Part 24 (1/2)
Lunzie had taken to heart Security Chief Wilkins's advice to make use of every source of information she could. At the EEC office, she filled out hundreds of forms requesting access to any doc.u.ments they had on Fiona, and asking how she was involved in the doomed Phoenix colony.
For doomed it was. In the interval since she had seen the first report about Phoenix, an independent merchant s.h.i.+p had made planetfall there to trade with the colonists and had sold its story to the Tri-D. The merchant brought back vid-cubes of the terrain, which showed the ”smoking hole” where the light-weight camp had been. The merchant had also affirmed that the heavyweight humans now living there were possessed of no weapons of that magnitude and could not possibly have caused the colony's destruction. Lunzie, who had conceived a dislike for heavyworlders that surprised her, mistrusted such a blanket a.s.surance, but the colonists had gone under oath and sworn the planet was vacant when they landed. In any case, they had proved the viability of their own settlement, and were now ent.i.tled to FSP privileges and protection. Looking-GLa.s.s told her much the same thing.
The heavyworlders had their own disappointments, too. The original EEC prospect report, made twelve years before the original colony was launched, had stated that Phoenix had copious radioactive ores that could be easily mined because upthrust folds in the planet's surface had brought much of it in reach. Their rad counters didn't so much as murmur. The planet's crust had been swept clean of transuranics. If the Phoenix settlers were hoping to become a trading power in the FSP with a new source of the ever-scarce ores, they were frustrated. Rather than chalk the omission off to the unknown Others, as the Tri-D chat-show presenters were doing, the FSP was suggesting that the original report had been in error. Lunzie doubted it. Her resentment for the unknown planet pirates redoubled. Her hopes of finding Fiona alive were slipping away.
The University's Tri-D Forum was a public facility for use free of charge by any individual. Cheap entertainment on Astris was fairly limited beyond out-door concerts and Tri-D, and Tri-D was the only one which was held in all weathers. The display field hovered several feet above the ground in a lofty hexagonal chamber lined with tiered benches. The Forum was seldom filled to capacity, except during reception of important sports events, but it was never completely empty. News broadcasts and reports of interest were received throughout the day and night, the facts recited in FSP Basic, with Basic subt.i.tling over the videos of local language events. Astris University authorities tried to keep it from becoming a haven for the homeless, preferring to divert those luckless beings to shelters, but even at night there were usually a few citizens watching the broadcast: insomniacs, natural nocturnals, a few pa.s.sing the time between night cla.s.ses, or just those who were unwilling to let the day end. Lunzie noted that most of those who used the facility were older and more mature than the average. Entertainment Fora were available to the younger set who weren't interested in the current news.
Lunzie went there whenever sleep eluded her, but her usual time to view Tri-D was late morning, just before the midday meal. A dozen or so regulars smiled at her or otherwise acknowledged her presence when she came in after shopping with Pomayla. She kept her head down as she found her accustomed seat. Though she hated to admit it to herself, she was becoming addicted to Tri-D. Lunzie watched all the news, human interest stories as well as hard fact doc.u.mentation. Nothing much had changed but the names in the sixty-two years since she was in the stream. Piracy, politics, disaster, joy, tears, life. New discoveries, new science, new prejudices to replace the old ones. New names for old things. The hardest thing to get used to was how old the world leaders and public figures of her day were now. So many of them were dead of old age, and she was still thirty-four. It made her feel as though there was something immoral in her, watching them, secure in her extended youth. She promised herself that when she was sufficiently familiarised with the news events of her lost years, she would quit stopping in to the Forum every morning, but she didn't count on keeping that promise.
The round-the-clock headline retrospective aired at midday. Lunzie always waited through that to see if there was any story that might relate to Fiona, and then went on with her day. She had arrived at the Forum later than usual. The headline portion was just ending as she entered the dim arena. ”There is nothing new since yesterday,” one of the regulars, a human man, whispered as he stood up to leave.
”Thanks,” Lunzie murmured back. The Tri-D field filled the room with light as another text file appeared, and she met his eyes. He smiled down at her, and eased his way out along the bench toward the exit. Lunzie settled in among her parcels. Watching repeats of earlier broadcasts didn't bore her. She considered Tri-D in the light of an extracurricular course in the interaction of living beings. She was instantly absorbed in the unfolding story in the hovering field.
Chapter Four.
Lunzie had no cla.s.ses that afternoon, so following her visit to the Forum, she decided to stop in at the EEC office. It had been nearly a Standard year since she filled out the forms requesting Fiona's records. So far, she hadn't been told anything, but every time she came in there were more forms to fill out. She was becoming frustrated with the bureaucratic jumble, smelling a delaying technique, and an irritating one at that. Her temper had reached the fraying point.
”You're just giving me more paperwork so you don't have to tell me you don't know anything,” Lunzie accused a thin-faced clerk over the ceramic-topped counter between them. ”I don't believe you've even advanced my query to the FSP databanks.”
”Really, Citizen, such an accusation. These things take time. ...” the man began, patiently, glancing nervously at the other clerks.
Lunzie held on to her temper with all of her will. ”I have given you time. Citizen. I am Dr. Mespil's next of kin, and I want to know what she was doing on that expedition and where she is now.”
”This information will be sent to you by comlink. There is no need to come into this facility every time you have questions.”
”Nothing ever gets answered anyway. I've never had information pa.s.sed on to me even when I do come here in person. Have Have you sent my queries on to the FSP databank?” you sent my queries on to the FSP databank?”
