As the Gravity Flipped

by Herschel K. Stroganoff

  "Wake up."

  Natsuki was aware of being shaken, a firm hand clasping her left shoulder, rousing her from sleep.

  "Get up," a man's voice said in a loud whisper.

  Natsuki sat up and blinked as the room came into focus.

  "Shh," a guard said holding his finger over his mouth. He had thick black hair and his fingers were fat and blistered.

  "What time is it?" Natsuki asked, confused. She scratched itch on her face with her wrists bound.

  "Just after four. Put these on." The guard ripped open a bag containing a pair of thick blue trousers, a coarse black tunic, a pair of undyed rough wool socks and a pair of worker's boots. "It's the best I could do," he said.

  Natsuki smiled weakly as the guard released her binds. "What's going on?"

  "I could have helped your husband when he was in the same situation and I did nothing. I watched him--," he paused. "I need to get you out now."

  The guard turned away as Natsuki's yellow coveralls dropped to the floor and she pulled on the trousers and tunic. "They're a good fit," she said. "Thank you."

  "Good," the guard said, wringing his hands. "We really need to go before the shifts change."

  The guard reached into the pocket of his black jacket and handed her a worker's cap. "Put this on."

  Natsuki fastened the boots. "I look like I'm in maintenance," she said.

  "Let's hope it works long enough for you to get out of here."

  "I need to find my daughter."

  The guard shook his head. "I don't know about that. She won't be here and I won't be coming with you once you're out of here."

  "I understand, but if you've any idea--."

  "Honestly, I've no idea. We need to go."

  Natsuki got to her feet as the guard leaned out of the cell door. "Come," he said.

  She walked alongside the guard down a corridor, its whitewashed walls echoing the sound of their footsteps. She creased her nose at the pungent smell of cleaning fluid.

  "Walk normally," the guard whispered. "You look like you're about to start running."

  "Sorry."

  They halted before a security door. The guard pushed his face against a scanner, then the door hissed open. Walking through, Natsuki felt a nervous chill as the door closed behind them with a harsh clunk.

  "I really appreciate you doing this," Natsuki began. "Where should I go?"

  "Don't talk," the guard said. "You're here on maintenance, remember. Where you go is up to you. I need to get you out and make it look like you escaped. I can only help you so far. Trust me, the less I know, the better it is for you."

  Natsuki nodded. "I appreciate that, thank you."

  The pair attracted a few brief glances from Judiciary staff as they strode through processing.

  "Thanks for sorting out the machine," the guard said.. "You've no idea how grumpy the guys get when they can't get their snacks."

  "No problem," she said.

  The guard pressed a button to open the glass outer doors of the Judiciary. "You take care now," he said with a wave.

  "Thank you," Natsuki whispered as she stepped through the door. She smiled, but did not look back.

  # # #

  Armand: Phobos Mobius, Mars

  04/06/6,544, 10:14 (IST)

  The airlock whispered closed behind Armand as he adjusted his movement to compensate for the increased gravity. Observing the smooth, seamless walls of the station, the light shifted and fluctuated around him, as though the walls themselves were glowing: fungal, mercurial, living.

  Armand placed a hand against the wall. A throbbing warmth pass through his glove. He pulled his hand away to reveal an intense glow where he had just touched. He started as the patch blended back into the luminosity of the wall.

  The lights of the corridor brightened, giving Armand a start. He froze.

  "Why are you here?" a voice echoed.

  He adjusted the helmet's polarising visor and tried to work out from where the voice came. He shuddered. With the helmet's communicator switched off and helmet sealed, everything should be silent.

  "Why are you here?" the voice repeated.

  The voice came through the helmet. He flicked the switch and the low static of the communicator became live.

  "Armand? Is that you?"

  "Chao-xing? Yes. There's something very odd going on with my communicator."

  "Why are you here?" the voice repeated.

  "Did you hear that?" Armand said. The communicator fell silent.

  Armand cleared his throat. "I need to talk to you about the drones," he said, nervously.

