L'Gem

by Sharon L Reddy

  Chapter Forty

  Quinn went to get Bam, Topper and Labs. He told Loopy they were going where Case wished. She grinned widely, said she'd seen them in a few days and waved bye-bye. Labs said, "Days?" and Quinn laughed and moved them.

  They arrived in front of a big glide shop. They walked in, looked around and figured out they were on Aldora by the name of the glide race being shown on a big ad screen.

  Nev suddenly went one way and Bard when another, moving just as fast. The group split to follow. Blade, Topper and Labs followed Nev. He'd found costumes. He'd also found the backyard, with a large number of people, who wore the clothes and accessorized in a quite different manner than the ad screens showed.

  Bard had found the main back door. He led Case, Stats, Quinn and Bam through it. The used glides in the lot were far more interesting than the gleaming new ones. Most were also far 'less' glide. Everything not essential had been stripped off, then they'd been colorbonded very interestingly and seats and 'trim' added. Blade walked out with a size scanner, said, "That one and that one," scanned them all and went back in.

  Someone noticed Topper, Labs and Blade were carrying things Nev loaded on them to the purchase counter. When he walked in, Topper said, "I'm buying." Nev and Labs complained.

  "Topper is going to be tough to beat."

  "I've been practicing, Blade. Between Quinn and Loopy, the only way to claim the bill is get to the cashier before they start choosing."

  "Nev says he's paying when he makes reservations, if his grandma will be there. The only time we got to spend anything was when he wasn't with us. Putting it all in one account was the only solution."

  "Yes, it is."

  "Bam yesterday, 'They can't think of us as a family because we've got all these too well-known names.' And they give both sides of Loopy's."

  "B R A I G H T O N, Braighton."

  "That's not spelled as pronounced."

  "It's his great-great-grandfather's. There aren't any others on two worlds. Are you going to find four other families, Nev?"

  "No, but they will, now. If you do it fast enough, several hundred attorneys, accountants, bankers and commentators won't assist."

  "Let's go, Topper."

  "I'll be back to pay!"

  "Total that, please! I'll pay for the rest."

  "Rest?"

  "That was gear, Blade. Through that door is style. Unlock it, please!"

  "He was outside, and what's in there gets more than a comp watch."

  "Exactly, and Topper and Labs are not prepared for it."

  "Are we?"

  "No, but we're ready, or we wouldn't be here."

  "Good point. Maybe."

  "This is designer."

  "Are we advertising?"

  "Yes."

  "All right, if you think this will sell golf courses…"

  Nev the burst into laughter and pointed to one of the racks. Blade checked the sizes and just took everything out of six sections to the counter, then moved to the next rack of men's clothes and took the contents of two sections to it.

  Nev sat down on the floor and giggled. Blade cleared sections of the third men's rack, then started on shelves. There weren't many of those, so it didn't take long. After that, he emptied accessory trays and cleaned wall pegs. The clerk walked in and blinked. Blade said, "Total, please. He'll recover enough to enter the account code," and walked out. Nev motioned 'yes' to the clerk, laid on the floor and giggled.

  Quinn moved fast. He led Bam, Topper and Labs out the back gate, out of comp watch on it and took them home, got Loopy and took them 'to the right court.' They arrived in a small office. A young woman walked through a door on one side, smiled widely and asked why they were in her office in Tappintree. Bam asked her if she'd seen Walt's special.

  "Yes, I did."

  "Did you notice he worked around calling our home the 'something' house, and everyone else lists all our full names and those of both her parents?"

  "Not then."

  "Well, we want a family name and Nev gave us his great-great-grandfather's, because he was the last."

  "It hurts him he and his sister are the only descendents of six families, and five of those family names are just gone. It wasn't a choice like our families made. We're a family, not roommates."

  "The names you carry are pretty special here too, Gen Quinn."

  "We don't want to drop them. We want to add one, without a hyphen."

  "And without the helpful advice of people who see us as attached to the money those names represent."

  "We want to dump all our cash in one account, have one name, and thoroughly confuse the heir counters. Our parents will think it's great. It makes my dad as mad as it does me when someone says, 'and Louisa Sanders, the Culbertson-Sanders heiress, and wealthiest of the group.' This is my family. These are my parents' kid's family, not her investment group, with relative financial contribution being denoted as percentage of stock shares, or 'reserve' noted as buyout leverage. We want to dump it all in together, all spend it together, all work at our own business together, and share a family name, so they can't wedge us apart with financial statements. It's hurting us. This is my symbol of forever love, not a membership badge in an exclusive investment club."

  "If you and your husband used different surnames and kept all your finances separate, would people immediately think of you as a family?"

  "No, Gen Ambrose, they wouldn't. Name?"

  "Braighton, B R A I G H T O N."

  "That's not spelled as pronounced."

