Chapter 19
Holding the Torch before her, Heather learned how to push energy to form a shield. The energy field could be discerned through tactile sensations across her skin, like having been grabbed by a static electrically charged blanket pulled from the dryer. Her skirt tightened around her. She could feel the electricity moving in her. It coalesced into a shelled that completely encapsulated her. Because she was standing on the ground, part of Mars was caught up under her feet.
“You did it!” Karma said. “It takes most people years to sustain it.”
“I feel weird,” Heather said. “Is this safe? It’s not going to give me cancer, is it?”
“It’s perfectly safe. Acheron and you are now one. Your body is essentially an antennae, sending and receiving information. Every cell in your body produces and electromagnetic field. Each organ has a signature, a spectrum color. Your heart emits a field that extends from your body three feet in all direction. Acheron piggy backed off your energy to manifest the shield. Also, every cell in your body emits light. They’re called biophotons. We have known we are creatures of light way before Lucas wrote the lines for Yoda, but science has confirmed these energy. We emit light in ultraviolet and lower visible spectrum, a thousand times fainter than the eye can detect- but it’s there. We also emit heat signatures. We are literally rainbow bodies,” Karma said. “If you’re interested, the biophotons emission is measured in glimmers….”
“I am not interested,” Heather said. “You’re telling me I can fly in this bubble?”
“Yes, Glenda,” Karma said.
“And this is safe?” Heather asked. “Seriously?”
“Well, yes, reasonably safe,” Karma said. “Space Force Knights on receiving their Torch must go a minimum of four light years to pass the first standard. That’s Alpha Centauri.” She looked up, found it, pointed. “There. Shall we do it?”
“Do you know how long that will take?”
“At the speed light? About four years,” Karma said.
“I don’t have four years!” Heather said.
“What, you’re dying?”
“No, I meant…”
“Heather, haven’t you figure it out yet. Yes, there is a Universal speed limit, but that’s only applicable regionally, and to non-conscious entities. You’re speed is only limited by belief. If you can learn to see with your mind, you can be there instantaneously. You can go there in spirit and bring your body with you if you feel so incline. You can be at Alpha Centauri prime in thirty minutes or in a blink of an eye. Faster if you’re familiar with a place. Longer if you decide to sight see the solar system or the space between. There are some interesting artifacts between the stars. I wouldn’t mind skimming across the rings of Saturn before heading out into the black.”
“People do this?”
“Star Force Knights, all the time,” Karma said. “Why do you think they’re so silent about this tech on Earth. People would be flying all over the place. Most people aren’t ready for this. You’re ready for this. You wouldn’t be holding a Torch if you weren’t…”
“I am not ready for this!” Heather said.
“Take it up, hover, get used to the control interface,” Karma said.
“No. What about air supply?”
“Don’t stop, believing, hold onto that feeling…”
Heather glared at Karma.
“Come on, lighten up, Starlight. That was funny,” Karma said.
“Do Space Force Knights wear space suits?” Heather said.
“Only the best, but they’re first flight is without suit,” Karma said.
“I want one of those, then,” Heather said.
“Oh, most people do. Have Space Suit, Will Travel. They’re more expensive than spaceships. You could grow one, in about six months if you’re making short cuts and devoted all your resources to it,” Heather said. “Maybe faster if you had a hundred pounds of gold. You’d be surprised how valuable gold is when printing at the molecular level. And crystals. You can print crystals of course, but having a supply of natural crystals, properly tuned to the environment- they’re worth more than gold. The same crystal type has flavors of the planet that spawns them, like snow cones with syrup.”
Heather sighed.
“Why didn’t we name the Torch Starlight?”
“That was taken,” Karma said.
“And Acheron wasn’t?” Heather asked.
“Technically, your Toruch is Acheron 125.7, but the sub identifier is only visible when you ident,” Karma said.
“Ident?”
“Trasnponder information that identifies you as a friendly,” Karma said. “All the Acherons are one. The one you hold is a deviation point.”
“So, there are others out there?”
“Many. In other Universes. You really don’t want two in the same universe. Weird stuff happens,” Karma said.
“What kind of weird stuff?”
