Perpetual Power

by Randall Sudlow

  Chapter 14

  The café had gotten a little tiresome for all three of the travelers from Top Peake so they took a vote and decided on Mr. Woo’s Chopstix Palace for dinner.

  Once they placed their order they spent a few minutes catching up on how they spent their day. Fergus told them about a little shopping he had done. In the afternoon he had ventured out into New Omaha to set up for some supplies and shipments to be sent up to Top Peake. “I would’ve shown you two some of New Omaha, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I hope you weren’t getting into trouble.”

  Mason innocently looked at Fergus and asked, “You mean like trying to delay devastating destruction from deviously delivered detonations?” Fergus simply looked at him for a moment and then turned to Tressa and asked, “How was your day, Munchkin?”

  Tressa didn’t want to go into too much detail about what she had seen and now suspected so she tried to cover it with some humor. “Good. I met a few people and kinda checked out SEW-NO. After a few days in here I’m starting to think SEW-NO So What.” Fergus had a look on his face like he was sorry he brought it up. Mason however seemed like he might save that one for later use.

  Out of the kitchen flowed one great dish after another. Orange Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, Egg Drop Soup and Chicken dumplings each more succulent than the previous tray. During the meal Tressa picked up a dish to move it and somehow there wasn’t any place to put it back down. No one at the table wanted to consider moving. “If there are any chickens left around New Omaha they better start reproducing because this place is working hard to make them extinct,” Mason quipped.

  Fergus was about to rally and make a speech about animal classification differences such as vulnerable, endangered or extinct when he looked at what was approaching their table and froze.

  Across the dining room came the largest kimono in New Omaha. Orange, black, red and yellow, it could’ve been the sail that Captain Holly used on his ship to take the Lady Elizabeth home. The mountain-sized figure was wearing a large conical straw hat that covered the face of the wearer. Tressa was confident she knew who it was.

  Bowing low enough to knock over Fergus’ water glass the figure produced an envelope from inside one of the sleeves in the kimono and presented it to Fergus with two over-sized meaty hands. “For you.” Was all they heard then the figure whirled away. Fergus was tangled up as he juggled wiping up the water on the tabletop, watching the messenger disappear and examining the newly delivered envelope. Tressa tried mightily to keep everyone’s attention on the envelope as she heard some dishes crash to the floor near the entrance to the restaurant.

  “What’s in there?” Mason asked as he pointed to the envelope now lying on the freshly wiped table.

  “Let’s see, shall we?” responded Fergus. He took a chopstick and slid it into the envelope tearing open one end. He pulled out a single sheet of paper and three Elevator Tickets. After reading for a moment he paused, “Hmm. Interesting. These folks are sure on top of things.” Addressing Tressa and Mason he went on, “It seems there has been a serious malfunction in Elevator 5 and it could be as much as three weeks before it is fixed. We have the choice to wait, of course, but they’ve suggested jumping us through Nome. We may have to sit a day or so in Nome but we’ll end up at SEW-CUB about when we planned to anyway.” He looked up. “What do you two think? Want to see a little snow before we hit the beaches?”

  “Nice job,” said Mason when they were walking through the lobby alone after dinner. Tressa started to thank him but he added, “Now I’m gonna freeze my butt off instead of swim with the dolphins. I’m getting happier and happier with this plan of yours. Sheesh…Alaska!” He continued muttering to himself as he left Tressa standing there on the verge of tears.

  She had tried so hard to do the right thing and she thought Mason would like her for it. Instead it seemed like he only cared about himself. What about the innocent people who may be harmed by Eye Patch and his men? She didn’t think she could live with herself if she just gave up now. She knew her dad wouldn’t have given up. Most of his stories that people repeated at Festival were about someone standing up for what was right no matter the cost. What she started to realize was that some people may not want to pay the cost to do what was right if they were inconvenienced. They wanted life to be easy for them even if that made it harder on someone else. Was Mason that shallow? Was she? No. No. NO! She determined right there that she would do everything she could to stop Eye Patch and make sure he didn’t get away with killing two people here and who knows how many others in his plans. If Mason didn’t want to be part of it she could do it alone. Or with Clyde. Now she was really worried.

  Early the next morning after checking out of their rooms and grabbing all their belongings the trio met in front of the Elevator #8 and prepared for the jump to Nome, Alaska. Tressa’s heart and stomach took turns changing places. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. The anticipation was probably the worst part she knew, but she also didn’t want to come out the other end missing a part or having someone else’s parts on her.

  It had taken about an hour for the workmen to load the packed products into Elevator #8 before the passenger section was wheeled in. The rear of the warehouse sized room was stuffed to the brim with containers, boxes, packages and even some loose plastic bags were thrown on the pile. Tressa didn’t see any animals get loaded, but when she entered to find her seat she thought she smelled some from the last trip. The passengers all entered in single file and took their seats on a removable platform with seats bolted onto it.

  Fergus explained that sometimes the Elevators were used just for shipping and that made more room than if the seat were permanent. Also, if some big-wigs were travelling they could load the whole thing with seats. She looked past Fergus to Mason sitting on the other side. He was trying to look blasé but she could tell from his smile that he was nervous.