  "You shouldn't be here," the voice said.

  "How are you speaking through my communicator? You shouldn't--."

  "You shouldn't be here," the voice repeated.

  Armand inched forward. The corridor's lights dropped to blackness. His heartbeat quickened as sweat dripped from his brow.

  Fumbling at the side of his helmet, He sighed with relief as a bright thin torch beam extended ahead, lighting his way. He ran forward through the featureless corridor, but could see no sign of a door.

  "You shouldn't be here," the voice repeated.

  "Fuck off," Armand grunted. He flicked his communicator switch again, but there was only silence. "I just want to talk. Hear what I have to say and then I will leave."

  The corridor transformed from hollow black to a warm yellow glow in an instant. HE switched his helmet light off as an opening gaped before him ten metres ahead along the inner wall. Ripples dispersed around the opening and spread along the wall in broad waves.

  "Please come through," the voice said.

  "Promise me--."

  "I will not harm you," the voice said. "There is nothing to be gained from harming you. Of course, if you attempt to harm me..." the voice trailed off.

  Armand stepped through the opening to be met by a short pale woman with a thin black spike of hair protruding from her shaved scalp. Her skin was smooth, but her black eyes were dull and ancient. A Yao.

  "Remove your helmet," she said.

  Armand unclipped the neck brace, then removed the helmet with a small twist.

  Tiny flickers of light danced before the woman's eyes. For a moment, she focused on Armand, then drifted to the blur of coloured lights.

  "Wha--."

  "Shh," the woman raised her hand to signal silence. "Armand Gul?"

  Armand gasped. "Yes."

  "Good, you're honest at least." The glow disappeared from before her eyes, and Armand flinched as she cut him a cold stare. "How did you find this platform?"

  "I was passing," Armand said.

  "A lie," the woman said. "Do not waste my time Armand Gul. I know who you are, and I know you have seen our knowledge."

  Armand blinked. "The archives?"

  "The knowledge," she corrected.

  "Who are you? You're Yao aren't you?"

  "I am Yao Guan-yin. Why are you here?"

  "You're Huizhong's second," Armand said in a low voice.

  "We are all Huizhong's second - but yes, I am closest in longevity."

  Without comprehension, Armand nodded. "My--," he paused. "An associate has been examining your archives-- your knowledge."

  "Your associate will not have been able to experience them - the examination will have been worthless, meaningless, pointless."

  "We knew how to find you," he said.

  The hint of a half-smile crept onto Guan-yin's thin lips. "But this is impossible," she said.

  "My associate said our system was slow and clumsy, but your archives are readable if you're committed."

  "When Yao Lifen said the breach was not serious, she was clearly under a false impression, It must have been you who knocked out those Molotok agents," Guan-yin mused. "Tell me Armand Gul, what did you manage to extract from the knowledge?"

  "Everything."

  Guan-yin stared through Armand for a moment. The glowing colours returned before her eyes.

  "Why are the Yao building those huge dro
nes?" Armand asked..

  "To mine - to extract. To do what we have always done - what we will always do."

  "But where?"

  "Wherever we like. Mars is rich and untapped. Lunar--."

  "What if the same thing happens to Lunar that happened to Earth?"

  Guan-yin hesitated, then shook her head. "I do not know what you mean."

  "Don't play me Guan-yin," Armand said with a frown. "If it's in the archive, it's in you. I know how this shit works."

  "You know nothing," Guan-yin snapped. "And now you must leave."

  "But--."

  "But nothing. I have commanded station to guide you out and give you a safe exit. I must warn you that when you return to the Occulto that you no longer pursue this little game."

  Armand's frown deepened.

  "You are under the false impression that the Occulto is a stealth cutter," Guan-yin said. "Your ship may get around United Solar vessels, but we always know where you are. We will track you, we will find you and we will destroy you - it is that simple."

  Armand made a show of gulping, then nodded. "You win," he said.

  As a flutter of blue and white darted and flickered before Guan-yin's eyes, Armand swung his helmet in a swift arc, connecting with the side of her head. As she staggered back, Armand activated a stunner concealed in his suit's neck brace.