  "We're not settlers, and it's a precious gift from our loved friend."

  "Braighton. Let's see how we can use our laws to make you legally a family, so you can file taxes jointly. I've got an idea."

  She was an attorney. Her grandmother was the district court judge. She found a code and precedent that could apply. She told her grandmother they proved it was needed on Mandolin, just as it had been on Liberty Gem, and it was a whole lot simpler than making a batch of new laws and filing categories. Her grandmother said their taxes could be higher, not lower. Quinn said that wasn't a consideration, but they'd rather pay the taxes than five accountants to do them, anyway.

  In eight minutes total, in a little town, the other side of the world from the capital, that was home to a district court, they became legally the Braighton family, got all their cash and "legally held assets" in the family account and the family name, got their family-business license, 'set the precedent' for other nontraditional families, and ended the spelled-like-it-sounds 'period' on Mandolin.

  The judge considered that essential before people began to consider moving to another world just a matter of paying passage and studying for a citizenship test in a year or two. That was all it required, anywhere, after settlement period, and the Interplanetary Supreme Court was narrowing what could be required in colonial charters rapidly.

  Quinn took them home, then took Bam, Topper and Labs to Aldora. They were all laughing when they arrived. Loopy was making an announcement list, practicing corrections, and really anticipating the look on people's faces when she spelled their name for them.

  Topper hurried in to enter their account code for the clerk. The clerk hadn't been worried. The others hadn't left. They were entering information for license check for a test ride. When Topper got to the back lot, Nev was on comm to his great-great-grandfather.

  "I gave them Braighton. They consider it a gift. I doubt their great-great-grandparents will mind sharing 'bragging rights,' Grandpapa Tarse. They already have their drivers licenses and insurance certification changed. The judge wanted a name that has to be spelled on Mandolin and the precedent of forming a family, without having to get it through their congress. Their attorney found a way, fast. I didn't think you'd mind the middle of the night call. I love you too. Good night. Comm out. He said he gets visits or he'll complain loudly. I was named for him. It pains him a bit I don't use Tarse, but he understands�
� everyone too well to be angry."

  "Thank you. We'll visit."

  "Two blocks east, one north of our house, northeast corner. Would you like to do their house addition instead of us?"

  "Yes, we would. Would they mind?"

  "I think they'd like it very much."

  "We've got a job!"

  "Yes, Bam, we do."

  "May I tell Loopy?"

  "Of course. Oh! No, it's not my good news. I didn't get it for us. Nev gave it to all of us, too."

  "I love you."

  "I love you too, family."

  "Family. It helps, Quinn, already and more than I expected."

  "Me too. Let's ride. Blade said we need a place to 'sort' everything they bought."

  They rode to a little park and Bard went to the right place for them to stay. When he got back, he was laughing. He'd arrived beside a big vehicle with a for-sale sign on it, in the parking lot of the glide shop.

  They rode back, looked it over, looked inside and grinned. It was a 'room,' with places to carry two glides and lots of party beverages and snacks, and it expanded. They went into the glide shop, said they'd take the glides and were "asking inside," as the sign on the vehicle had said to do.

  The clerk said it didn't run and Case said he'd take it. He walked into the "yard," said he needed to pay Bocko for the Blast Room and borrow tools. A woman said she was Bocko and tools weren't enough.

  "So the clerk said, but we need tools to find out what else it needs."

  "Too much or I wouldn't be selling it, but it's not overpriced for the stuff I did inside."

  "You're a designer-builder, not a mechanic."

  "That's some. Some is I'm getting settled."

  "She's getting old!"

  "Ow! Load, I'd get you for that if it wasn't true. When the Blast Room sat through two blowouts, and so did I, it was time to sell it to somebody who'll use it."

  "A party room on a disk is half a dream come true. The other half is getting it to where I can get a party in it. I'm Case. There are nine in the bunch, all men, all acutely short of feminine companionship after sunset recently. Before sunset, we were working."

  "You're about to take on another big job."

  "No, just a little fun with friends. Vacation stuff, and we all deserve it. We can fix anything."

  "Anything?"

  "Got a spaceship you want repaired?"

  "You fix spaceships?"

  "Haven't found one that needed fixing."

  "Lopel, open the tool cabs for them while I do the doc work with Case. It sounds like the Blast Room is going to the blowout this time."

  The tool cabinets in the shop area were opened. The documents didn't take long, so Case was outside with the others shortly after they got the big vehicle up on lifts. They bought disposable covalls and caps, said they'd pay for solvent and wipes they used when they finished, then went to work.

  A crowd gathered to watch. All of them knew Bocko had built the Blast Room on an old Loftletts Merchander, and it had gone to many blowouts in the eight years since she'd finished it. It had gotten good care, but it was worn out. That began to change fast.

