Pilgrim One: Prominence (Project Pilgrim Book 1)

by Christopher R. Marrs

  “We are making our entrance now,” Deides replied, as she turned off of the main way onto a private road. The road wound towards a set of cliffs that overlooked the bay. She steered them up the cliffside in the deepening darkness. The building that appeared as they crested the top was spectacular. He saw a wide façade that was the color of the deep Wer. It was blocky in stature, almost like the cliffs, but elegant still the same.

  Deides drove them to the main entrance and shut down the groundcar. She smiled to Narmer, “This is it.”

  He opened the door and exited the groundcar, as did Deides and then she walked slowly towards the entrance, waiting for Narmer. She grabbed his left hand with her right and slightly led him towards the main doors. She opened them and commanded the light levels to a pleasant level and with her free left gestured in a grand sweep, “Here we are!”

  “OK, I’m impressed,” he said with sincerity, “This is yours?”

  “It is now,” she replied with a smile, “It was ours, Woodam’s and mine, but now it’s just me.”

  Finally getting it, “Oh! You’re still the spal, or heir spal, now with the passing-”

  “-murder”

  “- the murder of Woodam. I guess I still know next to nothing about you or Woodam. How does this all happen?” he asked as he slowly spun to take it all in.

  “Well,” Deides started, “Woodam was an industrialist. His group had developed a method of manufacturing a crushproof and light skin for aircraft. After the Discovery, they developed and started manufacturing, the outer shells of the seed ships. His group had been moderately successful prior to this, but the income that the seed ship shells brought in was more than one could imagine. The Council had an unlimited budget; they could create all the credits necessary, for who was going to be around to collect on the cred-notes after the Departure?”

  “All was well and good- “

  “Wait, what?” Narmer interrupted, “seed ships, plural?“

  “Sweetness, please let me finish,” she said as she walked over to stand in front of him, “I’ll explain all that I know, and that should answer your questions.”

  She continued, “All was well and good with his endeavors, our relationship, and my work.”

  “What is your work?” he asked.

  Smiling, “If you keep interrupting, this is going to take the entire set, and I have other plans!” she admonished Narmer as she walked toward the lounges in front of the floor to ceiling polypanes overlooking the bay. Narmer followed and was taken aback at the lights of the city as they swept towards the right off to the horizon, while to the left, the darkness of the Wer.

  As Deides sat and indicated for Narmer to do the same, she explained, “I am an architect. I designed this place, and many others like it, for those with the means. And, I will admit, I was pretty good at it. During the planning cycles after the Discovery, the Council put out a call for engineers, designers, architects, etc., and I signed up. I was hoping to improve our odds of getting a Departure Crescent by working on the ‘Pilgrim’ project. We were pretty sure that Woodam would not be getting one. That was the trade-off, he could get paid well in the meantime, but his technical and manufacturing people would get the Crescents, as they would be needed for the trip. His skills as a businessman would not be as much in demand, not until after the three hundred plus cycles the journey is going to take.”

  Narmer made as to say something, but Deides shot him a look.

  “Patience, this all leads up to this set, and you,” she said.

  Smiling at her, he shrugged and said nothing.

  “You were going to ask how he got his Crescent? The official public story was that anyone with the skills and experience that were included on the Needs List could apply, those with the most needed skills, experience, education, training etc. would be selected.”

  “And, of course, the best way to ensure the survival of our people, was to send those most capable to make the trip, along with a smattering of philosophers, artists, writers, Speakers to the Ancients, etc. to carry on our cultural heritage. Thus, the Selected would be aboard Prominence when she launched on Departure Rise.”

  With a bit of sarcasm, Deides continued, “as you can expect, the entire process was rife with politics. Sure, enough of the necessary people were selected. But with 100,000 of the Selected going, there was room to sneak in some not so ‘worthy’.”

  “Now, as you know, the first selected were from the Council. But to the credit of the Council, only one hundred Members and immediate family were selected. The remaining nine hundred Members went into the lottery. Then over the next twenty cycles, five thousand Citizens were selected each cycle, with the last slots were to be filled just five rises prior to Departure. The spacing of the Selections was to ensure that Prominence was constructed, that the launch was successful and to prevent the civil unrest that is sure to follow, until such a time as to not affect the Departure. Considering that getting convicted of pretty much anything would take you and your family out of the lottery, things have been relatively calm.”

  Losing her smile, she continued, “But then there are other ways to get a Crescent, those not so public and clearly not in the spirit of the lottery. This is where Woodam comes in, or I should say, Pagoy Nin-Brand did.”

  “Who is that?” Narmer had to ask.

  With a glare, Deides answered, “the former soon-to-be new spal of Woodam. She was a data analyst for Dilsa Materials, Woodam’s company, and had made a discovery. She brought what she had found to the attention of Woodam.”

  With real sadness, Deides spoke as she stared out into the darkness, “From what I can tell, it was at this time that Pagoy was making her intentions towards Woodam known. For love or fortune, or both, I do not know. Woodam and I had been joined for twenty-four cycles. I thought that we were past all of that. As you saw, she’s much younger, and obviously driven to succeed. I never caught on until Woodam announced that he was going to take a new spal. We never had children. We were very happy enjoying our time together and our careers. We didn’t see the wisdom in having a family after the announcement of the Discovery.”

