As the Gravity Flipped

by Herschel K. Stroganoff

  "Bani has assured me on many occasions that the Vaporum domes are unbreachable, but here we are today with more than 250 dead.

  "I will work closely with Bani and the United Solar Assembly to make sure that inspections are carried out on the other domes across Lunar.

  "Rest assured, the integrity and safety of our domes is of the highest priority."

  # # #

  Chapter Twelve

  Chao-xing, The Occulto, in region of Phobos, Mars

  04/06/6,544, 14:39 (IST)

  "Wake up," Chao-xing said with a raised voice.

  Guan-yin tugged her arms and shook her head, but it did nothing to loosen the binds or removed the sack from her head.

  Chao-xing's padded barefoot along the holding cell floor. Her skin pricked against the air as the halo shone down with its faint blue glow. "Your implants will not work on here - so don't even try," she said. "I have some questions - you will answer them."

  She yanked the sack from Guan-yin's head.

  "Chao-xing," Guan-yin whispered, meeting her gaze. "Why are you doing this?"

  "You are mistaken. I am not who you think I am."

  "I am not mistaken."

  "Then you must have heard Armand--."

  "He was very careful - your name was not mentioned. Let's drop these games. Let's drop the pretence. It is impossible to hide from me - you know that. You were shunned for good reason Chao-xing."

  Chao-xing tipped the chair backward. She cringed as Guan-yin's head struck the floor with a thud. "I'm not playing games," she growled. "I want answers." She knelt down and clamped her thighs around Guan-yin's head. "I want answers," she repeated as Guan-yin thrashed.

  She leaned to her right, then dragged a bucket and cloth toward her with trembling hands. "You will tell me about the slip," she said, taking the cloth from the bucket, holding it centimetres above Guan-yin's face. The cloth dripped in a small pool next to her.

  She released the grip of her legs and dropped the cloth beside her. "I'm--," her voice wavered, "I can't."

  "What is it Chao-xing?" Guan-yin asked.

  "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She righted Guan-yin's chair. "I'm so sorry." She knelt to the floor, fumbling as she released Guan-yin's binds.

  She locked Guan-yin's gaze for a long, silent moment. The water from the cloth dripped through her fingers. Her eyes filled with tears.

  "What happened to you?" whispered Guan-yin.

  # # #

  Natsuki: Capsule Line, Insularum, Lunar

  13/07/6,544, 07:12 (IST)

  Natsuki kept her head bent low as the transport capsule sped beneath the Lunar surface. She had nowhere to go - no plan. She knew she needed to find Riko, but then what?

  The lamps above her flickered for a moment. She looked up as a pair of leather shoes stood before her.

  "I thought it was you," a voice said.

  Natsuki recognised the woman, but could not place her. "I'm sorry--," Natsuki frowned.

  "Inge Tomas. I knew Hayao."

  Natsuki said nothing, as Inge sat down on the bench opposite. Inge's bright blue cut suit was stark against the washed out greyness of the windowless capsule.

  "Is this what Hayao's shame has brought you," Inge said with a condescending tone. "Poor dear."

  Confused, Natsuki shook her head. "I'm sorry. I've really no idea who you are."

  "I can't wait to tell the other Representatives that you're now in maintenance. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

  Natsuki looked away, humiliated.

  "There's nothing to be ashamed of dear, everybody's got to do something. I thought with your husband's connections--," Inge opened her mouth wide and covered it with her hand in mockery. "Oh, of course, Hayao was a traitor, why would anyone want to help his wife?"

  Natsuki removed her cap, narrowing her eyes as she gritted her teeth. "Don't believe everything that you see and don't believe everything that you hear," she said.

  Inge chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "Oh, Madam Kurosawa, please."

  Natsuki stiffened as she saw a change in Inge's expression and felt as though she were being closely considered.

  "You're incognito aren't you? You're in disguise," Inge ventured. "But why?"

  Natsuki placed the hat back on her head and folded her arms. She started as Inge burst into laughter.