“Paranormal shit,” karma said.
“Fine. So, if we travel, we’re going to run into others out there? Hostiles?” Heather said.
“Most people don’t shoot at friendlies. Technically, you haven’t got a reputation yet, you’re a heavy neutral, unpredictable wild card. There are those who will shoot at neutrals,” Karma said.
“Why?”
“Mostly as a deterrent, to warn you off. You don’t have to worry too much about most weapons fire, especially ballistics, because you can go slightly out of phase with matter and pass through things,” Karma said. “Which is a must have ability if you’re traveling faster than light through third density space. Anyway, you can expect to be shot at if you approach a ship, identing or not.”
“Why?” Heather said.
“Pay attention. You don’t have a rep. You’re not aligned with an agency. Space Force Knights, well, they have a rep for being good and helpful, and so- most people are going to open their spaceships up to them. SFKs get safe harbor most the time,” Karma said.
“So, how do I enlist with them?” Heather asked.
“Oh, you can’t. You’re way too old to start the training,” Karma said.
Heather glared. “I have a Torch. That doesn’t qualify me?”
“You have a Torch and you’re afraid to fly,” Karma said. “If you never dived off a high dive, you’re not likely to suddenly on a whim go jump off a high dive, or even approach Olympic level diving. This jump is bigger than that. In nothing flat, you could be in the black between solar systems. That’s deep. It’s disorientating. You can get lost. Your fear is reasonable.”
“Jon did it?” Heather asked.
“I wouldn’t measure yourself by him,” Karma said.
“Did he go into the black?” Heather asked.
Karma made a quick exchange with Eos. Jon’s habitat space station was behind them. Eos was visible behind them, distant, removed, respectfully there. “Yes. He tried to get lost. He had no intentions of coming back to this system,” Karma said.
“And yet…”
“Karma,” Karma said.
“What?”
“Life is funny. Debt is debt. If you don’t pay it back this life time, you catch it in the next,” Karma said.
“What I don’t like about the idea of reincarnation is that no one can ever pay off a life time a debt, if with every life you accumulate more debt…”
“It could take hundreds of millions of years,” Karma agreed.
“Can a person ever…”
“Even after all this time, the sun never say’s to the Earth, ‘you owe me;’ a love like that, lights the whole sky…”
Heather glared. “Poetry? I am having a serious conversation with you and you give me trite poetry.”
“Oh!” Karma gasped. “Hāfiz is not trite! The Persian poets are the source code for all Jedi sayings. How dare you. Collecting soul debt means you’re worthy. Being born is being given a chance. You have been given opportunity because they love you. A nebular doesn’t birth stars without collecting debt. A body attracts things, it accumulates, and at some point it figures it all out and ignites. You can’t be a superstar without social debt. When you finally transform, you give it all back and then some. Go accrue debt. Make mistakes. Own it. Pay up. Learn to shine. Be your own light.”
Karma reached up and took hold of the Torch with both hands, closing her hand around Heather’s hands. She tweaked the shield, shifting them out of phase with third density matter. They fell through the ground. Heather screamed, not because her stomach gave way like it might on an elevator that was falling, but because she knew she was falling based on ‘visual’ cues and the body responded accordingly, expecting danger. Danger that should have been there even as Karma accelerated their descent. Normally a body would take forty five minutes to fall unobstructed through any planet. They passed through it five minutes and out the other side of the planet. Their heads hovered above the ground. Karma righted their feet, turned off the shield and their lump of Martian soil fell to the ground. Heather landed on this, and she knelt to keep balance, feeling like Wonder Woman having lighted after a serious jump. The soil shifted and as it collapsed. She got her footing and stared crossly at Karma. She was super stoked and angry simultaneously.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Heather said.
Karma smiled and stepped aside. Heather became aware of trees, as tall and thick as Giant Redwoods, only they were not Sequoiadendron giganteum. Heather was given insight, as Karma labeled the trees- flash highlighted a dome, so she had spatial orientation. They were in a habitat. All in all, she would have said she was in garden, in winter. It was cold. Patches of snow were in the trees. Human sized Keas descended from the trees, their dull, olive grey colors broken by the bright orange under their wings. What she had thought were vertical pine cones were Keas. More remained in the trees, watching. She felt fear. Her hand holding the Torch trembled.
