Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  Ninan smiled sheepishly as he took the proffered envelope. “Thanks,” he said, “I’ll study these during my morning break.” He turned the envelope over several times before he worked up enough nerve to ask, “I don’t want to be difficult, but if I need anything more, would it be alright if I came in to ask for clarification?”

  “Absolutely,” Frasnia said with a bright smile, “we would expect you to be confident in your delivery before we would want you to travel. That’s part of my job so don’t think of it as being difficult. It really is no problem, okay?”

  “Whew, that’s a huge weight off my shoulders, Frasnia,” Ninan confided. “I’ll get out of your way now and go back to my job. Do you need me to check in before I head out?”

  “That would be great! Bryon has been very anxious about getting this taken care of. I’ll pass word to him about its progress.”

  “Will do then,” Ninan promised as he crossed the room with a new spring in his step. He turned at the door and spoke the other thing on his mind since coming into the office, “Frasnia, can you thank your parents again for the house full of furniture they gave me? I can’t tell you how much more pleasant it is to come home and be able to relax in comfort rather than just getting by with poor furniture substitutes.”

  Frasnia smiled with genuine pleasure that her conversation with her parents had turned out exactly as she had hoped. “Sure,” she said, “They were grateful for all of it to find a new home since they moved now that all of us kids finally moved away from their house. They were starting to feel the walls closing in with all the clutter of the extra furniture jammed everywhere.”

  “Let them know if they need anything, and I do mean anything, I will be over there immediately to help out.”

  “I’ll be sure to let them know,” Frasnia promised as she watched Ninan leave the office with the manila envelope carefully tucked under his left arm. She thought about the pleasant evening they had spent arranging all of the furniture in Ninan’s new house. More than once, she could see herself being the lady of his house. She just had to convince Ninan that it would be a good idea!

  Frasnia smiled after him as she turned to answer yet another urgent message coming across her patil.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Ninan was relieved when he finally received the all clear code for the shipment being held in the Port of Cerid. It was still before lunch, and he would be able to meet with Petre at the Southside Town Deli as he had planned at noon. He had studied the paperwork he had received from Frasnia. He was certain he had it memorized by now. All of the reference points were duly learned, and he should not have any issue in landing at either of his officially designated landing spots.

  Before Ninan left the shipping yard at a half an hour before lunch, he went into the main office to let Frasnia know he was going to be leaving a few minutes early so he could eat lunch in the Port of Cerid. He had a cheerful jaunt to his step as he opened the office door. Frasnia was at her desk, and she returned the happy smile that Ninan had on his face as he said, “Hello, Frasnia. Thanks for the heads up that the shipment has been cleared.”

  “Are you sure of the teleporting coordinates?”

  “Absolutely, thanks to your wonderful instructions,” he replied with confidence.

  “Well then, when do you anticipate leaving? That shipment has already been delayed for weeks with the beetlesnatch infestation.”

  “I was thinking of leaving as soon as I’m done talking with you. I’d like to try the local cuisine in the Port of Cerid while I’m there.”

  “That sounds perfect. Just be sure to stay away from the raw seafood as I’ve heard it can be hazardous to your bowels in a multiple transfer telepod journey,” she laughed as she started to rifle through her desk drawer and came out triumphantly with her lockbox key.

  She turned and retrieved the pay box and said, “I might as well give you your paycheck before you go so that you’ll have money for lunch.” She found his envelope and handed it to him with a flourish. Frasnia stood up and walked across the room to a cabinet beside the front door and selected a key from the many rows inside the cabinet. She smiled and held out a key to him and said, “Here’s lucky number thirteen freighter telepod for your first assignment as a transporter. Both the freighter and the personal telepod inside are keyed the same.”

  Ninan excitedly received the key which Frasnia dropped into his outstretched palm. He curled his fingers around the object and smiled at Frasnia when he said, “Wish me luck!”

  “No luck will be needed as long as you follow my instructions,” Frasnia jokingly replied. “Your telepod is located at the back of the fenced telepod area. It’s just been serviced so there shouldn’t be any issues with performance. Be sure to put the telepod back in that same space when you return. If you get back after the office is closed, just deposit the key through the drop box next to the door here,” she said as she pointed to the return location with her left hand.

  “One more thing, Ninan,” Frasnia said as Ninan had turned to leave, “try to be nice to Kenen at the Beewa Quarry. He’s not the nicest guy to start with, and this shipment is already way overdue. Kenen hasn’t been happy with the delay, and he might try to take it out on you. Just apologize a lot and try to get out of there quickly before he really gets started in on his tirade!

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Frasnia exclaimed as she bent down to reach under the desk. “Here’s the anti-venom kit, just in case, since that shipment was quarantined for the beetlesnatch infestation. I wouldn’t want you to have to worry about being in the telepod with a beetlesnatch on the loose.”

  Ninan accepted the kit, grinned and replied, “Thanks for the warning about Kenen. I’ll be at my most diplomatic!” He was already out the door and down the first step before he remembered he probably would not see Frasnia until the weekend was over and said over his shoulder, “Have a great weekend, Frasnia!” He glimpsed her smile and her farewell wave just as the office door finished closing.

