“That's right,” Mary confirmed. “Actually it's a fairly new concept. And frankly I have no idea why it was built into a rural bridge like this one. Except to say that prime Miller must have had something to do with it. It was he that funded the construction of the bridge about forty years ago.”
As they approached the central pylon, all three lanes became wider. Especially the central pedestrian path which more than doubled in width before another handrail divided it in half. The central handrail became a wedge, that guided them away from a center support column. There was one such column located at either end of a large open space in the center of the massive pylon. The grillwork below their feet was replaced with a solid concrete floor. On either side of the bicycle paths there were bicycle racks. There were about a dozen bicycles held upright by the racks. Just past the first central column, the twin pedestrian paths were joined by a side path. Off of which a concrete staircase descended to a small landing below. The landing turned out to be a sort of corridor that ran at a ninety degree angle to the bridge.
Most of it's length was open on one side except for a fence. The fence stopped four feet before the corridor did. There the corridor opened to the top of a metal grillwork staircase that hugged the side of the big pylon as it descended to the island below. The island appeared to be a mixture of grassy fields and woods. There was a tall fence segregating the mostly open grassy picnic area on one side of the bridge pylon, from the larger more wooded private section of the island.
“That almost looks like a standard chain link fence except that the links look like they're made from individual rings,” Sam remarked. “You know like medieval chain mail.”
“Well how else would you make a chain link fence?” Mary asked.
“On Sam's Earth, somebody devised a way of interlinking a series of custom bent metal rods forming a chain like fencing material,” Jess interjected. “Without having to weld each link shut. Which of course made it cheaper to mass produce than the gridwork panel fencing that I've usually seen used here on Slowlane whenever wood wasn't suitable.”
“The rings of this chain mail fencing appear to have been fused together individually,” Jake interjected. “Perhaps using the tools of a blacksmith. It must have been rather expensive.”
“To be sure,” Mary replied, “Only a very successful prime would consider using it on such a scale.”
Jake nodded and pointed at a large ornate cast iron gate abutting the pylon. On the side of the pylon next to the gate there was a bronze plaque that read. ‘Private estate of prime David Miller. For access, please pull rope.’ Next to the plaque there was a heavy rope that vanished into a hole in the side of the pylon. Jake pulled on the rope. It moved easily for about a foot before it suddenly stopped and was abruptly pulled back as a deep resonant chime sounded from somewhere inside the pylon. A few seconds later there was a soft metallic scraping sound from where the gates latch mechanism was mounted on the pylon. Then the gate was suddenly slightly ajar.
“I take that as an invitation,” Jake said as he pushed the gate open.
It swung silently on well lubricated hinges. The gate was carefully balanced so that gravity would serve to close it. Yet it took very little strength to push or hold it open. As soon as they were all inside, Jake released his hold on the gate and it began to slowly swing shut. As it closed it's momentum gradually increased just enough for it to reengage the latch mechanism. They began walking along the wide flagstone path that led from the gate.
They hadn't gone very far when suddenly a bleary eyed Arnold Hunter ran up to to them. When he reached them he grabbed his wife in a bear hug, without remembering to stop running first. Both of them tumbled to the ground. Arnold was babbling incoherently. The only words they could recognize were, “It's you Mary! It's really you!” Which he kept repeating over and over, in between alternating between gut wrenching sobs of sorrow and hysterical laughter.
A few moments later a tall middle aged man with black hair, woolly sideburns and a thin mustache, approached on a bicycle. Jess recognized him from a previous visit.
“Hello David,” Jess began, as the man came to a stop. Then he continued with appropriate gestures. “May I introduce my associate Sam Davidson. My new boss Jake Peterson. And I gather you know the Hunters... Boys, this is prime, David Miller. Who I hope can shed some light on what's wrong with Arnold here?”
David looked thoughtful for a moment.
“I'm now thinking that you weren't actually on the Scuttlebutt when she exploded the night before last,” he said.
“The Scuttlebutt exploded?” Jess exclaimed. “Wasn't that the sternwheeler we almost sailed up the river on Jake?”
Jake didn't say anything he seamed lost in thought. So David replied.
“Well it certainly was the one you were all supposed to be on,” David explained. “And yes it exploded. Shortly after which Arnold arrived in a sleek military recon shuttle. He landed directly on my island in the desperate hope, that by some miracle beyond his understanding, Mary was already here when the Scuttlebutt exploded. He'd already confirmed that the blast was so powerful that it nearly doubled the width of a section of the river. Which of course means that the water is now spread out there. Making the overall depth a bit too shallow for most of the big high capacity riverboats. And at the same time it tore up the bottom in such a way as as to make for some strong eddies that make it too dangerous for most of the small ones. They say it will be a several months before the engineers can repair the damage well enough. To make it safe for the majority of the river traffic that Shiptown depends on for it's livelihood.”
“If the blast was as big as you described, it could not have been an accident,” Jake said. “And I doubt it's a coincidence that it was the ship we paid the passage on. If I hadn't decided to let people think we were on that ship this wouldn't have happened. So if your government will allow me to bring my ship down from Luna base, It's got enough power to restore the river in less than a day.”
