Their cultural backgrounds could not be more different, but their resultant likes, dislikes, and general adult outlooks were surprisingly close. Still, the one basic factor that continued to create friction was his shaky moral compass and her strong sense of right and wrong. Where she saw most things as absolutes, he saw only compromises.
But they were becoming lovers now, in an odd sort of way, simply because each could fully comprehend the other’s views and their different take on things. The sincerity of his guilt and remorse at what had happened was beyond doubt and made things much easier.
There were, however, gaps in both their memories. Not big things, but a ton of little things, things they should know, should remember about their growing up and past careers. For example, she could not visualize her mother. She could think of a hundred things they’d done together and recall how she felt, but there was no face, no voice there. He had the knowledge of his long studies to get his accreditation as a business analyst and consultant, but he had no memory of where he’d studied to get that, nor with whom. It was weird. He could catch glimpses of places, but he didn’t have anything to hang them on.
In the end they decided that eighty to ninety percent of each of them was in that one brain. But where was the rest of them? Had it been edited? Replaced? Damaged in the process? Or was it in somebody else’s head?
They needed to know, and the authorities in Kalinda needed to know, just where these strange people would fit into the coming troubles, and deal with them early on. And thus it was that they were free, and on their way to the capital city of Kalinda, to meet the one they both only thought of as the Other.
“There is Jinkinar!” Shissik announced, pointing, and out of the gloom in front of them was a startling vision, all color and heat and straight lines. It was a vast fairyland of a city with spires reaching high into the darkness above, and it throbbed with life. It made Mahakor look like a tiny provincial suburb; this was one hell of a metropolis.
The “train” came in high over much of the city, yet still below some of the tallest buildings, and then descended near the city center, toward what had to be the capital building, from its grandiose and excessive design and waste of space. A long platform about three stories above street level jutted out from a building and provided a landing zone. Riders could exit either way and directly into the water to their right, but if you had a lot of luggage or wanted to form a group, the platform was handy.
Living in a deep, dark environment where the sun never shined had created a round-the-clock urban culture. Cities never closed; shifts changed, usually staggered to keep people from literally clogging things up, but they were always around. It made for high productivity, and a great deal was manufactured in Kalinda both for domestic use and, most particularly, for export to other high-tech hexes and even lower-level technologies whose limitations prevented them from producing certain goods themselves. Once, in ancient history, only rich people could afford pins because each had to be made or machined by hand; an automated high-tech pin-making plant could make billions per day, and even nontech societies could use pins.
There were countless such products that an industrial society could make and trade, and if a nontech hex could not make the factories run, well, it had some resources, be they agricultural products, raw minerals, art of all sorts, that were of use to high-tech hexes that had fouled their own agricultural land and mined every last mineral from their soil. Although they were omnivores, there was simply no way that Kalinda could feed itself, not now. But trawlers could bring in vast quantities of fish and shellfish, well-packed and stored sea grains and undersea plant delicacies, and lower them down into the deeps. Meanwhile, other ships, with orders from a hundred different hexes, would dock and load large containers of manufactured products at the island docks above.
It was now taken for granted that most Kalindans did not see the irony of trawlers carrying fish to the sea.
It also made them incredibly vulnerable, both Ari and Ming realized.
“If anybody got control of surface shipping, you’d be starved into submission in a matter of weeks,” Ari commented.
“Oh, we have vast reserves in great freezers and in specially sealed containers,” Shissik responded, “and no one is ever truly isolated here because of the Zone Gate, but you are right. Eventually, if someone could drive all the shipping away, they would own us. Once the reserves were depleted, you could not bring enough in through Zone per day to feed all of these people, and if our topside power plants were also blown, well, yes, I see what you mean.” He clearly didn’t like the idea, but it reminded him why Kalinda wanted them at the conference.
“We will check in at the Interior Ministry and get our papers and permits in order, then you will find lodging over there in the government employees’ hostel.”
“What about you? Where will you stay?”
Shissik seemed surprised. “In my own flat, I hope. I live here.”
The permits and papers took some time to complete, and they went into the ministry restaurant to get dinner. Little was actually cooked in Kalinda, but chefs combined various plant and animal products into a huge variety of meals that tasted unique, most pressed together tightly so they formed a kind of eat-all sandwich, or served in bowls in very thick paste. Nothing much floated away if you ate politely. These were almost always accompanied by a hard-pressed, pillow-shaped cake of sea oats bound in some kind of fatty stock that gave it a soylike flavor.
Once settled in, Shissik accompanied them to their room on a middle floor with an entryway facing the capitol building and the park in front with the huge illuminated oval with a diamond design inside which was the symbol, the “flag,” of Kalinda.
