Chapter Forty-two
A little after twenty Teal Valley time, Danny and Bard moved people to the workshop on Aldora. The six from Mandolin, Joel, Gant, Bram and Jenlin Terschell, Tarse Braighton and Jason Andrev had gotten quite a bit done on the sleeks but the influx of engineers was needed to finish them by noon, local time, as they'd promised the two bartender-riders when they convinced them to go to sleep in one of the cabins. Kail sat down next to his dad and held the windscreen he was repairing with a fuser.
"It would have been much easier to replace."
"Everything, but that's not what those kids need. How was it?"
"Wonderful and a bit poignant. It helped them all to know it won't be 'darkened and abandoned.' The way they feel about Nev and the other five can't be expressed. Larry warned me, and it was still overwhelming, and I knew dozens of them and had no idea."
"They were just such nice people they were dangerous to the government."
"Exactly. One was a boy of not quite fifteen, thirteen when he was convicted of being a rebel. Danny said he's going to be the greatest programmer on the planet in fifteen years. He's planning on joining the Space Corps in three. He tested into fourth term at Jonathan Pastonly College."
"Help. Where?"
"Garnet, Larelton, famed for great programmer graduates. His family lives near enough for his mom to take him and pick him up."
"He'd have dormed, but they need him home?"
"Almost exactly what his dad said. He's not a child and they're very proud and very pained."
"Too many stories like that. Nev, Bard, Blade! Come here a moment, please. I looked for your families. I went to your house, Kail's house, Danny's house, my house and quit. I was going to look for your names and got a very clear 'no.' I didn't when I decided to give you my grandfather Terschell's for your family."
"Granddad, that's…"
"Really going to mess up the people saying, 'Ambrose Braighton, Blackburn Braighton, Strand Braighton,' Nev. 'Admiral Terschell' gets three answers and Terschell Terschell throws the two name practice out the window, or you give them the whole bunch if they want to get formal, five each."
"Who got disgusted?"
"Bam's dad. He told a reporter, if he was going to give mother's family name for one, he should give it for all, and if he was going to give more than first or call name and family name, then he should give full names. Topper has three, Labs four, Quinn four, Loopy three, Bam six and Braighton."
"It's up to you, Nev."
"Why me, Blade?"
"Because Bard's the important piece of his and I picked Bladesly."
"Nev, if you choose one of the others, all the rest would wait for you to bestow another."
"I couldn't choose, Dad, or I would have. Braighton is because I don't use Tarse, and it has to be spelled. Yes."
"Thank you. Comm connect Liberty Gem, Bench flat bottom. They said yes, Wayna. Thanks. Comm out. Comm connect Mom. Send it out. I didn't have to use that. I will. Comm out."
"Didn't have to use?"
"Spread the damn load of Terschell out before it lands on your daughter too, Kail."
"Thank you."
"You had it all set up."
"Of course, Nev. I'm a West Sider."
"Yes, you are. Nice job on the windscreen."
"Thank you. Patch was simple. Getting the optics values was a pain, in the knees. I'm glad we put a spa in the house."
"We will get to work on it, Granddad."
"Do the nursery and golf courses first, Nev. Those people need this season."
"Thank you. I'd planned to warn you we were going to bump you."
"I'm sure I'll have a yard sometime this summer, Nev, and remind myself often."
"So, how did you set up our names?"
"Silverin Harim Bladesly Havadan Terschell; Bard Loden Knighton Pyramid Terschell, Tarse Nevin Curran Terschell Terschell. Names shouldn't follow formulas and I'm sure it will set an example. Blade, I'm Granddad to you to. Kail and Lillen are 'Dad' and 'Mom.' That's what it meant when I went to your house, their house, then Danny's and mine. Your neighborhood didn't come before Kail's, and I would've expected it to, if I'd expected. I figure my next stop would've been Drand and Dawn's or Carler and Milla's."
"Sons-in-what ever-you-call-it."
"Milla may be about to shorten it to 'sons-in-WYCI,' then 'wykey' or 'wikki,' to see how long she can keep Lillen giggling, Kail. I think she has cohorts on Mandolin."
"And at your house."
"Who, us? We will come up with something official for it, Bard. It's needed by a lot of people to express their relationship to the families of their children."
"They need something now, Dad. 'A member of my family' wasn't enough when Quinn introduced Loopy, and 'vowed companion' has a connotation of one they avoid. Larry's been working on it, but Danny's 'a lump in the mix.' It has to include her vow to the people of the neighborhood to be right."
"The problem is plurality, Dad. How did they solve it on Carousel?"
"Couples are husband and wife, Nev. Groups are spouses. If fidelity wasn't stamped into marriage in our culture, you'd have married. On Carousel, there are some, for whom marriage isn't right, wearing ear studs."
"We're going to have to come up with new words."
"Or new definitions, Blade."
"What are you turning over in there, Bard?"
"Pledge, vow and oath, and the difference in connotation, Blade. I think 'singular or plural' is solving for the wrong value. It's fidelity that makes Day and Jace and us, different in our vows."
"Danny is pledged."
"Yes."
"I agree. A vow means 'confess' or 'state,' not pledge, Bard."
"I know, Nev. It's not that far off in their statements, confessions, to each other, but it's not right."
"You're grinning at us, Granddad."
"You're 'married,' Nev, no matter what you call it. Jen's been working on what I'm thinking for over fifty years."
"It's the proof of the bond…"
"That's it. It separates it from the vow of fidelity that's part of marriage to most, and they're all gender-neutral."
They worked on it, then Larry added a piece. After he had, they worked a bit more, then Bard called Billie. She agreed with Bard's feeling about Frets and their future family. They were all pleased with their solution when Quinn and Bam rode their sleeks to get Mookie and Kips, to bring them to the workshop.
Danny, Silky and Essa 'painted' the four sleeks. They reconstructed the layers of color that created the patterns and shading from the images of the damaged sleeks, with a comp and discerning trained eyes, then Danny programmed it. A comp program couldn't create the airbrush strokes used, but it could duplicate them
At three minutes before noon, the last of the sleeks was brought out of the drying booth. Bam and Quinn arrived with Mookie and Kips as backriders, as Danny led Bridder and Gat up the path to the 'garage.'
