12

It was strange visiting another station even after just a few weeks of being cooped up at Galactic. Yale’s School of Advanced Aeronautics was probably ten times the size of the junky old station and even the wide open shaft of the central tower was small in comparison to the main section at Yale. The station opened up into a huge space with several terraces containing gardens and sports fields. Like any of the more recently built platforms, Yale had gravity control systems and the two of us had to hike up the terrace path.

When we got to the topmost level, we arrived at a busy cafe patio where students chatted loudly. It felt like being back on Polaris in a way and I had the urge to turn and leave, find some shadowed crevice in which to hide. The largest parties at Galactic had maybe two dozen people and felt somehow “non-public” due to the confines of the small station. There though, the patio alone had at least as many people as half the entire population of Galactic.

Isidro raised his arm and waved off into the crowd. I traced his gaze back to a small table where two women sat waving in return. We approached closer, diving through the raucous crowd and weaving through tables to reach the pair. I noticed that a few people called out to Isidro as we passed. It was only when we reached the table that I noticed it was offset in a corner, isolated from the others by a few extra feet.

“Geez, are you taunting me by bringing a girlfriend now?” one of the women, a younger looking blonde with green highlights in her short, spiky hair, complained as Isidro pulled out a chair.

“It’s not-”

“You didn’t check the transit log?” The elder of the pair, a real beauty with an easygoing attitude, smiled mischievously at her companion. “We have a very special guest today: Miss Blue Rose herself.”

“Shit, you finally snagged your dream girl then, eh?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not-”

“Welcome to our humble station,” the beauty addressed me speaking over Isidro again. “My name is Mary Keita, student council president here.” She waved a greeting and motioned toward an empty chair.

“Olivia Nilsson, secretary,” the other said suddenly shy. I saw in her eyes the sort of wonder I had become accustomed to on Galactic. It was clear that these weren’t just random acquaintances of Isidro’s but instead were people at least somewhat in the know. It made me wonder exactly what sort of chat he was there to have.

I quietly returned their greetings and sat down next to Isidro. He flashed a reassuring smile and dismissed the eccentricities of the two with a shrug. I couldn’t detect any apprehension in him, so I tried to relax as best as I could, but my heart beat just a bit faster with the two women observing me closely. I noticed for the first time that they, and most of the others on the patio, were wearing normal clothes instead of branded flight suits. Isidro and I stood out somewhat conspicuously in our Galactic suits; it was an odd sensation that almost reached the point of feeling like I belonged somewhere.

“You don’t grace us with your presence just for social calls, Diego, so I have to assume you’re here to discuss certain matters.”

“I don’t have much to discuss, really. Central is still bitching about the logistics for exchange festivals, as if they have any say in the matter if we decide to use direct shuttles. No progress.” Isidro casually reported on something I had heard only a little about, having no interest in it myself.

“Then you really have come just to flaunt your-”

“Enough enough, I’ll take you on a date if you just come over sometime,” he gave in to what seemed like a long pressure campaign from Olivia. He didn’t appear to have any romantic interest in her, but hearing the exchange irked me for some reason and that irritated me all the more.

Why should I care at all?

Mary set a small device down on the table with a serious air. It looked a little bit like a synthspike, but was clearly different and I couldn’t identify it. Quieter than before, so that even eavesdroppers wouldn’t hear, she said, “Things went more smoothly on our end. I don’t know if you have a way to test it, but we hit the mainframe’s shield as you instructed.”

Isidro quickly swiped the device and stashed it away in a pocket. I looked from face to face around the table trying to figure out what they were all involved in until he noticed my glance and began explaining in a low voice. “This is something we developed to bypass the physical shielding on vaults and other systems without having to tear them apart. It injects some particles that are entangled with a batch we have back on Galactic into the circuitry. In theory, we should be able to use them to send signals directly past any electromagnetic barriers and seize control of the computer for a little while.”

“Since we’re friends, Diego asked us to infiltrate the server complex here instead of sneaking around to do it himself as he’s had to do with other stations,” Mary added.

I met his gaze and raised my eyebrows questioningly. I had never heard about such plans before. He shrugged and said, “Just a little project of mine, unrelated to the work you’re doing.” I remembered that I’d asked to be left out of any such things; I’d told them I was only helping with the Hand’s restoration and giving a few pointers on fighting as the Knights once had. It only made sense that there were all sorts of other schemes unfolding.

“Let’s see how much those bootlickers at Central bitch when we cut them out of the loop entirely,” Olivia said adversarily. Mary nodded carefully.

“Well that kind of talk is still a long way off,” he replied. The blonde jumped in aggressively.

“You must have gotten the same notice we did; they’re trying to invite the UN envoy to all the major stations without any say in it from us. Another year or two and they’ll really start to clamp down.”

Isidro coughed politely. “Actually we weren’t tagged on that. I think they’ve forgotten us again. Some days it seems like we wouldn’t be noticed unless the station crashed down in the middle of New York.”

“Or the old man is buying favors again,” Mary added with a chuckle. I found that to be the more likely scenario. She changed the topic slightly. “If you are going to make a move on one of the harvester sats, you’d better do it soon. More and more eyes are starting to peer up into orbit with concern.” Her words brought a sober silence to the table underscored by the lively discussions booming out from the rest of the patio.

