Things Fall Apart: Chapter 42

Newer York, Boarding lounge 23, 5 Tammuz 2541, mid-afternoon

The trio from Zephyr each grabbed their duffel bags, and made their way through the airlocks to a lift. They were now unquestionably under the influence of the city's spin gravity, which meant the baggage was hardly a burden. Cadotte was still feeling just slightly irked that they were under personnel restrictions that meant they had to carry the bags themselves. It felt like a violation of uniform code to be carrying a case in dress greys.

At least Singer isn't the type to make the junior-most member of the party do all the carrying, mused Cadotte.

The lift had a screen which displayed a pleasant, "Welcome to Dream of Spring. This is docking pier 23. Please remember where you parked." This was followed by, "The local date and time is 5 Tammuz 2541 After Starfall, 14h31m," which, as Cadotte was looking at it, flipped to "14h32m". Below that was an indication of apparent gravity, which went up slightly as the lift moved "down" toward the reception lounge. Cadotte, of course, knew it was really "outward", but even a born Spacer had trouble thinking of it as anything but "down".

As the lift came to a stop, they learned from the display that they were now 0.02G heavier—about 0.22G. As the lift came to rest, a pleasant voice said, "Now arriving at lounge twenty-three. Please stand clear of the doors," followed by a two-tone chime.

The doors in front of them parted, and opened onto a pleasantly appointed, if not fancy, room that partook of the general design of arrival and departure lounges dating back to antiquity. Clearly, this lock was not reserved for diplomatic access, as there were several rows of seats where passengers could wait, and an obvious console where the staff responsible for boarding a more usual route might stand to check boarding credentials and solve issues. The far side was a wall of what looked to be glass or parasteel, but currently opaqued, and the doors were closed. Cadotte bet themselves a beer that the other side was currently discretely guarded.

In the lounge itself, however, were three persons, resulting in a nice symmetry with the three from Zephyr that may or may not have been intended. Center was Donato, whom Cadotte recognized from the recording of his communication with Singer. Were it not for the fact that both he and the woman to his right displayed some of the physical tells of having grown up in less than "standard" gravity, both being taller than average and certainly taller than any of Zephyr's diplomatic party, Cadotte would not have known which was the Governor, or which the Ambassador.

Waiting quietly to one side was one robot, which caused Cadotte to quirk an eyebrow. While the ship had H4—well, H7 drones on Zephyr—and every station used robots for some kinds of work, they tended not to be prominent. Cadotte suddenly wanted time to do a deep dive into the cultural differences that led to their own culture being fine with only semi-embodied AI, like Chef and his cousins, but weird about actual robots.

If nothing else, it suggested that they would not have to keep on carrying their own bags.

For the moment, however, the three of them quietly, following Singer's lead, made a diversion to lay their bags down on nearby chairs. If anybody thought this odd, it didn't show.

They had already discussed the rest of the blocking for this moment, and came to rest about three meters from the other party, similarly arranged, with Singer in the middle, Espinoza on her right, Cadotte on her left. Singer opened with the ritual, "Permission to come aboard, sir?"

If Donato was surprised, he didn't show it, as he responded, "Granted, Commander. Welcome to David's Star, and to Newer York. Here," he gestured to his right, "is Yehudit Silverman, Governor-General of the David's Star Republic; and here," he gestured left, "is Brunislava Ellison, ambassador plenipotentiary to the DSR from the Tau Ceti Treaty Organization."

Cadotte noticed, perhaps because of where they were standing, a red welt on the admiral's jaw. They also did not need to have Singer's empathic sense to see that Ellison was wrestling with several conflicting emotions. Only Silverman seemed entirely unruffled at the moment, but that could have been a pose.

Like Cadotte's own.

Regardless, Singer followed the forms. "I'm very pleased to meet all of you. Here is my chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Ari ben Yosef Espinoza, and my chief science officer, Lieutenant Wayra Cadotte."

Cadotte wondered how they would move on from there, but the admiral seemed already to have this planned out. "Commander, despite my perhaps misplaced attempt at humor, you, your ship, your crew, and the news you bring us are very much welcome here, even if the news be bad."

Singer continued as if this had been rehearsed, though Cadotte knew that, on her part, it was not. "Admiral, I dearly wish that the news I carry was merely bad."

Cadotte saw her captain eyeing the same red welt on the Admiral's face, and also saw Ellison's mood settle into one very clear one: she was enormously pleased with herself, enough that it practically shone from her face. "I had expected to have more to say about your sense of humor, but I believe the ambassador has already delivered my government's official position on the matter, and I am content to let it rest there and accept your apology."

Ellison fairly beamed. Cadotte was also quite positive who put that welt on the admiral's face. The ambassador, thought Cadotte, is left-handed.

Silverman was more restrained but also seemed quite pleased with the direction Singer had taken. It had not, after all, quite been an apology, but either way, the air was clear.

Donato recognized a set point when it had been served, and merely nodded graciously. Singer turned her attention to Silverman. "Governor, in the midst of catastrophic news, I have one small offering of better."

At first, the other woman looked puzzled, but then, her face lit as she said, "My nephew?!"

Singer nodded, "Alive and well. We never would have gotten Zephyr out of dock without him. I'd have shanghaied him and brought him along, but Commodore Haraldsdottir needed him too badly back at G-581."

