Galatzi Joy

by Robin Roseau

  “Will we fly?”

  “No. Well, yes, but only this high.” I held my hand up. “This one goes no higher.”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “Yes, you could,” I said. I opened the hatch and helped her in, doing her buckles for her.

  “Don’t we have to push it out?”

  “You can try. Good luck.” I smiled and climbed in the other side. I powered it up then said, “Now we will rise. Only one meter.” I gave the command, and she gave a little squeak, then covered her mouth with her hand.

  I nudged us from the building, and she said, “Oh. Should I have guessed?”

  “I don’t know.” I circled the embassy grounds once, and then I took her onto the road leading to the airfield. It wasn’t a long trip, but once I was there, I pulled onto the runway, came to a stop, and said, “Do you want to go very, very fast? It is safe. I promise.”

  “We already went fast.”

  “No,” I said. “That was slow.”

  “It wasn’t slow!”

  “It is your choice,” I said. “That was the old grandmother ride. Do you want the young woman ride?”

  She laughed. “You are young,” she said. “I am not.”

  I gave the controls a nudge, sending us forward two meters. She yelped and then glared at me. “You did that on purpose.”

  “Masalarn, I do not want to scare you.”

  “I’m not scared.”

  “The fastest we went coming here was thirty kilometers per hour. This vehicle is capable of nearly two hundred per hour, but I would never go that fast in this small space, or across such uneven ground.”

  “No.”

  “We have very, very good roads,” I said. “And you have seen how fast our flying vehicles go.”

  “They don’t seem fast.”

  “That is because they are so far away, but think how long it takes to fly all the way around Sudden. You have seen them do so.”

  “How fast would we go?”

  “Perhaps only one hundred kilometers per hour.”

  “No.”

  “Or I can take you back.”

  “No,” she said, more firmly. “Do it.”

  “It is frightening the first time.”

  “You said it’s safe.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Do it.”

  I nodded then closed the hatch. “Here we go.” I began an easy acceleration, but then I let the speed climb to one hundred. I glanced over. Masalarn was clutching her hands and staring straight ahead. I smiled and made sure I looked as relaxed as if I were sleeping. “Not so fast,” I said.

  “Not so fast, she says. The trees are coming.”

  I did two circles of the airfield, making easy, gentle turns, then finally came to a stop at our start. I popped the hatch again then looked at Masalarn. She was a little white, but she turned to me. “You didn’t lie.”

  “Of course I didn’t lie,” I said. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “You have this. Why did you buy a cabriolet?”

  “I can’t take this into Sudden. I would run right over someone. And I am a good Talmon girl now. Talmon girls ride to the theater in a cabriolet, not a noisy ground car.”

  “It’s not making a sound,” she said. “And it doesn’t smell of horse.”

  “No, but we do,” I said with a grin.

  She offered a weak smile then said, “Can we do it again?”

  I laughed, closed the hatch again, and gave her several more circles.

  Lights

  “Incoming video call from Cecilia Grace.”

  “Accept.”

  A moment later, the governor appeared in my vision. She frowned. “Anna should have paid for an upgrade or two. Find a tablet and call me back.”

  “Yes, Governor Grace.” She clicked off.

  It wasn’t hard to find a tablet. I had it with me. I called her on it, and she said, “That’s better.” Then I slaved it to my implant so I could see her better while letting the implant’s camera track me.

  “How is Indartha, Governor Grace?”

  “Absolutely beautiful,” she said. “I understand there is some sort of contraption in my garage, and a new horse in my paddock.”

  I tried to decide if she were truly upset. I hoped she didn’t make me sell them. “It’s a cabriolet,” I said, “which is a particular type of carriage.”

  “Well, well,” she said. “And why is there a cabriolet in my garage.”

  “Because you told me to attend evening events,” I replied. “Which are best attended in a dress, not leather. I cannot ride a horse in a dress.”

  “And why is there a new horse in my paddock?”

  “So that whenever I need one, I know one is waiting.”

  “And is this new horse eating my hay, or whatever it is we’re feeding those creatures.”

  “Do I need to pay for hay, Governor?”

  She studied me then said, “You confuse me, Maddalyn.”

  “Should we speak Talmonese instead of German? Then I will be the one who is confused.”

  “It’s not the German. It’s you. Sometimes you are like this. Confident. Other times you seem to be quite…”

  “Right,” I said. “If my horse and cabriolet offend you, I will make other arrangements or sell them again.”

  “They do not offend me, Maddalyn. But at the same time, I presume you will not expect Aston and Blaine to care for them.”

  “I have made arrangements with the vendor,” I said. “It was a portion of the agreement.”

  “Did you get a good price?”

  “I believe I did. It is used, Governor. Does that offend you?”

  “Why would that offend me?”

  “Perhaps you would have preferred I bought a new one with gold inlay.”

  She snorted. “Good luck finding gold inlay on this planet. No, Maddalyn. I am not offended. I heard you gave a local girl a ride around the airfield.”