Seven men and two women were sitting on sleeks, behind the four, and all the others who had helped were standing behind them, when Danny opened the big doors. Four stared, then Kips ran to her sleek, wrapped her arms around it and burst into tears.
"It's mine! You healed my glide! My sleek baby. Thank you. Thank you."
"I don't know how… this was possible."
"You did just what you said. Even the spot I didn't get the colorbond quite right is there. This is the first time it doesn't irritate me. I'll never feel the same way about it again."
"My signature has the place I trimmed it with my fingernail and got the T a little too thin."
"Your sleeks aren't like ours. We saw it. We primarily bought sleeks by people who do them for fun. They're works of art, but not really personalized. All four of yours were labors of love, and very personal."
"You're really special people, Quinn. All of you who did this for us… We'll never forget it. Please, who are you all?"
"Bance and Ronnie, Day and Jace, Uncle Drand and Aunt Dawn, Silky and Essa, Kady and Reesa, some number cousins Gant and Joel, Father-in-bond Kail, Grandmother-in-bond Jenlin, Grandfather-in-bond Bram, Great-grandfather-in-bond Jason, Great-great-grandfather-in-bond Tarse. Our neighbors and some of Nev's family. The girls are Danny, Frets and Loopy. Loopy's in the Braighton bonded family with Quinn, Bam, Topper and Labs. Case and Stats, Nev, Bard and I'm Blade. Day and Jace are a vowed family. Those two, those two and we are bonded families. Case and Stats are also pledged. Danny's pledged and Frets is pledged-in-waiting and s'bonded to the Braighton family. All the rest are married except Joel and Gant, who aren't old enough to be dodging matchmakers yet."
"We figured this out today, because Kail was losing patience with 'sons-in-whatever-you-call-it' and women weren't sure Blade and Nev were available for a bit of fun. You're the test bunch. Ask questions."
"You're pledged?"
"I'm single to my toes, Bridder, but fully emotionally committed and pledged to all the people in my neighborhood."
"She got that stud in her ear the day a mob pulled her out of her office and tucked her in bed."
"You're vowed."
"Marriage isn't a perfect fit for Jace and I, but fidelity is. There's a vowed family of three, as well."
"Case explained Nev and Blade's studs in the left ear mean no boys outside the family the night we met. Pledged-in-waiting and s'bond."
"They sprang that on me, Mookie, but it feels very right, and so does this little sapphire stud. I've known who my companion for life was since before she was born, but she's not quite six yet. She described s'bond as 'whole families who know they're going to be best family buddies forever.' The Braightons are my s'bonded family. If Jace and Day were that best-buddy family, I'd be their s'bonded, but they'd be my s'vowed."
"Nev is his bonded. Day is my vowed."
"Quinn's my bonded. If it was group marriage, he'd be my spoused. How did we do, Kips?"
"It works, Bam. I got it all. You guys are Braightons…"
"That's where it began, with family names. Bram gave his grandfather's, Terschell, to them. Day and Jace chose to use Jace's family name. Case and Stats chose not to use a family name."
"We probably will because we agreed it's not time yet."
"And frustrated my father-in-law immensely."
"They didn't 'immensely,' Bram. My father-in-law did that. He gave his mother's family name, Moskone, to Mike, Loren and Elise."
"You don't give your own, but it can be the same?"
"That's how we've done it so far, but the choice is always the family's."
"We're a family."
"Kips?"
"Aren't we, Gat? We don't take morning shifts because we always meet you for breakfast. We live in the same building. We don't come where you work often because you work there, not because gliders go to Highglide. What are we telling ourselves?"
"Gat, they wouldn't let us ride with them to the hospital today."
"We're a family, bonded."
"We use Gat's name?"
"Yes."
"Yes. Gat, close your mouth. It would break your dad's heart if you changed your name. His dad has over two millennia of family history he's putting in a book."
"We'll be the Kuniyoshi family."
"Silky, we're buying a book."
"Yes, Essa, we are."
"You know the name?"
"We love art."
"That's the name."
The four chose to "acknowledge" they were a family at the blowout, because they thought there were others who were families and hadn't realized it. They also thought there was one who was "like Danny," fully committed to the community of gliders, and still riding a sleek decades after most changed to fats.
When the sleeks and Blast Room left, Drand reminded Gant and Joel they wanted to create their own. Gant said they'd remember it when they weren't missing a blowout, then all went home. They'd accomplished more than they realized that day. Mookie's cousin was a trader.
The blowout was on the other side of the city. It wouldn't begin for several hours, but Kips, Mookie, Gat and Bridder had said getting to the campground early was a very good idea, and the Blast Room needed to be stocked. Arriving early would also give time for naps.
The "fast and many" jewelry store recommended for studs was much deeper in the city than Highglide. The Kuniyoshi family lived near it and Gat and Bridder worked in the area. It was also near where they'd been hit a little after two that morning.
They needed to "go by" their places, but recommended Case take the loop around the city, and stock the Blast Room at the store on the other side. Case had surprising company. Danny was riding with him. Bard, Nev and Blade followed the four on reconstructed sleeks into the heart of the city.
The four lived in three apartments in the same building. It was a nice building, well-maintained, but quite old. Kips and Mookie shared a one-bedroom apt on the twenty-third floor. Bridder and Gat had efficiency apts on the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth floors. They were very nice, but even Kips and Mookie's would have fit in the living room of the 'Terschell's' ship.
The three saw them all. The Kuniyoshi family began getting ready in Kips and Mookie's and worked up to Gat's figuring out what to take to wear for their ceremony, and talking to their families, who had left worry messages for each. All four families were surprised by their decision, but none thought it incorrect for them, and Gat's was delighted.
All the families said they'd look for a place big enough for the four of them that day. They'd have no difficulty finding new tenants for theirs. The building had a waiting list. None of them expected to find a two-bedroom close to where Bridder and Gat worked. Three-bedroom was "probably impossible."
They picked up the studs and punch at the jewelry store and got on the gravway out of the city at thirteen fifty-seven. Traffic was already beginning to increase. Kips led them into the high-speed lane and Nev, Bard and Blade really used their "outgear" for the first time. Everything in the lane was traveling at high speed, getting out of the city before Eightday afternoon traffic got heavy. When they got to the campground, the others were working to clean it up.
"What a mess!"
"You should have seen it before we started, Blade. This was done this morning."
"At least it's a fresh mess, Danny."