“Easy,” Karma said.
One of the Kea approached.
“Sikher,” it said, eyeing her sideways.
It bounced a little closer. Heather retreated. It ceased its approach and expanded its wings, as if mimicking a human gesture of ‘easy, I don’t mean to frighten you.’ The gesture frightened her.
“Easy,” Karma said.
“Sikher. Welcome to the Aviary,” the Kea said.
“Say something to it,” Karma said.
“It understands me?”
“Of course,” the Kea said. “I am Toe.”
“You’re not just mimicking…”
“How did you become a Sikher with this level of bias?” this was from another Kea.
“Humans! Even with our size, they dismiss our speech as evidence for sentience,” another said.
“Look at her eyes. She is wild,” another said.
Another Kea approached, bouncing into the circle and followed by two humans. The two humans advanced, carrying trays of food and drink. They went to knees and set the tray down. The trays had legs that telescoped out. They remained on their knees, and put their hands on the ground.
“Sikher. I am Shad,” the new Kea said. “These are my hands. Tell us, what brought you into our domain?”
“Forgive her,” Karma said. “She is learning.”
“I want to hear it from her,” Shad said, not looking at Karma.
Karma bowed, became invisible.
“She is nothing without her tech,” another said.
“Respect the tech,” Shad said. “Hands, withdraw.”
The two humans got up and withdrew to a point behind Shad. Shad came closer.
“I invite you to eat and drink with me,” Shad said. “We mean you no harm.”
Heather pointed the Torch at Shad, for her an innocuous gesture. So much happened at once, she didn’t understand what had happened until Karma gave her an instant replay. The two humans rushed up to protect Shad. Simultaneously, she was assaulted by Kea, pummeled with wings and taken to the ground, and her Torch taken. Karma tried to intervene.
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Karma said. “She was gesturing, not going to use the weapon.”
“Her eyes are wild. She is not tamed.”
One of the Kea handed the Torch to one of Shad’s hand. There was a Kea on Heather’s back, gripping the left shoulder and right arm. Another Kea held her head to the Martian soil.
Shad came closer. “I am going to allow you to stand. Any further acts of aggression could result in you being harmed. Please, be civil.”
Shad bobbed its head. The ones holding Heather down retreated. Heather got up quickly. Shad did not retreat from her sudden movements, but did stand erect, clearly ready to fight. Heather spun, assessing the number of Kea about her, and realized she was in great danger. They could kill her.
“You have the muscles mass of someone from Earth,” Shad said. “Are you newly released? Or were you raised on a grid? A centrifuge city?”
“Her bio is available…” Karma began.
“Are you going to speak, or is your shadow going to do it for you?” Shad asked.
“I am afraid,” Heather said.
Shad bobbed its head. The other Kea retreated.
“The Ravens would have killed you such an admission. Please be aware, your gestures communicate concepts you may not wish to transmit,” Shad said. “In truth, your inner thoughts communicate concepts you may not wish to transmit. Different species interpret gestures and thoughts differently. You should know this if you’re going to survive your first year as Sikher. You can smile at a baboon, but if you smile at a chimpanzee, it will attack you. Technically, you smile at a male baboon, and it will try and fuck you.”
“You’re so big…” Heather said.
There was laughter from the Kea.
“Judge us by our size? Even the Kea on Earth are as intelligent as we. Size is a product of environment. Earth supported giants in the past. There was more oxygen in those days. We believe the humans destroyed the garden to make it harder for giants to live. Less oxygen. Less food. They destroyed the garden, then they got mad that the giants became cannibals. They decreased the diversity of Earth’s biosphere to dissuade the reptiles from staying,” Kea said. “You would do better to learn to share. Drink with me.”
Karma nodded at her. Heather picked up a glass and smelled it.
“Listen to your shadow. If we intended to kill you, you would be dead already,” Shad said. “Hands, drink with her.”
The humans came forward and sampled the drinks. “Mango juice” the male said. He held her Torch.