“And what would you want in payment for this?” David asked.
“Nothing!” Jake replied. “Call it a gesture of good will.”
“A most generous offer,” David conceded. “But I'm quite sure they won't authorize it. My government doesn't trust offworlders enough to allow that. In fact, if you convince them that your ship is that powerful, They will most likely demand that you remove it from our solar system altogether.”
“But surely they realize,” Jake protested. “That most guild ships have that kind of power.”
“Well that depends,” David explained. “I'm sure most of our science primes are aware of that. But I'm afraid that most of the political primes simply don't believe it.” David nodded at Arnold, who had finally stopped babbling. “I think perhaps I should escort our friend here back to the house. Where he can rest until he's fully recovered. We can, if you like, continue our discussion in my private study.”
David left his bicycle beside the path and walked along beside Arnold. He gently guided the distraught man by his left elbow. For his part, the only thing Arnold seemed aware of, was the grip he had on Mary's hand who walked along on his right. The path went around a tall tree covered hill. Which had concealed the house from the view of the island they'd had from the bridge. The house was actually a complex underground structure, with several sections covered by a series of relatively small transparent domes.
Each dome covered a ring shaped garden and a ground level doorway that opened to a short hall like tube with a second door leading to the greenhouse area and a staircase leading down into the dwelling space below. In the center of each of the ring shaped gardens, there was an inner dome covering a circular opening in the ground. Each of the circular openings served as a form of skylight over one of the many common areas in the underground complex. In a circle around the common areas there were a number of underground rooms which used a periscope like device located over the interior doorways to capture a live view at an angle through the transparent domes
above and which was normally displayed on viewscreens located on the outer walls. This provided the illusion of having real windows in the otherwise potentially claustrophobic underground rooms.
The door the main path led to wasn't located in the side of any of the domes however. Instead it lead to a large ornate wooden door that was located about ten feet below the average ground level at the domes. This door was set in what looked like the front of a log cabin built into the side of a low hill. It opened on a large foyer of sorts that was furnished with rough hewn wooden benches and tables. The wide blue translucent door at the far end of the foyer, opened onto the junction of three very modern looking corridors. The central corridor proceeded straight in until it opened into a lounge like area under one of the domes. The other two corridors were offset at forty five degree angles from the central corridor.
As they passed through the outer foyer the translucent door was opened by a tall middle aged woman with shoulder length brown hair. She had the appearance of a strong, kindly woman. Her body didn't have many curves but her face had obviously once been stunningly beautiful.
“Hello Jess,” she said. “I'm glad to see your alive after all.” She seemed to be about to say more but David cut her off.
“I'm sorry Judith,” he said. “But I'm afraid the introductions will have to wait. Right now I need you to take Arnold.” David paused as he glanced meaningfully at the unwavering grip Arnold had on Mary's hand. “And his wife someplace quiet. See that they want for nothing.” Judith, blushed slightly but there wasn't any hesitation. She took hold of Arnold's other hand. “Please follow me to the west lounge.” She said as she guided the Hunters down left hand corridor.
“My study is this way,” David informed the rest of them as he led the way down the right hand corridor.
The corridor soon split again into three. Except for the one that continued straight on to what looked like a kitchen. The new corridors were slightly smaller and had the more homelike appearance of somewhat rustic hallways. Once again, David led them down the right hand branch. This led to a domed room with a scattering of chairs and eight short aisles lined with book shelves radiating from it like the spokes of a wheel. There were also three closed doors. Two of them were at right angles from the corridor they had entered from. The third door was directly across from it. It was this door that David approached and placed the palm of his hand against.
“Access granted,” a computerized voice said after a brief pause.
There was a loud click and the door swung open.
“My anti-eavesdropping device is engaged,” David said, when the door closed behind them. “We can speak freely.”
“Well then Mr Miller, my name is Jake,” Jake spoke up. “I'm not exactly a questor. At least not yet. But the one that accompanied Jess here last time calls me his apprentice. Jess told me that we, at Hillside, haven't spoken with you for a little over fifty galactic standard years. And that making contact with you would be good practice for me. But I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have come.
Someone on Slowlane doesn't like us. They tried to hijack the aircraft we flew in from the spaceport. And now they've blown up a river boat. No doubt killing over a hundred people in the process.”
“Closer to two hundred and fifty,” replied David. “If you count the two smaller boats that were in the same part of the river and the two dozen people who happened to be on the wrong part of the riverbank. But by the way, It's ‘prime’ Miller. Or you can just call me David, but it's ‘NOT’ Mr...”
“Sorry, I don't mean to offend,” Jake explained. “I'm still not quite used to your unusual social structure here on Slowlane.”
“Oh I'm not offended Jake,” David responded with a chuckle. “But I note that it's a mistake your master wouldn't have made.”
There was an edge in Jake's voice when he protested.
“It's true enough that Questor wouldn't have goofed on the proper honorific. But he is by no means my master!”
“Then it is my turn to say I'm sorry,” David said, looking somewhat puzzled. “But I was sure that the traditional guild terms for it was apprentice and master. Perhaps my research is out of date. Has the nomenclature changed in the past hundred years?” Jake's demeanor softened slightly.