"Comm connect Tanser Glade Park Maintenance. I'm Gattler Kuniyoshi, with the group coming in. Someone, literally, trashed the park this morning. I was just handed a go-wrap with nine oh six timestamp. My guess is over a hundred. I think you had an end-of-term picnic. We'll have a place on private land after this. Thanks. Comm out. They're going to lock the gates, except when in use, by reservation only, and off days are full until late autumn. She was glad we have a place. We don't leave it a mess."
They finished picking up the trash, chose cabins and went in for naps. Cabins were assorted sizes, but most were for four or six. They had sound damper curtains around beds, so weren't quite as shared as they appeared when one looked in the door and saw beds a table and chairs and small food prep area.
Bard found one bed long enough, if he slept corner to corner, a double. He pulled the curtain around it and went home. Case 'opened' the Blast Room. The side and roof panels extended and supports dropped down smoothly and locked in place, quadrupling its nicely-carpeted size, but he didn't stay in it. He and Stats had taken one of the five two-person cabins. They laid down for naps in it, but didn't close curtains completely. The Braighton men took a cabin for four and went home. Danny, Loopy and Frets did the same.
Case woke at the sound of many sleeks and people, checked the time and called Danny, Bard and Quinn. Stats rolled off his bed and headed for the shower. Case really wished for two, and whooped. He was in his shower at home. He called Stats and told him where he was. Stats told him he hoped he could wish himself back. Case said he was sure he could. That's where the party
was.
A few moments later. He stepped out of his shower. He yelped and Danny burst into laughter. She handed him a towel to dry her back, then led him out of the bath in her bedroom. They'd be a little late. She called Frets and told her. Case called Stats and told him he didn't have any control yet, but he was sure Danny was going to help, and they'd be "later." Stats, Loopy and Frets were all laughing when they walked out of their cabins.
"What happened?"
"We don't know all of it yet, Nev, but it starts with Case wishing himself into his shower at home and ends with he and Danny are going to miss dinner."
"And he's sure she'll help with his control."
"This is going to be great tease material, Stats."
"I know, Blade, and some was her wishing."
"You're working on why?"
"It was short work, Nev. The pedestal is nice, but the step down is so long she's missing out on the fun."
"And it was Case more than you."
"Actually, it was Nev, Loopy."
"Me?"
"You're the one who put her in the princess costume. Case always builds nice pedestals for your designs, and I help."
"It was you, Nev."
"Yes, Blade, but it still fits."
"True, but she wants to take it off around the house."
"Frets, Quinn has a guitar case."
"I may be getting off my pedestal too."
"Ow."
"Bard, you and Billie set me up."
"She's great help."
"Yes, she is. All the Waters family are. They helped me build it high enough I didn't get coated with slime."
"Are you going to stay in that big house?"
"It's comfortable, Loopy, and it's close to my sister's family and Kelston. So help with why the answer was no."
"Becks is almost eighteen, the political matchmakers are making lists, your family and ours would really prefer you daytrip to Kelston and it would give all the Waters family an excuse to move out of Politics Central, and their current congressional districts."
"Ricky Lake?"
"Yes and no."
"Me too. It's too late to call Billie and Bard has his mind on her. Let's see if Quinn can clarify."
"Bard."
"Yes, Blade?"
"I know who she is."
"You do? Who?"
"Mimma, you're wearing one of her designs."
"The glider who became a designer."
"Because she needed something to go with dark auburn hair almost to her waist. Which is why you're undergear is perfect with long hair."
"Thank you. See you later."
"There's Rundy! Later, Blade."
"This happens too often, Stats."
"There are many more coming. My party companion will be here after dinner, and she's coming with a large group of mostly women."
"I feel better. Why mostly women?"
"They outnumber men who live in the northeast area. They're having dinner while southbound traffic out of half the city clears. She said they could start two hours earlier, but might get here the same time."
"I'd have dinner."
"That's what I said. Accidents are rare. Slowed to a crawl across eight lanes because people are getting on and off the gravway is the norm."
"Why, Stats? Why do people stay in this city? Half are underemployed and the cost of living is outrageous."
"It's not really better elsewhere, Blade. The pay is less where cost is less, and jobs are fewer. They do well assuring most people have jobs that will support them, but 'underemployed' is common everywhere. It's very well-managed, but it's crowded."
"Kids aren't happy, Stats, or we wouldn't have picked up more trash than should have been possible. It was deliberately spread, and the adults, if there were any, didn't even try to stop it."
"Mookie said they resent the cost to come places like this. It's real not cheap."
"And so they mess them up, they get fewer and fewer and more and more expensive to maintain."
"That's the formula, but anyone who dropped a piece of trash or plucked a blade of grass in a park in the city would be mobbed."
"They belong to them. This is 'just for people with more money than they need.' I understand the feeling very well."
"At least here, they work to keep people off subsidy, and don't cage them in a district of just subsidized housing."
"It's a nice world, with a good and caring government. It's just overcrowded."
"And others are much more so. Aldora is classified high-medium population."
The people who had arrived began assembling dinner for those present. Stats, with the aid of Quinn and others, contributed more than had been in the Blast Room. Everyone did bring something, but sleek carry boots weren't large, and it was obvious to them some hadn't had much to bring. There would be more party wagons the next day, and collections for food would be made.
Quinn got a "chunk" of additional cash from a robo-tel when he took the grocery carts back. Those who had more always contributed more. His family had much more, and the riders would eat well the next day-and-a-half. And Mookie's father was talking to his sister's son.
Danny got Case's outfit from the cabin. He wasn't going to try to take them to the blowout without it. He admitted arriving nude in her bath had nice results, but he was going to be dressed before he made any wishes. She handed him his outfit and collapsed in laughter, on the Blast Room floor. Stats, Blade, Topper and Quinn joined her. Case groaned, grinned and dressed fast. He almost finished before Frets, Loopy, Labs and Bam came in.
"We missed it!"
"He was a real hurry to get to the party, Loopy. He was… carrying his clothes!"
"He stepped out of his shower… into my bathroom!"
"Nice pink, Case."
"Oh, thanks, Bam. I'm sure you'll find a unique way to make your learning experience hilarious too."
"Probably."
