by M. D. Cooper
Tanis knew of the place; it was where the brass and important businesspeople who wanted a taste of the TSF’s coffers stayed.
Darla chuckled in her mind.
Tanis’s mind boggled at the kind of money Darla must have to be able to do that; it was far more than she’d ever made in her lifetime.
Must be some sort of AI humor.
Darla made a snorting, derisive sound in Tanis’s mind.
A confirmation notice suddenly came to Tanis over the Link, informing her that the Grand Éire Resort was ‘delighted’ to have her staying with them.
Tanis finished her stretches and pulled a uniform out of her duffel while wondering about the sort of ‘fun’ an AI would like to have.
Tanis thought about it, and realized that she did not. Her original plan had been to pick up her civvies from her apartment on Mars 1. All she had in her duffle aside from uniforms were two pairs of leggings, a couple halters for exercise, and a tunic top that she wore sometimes while relaxing in her cabin.
She decided to pair the pale blue leggings with the grey tunic top, and quickly dressed while Darla sighed in dismay.
She felt underdressed, but knew that what she was wearing wasn’t that uncommon in the ‘off-base’ sectors of Vesta. She waved to the nurses at their station as she walked down the hall to the ward’s exit.
That piqued Tanis’s interest. She had often wondered if some AIs simply ‘left’ after a while. There had always been rumors of ships that had departed from Sol, not bound for any colony, just flying off into the black. She had always suspected that those were AI ships. They didn’t need a fraction of the resources humans did, and could slip away with little notice.
Darla didn’t reply as Tanis passed her tokens to the security arch at the end of the hall and walked out of the secure ward of the Gen. Steven Kristof Military Hospital.
It took ten more minutes to weave her way through the warren of corridors until she passed into Sector 27’s sweep, where most of the hospitals and service departments were located.
Back in the hospital, everything had seemed just a bit brighter and sharper than usual. She had chalked it up to the white on white décor, but the visual effect was still present on the sweep where far more colors prevailed.
She blinked and reviewed her ocular capabilities. Sure enough, there were several upgrades she’d missed—namely, enhanced UV and IR perception. Her visual spectrum was effectively widened, though her brain translated it into the same familiar range of colors.
Tanis said and chuckled aloud.
Enfield…
Tanis tried to remember where she’d heard that name before. She looked them up to find that the company was an interstellar conglomerate with significant holdings in the Sol System.
Most of their clout was in the nearby colony systems. But they had been at the forefront of neurological advances for some time—all the way back to the Sentience Wars, it seemed.
Tanis wondered if there was any connection, but decided to dig into it later, playing off any concern.
Tanis refrained from commenting. Before she met Peter on leave last year, she hadn’t been on a date in far longer than she cared to admit. It wasn’t a secret that she had a reputation for being a bit on the chilly side herself.
Finally reaching the maglev station, Tanis waited silently for the right train to arrive, and five minutes later, caught a ride that would take her to the Grand Éire.
As the typical Vesta maglev thrill ride commenced, she let her mind wander, considering what she’d do with a month’s leave. Perhaps Connie would be available for dinner and drinks a few nights here and there. That would help kill some time.
She scanned the schedule, and found that Connie had checked herself into rejuv, and wouldn’t be out for a few more days.
So much for that.
Tanis saw that there were also a number of new VRs available—some group ones, too…shared mental sims that would allow you to dive into distant worlds and cultures. Vesta always had an interesting array of experiences available.
Civilians usually soaked up time in adventure sims, but most of the TSF personnel on Vesta had enough of that in their day jobs, and opted for simple travel sims.
Then again, there were a lot of new weapons coming onto the black market lately. Allotting some time to researching their capabilities would be wise. Not to mention the contraband that the Norse Wind was hauling….
Darla snorted.
Tanis stared out the maglev’s window as it passed out of the asteroid and onto the docking ring, contemplating that rather unusual boarding. The freighter’s captain had been more or less cordial on comms and on approach.
Which lasted right until they boarded and were ambushed.
Luckily, Tanis had requested medium armor for her boarding team, and by some miracle, the TSF supply division had approved and delivered them during the ship’s last stop at Vesta.
Tanis stretched out her left arm, still feeling a slight kink in the shoulder from where the freighter’s captain had stabbed her with her own lightwand. She realized her right arm didn’t ache at all, and surmised that Colonel Green must have worked on it while she was under.
Tanis shook her head.
Darla hmmmmed in her mind, but didn’t say anything further. Tanis shared the sentiment. A TSF cruiser named the Arizona had come and taken over the scene not long after Tanis boarded. She was glad for it. The Kirby Jones’s brig had been a tight fit for the freighter’s crew, and she hadn’t been looking forward to the trouble of watching them and towing in the impounded ship.
The Arizona’s captain had been testy about being saddled with the freighter. Tanis thought at first it was because she didn’t want the mess either, but now she wasn’t sure. The fact that Colonel Higgs hadn’t even mentioned the event during the whirlwind debrief was even stranger.
Her ruminations were interrupted by the maglev taking a lurching dive over the side of the ring and down a spur line to the Grand Éire Resort, which hung off Vesta’s docking ring like a ten-kilometer-long icicle from a house’s eaves.
An icicle with a giant lake at the bottom.