  With a sudden convulsion, Guan-yin sunk to her knees, then toppled over onto her left side. Armand replaced his helmet and lifted Guan-yin over his right shoulder.

  Switching on the suit's communicator, he smiled as the familiar static returned.

  "Come and get me - I'm bringing her in."

  # # #

  Meer, L2 Platform, Lunar

  14/07/6,544, 22:42 (IST)

  Meer elbowed her way to the front of the queue, ignoring the tuts and curses of the other passengers as she stepped up to the customs barrier.

  "I need to be on the next elevator to Lunar immediately, if not sooner," she demanded. "That transport craft was absolutely horrific."

  "I'm sorry Madam, but there is a queue," a stout customs agent said, gesturing to the hundreds of refugees waiting in line.

  "Yes, yes," said Meer with a dismissive wave. "Now, about my elevator. I need to purchase a new apartment - somewhere high profile, somewhere desirable. Where would that be? Lunar's such a backwater compared to V5."

  "Erm--," the customs agent frowned, "Insularum's quite--."

  "The capital? Of course. I will take the next elevator there. I'll also need a child - they seem to be all the rage these days."

  The customs agent rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry madam, but--."

  "Take me to the elevator," she snapped. "And take my bag." She pushed a leather luggage bag into the customs agent's arms.

  The customs agent smirked. "Okay, that's enough now. Please make your way to the back of the line, you're holding everyone up."

  Meer glared for a long moment then gave a warm smile. "Of course, where are my manners," she said. "Twenty Sols should do it?" She reached into her handbag.

  "I can't leave the barrier - I am calling security now."

  "One hundred Sols?"

  Meer smiled as the customs agent looked over his shoulder. "Okay," he said in hushed tone. "I can arrange to take you to the elevator." He scratched his head and looked down at his shoes. "I'll make some calls to arrange accommodation for you too."

  "And the child?" Meer said. "Don't forget the child."

  "Right," the officer agreed. "I'll sort it."

  # # #

  Ajay: The Coraygar, in region of Titan, Saturn

  04/07/6,544, 10:04 (IST)

  Ajay tapped on his console, trying his best to ignore Azra standing over his shoulder. "What's your problem with Taslim?" she asked.

  Ajay sat up straight and brushed his hair back. "I don't have a problem with Taslim," he said. "I don't know the guy."

  "Why have you been asking my crew about him?"

  Ajay pursed his lips. "I was just trying to get a handle on who he is, that's all."

  "Really?" Azra folded her arms. "I've never known you to do that for other crew members."

  "Are you with him?".

  Azra laughed. "Are you kidding me? Is this what it's about? The great Ajay Johar is jealous?"

  "No. It's just--." Ajay furrowed his brow and rose from his seat. "I don't want him to be wrong for you."

  "Wrong for me? What does that even mean?" Azra's eyes glistened and jaw stiffened. "Since when has who I fuck have anything to do with you?"

  "So you are fucking then?" Ajay gave her a searching look.

  "I repeat. Since when has who I fuck have anything to do with you?"

  Ajay sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just--."

  Azra shook her head. "Jealousy? Pettiness? Childishness?"

  "I know it's none of my business, but the thought of anyone else with you--."

  "You need to get past this Ajay if you're going to work with my crew." Azra scratched her head and narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps if you worked with Taslim.".

  "Worked with him?"

  Azra nodded. "You know how to fix terminals. One of the Muedin terminals we've acquired is damaged. I'm sure if you work with him, you'll see that he's not whatever you've built him up to be in your mind. Who knows, you may even like him."

  Ajay forced a smile. "Okay," he said. "If that's what I need to do."

  # # #

  Garrett: Molotok Cruiser, in region of Lunar Band

  12/07/6,544, 02:21 (IST)

  The bunk was cold and cramped. The man sleeping in the bunk half a metre above kept Garrett awake. Each time the man tossed and turned, the bunk bent and creaked. And when the man wasn't rolling, he was snoring or coughing or farting. Then there were the other six men squashed onto the bunks adding to the noise and the smell, the staleness and heat of the air.