  The watching group agreed on "best close place" to get parts. Nev called and began listing. The list grew as the rest of the vehicle systems were exposed. When the person at the parts store said they couldn't deliver in less than two hours, five laid down tools and got on glides. Bard, Nev, Case and Stats added six more parts to the order. When they added a seventh, Case got on his glide. They'd gone over capacity of the small carry boots of the five glides.

  Nev added one more part to the list, then picked up two and carried them into the glide shop. They just needed a good cleaning, but nearly everything that didn't need replacing did.

  Stats followed with two. Bard took more parts off. Stats returned with a bucket of solvent and a big stack of wipes and began cleaning the drive compartment. Nev brought parts back and picked up more.

  Bard finished disassembly and carried parts into the shop. He made a half-dozen trips, then brought back another bucket of solvent and stack of wipes and began cleaning the thrust tube housing.

  Nev brought out parts and took more in. Stats carried the bucket full of used wipes and a part in and brought clean solvent and wipes out, and began cleaning the inside of the disk. Nev brought parts out and took parts in.

  Blade got back, unloaded and unpackaged parts, carried trash and a part inside. Bard finished cleaning and carried his used wipes and a part in. He brought two parts and the empty bucket out. He took off his shoes and carefully stepped into the vehicle.

  The five more that came back with parts, one after the other, used the bucket for trash. By the time it was full, the second bucket had been brought back empty. The full bucket and last small part to be cleaned were carried in, and empty bucket and two parts brought back. Topper and Labs picked up the thrust tube assembly and carried it inside. They came out with two parts each.

  Bard stepped out of the vehicle, put his shoes on, Stats took his off and stepped in. Bard told Case all the interior appliances and systems looked good and rolled under the vehicle to begin reassembly.

  The others were pre-assembling, making small parts large units. Blade came out with parts, and rolled under. Case rolled under and the others began handing in units. Topper and Labs went in and Nev came out with parts. He handed them to Bard and rolled under.

  Quinn left Bam assembling and went to get cleaned parts. He made three trips, then began pre-assembly again. Topper made two trips out with two parts and went back in. A short time later, he and Labs carried out the cleaned thrust assembly. They went back in, then returned with the last cleaned parts.

  The Blast Room began to be reassembled in chunks. Stats stepped out, said the comp components tested good and he needed power before he could learn more, then went to work on pre-assembling the a-grav system.

  Thirty-nine minutes after the tool cabinets were opened, the tools were cleaned and put away. The Blast Room was ready for a blowout, except for stocking. The first thing they stocked was the water tank.

  Quinn, Bam, Topper and Labs went into the vehicle then went home to get clean. They weren't filthy and could have all used the sonic shower unit in the Blast Room, but preferred hot water. Bard, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats talked with their audience, got acquainted and learned more about blowouts.

  They were usually two-day parties in a park with cabins for overnight lodging, but some were on "un-farmable" land and people took along "sleepsacks." Twice a year, they were twelve-day "gathers" with dances and "showoffs," games and competitions for gliders. The only other vehicles welcome were those like the Blast Room, that had toilets, "cold keeps," "hot preps," "sonics" and a place to carry a glide.

  Families were welcome, but they came on glides, not in cars, and very few attended the usual blowouts. "Fats," glides with all the accessories that were stripped off the "sleeks," were more suitable for families with children and a "fat town" was part of the semiannual blowout plans. One of the gliders said it was the way a lot of old friends stayed good friends after their "party years," and how new generations of gliders learned the "traditions" and kept them fresh.

  Bocko wasn't planning to trade her sleek for a fat yet, but would eventually. Most did, even if they didn't get married and start families. There were gliders over a century old in fat town at the big blowouts. Most "drifted out" over the years, but some were "born to glide" and rode "from license day to dying day."

  They learned the back of the big store wasn't the social center for the gliders. It was just close to home for several, and a pleasant place to have coffee and talk. It closed at eighteen, but the restaurant and lounge named Highglide was always open. Most were going there that evening.

  Corlo advised they move the Blast Room at fifteen twenty-three local time. Traffic would not get less heavy for ten hours. Case didn't get any volunteers to ride with him to the lounge, just to
help load his sleek. They turned into the alley to park in back, as recommended, to leave the front parking area for dinner customers, and several whooped.

  There was obvious parking for vehicles like the Blast Room and a few parked there. The rest of the big lot behind the very big place was marked for glide parking, and there were many glides in it.

  'Sorting' took quite some time. They spent a lot of it laughing. Many of the 'clothes' were straps, strings and bands of cloth, and they had no idea how they went on to be 'shirts and pants.' That task was made more difficult because they were often designed to be fastened or 'completed' with the bands, bars, brooches, buttons, chains, cords, patches, pendants, pouches, scarves and strings of the accessories.