The lake was surrounded by beaches and covered with a clear dome. Its bottom was also clear, which meant that if you swam and looked down, it appeared as though you were going to fall right into space.
Maybe a bit too thrilling for a relaxing shore leave.
The maglev eased into the Grand Éire’s station, and Tanis stood and hoisted her duffel once more. Out on the platform, she instantly felt underdressed amongst the expensive clothing the resort hotel’s other patrons wore.
Tanis shook her head as she walked across a huge plaza filled with trees and fountains, arranged to create lazy pathways leading to the resort’s entrance.
She successfully navigated the foliage, reaching the ornate doors, which were thrown wide in welcome to all who were wealthy enough to cross the threshold.
The moment Tanis walked into the lobby, a man in an expensive suit rushed toward her, and she braced herself, expecting him to order her off the premises.
“Commander Richards, we are so pleased you’ve come to stay with us. We’re sorry we lost your initial booking, but we’ve spared no expense in making certain your suites are ready. If you’ll follow me.”
“Um…thank you,” Tanis stammered as she queried the man’s information. Her mouth almost fell open when she saw that he was Kevin Leonard, the resort’s manager.
Tanis hadn’t looked too deeply into Darla’s history, but there had been classified segments she had not been able to read. A part of her began to wonder who this AI was that Dr. Green had fitted her with.
How does she have these connections?
The resort’s manager waved impatiently to a nearby woman, who rushed forward and held out her hand for Tanis’s duffel. The waifish woman was just over one hundred fifty-seven centimeters tall, likely from Earth or Venus by her build. Tanis hoped she had some augmentations as she handed over her twenty-kilo duffel.
The small woman blew out a hard breath, but otherwise appeared unperturbed by the load she had been given, and fell in behind Tanis as Kevin Leonard led them toward a bank of lifts.
“No need to bother with any formalities at the desk,” he said with a wave toward the resort’s reception area. “The resort’s NSAIs know who you are and will grant you access to your suites and any amenity the Grand Éire has to offer.”
“Er…thank you,” Tanis replied as she took in the intricate marble flooring, tall wood-sheathed pillars, and crystal lights above. “It’s a very beautiful place you have here.”
The resort manager inclined his head as he gestured to a lift that opened wide to receive them. “Why thank you. We like to think of ourselves as a little slice of Terra for our more discerning visitors.
Tanis had attended several demonstrations put on by TSF contractors, and had seen their well-dressed delegations on Vesta many times. For some reason, she’d never given too much consideration to how many of them must be able to afford accommodations in the Grand Éire.
Though a quick look around confirmed to Tanis that many of the patrons also consisted of top brass and bureaucrats.
Her reflections were interrupted by Kevin Leonard’s voice. “Liz here will take you to your suite. I would escort you personally, but I have another matter to attend to—if we had not had the mix-up with your reservation, I would show you your rooms personally. Alas, I was double-booked.”
Tanis was rather glad that he wasn’t coming along. She understood that escorting her was his job, but she was more than capable of walking into a room and understanding its amenities herself.
“No problem,” she replied as she stepped onto the lift, Liz filing in afterward. The manager gave a sanguine nod as the doors closed, and then the lift began to fall down the shaft toward her suites.
Because the Vesta Ring simulated gravity via rotation and the resulting centripetal force, the ‘top’ levels of the resort were within the ring structure. This made the ‘bottom’ of the ring the location of the more desirable and exclusive accommodations.
As they descended, the lift car’s walls shifted from an opaque golden hue to an azure blue, before turning entirely transparent as the lift dropped into a wide shaft that ran all the way down to the resort’s lake.
Other lifts whisked up and down the shaft, and she found herself wondering how such a posh establishment had ever been built on a station like Vesta.
Tanis replied.
nk.
Darla took a moment to respond before giving a mental shrug.
The AI’s words were a little disconcerting, and the worry over how to keep her thoughts private coupled with the other woman standing silently on the lift began to make Tanis feel awkward. She decided a bit of small talk with Liz was in order.
“Venus?” she asked the porter.
It was a more likely choice than Earth. Venus was agrarian and filled with back-to-nature types. That would explain the woman’s small stature—especially out in space, where the average woman’s height was closer to one hundred and ninety centimeters, though Tanis was a hair under that.
“Yes, ma’am, good guess,” the woman replied.
“ ‘Tanis’, please. I get enough ma’aming in the service.”
“Yes, Tanis.”
Tanis laughed. Somehow the woman had made her name sound just as formal as a rank. She decided to press on nonetheless.
“So where on Venus, Liz?”
“Belleville,” the woman replied, as the lift began to slow only a few levels from the bottom of the spire. “Just outside of Tarja.”
Tanis nodded amicably. “I was in Tarja once on leave. A nice place, as I recall.”
“Yeah, I miss it sometimes, but unless you want to get into agriculture, there’s not a lot to do there,” Liz said.
“And there is here on Vesta?” Tanis asked. “Just a ton of us military types strutting around everywhere.”
“Exactly.” Liz chuckled as the door opened, and she stepped out into the corridor. “A lot of nice big soldiers on Vesta.”
It was Tanis’s turn to laugh. “I’ve noticed that myself.”
“You’re the only guest on level 1300 right now,” Liz said as she led Tanis around the curved hall. “There are four suites here, and you’re only ten levels above the lake. Every level below this one has suites that take up the whole floor.”