time she was visible on camera and audio pickup this morning."
"When and where was that Yuki?"
"At 0627 this morning in the suit room."
"Oh God. It's in full artificial stupid mode," Deloris said. "Is Commander Dobbs still there Yuki?"
Barak noticed she failed to say please.
"No, she has been in the airlock since then."
"Yuki... Did she put a suit on?"
"No, commander Dobbs did not, Specialist Wrigley."
Deloris looked at Barak horrified. "I have to go see," she said. He put on ship shoes and followed.
The room looked normal. All the suits were racked with none missing, just as the ship said. There was a pink sticky note by the handle on the dogged hatch. Deloris snatched the note off before Barak could read it, and put an eye to the peephole set in the center of the hatch.
"The lock is empty and the outer hatch is open," she said.
Barak just nodded, unsurprised. He'd figured that out back in his cabin. Deloris kind of sagged and put her hands on her knees. Barak thought she was going to vomit for a moment.
" Yuki-onna," Barak said. "The commander exited the airlock. Can you override the controls and close the outer hatch for us?"
"The controls do not show an activation. The outer hatch can only be open if the emergency mechanism was used to manually crank the hatch open. Doing so disengages the servo motor. It has to be manually cranked back closed."
Barak thought about that and looked as sick as Deloris. How determined to die did you have to be to keep cranking that hatch open, holding your breath as the pressure dropped?
"How can we get it closed now?" Barak asked. Deloris was reading the note.
"Yuki," he added at the silence.
"You will have to suit up and pump down the suit room to enter the airlock and close the hatch."
"Specialist Wrigley and I shall do that, Yuki-onna."
"I'm calling Alice to tell her," Deloris said. She turned away and used her com. "Alice says to explain explicitly to Yuki-onna what this means. She probably still doesn't get it."
Deloris took a deep breath and composed herself to speak to the ship. You had to say exactly what you meant. It was much like speaking to a small and very literal child.
"Yuki-onna, acting Captain Dobbs exited the ship without a suit. It is impossible to survive outside without one. She is dead. I have never been supplied a com code for the owners. They will have to be notified she is dead. Can you do that?" Deloris requested.
"I am sending such a message. My command interaction procedures indicate I must inquire of them who is to be appointed Actin
g Commander now. I will make a general announcement when they reply. My action tree demands a cause of death be included in such a notification. Would you supply that please?"
"Yuki, tell them it was suicide," Barak said. That made Deloris look at him sharply. Probably because he hadn't read the note. Really, what other explanation was there?
"Do I want to know what the note says?" he asked Deloris. She just handed it to him to read.
"Jaabir said I was stupid if I thought he was going to take the blame. He said I'd never do ship work again. He couldn't even sit up and he was threatening me. I believed him and panicked. He looked very surprised. I'm sorry. There's no fixing it now."
"Let's suit up," Barak suggested, and handed the note back. "Alice will want us to pump the suit room down hard so we don't waste air."
Deloris just nodded agreement.
* * *
Heather looked at the list of messages over breakfast. The forty six messages from Earthside interests she highlighted and sent to her secretary. There wasn't any from a hostile power. She cared about what her enemies had to say much more than non-space powers or commercial interests. The Tongans were an exception and the occasions on which they found it necessary to send her a message could be counted on one hand. There was nothing from Jeff or April, her brother hadn't sent anything in three days. He was saying very little since his trip had taken a bad turn. That was probably safest.
Among the local messages she sent three off to her secretary without opening them. They were local people who had a track record of bothering her with unimportant matters. Only one worked for her and the value of his services outweighed the fact he was a pain in the butt. She'd told him face to face that she routed all his messages to her secretary so he could direct them there with the same effect. He either didn't believe her or thought it a joke.
The other two were subjects who owned land they bought from her. One simply thought she needed her advice on almost every aspect of day to day operations, and the other had a single complaint that she aired over and over without any modification. She wished the debris from the Chinese attack removed from her property. Right now. Well, who didn't? Nothing else would satisfy her and she seemed of the opinion that the squeaky wheel got greased. Actually Heather had made sure her parcel would be the very last one cleared. Heather was of the opinion that most sovereigns of history would have had the woman executed in some gruesome manner instead of displaying the patience she had. She just deleted those two messages.
April 6: And What Goes Around Page 26