Displaced - Day 12

“How do you know there’s anything important about his work if you don’t know what he was working on?”

Sandra nodded. “We don’t know the details, but we do know that his work had something to do with your mother’s work. We can only guess at the how of it.” She drew in a deep breath and looked distinctly uncomfortable. “How many times have you been through the transfer, Charlie?”

He noticed the switch from his skimmer name to his real one. “Half a dozen times, maybe? Why?”

Her eyes widened a little and she frowned, but nodded. “That many. That’s more than I expected, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. It should be fine. Charlie, time travel is … damaging. We don’t know the specifics, but we know that repeated time travel causes damage to the cells of the body, and we believe your father was working on methods of genetic protection against the effects.”

Untitled Captain Koell Adventure - Day 13

They began the long walk around the circumference of the colony site, Corwin’s eyes peeled for another entrance. It was disconcerting to walk on such rough, hard ground but not hear his own footsteps; he felt the sensation, but the sound had only his suit and his body to conduct through. The atmosphere was too thin for sound to travel well.

“I don’t know, Aru. Maybe we’re thinking about this wrong. Whatever used to cover this place is long gone. Is there anything in the ship that’ll help us get over the wall? Or hey, did the ship’s sensors happen to pick up any suitable landing spots inside the colony?”

The Price of Demand (Reintegration Edit 6)

Altman knelt on one knee amid the scattered stones at the scene of the accident, casting a critical eye at where each had ended up through the same pair of goggles he’d used before the accident. He’d adjusted the complex system of levers that switched out lenses to magnify what he saw. He sighed. “I wish we had a proper inspector here to investigate this.”

Waldon Sias snorted from behind him. “There’s lots of things it’d be nice t’have, but for now we just ‘ave to make do.”

“I suppose you’re right. There’s only so much I can do though. I studied the geosciences, not criminal investi— … Interesting.” He leaned in closer for a better look, flicking levers to bring the rock that had caught his attention into better focus.

“What’s interesting?” Sias sounded anything but interested; his voice carried the forced patience of a man who had a thousand other things that needed doing, but who needed answers more.

“These stone bricks. They bear the characteristic marks of stone cutting, just as one would expect, as well as the signs of the fall off the tower, but … Some of these are scratched up on one side, and look here at the pitting on this one.”

Waldon scratched his stubbled cheek. “Sounds t’me like you’re ‘xactly the sort ‘o investigator we need ‘ere. No police Inspector ever caught detail like that that I ever ‘eard of.”

Altman smiled under the goggles, but his face remained serious. “These bricks were pushed; their fall was no accident.”

“Could Claver ‘ave brought ‘em down with him when ‘e fell?”

Altman shook his head. “No, I was here at the time and saw him fall. He didn’t bring them down upon himself. Of that I’m certain.”

“Well ‘hoever did this is obviously keepin’ it quiet, or they’d have confronted us in public. What we need to do is find out what they’re up to, what they want from us. They must want SOMETHING.”

<>

The Price of Demand (Reintegration Edit 5)

<>

Altman and Kaylene entered the medical wing of their house. It was in fact a set of bedrooms, but it was the only place suited for the care of the injured and sick in the small place, so they’d lent the space to the medics they’d brought in.

“Medic Cranford. How’s Claver doing?” Kaylene’s voice was concerned, but betrayed no anxiousness.

The stern, matronly figure looked up from her notes, grey eyes assuringly alert. “He’s in rough shape, but he’ll live. That arm, though … I’ve got the bones set, but that was a right nasty piece of work. Muscles are all torn up. If I can keep infection at bay, he’ll keep the arm. Whether it’ll work right again after, well it’s just too early to say.”

“Can we see him?” Altman’s voice was a bit gruff; he couldn’t help feeling a guilty pang. It’d been many hours since the accident and his only thoughts of it so far had been of how it impacted him and his plans. When had he become so cold?

“Only for a few moments. I ‘ave him on the poppiate. He’ll be out till afternoon tomorrow, if not later. I’ll let ‘im know you came by though; I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

They stopped by Claver’s bedside. He was pale, but his chest rose and fell evenly and deeply. They sat a few minutes. As they left the wing, Altman cast his wife a significant glance. “I hope our luck turns soon.”

She smiled in return and put a hand on his arm. “Apparently, husband, anything can happen.”

<>

The Price of Demand (Reintegration Edit 4)

“Why d’you think Mitchell has it in for us? We pay dear enough for ‘is union’s services. You’d think the man’d be the least bit grateful.”

Altman continued writing while his wife’s question sunk in. He paused, finger held still above the paper he’d been reading, holding his place. He stared off into the distance for a moment before speaking. “Unless he has some personal stake in hindering us.”

Kaylene’s eyes narrowed. “The Conclave?”

He nodded slowly. “Perhaps. They certainly haven’t been happy with me since I settled here instead of working for them.” He’d done his studies at the Conclave’s Academy with the expectation that he, a top student of his year, would move on to work at the organization’s laboratories. That had been his original plan until life offered him another path.

Kaylene’s heart-shaped face hardened into a frown. “And if the Conclave finds out about the electrite we’re hidin’ here, they’ll waste no time tryin’ to take it out right from under us.”

“Chances are that they’ll learn of it eventually, but we can delay that for a very long time, if we play this right.” He set the papers back down on the desk and met her gaze. “For now, we’ve done all we can on our own to protect it; the deposits we know of are all well-disguised with run down, ‘abandoned’ buildings. The work crews don’t get too close to them. Nobody should so much as spare the area a glance.”

Her mouth quirked in a sardonic smile. “With the luck we’ve had here lately, it’s just a matter of time before someone finds it.”

Altman slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes. “Not you too!” The tired smile playing at his lips kept the words from seeming harsh.

The smile vanished from Kaylene’s face. “You may not believe in luck, husband,” she said with a serious tone, “but you can bet the men do, an’ I wish you’d learn to understand that. If luck is playin’ a part in our lives, it’s bound to run out at some point. An’ even if it’s not involved, they’ll go an’ get spooked about the place if accidents like this keep happenin’.”

Altman held her gaze but said nothing; she was right, and he knew it.