  He walked across the shipping yard to the waiting telepod. While he had limited experience with personal telepods, Ninan had never been responsible for a freighter telepod, and he was more than a little anxious it would be more complicated than he was equipped to handle and something would go terribly wrong. Ninan found telepod number thirteen located next to the fence just where Frasnia had said it would be.

  He used the key to activate the opening of the loading door and stepped onto the platform. He was glad nobody was around to witness his open-mouthed admiration of the interior size of the freighter telepod. The space inside was three times greater than the size of his entire new house. He walked beyond the personal telepod near the entrance and heard his footsteps echo across the empty expanse as he traversed the length of the cargo bay to get to the control panel.

  With trepidation, Ninan sat down in the left-side controller seat and palmed the dash control to close the loading door. As soon as the airlock was sealed, Ninan let out a whoop of exhilaration that he was actually going to be operating this beautiful marvel of modern machinery. He set the anti-venom kit down on the floor next to his chair, keeping in mind he would need it within easy reach if anything happened.

  Ninan was especially conscious of his new position. He knew he needed to impress Bryon with this assignment because this was possibly his only shot at a promotion. He reached into his back pocket and took out the folded, well-read paperwork Frasnia had given him for this assignment. He once again reviewed the directions on how to get to the Port of Cerid.

  With more than a little apprehension he keyed the start up commands for the telepod and confirmed all was okay by taking note of every green indicator light on the control panel. His excitement level rose as he could feel the huge telepod hovering close to the ground. Next, he closed his eyes to visualize the coordinates of where he was supposed to go before he allowed his hand to rest on the activation module.

  He felt the few seconds of fear when darkness overwhelmed his senses, and absolute nothin
gness took over. Just as he was on the verge of panic but with the coordinates still clear in his mind, he reappeared in the air and exhaled a huge sigh of relief. The coordinates had teleported him to a location above the Port of Cerid so it was a simple matter of using the manual controls to steer the telepod into the proper location at the shipping yard and begin the shutdown procedure. He carefully placed Frasnia’s packet of paperwork beside the anti-venom kit for when he would have a full cargo load to transfer to Beewa.

  As he exited the loading platform, Ninan noticed the shipping yard of the port was unusually busy. People were rushing to and fro with both paperwork and goods for shipment. Not quite sure of where he was supposed to go to find out where his cargo was located, Ninan stopped the first person who passed close enough to him and asked, “Where is the main office located?”

  “See that red building down on the left,” the man hurriedly said and looked back to Ninan to verify he had the proper location and site, “just after that building take the first right, the office will be across from that, it’s got a blue door. You can’t miss it.” As soon as the man was done talking, he left abruptly.

  Since Ninan was used to working in shipping yards, he knew these people were on a tight schedule, and he did not take offense. He followed the directions exactly, and sure enough, the main office was right where the man had said it would be. He walked through the door and waited in line until it was his opportunity to ask the desk clerk about his cargo.

  “I’m here to pick up the shipment which has been in quarantine that’s bound for Beewa.”

  The harried clerk did a double take and actually looked at Ninan for the first time. “Well,” said the clerk, “it’ll be a real relief to get rid of that load, I must say. Never in my life have I been so afraid to come to work every day. I’ve never heard of a beetlesnatch infestation during this time year.”

  “Yeah,” said Ninan, “I’m not really thrilled about having the shipment in the telepod with me either. I’ve got an anti-venom kit in the ‘pod just in case,” Ninan chuckled.

  “Smart,” the clerk said as he was typing the order request on his patil. “Ah,” said the clerk, “this cargo goes to Kenen, right?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “In which dock did you land?”

  “Dock 44,” replied Ninan, glad he had taken the time to look before he had walked away from the telepod.

  “Perfect, that’s really close to where we have it stored at the moment. Take a seat over there and I’ll have one of our loaders pull it from the warehouse and bring it over to your transport. I’ll have someone come and get you when you need to head out there to supervise the loading.”

  “Thanks,” said Ninan as he turned and sat down in the proffered seat.

  As it turned out, he only had to wait a couple of minutes before somebody came through the office door and asked for the handler for the quarantined cargo. He immediately stood up and walked over and shook hands with the loader. “That was quick!”

  “Can you blame us?” he asked with a smile as he turned to leave the office, “We’ll be real glad to see the backside of this shipment. As it is, we had to draw short straws to figure out who would be unlucky enough to have to load it into your transport.”

  “I totally understand,” replied Ninan as he followed the loader out the front door of the office. The nervousness from the worker was starting to transfer over to Ninan. He was feeling more trepidation for completing this assignment. Ninan shuddered and then had to give himself a little shake to ease his tension. He felt in his core that the completion of this task was absolutely necessary for his future success in Kirma.

  The loader set a swift pace through the corridors of the shipping yard. Again, Ninan was used to this and had no trouble keeping up. Just as the desk clerk had indicated, the shipment was not only close, it had been stored in the building right next to the loading dock where Ninan had set down the freighter.

