Human Starpilots

by F Stephan

  “Good. I’ve watched you. Try to make smaller gestures. In null gee, you put too much energy in your actions. Be careful. Now, go and join your comrade to finish checking section thirty-five.”

  Brian hurried to catch his mate. Silently, he mouthed a prayer of thanks that today he had not been paired today with Sonter. The Adheeken had often worked in space while traveling with his father and was already trained. Hearing him point out all Brian’s failures made the sessions very tiresome. He moved back, and the dark brood settled over him again.

  An hour later, back on board and out of the space suit, Brian followed Oddoril toward the mess for the half-hour meal break allowed in the daily agenda by the precise Mistress Nillimer. He was so absent he didn’t notice when Oddoril moved into one of the small classrooms and turned toward him.

  “OK. Now, Brian, talk to me.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve been living as a shadow since she left. Earlier today, when you unhook the cable, you nearly sent me flying outward. Want to talk about it?”

  “We can’t. We don’t even have half an hour until the next course.”

  “Yes, we can. Our boss has cleared it. You need to talk, and she agrees. Now speak, man,” she said impatiently.

  At last, the dam that had held Brian broke, and he crumbled into her arms, weeping.

  “Now,” she said more soothing, “what happened?”

  “Our relationship was fine. We were fine together. Really. And then, suddenly, she breaks everything simply because we’re apart for two small months.”

  “This world is so new for you. You adapted so well we often forget.”

  “Sorry. I don’t understand.”

  “It doesn’t work, Brian. It just does not work. She knows it. All of us know it. Except you from Earth.” Her voice conveyed all the sadness of the world.

  “But…”

  “No ‘but.’ It’s been tried. You live on the same ship and you travel together or it doesn’t work. Sometimes, you only meet once in a decade. It usually means waiting for years on end.”

  Brian tried other arguments, but Oddoril, while listening, contradicted all of them. He was fishing for words and ideas, while she had an absolute certitude. It took the whole afternoon until he felt better. Before they parted, Oddoril said sincerely, “I know you don’t like Sonter. But he could tell you more about love life in space. His father brought his mother and his two kids all along on his numerous trips. His mother was an environmental specialist, and she usually was welcomed in all the ships. But Sonter and his brother grew up leaving all their friends behind to cross the stars in a small bubble of air.”

  Finally, Brian he lifted his chin and looked at Oddoril, eye to eye. “So, what have I missed?”

  “Not so much. You are going to work night and day to catch up on your work.” She smiled at that. “And I don’t envy you. Other than that, Emily and Sonter are the other couple in trouble.”

  “They weren’t separated. What could have happened to them?”

  “Sonter’s father. The poor sod has too much pressure from his father. Emily is too bright and competitive, and the comparison is unbearable.”

  “You want me to sympathize with his mightiness the jerk?”

  “Maybe you should. He’s in as much trouble as you are.”

  Then Brian smiled—for the first time since the departure of the Heavyweight. “So, this is why you took time for me? You were tired of him, and you decided to bring back the only person that would distract him”.

  “Naturally, what did you think? Now I’m hungry. Let’s move.” With that, she took his arm and brought him back to the main concourse. Later, Brian went back to his studies with the help of Oddoril.

  Every morning, he reviewed the shuttle, feature by feature and analyzed each component under the guidance of Master Addel, master of operations on the station. They took turn at the consoles within the stations and in space walks to complete the exercises. He soon discovered he wasn’t the worst off. Dendrom showed a growing phobia of open spaces.

  Then, during the afternoons, they had their new courses for the semester, completely remotely. Among these was Legal Approach to Trade with Mistress Liupert, who soon became Brian’s new nightmare. The lag made real-time communication difficult, but this did not keep Master Heikert from sending them harsh rebukes on their progresses. For that, they had daily updates with the ground operations at the academy. When Brian truly went back to his studies, he learned how deep Master Heikert’s words could cut.

  39 Brian

  “So, it is your turn now. Remember Troum yesterday. Quiet and precise. Don’t rush things.”

  “Yes, yes, yes. This is the third time you’ve told me. I know.”

  After weeks of theory and simulation in the station, Brian was allowed finally his first run with the small shuttle. They had drawn lots, and he would be the second student to try. He had spent half an hour putting on his space suit with a double check from Emily every step of the way.

  “Now, go to the shuttles, and don’t forget to run a full external check before you get in.”

  Brian winced at that. Addel had set up a trap on the ion jet exhaust and Troum had missed it. The tongue lashing had been horrible. So, he took a good hour getting to the shuttle and checking the external part of the spacecraft. At last, he got in the shuttle and settled in the cockpit.

  “Brian, you are clear to disconnect whenever you’re ready. Take your time,” he heard Mistress Nillimer with her crisp manner.

  Brian would not be able to use his nanites to interface with the locally built shuttle, even if he could use them a little to enhance his perceptions. He called up three screens around him: on his left procedures, on his right the technical feedback on the shuttle and in front of him the recap on navigation. He was a bit stressed as he dutifully followed the checklist on his left. He went through every item and double-checked each element. This was not the time to overlook anything. There were several traps in the checks and corrections to implement before he could finish the countdown.