  Looking back at Narmer, she continued, “What Pagoy had found was that after the first fifteen cycles, when a Selected or one of their family members died, their slot was not filled during the next round of Selection. That slot stayed empty or orphaned until it wasn’t. She also noticed that when the slot was filled, it was never announced and that it was always taken by one of the nine hundred Council Members not initially selected. Once those Members, or those still alive, had made the list, their family members started getting these orphaned slots.”

  “But what that little Tikt came up with next was brilliant,” she said with grudging appreciation, “she decided to blackmail the Council into giving her a slot. What she needed though was access to people at those high levels. That’s what Woodam was for. But then Woodam added his own dash of brilliance. Instead of blackmailing the Council, he gave them a solution to a problem that was starting to make itself known. Other people were starting to notice the existence of the orphaned slots and how they were getting filled. The Council initially ignored any complaints and felt that they could ride out the questions until Departure. But, things were starting to get real uncomfortable for the Council. Woodam’s solution was to have a back story created. The story was that the dearly departed had willed their slot to the Council in appreciation for the opportunity. An opportunity that they would now no longer need. And he made one more addition; he had random people suddenly willed into a slot, usually by someone with which they had no connection. This had the effect of adding legitimacy to the process and gave people new hope in being one of the Selected.”

  “Obviously, Woodam got himself ‘willed’ an orphan slot. And by the rules of the Selection, he could take his immediate family if he had one. Five rises ago, he received his Crescent, and made his announcement to me that he was leaving me.”

  A musical note was heard in the room; it was the
reminder that it was midset. Deides looked down at her hands, at her spal’s signet on her left smallest finger. “We were to be unjoined this rise,” she said with true sadness.

  But she brightened a bit, looked into Narmer’s eyes and said, “But now there will be a joining instead!”

  Narmer, with a quizzical look on his face, mustered up his best contribution to the conversation, “What?”

  “Sweetness,” she said with some conviction, “I’ve been very busy this ria, and one of the things I accomplished was to set up a joining. A joining of you and I.”

  “What?” Narmer’s thoughtful response.

  “Well, the Final Selection is the on the next rise, and Departure is in six rises. As the current spal of the former Woodam, I’m still going to make the Departure. I’ve grown somewhat fond of you lately, and I didn’t want you to miss the fun. The only way we could do that is for you to be my spal. Or do you want to try your luck with the Final Selection instead? I know that I have a few cycles on you, but I’m not an old lady yet.”

  “No!” now he was working up to a longer answer, “It is not that at all, it’s just that I was not even in the selection process. I’m not on the Needs List. Up until a few nauks ago, I was trying to figure out how to get to stay here with you after Departure. This much better than where I’m at now. But now there is a way for both of us to go. Seems like a joining of convenience, and we could make other arrangements after Departure, but I’m in!”

  “Sweetness,” Deides said not so sweetly, “this is a lifelong joining, there will be no other arrangements.”

  Taken aback a bit, Narmer smiled and said, “Of course, I was just giving you an out if you wanted it.”

  Smiling again, “Not to worry sweetness, this will be just part of our grand adventure. Now, how about that drink, a smoke, and a little joining of our own?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes!” Narmer replied with true gusto.

  CHAPTER SIX

  All of sudden, the bedchamber was awash with light. Ria was blasting through the high ‘panes. Then the screens covering the main windows slid up. Quickly enough to be almost instantaneous. The ‘panes then exposed the view of the Bay of Chons, flashing brilliant with Ria’s light. Or it would have been, if Narmer’s head had not been buried under the bedding. Something, or someone, landed on him, with little held back.

  “Oooff!” he let out before the bedding was ripped off him and he was blinded by the light of Ria that was filling the room.

  “Tikt! What the Tikt?” he huffed out, trying to catch his breath.

  In response, he got laughter, very pretty laughter. “Sweetness, the rise is almost half over, it is a full one of activities. Let’s be a part of it!”

  Deides rolled off of him, and the bed. She walked over to the sitting table and grabbed a drysheet and his p-tab, tossing both at him. “Meet me in the hygiene stall, if you dare….” she teased, smiling with her mouth, but not quite her eyes.

  Narmer caught the p-tab, letting the drysheet hit him. He thumbed the p-tab on, almost midrise. And he noticed, ‘5’ rises until Departure. The Last Selection was to be made at midrise. But now, the rock didn’t hit his stomach as it had for the past cycle! He was going!

  Then he noticed that there were a couple of items on his schedule. That was odd for a couple of reasons. For one, he didn’t add the items, and secondly, he hasn’t had any legitimately pressing items on his schedule for the past cycle. Not since he was officially off of the Needs List and he was not part of the last cycle Selection.

  That’s when he had added the countdown to his p-tab, and he’d had been looking at it every rise of Ria. The rock in his stomach had gotten a little bit bigger every rise that he awoke in his public accommodations, having lost his private residence with the loss of his job at the Wer Institute.