At twenty-one thirty, the about-to-be Kuniyoshi family walked out of their cabin, and even the band got quiet. Most didn't know what the costumes were. There was a soft susurrus in the crowd, as those who did told them they were from the ancient culture on Earth that was where Gat's father's book started, and called "kimonos." The four walked to the dance floor and Blade walked out of the crowd to meet them.
"Kips, tell us why you're out here in front of everyone."
"We realized we're a family. We run around together, have fun together, and love each other very much. When we got an explanation of what the ear studs mean to the people who wear them… Well, that's us. I love them very much. I'm not going to marry somebody else, or drift away. I'm fully committed to what we share together. They're my loves and my life companions. I pledge my love to Mookie, Gat and Bridder. I want the symbol of our bonding and to share a name with my family."
"You've chosen 'bond' as the term for your pledge. That means fidelity isn't part of your vows."
"You explain it better, Blade. All right, it's the words 'bonded,' 'vowed' or 'pledged' that… define what the symbols are. People who vow fidelity to the family are vowed. People who don't are bonded. I could get a diamond in the right and emerald in the left, because I'm not going to make love with any other girls, but that's not a vow they need or I want to make. They'd still be my bonded because it's not a vow of total fidelity. A pledge is a statement you're fully committed, heart and soul to… a community, I think, like Danny, Case and Stats are to their neighborhood, but it's people, not things. You can't pledge yourself to your sleek, but you could realize you're fully committed to the community of gliders and pledge, and get a little diamond saying you're… not emotionally available. How'd I do?"
"Great. This is the symbol of your pledge to your family, your vow of love, and the bond you share. Mookie."
"I love Kips, Bridder and Gat, and know it'll never diminish. I'm fully emotionally committed to them. I pledge myself to the family we already are, vow the love that alread
y exists and ask for the symbol of the bond we already share."
"That's exactly right, Mookie. This is the symbol you already are a family, and a polite warning not to expect what you've already given. Bridder."
"When Kips and Mookie were hurt last night, this morning, I realized my whole life is… wrapped within what the four of us share, and there's no need for anything else. I love them very much. I pledge my love, vow it's forever and ask for the symbol of the bond that makes us a family."
"You're shaking."
"I'm nervous and excited. This is… so perfect for us, forever and ever."
"Gat."
"I love Kips, Mookie and Bridder, more than words express. I almost hit the police officer who said I couldn't go with them, when Kips and Mookie were hurt. I'd have never married because I love all three with all I am, and I'm sure I'm not capable of fidelity. I'm fully emotionally committed to them. I pledge myself to the family we are, vow my love forever and ask for the symbol of our family bond."
"Kips, Mookie and Bridder chose Kuniyoshi as your family name, because of its importance to your father, their father-in-bond, and we're recording this for him and the rest of your families. No one needs to officiate at the acknowledgement you're a family these studs symbolize. It's between the people who realize they are and choose to show it, but sharing it in this way was nice. All done. Gliders, the Kuniyoshi family."
After the applause died down a bit, Kips yelled she hoped "certain others" didn't need more "demo," the kimonos were for their father-in-bond, not required and they had more studs. Two men and a woman walked out of the crowd, then two women and two men, then three men.
There was a bit of uproar and a man in his sixties was pushed out of the crowd alone. Danny told him she'd been threatened twenty would sit on her to put her stud in, and she'd thought that was a lot. He grinned and said he hadn't set any records in thirty years, and it was time he did.
Blade put his stud in first, then handed him the punch and told him he'd make sure he got studs in the right place to start. Before he did, Blade explained Frets' sapphire and s'bond families, and a group of five, three women and two men, then two women walked out of the crowd.
When all the studs were in, Blade showed everyone he had three diamonds and a sapphire left. One of the band members walked off the stage and said the sapphire was for him, and he needed to claim it, so the others realized the diamonds were theirs. The two women and man looked at each other and walked off the stage.
Frets walked onto the dance floor with her guitar in her hands. She played a bit of a classical piece. She was his "key" to finding his family and future. He was the composer she'd known she'd find. He had seventeen years classical training, a doctorate and a neighbor ready for his job.
The three yelped, and he told them he'd been eighteen four days. Three eyebrows lifted and he laughed and made a comm call, while the three got their studs. Halfway through the next set, a 'wagon' arrived and a kid with a bush of orange hair 'stormed' the stage with four instrument cases in his hands. Two other kids followed and began setting up light poles. The one opening cases said they were auditioning to follow the band around, and he'd "feed and groom them and walk them twice a day."
"Gliders, this kid has wanted my job for eight years. My favorite neighbor, Bushbrain Lou."
"Thanks, Cole. I didn't expect to get his job, but there just weren't any other people who played like Cots, Mim and Tonda, or who'd get as good with practice, so I practiced their songs and wished. Yes, this is my real hair. I've been 'Bushbrain,' since I got fast enough to outrun my mom when she picked up shears. Spot and Mutt have been practicing too, Cots. You name it."
"Cole, they're going to drive us crazy."
"It'll be rich crazy, Tonda."
"That's a cue. Loco Cash. One, two."
Bushbrain Lou was a 'born star.' He stomped and strutted and he could really sing. In a half-set, everyone in the crowd was sure Cole was right. The three boys were going to make Trolldenner famous, and rich. During the band break "Spot and Mutt" added a great deal more tech to the light poles. Frets sat down beside Cole on the grass and grinned.
"You've known for years."
"I built the band and wrote the songs for him. I knew Cots was the right bass when he walked in to audition, after a nasty experience that about made Mim just walk away from music. Then we found Tonda, sitting on the walk crying, with a broken board on her lap. I convinced Cots suing the landlord, who pitched her equipment out the door, would hurt him more than pounding him to a pulp. He could charge more for two people in the ground floor apt, and thought 'noise' was enough excuse. The other tenants testified for Tonda in the suit. He lost the building. The judge hit him for the value of the equipment and emotional damage, then fined him max for seven tenant rights violations."
"You earned the love you're going to find. How old are you?"
"Thirty-four. I've been playing in bands like this since I was sixteen, more than half my life. Do you know… who?"
"No, but I know you won't wear that sapphire long, and you'll find part of your family very soon, but not here. Parents?"
