by Eric Brown
The bus halted at the foot of the distant gantry, and Kat watched as the eighteen suited clones stepped from the vehicle. One or two turned and waved at the crowd and the massed cameras.
The irony didn’t escape Kat that one of the reasons she had proved suitable for the core team was that she had few ties here on Earth, so her clone wasn’t leaving much behind—‘minimal dislocation’, as she had described it. After Ward Richards’ attempted coup, though, they had gone through the whole downloading and imprinting process again, and when her clone departed for the stars it would be with memories of everything that had happened until the point of dislocation, including her fling with Daniel that night, and its possible consequences.
“Hey,” Travis said, nudging Daniel. “That could have been us on the transfer bus. We could have been contenders.”
Daniel grunted. “We were, boy,” he said. “But for the whim of a few administrators.”
“I’m not sorry,” Travis said. “I put myself up for it, yes, but I’m happy to have done what I have. We’ve given our species a chance among the stars, but now’s the time to look inwards.”
“Whatever,” Daniel said. Then, as if he realised he couldn’t dismiss things quite so readily this time, he added, “You’re right, in a way. Whatever happens now—whether we’d gone to the stars or not—we’re still right here on terra firma, aren’t we. Eh, Kat?”
But Kat wasn’t paying attention. She was watching her double stepping down from the bus, stretching and looking around at her home planet for the very last time, and she knew exactly how this alternative Kat must feel.
TRAVIS
A FORTNIGHT AFTER KON-TIKI’S DEPARTURE FROM EARTH orbit, all the fanfare and excitement had died down. It was time to step back and take stock.
Travis hadn’t quit the project yet, but the time was approaching. He’d barely been back to the base since the day of the launch. He recalled the sight of the behemoth rising slowly from the gantry, the power of its multiple engines hitting him in the diaphragm, even at a distance of a mile, and filling him with an unnameable emotion. The shuttle’s departure from Earth had been a potent symbol, he reflected…This phase of the project was over and the need for his particular expertise had passed.
Two weeks ago he’d watched coverage of the Kon-Tiki’s departure, breaking from orbit and pulling away from the planet forever. It really was happening: humankind had left home.
He sat in his cottage, resisting the urge both to pour another Scotch and to call Kat or Daniel—both were a form of drowning his sorrows, his lack of direction.
He knew his two friends felt the same. At least their days were still full, working with the members of the core team who remained, the originals. Helping with the transition to a new kind of normal.
Travis had started that transition earlier than most, but now he felt…lost.
His carpal implant twinged then, and he gestured impatiently towards a smartscreen on the wall, expecting Daniel’s face to appear for one of their regular conversations.
Instead, it was Sunita Patel. She smiled warmly, and said, “Travis.” She never called him Travis, always Doctor Denholme, or just a blank look as if she couldn’t even recall his name.
“Director Patel?”
“Travis, are you free to come in some time? We should fix up an appointment for a chat.”
“A chat? About what?”
That smile again. Then: “About the second phase of the project, Travis.”
“The second phase?” he echoed.
She hesitated. “We’re thinking ahead. Planning what you might call a follow-up mission—and you, as a valued member of the team…”
He experienced a strange sense of panic. “But—”
“I know it’s a big thing to take on board, right now, but I’d like to talk it over with you. You’ll do that, won’t you?”
He nodded. “Fine, yes. We’ll talk.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Travis,” she said, and cut the connection.
He stood very still for a long time, staring at the bottle of Scotch on the coffee table.
Then he refilled his glass, stepped out into the frosty night, and stared up at the massed stars.
DISLOCATIONS
Copyright © Eric Brown &Keith Brooke 2018
COVER ART
Copyright © Ben Baldwin 2018
First published in hardcover in April 2018 by PS Publishing Ltd. by arrangement with the authors, this eBook edition is published in April 2018. All rights reserved by the authors. The rights of Eric Brown & Keith Brooke 2018 to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-78636-232-2
PS Publishing Ltd
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www.pspublishing.co.uk
Contents
DISLOCATIONS
TRAVIS
KAT
TRAVIS
KAT
TRAVIS
KAT
TRAVIS
KAT
TRAVIS
DISLOCATIONS