  “Word reaches you quickly. That was only yesterday afternoon. Did I break a rule?”

  “Were you trying to impress her?”

  “It was the woman who helped me buy my new horse, and then whose family makes the cabriolet. She saw the vehicle while we were stowing my new carriage.”

  “Ah. And?”

  “And I like her and thought she would enjoy a ride.”

  “And?”

  “And, she enjoyed the ride. I let her decide if we should go fast. She was frightened, but then asked for more rides around the field.”

  Cecilia smiled. “Good. We don’t make a habit of it, but we’ve all given a ride or two. Is she pretty?”

  “She is nearly your age and married.”

  “I find that unlikely.”

  “Everything is relative,” I said. “She likes to flirt, but it is only flirting. She is married to a man. She was nice to me, and I came away confident I made the right choices.”

  “I wasn’t criticizing, Maddalyn. But it wouldn’t be so bad if you began dating.”

  “And maybe I will, but not a married woman.”

  She laughed. “No, not a married women. Is there anything else happening I need to know?”

  “Yes. I want to build a hangar at the airfield.”

  “Yourself?”

  “I don’t know. If no one will help me, yes.”

  “As much fun as it would be to watch, I think if you feel we need a hangar at the airfield, you should discuss the idea with Blaine and Aston. They may not be comfortable loaning you the construction equipment.”

  “I’ll hire two street urchins to keep tabs on them, then do it while they’re distracted.”

  Cecilia laughed. “I almost believe you. Produce a real plan that doesn’t involve someone who knows little about construction building the hangars, and present it to me.”

  “Seriously?”

  “You said I should delegate. Now I’m even delegating the coming up of ideas. Yes. Plan for growth.”

  “I will.”

  “And maybe
see about improving the road from the embassy to the airfield.”

  “I’ll look into it.”

  “Present your findings in Talmonese.”

  I froze then said, “Yes, Governor.”

  “Good. Maddalyn, I am not at all upset you bought a horse and carriage. However, I wish you had told me.”

  “I don’t like bothering you, Governor.”

  “Whenever you do anything important, I’d like to know. If you see a good show or make new friends, I’d like to know.”

  “In Talmonese?”

  “Of course in Talmonese,” she said with a smile. “I’m not sure how to ask this next question.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find the words.”

  “I’ll go for simple: do you intend to share the use of your new cabriolet?”

  “Did you want to borrow my cab, Mom?” I asked with a smile.

  Cecilia returned my smile. “I would love a ride, but I was thinking of the others. They won’t touch it if you don’t offer, and no one knows I’m mentioning it. There’s no obligation, Maddalyn.”

  “I imagine Sartine and Chaladine are far better drivers than I am,” I said. “But I don’t know if the others know how. I’m getting lessons.” I thought about it. “If it becomes popular, we’ll want to buy another.”

  “I agree,” she said. “So what do you want to do?”

  “I want Chaladine or Sartine to issue driving licenses,” I said. “And then as long as I don’t have plans, the others could borrow it.”

  “You aren’t offering to issue these driving licenses yourself?”

  “I know my limits, Governor,” I replied. “I would accept their judgment before my own.”

  “I presume you don’t mean a formal license?”

  “I presume there is no process that the vendart applies before people can drive carts on his roads.”

  “If there is, I don’t know of it,” she replied.

  “Then no, not a formal license. But do you know what I mean?”

  “Yes, I do,” she said. “Why don’t you ask your current instructor to do this for you?”

  “Is that what I should do?”

  “I am only curious.”

  “The Talmon people seem quick to offer such help,” I said. “I do not want to abuse their good will.”

  “It is certainly possible to hire professional services,” Cecilia said. “But I think Sartine and Chaladine can handle this, and asking them to do it gives you a little time to learn your usage patterns.” She smiled. “It sounds like you had quite the afternoon yesterday.”

  “I was gone a long time.”

  “Maddalyn, you are doing exactly what you should be doing. You are learning of the people and their ways, and you managed to do so much yesterday, with people who know not a single word of English.”

  “They know one word: rejuvenation.”

  She snorted “Yes. Well, you know what I mean. Did you have anything else you wanted to discuss?”

  “Were you serious about the airfield?”

  “Of course. Anything technical can be in English. I would allow German, but Blaine and Aston wouldn’t be able to read it. But I want an overview in Talmonese.”

  “I understand, Governor.”

  “I’ll talk to you soon, then.”

  “Goodbye, Governor.”

  She clicked off. I asked Melina where Aston and Blaine were. Blaine was in Sudden, but Aston was in the building that held my new cabriolet, so I decided I would go talk to him.

  When I arrived, he was monitoring a diagnostics report on the ground vehicle. I waited until he turned to me and asked, “Could I talk to you about something?”

  “Sure, Hatchet Face,” he said. “What’s up?”

  I ignored the bad name. “I have proposed to the governor that we build a hangar on the airfield. Her jumper should not sit outside. She told me to make a plan.”

  He frowned. “You’re casual with work Blaine and I will have to do.”

