Earth 2788 (21 page)

I frowned. “You’re
saying I ruined things for Marlise exactly the same way that I ruined things
for Gemelle?”

“I’m not saying
that at all,” said Asante. “You tricked Gemelle into splitting up with a
boyfriend that she cared for, but your Marlise made a free choice to end a
relationship she didn’t want. That’s entirely different.”

I hoped he was
right.

“If you have
anything like the same eager, dumb-struck expression on your face when you talk
to Marlise as when you talk about her,” continued Asante, “then the girl should
have realized you’re in love with her. If you aren’t getting any response from
her, then I think it’s because of her own lack of confidence. She can’t believe
you could be seriously interested in someone who isn’t beautiful. You’re scared
to propose to her without an indication that she’s interested, and she’s scared
to give you that indication because she thinks it will embarrass you and make
her look a fool.”

“So what do I
do? Propose again?”

“No,” said
Asante. “If you want marriage rather than a quick tumble, then you don’t just
need to convince your Marlise that you’re interested in her, but that you’ll stay
interested in her when other people keep throwing themselves at you in the
future. You have to build a proper foundation before you propose again. Talk to
Marlise and tell her what you said to me earlier. Say that she’s very important
to you as both a deputy and a friend. Do you think you can say that coherently?”

“I hope I can,
but she’s on a different planet at the moment.”

Asante gave me a
pitying look. “You have a perfectly functioning lookup, Drago. You can use it
to call the girl.”

I realized he was
right. A proposal had to be made in person, but I could call Marlise to tell
her she was important to me. I started mentally planning the conversation.
Could I start by saying I was calling to check she’d arrived safely? It was
preposterous to call a Military officer to check she’d managed to safely walk
through a few interstellar portals, but …

My lookup chose
that moment to start chiming.

“Chaos take it!”
said Asante in despairing tones. “I hate those things disturbing the ambiance
of my MeetUp. Have you been away so long that you’ve forgotten I insist on
people keeping their lookups set to only receive emergency calls?”

“My lookup
is
in emergency mode!” I stood up and stared down at the call information on my
lookup. General Hiraga was calling me and that meant …

I bit my lip and
stabbed a finger at my lookup to take the call. “Yes, sir.”

“Sorry to
disturb you when you’re on leave, Major Tell Dramis, but I need to discuss a
possible future posting with you.” General Hiraga paused. “I see you’re not alone.
This matter is highly confidential, so I’ll put this call on hold until you
find a suitably private location.”

Her image froze
on the screen. I kept staring at it for a few seconds longer, then sagged back
down into my chair, letting myself flop across the table so my head rested on
my arms.

“Are you all
right, Drago?” asked Asante.

I needed a
moment longer to get myself under control before I could risk lifting my head.
I discovered everyone in the MeetUp was staring at me.

“I’m sorry I
acted a little oddly then, but when you get a personal emergency call from a
General …” I had to break off for a moment because my voice was shaking. “Well,
it usually means someone very close to you has been killed.”

Asante patted me
on the shoulder. “That’s all right, Drago.”

I rubbed a hand
across my forehead. “I don’t understand why General Hiraga scared me to death
by calling me directly herself, instead of getting Command Support to put
through the call. I’d better go and see what she wants.”

I headed out of
the MeetUp to a square paved area with a huge central laser light sculpture.
The square was surrounded by eating places and entertainment venues, so there
were plenty of people wandering to and fro, while others sat on benches
admiring the dazzling light strands of the sculpture that lit up the night sky.
I needed somewhere far more private than this.

There were half
a dozen portals scattered round the square. I headed for the nearest one, pausing
to think when I reached it. If I portalled home to my clan hall, then I’d
probably meet a dozen members of the clan on my way to my room. They’d all stop
to either welcome me home because they hadn’t seen me since my return, or ask
why I was back so early from my evening out. Where did I know that would be
totally deserted after dark?

I finally
remembered the place where my clan went to celebrate the birthday of our clan
founder, checked the code on my lookup, and dialled the portal. As soon as it
established, I stepped through to a beach that was lit only by the stars and
the twin moons of Zeus, and walked across to the familiar statue made of
glittering diamine.

It was too dark
to read the neat inscription about how a boy of 17 had tragically drowned on
this beach, but my hand could trace the outline of the larger letters below
that had been carved roughly by hand with a laser pen, and I knew exactly what
they said. “Of course I didn’t drown, you idiots. I can swim like a fish!”