There were the beginnings of tears in Silverman's eyes, but her face was glowing. "May I tell my mishpachah? And, will you be re-establishing a network node here? Can I write to him?"

Cadotte made a note to themselves to look up the unfamiliar word. They had been too focused on cramming various papers on AI behavior and misbehavior in anticipation of carrying on what they hoped would be fruitful conversations with the AI Institute here in system. They'd never been to Newer York before, and knew little about this culture, other than that it was very old, and somewhat communal. Perhaps that was what the word implied.

If Singer found the word unfamiliar, she rolled with it anyway. "As to the first, certainly. While there could be risk of envy, let's spread what joyful news we can. The second, I believe, will be a matter for discussion when we meet later. We are willing, but it does require the formal concurrence of your government. In the meantime, however, Zephyr herself is willing to act as a relay for limited purposes. Please understand that the only chain the network currently has is between us and Gliese-581, however."

"I quite understand, and agree that the formal decision of seeding a new relay should wait upon formalities. Thank you for this news." Tears were streaming now, but she showed no shame at them. Instead, Silverman, in turn, swiveled to look at Espinoza. "Are you going to tell your mishpachah you're alive, Commander?" She let a small amount of irony be heard in addressing him.

Cadotte did not know Espinoza well, but had vaguely known he had ties here. Still, the question seemed to catch him off guard. It took a moment before he replied, "As soon as I have leisure, ma'am, of course! If time permits, I will even go visit. I understand I have at least two young cousins I need to make faces at and otherwise start corrupting!"

Donato was not quite done making mischief, or perhaps genuinely did not want them to feel left out, and looked to Cadotte, saying, "Lieutenant, do you also have ties here?"

A bit surprised to have even been seen, Cadotte tried to reply with some of the same assurance they'd heard from Singer. "No, sir. In truth, this is the first time I've been here, at all. However, I am hoping eventually to make acquaintances with members of your AI Institute."

Donato smiled, and Cadotte wondered if they'd given up a point in the game that was clearly being played here, but if so, nobody was rushing to shut them up or redirect. Instead, he said, "I look forward to facilitating that introduction for you."

"Thank you, sir."

Singer picked up the ball from there, and said "At the risk of rushing matters, I believe we should repair to the embassy with Ambassador Ellison, and properly bring her up to date. There's a lot to get through, and the sooner we brief her, the sooner we can all brief the rest of you, and the sooner you can make those introductions for us."

Ellison nodded, "Commander, only years of training are keeping me from sitting you down right here and getting you to spill it. Admiral, Governor, I'll be in touch, at the latest, by this time tomorrow, to arrange our formal briefing with you, and whomever else you feel should hear that briefing first hand."

There was a hint there Cadotte did not catch, beyond that it was a hint. She saw Donato catch it, though. A flicker of impatience, perhaps, but then acceptance.

"The Governor and I will confer on that question. That timing is quite acceptable. Commander Singer, we leave you in the Ambassador's able care, but before we do, a question: what's in the bags?"

Out of the corner of their eye, Cadotte saw a quirk of a smile on Singer's face. "We were not sure of the state of resources here, and didn't want to presume on local replication. So, just undress uniforms, some other clothes, toiletries, the super-secret plans for the downfall of the DSR, that sort of thing."

Except for that quirk of a smile, Singer said this with an absolutely straight face. Ellison and Silverman were each just a light breeze away from bursting into laughter. Donato was less visibly affected, perhaps reflecting that he'd started this particular game and now he had to play it.

Singer continued, "We chose not to bring aboard the two AIs we have in secure storage, until we have time to discuss how the Institute might help us."

Donato seemed to need a minute to find his voice, but finally said, "Well, that sounds just fine, then, Commander. So that you are not surprised, there is a small escort from our police force just beyond the doors to this lounge, and two more members of embassy security as well, who will be accompanying you. Our reputation as a fairly tranquil place is not unearned, but tensions are high. We felt a small...call it an honor guard, prudent."

Singer took this entirely in stride. "I quite understand, Admiral. In the meantime, I look forward to speaking with both of you," she indicated the governor as well, "...tomorrow." The pause was small, but Cadotte caught it. That unfamiliar time reference. Not merely "later" but "the day after today". Because, days. And hours and minutes.

The ambassador looked at the robot and said, "Seven-Five, would you grab the bags and bring them along, please?" The machine did not respond except to extend manipulators and grab the baggage.

They all walked forward, two rows of three, to the doors, robot trailing behind. Then, after one more brief farewell, the admiral and governor went up the curve one way, with the air of two people who were going to have a lot to talk about once out of earshot.

The ambassador motioned to the guard, who formed up around them. There were two in dark blue livery, with patches that proclaimed them officers of the Newer York Police Department; and two in grey outfits with deep purple stripes down one sleeve, wearing badges identifying them as TCTO Embassy security. To Cadotte's eye, they all looked a bit uneasy. Not hostile, per se, but nervous, and uncertain what to expect.

Then, Ellison took Singer's arm like they were old friends, as they went up the curve opposite. As they began walking, Ellison leaned in and said to Singer, "Commander, my dear, that was absolutely magnificent. You handled him splendidly! You're going to do fine, here! Now, let me play tour guide a bit as we walk to the train..."