The BridgeBook II: Requiem for the Blue Planetby euhal allen |
Table of Contents Chapter 5, part 1 appears in this issue. |
Chapter 5: Hearts Defined
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* * *
It took two days of slow travel to arrive in the correct position to use the door to the Starhell system. Katia very carefully aligned the angle and position of Harrigan’s Whelp before the initial seven-module set of the quarantine globe and sent the activation signal that created the opening and let her make the jump in an instant. “It is a good thing,” she thought as she entered the outer part of the Starhell system, “that the Galactic Council never developed these devices.”
Shortly thereafter Harrigan’s Whelp, having been detected by the system spy grid, found itself surrounded by a number of somewhat threatening vessels and the demand for identification.
In response, Katia, always one to do the unexpected, beamed a holographic image of herself onto the bridge of the lead ship and, upon recognizing the ship’s commander as the granddaughter of Elvira Hammet, said, “Hello, Blanca. It is nice to see you again.”
The commander, when she could get the words out, said simply, “It is an honor to have you aboard, Katia,” and then immediately ordered the other ships to stand down and provide an escort of honor to the Dream Singer’s ship.
Soon, the great granite doors above the space port cavern were opened to allow Harrigan’s Whelp to make its landing, closing immediately after the ship’s entry.
Katia, using all her sensors, examined the extent of the work that had been done and found herself very pleased, something that she made clear to Administrator Tinker just after she made her holographic entrance to his office.
“The work has progressed very well, Thomas. Your grandfather would have been proud if he could have seen it.”
“He did, Katia, he did. He came here just a short time before he died. He was very moved by what we had done even then.”
“He was here! Oh my, what a person can miss when she lives in a computer.”
“Dream Singer,” the Administrator asked, “will you sing for those who are new and never heard the old songs? It would be a treat to many of the old-timers to hear you again and it will make it easier for them to pass the dreams onto the newer ones.”
That very evening, all over Starhell, people stopped work early and listened to the Dream Singer as her haunting voice caressed their hearts and planted, or renewed and reinvigorated, dreams of a home for their people.
When it was over, the Administrator, sitting next to Natasha Borisovna, found himself answering questions as to the meaning of the songs and who this Katia Shapirov really was.
“You really don’t know, Natasha? I would think that you, of all people would know.”
“Why, Administrator Thomas, would you say that? How would I, or anyone from my village, know who this person is?”
“Because, Natasha,” Thomas Hiram Tinker explained, “Olga was your longtime leader, and Katia Shapirov was Olga’s mother.”
Natasha, overwhelmed at the words just spoken, whispered, “Olga’s mother? No wonder Olga could touch our hearts.”
* * *
Alexei’s Pride settled smoothly into its accustomed landing dock at the lunar Observation Post, and Cyr patiently waited to be brought up to speed as to what had been happening in this part of the system. What he found out was not to his liking.
“You did what with the et Sharma?”
Takeshi Kurihara replied, “We have sedated her and locked her in her quarters along with some others of the staff who were never a part of the project. What else could we have done?”
“Well,” replied Cyr, “right now slitting your throats doesn’t sound like too bad an idea. Who have you locked up with her?”
“Several of the communications people and some of the kitchen and maintenance staff, and, of course, Maestro Vertraumer.”
“Kalvin? You locked Kalvin in with her? He’s supposed to be on our side!”
“He is on our side, but he has to finish the Requiem as it was originally planned, as a dirge. He has to support the et Sharma is such a way that she will believe that once the force globe is in place the Galactic Council need not worry about anything we will be doing here in our death throes.
“Olga came up with the idea after she had talked to Me’Avi and realized that her daughter was never going to join us.”
Katia’s holographic form came into appearance just across the room from Takeshi. “A holographic image,” she said, “not being real, should never have to sit down, but I think now is an exception.
“You are saying that my daughter made herself known to my granddaughter?”
Takeshi answered, “Yes, Katia. The et Sharma was very angry at what we have been doing. She had visited both Olga and Sean’s empty villages and then went onto General Chu’s country and saw the picture of me as Dr. Jiang.
“She seemed to put some of the things that she saw into a pretty accurate picture of what we had been doing over the years.
“She came storming in here asking all sorts of questions, one of which was the whereabouts of her mother. That was when Olga made herself known and told her that we were trying to save our people down there.”
