by M. D. Cooper
“Yeah, I’ve known him a long time. He always pops in to see me whenever he’s here. So, about your infomentary, my friends and I were wondering if you’d like some help? We’d love to show you around.”
“You want to help me make the infomentary?” Isa asked, a little embarrassed. Samuel probably thought she needed help staying out of trouble.
“That’s right. We were some of the first settlers, and we’ve gotten to know the place pretty well. This is Rahmin and Ada.”
The other man and woman had walked over while Samuel and Isa were talking.
“Sorry, this must seem a bit weird,” said Samuel.
“No, it’s fine,” said Isa, definitely feeling a little weird.
Everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business in Ushu; Samuel had known who she was the minute she left the hospital.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Samuel said, “News travels fast in a quiet place like this.”
“I can tell,” said Isa. “So what you’re saying is, all of Tyre knows I had to be rescued from a cave?”
“Pretty much,” said Ada, smiling.
“But don’t worry,” Rahmin said. “Everyone’s ecstatic to finally have something to talk about other than local gossip.”
“Well, I’m glad I could provide such an important service to the public,” Isa said.
“Seriously, though,” Samuel said, “we know all the best places. Some of them we discovered ourselves; they aren’t mentioned in the information given out to tourists. We can take you to see them.”
Although the offer was probably a gentle way of preventing her from getting into any more scrapes, Isa hesitated about refusing it. Perhaps some local guides wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. Who would be better at pointing out the attractions of Tyre than the people who’d chosen it over Carthage and the other planets as their home?
“I’ll think about it,” said Isa. “Thanks.”
“It would be our pleasure,” Rahmin said. “Any excuse to take a few trips out of town.”
Samuel said, “How about we go and get something to eat? We can talk about some places we could take you.”
“Sure,” said Isa, her mood lifting. Maybe it would be nice to have some companions on her travels after all.
Her new acquaintances took her to a restaurant near the hospital. Isa ordered what they recommended. A lot of food on Tyre was Carthaginian in origin, they said, but locally grown was better.
Isa spent the meal getting to know her new friends. Samuel was a vintner, Ada was a sanitation engineer, and Rahmin was a servitor specialist, though they didn’t talk about their jobs very much. Instead, they excited Isa with their stories of the thrilling things they’d done on Tyre and the places they’d been. When she told them she’d taken the chute through Mount Athos, they acted like it was old hat.
“Yeah, all the tourists do that,” said Ada, “but once you’ve been through the mountain over a hundred times, it loses its edge.”
“You should try wing-gliding from the top,” Samuel said. “Now that’s an experience that doesn’t get old.”
Isa excused herself to visit the restroom. She was glad she’d made the decision to spend some time with the Tyrians, and she was looking forward to seeing the places they could show her. Insider information really would be a good scoop for her infomentary.
She walked back the eating area, but before passing through the entrance to the tables, she saw something that made her pause: Samuel, Rahmin, and Ada were leaning toward each other in a huddle, their postures and expressions tense. Isa was within earshot of them, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying because they were whispering to each other.
Arguing, she realized.
The change in their behavior from only a few moments previously was so dramatic, she couldn’t guess what was going on.
Then Ada noticed her hesitating in the doorway and immediately snapped a smile. The other two quickly followed suit, moving back to open postures. The reactions were so fast that Isa almost wondered if she’d been mistaken in what she’d seen.
She rejoined the table, and the conversation continued as relaxed and amiable as it had been before. But Isa couldn’t shake her unease…. She now saw insincerity in the faces of the three Tyrians. Yet she’d already agreed to accompany them on several excursions.
Could she make an excuse and renege on their agreement? Should she? Isa was curious about what they wanted.
She didn’t know what the Tyrians’ true motivation for helping her was, but no credible reason for backing out of their plans sprang to mind.
