“People are not animals,” Paige replied.
“Some are worse than animals,” Ken answered. “That thing in the grass back there, was a ‘minor’ something? Is there a ‘major’ version of it?”
Paige increased the speed of her hover bus, and it glided above the water easily as it accelerated. Glad for the distraction from their probing questions, Paige answered, “Yes, the varanus-majors live on several islands in the river not far from Waldensia. They are not as good at swimming as the varanus minors, probably because they have little need to do so, hence they mostly stay on their island homes. I can point them out to you as we pass by, if you want. They will reach four or five meters long, so bigger than that minor fellow you just saw. But again, the varanus are not people.” Paige paused, and then with a flip of her head, and a brushing back of her short hair, she again addressed Janae’s concerns, “One can train some animals, like Lollard has done so wonderfully with his raptors. Other animals are difficult to train, and some can never be domesticated. People, are not animals. From infancy, we respect and educate our children. I do not have any offspring, not yet, but each family takes immense responsibility for raising up good citizens who are moral and ethical. That is what happens with people. From birth, we train up our children here to respect, honor, and love one another.”
“That sounds well and good, and in Dome 17, I thought we were nearly perfect in how we educated our age-mate groups,” Janae responded quietly. “But I was wrong about those people. I only found out how wrong, shortly before I was forced to leave.”
“Your experiences are dreadfully hard, and I sense you suffered much. That grieves my heart for you,” Paige said sincerely. “We will skip a tour past the varanus-major’s islands and get you two to the people you need to see. Forgive me for any of my attitudes, or comments I made, which did not respect you and all you have endured. I may have been judgmental, and for that I apologize.”
Ken responded, “We are new everywhere, and I am not offended at you, but only at the terrors I see in the world around me.”
“Ken, you know that there were terrors in Dome 17 as well. Paige, I did not tell you about Constance. May I share with you what happened to her?”
“If you wish to do so. I will listen, and feel honored to learn from you. We have only a short while more before reaching Waldensia,” Paige replied.
“Constance was…” Janae shared comprehensive information about all that had happened. She surprised herself by how much she shared. Paige was a good listener, and Janae felt that someone finally cared.
7
Space Outside
The river widened until it was more than two kilometers wide, and as they approached, boats were seen in various places around the lake. People waved at Paige, and the bus moved along just above the surface of the lake.
“This is our lake, and there is Waldensia,” Paige said as she led them toward the town. She turned and winked at Ken. “I grew up in this town.”
“How many people live here?” Ken asked.
“About a thousand parishioners in this town, and roughly the same number in Huss. Then there are about a thousand people who live in various spots about the habitat,” Paige replied.
Ken hesitated to ask why she used the term “parishioner” as that brought up ideas of religion, which Ken associated with the bullfight in Ida.
The town was as much vertical as it was horizontal, and its foundation sat on the shore of a lake. The river flowed into that lake from the same direction they had come, and the entire opposite side of the lakeshore was the cliff’s bottom, with the town built up onto that cliff and shore. The rocky buttes which had dotted the desert areas were the same materials the cliff was made from, but at the lake, the cliff was sold rock stretching the entire width of the habitat—or so Paige informed them—and about a hundred meters tall.
Waldensia’s buildings were set into that cliff face, and spread out along the shoreline. A wharf stretched across much of the lakefront, while the windows, decks, staircases, patios, and walkways linked the multiple levels of the structures which faced the lake. As Janae and Ken observed, they could see the green verdure growth which lined the lake, but the sandy tan colors of the desert were not far off beyond the foliage. The land on three sides of the lake all sloped downward to the water, and the cliff rose up on the remaining side.
The hover bus avoided the quays and piers and reached a point next to the cliff where there were no structures and just bare rock. Hovering about three meters from there, Paige brought the bus to a halt, and said, “You are my only passengers and so I will take us right up to where you can meet Andreae, Johannes, and Valentinus. They are waiting for you at the Garden Center.”
“You have been in contact with them?” Janae asked.
“Yes, they are keeping track of our progress,” Paige nodded at the controls. There were several displays in front of her, but the icons, and symbols were not recognized by Ken or Janae. Gesturing toward her ear, Paige added, “I have an ear-link on. They are expecting you.”
Neither Ken or Janae had noted the tiny bud in Paige’s ear. Self-consciously, Ken chided himself for not seeing that.
“They have been listening to us?”
“Obviously, since you wanted to meet them,” Paige replied. “They have been monitoring our discussions, but have not contributed, letting you relate all your background.”
“I thought I was just speaking to you,” Janae fumed. “I told you about Constance, and Dome 17, and my own suffering, all while having an audience!”
“I apologize. If I had known you wanted confidentiality, I would have shut off the link. You said you shared with Lollard, and when you shared with me, I had no idea it was private, at this stage,” Paige answered. Her voice was genuine, but Janae ignored that. “After all, one hand cannot clap.”