I saluted the
statue, took a last look round to check the beach was empty, and could see no
sign of life except for the shadowy shape of a nocturnal Zeus hawk swooping low
above me. I tapped my lookup to reactivate General Hiraga’s call. “I’m now
totally alone on a beach, sir.”

“Excellent,”
said General Hiraga. “I’m talking to you on a secure link, Major Tell Dramis,
because this information is being strictly restricted to key personnel. We
don’t want the news channels getting hold of it before the official
announcement.”

I blinked. That
explained why she’d made this call herself, instead of getting Command Support
to make it for her, but why would my future posting interest the newzies?

“Humanity
founded far too many colony worlds far too fast during Exodus century,” said
General Hiraga. “The strain of that reckless overexpansion led to the near total
collapse of civilization, a situation that must not be repeated, so now
expansion proceeds at a carefully judged, sustainable pace. For the
colonization of Delta sector, the Military were set the target of opening about
two hundred worlds to match the number in each of the existing sectors, at a
rate of two worlds a year.”

I’d no idea why
I was being given a history lesson, but I daren’t interrupt the formidable
General Hiraga to ask questions. The most terrifying creatures humanity had
ever encountered were the chimera of Thetis, but in my opinion General Hiraga
was a close second when she lost her temper.

“That meant it
took a century for the colonization of Delta sector to be completed,” continued
General Hiraga. “When the Planet First teams moved on from Delta sector to
Epsilon sector, it was decided that the number of worlds opening for
colonization each year should increase from two to three. That rate of
expansion is now being maintained as we colonize Kappa sector.”

She paused. “The
final Kappa sector worlds should open for colonization in about forty years
from now. We’ll need Planet First operations to be well advanced in the next
sector, Zeta, by then. Since the stellar survey and selection of prospective
colony worlds in Zeta sector will take decades, the General Marshal and
representatives of Joint Sector High Congress Committee have authorized work to
begin on the initial stellar survey of Zeta sector at the beginning of next
year.”

Chaos, now I
understood why the newzies would be interested. The merest hint that the
Military were starting work in Zeta sector would have every newzie channel
screaming in excitement about a new sector for humanity.

General Hiraga
gave me a thin-lipped smile. “The current portal relay network will have to be
extended into the heart of Zeta sector, to allow Planet First Stellar Survey to
set up their base there. When the Military first extended the portal relay
network into Kappa sector, the news channels were told about it in advance, and
reported every unexpected difficulty and delay. We don’t want that happening
again, so this time there’ll be no official announcement until the Stellar
Survey base is actually operational.”

By now I’d
worked out what she must be going to say next, what assignment I was going to
be offered. I had an odd breathless moment.

“We need a
fighter team to go into Zeta sector and set up those portal relays, Major,”
said General Hiraga. “You have a very experienced team, glowing recommendations
from your last commanding officer, and a reputation for responding rapidly and
effectively to unexpected dangers. I realize your team has only just completed
a long and arduous Planet First assignment, but there’s time for you all to
have two months of leave before you head into Zeta sector.”

Her voice took
on a heavily formal note. “Major Tell Dramis, I must warn you that this
assignment will involve using drop portals to reach uncharted star systems that
may contain extreme hazards. You are under no pressure to volunteer for this
mission, and you may take a reasonable amount of time to consider your decision.”

I didn’t need
time to consider this. There’d obviously be risks portalling into the total
unknown, but I couldn’t turn down a chance like this. “I wish to volunteer,
sir. Should I start contacting my team immediately?”

General Hiraga
nodded. “We’ll want to know which of them are volunteering as soon as possible,
so we have plenty of time to select any necessary substitutes. You must make
sure they understand the need for absolute secrecy, Major, and formally warn
them of the potential danger involved before asking if they wish to volunteer.”

“Yes, sir. Thank
you, sir.”

She ended the
call, and I took a deep breath. This wasn’t exactly the conversation I’d been
thinking of having with Marlise, but …

I tapped at my
lookup, setting up a secure call to Marlise, and waited for about thirty
seconds before the call was accepted with sound only. “I don’t know what time
it is on Zeus,” said a resigned voice, “but I’d like to point out it’s three
o’clock in the morning here.”

