by C. R. Daems
We landed on Anarticol, the coldest of the two continents, in midwinter. We stayed in the shuttle while the landing crew moved a small building on tracks towards us, until the building enclosed the shuttle. We discovered the building’s sides and top were covered with a flexible plastic fabric, which allowed it to expand in length and height. Once the shuttle was encased, they forced superheated air into the enclosure. Until then it had been unsafe for us to depart the shuttle or for crews to work. Outside temperatures over the year ranged from a minus sixty to a comfortable minus twenty-degrees Celsius. Shortly afterward, several vehicles arrived to transport us to the customs building. Colonel Quentin sent six dressed-down Scorpions with us to provide security, in case we decided to split up. The Captain had also included a small party to conduct a normal check-in briefing.
We entered through a large steelplex door, which closed, and hot air pumped in. When the inside temperature had risen to ten degrees Celsius, the inside door slid open. An escalator took us down two floors to the trams, which ran by request. You pressed the call button and several minutes later a tram arrived. Wang and her team exited at the control building on level ten to question the schedulers and those in the warehouse units.
Lieutenant Iglis exited at level seven, where the newer domes and the more affluent lived. I exited at level three, where the working class lived. Again Terril and a corporal companied me.
“Now that’s a view,” Terril said as the tram cleared the rock tunnel and entered the dome. The dome covered one square mile. The buildings varied in size. Shops and administration buildings were three or four stories. Living quarters ranged from six to eight stories. As we toured the town, it became obvious that the buildings were badly in need of repair. I wandered the stores looking at merchandise, ate a several small cafes, and found the residents easy to talk with. SAS personal were well-liked, and I was an attraction. Although it was an interesting tour, I learned nothing. Few ships came and went, and their schedules were erratic. Besides, it would be difficult to enter the underground city because the trams and elevators could be locked down.
We stayed two days.
* * * *
Wang, Iglis, and I sat in the conference room comparing notes as the Tiger departed Earthtol.
“Well, Reese, did you find anything interesting?” Wang asked. I seemed to be expected to come up with inspiration when no one else did.
I felt Thalia grin, which meant it wasn’t only funny but true. I answered Wang’s question: “No, the people were friendly but knew little. They’re isolated as a group and have little exposure to the outside world. The same ships tend to visit but on a random basis. When they do stop, it’s only because they had a reason to stop at a nearby system. It appears Earthtol’s space defenses are poor; however, their defenses under ground are excellent. It would be extremely difficult to infiltrate the city. You must have found out the same thing.”
“Yes,” Wang admitted. “Our next stop is Sparrows Nest. The one we’re looking for will probably be our last stop.”
Chapter 27
The flight to Sparrows Nest took three days. I spent much of my time working out with Master Valk.
“Your technique’s improved, Reese. As you know, Si’jin is based more on performance than most martial arts. Your rank is relative to your peers. It’s more a pecking order. You’re rated based on who you can consistently overcome, and conversely, those who can consistently overcome you. You could, therefore, lose or gain rank based on your performance. In this group you’re equal to Handel and lower than Terril. That’s correct for your current six knots. Unless?” Valk stopped talking for a minute. “What would you be like with your Riss’s help?”
“It wouldn’t be fair to judge my rank with Thalia’s help.” I loved Thalia and used her help when necessary; however, I strove to learn everything on my own. I reasoned that would enable Thalia to be even more effective in an emergency.
I smiled although I hadn’t changed my mind.
“Why don’t we humor Thalia? I’m sure she would like to demonstrate her skill. You’ve been holding her back.”
“It would be unfair and could create problems,” I replied. How would someone who’s better than me feel if I beat him or her? I had good friends here and didn’t want to jeopardize that.
“Fine, fight me. I’m the one who’s curious and interested in testing myself against an opponent with less skill and superior speed.”
Thalia’s laugh relaxed me. Yes, half speed will be fair and unlikely to cause problems, yet it’ll be a reasonable demonstration.
“All right, Master Valk,” I agreed reluctantly.
As we separated for the match more and more people began to congregate—just what I thought would happen. Terril stepped forward to monitor the match. Thalia immediately increased my metabolism. Valk moved towards me, throwing a fist towards my face with an elbow sure to follow. I waited. His motion appeared slightly slower than normal. At the last moment, he dropped and executed a sweep of my legs. Even though it appeared slow, I barely managed to jump, sending a flying kick towards his chest. He somehow managed to step back and block. I landed slightly off-balance but used the force of his block as momentum to sweep at his legs. He rolled over my sweep and came up standing and ready. The match went on for five minutes. Valk scored three times; I didn’t. When he called a halt to the match, everyone was cheering and clapping.
“That was impressive, Reese. I don’t think I’ve worked so hard in many years. Your technique’s improved. With the additional speed that was an awesome performance.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Now the truth. Were you and Thalia at maximum speed?” Valk stood, smiling.
“Thalia said half.”
“Well, I thank Thalia. That would really have been embarrassing. I see why you didn’t want to fight anyone else. I scored against you. They wouldn’t have and couldn’t help but take it out on you. I’m going to have a shower and cool off. Class dismissed.”
Valk walked off, smiling. I was relieved. Everyone came over and congratulated me. I knew they were all relieved that I’d refused to fight them. I’d done the right thing.
Thalia’s laugh tingled down my spine.
* * * *
Most of my working-shift time I spent on the bridge as an apprentice Weapons officer or in the simulator working at our projectile project.
We had spent a great amount of our time trying to improve the accuracy.