  Many of those were gemmed, and some patches, pouches and scarves were nearly crusts of them. Those were usually semiprecious or lab produced, but real gems were often the focus of the design. They were also always cut or set to show their uniqueness.

  Lab produced gems were too uniform and perfect to be jewels. The designers of the accessories used them for flash and glitter, and as settings to display 'the real thing.'

  The pieces of the costume Topper had bought were nearly a uniform. The waist-length jackets were several styles and colors, but all were waist length and all had detachable sleeves and back panels that came off. Pants were several styles and colors too, but all had removable panels that made them hip-riding leg wraps, and those had panels that came off and/or seams. Gloves had fingertips and panels that came off. Even the sturdy-soled, soft-shafted mid-calf height boots had removable sections.

  Pouches were part of costumes, and fastened or strapped on, because one needed a place to put all the pieces that came off, and the warmer it got, the more that did. The yard had been warm enough some pieces were removed, and Nev had seen what some more under. It was not the casual shirts or even bare skin shown in displays of 'covers.'

  The ads talked little about ventilation and much about protection. When fully fastened, including helmets with face shields and throat covers that attached to jacket collars, the outerwear was sturdy protection against all the hazards of riding a non-enclosed, non-shielded vehicle.

  Straps and braces were used to keep the semi-reclining riders on the glides at speeds of up to four hundred KPH. If the sleek 'windwings and beak' were designed right, the wind went over and around the riders. If they weren't, they learned it before they reached two hundred KPH. The sleek could go faster, but it would be without riders.

  Most of the time, people rode their sleeks at much lower speeds, in the cities, or on long pleasant rides to and through parks or farmlands. Sleeves might be removed, helms not worn, leg seams opened, but "unders" were party clothes, and gliders "vented" to dance.

  You knew a band was "the hottest" if the gliders took off their jackets, and four bands had "heated up the Highglide dance floor" so much, the gliders removed their "hip riders." One of the four was playing that night, and another would be at the blowout on a campground two hundred thirty K northeast the next two nights.

  The men were almost finished sorting, when Bard answered a call on his comm chron and burst into laughter. He listened, said, "Definitely," then told the others about the call.

  "Danny, Loopy and Frets went shopping 'Blade style.' The clerk was giggling too hard to do it, so they did the price scans for him. They said this is going to be too much fun not to do often. They've got sleeks and they bought a place to store them and the Blast Room. They're going to 'repair, replace and add to the rock field with a shed,' while we play, this time. They found out it's getting more difficult to find a place for a blowout all time. The place they bought has a drive to it, period, but there's water under it and they got a well permit. We're invited to 'park our glides' after the blowout. Danny said Gant and Joel are going to build their own sleeks, and may not be the only ones who decide the big blowout is the fun place this summer. Nev's great-grandfather, Jason, thinks fat town sounds fascinating."

  "They can really play here!"

  "I wonder why I wonder how everybody finds out these things."

  "I told Gant and Joel, Blade."

  "Thank you, Bam."

  "I told Danny."

  "I'm not surprised, Case, but it's two seventeen there. How did Jason hear about it at this time?"

  "It's not two seventeen somewhere else, Blade, and that may be where he's talking to or working with, or it will be. Grandpa Jason 'resets his clock' more easily than anyone else I know. He also naps, gets up, naps, gets up to talk to people around the world. Calling him at two seventeen doesn't disturb him even if he's asleep. I didn't, but everyone on Liberty Gem may be planning daytrips to get sleeks and go to blowouts by now."

  "Oh, if everybody knows, the time there isn't surprising. I thought it was just your family."

  "As Blade pointed out, our time is way off from theirs. If we want to play late with them, we need long naps. The band doesn't start for over five hours."

  "Good point, Bard. See you guys in four hours for dinner."

  "See you then, Quinn."

  "We'll nap here in case someone we met looks for us, and make dinner reservations."

  "Both good ideas, Stats. We'll be back in four hours."

  Danny moved the georgie. She realized she had a limit because the dozer was heavy for her. She told Frets she suspected some of it was tired. Frets and Loopy told her to nap. She curled up in a corner of the big shed on a pad. Frets and Loopy needed a device to move, though both were sure they'd learn to use one "wherever." Danny wouldn't leave them without a "mover."

  Frets and Loopy went to work changing the landscape. Even with the georgie and dozer, it was going to take time to clean off enough rocks to do what they wanted. The government had leased the land and shed for seventeen years. It had built a new equipment facility forty-six K away and no longer needed it for road-building equipment.

  Frets and Loopy got a lot done in the two hours Danny napped. When she awoke, they installed the two generators and fans in the shed, then the interior lights. After that, they put the big work lights on the outside of the shed. They didn't hook them up. Dawn and Drand would do that in their morning, using hand lamps until they were done. Danny took them home at dusk in that time zone, a few minutes after the men had gone back to it.