GETTING COMFORTABLE
STELLAR DATE: 03.18.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Marine Eco Station #14, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
Martin had discovered that Malcolm was fine with sleeping in the lounge area of Martin’s little beach house/laboratory. He was also fine with cooking in Martin’s kitchen and, best of all, he was totally fine with using Martin’s lab and all its specialized equipment. And when it came to the huge range of embryos Martin had in stasis, waiting for the correct moment to introduce them to the Med’s ecosystem, Malcolm was absolutely enchanted.
“What amazes me,” Malcolm said as he studied the thousands of tiny chambers that lined the walls of the lab from the floor to the ceiling, “is the complexity and intricacy of a self-sustaining biome, you know? And it’s so fragile. All it takes is a single species in the wrong place or at the wrong time, and it’s, you know….” He made a noise that sounded like something wet and gassy being squashed. “Destroyed. Annihilated. Kaput.”
A muscle in Martin’s jaw twitched. He was cleaning his kitchen. To the untrained eye it might look like it was already clean, but Malcolm had insisted on cooking the previous evening, and he’d left smears on the countertop.
“Yes,” Martin said, increasing pressure as he rubbed away at the surface. “Kaput.”
Malcolm squatted down. He ran his gaze along the rows of embryo chambers near floor-level.
“Whoa,” he exclaimed. “Balaenoptera musculus. Core, that’s so cool.” He leaned closer to the chambers. “But they’re empty. Wait. You already started growing them? Awesome. I can’t wait to see. Maybe I could do that today.”
“Well,” said Martin, “there isn’t much to see yet. They’re still quite small.”
“That’s okay. I’d love to have a peek at blue whale fetuses of any size.”
“And they’re far out to sea,” Martin continued. “They need a lot of space. I didn’t want to have to move them more than once when they grow large.”
“Not a problem,” said Malcolm. “I love diving, you know.”
“Right. But they’re at an extremely sensitive growth stage.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be really careful.”
“Okay, but….” Martin wracked his brain for a good reason that would stop Malcolm from going anywhere near his precious blue whale fetuses.
“Wow,” Malcolm exclaimed. “Archelon? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Yes,” Martin replied through his teeth, “I deliberately mislabelled a set of stasis chambers for the sole purpose of playing a joke on you.”
Malcolm had his nose against a chamber to peer at something. When he heard Martin’s reply, he turned toward him.
“Huh?” he grunted, frowning, but then his brow cleared, and he laughed and pointed at Martin. “Good one! I like working with people who have a sense of humor, you know. So, when are we heading out?”
Martin couldn’t
decide what part of Malcolm’s utterances sounded worse. Was it the ‘we’ part, or the bit where he mentioned ‘heading out’?
“Ah. I need to talk to you about that,” he said. “Before you can begin helping with the practical element of my work here, you have to complete an introduction to its basis in ecological theory. You should also be fully conversant on what I’ve already used to begin the population of the system, and what I’m preparing for the second, third, fourth, and fifth stage releases.”
“Okay,” Malcolm said. “That shouldn’t take me too long.”
“That isn’t all,” said Martin. “You must familiarize yourself with all the progress assessments, balance checks, contingency strategies, emergency procedures, and so on.”
“Oh. Right.”
“It’s all on the Link. I’ve given you access to my files and records.”
“So I have to read all that information first? I can’t just go out and have a look around?”
“No, you can’t. I’d feel better if you were up to speed on everything before you go out there. Like you were saying, seeding a system is a highly complex process. It’s very sensitive to even the slightest disturbance. I’m sure you understand. But don’t worry, reading everything through a couple of times shouldn’t take you more than two or three weeks. A month, tops. Then we can talk about taking you out to see some of the nurseries.”
While Martin talked, Malcolm’s face had been falling until it finally looked like it couldn’t fall any farther.
Despite his fear of letting the student loose on his site, Martin felt a twinge of guilt. “Actually, it’ll probably only take you a couple of weeks to read everything. And there won’t be any tests.”
“Do you really mean I can’t go into the ocean at all until then?”
“It’s probably better that you don’t.”
“Not even with you?”
An icy hand clutched at Martin’s heart. He lifted a finger and paused as he formulated the exact words to convey what he needed to say.