“Our appointments and true work will not start until two shifts from now, about 1800 hours,” Shissik told them. “I plan to go home, check all my messages and my mail, then get some sleep. I realize that you haven’t been on your own much, and this city is not a good place to start. All of the elements, bad as well as good, in any major city anywhere are present here, and you do not know the boundaries us natives take for granted. You were long ago implanted with a broadcast locator chip, so we’ll know where you are. Please stay within a few blocks of the capitol building there, and refrain from roaming the street level areas or below, where the most dangerous element hangs out. I shall be here to pick you up by 1700. Any questions?”
They both tried to talk at once, which usually meant they twitched a lot until one of them gave way. This time it was Ming who won out. “Yes—how can we see or do much of anything without any cash or credit line? We have nothing for even minor incidentals.”
Shissik wasn’t fooled. “Without those things, it won’t be very tempting to roam too far and go into places you shouldn’t. Your credit is good at the hostel restaurant and you have this room. That should be sufficient for the basics. Good day.”
And with that he swam out and away.
Now what? Ming asked.
Can’t do much without money, and you’re Madame Morality so there s not much chance of finding any. Not much we can do but wander around the grounds over there and mope.
Ming thought a moment. I’m also known to be resourceful. What have we got in the luggage?
He went over to the lone backpack and undid the latches.
You should know. You and I packed it. Not much. They don’t exactly give diamond rings to wards of the state.
We’ve got the watch on our arm, she pointed out. Good, solid military issue. And, what the hell, there’s the backpack itself. Won’t net us much, but it might give us a little admission money.
He did not follow her for a moment, then saw what she meant. Of course! Any city this big just has to have pawnshops! Why didn’t I think of that?
Because you’re a rich nephew of a really rich scumbag monster and you have spent time auditing pawnshops but never been in a position to need one. You’ve read my past out of my mind. You should know I didn’t start out undercover on the organ
ized mob task force!
The fact was, he hadn’t paid much attention to the details of those early assignments, just that she’d done them. It occurred to him that he ought to take another look sometime and see what he’d missed. Okay, okay. For this little bit, I’m gonna yield to experience. Go ahead and take control and get us out of here.
Sure hope they have public clocks, though. Without the watch, we’re never going to know what time it is…
They went down to the hostel lounge on the second floor, where low-level bureaucrats were floating around, reading the papers or magazines or involved in low-level conversations. One particularly scruffy type who was leaning on the rail and watching the city pass by seemed a likely source.
“A securities broker?” he said in answer to Ming’s question. “Yes, bottom level, two blocks down. Follow the red number two line north. A bit tight on the expenses, eh?”
“A bit,” Ming admitted. “Thank you.”
She swam out and saw the red routing line below with the symbol for 2 and hung a left, descending down to the first level.
For a race with a strong sense of magnetic force, all directions were given in compass points, even though there were effectively no true magnetic poles. Somehow, you just knew which way was which.
We’ve already disobeyed our keeper by coming down here, Ari noted playfully. Do you think Big Mother’s board is going off and they’re sending out the cops for us now?
I doubt it. If they’re typical, then they have hundreds, maybe thousands, of stakeouts on computer monitoring systems, and going down to the street and two blocks away isn’t likely to cause any alarms. Trust me.
I have to, he responded. It’s not like I can strike out on my own. Besides, you never lie to me.
The “securities broker” was little more than a stall on a back alley. They couldn’t read the signs, and the symbols here were so different they weren’t obvious, but this kind of shop had a universal look and feel to it. The proprietor was a small, slight woman who seemed more well-worn and threadbare than the fellow back at the hostel, and also very pregnant. From the several kids swimming around in and through the stock in the back, it was clearly the other thing she did well.
“These watches aren’t nothin’ to write home about. Hell to move, too,” the pawnbroker commented. “I mean, they’re regular government issue. Best I can do is ten. The backpack, though, is in great condition. Swear it was brand new. That I can take for, oh, six. Total of sixteen credits.”
“Are you trying to steal us blind?” Ming fumed. “Sixteen for both of these!”
The pawnbroker looked around. “Us? You a cop or some-thin’? Licensing Bureau, like that? I ain’t in no trouble.”
“No, but I’m sorry I’m not,” Ming replied, correcting herself. It was too complicated to try to explain, and she didn’t want to start a conversation, only get some cash. “That is robbing someone in need.”
“Yeah? Well, I got needs, too, y’know. You don’t come back, I got to sell them things for a profit. Sixteen, take it or leave it.”
She took it, of course, even though it was hardly enough to matter. It was sixteen credits more than they had before.
As they were leaving the broker commented, “Too bad you’re goin’ fem, doll. You got somethin’ to sell on the street here stayin’ as you are.”
She was startled. “I am?” But she left without waiting for the response.
Think it’s true?
Ari didn’t know. I think she was just reacting to you, that’s all. Still, you keep being the driver and it’ll happen.
Why shouldn’t it? Might be interesting anyway. Doesn’t carry the baggage here it might back home, not when anybody can switch.
But I don’t want to change! At least not now! I’ve never been a guy before!
Well, whatever happens, happens. I’d rather stay a guy, too, for the record. There are fewer men than women here ’cause the population’s a hair low, I guess. Of course, maybe not. She sure seemed to be doing her part for getting everything back in balance.
