the Runner

by Peter Ponzo

CHAPTER 6

  Home

  Almost the entire citizenship had turned out for the return of transworld vessel K-47. The winds were light, the sky was a deep cobalt blue with a few wisps of cloud and there was a festive air pervading the small crowd which had gathered at the space platform, a small paved rectangle about one-half kilometer from the Dome. Gravic stood in his official red tunic and behind him, Sal waited eagerly.

  "There it is!" shouted someone in the crowd. All eyes looked, with difficulty, in the direction of the suns, straining to see the vessel.

  Gravic turned to Sal. "Why do they come from that direction?"

  Sal shrugged. That was of little concern to him now. It only mattered that his brother was returning after a 12 week absence.

  Soon the great grey mining ship was close enough to eclipse both suns and a shout went up from the crowd. In spite of the distance to the Dome, Gravic was sure he heard similar shouts from that direction. He smiled briefly, then regained his solemn visage.

  With a deafening whine the ship settled slowly onto the landing pad, touching down with a shudder. The whine increased in intensity then, abruptly, ceased. Another cheer rose from the crowd. A silver door in the belly of the ship slid open and a stairway unfolded and in a minute Gry appeared, then Kevn. Another cheer, then several gasps.

  Kevn walked down the stairway with a small boy at his hand. The boy was black and almost naked. Gravic looked back at Sal. Sal shrugged again. The stairway folded into the ship and the door slid closed once more. Kevn walked toward Gravic and the waving crowd and Gry followed.

  "Welcome Home, Kevn," said Gravic, trying not to smile too broadly as the video cameras captured the scene for all the Dome to see.

  "Glad to be back, Gravic. I'd like you to meet Runr, the sole human inhabitant of C-phon3."

  Gravic looked at the boy and eagerly extended his hand. The boy looked at the extended hand, then at Gry, then extended both of his own hands. Gravic smiled and seized both hands in his and shook them vigorously. The boy looked again at Gry. Gry nodded his head and smiled. The boy smiled. Gravic smiled - and Sal could barely contain his excitement with simply a smile.

  "You are very old," whispered Runr, staring at Gravic's almost bald pate. "Will you die soon?"

  "Mind your manners, Runr," said Gry, turning to the First Citizen. "I'm sorry - he asks lots of questions, wants to ... uh, know everything."

  "Yes, my boy," said Gravic. "I am very old and I will die - but not that soon I hope." Gravic leaned forward and whispered to Kevn. "Let's go back to my rooms. We can have a drink. I want to talk to you, about the boy, about the phonarite, about a number of things. You can wave to the crowds as we drive to the Dome. Later, you can give your report in the coliseum."

  "Do you still have some of that Extron brandy?" asked Kevn.

  Gravic grinned. "Yes, I've been saving it, just for you. Sal, please come along. I want you to hear this - it involves you as well. Gry, you're welcome to join us. I'd like to hear about your trip - and the meaning of that last communication. In particular I'd very much like to hear about Runr."

  Gravic looked at the young black youth and grinned, but not too widely because the cameras still turned.

  "If you don't mind, First Citizen," said Gry, parting his hair and tugging at his rings, "I'll just take Runr to my room and rest for a bit. I think Runr is weary. He's quite a lad."

  Kevn was surprised to hear Gry speak with such evident fondness.

  "Gry, you are certainly entitled to a rest," said Gravic, running his hand over his bald strip. "Please ask my driver to take you and the boy to your room. We'll take the other skooter to the Dome."

  Gry left with the boy in hand and Kevn was pleased to see how close they had become. It was just a few weeks earlier that Gry had grunted, You might as well talk to a dog. Since then, the two had become inseparable.

  Gravic smiled, saw the cameras and frowned, putting on his most official face. He leaned to Kevn and whispered. "He's black. That is truly, truly wonderful. Can you imagine the important contribution he will make to the gene pool?"

  They headed for the second official skooter, an opentop, black, oversized supreme which easily accommodated the three of them as well as the driver. Kevn waved vigorously to the crowd at the landing platform and, as they approached the Dome, stood up to wave at the portholes. A flag unfurled atop the observation tower: two white rising suns on a red background.

  "DOC welcomes you home," said Sal with a chuckle.

  "How is DOC?" asked Kevn. "Any problems?"

  "If you mean phonarite decay - we'll have to talk about that. We're all keeping our toes crossed," said Gravic. "It's just a matter of time. If DOC goes, so goes the Dome environment. You know what that means - a return to wretched Mother Earth. The phonarite riddle must be solved, soon. Kriss is incompetent. I've fired him. The PRL team has many brilliant minds. We need a new Chief of Research who will lead that team to a solution. You will be that Chief - and you cannot refuse me this time."

  Kevn abruptly sat on the narrow seat and stared at Gravic.