Katia, seeming to sink a little lower in her chair, said, “Oh, my. Takeshi, somehow I have a feeling that there is more.”
“It reminds me of the Chinese pictogram for trouble. You know, the symbol of a roof with two women under it,” Takeshi replied. “The et Sharma part of her seemed to reel at the thought of our seeking to help those condemned barbarians. And the daughter part of her was unbelievably distressed that her own mother would allow her to grow up as an orphan in order to help our people.”
The holographic image seemed to freeze into position while the silence from her became oppressive to those in the room. Finally, looking up at them, Katia asked, “And, General Chu, how much did my granddaughter say before him?”
“We don’t know, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much right now.”
The image closed her eyes and, after seeming to take several deep breaths, said, “And you are going to tell me why a man with the power General Chu has will do nothing with the information Me’Avi et Sharma gave him.”
“The et Sharma had her attendants execute General Chu as they left his office.”
Cyr could no longer maintain the holograph and, at the same time — even really smart computers have limits — absorb the ramifications of what had happened in the short time he had been away. So, Katia Shapirov’s image just faded out, looking like the visual impression of a sigh of resignation.
* * *
Janine and Harlan McCabe listened carefully as Natasha Borisovna and her village’s healer, Katrina, discussed the scene before them.
“The vale,” Natasha Borisovna was saying, “you have discovered is a natural shelter from the wind, but it is too narrow in most of its length for a village. A snow buildup on the mountains on either side — there is supposed to be snow some day, is there not? — could become an avalanche that would cover a village.
“What is needed was better seen in the valley we saw several miles back. There, a village could be situated on the rise in the middle of the east side where the rising slopes were of a more gentle nature.”
“We thought,” said Harlan, “that protection from the wind would be more important to the village. No one ever told us about avalanches.”
“That is because you lived on land that was more flat and where winds have little to stop them. The winds, especially where they bring the cold air from the mountains around, must indeed be reckoned with. But that is why we construct the homes in the village where we do. We know of winds in Siberia. We also know of snow and cold. You must take all of this into consideration when you plan a village.
“Come, let us go back to the other valley and we will show you its qualities as we see them. We will show you how we would set up a village there.
“Then when you do your scouting in the future you will know more of what to look for.”
* * *
Katia, in her holographic form, was enjoying a brief bit of remembering with some of the older ones in the colony, laughing hard enough at times that holographic tears ran down her cheeks. It was then that her communicator alerted her to an incoming message classified Most Urgent. “Excuse me, please, but I have to check on something for a moment or two.”
“Katia, this is Cyr. You need to return to Earth at all possible speed. Things are not only bad here, they are horrendous, and they need your personal attention at once.
“Following is the recording of my recent conversation with Takeshi Kurihara and his discussion of the recent events that have taken place both on earth and at the Observation Post.
“I tried to be an actor, but I believe that this set of problems will require a performance suitable for the old theatrical awards of the twentieth century.
“Come quickly, or I will have to handle it like a computer.”
Katia watched the recording and, upon finishing it, sent a request for immediate clearance for take off. Then she popped back to the little group she had been visiting and told them that a small problem had come up and she had to go take care of it right away.
Moments later, the great granite doors opened and the Harrigan’s Whelp shot out of the space port and headed directly for the Starhell system’s gateway, a two-day journey at system speeds. Harrigan’s Whelp made it in one, transmitting the destination codes for Earth at the earliest possible moment.
Making the jump at excessive speeds she entered Sol’s system and headed for the Observation Post, another two-day journey that she would make in thirty-two hours.
* * *
The funeral for General Chu was massive. People from all over his country came to pay last respects, and to show their disappointment at his strange death. There were no marks of any kind on him. It seemed that he had just stopped living.
Also discussed was what was going to happen without him. Already some of those on the boarder regions were beginning to show a spirit of independence that they would never have dared if the General were still alive.
Already those underlings who had served the General were scheming as to how they could get their rewards for their service. Many of those expecting rewards began to clash over things more than one person wanted.
Already the University was beginning to distance itself from the people and saying that they should become the leaders of the country.
Already troops were being readied to defend each of their commanding officer’s claims to power and prestige.
Soon, everyone could already see, the whole of the country would become just like the surrounding areas, crowds of barbarians, each following the leader that was closest and strongest. General Chu had been the connecting factor and, while there were many who would gladly steal his shoes, there was no one available who could step into them and wear them.
Copyright © 2005 by euhal allen
