Authors: S D Taylor
They were nearly at the end of the tram ride and she went to collect the children. Doug stared at this woman who was such an unbelievable mixture of contradictions. She would have been a great spy he thought to himself.
Olunda looked at Doug with a smile, but said nothing.
"What is it, Dear?" Jelk asked softly.
"Oh, I am sorry to be so obvious, but I am fascinated by Doug's beard and gray hair. The legends we hear talk about the wisdom of those with many years, but I have never been around those who possess such age and such wisdom."
Doug laughed out loud at that comment, then regretted it immediately when he saw that he was suddenly the center of everyone's attention on the small tram car. But he kept smiling and Jelk chuckled along with him.
Olunda look puzzled. "Did I say something inappropriate?"
"Not at all, Olunda. I just wish my wife could have heard the comment about my wisdom. She would have found it amusing."
Erin turned to the younger version of Doug and said, "I just can't wait for that level of wisdom to set in with you."
He winked at her. "With you to steer me in the right direction, it could happen any day now."
Chapter 40
The tram made a dramatic arrival at the top of sheer rock face, entering into an opening that had been carved out of the rock. The tram technology was similar in appearance to what Erin had seen before, but there was a rigid track that the tram rode along on rather than a moving cable. It slid along without any obvious gears or rollers so she assumed it must be powered and controlled by magnetism. They had passed the twin tram halfway up as it carried an earlier group back to the base.
The restaurant was called “Eagle Flight” and featured a view to match the name. It was shaped like a giant silver and glass mushroom sitting right on top of a ridge that commanded a view in nearly every direction. The entire upper section rotated slowly, making a complete circle every thirty minutes. The rotation ensured that all the tables had an equal and outstanding view.
There was a long moving stairway from the tram plaza to the entrance to the restaurant. The two Doug’s stood next to each other and made a brief link. “Ease up on the links with Erin. Dara is worried we are going to be discovered and killed.”
“I thought it was pretty safe.”
“Well when your kids are involved, you raise the bar on safety.”
“Got it. Sorry.” He stepped back from where their shoulder had been touching and said, “What type of food do they serve here, Dara?”
She turned and smiled. “It is an Asian-themed restaurant with traditional Chinese and Indian dishes. Some of them are quite spicy, which is a real departure from our usual Transarctican fare. I hope you like it.”
Doug tried to envision how Chinese and Indian food he was familiar with would come together. He remembered eating at a Mexican restaurant in Munich that featured the use of Indian spices in their enchiladas. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t what he had expected. It would be interesting to see what three hundred years had done to the cuisine of Asia. Since both Chinese and Indian cultures went back many thousands of years, a few hundred was hardly a blip. He wished he could just order sesame chicken with fried rice and a bowl of hot and sour soup.
“Did they tell you that they have done away with eating meat?” The older Doug leaned over and spoke quietly to his younger version. “Fish and meat alternatives like tofu are the only choices we are likely to find.”
“Sounds healthy. Sort of a contradiction that they eat a healthy diet here but won’t live long enough to benefit from it.”
“It is all about the conservation of resources. But the dinner we had the other night at Fishtara was pretty good. Give it a chance.”
“I plan to, don’t worry. All that kayaking got me pretty hungry. And after the past couple of weeks, just sitting down at a table to eat is going to be a pretty welcome experience.” Doug was looking forward to eating at a restaurant of any kind. It would certainly be better than the pot luck cuisine they had been eating on the island.
Erin and Olunda were watching over the three children. Erin chatted about the weather, the town of Lopfa, and the hotel. But she stayed away from discussing Jelk out of fear of revealing her mixed emotions about him to Olunda. Or even revealing what he did for a living. Surely his wife must know such things, but with the children there it seemed best to stay on the simple, safe topics.
“Are you going to marry Doug someday? The younger one, that is?” Olunda laughed at having to make the clarification.
Erin realized she didn’t even know if Olunda knew about the vortex and how the two Dougs were really related. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked me to marry him.”
“So you are just lovers. It must be wonderful for you to feel such love.”
“Who said we were lovers?”
“It is pretty obvious to me. The way you look at each other. The way you seem to communicate without even saying anything.”
“Holy crap,” Erin thought. Were we that obvious? She and Doug could have put everyone at risk. “You are right, of course. Doug and I are very close. We have shared a great deal of adventure together and he is a wonderful person. I owe him my life.”
“I feel the same way about Jelk. He rescued me during the war, almost ten years ago. If it wasn’t for him, I would have certainly died. I think I fell in love with him the first time I saw him.”
Erin was dumbfounded as to what to say next. The usual comments about his eyes, his muscles, his handsome face were drowned out by Erin’s thoughts of his metal arms and legs, and his insect-like manner of walking.
Olunda had heard all those comments and didn’t wait for Erin to sort it out. “I know he is different from other men. The life of a hybroman is one of service to the country and a fearless devotion to duty. But down inside, they are no different than any other men. Maybe better, really. Their devotion and courage make them wonderful partners. And I never have to worry about my safety. People see I am with Jelk and they never dare comment that I am a foreigner in Transarctica.”
“Do people worry about such things? Would they normally comment on foreigners?”
“Oh, yes. Many people here are frustrated that outsiders like us do not have the same age restrictions as the native population. The law is absolute now based on a recent ruling that each individual is allowed thirty-six years in Transarctica but it isn’t thirty-six years of age. They want the age to be absolute if there has to be a limit. Right now, you and the Dougs could stay here for thirty-six years, regardless of your chronological age.”