  “I told her I’d do it myself if I have to.”

  “Do you know how?”

  “I can learn.”

  He stared at me for a minute then asked, “What did you want to ask?”

  “Do we have the equipment we would need, and supplies?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would it be hard?”

  “Physically? No. But it’s not as simple as just throwing up a building.”

  “I didn’t think it was.”

  “You have to do a soil analysis. You have to grade the land so rainwater does not flow into the front door. You need to know the largest vehicle you intend to store, and size the building, and especially the door, appropriate. You need to think about the position. Imagine that we have a group of people waiting to meet the shuttle, perhaps a big group. Would this building block their view? If you set it well to the side, is it more or less convenient than the current parking place.” He paused. “I don’t know what else. I haven’t thought about it before.”

  “Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

  “No, Maddalyn. It’s a good idea.”

  “There must be a reason no one has already done it.”

  “Yeah. Cecilia didn’t ask us to.”

  “Neither you nor Blaine appear to be the sort of person to avoid a good idea.” I was being diplomatic. I could have said they didn’t seem lazy, which they didn’t.

  “Perhaps not, but the governor has asked us to install power systems here and in Indartha.”

  “I am asking you to help do something and you don’t have time. I’m sorry.”

  “If we work on this, it means we’re not working on power systems,” he said.

  “What can you teach me?”

  “I imagine a lot. Do you wish to be more specific?”

  “Can you teach me to install power systems? I can do that while you build the hangar. Or can you teach me to operate the equipment, and I’ll build the hangar?”

  “Have you ever done anything like either of those before?”

  “No, but our computers have the entire depth and breadth of human knowledge stored on them. I can read and watch videos.”

  “When we install power systems,” he said, “the people have questions.”

  “Which I’m not able to answer.”

  “No, not yet.”

  I nodded. “I want to move forward. But I do not want to invade your duties. Will you be offended if I make a plan?”

  “No. Will you be offended if Blaine and I insist on reviewing the plans?”

  “I would be a fool not to ask.”

  He nodded then he turned and gestured at my cabriolet. “Yours?”

  “Do you like it?”

  “Top of the line,” he said.

  “No. You should have seen the top of the line. But I really like it.”

  “The Talmon may not have much in the way of technology, but they do good work with what they have,” he said. “I couldn’t make something like this.”

  “They said they would mount lights. Would it be hard to produce something for it?”

  “What type of lights?”

  “I will use it at evening to go into Sudden. It will be dark coming back.”

  “So headlights, and maybe some sort of parking lights you can leave on.”

  “Yes, but elegant. If you can provide the lights, they’ll mount them for me.”

  He turned to me. “What do I get out of it?”

  “Governor Grace asked if I was going to let people borrow it.”

  He laughed. “And?”

  “I said you must get a driver’s license from Chaladine or Sartine, and then you may borrow it the nights I have no plans.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course.” I smiled. “Chaladine will be a tough examiner.”

  “Sartine would be even worse,” he said. “I don’t blame you for that. It’s beautiful, Maddalyn.”

  “They’re making a new cushion,” I said. “That one is uncomfortable and worn.” I thought about it. “Are ma
terials for the construction machines expensive?”

  “That depends on what you want to make, but we can do a lot with local materials.”

  “I want to make a stand for these poles,” I said. I stepped over and lifted. “To hold it like this.”

  “I can make that for you.”

  “Is this a chance to teach me the machines?”

  “Sure.”

  “Then I should study first. You should not teach me what I can teach myself.”

  “Let me know when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you, Aston.”

  * * * *

  Over the next two weeks, Blessine came every morning. It took me a week to realize that learning to ride well was going to take far more time than I realized. At the end of the second week I asked her, “How long will this take?”

  “That depends on what you want to learn.”

  “Just to ride,” I said. “Nothing fancy.”

  “If you ride every day, a year or two.”

  “Blessine, I didn’t realize! I didn’t pay enough for two years of lessons.”

  “Our agreement is until you are a good rider or we decide you are hopeless.”

  “Am I a slow student?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Blessine.”

  She set her hand on my arm. “You bought Ristassa and her gear. The lessons are a gift. I won’t come every day much longer, perhaps once a week, but we will spend more time. Your body needs the proper muscles. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I think so,” I said.

  “My aunt told me about a ride in the star cabriolet.”

  I laughed. “You offer a trade.”

  “Yes. After today, one ride every five days I come. Is that fair?”

  “Yes. The star cabriolet is not always here, so we will be flexible.”

  “Of course.”

  And so, I learned to care for Ristassa, and I learned easy riding.

  Masalarn also came. I received more lessons, quickly growing confident of my ability to navigate the streets of Sudden. One trick she taught me that isn’t at all tricky, but I didn’t think of it, was quite simple. If I wish to back the cabriolet up, I could do so while seated. Ristassa know how to walk backwards, after all. But even easier would be to lead her from her nose. I would have a better view of where we were going and more control over her path. “A good driver can do everything from the seat,” she said. “But if you are ever unsure, you know you can do this.”