“Hands?” Heather asked.
“My servants,” Shad said.
“Slaves?”
Shad chuckled. “Human of Earth. You know so little, and your ignorance and bias is so transparent, you will get yourself killed. Yes. Slave is an appropriate word based on your Earth definition. They serve with minimum economic compensation. So, from your paradigm of origin, this would be interpreted as that. I dare say, my Hands are treated better than any relationship you can imagine on earth. Better than slave, better than indentured servant, better than employee, better than CEO, better than a child. Earth parenting skills suck.”
“People in a prison do awful things to each other,” Toe said.
“That’s no excuse,” Shad said.
“Rats in an overcrowded cage will become savage,” Toe said.
“They did it to themselves. They did not want to share, so they destroy the environment. They have had many opportunities to turn the entire world into an oasis of food bearing trees and plant, but they cut down the forest to limit production and control the population through food scarcity,” Shad said. Shad eyed Heather. “We have sent you so many teachers, Jesus to Johnny Appleseed, and you heed no one. Yes, you hear contempt in my voice. It’s not about too many people. Earth could support three times your human population, if you were smart about it. Many are not pleased with the conditions on Earth, and if our Hands weren’t tied, we would aggressively change things.”
“What does that mean?”
“Humans clearly cannot govern themselves. You need better Masters,” Shad said.
“We need to be independent,” Heather said.
“Do you support equality of independence for everyone? Would you give your enemies weapons?” Shad asked.
“That would be stupid,” Heather said.
“So, you believe in limited independence. Conditional.” Shad extended its wings. “Are we not all sentient and deserving of sun and shade and air?” Shad whistled four notes. The hand holding the Torch stepped forwards, knelt down, bowed, and held the Torch up to her, open hand. Heather hesitated.
“Take it,” Shad said. “I accept you, fangs and all.”
Heather took the Torch. A thought occurred to her: with the light sword extended, she could kill the hands and Shad, maybe even a lot of the Kea, but they would kill her. She touched the Torch to her belt and relinquished it. It held.
Shad bowed. “Sikher. What brings you to the Aviary?”
“I was learning to fly,” Heather admitted. She realized the synchronicity of that statement with being in Aviary.
There was some noise, like heckles, and a one clear voice saying, ‘humans, can barely walked and want to fly.’
“How goes it?” Shad asked.
“I am not liking it. But I need to travel. I need a spaceship,” Heather said.
“Need or want?” Shad asked. “Are you on a mission? Would there be compensation for aiding in a quest?”
“My gratitude,” Heather said.
“She has nothing,” someone said.
“Gratitude from a Sikher could be a nice investment,” Toe said.
“You would get more from dropping shit from the branches,” another said.
“Do you have ships?” Heather asked.
“Child, no one here is going to give you a ship,” Shad said. “You should know that. No bird, no human, no reptile will lend you a ship.”
“I will escort her, dependent on where it is she intends to go, with the caveat she becomes my hand for a minimum of ten Earth years, consecutive,” Toe said.
Shad and Toe exchanged conversation in a bird language, with wild gestures from their wings. Others contributed, hopping in place, bobbing heads, shaking heads, screeching, or even laughing. There was one who made obscene gestures with a claw and tongue. Heather looked to Karma who shrugged. (You can’t translate?) Heather asked. (Translation is being blocked, but the gesture seems fairly straight forwards.) Karma responded. Heather blushed.
Shad turned to Heather. “If you and Toe negotiate a deal, we will not block.”
“I would like to explore other options,” Heather said.
“Toe, take her to the market. I will sponsor this human and your efforts to aid her quest in finding a pilot,” Shad said.
“She has not even shared food with us!”
Heather chose a cup and drank from it. It was mango juice.
“Thank you,” Heather said.
“This is a waste…”
“She is unaligned.”
“It is decided,” Shad said.
“Maybe I can pay you back…” Heather said.
“We do not want any tokens from you in your neutrality. Come back when you decided what you fight for,” Shad said. “We will talk then.”
“Come, human,” Toe said. “Follow me.”
