Future Prospect (6 page)

“We don’t have a holding cell built yet, so we couldn’t have punished you if you didn’t show.”

Colan nodded at her attempt at wit, and his eyes brightened. He really had attractive brown eyes, with a more pleasant expression now than when they were narrowed in annoyance. Lia wondered what to say next.

“Could you introduce me to some Pearlites? Or are they all as disgusted with me as the woman at the restaurant seemed to be?”

“There are probably a few that won’t gag and run away.”

“Are you trying to make me laugh?”

“I guess not, since it didn’t work.”

Lia suppressed a smile. Such low-key charm. Colan watched her for a moment and then peered out at the people wandering around the cafeteria space. Currently, it was a plain cube with few furnishings. When ships arrived full of new settlers needing a place to sleep and eat before heading out to their claims, the cafeteria would hold over two hundred people, but at this point all they had in place were tables and seating for about seventy-five.

“We can go see Wayde and Rob. They’re shellers and have a favor to ask.”

“Does their favor include us packing up and leaving the planet?”

“I don’t think so. But we’d better go and find out for sure.” Colan didn’t spare her a glance, and she narrowed her eyes as she took in his craggy profile. He’d made a couple of jokes in a row. Not only was he neatly dressed, he was also relaxed enough for humor.

“Why are you wearing that uniform?” It fit him too well to be a castoff, and since he had no pips or insignia, she had no idea what his specialty was.

“Because we don’t throw nude parties at the ass end of the Niento Arm.”

Lia laughed out loud. He was being funny. She doubted it was for her benefit; he most likely was just enjoying the party.

“It worked that time,” she chuckled, and Colan’s profile creased into a smile. Wonderful.

“I wore this because it was the only clothing I had that wasn’t dirty or ripped. You said party, so I did my best.”

“You did very well. You look…nice.” Lia walked beside him as they started across the room. Colan accepted her compliment with a quirk of his eyebrow. Right, so that had been a rather lukewarm endorsement, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say which wouldn’t embarrass him or confuse her. He gathered some cheese from a nearby column and handed her a plateful.

“I didn’t realize you were in Civil Service.” She should have found the time to check on him in the system, but she’d been so busy since she’d arrived she’d had no energy to satisfy her personal curiosity about anything. Not Colan Nestor, or what the furry trees were called, or why the sunlight made her squint so much.

He nodded, chewed, and then snagged two glasses of juice from another serving column.

“What do you do?” It might be more fun to try and get the man to talk rather than read some dry official biography.

“Surveying. The planet.”

Lia was impressed. “I didn’t realize that. They used all your reports to set up our apportionment grants. According to the Territorial Adjudicators they were wonderfully complete.”

“I could have been making up a lot of it and spending most of my time on Gamaliel drinking beer on my deck.”

Lia shook her head at his self-deprecation as they circled around a fruit display being slowly demolished by a thin woman in a faded red jumpsuit. “That’s true, you could have. Would you be willing to tell me which parts aren’t accurate so we don’t send anyone out there and lose them?”

“Maybe I’ll show you sometime.” Colan paused and stopped in front of two older men who were astonishingly similar in appearance. They were both about Lia’s height, slim, and grey haired with keen gazes. They also wore dun colored coveralls and worn silver boots. They’d staked out a location between a drinks column and a dessert column and seemed to be content to stay in that area for the near future. They both regarded Colan with interest and then turned to her for introductions. Both Wayde and Rob bobbed their heads as they shook her hand.

“This is Lia Frei. She’s the scheduler for the new settlement.”

“What does a scheduler do?” Wayde, or perhaps Rob, piped up.

“I reconcile fantasy and reality.” Lia gave her standard answer. The two older men looked confused, but Colan choked out a laugh and shook his head. “What I do is constantly update work schedules, both actual and projected, and coordinate materials deliveries. When settlers start to arrive, I’ll schedule their arrival times to fit with available lodgings. Things like that.”

Wayde and Rob nodded complete non-understanding. “Can’t a program do that?”