  "Of course! You're hiding from Hayao's shame. That's why you're wearing such a ridiculous outfit. You thought you wouldn't be recognised, didn't you?"

  Natsuki nodded slowly. "What would you do?"

  "This is brilliant," she laughed, then stopped abruptly. "The shame of Hayao will always be with you no matter how you try to dress it up Madam Kurosawa."

  Natsuki smiled as the capsule slowed. "It's been wonderful speaking to you," she said, bolting through the opening doors.

  Without looking back, Natsuki ran quickly away from the dimly-lit platform and almost knocked a young couple running to catch the capsule. She paused and looked around. "Where am I?" she muttered, her eyes locking on a sign that read 'Insularum 5'.

  Natsuki grew up in Insularum 5: one of the largest domes on Lunar. Her first impulse was to make her way to her father's. But she stopped herself: she knew that would be one of the first places the Judiciary would look for her.

  She was sure that the news of her arrest wasn't yet common knowledge, but it would only be a matter of time. Stepping outside, she saw the sun beginning to rise, its light catching the clusters of curved white buildings. Rainclouds swirled high up in the dome.

  She knew where she needed to go.

  # # #

  Meer: VanderMeer Apartments, Insularum 2, Lunar

  15/07/6,544, 16:20 (IST)

  Meer stood with her arms folded as the elevator hummed, wrinkling her nose at Aladeen Petamine, a real estate trader standing to her right.

  Meer gave an impatient sigh as she picked a dust mote from the cuff of her white leather shirt.

  "I think you'll like this one Madam Ranghi, something tells me this will be exactly what you're looking for," Aladeen said.

  Meer scowled. "Yes, I'm sure you said exactly the same thing about that disgrace of an apartment in Insularum 5, and that horrid little hovel in Insularum 3. Honestly, if this is the best the capital has to offer, I'd probably have been better waiting it out on V5."

  Aladeen wore brown trousers trimmed with leather and a shirt with silk flourishes. He was lean with a salesman's grin. He hummed to himself as the elevator climbed the side of the apartment building.

  "As you can see, you get wonderful views over Insularum 2," he said, gesturing out of the window. "On a clear day, you can see the Lunar Band from here."

  "Well, it's cloudy today. Look at all that mist gathered around the top of dome, you'd think one of those Bani types would fix it. It looks disgusting. At least on V5 we don't have to worry about all these ghastly natural phenomena you Lunars seem to love so much."

  "The VanderMeer apartments are the most exclusive beyond Venus," Aladeen said, his tone apologetic. "Perhaps it won't be up to the standard of luxury you're accustomed, but let me assure you that you're going to fall in love with what I'm confident will be your new home."

  Meer signalled for silence. "Show me - do not tell me, man. My taste is exemplary, if the apartment is worth my time, I will be the one to tell you. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes, Madam." Crestfallen, Aladeen continued to hum.

  "And please do stop that disgraceful noise. You sound like a trapped pig."

  "Yes, Madam."

  The elevator bell dinged as it stopped on the top floor. The door slid open and Meer stepped inside.

  The apartment was large and white. A round pine table dominated the centre of the reception room. A pair of leather sofas rested flush against walls adorned with blue and green swirls of art.

  "Oh my," Meer said. "This is lovely." She strode over to the line of windows that made up the far wall of the apartment and looked over the city. "Oh my," she gasped. "Is that the Secretarial Palace
?"

  Aladeen nodded. "The very place, And if you look over there, you can see the Insularum Museum. You know they say they've got one of the oldest--."

  "Yes, yes," snapped Meer. "I don't care for museums, but this apartment is truly splendid."

  "You can see the changes in architectural styles. It's sad: the newer the building is, the smaller and more decorative it is. Look at some of the older buildings to the west," he stared longingly out of the window. "White, swooping, wonderful."

  "Oh no, they just look like big penises to me. Penises just won't do for me I'm afraid when it comes to buildings."

  Aladeen smiled. "So, what do you say? You like the apartment."

  Meer pursed her lips and raised her chin. "Does anyone of note live in this building?"

