‘I’ve already flown,’ said Fian, with his best fake martyred air. ‘I had no choice. If I hadn’t got in that plane, the snake Krath would have been in there making advances to Jarra. He follows her everywhere. So does everyone for that matter. Twenty-six of the class followed us to this zoo. We had to send them for ice cream and then run away.’
Issette grinned. ‘Jarra is mad about zoos.’ She glanced sideways, apparently listening to something. ‘I’m afraid I’ve got to go now, some of my classmates are waiting for us, but it was nice to meet you, Fian.’
‘Do I have to come?’ asked Keon.
‘Yes!’ ordered Issette.
Keon groaned. ‘Women are so much work. Lasers are much less demanding.’
The screen went blank.
Fian laughed. ‘Keon’s just how you described him. So, Issette got her contract. I expect that’s made you a lot happier.’
‘It’s wonderful,’ I said. ‘There’s only one dark cloud on the horizon.’
‘Which is?’
I peered through the branches of our bush. ‘Krath is coming this way.’
We ran down some more paths, and reached the tropical bird dome. We went inside, and hid ourselves away on a nice private bench behind a mass of huge palm leaves, while birds flew around overhead like feathered jewels.
‘Alone at last in a jungle clearing,’ said Fian. ‘This seems a good time to grant you permission to intrude on my restricted body areas.’
I frowned at him. ‘I’ve been looking things up. According to the social guidelines, Deltans are supposed to be terribly strict about respecting that boundary until they’re actually married.’
He grinned. ‘We aren’t in Delta sector, and this particular Deltan is very adaptable.’
23
The next day we were back in impact suits, and heading out to face winter in the New York ruins. The class drove a whole convoy of hover sleds along the clearway into the dig site. Fian and I were riding at the back of the lead transport sled. The rest of team 1 and Playdon were sitting nearer the front.
When we were at the zoo, Issette had raised that tricky question about future problems. Since then, I’d been trying to avoid discussing it, but Fian was insisting. Despite all the jokes about me ordering him around, Fian was extremely stubborn about getting his own way when he wanted something, and he had me cornered on this sled. I finally sighed and gave in.
‘All right,’ I said in a low voice, ‘if we must … I know quite well that you aren’t the Military type. I’m still torn between Military and history. Once I’ve got my pre-history degree then I really have to make a choice. If I’m committed to a relationship with a civilian at that point, then that would affect the decision.’
Fian shook his head. ‘I could make some compromises.’
‘Military couples are normally sent on the same active assignment. That can hinder their career a bit, but it’s much better for the relationship. Civilian partners of Military personnel can’t go on active assignment, and can have a tough time. They spend too much of their lives waiting around for their partner to be on leave for a few weeks. I wouldn’t want things to be like that.’
For some reason, I felt uncomfortable talking about this. I couldn’t work out why, but my head really didn’t want to debate this issue. Maybe it was all the jokes Issette and Keon had made about me being dominating. I didn’t want to push Fian into contracts and commitments. ‘I think it’s silly to worry too much about something four years away. Can’t we just leave it that we would both be willing to make compromises?’
‘All right,’ said Fian.
We sat in silence for a while. Playdon had been sitting scanning something on his lookup, and occasionally glancing round to check on the other sleds, now he suddenly burst out laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’ asked Krath.
‘I was just scanning something for Lolia and Lolmack,’ said Playdon. ‘They’ve come up with their first attempt at a vid script. I promised to check their history facts for them, on condition that they don’t credit me as an adviser. They kindly offered to, but I’m not sure it would help my professional career.’
Everyone in hearing distance laughed.
‘It’s the twentieth century, the evening of the Cuban missile crisis,’ continued Playdon. ‘Two lovers are facing the fact that the world is on the brink of nuclear war and this might be their last night alive. The historical background is quite authentic, until the lovers portal to an isolated cottage where they can surrender to their mutual passion.’
‘So what’s wrong with … oh,’ said Krath.