Finally, finger still raised, he said, “We need to be very clear on something. If and when you go near my organisms, you will always be with me.”
“Okay. Got it. But what about the beach? Surely I can go for a walk by myself?”
Martin considered.
“Yes, of course you can,” Martin said magnanimously. “Just let me know where you’re going and how long you’ll be gone.”
Malcolm’s cheerful demeanor had entirely deflated. He left the stasis chambers and plodded to the sofa, where he sat down. Then he lay down, propping his feet up on the sofa arm. Martin gritted his teeth, but didn’t say anything; Malcolm was sand-free for the moment. The student closed his eyes.
Relieved that he’d forestalled Malcolm’s interference in his work for a while, Martin finished up cleaning the kitchen and gathered what he would need for his morning’s work. As he left the house, he stopped in the doorway and said, “You should pay special attention to the plankton species. It was tricky to put together the right mix.”
Malcolm didn’t answer.
Perhaps he’s fallen asleep. Martin shrugged and left.
Canaan Prime was already well above the horizon. Martin tutted and strode through the sand to his boat. Having a student around was going to be a drain on his time.
Martin clenched his teeth.
Eamon’s chuckle echoed in Martin’s mind. He didn’t know what the AI was laughing at, but he wasn’t interested to find out. He threw his equipment in his boat and placed his hands on the bow, preparing to push it out to sea.
A shard of fear stabbed at Martin.
When he contacted his friend, however, Cameron couldn’t oblige.
The biologist pursed his lips, frozen in place as the waves lapped against the prow of the boat.
“I have to go away for a while. At least a week, maybe longer. Do you think you could look after the site for me while I’m gone?”
“Could I?” A huge grin broke over Malcolm’s face. “I’d love to.”
Martin’s stress level inched higher. “Great. Thanks,” he said heavily. “I’m going to write very precise instructions, and I expect you to follow them to the letter.”
SOARING
STELLAR DATE: 03.20.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Mount Athos
REGION: Tyre, New Canaan System
Isa’s pinnace crested the scarp of Mount Athos’s vast caldera and flew down toward the entrance to the chute. She was pleased to notice Martin’s eyes pop at the view of the ice-sheathed caldera. She’d been disappointed that he’d seemed unimpressed by Tyre ever since he’d arrived the previous d
ay.
She guessed that it was mostly because he wasn’t there on vacation, but rather due to his worry about her. But she wanted him to have a good time, now that he’d come all the way to another planet.
Today, no other vessels were visible within the icy confines of the massive crater, and they didn’t have to wait long as the airlock doors drew open, and the ship passed through the grav field and into the bay.
“This grav tech sure is amazing,” Martin said. “I don’t get to see it in use much in my day-to-day.”
“Seriously?” Isa said as she glanced over at Martin. “We’re inside a mountain that is almost thirty kilometers high, and you’re impressed by the grav field?”
Martin cast her a serious look, then winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll save some excitement.”
The pinnace landed in a cradle, and they climbed out, walking across the bay and down a short corridor to the area where passengers were assigned pods. Though this was the second time for Isa, thrills were passing through her in anticipation of what lay ahead. Perhaps because it was her second time. She knew what was coming.
She took Martin’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re going to love this. I promise.”
He gave her a sideways hug. “We’ll see.”
A human assistant greeted them and asked if they wanted two single pods or a double.
“Let’s take a double,” Isa said. She wanted to see the look on Martin’s face at certain points of the ride.
The assistant ordered the double pod, and it popped out from behind a screen, sliding down the track to the boarding point. It was a two-seater version of the one Isa had used for her ride: long and slim, shaped for minimal air resistance. Passengers sat in reclined seats, their heads raised just enough to see where they were going.
They climbed in and snapped closed the locks on their snugly fitting safety harnesses. When the assistant handed them their safety helmets, Martin raised his eyebrows at Isa. She grinned and put hers on.
“Just a precaution,” the assistant said. “We haven’t had an accident yet.”