April 2: Down to Earth (27 page)

The hubbub of voiced changed tone, from manic to fearful. Just for dramatic effect she cranked the pistol back up to full power and put a short burst into the high ceiling. The nature of the beam was such it modulated to shake the target apart as much as burn it. So the beam cutting through the acoustical covering and lighting fixtures above, made a wail that her friend Jon had described as, "God's own fingernails dragged down the blackboard of heaven." When it bit into the concrete underneath, the thermal shock spalled a shower of hot sharp chips off too. The strange wail and shower of hot debris that came down, accelerated a stampede away from them, that had already shown considerable momentum.

She stopped firing and holstered her weapon, watching the wave of humanity wash away from her, a few of the tail most limping from a burned foot. There was a lot of horse yelling, the drumming of footfalls and the sounds of furniture and glass breaking, along with expensive media equipment. In less than two minutes from stepping to the tape they were standing alone at the barricade and on the other side was an expanse of open floor, scattered with fine debris of all sorts and an occasional large piece such as a microphone, camera or a smoldering shoe. There was a pile of overturned rubbish bins and bent and crushed chairs that the manufacturer had positively guaranteed unbreakable. A literal handful of the bravest among the press, had the nerve to stop and peek back around the corner from a cross corridor and a couple shop doorways a good safe distance away. April didn't figure that for a problem.

April looked back over her shoulder and all three of the security people were standing with their mouths hanging open. None of them would have believed less than a line of riot police with shields and gas could have cleared the corridor, a moment ago.

As they walked carefully through the wreckage. April asked Adzusa, "Aren't you going to chastise me a little, for being so harsh with your fellow newsies?"

"April, those were paparazzi. What you just did, was fulfill the fantasy of every celebrity from a century of abuse at their hands. They've blocked people's path, invaded homes, hung over fences, dangled from eves. People have died trying to run away from them, so they could have a moment of peace. Few tears will be shed by those who really know what the pests are like, although the tabloids will make you out a monster."

I can live with that," April assured her, indifferent.

The lady at the car rental counter was nice but firm. If you didn't have a major credit card and a valid state license, you couldn't rent anything. No, a check card was not the same. No, your friend could not be the designated driver for you, if you couldn't drive. An International Driving Permit had to be presented
with
a state license and it didn't matter what the law was, they followed company rules, because it was
their
car. And no, you couldn't just prepay a lump and take the car. No, they didn't have any they could sell outright. That was another arm of the company altogether, that disposed of their used vehicles on the mainland.

"Maybe I should just rent it and be done with it," Adzusa offered. "I have a credit card and a driver's license."

"Let me try one more thing," she looked at the local business directory on her pad. "What's the brand of the premium cars you rent?" April asked the rental agent.

"The Daimler Benz are our top of the line."

Adzusa watched as April accessed the local commercial directory and highlighted an address on the pad and activated it. She got a video connection and a nice young man in a dark suit answered.

"Hello, I'm April Lewis from Home and my friend and I are at the port and unable to rent a car. How far are you from the spaceport and if I buy a car from you, can you pick us up here and show us what you have available to buy and drive home today?" Adzusa couldn't understand what the young man asked, but April said, "We're two young women. I like almost anything in black. Drive something fun and practical for exploring the island and if we don't like it we won't be shy to tell you." Then she said, "I didn't know that went out on the news services already, thanks for telling us. But no, I promise I won't shoot you if I don't like it. The newsies are exaggerating," she said. "I don't think there was structural damage to the building, just a few lighting fixtures and some furniture."

April was anxious to sit somewhere quiet and call Jon and gramps on Home and them about entering. After the hassle with the card, if they didn't stop using them at New Las Vegas and ISSII, they were going to look as divided as the North Americans had just now. She didn't think anyone she knew on Home would balk at trashing the stupid cards.

"He'll be here in fifteen minutes," she promised, closing up the pad. "Is there anywhere to get a decent cup of coffee in this place?"