  Tressa peered around as she waited anxiously for the doors to close and the flashing light inside to signal they were preparing to go. The walls of the Elevator were simply made and unadorned. Since this was designed for freight Fergus told them it didn’t have a lot of amenities. He’d heard that some of the passenger only Elevators from the Technology Age were outfitted like expensive houses. Though why someone would need all that in there for a few minutes jump didn’t make sense to her.

  Tressa was wondering how to leave some sort of message for Clyde. He’d need to catch up with them once he could make the jump when she saw the loaders come in wheeling one last cart. It had a 10 foot long empty jewelry case on it. Tressa laughed quietly to herself. Both workers bent to pick it up off the cart and secure it for the jump, but when they tried to lift it their faces went purple and sweat broke out on their foreheads. They stopped and looked at the case then waved in three more helpers. Together four of them were able to raise the case just enough for the last man to wheel the cart out from under the jewelry case. They tried to set it down gently but it ended up dropping from a few inches and landed with a heavy thump on the floor of the Elevator.

  Now the doors slowly swung closed and the lights started turning inside the Elevator. Tressa took one last look at the jewelry case and saw a panel slide back about 3 inches. A thick thumb stuck itself out the hole and waggled at her.

  Preparing for the lights to go out or the room to suddenly shake and knock her around made Tressa miss the fact that they had already started making the jump. Once she concentrated on it she did feel heavier somehow. She thought it was kind of like being covered with too many blankets and feeling that weight over her entire body. Faster than she expected the sensation began to lessen and the room did make a little bumping motion as it evidently settled into the receiving station. The lights began to spin again as the doors clicked, evidently indicating they were about to open.

  As the doors smoothly opened, Fergus said privately to his two charges, “Welcome to SEW-AK. Nome, Alaska.” The passengers could see a vastly different Waypoint
outside the Elevator doors. This dock had always been used for shipping equipment and other heavy machinery and was built with no frills in mind. The passengers were made to feel like they were in the way as the unloading began almost at once. Hustled out into the corridor they looked around for where to go. Fergus caught Mason and Tressa by the elbow and steered them safely across the concourse to a lesser trafficked space. On either side of the Elevator they used were doors for four more. This station evidently handled nine different cities. It must have been a busy place because the flooring was scuffed and scarred from years of heavy use and the crew wheeled in with forklifts to pull out the packages as rapidly as they could.

  Tressa kept her eye on the jewelry case as it was wheeled out and driven down the warehouse and deposited among a pile of other crates waiting to be sorted out and delivered to their destinations.

  Fergus said, “You can see SEW-AK is a little rough around the edges. All nine Elevators work from here so a lot of traffic comes through daily. The crews don’t mess around when it comes to moving people or things. Hopefully, we’ll be through here tomorrow on the first transport. But I’ve thought of something you two might find interesting in the meantime. How would you like to tour a power plant?”

  Chapter 15

  Fergus was familiar with SEW-AK and knew where they could store their baggage while they waited for the next Elevator. There was a small storage closet for passengers in their situation that would keep their belongings secure for them until they were ready to leave. He also managed to get a message to someone he knew at the power plant and arranged for a tour for Tressa and Mason. As they passed some baggage, boxes, crates and a large empty jewelry case Tressa loudly asked Fergus, “Are we taking a trolley to the power plant?”

  Borrowing some heavy coats because they hadn’t packed expecting to journey around Alaska, the trio went outside the Elevator Waypoint building and waited for a few minutes until the next electric trolley came by. During the ride over to the power plant Tressa and Mason learned from Fergus that it was fortunate the power plant was here in one of the cities where all of the Space Elevators functioned. “Because of the proximity of the power plant they are able to divert more energy to run the Elevators than almost anywhere in the world. The turnaround time here is faster than any place I’ve ever been. Of course, more passengers, baggage and freight are shipped through here, too.”

  “I was surprised how busy it was. When we were sitting around SEW-NO it seemed like they only sent about four or five elevators a day.” Mason said.

  “That’s right, Mason. The power required to make an Elevator jump is incredible. Since the destruction of the power plant near New Omaha they had to store up energy for each jump they schedule. That’s part of the wait involved in travelling. Here they are able to pull it directly off the power plant’s reactor.” Fergus and Mason continued to discuss some of the finer points of Elevator travel that Fergus had picked up through his travels around the world.

  Tressa had been listening to the conversation quietly, but her mind was considering a different angle of thought. “Who is getting paid for all these Elevator jumps?” she asked Fergus.

  “That, Short Stuff, is an excellent question. As you know Perpetual Power controls all the nuclear plants and is a very wealthy group. Not only do they make money from direct feeds, like SEW-AK’s Elevators, but they also make money from recharging the power cubes for umbrellas in more remote areas. They control not only electrical power but enormous political power as well.