‘Yes, it’s a terribly easy mistake to make,’ said Playdon. ‘Other than that, it’s not bad. The viewers might actually learn some history from the first half of the script. The second half is the mutual passion, and I’m assuming the Betans know what they’re doing in that area.’
The sleds drove on. The class had been cheerfully chatting for the first hour, but now everyone was getting quiet. Out here the ruins were higher, and blacker, and grimly threatening. At least, they seemed that way when we were so far from our base. We turned left on to the Grand Circle and drove a lot further. The ruins didn’t get any better.
‘I know this will make me sound like a cowardly panicking civilian, but I can’t help feeling the ruins are a bit menacing out here,’ said Fian.
‘Judging from how quiet everyone is, I think a lot of other people are feeling that way too,’ I said. ‘It feels a bit lonely this far into the ruins, and of course they really are a lot higher here than near the edge.’
‘That’s not my imagination then?’
‘Oh no. As a rule, the further in you are, the taller the buildings were when they were originally built. They’re also more likely to have dangerous underground areas.’ I glanced round to check no one else would be able to hear me and whispered. ‘I find it a bit scary here too.’
‘I’m not sure whether I should be glad to hear that or totally terrified,’ said Fian.
I giggled.
The sleds finally stopped at a wide point in the Grand Circle clearway, and Playdon got us all to gather round. ‘We’ll be setting up the dome at the edge here. It’s wide enough that we’ll have space to drive the sleds past it. Ahead and left of the clearway is where we’ll be excavating. A little further beyond that is an emergency evac portal if we have any problems.’
Everyone brightened up noticeably at this news. I have to admit that I found it comforting too.
‘First, we set up the dome,’ Playdon told us, ‘and then we can all have a little break from wearing impact suits. Team 1, please assemble the dome.’
We had the dome up and equipped in half an hour, piled inside with our luggage, and switched on the heat panels and the glows. Playdon had only allowed one bag each in addition to our sleep sacks, though Dalmora got a special dispensation to bring her guitar, but things were still crowded. I dashed over to the furthest point from the door, and unrolled my sleep sack to claim one of the coveted positions by the dome wall and near a heat panel.
Fian sprinted after me, and unrolled his sleep sack next to mine. ‘I take it this is one of the best spots.’
I nodded. ‘Near the wall is best, because of the heat panels, and because less people tread on you when they decide to go to the bathroom at night. Away from the door is best, because every time it opens people near it will freeze.’
There was a chaotic few minutes, as everyone peeled off impact suits and fought to be first in line for the two miniscule bathrooms. I took off my impact suit, but I didn’t join the rush. Instead, I dug a packet of moisturizing wipes out of my bag.
‘We don’t want the bathrooms?’ Fian asked.
I handed him another packet of wipes. ‘I’m planning to wait until they discover there isn’t a shower. The queue will die down fast.’
Even without a shower, it felt good just to be out of my restrictive impact suit. I stretched blissfully, and pulled on a robe over my skintight.
Playdon wandered over carrying a box. ‘We have a choice of three flavours of soup.’
‘I’ll take the red one,’ I said.
‘What flavour is that?’ asked Fian.
I grinned. ‘Hard to say what it’s supposed to be, but it’s possible tomato is in there. All I know is that it’s a lot better than the yellow or the green.’
‘I’ll have red, please,’ said Fian.
Playdon handed us a couple of squeezy bags and headed off. I showed Fian the tab that heated the soup, and we sat sucking the glorious, tomatoish warmth.
Playdon allowed us an hour to complain about the packaged soup and lack of showers, before ordering us back into impact suits. We headed outside to the hover sleds.
‘We’ll take a sensor sled, a tag support sled, and the transports,’ said Playdon. ‘We’re just doing some preparation work for tomorrow.’
Our excavation area was only about three minutes along the clearway. The inner core of a building was to one side of it. All four walls had collapsed long ago, but a central spine still stood with some floors clinging drunkenly to it. You could see the remains of what might once have been furniture on one floor.