After a beat, Olivia turned to me and asked, “So it’s true then?”

“That’s a bit...I don’t know what you mean.”

“You were framed as a traitor when the Knights were taken in.” All of the noise swirled together into an oppressive buzzing and the pit of my stomach dropped out. Suddenly I wanted very much to be back in my dim cave curled up in my floatbag.

“I’m not sure if this is the place to discuss such things,” Isidro commented firmly. He leaned in as if to create a wall between myself and the other two.

“Oh come on, it’s not like half the people here wouldn’t want to know as well. We’re not brewing up a rebellion like Mr. Burton, but the sort of folk that come up to orbit are just a bit more open minded than the general public.”

I ground my teeth and tried to chew up some kind of answer. Just how much did these two know? What could I say without lying? Meekly, I offered, “Yes, the media whitewashed my role in it all.” Olivia’s eyes lit up with excitement, quite literally. I noticed that she had some form of ocular implants which were self-luminous.

“So you really are an OG Knight like everyone says…” I had to wonder just how broad an “everyone” it really was. I knew there were rumors about my involvement, but they were limited to well informed circles. That being the case, it appeared that there were more radicals in orbit than just the ones Burton was collecting.

Isidro quickly changed the subject by asking, “Speaking of, how are the GCS barrier tests going?” I didn’t see the connection, but Mary answered anyway.

“All I’ve heard are complaints from the project leads about Dr. Pavlita’s formulas. We’ll probably have to bring him over to head up the research personally if he can’t make that stuff digestible for non-super geniuses.”

“I’m sure he’d love that. The complaints I keep getting from him are about how he’s tired of working in a broom closet. William won’t let him fiddle with our mini-GCS either; he’s going to go mad soon.”

“That dude was born mad,” Olivia commented. She looked like she had more to ask me, but she’d taken the hint. Instead she kept on the new topic. “But if he can really do what he says he can, we’ll have nothing to fear from Central or the UN or anybody. Let’s see them put a boot to our necks when we can hammer them with that.”

I was somewhat lost again and looked to catch Isidro’s eye. He explained quietly that, “His next big research project is an expansion on the space station gravity control systems. To put it in simple terms, he claims each one can be turned into the same kind of device as a Hand of Glory. No one would have to worry about micrometeoroids or other junk damaging a large station again.”

“Not just that, who’s going to fucking board us or hit us with missiles then, eh? Instead we’ll be the ones threatening to crush those bastards from above. It’s a total game changer if that mad scientist comes through for us,” Olivia said with a wolf-like grin.

I shuddered at the thought of large scale versions of those gauntlets floating around in orbit. What would become of a conflict between stations equipped with them, or with one of the ground based systems controlled by various militaries? I had yet to ask if Dr. Pavlita had ever figured out what would happen when two gravity wave control systems clashed. I caught myself absentmindedly touching my scarred torso.

The conversation went on but took a more mundane direction. The other three talked about their daily lives and I sat back drinking the coffee they offered. It was nice to find normal brew after the seeming refusal by everyone on Galactic to make anything that hadn’t been amped up with aetheric energy treatment. Even though the topics were no longer things I didn’t want to discuss, I found that I still had little to add. It was another reminder that I didn’t fit in with any group of people. The students at Polaris were fond of mainstream media, riddled with propaganda as it was. Mary, Olivia, and Isidro talked of things circulated on pirate networks, but these I mostly ignored as well.

When I was a Knight, I didn’t have much extra time to follow the latest trends in entertainment, mainstream or underground. We checked what people were saying about us and kept up communication with other rebels, but that was all. Afterward, I was simply too lost and apathetic to get involved. The normal conversation of the three felt so alien that I almost wanted to direct them back to the topics of radical activities. I felt isolated, inhuman.

Eventually, it was time for us to leave. The cafe had cleared out as students went off to their dorms, though a few night owls remained under the dimmed atmospheric lighting. The two women both shook my hand enthusiastically as we said our goodbyes, which was still a surprise to me even though that sort of treatment was common enough on Galactic. I still expected to be hated by anyone who knew a bit of the truth about the Knights, but those two seemed to think that my betrayal of their idols was part of the fiction. It was just another deception on my part to shake their hands with whatever smile I managed to put on.

Back in the shuttle, I eventually brooded my way into making an accusation against Isidro. “Why did you invite me along, anyway?” He set down the tablet he was messing with and looked dead at me as he replied.

“I thought you might be interested to know what sorts of things are really going on in the shadows. It seems you came up here to get away from everything, but all of Earth’s problems are on your heels and there are plenty of people getting ready to make a fight of it.”

“So what, I should fuck off somewhere else?”

He shrugged and laid down on the crash couch. “Whatever you want to do. But the other thing I hope you realize is that there are plenty of people who respect you and would be happy to befriend you. You don’t have to be alone unless you really want to be.”

I swallowed the anger I was about to give voice to. He really wasn’t doing anything that deserved reprimands, at least not from me. I sat silently in the dark of the shuttle hold and continued to brood.