Lia rocked her head back and forth. “Some can, but there are so many variables and speculation and guesswork, it’s hard for an AI to predict more than a few hours into the future. People don’t make updates into the system often enough when they are working hands-on, so the system never has up-to-date information. I, on the other hand, go out and talk to people and get their actual progress updates inputted in real time. I also know when someone is likely to be overestimating or underestimating their progress. What do you two do here in Pearl?”

“We mostly sleep and drink in Pearl.” Rob grinned at her and elbowed Wayde in the ribs.

“These two are shellers, which means they go out in the forest and hunt for mineralized flivver shells. When they’re here in town they usually do just sleep or drink,” Colan explained as he glanced between them. The older men bobbed their heads again and watched Lia.

“I see, I think. I read about these shells. They’re pretty valuable aren’t they?”

“Can be, Lia, they can be.” Rob reached into a pocket of his jumpsuit and withdrew a tiny pink vial. He untwisted the cap and gestured for her hand. She reached out, and he tapped the container against her palm, and a small curved piece of stone fell out. It looked like a sliver of a rainbow; colors shimmered and shifted across the surface as Lia held it up to the light. For its diminutive size, it was mighty eye-catching.

“That’s amazingly beautiful. And that’s part of a dead insect, or what are they, flivvers?”

“Yep. Similar to insects but with exothermic systems and seven legs rather than six. That was a wing carapace for an
altoid niens
. They have three. Uneven number of wings, but somehow they manage to fly. Judging by the chatoyancy and weight, it’s been percolating in mineral water for about a thousand years.”

Lia was charmed by the idea that something so lovely could come from a discarded bug part. She carefully tilted it back into Rob’s vial, and he capped and stowed it in a swift, practiced movement. “Are they rare?”

“Not especially. Flivver parts litter the ground in some areas. But really fine ones like that are hard to find. Most get broken or ground up before they can transform.” Wayde nodded and ate a fruit compote tart. Colan retrieved two and handed one to Lia before they all disappeared in Rob’s hands. He shot Colan a foul look but smiled when the column spiraled up three more from its interior. Claude must have loaded quite a few appetizers into them tonight.

“I’d love to look for some.”

“It’s rough out there.” Colan gave her a stern look, his slight scowl and narrowed eyes similar to when his features were touched by humor. The differences between happy Colan and angry Colan were miniscule. “There are worse things than foot weevils in the forests.”

“Now, don’t go scarin’ her, Tor.” Wade shook his head and ate another tart. “We’ll take you out so you can have a gander. You just got here, and I bet you haven’t seen much beyond the walls of your office, have you? Don’t know how you folks can be inside so much and not just lose your grip on sanity.”

Lia nodded agreement. The idea of an adventure appealed to her. She’d come to an unsettled planet for the chance to have some excitement, and to prove she could handle a project of this size and complexity, especially since she’d lost out on her first choice assignment. Maybe her headache would lessen if she was out in the fresh air.

Colan sighed with an aggrieved air. “When do you fellows want to do this?”

“How about tomorrow? Could you get away for the morning?”

Lia agreed immediately. Once this party was over, she was due for some free time. She’d caught up on all the changes she needed to coordinate between all the divisions, and it was unlikely much was going to change overnight, when everyone was theoretically sleeping. Tomorrow morning would be ideal, because Cordon was due to arrive that afternoon and could take over these liaison duties after she briefed him.

“We did have a favor to ask you.” Wayde ventured with a glance at Rob who took a long drink of his juice.

“What can I do for you?” Lia reverted to a more formal tone and posture, ready to not commit to anything if it might cause problems for anyone on the admin team.

“We were hoping you’d give us permission to do a little prospecting in the areas you clear for construction. We’d just do some digging in your excavated fill. Completely not in anyone’s way.” Wayde widened his eyes as he waited for her reply.

“That sounds reasonable. Let me check on Welti’s schedule and find out when they aren’t going to be excavating so it will be safe.”

“That’s wonderful. We’ll stop by for you in the morning.” Rob grinned as if he’d won a prize, and Wayde shook her hand again. Both men smiled at each other and shuffled away toward another column of food.