♫♪►
Toe led Heather to a ground house, a simple human home comprised of stone walls with a grass roof. It was contained in a garden, unparalleled by anything she had seen on Earth, in reality and fiction. Most of the plants were fruit bearing plants. There was a tree with fruit- a mixture of different kinds of fruit, suggesting branches may have been grafted to a host tree. Around each tree were other plants bearing seed or fruit, and around this, smaller plants that hid their seed or products in the ground. Paths radiated into the trees. The diversity of the plants supported the whole. Wildlife that foraged here supported the whole. Toe whistled. Humans emerged from the house and from behind it. They were sturdy looking, in superior physical shape. It wasn’t that they looked fit that so was striking, but that they seemed healthy. Their hair was red, their skin pale and freckled, they were tall and lean, and could easily have been mistaken for Vikings. One of the younger males was leering at Heather. She ignored the adolescent.
“Bring the skip around, Sheila,” Toe said. He gave short whistle burst, and the adolescent looked to the ground.
A woman bowed and departed. Toe gestured with the tip of the wing and the humans departed. It eyed Heather, tilting its head.
“You own people?” Heather asked.
“It’s a cooperative,” Toe said.
“They can leave whenever they want?” Heather said.
“No,” Toe said. “They were born and raised here. They would not survive well on earth. Your world is harsh. They would not understand the social nuances. They would not understand the violence you do to each other.”
Heather frowned.
“Your ideas of freedom are skewed, child,” Toe said. “In truth, your ability to see reality is broken due to the extreme filters you apply. I can tell by your accent, you’re American. Your political and social stances are so ingrained that you transmit them unknowingly through physical gestures. Yeah, I studied you- your kind. You are told you are free, and yet- you are enslaved by the very capitalistic structures you’re taught to praise. Any rise in your economic situations enslaves others to you. It’s a pyramid scheme, and yet your system punishes people for doing so blatantly. Your country has the highest incarceration rate in the world. That’s rather odd for supposedly being the freest country in the world, don’t you think? People in cages, longing to be free- in a free country. Irony. Give me those people, and I promise you to a one, they’d be happier and safer with me than they ever were on Earth.”
The skip came about and landed. It was the size and general shape of a van, only it had no wheels. It landed and the back opened, a hatch articulating up. Sheila was in a forward driving position. Toe pointed at the spare seat. Heather hesitated.
“Child, you’re a Sikher, it is your destiny to explore,” Toe said. “If you need a ship, this is the way. Quite frankly, if you’re bothered by what you imagine is going on here- you’re not going to like where we’re going.”
“Where we going?” Sheila asked.
“Farmers Market,” Toe said.
Sheila nodded; “It’s fun. Come on.” Toe looked to Heather. Heather’s hesitation was realizing if she entered the van, and Toe entered behind her, she would not be able to get out without physical contact with the bird. Toe tilted its head.
“You can go there on your own,” Toe said. “You don’t need me. This is just a friendly gesture on my part.”
“Why?” Heather asked.
“I like you,” Toe said.
Heather became more skeptical.
“Why is that so hard to believe?” Toe said.
“You want something from me,” Heather said. “You’d enslave me for ten years.”
“It will take ten years to get through your social programming,” Toe said.
“You want to groom me and make me like slavery?” Heather said.
“Isn’t that what your system did to you? There is no other way to live but your way?” Toe asked. “Again, you don’t need me to fly. What’s holding you?”
Heather grimaced, entered the skip and took her seat. Toe came in behind her. The door closed. As they were rising, Heather looked out the window and saw humans placing food in crates that was to be lifted by drone and taken to market or directly to buyers. There was trade established with other communities. The garden behind the house was expansive, and human and smart machines toiled together. Further from the house, the foliage became denser, harder to see the ground, but still it was all garden. She recognized cocoa fruit. There was a doe, and human child petting it, offering it milk from a bottle. The skip accelerated away, slowing only to pass through the dome’s gate. The sun shone through the dome, and on passing to the outside of the dome she realized it had been magnified on the inner surface of the dome to offer more light and heat. The Martian sun was simply not as big in the sky as it was on Earth. It was something to get used to. She had to remind herself not to stare at it. Had she not known the dome was there, she might have forgotten she was on Mars at all.