“Sorry, Marlise,
I totally forgot to check time zones, but I’d have had to call you anyway. I’ve
just been contacted by General Hiraga.”

She groaned. “What
did you do this time?”

“Nothing! She
wanted to discuss our next assignment.”

“Already? We’ve
only been on leave for a day.”

“The assignment
doesn’t start for another two months,” I said.

“If it doesn’t
start for two months, why did you have to call me at three o’clock in the
morning?”

“Because General
Hiraga wants to know which of my team are willing to volunteer for this.”

“Volunteer?” The
call suddenly changed to include vision. Marlise was sitting up in bed, wearing
a sadly respectable sleep suit. “This sounds interesting.”

I grinned. “Captain
Weldon, you are being told this information in strictest confidence.”

She gave a brisk
nod. “Noted, sir.”

“I’m speaking to
you on a secure link. Are you totally alone?”

She lifted her
pillow, theatrically looked underneath it, and put it down again. “I’m totally
alone, sir. Where are they sending us?”

My grin widened.
“Zeta sector.”

“What! Why?”

“To start
setting up the portal relay network there. Our team has the chance to be the
first human beings to enter Zeta sector!”

Marlise grinned
back at me. “I volunteer, sir.”

“You know you
can’t volunteer before I give you the formal warning.”

“So get on with
it!”

I sighed. “Captain
Weldon, I must formally warn you that the assignment will involve using drop
portals to reach uncharted star systems that may contain extreme hazards. You
are under no pressure to volunteer for this mission.”

“I formally
volunteer, sir.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this is really happening.
Drago, if you’re making this up to tease me …”

“I wouldn’t do
that,” I said. “I’d hate to upset you, Marlise. You’re very important to me, as
both a deputy and a friend.”

She looked oddly
startled. “Thank you.” She seemed about to say something else, but changed her
mind, so there was a moment of silence. “I’d better let you carry on and call
the rest of the team now,” she said at last.

I reluctantly
shut down the secure link, frowned at the blank screen of my lookup, and
thought through Marlise’s reaction just then. She usually acted the part of a long-suffering
friend, who was tolerating my follies out of resigned loyalty, but I’d caught a
glimpse of something deeper and far more vulnerable. I wasn’t deluding myself
into thinking Marlise thought me irresistible, but there was something more
than just friendship there.

If Marlise cared
for me even a fraction as much as I cared for her, then I had every chance of
making things work between us. I’d wrecked things for me and Gemelle out of
childish selfishness, but I was definitely older now, hopefully wiser, and I
had Asante to advise me as well. After running a MeetUp for two decades, Asante
was an expert on relationships.

Things would be
different this time. I knew Marlise was perfect for me, and I was willing to do
anything I could to be perfect for her. We’d soon be exploring new physical
territory together in Zeta sector. I hoped we’d be exploring new emotional
territory together as well. I hoped we’d be exploring new challenges together
for the rest of our lives.

EARTH

Original home world
of humanity.

During Exodus century
(2310-2409) most of the population of Earth left for new worlds that were
less polluted and overcrowded.

Physically located in
the centre of Alpha sector, Earth is administered by the main board of
Hospital Earth under the moderate culture of Gamma sector.

Warning notes for
travellers:-

Hospital Earth
requests all visitors to avoid using the “ape” word to refer to its wards.

Special travel
information
:-

Earth is the only
world with more than one inhabited continent. Visitors wishing to travel
between continents need to use the inter-continental portals at
Transit facilities.

Special safety
information
:-

Hospital Earth
allows its wards free access to all public areas on Earth. Medical experts
advise that there is no health risk to visiting Earth or interacting with the
wards of Hospital Earth, however some visitors prefer to take the safety
precaution of only consuming food and drink from sealed cartons in private.

Earth has extensive ruined cities and wilderness areas that contain
dangerous animals and lingering pollution hazards. Visitors leaving
the designated safe zones do so entirely at their own risk.

Earth is the only inhabited world that suffers from regular solar
storms. These affect the portal network, causing portal shutdowns that can
last for periods of up to three days. Visitors are strongly advised to pay
close attention to any solar storm warnings

Hospital Earth accepts
no liability for any injuries or inconvenience caused to visitors.
The main board of Hospital Earth wishes all visitors to Earth a
pleasant stay.