Karl said, “Ladies, over yonder we have transportation awaiting us, and after a long ride into New York City, a comfy hotel bed. So, let’s discuss lost clothes and lovelorn boys some other time, all right?”
Karl waved everyone into motion and they wended their way through the hurrying crowds of people, making their way toward a distant arch that hopefully led to their underground transportation.
They passed through another tunnel that led them down what seemed like several hundred feet, exited and walked a few feet to a large hatch. Inside, they found two unoccupied rows of seats and turned them around to face each other.
Moments later the hatch silently closed and the vehicle almost imperceptible began moving. Rachel was reading from the packet and announced, “We are on the D train, which will take us into Manhattan, an island and part of New York City. We’re two hundred kilometers from the city, and the trip will take forty two minutes.”
After a moment she continued, “The train will travel underground for the entire trip, and connect with the original…subway tunnel, it says, for the final few kilometers of New Jersey, travel under the Hudson River, then under the site, the former site of the World Trade Center. John New York is the world trade center?”
John said, “The World Trade Center was a complex of commercial buildings, and was destroyed over three centuries ago. Lot of people died. They built a memorial, which has since been replaced at least once. I don’t think anyone remembers now.”
Rachel continued reading, “They’re now redoing that entire end of the island into a cultural center. It’s supposed to look like it did in the late 20th century. They even plan on a circular line of the electric subway system, that goes around the entire island. Says it’s going to be a big tourist attraction, like the cable cars in San Francisco, and bicycles in Shanghai. Bicycles? Really? It says that New York invented mass transportation. Um, John, Jessica, someone? Why would they go backwards? It seems silly.”
John shrugged, “Perhaps one day when Chavez is both rich and old, it will do the same thing. Meanwhile, what about the hotel?” Rachel resumed reading, “Our hotel is the New Four Seasons Hotel on, quote, historic 57th Street, unquote. Um, it’s listed on the historic register, says it’s over two hundred years old, and was built on the site of the original hotel.”
She looked up at John and asked, seriously, “Why did you choose such an old hotel?” John grinned, “Our entire planet is shiny new, and, well, I felt that I wanted something old and historic rather than some modern, three or four hundred story tower without personality and charm. And, just so you know, that tiny hotel is just as expensive as the new ones.” Jessica laughed, “Well, good then.”
They stepped out of their car into a large and seemingly old chamber several hundred feet below the surface. It felt as if they’d stepped backward in time. They placed their bags onto an automated cart that both secured it from theft – a problem on Earth – and automatically transferred it to their hotel. They followed visual prompts through the throngs of impatient and seemingly rude people to an anachronistic escalator that smoothly raised them up to another chamber. This one looked even older, and was lined with tile and marble. Another escalator ride deposited them at an arch with the legend “Grand Central Terminal” cut into stone. They walked under the arch and went back hundreds of years in time.
This was a very large space with a vaulting ceiling and a great deal of noise. Rachel said, as they walked toward a distant exit, “This terminal is named Grand Central, dates from 1913, is 84 meters long, 37 meters wide and 38 meters high. The ceiling depicts the sky as it would look to God from, and I quote, ‘outside the celestial sphere’ and is based on a chart from the Middle Ages. Since that chart was created, there has occurred a significant shift due to the precession of the equinoxes. The ceiling was painted by an artist from the State of Italy by the name of Giovanni Smeraldi, and was deliberately painted in reverse.”
Jordan said, her head swiveling nearly constantly, “This place is old!” Jessica said, “Compared to Europe, it’s a relative newcomer. It’s certainly beautiful. It was originally home to a railroad and had many dozens of iron train tracks leading to the rest of the country, which was then the United States of America.
They departed through a virtual door and got their first glimpse of the outdoors. It was snowing. Jessica said, “Oh! It’s beautiful! It’s cold!” John laughed and they hugged, forming a small island of foreigners in a river of natives.
At the curb a bright yellow cube shaped vehicle moved up a few meters, stopped in front of them and a door opened. Rachel pointed and said, “The hotel’s transportation.”