  Garrett sighed and rolled out of the bunk, drifting down past the two lower bunks in the ship's reduce gravity. He reached into the corner of his sheet to retrieve his coveralls. They were dirty and creased and reeked with the stench of smoke and sweat. He pulled them on and yawned before backing through the bunkroom door.

  The corridor wall was a maze of black pipes and colourful wires trailing this way and that. The air ducts creaked as blue halos of light shone down from the ceiling. He walked along the metal floor, turning right as he pushed his way through a door into the toilet room.

  Locking the door behind him, he sat down and felt the seat seal around him. It was a sensation he hated most about being on ships - the constant sucking sensation against your skin as though the toilet was trying to do the work for you.

  He thought about Ifan as he pissed: about the boy who stabbed him, about the Muedin official who let him bleed out in the street. He punched the wall with the side of his fist and held back a tear.

  "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I wish I could have done something."

  He held his hand hard over his mouth as he sobbed. A mentor, a father-figure, a friend, was gone.

  He wondered how he was going to tell his fellow traders back on Lunar face-to-face. How could he look Wynn and Gethin in the eye? His message to Lunar had been short and to the point. He bit his fist as he slumped forward as a knock came from the other side of the door: dull, metallic.

  "Are you okay in there?" a woman's voice asked.

  Garrett cleared his throat. "Erm, yes, sorry. I won't be a second." Garrett stood as the toilet lid closed. There was no water, only a fine antibacterial powder with which to clean himself. He placed his hands in a pair of holes on the wall that sealed around his wrists and felt the powder coat his hand and then get sucked away by the vacuum within.

  He unlocked the door and sighed. Stepping through, he stopped with a start as he recognised the lean woman with cropped blonde hair. "You," he growled.

  The woman's eyes widened. "I don't want any trouble," she said. "I can call the Molotok. They'll come."

  "My friend is dead. You could have saved him," Gar
rett said with a shaking voice.

  The woman shook her head. "There's nothing I could have done."

  "You let him die. He was right there and you let him die." Garrett leaned on the woman and sobbed. He felt her arms as she held him.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "I wanted to help, but I wasn't allowed. Please know I'm sorry."

  Garrett shook his head as the woman held him. "You could have helped."

  "Those guards would have arrested me, or killed me if I'd gone against the order. There's nothing I could have done. You know how tense things were on V5."

  Garrett met the woman's pale blue eyes. He nodded: he could tell she was sincere. "Okay," he said.

  # # #

  Janis: Mess Hall, Titan Orbiter, Saturn

  12/07/6,544, 07:33 (IST)

  "There they are, my favourite couple," said Arfo.

  Janis picked at her porridge, the noise and clamour of the mess hall a haze in her ears.

  "She's in a mood this morning," Mataes said as he tipped a second boiled egg into his bowl.

  As small chunks of bread crumbled from the side of Mataes's mouth, Janis shuddered. "I'm not in a mood. I'm tired, is all," she said.

  "Well, we've got a wedding to plan, haven't we?" Arfo said, taking the seat to Janis's left.

  She pushed her spoon around her bowl, wishing he would go away.

  "Come on - it's not that bad," he said. "We'll do something really special."

  Arfo smiled. "You like apples? I know a great recipe for an apple cake - we could have that at the feast."

  Janis slid along the bench and stood. "I don't like apples," she said, walking away from the table.

  # # #

  Scores dead in Vaporum dome breach

  Originally published by Lunar Chronicle, 01/12/6,543

  254 people were killed following a breach to the Vaporum 12 dome.

  In a statement, Bani says the breach was probably caused by a meteorite or space junk hitting the dome's exterior.

  Bani say they have engineers working to fix the breach and estimate the dome will be closed for around 40 days.

  Rep Martyn Doutzen (Vaporum 12) said: "My blessings go out to all those affected by today's tragedy.