"My mother and father were sixteen. All I know about them is they knew they were too young and the choice they made was place me in the care of the government. Gov homes are homes, usually big houses. There were always fourteen kids in ours. Our house-parents were warm and loving, and they had help with meals, cleaning and got days off and vacations, so fourteen weren't exhausting. We had a yard to play in, toys, games, we could go play with kids from school, or invite them for lunch, and we had a piano. When I was seven, I asked for lessons. Five years later, I asked to go to a performing arts institute halfway around the world, here. When I was sixteen, I got a job in a band that played school dances and such. Not long before I was seventeen, I petitioned for emancipation. The government would have paid all my expenses through university, even though I was earning money, but I wanted to do it myself. I didn't have difficulty paying for my tuition and housing, but I saw how difficult it would have been for my mother and father, and understood the advantages they'd assured I had with their choice. When I was eighteen, I changed type of band. My doctorate wasn't for a career. I had a music job that paid well and others dreamed of teaching and orchestra careers."
"Those four are really the closest thing you had to family."
"Yes, but I didn't belong in theirs, or theirs. I don't think that one's complete, but they won't split up, and I've known it since Lou introduced me about a half-year ago."
"Spot and Mutt?"
"Lou's dad started that, because they were always right behind him, and they loved it. Their names are Scott and Martin."
"You're ready to leave."
"Yes. I hadn't planned to do it in the middle of a set, but it's right and everyone here already knows it, and they haven't seen Spot and Mutt really show off yet. Neither has the rest of the band. The concert clubs don't have better."
"What do you need to take with you?"
"You meant leave literally."
"Very."
"A container full of memories, my instruments, including my composition bank, and two trays of datcubes."
"If you could only take one item, what would it be?"
"The folder of birthday cards Lou made me. Funny?"
"I just realized I know exactly what time it is where I was about to call, but I don't know what day it is."
"Not this world."
"No."
"I'm going a long way."
"But you can come get a hug any time."
"Daytrip chairs."
"Cole, when people realize they can use them to commute to jobs fifty planets, or a quarter-planet away, they'll get real common real soon. I'll be teaching guitar on two worlds and a ship in a few days. People on Liberty Gem are hiring guitar teachers to trip there from all over space. People are hiring them to come to ships. I can't explain why acoustic instrume
nts, especially guitar, are suddenly becoming incredibly popular, but it started with Liberty Gem."
"Everything in the last year has, and it'll take us a century catch our breath."
"Oh, they aren't going to slow down. They're getting the rest of us in shape to keep up."
"It's the first time I've thought of Aldora as flabby."
The next band set was as amazing as Cole had predicted. The gliders loved it, and the families that suddenly hugged at various times in it. Blade did find a special dance partner among the later arrivals. She had a little emerald stud in her left ear, but she was bonded not vowed. It was the first time he'd met someone who personally understood both the personal and family pledge. She hadn't thought anyone would understand the 'bunch' who were her family.
Frets laughed at herself for going through a mental list of everyone she knew for Cole. She shared the reason with Quinn and he said he was on G. Danny, dancing with Case behind them, turned around and said she was listing by location. They were all working on it. All of them liked Cole a great deal, and didn't quite know where to take him.
Bard really liked Mimma. She thought her fame as a designer was extremely humorous. She really had gotten frustrated with clothes that "didn't work with" her hair. She'd designed things to be interesting glimpses when it was moving, and frame it when it wasn't. A well-known designer, who enjoyed the challenge of undergear designing, had taken a few of her designs to his "fashion house," and she'd suddenly been a "creative genius."
Over the evening, all of them found companions they really liked. Loopy's was Bam. He'd told her he wanted to learn to make love, and considering his "usual adventures in learning," asking her seemed like a good idea. At least she'd be prepared if he found a unique way to add to the list. She smiled and told him she loved him too, and was very pleased he wanted her to be the first with whom he made love, but appreciated the excuse and agreed he did have a valid point. As they walked toward her cabin, she was talking about romance and he proved it. Eventually, he got them to Quinn, in the cabin where they'd been headed.
"You're soaked!"
"Rinses in several places!"
"Bam?"
"Well, she was talking about the fragrance of flowers being romantic, and I wished us into a vat of column flower oil. That was definitely more flower fragrance than desired. I decided we needed a good rinse, and we were suddenly in an ocean somewhere with a nice moon. A wave came down on us, and that was more rinse than I wanted. We were suddenly in a river under a waterfall. Loopy was giggling and I was worried she would sink, and we were in a fountain. At that point, she yelled, 'Take us to Quinn,' and I did."
Frets fell on the bed and laughed. Quinn sat down on it. Loopy laid on the floor and giggled. Bam got towels from the bath. He was just beginning to dry Loopy, when Danny and Case walked in. Case noted "puddle of giggles isn't usually literal," and Quinn fell over.
Bam told Case his "prediction was obviously correct." Danny said she smelled flowers, and three people yelled, "No!" She and Case were both laughing when she wished them to her house, then they heard a yelp and ran for the spa. Stats was laughing and crawling out of it.
"I obviously learned how, even if I missed it by one house."
"Where's your friend?"
"On her way home for a family breakfast, before her cousin's wedding."
"Good."
"Good?"
"Stats, you wished yourself into my spa, and Case and I were probably both helping."
"Probably."
"Take the wet gear off and get back in the spa."
"I need a soak after all that bending to get drinks out of the cooler?"
"If you need that as an excuse, we'll let you use it, but you're usually more honest with yourself and we'll worry a little. Frankly, this is the way I feel it's right, but I didn't know how to… get it started. Case chose, but anything between us includes you. Ronnie said I'm 'riding sidesaddle in the princess dress,' and no one thinks of inviting me to play soccer in the courtyard. No one else knocks before they come in and yells they're here. Of course, Nev, Bard and Blade don't come over unless specifically invited and… I thought our relationship was settled too, but everyone who loves us feels it's not."
"It's Case and me as much as you."
"Let's see if I'm the right 'emulsifier' to stop the separation. Oh! You don't know about Bam's learning experience."
"They'll probably still smell like column flowers tomorrow, but Loopy, Quinn and Frets may have succeeded in convincing him to try a shower rinse and clothes cycler this time."
"It begins with Loopy explaining romance and mentioning the fragrance of flowers."
Stats stretched and Danny and Case and both dove on him. He burst into laughter and told them he suspected someone would soon be collecting for breakfast, and really did prefer they found them at the campground. They were suddenly on the Blast Room floor. Case got their clothes from the cabin and Danny's house. He was getting dressed when Quinn and Frets walked in.