Thalia and I had been agonizing over the solution for weeks. Thalia had been concerned with the math. As I watched the simulation, the solution, or at least a tentative one, flashed in front of me.
She laughed, making me feel good.
We spent the rest of the day testing the theory. It worked perfectly when neit
her ship changed position and well enough so long as the changes were insignificant. In the end, we added a routine that calculated the percent of deviation from the prediction and gave the Weapons officer a three color light on her panel, showing the probability of scoring zero, less than five, and more than five hits. Thalia came up with the idea of red, yellow, and green from old Earth’s traffic signals.
* * * *
The next day we took the shuttle to what Sparrows Nest laughingly called a landing field. Wang and Iglis took another shuttle into the central part of the town, where the major businesses were located. I stayed near the landing area and the poorer section of the town. I reasoned that would give us two perspectives—rich and poor. Terril and Corporal Partel followed me.
“This doesn’t seem to be a normal rotation, Terril,” I said after finding her with me for the third time. I’d grown very fond of Terril and considered her an older sister.
“Of course, ma’am. No Scorpion volunteers for anything. You’re volunteered by someone else.” She tried to frown but broke out in a laugh. “Gunny would have sent five of us with you if it wouldn’t look like he didn’t care about the rest of the landing party.”
Dressed in work fatigues, we visited stores, restaurants, and bars. The reception in the shops was cordial, in the restaurants friendly, and in the bars a mixture of curious and hostile. In one bar, which proved seedier than the others, the crowd sounded boisterous and the mood felt dangerous. Shortly after we entered, a large man with a square jaw, two scars on his cheek, and dirty-brown colored hair came walking towards us.
“Be nice to Uncle Scar, and I won’t have to hurt you. Boys, you can have the other one.” He laughed and reached for me.
Terril caught his hand half-way there, twisted, and slammed his face into the bar. “Sorry, Uncle Scar. That was clumsy of me. I meant to drive your face into the beer mug. I guess I need more practice.”
When Terril let go, he slid to the floor, adding to the garbage already there. The place erupted in laughs, stomping feet, and clapping. Obviously, Uncle Scar wasn’t well liked. We had multiple offers for drinks and joined one of the tables. Partel stood off to the side scanning the room. Sometime during the evening, Uncle Scar left.
We got lots of information but none of it relevant. I concluded the raiders would be the ones needing help if they attacked Sparrows Nest. As for merchants, the vast majority of those were privateers with more artillery than your average Light cruiser. We left around midnight, intending to return to the Tiger.
“I’m confused, Terril, right or left?” Everything looked the same to me: dilapidated, filthy, and unsavory.
Terril took out her SID and brought up a hologram of the city. “My SID shows us about two miles from the ship. Looks like we turn left and a right at the second intersection. That will take us back to the Tiger.” I felt fortunate Terril and Partel were along. The people on the street looked unlikely to give me any directions except to their bed. We’d just turned right, when a group of men stepped out of a side street fifty meters ahead.
“Trouble,” Terril said and automatically reached for her standard Scorpion-issue shard gun, which delivered small steel shards similar to the pellets from an old-earth shotgun. Unlike shotguns the shard gun spray could be adjusted from fifteen centimeters to a meter. But because the City Ordinances prohibited guns of any kind, Terril had gone unarmed except for a survival knife strapped to her ankle. Ironically, in this part of town half the population carried a weapon. Trained to react, Terril and Partel pulled me back around the corner just as multiple shots rang out. Wood and stone sprayed everywhere. I’d avoided being hit only because of Terril’s reflexes. Partel tried to raise the ship on his SID, while we ran back the way we’d come. His SID had either been disrupted or we were out of range.
If we were caught in the open, the probability of getting wounded or killed was high. A shard gun required little skill—point in the general direction and pull the trigger.
“Partel, you go right at the intersection and try for the ship. They can locate us if they send out a drone. In any case, it’ll split this mob up,” Terril shouted. Partel pealed off to the right, as we continued straight. “If they’re after you, they might not know what you look like. If that’s the case, few if any will follow Partel. You and I’ll split at the next intersection. I’d stay with you if I had something besides a knife. Without a gun, I’d be a hindrance since you can easily outrun me.” She tried to laugh between breaths. Before we reached the intersection multiple shots rang out, and stone fragments exploded around us. I instantly felt pain in my leg, shoulder, and back.
“Damn. My rank for a gun,” Terril mumbled. I knew shards and flying stone had also hit her.
“Can I do anything, Terril?” I worried Terril would be slowed from loss of blood, and easily killed.
“Yes. Turn right at the corner and disappear. You don’t have a weapon. I do and it’s going up someone’s ass.”
I saw Terril stumble. She’d been hit again before we reached the intersection. When I looked back, I saw a tall man pointing in my direction. As I turned the corner, multiple shots rang out behind me. A large chunk of the building near me exploded, spraying chunks of debris and knocking me to my knees. My whole body throbbed with pain.
I got up and started running. Although I felt a slight limp on my right side my speed increased.
At the next intersection, I continued running straight rather than turning. I thought I could get most of the way to the following intersection before the group behind me managed to turn the corner and could see me. I made it to the intersection just in time. As I turned right around the corner, shots rang out. Peeking back, I saw only two men. It appeared likely that the group had split up in order to keep me caged in this area. If I were right, several were running on each of the streets parallel to the one I’d just been on. They’d eventually catch me in the open. The group from behind if I had continued going straight, or one of the groups running parallel to me if I turned right or left. Unfortunately, it was a good strategy. My only chance was to reach the next intersection before the group running parallel to me on the next street over. I’d die if I didn’t.