  The loader looked over his shoulder and said to Ninan, “If you wouldn’t mind keying your loading door open, we can start scanning the crates, and getting them loaded immediately.”

  “I’m on it,” Ninan replied cheerfully as he continued on to the telepod and opened the loading door whereas the loader turned and walked into the warehouse to retrieve his shipment. Ninan watched carefully as they loaded crate after crate for more than twenty minutes.

  He noticed the loaders were very conscientious of weight and balance and appreciated the fact he was not going to have to oversee that aspect of the loading as well. After the last crate was installed in the hold, Ninan stopped the last loader as he was leaving and shook his hand saying, “Thank you for all your wonderful help.”

  “It’s what we get paid to do, man,” he replied with a smile, “but it sure is nice to be thanked every now and again. Have a great day!”

  Ninan watched as the man walked away. He noted with a smile how nobody lingered near his telepod. He was about to turn around and go back into his telepod when he realized he recognized someone from his old cargo handling days walking across the shipping yard. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Hey, Fordin!”

  The man crossing the yard stopped midstride and turned to see who was calling his name. As soon as he recognized Ninan, a smile broke across his face, and he turned and started walking over toward Ninan’s telepod. When he got within easy speaking distance, he said, “Well as I live and breathe, I never expected to see you here.”

  “I never expected to see myself here either,” replied Ninan with a smile as he reached to shake Fordin’s outstretched hand.

  Fordin used the handshake to pull Ninan into a manly bear hug and thumped him soundly on the back several times as was his custom. When he released Ninan from his embrace, he asked, “How long are you here?”

  “I was just getting ready to get some lunch at the Southside Town Deli,” replied Ninan as he looked down at his watch and noticed he still had another twenty minutes before he was supposed to meet up with Petre.

  “It’s been ages since I’ve been there,” exclaimed Fordin, “Mind a little company?”

  While Ninan really did want to be able to have some time with Fordin, he was reluctant to let him know with whom he was meeting. He looked at his watch again and replied, “Yeah, I do have a meeting with someone in about twenty minutes, but I’d love to be able to chat with you while I’m waiting,”

  Fordin smiled and replied, “Yeah, it’ll only take me a few minutes to down a couple of bruskins before I need to be on my way as well.” He clapped Ninan on the shoulder as they began walking out of the shipping yard together. Curiosity got the better of Fordin, and he asked, “Who are you meeting, anyway?”

  Left with no other option, Ninan decided to tell Fordin the truth and replied with a sigh, “Petre MacVeen.”

  “What business do you have with him?” Fordin’s disdain was evident in his voice, and he glanced at Ninan’s face.

  “It’s a long story, but I can give you the short version while we’re drinking a bruskin.”

  It was only a three-minute walk to the Southside Town Deli. Ninan and Fordin strode from the bright daylight into the dim interior of the deli. Before their eyes had a chance to adjust to the difference in the light they located the bar near the entrance and sat down at two empty barstools. The bartender greeted them with a smile and asked, “What’ll you have?”

  “Two bruskins,” replied Ninan as he dug into his pocket to get a couple of shills to place on the counter. He took a deep breath and wondered how much he was going to tell Fordin about his dealings with Petre. Ninan had always trusted Fordin and knew he was able to keep anything he was told in strict confidence. Ninan was tired of the lie he had been living since he had arrived in Kirma and he decided to tell Fordin the whole story.

  “Look, man,” Ninan began as the bartender put their two bruskins in front of them and swept up the money in the same practiced stroke. Ninan waited until the bartender was out of earshot and helping
another customer before he continued on with his story. Stalling for yet another moment, Ninan took a drink of his bruskin and looked over at Fordin and said, “Whatever I tell you today, you have to keep completely secret. Can you do that?”

  “Sure,” replied Fordin as he took a sip from his own bruskin. “You know, Ninan, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

  “I know that; I really just need somebody to talk to about this business with Petre MacVeen.”

  “It’s got to be pretty bad. Anything having to do with Petre is bad news.”

  “Oh, it’s not as bad as that,” replied Ninan and then qualified it with the statement, “at least I didn’t think so.” Ninan considered his next words as he continued to drink his bruskin. He played with the condensation on the side of his mug as he turned to Fordin and said, “I’ve been taking money from Petre to find this girl, who he says is his wife, and in return, I mail him weekly updates. The thing is, I am having a really hard time believing she’s his wife. I mean, if she really was his wife why isn’t she trying to be with him instead of just hanging out in Kirma?”

  At the mention of the word ‘wife’ Fordin’s features turned from polite interest to absolute incredulity. “With as many brothels as that man visits, I doubt any woman would stay with him, let alone marry him in the first place.”

  “That’s what I was thinking too. I mean every letter he’s had me send to him has been to a different brothel in a different city. Is it just me or does that seem tacky to you?”

  “So I take it you found her.”

  “Yeah I found her, except there’re complications,” he sighed with his reply and took another long drink of his bruskin.

  “What kind of complications?”

  “The worst kind,” replied Ninan as he lowered his voice and said, “She’s dead.”