“No, your not actually wrong about the traditional terminology,” Jake explained. “I am however, an unusual questor's apprentice. For one thing, I've accepted no man as my master.”
David considered asking for a more detailed explanation but he remained silent. Jake's nanites detected the intensity of David's curiosity but he decided to change the subject.
“I'm afraid this is going to have to be a short visit David,” Jake explained. “I hate to let my enemies force me to leave Slowlane before I'm ready to go. But it's obvious that they are willing to kill lots of innocent bystanders to get rid of us. And I don't think my reasons for being here are worth any more lives. So I'm afraid I need to make arrangements for an immediate departure.”
“I'm sorry to hear that Jake,” David replied. “I was looking forward to a few days of stimulating discussion. And I'm quite sure that Judith was hoping to spend some time with Jess here. But I can't disagree with your reason for cutting this visit short. However it's unlikely that you will be able to depart tonight. And it will be easier to make those arrangements in the morning. Until then, I think it would be wise not to advertise your pending departure. Perhaps that way they won't have enough time to plan an attack on the available transportation.”
“That sounds reasonable enough,” Jake agreed.
By this time, Jake realized that he was beginning to like and trust this David. So he decided to confide in him.
“Incidentally my, ahh, ‘mentor's’ files speak quite highly of you David,” Jake began. “And more importantly my own assessment tends to agree with him. So If you'll keep it in confidence I'll enlighten you about some of the circumstances of my unusual apprenticeship.” Prime Miller razed an eyebrow slightly.
“Well I'll admit you've got me curious,” he said. “So very well I'll consider whatever your going to tell me as confidential.” Then noting the look on Jess's face he added, “However I'm not so sure Jess thinks such a disclosure is warranted.”
“Oh, it's his business who he explains himself to David,” Jess interjected. “It's just that I got the impression that he was about to explain more to you than he's yet told some of his closest associates.”
“True enough,” Jake began. “But like Jess said, it is my business who I trust with this and when I do so. You see, I'm an apprentice to a questor of the guild. But I'm not formally a guild member. At least not yet. You see I was injured trying to save the Questor's life. So he in turn saved mine. There weren't any available nano-meds to heal my wounds with. And there wasn't much time. I'm alive only because he reached out with some of his own personal nanites to heal me. And then, as it happened, they elected to stay with me.
It's a situation I didn't ask for. And the ramifications of which, neither the Questor nor myself were prepared for.”
A look of astonished understanding crossed David's face.
“Well I should think not,” David said. “Surely a free thinking man with questor grade guild nanites, who hasn't sworn fealty to the guild council is nothing less than miraculous.” David hesitated for a moment. Then since Jake didn't say anything, he inquired. “Tell me Jake, is there any particular reason why you haven't signed on with the guild? I mean while no organization is perfect, the guild has a reputation for being a fairly honorable one. And in your case it's not like you'd be starting at the bottom. In fact, as a questor, they would require very little from you.”
“Very good questions,” Jake countered. “The truth is my mind isn't made up yet. But once I take the required oath, I would no longer have a choice. I never did think a man should pledge allegiance to anything until he first agreed with everything the pledge implied. Actually, at this point the biggest reason I'm still hesitating to join them has to do wi
th the coercive measures I'm told they're likely to use when they realize I'm still a free man.”
“Yes,” David replied, “My research indicates that some of them won't hesitate to take unfair advantage of you in that regard. But has it occurred to you that your putting your, you called him your mentor, in a very difficult spot?”
“Technically, he isn't in violation of his oath.” Jake explained, “He merely used his personal nanites to heal my damaged body. He was quite surprised when his nanites decided to bond with me. So while they can make things difficult for him, they can't quite declare him an outlaw. Besides, it was he, who first advised me to be sure it was the right choice for me before I make such a pledge.”
At that moment the sound of a three toned bell reverberated through the study.
“That will be Elisabeth with a barge filled with all the extra supplies I ordered in anticipation of your stay,” David said. “Why don't you accompany me to the dock? She's a delightful young woman.”
Jake and the boys followed David to the domed kitchen area. Then from there into an attached pantry. On the far side of the pantry, David opened a stout door that led to a long tunnel that sloped downward at a slight angle. The tunnel walls, ceiling and floor were mostly made of solid rock with occasional sections of concrete. Every ten feet there was an electric light mounted near the top of one of the walls. The lights automatically switched on while any of them were within 15 feet of them. To one side of the tunnel, near the pantry, there was a food storage area. On the other side there was a wine cellar. As they descended down the tunnel they passed a half dozen other storage areas on either side.
At the downward end of the tunnel there was another stout door. That opened into a log cabin like room resembling a smaller version of the front door's outer foyer. It was without furniture but hanging from hooks in the walls were a variety of fishing poles, flotation vests and other related gear. The outer wooden door opened onto a small pier with steps leading down to an attached floating dock. There was also a winch mounted on a rotating boom. Which was positioned over a barge that was tied up to the dock. The pier and it's dock were located in a small cove on the upstream side of the island.
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