“Do you know what you’re getting into?” Colan’s scowled with apparent disapproval again.

“Hopefully, a fascinating morning spent outside and away from my datpad.”

“Wet, mud, sharp fronds in your face, sucking flivvers, holes to break an ankle in. You have no idea.”

“You just told me. Besides, I’ll never learn my lesson if I stay at my desk and look out the window.” Lia watched Colan as he took a breath, apparently ready to argue with her.

They were distracted from more tart conversation by a rumble of raised voices behind them. Lia turned to see a pretty, dark-haired woman standing in front of Moca, talking animatedly and jerking her hands in the air as the magistrate put on a calm expression. Lia wanted to make her way over but was impeded by the people in the cafeteria who drew around the confrontation. Colan was at her side and made a path toward the two women, his hand hovering near her back as he maneuvered them along. Lia couldn’t imagine what might have happened. Moca was the consummate diplomat. She could soothe nearly anyone with her respectful attention and genuine willingness to listen.

“I’m warning you, if you facilitate the arrival of any persons with intent to exploit these organisms, there will be terrible consequences.” The pretty woman took a step toward Moca, her eyes glittering with fury, and Lia found herself moving to Moca’s side instinctively. She reached out, put her hand on Moca’s arm, and could feel the tension radiating from her body. Colan appeared at the other woman’s side, his face a tight mask.

“Riva, let’s go and get you a drink.”

“I don’t need a drink, Tor. I need to make her—make them all—understand what’s going to happen here.” The woman, Riva, didn’t tear her gaze away from Moca as Colan tried to lead her away. People Lia didn’t know gathered around them, and she desperately wished Zashi was there to help. The safety chief could make a crowd melt away with one glance from his black eyes.

“Riva, I understand your concerns. I’d be happy to see you tomorrow so that we can have an in-depth discussion.” Moca smiled as she made the offer, and the other woman narrowed her eyes and edged even closer. Lia shot a concerned look at Colan, and he took a breath and tightened his mouth into a resigned line. Without a word, he circled an arm around Riva’s shoulders and drew her back into the crowd of staring people.

“Let go of me, Tor!”

Riva’s voice echoed before the crowd closed around behind them. There were lots of curious stares, and several Pearlites seemed satisfied there had been a scene. Lia noticed a familiar face. The woman from the restaurant, Joli, smiled as she held a drink up to her mouth.

“They breathe through these holes?” Miklos, the new informationist, asked with wonder in his voice. Colan paused on the damp forest path and searched for a good place to put his feet, since it seemed the young man was curious about that particular species. He’d been full of questions all along, probably because he was an informationist in search of information. He’d been the only other settlement team member, aside from Lia, to take Wayde and Rob’s tour this morning, and Colan grew to like him because of his cheerful enthusiasm for his new home.

“That’s right. They breathe through those holes lining each rib and coming up out of the ground. Stoma. That’s what we call them, but I don’t know what the science people say.” Wayde rubbed his chin and peered at the pale blue ribs arched above them. “The ground is so soggy they need something up here to catch the air.”

“So they actively respirate?”

“Yes, they are breathers. No lungs or diaphragm, more a bellows system inside there. Powered by humidity levels in the cells.”

Lia arrived at his side and nodded, taking a deep breath as she leaned her hand against a stoma rib. Colan gave her an evaluating look. She appeared tired. She’d been groggy that morning when they’d set out, and despite her assertions the fresh air would do her good, she still seemed unwell. There were lavender smudges under her eyes, and she had lagged behind the two old shellers as well as the young man ahead. Colan found himself slowing his pace to stay near her.

“Seems like I could take a lesson on breathing from them.” She rubbed fingertips against her temple and winced.

“Do you want to head back?” Colan was concerned for her. They’d been walking for over an hour, and even if the linear distance back to the settlement wasn’t significant, traveling over broken ground with an incapacitated person was not something he cared to do.

“No. This is interesting. I just wish I could shake this headache.” Lia closed her eyes and took a few breaths through her nose as if she was trying to center herself.

“What kind of headache?”

“The kind that hurts my head. What other kind is there?”