"I'd have been dressed, but neither of them could manage it alone."
"All three of you?!"
"I'm going to practice in my clothes, in hopes I remember them, Frets."
The games were how many silly ways can you use a sleek and the roads through the campground were the playground. There were also stunts and races, but most of the races were things like who can get a specific item for dinner fastest, and also games. There were two that were speed, but both were short distances and included a run for the sleeks.
Nev, Bard and Blade would have known Danny, Case and Stats had settled their relationship, even if they hadn't heard Case had gotten impatient to get to the party again. They were more comfortable, especially Danny. Nev burst into laughter and Rundy questioned.
"Case was looking at her, Danny stuck out a foot, and Stats 'fell down,' too. She got both with one trip and just gave me a very smug smile."
"Something happened."
"They're her best buddies, but she was 'princess' and getting left at home, when the boys all went out to play."
"Got it. She decided the way to fix it was get tease-comfortable to have along. It's the only practical solution."
"You know other instances?"
"Princess is pretty deep in our base culture. Since it's very nice, many women find themselves in the position of pedestal-sitting instead of going out to play with the guys. Riders have less difficulty because they start out playing crazy together, but you still have to kick apart the pedestal quick, if you're going to run with a bunch of guys. She couldn't get away with 'just one of the guys.' Wisty runs with six. After four years, they still all look surprised when she dresses for an occasion. Danny is too-too for that. So, her best option is get tease comfortable. That's not simple. You have to really look at yourself and all of what you're doing on pedestal maintenance. 'Missing the fun' isn't enough. Only missing the sharing with real friends forever, and them missing it too is, and it's scary to change that buddies relationship. It's very special, but the pedestal becomes a barrier, eventually."
"It was beginning to, and it was in Case and Stats' way, too, I think."
"And yours. You're all too close for something to affect any one of you without it affecting all of you."
"You're an amazing person, and woman."
"Thank you. I'm getting off this world."
"You are?"
"Yesterday, I called the government info office and asked about cooperative programs for space exploration and terraforming with Liberty Gem's Space Corps. There aren't any. They don't plan any. In ten or so years, when the program actually starts, they'll examine possible benefits to Aldoran citizens and determine if they should fund students."
"What?"
"They think it's an educational program administered by Liberty Gem, and it will take ten years for their space corps to do the exploration that's required, before universities can send 'qualified students' to explore
new worlds and participate in terraforming experiments."
"How did they get that from what we said?"
"What you said was probably 'interpreted' for them by some university professor who 'knows' you can't even begin a new program without five years of prep, and you can't do anything without twenty years of research to analyze, to decide what you should do. So, the ten-year figure was obviously set up time, and in about one hundred years, the Liberty Gem government will begin to see a profit on the initial ten-year investment."
"Comm connect Bance. Someone is 'interpreting' the news from Liberty Gem. We're funding ten-year space corps set-up of cooperative university programs in world exploration and experiments in terraforming. Yes. Rundy called the gov info office. I don't know. They're just sure it takes thirty-plus years to begin doing anything. Thanks. Comm out. Bance is the newscaster who lives in our neighborhood. He'll get a trace on where the interpretation was done, and how many worlds got one. I know Earth knows better. Olympics?"
"That's just a big sports tournament. Everybody does those. Athletes who really want to go that far will be aided with travel expense. Sponsors to support them on worlds for thirty or so days of acclimatization, and to get back in shape after the long ship trip, will be sought."
"They just don't believe any of it."
"They believe the tech exists, but they don't believe 'big' can be organized or built that fast, even with the tech. It just doesn't connect. Six to ten years to arrange funding for 'big' is average here, even for businesses. Getting a new product on the market fast is within two years. They're moving with 'blazing speed' on the trip chairs and expect to ship the first one in a half-year."
"That's not what they said when they sublicensed the patents."
"Well, of course they gave you the minimum estimate, but everyone knows that's if no one is delayed, and most are for some reason or other."
"Where are you going?"
"Wherever I can get the training I want in terraforming tech design. At the rate most worlds are moving, probably Liberty Gem."
"A lot of worlds are moving fast. Earth is sending three hundred ships to have drives replaced and one hundred fifty of them will stay out there. They'll have trip chairs in full production in twelve manufacturing facilities in three days. A lot of worlds are starting to open many daytrip tour facilities now. Magic trowels are in use on eighty-three, and field projectors are in production and beginning to sell well on nineteen. Those are a bit slower because of the power cost, but on-site power generation is becoming quite common and that will increase sales immensely. So will the total security aspect of gate shielding."
"Explain that."
"Wall fields with separate shields across holes for doors, usually backed with an object-penetrable field to keep warm air inside. A few shafts that run under the shield at the bottom of one end, and gaps at the top of the other, provide power heat, ventilation… If you want to limit access, it's quite simple and all the projectors can be inside. Cap fields over air-impermeable fields are only necessary for egress all around. We'll use those on golf courses, of course."
"Golf courses?!"
"Some in temperate zones want them playable year-round."
"We aren't getting news here. I think they just don't believe it and don't include it."
"That's possible. I don't think they'd censor it."
"No, just not broadcast things they think are too fantastic to be anything but… experiments and hyperbole."
"Bance will find out."
Bance did find out. A fifth of human space was getting 'interpreted' news. Transspace was furious. Interworld had the affiliate contract for an area that included eighteen of the most populous worlds in human space and they were 'explaining what it really means.' The senior news editor of Transspace added Bance to the call to the senior editor of Interworld. He listened to Caron Telerose "take Interworld apart."
"It's against interplanetary law to falsely report and censor news. Do you want to be charged with it?"
"We did not censor the news!"
"Yes, you did. You decided to give people of thirty-nine worlds your version of events and reports. You lied to them and withheld information. Terraformed worlds will be ready for settlement in ten years. Exploration vessels are already moving outward. Most of the worlds in space are within days of full production of all the new tech. The piece of construction equipment known as a 'magic trowel' is in use on eighty-seven, as of today, and four space stations are under construction. They'll take about twenty days each, and that includes all systems for vast amounts of cargo transfer. The space stations are paid for. No airlocks, safety equipment or insurance needed. There's no one physically there. They're in trip chairs on a planet. You have two hours to tell the people the real news before we contact world networks, individually."