”Your caseworker should be keeping you posted on details.”
”I don't have a caseworker,” Lunzie's voice rose up the scale from a growl to a shriek. ”I've never been a.s.signed one. I've never been told I needed one.”
”Ah. Well, if you'll just fill out these forms requesting official a.s.sistance, I will see who has room in their caseload for you.” The clerk blithely fanned a sheaf of plas-sheets before her, and disappeared through the swinging part.i.tions before she could fire off an angry retort.
Muttering furiously to herself, Lunzie picked up the stylus and pulled the forms over. More of the same nonsense. Heartless bureaucratic muckshovelers. . . .
Some days later, she was back filling out yet another form.
”Excuse me. Dr. Mespil.” Lunzie looked up to find a tall man standing over her. ”My name is Teodor Janos. I'll be your caseworker. I ... haven't we met?” He sat down across from her and peered at her closely. His straight black brows wrinkled together.
”No, I don't think so - Wait a milli.” She blinked at him, trying to place him, then smiled. ”Never formally, I'm afraid. I've seen you at the Tri-D.”
Teodor threw his head back and laughed. ”Of course. A fellow viewer. Yes. You leave before I do most days, I think. I saw you, only a short time ago, on my way out. Good, then we have something in common. I am supposed to relate to you as closely as I can. But not too much. Officially.” His smile was warm, and slightly mischievous.
”You're new at this,” Lunzie guessed. ”Very. I've only been in this position since the beginning of the year. Would you prefer a case-worker with more experience? I can find one for you.”
”No. You'll do just fine. You're the first person with any life in you I've seen in this office.”
That set him laughing again. ”Some would say that is a disadvantage,” Teodor admitted humorously, showing even, white teeth. ”Let us see. You wish information on your daughter, also a doctor, whose name is Fiona, and who was involved in the Phoenix expedition, which ended in failure.”
”That's right.”
He consulted an electronic clipboard. ”And the last time you had contact with her was when she was fourteen? And she is how old now?”
”Seventy-seven,” Lunzie confessed, and braced herself for a jibing remark. ”An accident to my s.p.a.ce transport forced me into cold sleep.”
To her surprise, Teodor only nodded. ”Ah. So the dates in this record are accurate. Another thing which we have in common, Lunzie. May I call you Lunzie? Such an unusual name.”
”Certainly, citizen Janos.”
”I am Tee. Teodor to my parents and my employer, only.”
”Thank you. Tee.”
”So, let us go over your questions, please, if you don't mind. I promise you, it is the last time.”
With a deep sigh, Lunzie started from the top of her now-familiar recitation. ”When I disappeared, Fiona was sent from Tau Ceti to my brother Edgard on MarsBase. She finished school there, and came here to study medicine. Her first employer was Dr. Clora, affiliated with Didomaki Hospital. She went into private practice and got married. According to transmissions found for me by Looking-GLa.s.s, she applied to the FSP a few years after that. And that is the last I've been able to discover. Everything else about her is locked up in the databanks of the FSP, and no one will tell me anything.”
Tee frowned sympathetically. ”I will get information for you, Lunzie,” he promised. ”Is your communications code here? I'll notify you whenever I find something.”
With greater hope than she had felt in weeks, Lunzie walked out into the warm air. She was in such good spirits she decided to go back to her quarters on foot. It was a long walk, but the day was fine and clear. Her parcels b.u.mped forgotten against her back.
She checked the message board automatically on her way into the residence hall. Beneath the school's notices and invitations for the three roommates from the Gang was a small, frantically flas.h.i.+ng message: ”Lunzie, call Tee,” and a code number. Lunzie hurried up to the apartment, tossed her parcels onto her bed, and flew over to the communications center. She danced impatiently from one foot to the other, waiting for the connection to go through.
”Tee, I got your message. What is it?” she demanded of the image on the comset breathlessly. ”What is it? What have you found?”
”Nothing, nothing but you, lovely lady,” Tee replied.
”What?” Lunzie shrieked, disbelievingly. She couldn't have heard him correctly. ”Say that again? No, don't - What has this to do with my investigation?”
”Only my eagerness to know the querent better: you. It occurred to me only when you had gone, that I would enjoy escorting you to dinner this evening. But it was too late to ask. You had already departed. So I called and left a message. You do not mind?” he inquired, his voice a soothing purr.
One part of Lunzie felt extremely let down, but the rest of her was flattered by the attention. ”I don't mind, I suppose, though you could have been less cryptic in your message.”
”Ah, but the mystery made you react more quickly.” Tee smiled wickedly. ”I finish work very soon. Shall I come by for you?”
”It's a long way out here. I'm at the tail end of the '15' Transportation Line. Why don't we meet?”
”Why not? Where?” Tee asked.
”Where else?” Lunzie answered, hand over the cutoff control. ”The Tri-D Forum.”
In spite of his audacity. Tee proved otherwise to be a courteous and charming companion. He chose the restaurant, one of Astris's finest, and stated unequivocally that he would pay for both their meals, but he insisted that Lunzie choose from the menu for both of them.
Lunzie, fond of good food and wine, and weary of student synth-swill, went down the list with a critical eye. The selection was very good, and she was pleased by the variety, exclaiming over a few of her old favourites which the restaurant offered. To the human server's obvious approval, she selected a well-orchestrated dinner in every detail from appetizers to dessert. ”I have a heirloom recipe from my great-granny for the potatoes Vesuvio. If their dish is anything like hers, this meal will be worth eating.”