  With all lines tagged green, he deactivated the magnetic locks linking the shuttle to the station and engaged the ion stream to move in space.

  “Quietly, move out by two kilometers. Then turn and face Adheek. Take your time, but be precise in your maneuvers. I have tagged in your navigation five spots. I expect you to reach each of them precisely.” Again, Brian took his time to complete the instruction. He tested different strengths of ion stream and checked each time how the shuttle reacted. The beast responded slowly and clumsily, even more than in simulation. By the time, he reached the last spot, two kilometers away; he had spent a full hour and was sweating heavily in the space suit. He heard Nillimer engaging the autopilot. “Good work, Brian. Not too fast but precise. Now, I am bringing you back in. Enjoy the view. We will debrief when you are back in the station.”

  On the short flight back, Brian monitored all inputs from the shuttle, using it as a live experience. Without the need for absolute control, his hands shook uncontrollably. He took a few minutes to observe the view, trying to regain his composure. He could see Adheek below, half covered in darkness, half under the sun. He could see the cities on the foreign planet, but he had a hard time placing landmarks in the strange geography.

  When he walked back in the station out of the main airlock, his fellow students were waiting for him. They cheered. Among the cheers, Brian heard clearly Sonter’s snickering “Two kilometers out in two hours? My nephew could do better than that, crappie boy. At the same time, he is turning ten now.” He snorted loudly and left.

  Brian would not be angered today, not after his small success, and he let the remark pass. But, he also saw the look Emily sent to Sonter. She was going to prove herself to him. Brian got suddenly anxious. She was not ready to strong-arm the other student. She had the potential to be the best of them, but there was plenty she didn’t know yet.

  Still, he hurried to Mistress Nillimer office, close to the control cen
ter. There, they spent a long time debriefing on his performance. She was strict, she knew the shuttles by heart, and she had numerous suggestions and ideas on how he could improve his performance. She also gave him very precise monitoring exercises to carry out during the other shuttle flight. If he thought he had done well, he soon discovered that this was only the first step of a long walk.

  When, finally, she let him go, he was starving and went to the cafeteria. He was alone to eat at the odd hour, but the robots worked unceasingly to provide food at all times. Emily was still there, her hair a dark copper under the station light.

  “What’s up, shining girl?”

  “We have a new assignment. You are going to love it.”

  “Trade?” Nothing could be worse for him.

  “Yes. A new book on trade to read, with plenty of related problems to solve and a review from Mistress Liupert.”

  “Wonderful. I dreamed about it. Care to read a bit of it while I gobble my food?”

  She took a most pedantic tone and started.

  “An essay on trade in the Federation.

  The rules of the Federation are, if one looks beyond the complex legal matters, very simple. There are five classes of trade products.

  - Products that are forbidden in all cases: living animals, weapons beyond ornamental blades

  - Products that can only be off loaded with the explicit permission of the planet: medicine, alcohol, and everything affecting the human psyche

  - Products that are controlled by the Federation and must be declared: mostly around nanite and relics from our distant ancestors

  - Products that are free: mostly information in the CDS

  - Products that can be traded freely: everything else”

  “Is that what Mathias and Don Mariano are looking after?”

  “What?”

  “Anything they can find under this general everything else.”

  She shared with him one of her rare smiles. “Probably. I wonder how they fare. Have you written to them?”

  “Nope. Care to join me for a common video?”

  “We have work to do.”

  “So let’s be quick.” It took far longer than Emily wanted, but their mood was lighter after they sent the message.

  40 Mathias

  On Oneday, during the morning coffee, Don Mariano had announced calmly, “This is a good time to visit this world, now that our kids are in orbit.” And with that simple sentence, he had sent them on a grand tour around the planet. The trip would take four months; they would cross two oceans, three deserts, and two mountain ranges and meet different corporations and inhabitants of this world. The ground traffic had been limited due to the warm age and was now slow, with low environmental impact. Few planes were allowed anymore unless their mission was urgent. This suited the ambassador, who wanted to use the long, slow trip as an opportunity to learn more.

  First, they traveled by train to Telem, three hundred kilometers southwest from Certan. They had already been there and could find their way to the main harbor. There they chartered two cabins on a large two-deck boat that crossed the ocean. The platform went on four immense foils and used solar power to propel itself. At night, the flat structure dropped back on the water, and the lower deck went underwater to balance the weight.

  They were looking for new ideas and maybe a few markets for Earth products, and they analyzed everything they saw against its potential benefits on Earth. The boat didn’t seem worth the trouble. The train was more interesting. It ran on a tube with reduced air pressure to reduce friction. The idea was ancient now, but they hadn’t built a stable solution yet. Mathias had retrieved the plans but without the know-how, they were close to useless.

  This was their last chance on Adheek to find other markets for Earth technologies or goods. If they could not find any other way to get some trade and useful knowledge flowing toward Earth, they would need to book passage elsewhere in the Human Federation and leave the kids alone. Mathias was crunching numbers as fast as he could, running simulations time and again to give new perspective on the markets and their options. But, everywhere they went, they found little interest. They spent hours negotiating with different guild masters with few progresses. Mathias felt frustrated by the different failures. Don Mariano moved on, seemingly unaffected.