  Sal beamed.

  ______________________________________________________

  As the first skooter approached the portal at the base of the Dome the door slipped aside and the vehicle entered the ramp without hesitation.

  "Thanks, DOC," mumbled the driver without much thought.

  It was clear that this was a common ritual and a 'thank you' was expected, even though the Dome computer could not hear the words. The skooter climbed the ramp and entered the large mall, now milling with citizens craning to get a look at the passengers. Gry straightened his hair and gave them a slow, regal wave of his hand. How different the reaction of the citizenship than when he stood trial for theft.

  The driver ignored the crowd. Runr slid down in his seat, closing his eyes and moaning.

  "It's okay, Runr. This always happens," said Gry. "There are very few exciting events in the Dome - the return of a transworld vessel is one of them. We'll be in my room soon. Don't be afraid."

  The skooter continued up and down ramps, through narrow corridors lined with waving, cheering citizens, and arrived shortly at a complex of large cubes piled one atop the other, by the side of a corridor. Gry jumped out and turned, waiting for the boy. Runr was still curled on the seat, eyes closed.

  "C'mon Runr. We're here. My room is at the bottom of this complex. It's okay. No one will hurt you."

  The boy opened his eyes and slid cautiously out of the skooter, which then left. "Oh - thanks driver," said Gry, watching the vehicle vanish down a ramp. He took the boy's hand, walked to one of the cubes and placed his hand flat against a shiny plate beside the door. The door dissolved and they entered.

  The room was filled with strange devices, a small console with dancing lights, shelves crowded with videobooks, several of Gry's multicolored tunics strewn across the floor, large comfortable chairs with attached audiophone caps and a wall with a counter covered with containers and a large coffee pot half buried in a recess in the counter.

  Gry immediately walked to the coffee pot, pressed a tab and smiled as the pot began to gurgle. He turned and watched Runr. The boy was already lying curled in Gry's favorite chair, staring about the room, less afraid, it seemed.

  "Master Gry, do you live in this collection of debris? Do you not find it distracting? Are you able to find anything amid this -"

  "Look kid, this is my place and I like it this way - and everything is just where I put it."

  Gry took a second chair, carefully stroked his hair twice then pulled the audiophone cap over his head. The music began immediately and Gry closed his eyes, his hands tapping lightly on his knees. He opened his eyes when the pot buzzed. He pulled off the cap, rose and walked to the counter before he noticed that the boy was no longer in his chair. Gry spun around then saw Runr with his hands on the console. Blue lights twinkled.

  "Wait a minute, kid!" cried Gry, quickly pulling
Runr away from the console. "This ain't LIZ you're talkin' to - this is DOC. I doubt if he would appreciate your small talk while he's ... uh, lookin' after the Dome!"

  "I felt these crystals when we first entered the Dome," said the boy, staring back at the console. "It seemed to be speaking to someone - to everyone. It has a loud voice ... it spoke very quickly ... I was afraid. But it is a nice person, crystal - but not feeling well."

  "This person/crystal doesn't speak at all. It is the Dome Omniscient Computer. It's called DOC ... and what do you mean not feeling well?" asked Gry.

  Runr was not listening. Instead he was kneeling before the console, his eyes closed, moaning, blue lights dancing about his hands. Gry watched, frowning.

  Could the boy really know if DOC was ill?

  Did anyone else know that DOC was ill?

  ______________________________________________________

  Jan watched Kriss pacing, shaking his head, waving his hands. "Damn! Damn! How did they gain control of the ship. It's impossible - impossible! There is no way they - they -"

  "Kriss, dearest, please sit down. You know how sick you can get when you're upset like this," said Jan with obvious concern.

  Kriss continued to pace the floor of his small office. "My plans - I must change my plans." He stopped pacing and stared at the floor, his lips twisting in silent argument, his hands hanging limply by his side. Then he looked at Jan. "You will help me. I can still do it - with your help. Here's what I have in mind."

  Jan was pleased. Kriss rarely asked for her help and she was delighted that he was now including her in his plans - whatever they were. Kriss pulled a chair next to Jan, sat down abruptly and leaned forward. She stared intently at his red lips. He spoke to her in whispers and her smile slowly changed to shock.

  "I can't do that," she said in a shaking voice. "That's - that's -"

  Kriss rose in a fury. "Do you not want to be Second Citizen?" he shouted angrily. "Do you want the Dome to fall into the hands of someone who doesn't know the first thing about Dome problems? Do you think the citizens will want that? This is your duty! Do not exhibit a complete lack of mental facility."

  Kriss paused, then spoke more softly, leaning over Jan, his hand on her knee. "Your rewards will be many and the citizens will sing your praises," he whispered. "You will be their queen. The end of the present regime will be hailed with celebration and rejoicing ... and this end justifies the means."