Playdon looked at it for a minute or two before speaking on the team circuit. ‘As you can see, that building is very dangerous. Our first job is to clear the hazard by blowing it up.’
Hoo eee! I thought happily. Blowing things up was fun.
‘Are you familiar with placing explosives, Jarra?’ asked Playdon.
I set my comms to reply on the team circuit. ‘No, sir. They wouldn’t let you do that unless you were 18.’
‘Excellent,’ said Playdon. ‘Class, pay very close attention to this moment. We’ve actually discovered something that Jarra doesn’t know how to do.’
The class seemed to find this extremely funny for some reason, but eventually the laughter died down and Playdon could continue talking.
‘Unfortunately, for the explosives to do a clean job of demolition, we need them placed on the base of that central post.’
‘You mean, Jarra goes under that lot?’ asked Fian’s anxious voice.
Playdon shook his head. ‘No. Manually placing charges is more accurate, but too dangerous in this situation. We’ll use the charge rifle.’
He went over to the transport sled, unlocked a secure storage box, and took out a sort of giant gun. He attached a green cylinder to it, and handed it to me. I held the charge rifle for a second, getting a feel for the balance and weight, and rested the end experimentally against my shoulder.
‘It’s loaded with dummy charges at the moment,’ said Playdon, ‘so you can pick a target and have a few practice shots. It’s firing sizeable solid objects, so very different from using a tag gun. Always make sure you’re standing on something solid, and brace yourself before firing. If you use it when you’re hovering in mid air, then the recoil sends you flying.’
I braced myself against the side of a sled, and chose a target rock at about the same distance away as the building central post but well clear of it. I squinted through the rifle sights, aimed and fired. The rifle kicked back into my shoulder, triggering the impact suit. I was frozen in position for a moment as the suit material locked.
‘Nice shot,’ said Playdon, looking at where the dummy charge was stuck to the rock.
I laughed. ‘When the rifle recoils into my shoulder, the impact suit locks up.’
‘Yes, you have to wait a few seconds between shots. Keep going with the dummy charges for a while. Even when you’re used to a charge rifle, it’s always best to have a few goes with those before using the explosive ones. A misplaced charge is bound to happen now and then, it’s not a disaster, but it can be inconvenient.’
I took nine more shots and then Playdon seemed happy. ‘Jarra, you witness the counts.’ He unlocked the storage box again, and swapped the green charge cylinder on the rifle for a red one. ‘You see that the live charge cylinder is red and so are the charges. That’s to prevent any risk of confusing live and dummy charges.’
He counted out four objects. ‘I have four live charges.’
I confirmed that, and Playdon loaded the four charges into the cylinder. ‘Rifle is loaded with four live charges.’
I confirmed that again for the record. Playdon handed me the rifle and locked the secure box again.
‘That building is really only held up by the central column,’ he said, ‘but we need to take down the remains of two other columns as well. Jarra, try and place two charges on the central column, and one on each of the others. We’ll get more charges if we need them.’
I decided to try for the easier targets first, and used my hover belt to skim across the clearway to get a good angle on one of the isolated columns. I dropped down to stand on the rubble, positioned myself, and fired.
‘It didn’t go bang,’ complained Krath. ‘What went wrong?’
‘We set off the charges later,’ said Playdon. ‘That one looks good. Next target, Jarra.’
I headed back along the clearway to get a clean shot at the second column. That went well too, but I couldn’t find a good place on the clearway to fire at the central column. The only possible spot had a tree blocking my line of sight. ‘I think I’ll have to move over to that big lump of concrete to shoot the last charges.’
‘I agree,’ said Playdon. ‘Fian, sort out Jarra’s lifeline. She may only be out there for two minutes, but accidents can happen in seconds. That building could collapse just from having a charge shot at it.’
So there was a brief delay while we sorted out the lifeline, and then I swooped over to my chosen block of concrete. It gave me the good view I’d hoped for, so I took my two slow and careful shots at the central column.