  Aladeen shrugged. "I think a few of the Muedin higher-ups probably live around here, but no one famous."

  Meer looked around the apartment. "This is a magnificent apartment. Whose was it? It must be someone of note, surely?"

  Aladeen rubbed the back of his need. "The person who lived here died recently," he said, his tone evasive.

  Meer frowned. "That's completely ghastly, why would you tell me that?" She looked around again. "It wasn't here was it?"

  "It was Yao Chin," Aladeen said, the grin falling from his face for the first time.

  Meer's eyes widened. "Yao Chin? Well, in that case, I'll take the apartment."

  # # #

  Ajay: The Coraygar, in region of Titan, Saturn

  06/07/6,544, 12:55 (IST)

  "Azra tells me you've been having issues with one of the Muedin terminals?" Ajay asked, sidling up to Taslim.

  Taslim switched off his terminal and turned to him. "Oh right, yes. That was few days ago, but you're here now, I suppose.

  "We had a recent shipment of Muedin gear, but I can't seem to get one of the terminals working. I'm worried that something got knocked in transit, but I'm no good when it comes to hardware."

  "Do you know which model it is?" Ajay asked.

  Taslim shook his head. "I'll show you," he said. He got to his feet and led Ajay through a door into a smaller room.

  Along the right side of the room was a stack of terminals balanced haphazardly on a sideboard strewn with empty cups, papers and a half-disassembled hand scanner. Shelves along the opposite wall were coated in dust and dirt. "Looks like someone's been having a party," he said as he swept his arm along the sideboard pushing the rubbish into a corner.

  "We'll take this back through," Taslim said, moving back towards the door gripping a terminal in his arms.

  Returning to his work area, Taslim set the terminal down and set the system up as normal. Once everything was ready, Ajay switched on the machine. Nothing happened.

  Leaning down, Ajay inspected the terminal's exterior. He wiped dust and grease from the main interface then flipped the terminal over to examine the power connections. He pondered a port for a long moment and nodded to himself. "I think I can see the issue. Do you have a six-two?"

  Ajay gave a satisfied smile as Taslim passed him the tool. Opening the terminal's casing, he blew away more dust and wiped away something sticky. He drew the tool over a severed connection and set the conductor resealed. Behind him, a small group of researchers gathered to watch.

  "Do you reckon that will fix it?" Taslim asked.

  "That's what I'm hoping," Ajay said. "If this doesn't fix it, I'll have to go deeper."

  Wiping his hands on his coveralls, Ajay stepped back and coughed as Taslim sat down before the terminal. "Should we put the casing back on?"

  "It will be fine," Ajay said. "The casing's just to keep dust and things out," he said. "Not that it's done much so far."

  With a loud bang. Taslim shot three metres back across the room, his head bouncing hard off the side of a workbench as he crumpled to the floor.

  Ajay ran a hand back over his ponytail. "Oops," he said.

  # # #

  Tshilidzi: Personal Office, Judiciary, Insularum 1, Lunar

  10/07/6,544, 12:02 (IST)

  Tshilidzi furrowed his brow as the Chair of the United Solar Assembly, Akash Tagore, entered his office.

  "Excuse the mess," he said gesturing to the pile of reports and images spread out across his desk. Rising from his seat, Tshilidzi extended a hand in greeting. "Please take a seat," he said nodding to a beaten-up chair opposite.

  "How's the investigation going Mister Dumi?" Akash asked in a disinterested monotone.

  "Frustrating." Tshilidzi said with a half-smile. "Chaotic is probably a better word. One murder is challenging enough, but twenty-three is--."

  "Unprecedented," Akash said.

  "It's impossible."

  "What have you found so far?"

  Tshilidzi fumbled around his desk for several seconds before pulling out a series of scrawled notes. "The details we already know are the twenty-three bodies - all Yao. The bodies were found in the presence of burnt-out mining drones. It was well-planned. We know the deaths occurred simultaneously--."

  "Yes, yes," said Akash impatiently. "But what have you found out?"