"It can't be done that fast!"
"It can be done in twenty seconds. I'm giving you two hours and not calling the Interplanetary Court Prosecutor. Interworld connect comm out. I should have given them five minutes."
"New tech, in a decade or two it might become common."
"Exactly, Bance. I'm not sure it'll make a difference on those worlds."
"I promise you it will. By the billions, people will look at the future opening before them and rejoice. How the hell did he get that job?"
"I have no idea. It certainly wasn't his ability to put the parts together to get a complete image. We'll be watching."
"So will we."
"I feel safer knowing good reporters are. Comm out."
Earth's two big news organizations had both had a "run-in" with Interworld before. The big distributor "on the southeast side" had been "choosing" the news for planets, to which they distributed, since they'd become the only all-space distributor for the area, when they'd purchased Allworld Media, sixty-three years previously.
Interworld considered it a service to pass only relevant news, so planetary news services didn't need to sort as much. "Interpreting" it was new. It infuriated them, but didn't surprise them as much as it had Transspace. They'd known Interworld's target-market news programming was becoming narrower for some time. There was more profit in programming than straight-through distribution.
The two big agencies were "delighted" to help Transspace develop a fifty-day recap and figure out exactly who to contact on thirty-nine worlds. They included clips from New Tech News. It was the "ordinary people connection" that Interworld had ignored, and the idea and format were beginning to sell, as more worlds got the new tech into production and distribution.
One hundred seven minutes after Transspace gave Interworld a two-hour ultimatum, the recap was ready, the comm list prepared and many people were watching Interworld's feed. If they didn't meet the deadline, it would go to the networks on the comm list. It went out four minutes early, from Earth. Interworld had spent the two hours seeking an injunction to prevent Transspace contacting planetary networks directly, as "clear breach of contract." That story was added to the recap, as lead.
Bance called Nev and told him to get Channel Seventeen on a screen in the next four minutes. Nev yelled for Bard and Blade to "get it on the stage monitors!" Rundy yelled for "a gather." They were ready when the commentator came on.
"This special report will be repeated at twenty and twenty-three thirty this evening, and at six, nine and thirteen tomorrow. You will see why the major news distributor for thirty-nine worlds was sure it couldn't be right. They had 'experts' tell us what they thought it meant. Those experts didn't understand an essential fact that makes all of what you're about to see possible. These are the numbers they couldn't believe. The cost of all construction, not a part, the total of all costs to build on the ground is less than nine percent of what it was. In space, it's less than two percent. That's primarily because of the new tech called a 'magic trowel,' but field projection, trip chairs and materials previously developed on Liberty Gem contribute to t
hose 'unbelievable' numbers. We were told, 'in tests,' 'experimental,' and others, which led us to believe new tech would gradually spread over a decade or two, as it 'always does.' The following recap of the news of the last fifty days will be difficult to believe. The truth often is."
The group from Liberty Gem and Mandolin were in the recap. They knew they would be, but 'only some can use and not predictable' had been given to the few who knew they were physically there. When it was over, Nev sat down on the front of the stage.
"I called a reporter when I learned you were getting the wrong info. 'Reporter' is the important word. A call to any good reporter would have gotten the same result, no matter who made it, but I did, so we were called to watch. What do you need help to understand and explain to others?"
"How can it be two percent?"
"The cost of space construction usually started with an insurance bill of about a quarter million. An enviro suit was about twenty thou. Every piece of equipment had to be built for the environment and every seam had to be triple sealed. Wages were hazard pay. Docs, air locks and a dozen others that were expensive and required no longer are. Add those to much less time and no hazard bonus and you've got ninety-eight percent of the cost of space construction. Sit in a trip chair and walk around in space. People are more comfortable knowing there's gravity and air, but they're cheap and equipment operates without additional shielding. You don't need to worry about circulating or replacing air. No one's breathing it. Loom?"
"A lot of the cost here is land."
"Speculators have driven it up time after time. Your inflation rate is atrocious and your money is steadily worth less in exchange for other worlds'. It's that way on most high-pop worlds. A couple have extremely strong controls on land speculation. It's cheaper there and their money is worth more against other currencies. That's the way to judge how much things actually cost and how much you get paid. The cost of construction includes the wages people have to be paid to support the cost of the land. It'll still drop vastly because it takes so much less time. Ganna?"
"How soon will we notice it?"
"I'm sitting here. Notice me? How soon do you want to notice it? Do you want to invest in a transpatial comm node and a trip chair and get a job on another world? Or hunt for one on another that will pay for comm node and chair? Do you want to use one to go somewhere they're using the new tech and train to sell skill with it here? How soon will someone walk into the store where you work and give you the Shoppers Shipping address and then one on another world? Your manufacturers must move faster. People can import from Liberty Gem in thirty-two days. How much can a builder save and make with a magic trowel between thirty-two and projected availability of one hundred seventeen? More than shipping cost, I'm sure. Vallet?"
"Get moving or get left behind?"
"You've been left behind. Get moving, or be left out. The lower pop worlds are faster. They're the sleeks. You can't go as fast, but there's a place for you at the blowout. That place won't be taken by another. If you're not there, it will be empty. You'll get the benefits of the tech eventually. Your businesses won't go broke, but you'll miss the party and the fun. Earth is the exception to the analogy. It moves very fast for a big world. Call it a lorry with a huge powerplant. So far, we haven't seen any other lorries on the road. Kath?"
"I like the analogy. We'll get the benefits eventually?"
"If there are fifty worlds ready for settlement in twenty years, don't you think your population density will drop considerably? The cost of building on them won't be higher, and settlers using trip chairs can build their homes and businesses while they travel. Mookie?"
"We're not waiting to move. All four of our extended families and two others are moving to Liberty Gem. Every one of our parents, aunts and uncles already found better jobs there, in minutes. My cousin is going to be here in two days and they're selling stuff and packing. They called and told us just before the news started. They want neighbors like the people who fixed our sleeks. We won't have trip chairs, but some will start work by comm. It'll cost a lot less camping out in my cousin's ship hold than they'll make, and the companies they're going to work for are paying the comm cost, and will finance the houses they choose until their places here sell."