The conveyance didn’t look large enough for six people, but as they neared it extended it’s length by two meters. They entered and found functional seating. As soon as everyone was seated, the door hissed closed and the automated vehicle edged forward into a veritable river of similar contraptions.
Rachel resumed her travelogue, “These vehicles are similar in nature to the original motor carriages, or automobiles,” she paused, and then said, as if to herself, “…oh, auto and mobile.” She continued, “again dating from the beginning of the twentieth century. Their color is traditional, as is the lighted sign on top.” She added, “Seems a backward way to transport people.”
Jennifer enthused, “It’s amazing. There’re more people in this city than on Maya.”
The trip was fascinating, with heavy snowfall, hundreds of pedestrians at the intersections, and some few actually running between vehicles, which were only one or two meters apart.
The vehicle pulled up to the entrance of their hotel. The door remained closed for a moment and a sign illumined the window, “Please remember to check for left belongings”, and then opened. They exited into a dense snowfall and hurried through the throngs of people and up to the doors to their temporary residence on Earth.
Inside, Rachel read, “The hotel lobby is an exact reproduction of the original, which dated from the late 20th century – so, not so old then.” Jennifer looked at a tall counter with three beautifully dressed men and one woman, and said, an odd note in her voice, “John, you were right, we are backwards.” Jessica said, “Honey, yes we are, but my lovely husband has promised me that our first order of business will correct the, um, visual clues to our origins.” Jordan grinned, “As long as that doesn’t mean I have to look like a twelve year old.” John muttered, just loud enough to hear, “That would require a very large sack.” Jessica tightened her grip on his hand.
At the counter the woman, an exquisitely beautiful woman of indeterminate age said, “Welcome to the Four Seasons, Captain Chamberlin. Is all your party present?” John had to think about the word ‘party’ for a moment, but nodded his head.
She looked down at a hidden screen and after a moment said, “Yes. Captain Chamberlin and Jessica; Miss Jordan Perez, Miss Jennifer Perez, and Master Sergeant Mischovic and Rachel. On behalf of the staff of the hotel I welcome you to New York. Your rooms are ready and I see that your luggage will arrive in just a few moments. You have reservations for supper in the Mistral restaurant, which features French cuisine, and I see that tomorrow evening you have reserved a large salon.” She paused, “…ah, a gathering of veterans of the war. Please allow me to express my gratification for your services to the Federation.”
She glanced at her screen again and for the first time her coldly beautiful face showed a hint of genuine emotion, “I see that you commanded the Second Fleet, and that your personnel were the ones who prevented the introduction of…four nuclear devices into Sol. Sir, I have a relative who served in Home Fleet, and he told me that Admiral Khan placed great confidence in you and your command. I hope that you will enjoy your stay in New York, and I will personally do everything possible to ensure that your stay here is enjoyable.” John managed to hide his surprise at their greeting.
A moment later an elderly man appeared at John’s side and silently gestured for him to follow.
They went across the lo
bby to a highly polished metal door that opened at their approach. The beautifully dressed man paused and waited until John and his group entered the small space before entering. The door closed and the elevator began ascending.
They had two adjacent rooms; John and Jessica were sharing a two-bedroom suite with the two menaces with Karl and Rachel next door.
Once inside, their guide, or host pointed out the lavish features of their accommodations, before taking Karl and Rachel through an inner door to their smaller suite.
Ten minutes later Karl and Rachel returned. John was standing at a large window, looking out at a virtual white-out while Jessica and her sisters walked around, exclaiming at the amazing rooms. Karl silently produced a tiny device and casually walked around for just a minute before gesturing to John. He said, very quietly, “Sir, all six of us have at least one tag on our clothing – you have…seven. I’ve already neutralized them, but we are going to have to be very, very careful what we say while we’re on Earth.”
John asked, “Visual?” Karl said, “Taken care of, at least as far as my equipment is capable of determining. Mr. Padilla assured me that we have a good security device, but he thought, and I agree, that there is better out there. I’ve arranged for a package from Kasdan & Kasdan that should help keep us reasonably secure. We’re supposed to be issued licenses for personal protection devices, something I gather is extremely difficult to obtain here.” John glanced at his wife to ensure they weren’t being overheard, “You think we need them?” Karl said, “We won’t need them until we need them.” John sighed.