The Market was a place where drones brought food and products for non-local exchange. Local exchange, Toe explained, was completely automated. People exchanged fresh produce, but also exchanged products they made with their own produce. Toe’s people were known for making a particular jam, and harvesting honey. Though anyone with tech could recreate his brand, people preferred getting it from source. The honey their bees made was highly coveted due to the pollen they harvested. He and his humans did well.
“Anyone can grow produce, mine the land,” Toe explained. “It’s what you do with the produce, the many products that can be farmed and created, adding your own signature touch that increases its value.”
“Why do you have people at all?” Heather said. “Your machines could do anything?”
“True enough,” Toe agreed. “Let’s just say, wire monkey, cloth monkey.”
Sheila laughed. “That’s funny.”
Heather looked at her oddly.
“She doesn’t understand the nuance,” Toe explained. “She doesn’t know about the study your people did with monkeys.”
Heather frowned at that. She realized she was frowning a lot. She tried to find a softness in her and bring it out. “I don’t like what we do animals, you know.”
“I believe that about you,” Toe said. “Do you know the story about the chimpanzee, ‘Lolita?’”
Heather wasn’t sure.
“The handlers were trying to teach it to draw. And finally, they managed to communicate they wanted Lolita to draw an animal. It drew an animal. It added bars. All the animals it drew were contained in bars, as if it understood animal lives in cage,” Toe said.
“That’s sad,” Sheila said.
“How old are you?” Heather asked her.
“15,” Sheila said.
“In Earth years, dear,” Toe said.
“Oh!” Heather laughed. “I don’t know.”
“15 sounds about right, emotionally,” Heather said.
Sheila beamed. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, dear,” Toe said.
“Why would she want to be mean?” Sheila asked.
“Ask her,” Toe said.
“Why would you want to disparage me?” Sheila asked.
Heather swallowed. “I don’t like stupid.” She looked to Toe. “You keep her stupid to better manipulate her?”
Toe asked Heather to multiply two extremely largest numbers. She gave an answer immediately. Karma nodded, showing the calculator in her mind’s eye. He asked her to name and describe two elements on the periodic charts. She gave a response. He asked her to describe the physiological structures and pathways that blood follows through the circulatory system. She knew these. He gave her a scenario that would have been considered a medical emergency that a paramedic might respond to. She knew how to mend wounds. He asked her how to make a nuclear bomb. She declined, saying she didn’t feel safe sharing this sort of information with the stranger; it revealed discernment. Heather was speechless.
“Don’t assume a person who is happy and apparently non aggressive lacks intelligence, or lacks the ability to kill,” Toe said.
“I apologize,” Heather said. “I…”
“It’s okay. You’re not from around here. Are you going to stay with us?” Sheila asked.
“No,” Heather said.
“Geo likes you. He’s my step son. He’s never seen anyone with your hair and complexion,” Sheila said.
“I only date older men,” Heather said.
“Oh, my grandfather would be interested in you…”
“All the men would be interested in you,” Toe said. “A ten year contract with me would not be unpleasant.”
“I am not into polygamy or slavery,” Heather said.
The car landed at the outskirts of what appeared to be a town square. The rear door opened and Toe exited, followed by Heather and Sheila. Toe pointed, and the information he gave put points on a virtual map she wasn’t aware she had, The information seemed contiguous with her earlier experience of the dome being highlighted. She didn’t ask questions about it. She understood it was an augmented reality interface, likely due to tech in her clothes, or the Torch, or both. Unless, she was also now embedded with tech in her body. Had they put a chip in her brain?
“Pilot’s bar is over there, three blocks down, one block south. Mostly independents, small trade couriers, scouts. Hotel across the street from it will give you room for one night. Barter hall and convention center near that. If you liked the Cantina Bar in Star Wars, you’ll like the Pilot’s Bar. Except for the smell. The smell can take some getting used to,” Toe explained. He highlighted the buildings he named and shared with her map; buildings behind building, one building top visible from her present perspective.
“Can’t she just take a portal out of the system?” Sheila asked.
“She’s not aligned,” Toe said. “If you want to