Chapter 23

The Mercedes was a truck. It was finished in a Ebony Swirl Black, a gorgeous textured finish that shed any adhesion of dirt or debris like a non-stick skillet. Bird doo or tree sap just peeled off from the air flow when you drove. You couldn't wax it, because wax just beaded up and fell off. It had buttery soft gray leather seats and floated on an all independent suspension with huge balloon tires, with smart tread that adjusted to grab the road surface and could go down the beach or up the side of a mountain. It cocooned the occupants in filtered, purified, cooled or heated air, that was restored to the proper ionic balance. The dash held communications and entertainment equipment to rival that in any home and it had chill or hot compartments for carrying a generous supply of cold drinks and room for a glorious picnic.

The outside was gracefully curved with harmonious expanses of sweeping glass and it had a robust power plant that could feed its fuel cell modules from a wide variety of liquids. But it would never be mistaken for a sports car or even a sedan. It was a massive boxy truck, with hard points hanging out to attach cables and enough ground clearance that you might run clean over local wildlife and never endanger it with contact. April loved it at first sight, when it pulled up to the curb. It had the same beautiful aura of functionality, that she was used to in spaceships.

When they got back to the dealership April beamed the payment to their salesman and allowed a colleague to take his picture with them in front of the truck. April had no idea that pic would generate so many sales, he could have given the thing to them free. He arranged insurance and road service, a concept she would never have thought of and immediately decided someone should offer for spaceships. They printed out papers and license tags right there at the dealership and she climbed back in the truck a happy new owner, but jealous that Adzusa was driving her lovely new truck instead of her.

She could claim to be under Home law, but Home issued no real driver's licenses. Custom on Home however did favor professional testing and certification, for operating such things as construction scooters and shuttles. If it was by associations and not government that was a nit. The purpose was still to protect the public and April was sure her countrymen would censure her if she didn't act responsibly where safety was involved. They needed to resolve the problem eventually. Maybe training on a simulator?

Adzusa took right off heading out of town. She told the truck darken windows sixty percent and got the inside temperature the way she liked. April didn't even mind the music she picked. She flipped a few switches and the car issued a warning when she was overtaking another vehicle, or past the speed limit. April had no idea why she bothered, as she ignored it. She seemed to have a destination in mind so April kept her mouth shut. She assumed Adzusa would know she needed to be fed pretty soon.

The nature of the surroundings slowly changed from urban to suburban and then, when they crossed another road there was a sign announcing a different township and it abruptly became country. There were fields and crops and just an occasional building, most of which didn't look like people lived in them. Finally Adzusa turned on a road that didn't have a hard surface and April asked her, "This is just dirt isn't it? No pavement, just the Earth itself?"

"They spread gravel on it, so it's still a little artificial, but I'll take you on some they don't even do that. They just come along with a grader every few months and drag it flat with a big blade, to get rid of the ruts and bumps."

After they drove a bit more it got hilly. April was surprised how seldom you could see the mountain or the sea, for the folds of the hills and the trees. She thought you'd just be able to turn and see either one from almost anywhere, but it didn't work that way. They came to a cross road of gravel like the one they were on. At the corner a cluster of buildings was set back, a few houses and a long windowless building with a bunch of vents. Across the street were cattle in the fenced field, but right near the road was a low white building with a tin roof. Adzusa pulled in the parking lot. It was gravel too, but whiter than the roadway. Rather than park by the building she parked in the shade of some trees and rolled the windows down a few centimeters, before shutting  all the systems off and locking it up. It smelled a lot better out here than in town.

The building had a few advertising signs on the outside for soft drinks, some of which hadn't been made for years, but the only sign identifying the business was a hand painted board by the door that said 'Sam's. The door was set back under a shady overhang of the roof, that ran the length of the building. It was screened as were two long windows on each side. They were hinged at the top with a big storm shutter raised to the overhang, that could be lowered and dogged down too.