  Jan looked down at her hands. "I suppose ... I suppose we must. Yes, I will do it. The end justifies the means," she said quietly in a voice which betrayed her lack of enthusiasm for the validity of that phrase.

  Kriss sat down again and patted her knee, grinning red through the black and wiry beard.

  ______________________________________________________

  Kevn sipped the brandy with evident delight. Sal sat on the edge of his chair in the large and elegant quarters of the First Citizen and watched Kevn intently, smiling, hardly able to contain himself; his brandy had not been touched. Gravic was standing by the small window, his chalice steaming with the hot and spiced liquid. Even his private room had a port onto the Barrens and he spent many hours here. He rarely had guests, however, and he was pleased to have Kevn here now. He never had children. He always felt that the rigors of parenthood were beyond him. Gravic looked at Kevn sipping the hot brandy. No, it was not the rigors of parenthood. It was the late rewards of parenthood. Now, he regarded Kevn as his son, the pride of parenthood gained without penalty.

  "You said that the shipcomp suffered a loss of function resulting in your veering toward a star," Gravic said. "I fear that DOC, too, is in trouble."

  Kevn looked at Gravic, then at Sal. Sal shrugged.

  "It's true, Kevn," said Sal. "The problems are small but the evidence is there. Little things, not noticed by most of the citizenry, we're sure. A few days ago we had one of those storms induced by discharges between Sol-1 and Sol-2. Soon after the suns had begun this exchange of mass the storm began and DOC pulled the canopy - as he always does. But this time the canopy was removed before the storm had completely stopped. That shouldn't happen. We know that, and DOC knows that. Also, all of the clocks in the Dome have lost several minutes in the last few weeks. If it weren't for the independent clocks in the Research Lab we never would have noticed. I'm sure the citizens never noticed - they just went to work a few minutes later each day."

  "Kevn," interrupted Gravic, "you must start at once on the phonarite riddle."

  "Phonarite riddle? I've never heard it called that before," said Kevn, grinning.

  "Well ... that's what some people are calling it," said Gravic, a little embarrassed at having adopted Kriss' phrase.

  "As you know," said Kevn, " I have been working on that problem for several years, with the shipcomp, LIZ. We regrew much of her phonarite circuitry to optimize her ability to do the calculations. I cannot say that we've been too successful in spite of all the time available to us during the long trips to and from the C-phon planets."

  Sal leaned forward. "You mean - all these years - you have still been involved in this research? I thought ... I assumed -"

  Gravic sat down wearily. "Kevn was released from the PRL to continue the research he had begun - in the absence of the quarrelling and bickering that had invaded the Research Lab." Gravic ran his hand down the center of his head and sipped his brandy, now only warm. "The understanding was that he would continue his researches while on mining missions to the C-phon planets. I objected. I never felt that this isolation would provide the inspiration needed to -"

  "Gravic," interrupted Kevn, "I will gladly become involved in the solution of this - this riddle. But LIZ is no longer operative. I suspect that much, perhaps all of my analyses are now inaccessible. But we have a new ally in this quest for a solution: Runr."

  Gravic looked at Sal. Sal shrugged. They both looked at Kevn.

  "You see," said Kevn, realizing the impact of his next statement, "the boy can talk to phonarite computers. In fact, he can not only talk to them, he can - I think - make minor repairs. The ship android, TOM, had some minor problems with decay. Runr fixed that."

  "Minor problems sometimes correct themselves, spontaneously" said Sal. "We've seen that occasionally in the Lab. That may have happened to TOM. That, at least, is a more rational explanation, scientifically, than - than, a boy talking to phonarite."

  "There's more," said Kevn. "When LIZ wouldn't relinquish control of the ship, the boy killed her. Well, those were his words. He rendered the shipcomp completely inoperative."

  This was greeted by silence. Then Gravic said, rising to his feet, "That's impossible ... isn't it?" He looked at Sal, questioningly.

  "I would say so," said Sal quietly, staring intently at Kevn and wondering what had become of his old mentor. He recalled the stories of a travellers disease which caused minor loss of memory, significant changes in IQ and some garbled speech. Was this happening to Kevn? How could a boy know if a computer were faulty? How could a boy -

  The yellow beacon flashed on Gravic's wall. Gravic looked annoyed. "What is it? I asked not to be disturbed," he said.

  "Gry wishes to speak to you. He says it is quite urgent."

  "Okay, put him on," said Gravic.

  "Gravic, this is Gry. Is Kevn there? I have some bad news."

  "Yes, he is ... and Sal too. Go ahead Gry. What is the bad news?"

  "Runr has been talking to DOC. He says that DOC is sick."

  Gravic looked at Sal but Sal was staring at Kevn, in awe.