“Why don’t people leave Transarctica when they are getting close to thirty-six years old?”
“None of the other five countries will allow it. It is prohibited by treaty. And besides, the Yir-Lak Command would never permit people to leave. It is not part of their plan. They like to control things. If they could set the time that the sun rises and sets they would do it.”
Erin wanted to ask her many more questions but Dara waved to them to catch up as she walked the short distance from the end of the moving steps to the restaurant entrance. The large double doors opened onto the interior of the tubular section that held up the larger mushroom-shaped upper floors. A very unique escalator curled around the tubular structure, completing a complete circle on the way up to the restaurant.
The main dining area reminded Doug of the Space Needle restaurant in Seattle. There were tables arranged on two tiers on the outside of the circle with the kitchen in the center. It took three of the tables to accommodate their party and they were soon digging in to a spicy lentil soup with nan that had garlic, onions and potatoes inside it. There was a very interesting purple dipping sauce that Doug had never tasted. It seemed to change flavors several times as you chewed your food.
“What is this, Dara? It seems to be alive.”
“That is Unhvo sauce. It is a new item that is made from a selection the new evolving chemicals combined with a plum and apple juice base. The ingredients are suspended in tiny capsules that open up at different rates once they encounter human saliva. It has a twelve second rating which means that it will continue to produce unique flavors for up to twelve seconds of chewing.”
“How do they determine the flavors? They were mostly fine, but there was one in there that tasted like sardines. It wasn’t what I expected.”
“The sauce tonight is random. It is designed to produce a variety of taste sensations. Some nights they have a theme, but this is the night to explore the senses. Try new things.” Dara held his glance for long enough time that he found himself stroking his beard before he looked away. Since she had approached him that night about this mission, she had been giving him a weird vibe that he hoped was based on her implied cover story that they were lovers.
Erin and Doug sat together but avoided establishing any thoughtlinks. “I bet you didn’t expect to be sitting here with me tonight, enjoying this view and having a nice dinner.”
Erin smiled. “After the past few weeks, I have given up trying to expect anything. I just try to go with the flow. But it was a nice surprise that we ran into each other today.” She was always playing up the official line since it never left her mind that they were listening in on them. How do you like the spife?”
“I can see the utility of a utensil like this, but it would help to have a slightly bigger one for soup. It takes quite a while to get through a small bowl with one of these.”
“I think they focus on small bowls here. Eating to excess is discouraged. The resource conservation theme and all that.”
Doug picked up the small bowl and drank the remaining soup. “There are alternatives.”
Erin wondered if they ever used the stunpulse to enforce manners. At least the kids were at the other table. She was amazed at how easily Jelk was able to use the spife. She wondered how he could eat but the mechanical hands seemed more than capable of working with small utensils. She wanted to ask him about what sense of feeling he had in them but decided it wasn’t the time or place to continue her research on the twenty-fourth century. Maybe they would have a chance to talk later.
The main course was a traditional Chinese preparation of a whole salmon, along with a large variety of vegetables that had been steamed and covered with an herb sauce. The “outsiders” were all impressed with the food and how tasty it was. It was obvious that Dara was pleased by this reaction. Erin continued to wonder how to reconcile a Dara who cared what they thought about her favorite restaurant with the Dara that pretended to cut off Peter’s leg to see how she would react. Maybe she was like the sauce. In the presence of humans she continued to change “flavors” constantly to keep things interesting.
The Doug who had just arrived was about to comment on the dinner when the first rumbling started. He knew instantly what it was and turned to Dara. “We are having an earthquake and we need to get out of here quickly.”
Dara glanced around with a military precision and stood up. “Come on. There is a stairway over this way. Follow me.” With that she grabbed the hands of her two boys and they all moved quickly though the door she indicated. They were halfway down the stairs when the first heavy shock hit. Only half of them remained standing after the shaking and Olunda had a broken leg. Jelk scooped her up while Erin grabbed little Jinnee. Dara, Doug and the boys had made it to the bottom of the stairs but the older Doug had fallen hard when he lost his footing. He came up with a bad limp as he followed Jelk down the last section of the stairs just as they collapsed. Everyone made it through the door as the ground began a distinct rolling motion and the mushroom-shaped restaurant swayed back and forth. With younger Doug’s help, Doug managed to keep up and they all made it to an open hillside where they were safe from any falling debris or falling restaurants. Fortunately, all the other patrons were able to escape but there were a number of them with broken bones or lacerations. The Dougs tried to help with triage and first aid since it was uncertain if any emergency help would be dispatched to their remote location.
The Eagle Flight restaurant was a tribute to Transarctican architecture and was able to survive the heavy earthquake. But not everything in Transarctica did as well. From their vantage point, they could see that at least two of the hotels down below in Lopfa had portions of their facade fall away and there was smoke rising from several small fires.
Dara looked at a small watch-like instrument on her wrist and then turned quickly to Jelk. “The grid is off-line. All the controls are down. This could be our chance.”
Jelk gave her an intense stare and nodded. To be safe, he grabbed her by the arm. “Should we call Peter?”
“Yes. Call him now.”
Jelk stepped away and Dara motioned for all the adults to join hands, which they quickly did.
“The Yir-Lak grid is down. This could be our chance. Jelk is calling Peter.”
Erin tried to hold her thoughts in check, but she couldn’t help it. “What is going on? What is the plan?”
“We are all getting out of here. Now. We are moving up the timeframe by two days. We will fill you in on the way. We will leave as soon as we get the hover vehicles here.”