  He briefly hesitated, and then decided saying more would be helpful for them to understand the scope of the situation. “Communities that choose to use black market power cubes will be in for a rude awakening at some point. Those inferior cubes rot away the system. First it’ll go on the blink sporadically, and then eventually the entire umbrella comes down and they have to get all new equipment. When that happens they either end up with a lousy black market replacement power umbrella, which becomes another slow downward spiral, or they have to buy the new equipment from Perpetual Power. And let me assure you Perpetual is happy to set the rate for new equipment when they are approached by a town that has tried to cheat them out of the recharging fee. You may have heard tales from the Deserted City?”

  Both students nodded because the haunted stories were favorites of Festival bonfires. “Well, it got deserted because they used a black market power cube until their power umbrella went down. At that time Perpetual Power decided to make an example of them. Not only did they refuse to sell the city new equipment they threatened that anyone providing help to the town would also be cut off from any future power controlled by Perpetual. The town basically died instantly. Almost overnight thousands of people just picked up and left. Some of the things you’ve heard are true about people finding tables set for meals or bathtubs filled up and waiting for a bather that never arrived. I’ve only been there once and it was quite eerie – I’ve no wish to return. Once Perpetual announced ‘No More Power’ the people just grabbed what they could and left.”

  “But because our umbrella has never run out we don’t have to worry about that,” said Tressa confidently. “They can bluster all they want…we don’t need their reactors or power cubes.”

  Fergus stammered, “Yes, well, it’s never wrong to be polite, anyway, is it? Perhaps we shouldn’t go into all that during our visit. Let’s not rub their noses in it, so to speak.”

  The trolley let them off in front of a two story building that could have been an example of office buildings throughout the world. Two double glass doors at the center entryway and banks of windows on either side promised bays of desks for drones and a few corner offices for management. The only difference they noticed was the large reactor cooling towers set behind the office building and a shimmering, twisting column of blue tinged air rising into the air hundreds of feet above the building. Fergus’ teeth had already started to chatter but he took the time to point at the disturbance in the air and told Mason and Tressa, “What you see there is the super concentrated column of power at the core of a power umbrella. Only this close to a reactor can you actually ‘see’ the power. As it rises the disturbance dissipates but the power goes up another couple thousand feet before falling out and back to earth completing the umbrella. It’s really more of a dome shape, but everyone’s always called it an umbrella as far as I know.”

  Looking closer Tressa could see a thin disturbance at the base of the column of power that veered off at a low angle. “What’s that second thing coming off the column, Fergus?” she asked.

  Following where she pointed he exclaimed, “You’ve got sharp eyes Tressa. That appears to be the direct power feed going to the Space Elevators. Very nice observation.” With that he patted her on the shoulder and hustled them into the warm air of the building’s foyer.

  Inside it was warm enough they took off their coats and hung them on a rack that leaned sadly to one side, indicating it had been there long enough to have seen several styles of coats come and go. Fergus stepped over to a reception desk and lightly tapped a bell.

  Almost immediately a young woman appeared and asked to assist them. “I am Fergus Mumfree and these two youngsters are Miss Tressa Tremaine and Mister Mason Rockwell. We are here for a tour of the plant at the invitation of Colonel Zimmer.” The receptionist told them she had been alerted to their visit and would summon the Colonel. She asked them to wait just a moment until he arrived.

  When Tressa heard Fergus ask for the Colonel by name she made eye contact with Mason. She mouthed the words, “I bet it’s Eye Patch”. Mason shrugged and mouth back, “Maybe....”

  The interior door opened and Eye Patch walked through it. His uniform jacket was navy blue and looked freshly pressed and the ribbons on his chest were exactly in line. The pants he wore were a light grey with a red stripe down each leg and his shoes were shined so brightly they reflected the lights of the room. He was tall and well-built and moved with the confidence of someone accustomed to not being st
opped whenever he went somewhere. His hair was neatly trimmed and parted precisely down one side of his head. The only thing inconsistent in his appearance was the black eye patch and the ugly scar that slipped out under the side of it toward his ear. Whatever had happened to him must have been terribly painful.

  Approaching them he extended his hand toward Fergus. “My dear friend, welcome! How did Mentor Mumfree find his way to Alaska today? What a nice diversion for me from the daily headaches of my position.” As they shook hands he turned toward the students and asked, “Who do we have here?”

  Fergus introduced his companions to Colonel Zimmer. Snapping his heels together he lightly kissed Tressa’s hand and smiled. “Delightful!” He then stood straight up and formally shook Mason’s hand and said, “Welcome!”

  Tressa shivered inwardly as her suspicions were confirmed about Fergus’ “friend” and Eye Patch being the same person.

  “I am pleased that you caught me in Alaska because I am usually only here once or twice a month checking on things. My office is at the Perpetual Power headquarters in Munich. I am proud to say that is also my home town and my family has had a small villa there for generations. As the Director of Security for Perpetual I oversee protection for all of the power plants, and I take my job very seriously. Unfortunately, we’ve had a few…’set backs’ recently and I am travelling here and there to make sure all the remaining plants have their security forces up to the task.”

  Tressa was again impressed with the soft delivery of his carefully chosen words. She thought, this guy could probably sell refrigerators to the locals if he ever loses the security gig.