  “This is the first round, Mathias. Now, they know us and they will contact us when they need. You have to be patient on this”.

  In the meantime, they kept contact with the two teams, in the station and in the Heavyweight whenever they could. Mathias missed all the students. They had formed a bond, lost together in this faraway land. When they were in Certan, he had been able to find gifts that helped the students feel at ease on the strange planet. Now this had become impossible, and their pains were hard on him. So he took pictures of the different sights he found and sent to them the tales of their journey across Adheek. Major ochre deserts and dried riverbeds surrounding amber cities sitting in large vermillion oasis. High amber grounds with cooler climates but swept by terrible sand winds. The cities of Tipol in the jungle, where the small monkeys lived in lively and intelligent communities.

  In the middle of their trip, they reached the Tourim Mountains, two thousand kilometers of impenetrable peaks surrounding an icy high plateau. After having met Oddoril, Don Mariano had found their representative in Certan and obtained the authorization to meet their leader, the tourikeen. They now all sat in his office, a small and simply adorned white dome overlooking a magnificent deep-blue lake surrounded by high white peaks.

  “Welcome to our mountains. You have made quite a long journey to see some poor peasants.” The wizened man had a woolen vest over his shoulders, no jewels, and sat at a modest desk. Around him, a few assistants worked on obsolete computers. Mathias, when he had discovered the city in the morning had been stunned that Don Mariano had sent them traveling to see such a destitute community. Yet the ambassador smiled.

  “You are strange poor peasants, Tourikeen.”

  “This might be. How could such poor peasants as we are help you?”

  Don Mariano inhaled and, with a sudden rashness Mathias had never seen, cut through all niceties and introductions.

  “You have knowledge and technologies that could make a real difference for our planet. And I would like to ask for your help.”

  “Knowledge and technologies in our poor mountains? You make a mistake, Mister Ambassador.” The room had gone still.

  “No, and we both know it. You are discreet, and you have a simple way of life. You made a choice for reasons of your own.” The old man looked intently at Don Mariano, serious but not threatening. “I have the statistics. For the poorest community on the planet, you have the best life expectancy. At least one pilot in ten in the whole planet comes from your community, and it may be up to five in ten. Your clan was one of the few who could bring down the Second Renaissance when it went crazy. I have checked the maps. Above each place where you have an outfit, the carbon dioxide decreases faster than the average. Unless you have found Ancient Devices?”

  Suddenly, amid the heavy silence, the old leader laughed. It was a clear, clean, simple laugh, and it freed the assembly. With that, they all went back to their work, and after a while, the tourikeen looked Don Mariano in the eye and said, “You have done good research, but you have the facts wrong. We have a hardy life in the mountains, which explains both our long life and the capacity of our young adults to withstand the pressure needed to become a starpilot. We choose with caution the sites where we implant our few external outfits. All simple enough facts without using legendary tools”.

  Mathias could see Don Mariano preparing counterarguments when suddenly the ancient one lifted his arm to stop the discussion.

  “But for the simple sake of argument, if we were to help you, what would you expect from us? What would you provide?” (Strange, he is the first to accept to talk so fast.)

  “You have built a way of life that provides a high level of life support to
your community and a low level of environmental impact. If you could teach us a little of it, we would welcome it. We need to change our mentalities and find new ways to live even more than we need technologies. If you do this without miracle devices, this is even better.”

  “And what would you provide?”

  “We have many mountain communities, living in extensive mountain ranges. I am sure an observer could pick up many ideas, many ways that would help you. And while on the move, he could teach and enlighten us.”

  Mathias was astounded. When he had done the data crunching, he had assumed Don Mariano wanted to trade direct goods when he only wanted to trade know-how. Naturally all technologies were in the DataDump, while the how-to had to be learned the hard way.

  “Why would we commit such an incredible amount of resources on such a far-fetched proposition?” Behind the doubt, Mathias noticed an edge of interest in the voice.

  “This is your decision, honored Tourikeen. But I have prepared for you materials on our cultures that might be of interest to you. They could help you arrive to a conclusion.” He handed over a datapack.

  “We will review it and let you know what we decide within a week. In the meantime, would you like to visit our mountains?” At this instant, Mathias was sure of one thing. They would receive a delightful welcome and learn nothing. At least this time.

  41 Brian

  “You are not going to believe what they did,” exploded Emily in the middle of the cafeteria. Brian, who had been playing the Old Game with Oddoril, turned quickly to her; her voice was not anxious, more unbelieving. He laid his cards, sighting at the interrupted card game which he had really come to like since his arrival, and focused on his friend.

  “What happened?”

  “At last, the Heavyweight has rendezvoused with the carrier Theoldcow.” The ship was making the run from Adheek to Fizhert to Illimer and Pelor and then back via Nelom and Alkath. “While the crew was busy transferring the different goods into the smaller transport, Tasha, Shanak, and Illoma managed to sneak outside and take a full picture of the three of them with the two ships behind.” She showed the picture all around. They gaped at the contrast between the impossible dark expanse behind them and the brightly lit ships, except for Sonter who seemed blasé.