John had already determined that their clothing was woefully inadequate to both the weather and the city, so thirty minutes later the entire party entered a small shop inside the very large hotel.
John had grown up getting his clothing from automated services that provided inner and outer wear adequate to the requirements; now, he stood inside a small space that held three strikingly beautiful women and one equally beautiful mature man, and not one single service kiosk.
It took two hours to outfit everyone with multiple sets of clothing; two for ‘the street’, two for ‘the evening’. John transferred what amounted to an entire year’s military pay, causing him very strong mixed feelings of resentment at the huge outlay of money for appearance’ sake, as well as equally strong feelings of inadequacy and foreignness.
Their clothing was delivered to their rooms, but the four women were delayed by an hour while they visited a salon, where things were done to hair, skin, nails and possibly other areas of interest to men. Within thirty minutes after their return all six congregated in John’s suite. They all felt strange in their clothing, although neither man objected to the way the women looked.
Jessica said, “Earth’s fashions are certainly becoming.” John grinned and she blushed, “I have never worn anything so revealing.” John looked away, trying to hide his expression.
Jennifer and Jordan were off by themselves, looking at their reflections in a floor to ceiling mirror. Maya was a very conservative society, one where women in general and teenaged girls in particular dressed very modestly – Earth’s society seemed to believe that a fifteen year-old girl ought to dress like a woman. In the case of Jennifer and Jordan, they had been transformed from very pretty girls into striking young women. They shared Jessica’s golden curls, slender figures and height. Rachel looked almost shockingly different. Grenoble had somewhat more liberal ideas about culture and modesty, but St. Genevieve was a small town and Rachel had grown up poor, just like virtually everyone else. New York was proving to be a huge cultural shock to them all.
To that end, John asked everyone to sit and he talked about their clothes, their cultural heritage and what they were doing in New York, “As part of our marriage gift, Mr. Padilla gave Jessica a wedding present of a trip to Earth. Ostensibly, that is how and why we are here. James and Castidad will be joining us tomorrow and we’ll spend a couple of days getting to know New York, followed by a visit to Beijing and Los Angeles. Following those visits, our plans are up in the air. Hopefully, we’ll have a better idea after our meeting with the veterans Karl has managed to gather. Meanwhile, you should know that while Maya is part of the federation, it is regarded as a backward farming village by Earthers, if they regard Maya at all. We cannot hide our accents, and I don’t want you to try, but these clothes will hopefully hide our origin from most. As you all know, I have a new career, one that involves all of you. As you have been told more than once, we are not ever to mention anything remotely connected to this. As far as anyone knows, I have been hired by Producciones Padilla to negotiate civilian contracts on its behalf. In fact, I hope to be able to do something along that line, but my major purpose is to begin building a network of people who can help Maya, Grenoble and all the other frontier worlds survive the coming peace. According to early reports, that peace may not be very peaceful. I have learned that large numbers of destroyers and missile boats have disappeared rather than be scrapped or destroyed. I think that the peace is going to be less than peaceful, and that frontier planets are going to have to prepare to defend themselves from former rebels, pirates or whatever they call themselves.”
This was ground that he’d covered before, but this supper, and the entire visit to New York was essentially the entire family’s introduction to an entirely new life. He wanted it to go well.
He was also slightly distracted – just moments before, his bride blushingly whispered in his ear, “Honey, as you may know, we have just acquired some new clothing; what you may not have ascertained, but will before the evening is over, is that the salon we just departed provided a certain additional service that I’m hopeful you will appreciate.” John raised his eyebrows at her and she whispered into his ear.
In almost astonishment, he asked, “Really? Everywhere?” She blushed again, “Yes, everywhere. I suggest that if you have any additional questions, you wait until later, at which time you won’t actually have to ask. Um, I also suggest that you refrain from asking highly inappropriate questions about your sisters-in-law.” He stared in consternation at his wife, who may have been blushing as much as he was.
Hawk Genesis: War (Flight of the Hawk) Page 49