“All this time? This entire journey in this bus, other people have been listening in? Eavesdropping? Spying?” Janae pitch and tone were elevated.
“I ask your forgiveness. I did not know, but I should have asked, I suppose,” Paige was flustered. “We were trying to offer you service and help, not spying or eavesdropping on you. I can see now how you might have perceived it in some other way. For that I am sorry.” She looked away and blew out a deep breath, “I have burned my tongue on soup, now I will blow on ice-cream. All I can say is, I am sorry. I will park at the Garden Center, and let you out.”
“She spies on us this whole time, and then talks about foods, and forgiveness?” Janae asked and glared at Ken.
“Janae, I am with you in this, but let us speak to these people and see if we can get back to our equipment, and the scout,” Ken added trying to mitigate what was obviously a heated exchange.
“Oh, sure, agree with her. She flirts with you and charges your sexual urges…” Janae caught herself as she remembered all Ken had done. Huffing out a deep sigh, she said, “That was uncalled for. Sorry, Ken. Paige, I do forgive you, if you will forgive my outburst. I honestly thought we three were alone here.”
“Repetition teaches the donkey, and I have learned much in our discussions,” Paige replied. “And just so you know, I see nothing to forgive, but if you need to hear it, I do forgive you. I think you should be aware too, that in the towns—both here in Waldensia and in Huss, the overseeing systems are monitoring most of life. You can speak to them at the public-address portals, and there is one right near the Garden Center. Unless, that would spoil the situation.”
Janae was about to ask what Paige meant by “overseeing systems” but restrained herself. She was angry, frustrated, and confused.
The bus hovered upward and over the top of the cliff. It then glided onto a permalloy pathway. The environment above the cliff was much different than down in the sandy and rocky desert areas. There were numerous leaf-bearing trees, and plants growing in cultivated rows. The bus settled down onto the pavement right in front of a large building. The building had clear permalloy windows in its sides, and roof, a
nd the support structures between were white colored. Its sloping roof gleamed in the light from the sky tube, but the windows also allowed much of that light to enter into the building. Inside, more plants, bushes, and trees were visible.
“Here are the people I brought you to meet. Scholars, scientists, and computational specialists, all in a unique field,” Paige stated as the bus came to rest. “Again, I apologize for the misunderstanding that happened, and I am deeply sorry.” She stepped out and opened the side.
As Ken and Janae stepped out, they immediately we aware of the temperature difference from when they had entered the bus. Here in front of the Garden Center, the air was mild, and the breezes were moist. It was about ten degrees cooler—pleasant—and still much warmer than the Isle of Pines had been. It reminded Ken more of Ida’s biome, yet even with some similarities, it felt different and unique.
“Hello you three!” Paige called out and gestured to some figures. “Here are the quite impressive people who Lollard spoke about. Our special visitors!”
Standing before the building were three people, two women and one man. Each was wearing gray and blue sleeveless shirts, with black pants, and ankle high footwear.
“Greeting!” the youngest of the women called out. She had a necklace on with a thumb-sized red amulet. “I am Valentinus, and I am pleased to meet you. Although, I am aware there was some offense as we listened to your conversation with Paige. I apologize for any intrusion into your privacy.”
The man spoke next. He was several decades older than Ken or Janae, “I too apologize. I am Johannes. Please forgive me.”
Janae began to speak, but before she got any words out, the third person interjected, “I am Andreae and I add my regrets, and apologize. No offense was intended, and it grieves me that our actions harmed you so.”
“Well, I just thought I was only speaking to Paige, and well, of course Ken already knew what had happened with Constance… we did talk to that bird-fellow, Lollard as well, so I guess nothing was an absolute secret, and yet… I just…”
“You felt violated and used?” Valentinus asked carefully. She was no more than twenty years old, if that, with a rounded face, curly blonde hair, medium complexion, and a serious set in her deep-brown, young eyes. “The history you related would make anyone gun-shy and hesitant. That is perfectly understandable. From this point onward, if you chose to allow me to assist, I will be hyper-alert to your concerns for privacy. This is a very interesting scenario.”
Ken stepped up, “I notice your people apologize readily, and I am not sure what to make of that, yet, our pressing concern is getting to our equipment in Ida.”
Johannes replied, “Seeking forgiveness and granting pardon is fundamental to our lives here in Christianopolis, but we can discuss our society’s customs at another time. You need to get to your equipment, that is the problem. I want to help you with that solution. Resolving that predicament is our first concern.” He was a large man, with a full beard of curly black hair.
“Good,” Janae said. “You scientists just leave the apologies in the past, and help us get to our gear.”