"We're going to join the Space Corps, and use our diplomas for something besides wall decorations. There's room on lots of worlds, and jobs that let young people, and older ones, use what they learned. We're taking our sleeks, and our families are taking a lot. You get a bunch together, it's cheap to charter a ship. We won't have cruise ship accommodations, but we'll have lots of company and we won't get bored with all those people and plenty of room to move around."
"I'm amazed, Kips. It's always been that way, but no one moved. It was like everyone was sure the only way to go to another world was as a settler, or just visit a close one on a luxury cruise."
"I don't think it would have occurred to our families if Mookie's cousin wasn't a trader. He said to just take along some furniture and appliances, make apts in the hold and stock up on frozen and packaged for the trip, and he'll 'stop by' a world, if it looks like we'll run short. My mom said they plan on sort of communal cooking and dining and aren't taking apts full of furniture, but everyone's got some things they want, and it costs practically nothing to shuttle it down. Up isn't as cheap because they have to rent a lorry and a shuttle pad, but it's only for a day or two."
"All it really takes to move is a bank account, Gat. The trader will include everything else in passage, but the way your families are doing it is even less expensive. They aren't paying for someone else to do all the work."
"They expected it to cost, Nev, not save money."
"It's saving them money?"
"There are forty-three families, Taka. You figure how much less it is for our great-grandparents just in utilities and condo association fees. Even our parents will save a little. The exchange rate is lousy, but retirement incomes will still get a lot bigger and newer places there, and buy more fresh food, because it doesn't have to be shipped in from way out somewhere."
"My dad is already learning what he can grow in a garden in his big yard. Their new jobs sound like they pay less, but the money buys more. Like Nev said, that's how to figure out what you're really making, what your money is worth on other worlds. Look at ones where it's not worth a lot, then look at the cost of apts, houses and food there. You'll find out we're paying more for less, because we have to pay for everything to be brought to us. Pick a world where your money doesn't look like much. That's usually where there's plenty of room and opportunity to raise your standard of living."
"You don't have to move in a bunch of families like we are. Like Nev said, just pay passage. My cousin said most traders will have trip chairs soon, so you can go to work while you travel, or even keep your current job until you get a new one. Don't miss any blowouts and have your sleek shipped when you're making real money. Some here have great jobs and real good incomes. The only reason for them to move is more space. But if they've got jobs like that here, they can probably get them anywhere, and have plenty of money to come back to visit family, or go to blowouts."
"The band's arriving. We have apologies to make for tearing into their equipment, and we haven't begun the dinner to which we invited them. Anyone else have a question they think a lot would like to ask? Garr."
"How much space is there to store sleeks at the new blowout place?"
"There will always be room for anyone who needs to store one. Hi, guys, sorry about usurping your screens, but we got a yell to watch a broadcast. If you didn't see or hear about it yet, you will."
"Lou's dad yelled to get it on in the wagon. I yelled at the comp to drive. We were going to put it on in twenty if you hadn't seen it."
"You guys are mad."
"There are people saying it's a hoax, Nev, and some want Seventeen told they can't show it again, because it's not good
for our delicate psyches, or business."
"Many people are afraid of change, Mutt, but they can't stop it. No one's going to tell Seventeen they can't show it again. The news distributor did real stupid. It brought the Interplanetary Court into it. Censorship is illegal, and the court knows everything in that recap is truth."
Cole arrived not long after the band. He brought everything he 'needed to take' in a rented a wagon. It was unloaded into the Blast Room, then he took the wagon back and got the car he was giving to Lou. He was also getting his condo, and everything in it. He had to take over payments and condo association dues, but it was a two-bedroom Mutt and Spot could share with him, and the payments were lower than rent. Three families had assured Cole the payments would be made, even if their boys were "a little short." Cole knew they wouldn't be.
They watched the broadcast again at twenty to get updates on what people were doing and saying about it. There was a great deal of that from places it was day on the world, but only one manufacturer had announced it was "substantially reducing" the time to get a product to market. Then a pair of traders were interviewed by comm.
"We just changed course. We've got six magic trowels aboard, and had over one hundred inquiries on them in a half-hour."
"We sold them to the first six who called, after we put it on the infonet, with the price. We sold the rest of the cargo too. We know another trader who's moving a bunch of families from here to another world, so we're going to offer that instead of looking for a cargo."
"You're taking passengers?"
"Not like you think. We're going to do it like he is, get some office partitions for walls and let families set up living space in the hold, take everything they want, including the keeper and the cat. The people he's moving already found jobs, and will have houses to move into when they get where they're going. He doesn't have trip chairs yet, but we've got eight, so some people can start work before they get there that way, or stay working here, and some can probably work by comm, like some are on his ship."
"Where do you plan to take people?"
"It doesn't really matter. We can pick up new tech to sell on high pop worlds, that aren't supplying the demand yet, on almost any of the low to low-mid pop worlds. We'll see where the first ones who call want to go, then tell everyone else we're headed there, and when we'll be back here to take more elsewhere."
"We know other traders who are thinking about doing the same. It'll be quite a while before new tech production catches up with demand on most high pop worlds, so tech to and people from will be profitable for many for a while."
"You believe there are that many who wish to move and will spend that much time in a ship hold?"
"Tell me why you're sure twenty or thirty families sharing a big space with comps, entertainment systems, room to dance and for the kids to play, is a horror to be endured? Why does it make more sense to spend forty years at a nothing job than forty days on a ship?"
"We've got a list of great places to daytrip. There's a ranch on Gaylee that has a special rate to teach daytrippers to ride, because they don't have to insure them, but most of our list is things that just cost the comm call."
"Like a visit to a park in the new hometown, so the kids know kids when they start school."
"It sounds as if you've planned well."
"No, they plan their own adventures. We just give them a ride to where they want to go and a comm list, if they want to visit other places on the way."
"We'll pick up more trip chairs when we get the first group to their new home. That way more can work while they travel and be well ahead when they get there, instead of just saving a little while they make the trip."
The gliders burst into laughter. The commentator looked so surprised, when the two traders did a fast calculation of cost for thirty families to live thirty days in the city, compared to their ship operating cost plus their average "net" on a trading trip, and showed anyone with nine days vacation pay coming should come out ahead.
The Kuniyoshi's families and Mookie's cousin were cheered, then the band took the stage. People were in the mood to party. The new tech had already touched their lives. It had brought opportunity, as promised. Only a tiny percentage would seize it, but it was available to almost everyone, and that was definitely worthy of celebration.