When they went in there was a wide aisle of wooden planked floor that ran straight across, to an identical door and windows on the opposite side. On the left was a store of sorts, with groceries mixed with cleaning supplies and goods such as socks. All sorts of small goods were crammed on shelves, to the ceiling at the walls but only chest high in the middle of the floor. There was a small counter with its own register and a yellow tabby cat on its side laying against the register, motionless except for the tip of its tail working. There were no customers or help, but on the right was a restaurant like April had never seen.

A man was working behind a counter with stools in front. They were not the bolted in the floor sort like you'd see in a fake old fashioned soda parlor, but four legged wooden stools. They had once been green but it was mostly worn off everywhere people rubbed against them, or put their feet up. The tops were bare wood too but worn smooth and stained with use, until they were a deep shiny mahogany color.

A couple ceiling fans like something from a period movie, turned lazily above. Behind the counter was a grill and when they sat, the air from the fans was sucked from behind them, towards the hood over the grill. There was a cooler that April realized from looking in the glass doors was food for the grill and goods to be sold in the store both. The counter was laminate a bluish gray with little white outlined boomerangs drawn on it except where there the pattern was worn away from where people's elbows rubbed. There was another patch worn away at the end corner and April wondered what went on there to make it bare.

"If you come in here six in the morning, it's all full of cowboys having breakfast," she told April. "I'll bring you back, because it's worth seeing." There were three small tables in the corner too and they all had the same green vinyl tablecloth on them, but each was a different size and height with different legs sticking out. Only a couple chairs were alike.

"Sam this is April," she introduced her casually. He had on an ample apron and after wiping his hands on it reached across the counter. April got braced to be grabbed and pumped, but his fingertips just kissed her palm spacer style and withdrew. Adzusa took a stool, so April followed her lead.

Sam was a little different. Usually April could place a person's ethnic origins but not Sam. He had that deep bronzed look, but not from the sun and yet he had constellations of coppery freckles under the color. His eyes had a hint of the fold like Adzusa had, but subtle. His hair had that close wavy look that white boys curled their hair to get and that black guys got by straightening. But April suspected looking at it, he did neither and it was just that way naturally.

"You want some lunch?" he asked "Most of the supper stuff is not cooked yet," he informed them, waving at three big squared off white tubs with domed lids. April guessed they must be some kind of cooker. Something certainly smelled good in here. Each had a small amber light on the front. In April's world that meant something was wrong and needed to be fixed, but they didn't seem worried by it, so the color code must be different here. April was in sensory overload, because almost nothing she looked at or smelled was familiar. She liked it.

"I'd like a cheeseburger, fries, coleslaw and a Paniolo Ale," Adzusa requested.

"OK, You see Tommy drive up you hide the bottle," he ordered her.

"Who's Tommy?" April wanted to know.

"That's the deputy that patrols up here now and then. Sam is licensed to sell for carry out, but not to serve here. So we hide it if the cops come."

"And you Missy? What would you like?" he asked.

April had been reading the menu board on the wall. "I'd like two of the grilled fish sandwiches, coleslaw, onion rings and a Paniolo Ale if it's cold."

"I don't know," Sam said frowning. "I don't care about Tommy, but I don't want your daddy in here yelling at me for serving you. How old are you April?"

"April is an adult Sam. Fifteen, but just like an emancipated kid here. She's from Home. She just bought that truck under the trees in her own name with no problem."

"Yeah, when I saw that fancy thing drive up I thought - Hot Damn, I got me some tourists lost. I almost flipped the menu over to tourists prices ‘fore I saw you get out."

April thought he was joking, then she saw the menu really was hung on a chain from a single point. He saw her looking at it and grabbed the bottom, pulling it away from the wall and turned it over. On the back were about half as many menu items, for at least twice the price. April was laughing so hard she almost fell off her stool. He flipped it back grinning and she tried to remember what had been absent on the other side. The pulled pork, fried bread and the spam and eggs for sure.