Yeah, she did, didn’t she? Well, I hope we don’t have to market ourselves anytime soon.
Um, yeah, he responded, uncomfortable at the idea. So what do you want to blow this lavish fortune on?
Who knows what it will or won’t buy? Not much, but let’s see!
As it turned out, it bought a couple of feel-good patches, the Kalindan equivalent of social drinking, which induced a mild but manageable high for a time, and admission to a couple of low-life theaters that gave them both a bit of an education in underwater sex and titillation. There were things you could do here that would require a million credits plus to simulate back in the Realm, not counting the zero gravity chamber or flight to attain it.
That was what this boiled down to, though. A life where gravity was something you counted on for water density but not something that restricted you. A kind of zero gravity floating lifestyle.
By the time they got back to the hostel and collapsed, they were flat broke again and dead tired as well. Someone, however, a complete stranger, was waiting for them when they arrived.
“Who the hell are you?” Ari demanded.
“My name isn’t important,” the stranger, a female with expensive jewelry responded. “I just need to pass along a few things to you.”
“You know who I am?”
She nodded. “I know who both of you are. I hope you didn’t have too much fun in the dives. There’s a rampant parasite that’s transmitted sexually and which reproduces by making you reproduce, whether you want to or not. Hard to detect, harder to kill off.”
“We didn’t. Not with the money we had.”
She chuckled. “Well, you’re also fortunate you didn’t get seduced by one of them. That happens, too. Seductions and rapes. Ugly business.” She sighed. “Well, enough of that. Tomorrow you’ll be going into Government Center and they’ll fill you full of confident lies and invite you along on their big meeting in Zone next week. They’ll keep you on a tight leash like with the money, only this time you’ll not have a translator, so you’ll be able to speak to everybody and be understood, but you’ll understand nothing not directed at you. You’ll hear the speeches and listen to the proposals and realize that these idiots don’t know the first thing about wars, revolutions, and mass violence. The geography of the hexes has always prevented anything really major. Oh, a hex here and there went to war, but even then it was usually quick and dirty. Most of them, including this one, are ripe for easy plunder. They won’t even have to fire a shot to take and hold Kalinda, at least not within the boundaries. It’s already begun, and the fools don’t even realize it. You might, if you had things to compare, but even though it’s staring them in the face, they won’t see it until it is too late.”
“I see. And where do you come in?”
“I represent—pragmatists. Families of means who know that the only way to protect the nation is not to fight. There are far more of us than anyone knows, in all positions of power.”
“And when the magic moment comes and we are invaded, you make sure that they aren’t opposed?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“So why are you telling us this? And why are you here at all?”
“Because you are going to that conference and I am not. Some of us will be there, but not a decisive number. You come from the same place in the universe as those now waging war. You are from a more violent race and can cope with a violent universe. You understand what is coming. These fools do not. All we are asking is that you think of reality when various proposals are bandied about, and that you also think of your own long-term futures.”
“Yes? Meaning what?”
“Ari, your uncle was one not unlike the Empress. Even more impressive, since she had been born to wealth and power, and your uncle came up from a very low level. You functioned well in your uncle’s empire, you could function well here. You have skills that are unique here, and you do not have to learn how to deal with di
fferent races and cultures. Ming, you would have more of a problem with this, I know, but consider what they did to you back where you came from. Consider how fragile your existence was when it hit true power, and how death is not necessarily an option in such cases. All we are saying is that there is a place for you in the coming order. Just do not cause us additional pain and expense reaching the inevitable goal. That’s all you have to do. Just observe.”
“Maybe not,” Ari responded. “Maybe it is hopeless. Still, you’re as naive as those politicians and military leaders you say are deluding each other and themselves. Josich destroyed whole planets. Billions of people. Total, complete genocide. And he did it without any second thoughts at all. If Kalinda isn’t a good slave labor state, and it really isn’t— too educated, too spoiled by technology, and requiring massive imports of food—then it’s a liability. Josich simply erases liabilities and goes on. He’ll erase us, and you, too.”
“The alternative is also certain genocide. You will see. Just think about it. That’s all.”
And with that, and before they could do anything else, she flipped her tail and shot out of the doorway. They followed, looking around, but she was already lost in the city.
Wow! What do you think that was really all about? Ming asked him.
I’m not sure. It may have been the real thing, or it may have been a warning. In either case, somebody’s a little scared of us. I wonder why?
They’re not too scared, she responded. They didn’t just plant a bomb in here and blow us to even more pieces than we’re already in.
Yeah, he agreed. On the other hand, that’s an option they can exercise pretty much anytime they think they really need it, isn’t it?
Inspector Shissik arrived at his appointed time to find them fast asleep. He woke them, and Ming, who always was a light sleeper, sat up with a start and then relaxed when she saw him. This sort of thing happened sometimes. One would still be asleep, the other awake. It was the only private existence they had left.
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