  "The body I saw that was killed on L5 showed evidence of considerable regeneration." He picked up a pile of images and flicked through to his scans of Yao Chin. He leaned over his desk, handing the images to Akash.

  Sitting back down, he flicked through the images again until he found one of the same body taken at the murder scene. He passed it over for Akash to compare.

  "Is there a possibility that the motive is somehow linked to a desire to obtain their privileged knowledge?"

  "That has crossed my mind. But I'm working with a few questions: who could have done this and who could benefit the most?"

  Akash nodded.

  "Secretary Ozu has suggested Purdah involvement, but I've found no hint whatsoever of that. I'm not ruling them out, but they're low on my list of suspects. Muedin has the most to gain from Yao biotech. If the rumours of the Yao's medical advances are even partially true, then obtaining that knowledge as a motive makes a lot of sense."

  Akash placed the images on the desk. "The Yao's ships are certainly beyond anything Fune, Boeki or Aghoro has, and they are certainly the longest-lived of our citizens," he said.

  "What I'm finding most difficult, is that Secretary Ozu appears to be doing everything in his power to hold up - and dare I say, prejudice - this investigation."

  "How so?"

  "It's just little things, but they all add up. I've requested an interview with the Secretary on no less than six occasions to no avail. The timing of the weapons vote and that whole drama with the former Vice Secretary seems suspect, to say the least."

  "Be careful not to conflate those issues. Correlation is not the same as causality," Akash warned.

  Tshilidzi narrowed his eyes at Akash's wording. "I understand that, but he has prejudiced this investigation by alleging Purdah involvement to the Assembly and the media."

  Akash cracked his knuckles. "Okay," he said. "I would suggest that you are very careful - very careful - with this line of thinking. Remember, the consequences of this report could have huge repercussions. It would be very unfortunate if your investigation went awry."

  Tshilidzi glared at Akash for several seconds as the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying, Mister Tagore."

  Akash sighed. "All I'm urging is caution, nothing more, nothing less. Please don't add further interpretation to my words."

  Tshilidzi gave a grim smile as he rose to his feet. "Is that everything?"

  "For now," Akash said, his expression cold, unreadable.

  # # #

  Miners forced to evacuate platform

  Originally published by The Martian, 20/05/6,541

  424 miners were evacuated from the K23 Kuiper mining platform following food shortages.

  The shortages are alleged to have resulted from Aghoro failing to deliver seeds and chickens earlier this year.

  Yao Hwei-ru
said she was forced to suspend work on the platform after complaints from K23's management.

  She said: "Workers are currently being shipped to Mars where they will receive new assignments.

  "The Yao is disappointed that Aghoro missed K23 from its deliveries, yet still managed to invoice us for the goods."

  Rep Daan Bakker (Aghoro) said: "Aghoro is working to ensure this type of oversight does not happen again."

  # # #

  Chapter Thirteen

  Meer: Orphanage, Judiciary, Insularum 1, Lunar

  16/07/6,544, 10:23 (IST)

  "All of these children are utter ghastly," Meer sneered as she paraded past a line of orphaned children. "Look at them," she gestured. "They're all so sad looking - can't you get them to smile, at least."

  "Their parents have died - it's understandable they should look aggrieved," a young woman offered.

  The hall was brown, expansive, with minimal decoration. Children of all ages occupied themselves with games and toys, while others sat still, staring into nothingness.

  Meer turned and cast the young woman a long glare. "They can't all have dead parents. I need a child who is happy, not one of these grumpy-looking things."

  "We have a few children whose parents gave them up to the Judiciary voluntarily," the woman said.

  "So find me one of those," she said, clapping her hands together. "I want a young one. And not one of these snotty brats," Meer pointed to a boy of around eight tickling a younger boy.

  The young woman walked ahead to inspect some of the children. "This one might be of interest."

  Meer looked towards a child of around three-years-old. "What is it?" she snapped.

  "It's a little boy." The young woman turned to the scruffy blond boy. "What's your name?" she asked gently.

  Meer frowned as the boy looked up at her, turned, then ran. "Boys," she tutted. "I must have a girl - boys are simply ridiculous."