‘How do they look, Jarra?’ Playdon asked. ‘I can’t see from here.’
‘I think they’re fine, sir.’ I headed back to the sleds and gave the rifle to Playdon.
‘All four charges fired,’ said Playdon. He detached the cylinder and opened it. ‘I’ve checked the cylinder is empty.’
I confirmed this, as safety protocols required. You really don’t want to miscount live explosives.
Playdon then locked away the rifle, took out the explosive trigger controls, and called Dig Site Command on the broadcast channel. ‘This is Asgard 6 in Sector 46. Requesting permission to fire charges.’
We waited for a few minutes, while a nearby team withdrew to safe ground, and then Dig Site Command cleared us to fire charges.
‘This is Asgard 6. Firing first charge.’ Playdon pushed a button and one of the isolated pillars folded in on itself and crumpled neatly to the ground. ‘This is Asgard 6. Firing second charge.’ The second pillar went down nicely too, and a large chunk of sagging floor broke away from the building and crashed downwards in sympathy. For a moment, I thought all the rest would follow, but that central column was stubborn.
‘This is Asgard 6. Firing charges 3 and 4.’ Playdon hit the buttons, and this time the building couldn’t resist any longer. It crashed down into a mass of rubble and twisted girders, and our class cheered in victory.
‘This is Asgard 6. Firing complete,’ Playdon reported, and Dig Site Command cleared the other team to go back to work.
We headed back to our mobile dome after that, leaving the mound of rubble to settle overnight before we started work clearing it. We stopped on the way, to collect fallen branches from a group of trees.
‘Why do we want tree branches?’ several confused voices asked.
‘Dig site tradition,’ said Playdon. ‘We’re cooking dinner outside over a camp fire tonight.’
‘He’s joking surely?’ Fian whispered in my ear.
I laughed. ‘No, he isn’t. I’ve done camp fire cooking several times on dig sites. It’s traditional, like the guitar playing.’
There is this story that you can light a camp fire by rubbing two dry sticks together, but I’d tried it several times and failed. It’s a whole lot easier to cheat and use something like a laser gun
to give yourself an instant cheerful camp fire.
Amalie volunteered to be in charge of the cooking. She’d done this a lot back home, and clearly thought the rest of us would just burn the food. She showed us how to wrap potatoes in foil and put them in the heart of the fire, and how to stab the saus on cooking spears and hold them in the flames. Since it was bitterly cold, we were all wearing our impact suits for warmth, with only the hoods pulled back to show our faces.
Fian was fascinated by the camp fire cooking. ‘I’d no idea raw potatoes looked like that.’
‘We seem to have a lot of food,’ I commented.
Playdon laughed. ‘I’m allowing for you burning a lot, and also we have guests coming.’
‘Guests?’ half the class chorused the word in amazement.
‘He must mean ghosts,’ said Krath, in a spooky voice. ‘The ghosts of all the people who died in the ruins. They’ve haunted them for centuries, and they’re out there in the blackness, filled with hatred for those who come and destroy their old homes.’
It’s surprising how fast people sitting round a camp fire, in the darkness of a winter night, surrounded by vast expanses of ancient ruins, can go from cheerful to terrified. Or maybe it isn’t surprising. Anyway, Krath’s words reduced the class to near panic.
‘There aren’t ghosts are there?’ asked Amalie. ‘We don’t have ruins back home …’
Normally, someone would have made a joke about ruins being on the planetary development plan for ten years time, but there was just silence.
‘The people of New York didn’t die,’ said Playdon calmly, ‘they left for Alpha sector. Our guests are ten members of a research team that are camped half an hour away on the Grand Circle. Dig Site Command doesn’t let Foundation course teams out here without some experienced people close at hand to nursemaid them when necessary. Be nice and polite to our visitors, and don’t let me down by telling them you’re scared of ghosts.’
We put more potatoes and saus on to cook. Amalie had just declared the first batch fit to eat, when we saw the lights of hover sleds approaching between the twin lines of the glowing clearway markers.