“Yes, an intriguing and stimulating set of variables, and quandaries,” Johannes’s complexion and physical colorations reminded Janae of Jubal, yet she pushed those recollections away from her mind. She told herself that these people had offered to help, had apologized repeatedly, had confessed their wrongs, and wanted to listen, learn, and liaise with her and Ken. In other words, they were the anthesis of everything about Jubal.
She asked again, “So, how do we get back to Ida’s Hanger 5?”
“Yes, that is the issue. An intriguing problem, yes, it is,” Andreae spoke up, “If I may,” she looked at her other two associates who both nodded at her. “Giving an initial, potential answer your question, might fall best to my areas of experience.” She was a middle-aged woman, still fit, with thin graying hair which waved in the breeze. Her lips were thin, around her mouth small. “I have a passion for aeronautical engineering, and to be brief, taking a spacecraft is probably the only reasonable way to move from one habitat to another here on the Colony Ship Trailblazer.”
“A spacecraft is one solution, certainly. However, it is not the only one. If one would factor in the new clothing these two are wearing,” Valentinus suggested amicably, “a different solution might be found. From their account, they passed through the needle ship’s radiation areas safely. That was a quite an accomplishment.”
“Agreed, and in some ways an unprecedented consideration, but radiation is not the only concern on the needle ship. Our sibling friends live there in their Axis Mundi settlement. They are not open, or welcoming to visitors,” Johannes reminded them. He nodded and smiled, “admittedly, they do not have much experience with visitors, as the radiation is lethal to most other people. However, this new information that Janae and Ken provided fills in some of the gaps of our prior knowledge, and must be considered in discussing a potential solution.”
“I know that is right. We have been working off degraded information for a long while. Now, Ken and Janae have helped us understand our siblings better, and posed a very thought-provoking challenge,” Valentinus replied. “These issues are certainly multifaceted and any solution is certainly dependent on all the factors and parameters.”
“Indeed, so true, so true. However, the report—included in all this—from Ida is fascinating as well. I knew they were running shuttles at times,” Andreae interjected. “The shuttle which we were told recently crashed was not modified from original designs at all, according to the early assessments which I received. It is decades behind our developmental standards, I would say.”
“That may be why it crashed, but have we fully assessed the MS angles to this situation?” Valentinus asked. “Do we need further assessment, prior to making any kind of an initial evaluation?”
She was spoken over by Johannes who stated, “The gaps in our knowledge base should be readily available to the SB network, and if we submit an answer now…”
“Those synthetic brains are overtaxed as it is. Running to them prematurely would not be satisfactory,” Andreae counter, “The best method right now might…”
“Physics dictates that we begin…”
“Gravity manipulation would…”
“…the relative speeds and rotations must be also…”
“… septic radiation levels are…”
“Unmodified shuttles would…”
“A factor, yes, unless, the scenario involved…”
“…you make a valid point. Thank you for reminding me, and…”
The three scientists had turned to each other and were speaking so rapidly and on top of each other’s comments, that Ken and Janae could not follow the debate. It was all in a good-natured, and apparently natural manner, as none of them showed any negative emotions at all, and were respectful in tones, if not so respectful in allowing the others to finish their sentences, or even their phrases. Somewhere in the midst of it all, Paige had departed in her bus.
“Excuse me! Wait!” Janae yelled over the top of it all. “Listen, please!”
The three scientists stopped speaking and with surprised looks on their faces regarded her.
“Thank you, and forgive me for intruding into your impassioned exchanges—wait, now you have me apologizing—none of that. Forget that! We need answers, and not ramblings. Ardent argument is academic. It does not address the actions we need,” Janae said bluntly. “How do we get there? I want to leave right now.”
“A time restraint?” Valentinus asked.
“Really? Charming. Get to the solution of a hypothetical scenario, right away? Hum? Before we have examined all possible outcomes?” Johannes asked. “Do you have another exercise you want us to debate?”
Valentinus added, but with a touch of puzzlement, “A theurgical problem that is amenable to being represented, analyzed, and possibly solved, must have rigorous debate. I am not sure setting a time limit is… oh dear, perhaps I have o
ffended? Our new friends here may have cultural time restraints of discussion, built into this drill. Oh, that would harken in some different equations, would it not? Yes, oh, yes, I think it would.”
Andreae then said, “True, especially with complex matters. Quite the intellectual challenge, this one is, yes, quite a sophisticated exercise! Perhaps it is a time-limited drill to improve cognition, associated with the methods of mathematics. This can be a rehearsal of some historical, real-world problem—modified, of course, to the milieu of the Trailblazer…”
Johannes added, “Or, computing the orbits of the planets in a particular solar system, known, or, perhaps just theorized. Or, a problem of a more abstract nature, such as refinement of Diefenberg’s Quandary.”
Terror on the Trailblazer Page 14