  He had liked his work as a researcher of the larger animals, the hatmet, that lived in the Wer. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was interesting, to him, and useful for the remmers that got their harvest from the Wer. He had become pretty good at population predictions, and his data had been used by the government for population health and management. Although, his passion was animal communication. He discovered that he had an ‘ear’ for being able to interpret, to some level, the noises, grunts, clicks, bubbles, etc. that each species used for communication. There was no need for this in his job, so it became a hobby.

  The Council had prioritized ongoing government functions in relation to pre-Departure and post. His job wasn’t important enough to be on the Needs List, the Selecteds’ future success did not require his talents. While those that were to be left on Kepteyn post-Departure had other worries as well.

  Therefore, his only chance had been the upcoming Final Selection, the general selection for which almost everyone was eligible. The selection that is to be held on the next rise. The one that he watched with dread count down every rise.

  But this rise, he had things to do. He opened the first item entitled ‘Deides.’ It just had the time of two chirps after midrise, no description. But he had a good idea what this was, so he’d probably have to hurry to make that one, he noted.

  The second, was for a Departure Gathering, again just a time, no information.

  Now, he hadn’t been to any of these, as they were a fairly new thing that had started up as Departure approached. These, from what he had heard, were not honestly anything like the Farewell parties. The Farewell events were hosted, catered, and stocked with intoxicants by the Honoree (the lucky one), were somewhat intimate, and more sedate. Not a surprise, as the only truly happy one, was the host. And, if you couldn’t behave, you were asked to leave. He knew a little about that.

  However, according to his limited secondhand knowledge, the Departure Gathering tended to be a BYO(Whatever), whomever, and a drunken, drugged up orgy and blackout. With no true host, and attended by people trying to cope with facing the End, things got a little more ‘exciting.’ As long as the attendees didn’t get too much out of control, or until the participants starting to make a public nuisance of themselves, the Home Guard steered clear. Who wanted to harass the hopeless? The Council was of a mind that this was a necessary outlet for the ‘unworthy.’ They were usually held at large abandoned spaces like places of higher learning, consumer goods manufacturing plants, etc. Places that would no longer be needed all too soon.

  “Do I have to throw something else at you?” he heard from the stall.

  Not his future anymore, he thought, as he jumped out of bed, with some skill this time, and headed for his new future.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  After a thorough, mutual cleaning, in a full water stall, that took a while, Deides and Narmer were dressing for the rest of the rise.

  “I have your clothes ready for you, sweetness.” Deides directed, “take these.” She pulled a somewhat formal jacket, shirt, and leggings and handed them to Narmer.

  He took them, “I’ve never had anything like this, never really needed for it,” he said with true humility.

  “You do now and more to come.” she said, “we are going to have a need for a few more choices in the coming rises.”

  “But how…?”

  “I told you that I had been busy while you were chatting with the Investigator.”

  “Tikt! I had almost forgotten about that!”

  “Well, this next event should resolve most of that,” she said with some firmness in her voice as well as her green eyes.

  “I’m a little nervous, never been part of an official joining before.” he offered shyly.

  “Really?” she said as she turned to face him.

  She looked him up and down, “I’d have thought you were tied down many times.”

  “Well, almost once, but I was a contented researcher, and she had other plans. She’s a Director of Healing and was Selected six cycles ago. I never pursued anyone else hard enough to get joined. I discovered that the more Selections that went by and one was not selected, the fewer people that were interested in
getting joined. Unless they were looking for a Crescent, which I didn’t have. Never thought that I’d be one of those!”

  “Well, that is more my fault,” she slyly said.

  “OK, so why did you pull me out of the public line at the Farewell in my residence building?” he asked, “there were hundreds of possible companions on line with me that set.”

  “As I explained, I was in a mood, as it was my soon to be ex-spal’s Farewell. I walked in and saw you, but I saw someone else that I sort of knew and headed towards them. But as I was about to pass you, I noticed that you were rather cute, younger! And you had a different look on your face from almost everyone else. You weren’t the happiest of people, but you weren’t defeated either. You hadn’t completely given up, nor had you gone the other way of excess abandon. As the time draws near, people are starting to emotionally and spiritually come apart. I thought that you and I were similar in trying to keep it together. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to stay that way, so I wanted to have someone like you with me to make it last.”

  “From then and until now, it appears that I was right about you, but I had no idea how everything else was going to turn out. Now we are going to become joined and find out together.”

  He inhaled sharply, “I didn’t know that this was in my future, but I am very excited and desire this to be perfect for both of us.”

  “And,” he said as he bent to kiss her, “I’m sure that you have more plans that I’m going to learn about as time draws near, it seems to be that you are good at!”

  She dodged his kiss, “Not now, we have to get moving.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  In the groundcar, Deides was driving them, headed west, and down to the bay.

  “What do you have in mind for the joining? Considering it is about to happen, I should probably know something….” he asked playfully.

  “There is a public house not far from the Ancients Monument on the bay. I’ve reserved that for us. It’s a small affair that I have planned, but it should be enjoyable.” she said, keeping her eyes on the traffic.