Allotropes (an Ell Donsaii story #8) (18 page)

Ell sighed, “
I wonder if he’s saying that going through a port has the same effect on them that it does on our test animals here? You know, how it seems to reduce their intelligence?”

“It sounded that way to me.”

Ell
shrugged, “Allan, “Tell them we still don’t know how to travel to the stars.”

After Allan translated,
Keldap began speaking loudly in the sigman language.

Despite now being no more than a minor cog in Keenar’s huge Delnitch clade, Querlak felt horror wash over her as the TS she was a part of decided to capture Sigwald. She tried to apply pressure against the decision from within the TS but there were too many Delnitch in the TS, used to demanding, and strong-arming to get their way. Her pressure achieved nothing.

Keldap called out to Gesdin inside the repair shed to bring
out some convicts with graphene straps. Keldap spoke rapidly, evidently in hopes that Sigwald wouldn’t be able to understand. It seemed that the strategy worked because Sigwald stood stolidly in place, saying, “I sorry I cannot tell stars. You want other knowledge?”

“No! Stars!” Keldap shouted as Gesdin dropped a long graphene strap over Sigwald, cinching it quickly around the midpoint of his arms. Sigwald
struggled to fly away on the jets under his feet but Gesdin had a number of the convicts holding onto the strap and the end of the strap had already been attached to the graphend wall of the repair center—which, of course, was bonded directly to the ring’s graphend. More of the convicts appeared and applied more straps around Sigwald’s feet, knees and hands.

Although Sigwald proved to be astonishingly strong
, he could not, of course, break graphene straps. Nor escape from them.

Keldap had Sigwald carried into the building. He proved to be quite heavy so they had to get a dolly to move him. Keldap had the straps bonded to the wall of the building so there would be no chance of escape. He stepped in front of Sigwald and said, “You ready say how go stars now?”

Sigwald stood motionless and did not react. Querlak had the feeling that being strapped motionless didn’t bother Sigwald. It would drive a sigma insane, but perhaps the sigwald people weren’t affected the same way?

Keldap had been
expectantly watching Sigwald. Through her link Querlak knew he awaited a frantic reaction to this imprisonment. When no such a reaction appeared he said, using Querlak’s English words, “You say how go stars! We not let you move before you say!” He turned and returned to his tasks as the master of repairs at the station, releasing Querlak from the TS.

Ell said, “Allan, don’t have Sigwald say anything, just stand and watch. We’ll see if we can outwait Keldap. Let me know if they do anything to harm Sigwald, otherwise just record what happens in his visual field. You can turn his head to track things that are interesting but otherwise don’t try to break free.” She turned to Shan, “I wouldn’t mind a break from following things on the ringworld. It’s been pretty boring.” She raised an eyebrow, “Except for what they can do with carbon allotropes of course.”

“Boring but anxiety producing. Aren’t you worried
about what might happen if the sigmas somehow figure out how to get back to earth? They aren’t exactly sweetness and light. While they aren’t that far ahead of us in a lot of areas and are behind us in some I don’t think we want them escaping from their own solar system.”

“Yeah, I’
m worried sick just about the fact that we’ve made it obvious to them that it
is
possible to travel between the stars. Maybe that’s all they’ll need to connect up a whole lot of sigmas into some kind of super-genius that will figure out how to get here. Before we got to know them, I’d been assuming that
if
they could build the ringworld, they’d be way ahead of us in
everything
and would therefore already know how to get to the stars.”

“
Is there any way for us to keep them from figuring it out?”

Ell shrugged. “There aren’t any one way ports on Sigwald for them to reverse engineer and the one-ways are
really
different from the two ways. I’m hoping that, even if they realize that one-ways must exist and that one-ways were how we got to Sigma Draconis, they won’t ever figure out how to make a one way. There was a huge amount of serendipity involved in figuring out
either
type of port. I’m counting on the fact that they had their own biological example of a two ended connection through the 5
th
dimension. Maybe that example let them figure out two way ports, but that without such an example of one ways, they won’t tumble to it.”

Ell sighed,
“But, I am still worried. I hope that, after a while they might stop demanding the stars and accept that we should trade other knowledge for the huge value it has to both of our civilizations.”

Shan shrugged, “OK, let’s try to wait them out. No reason Sigwald can’t be patient.”

Chapter
Seven

Ell and Amy were unpacking a couple of boxes in ‘Raquel’s’ new house when they heard a knock on the open doorframe. A lady stood in the door. “Hello neighbors,” she said. “I brought you some ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ cookies.”

Ell got up
, wiping her hands on her pants as she walked over, “Come on in. I’m Raquel Blandon and this is my friend Amy Reston,” she waved Amy’s direction, “who’s being kind enough to help me unpack.” Ell peeled the cover off the container of chocolate chip cookies. “Oh! These smell great! Amy, come take a break.” Taking a cookie, Ell held the container out to their guest, “Won’t you have one, Ms.…?”

“Oh! Goodness
, sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Ruth, Ruth Sparlock. I live in the house next door,” she jerked a thumb, “with my husband Jack and two little girls.” She plucked up a cookie and nibbled at it.

Amy took a cookie too.

Ell said, “Ruth, won’t you sit down and tell us about the neighborhood?”

Looking delighted
to gossip, Ruth sat on Shan’s overstuffed chair. “I’ve only lived here a few years, but it’s pretty nice. All the houses seem to be young families except Elsa James across the street who’s in her eighties and two houses that have several young people living as roommates.” Ruth pointed in the general direction of the two houses that Ell’s security team members lived in. “We don’t see Ms. James very often but the roommates that I’ve met seem very nice.”

Ell said, “Does the neighborhood ever get together? I’ve heard that neighborhoods where everyone knows each other have fewer
crime problems. Social events are supposed to help bring camaraderie.”

Ruth raised an eyebrow, “Like a block party? That sounds like fun.” She
said, “Maybe we could even invite your neighbor over the fence.” She jerked her head towards Ell’s farm.

Ell frowned,
wondering where this might be going. “The folks on the farm out back? Are they friendly?”

Round eyed, Ruth said, “Your real estate agent didn’t tell you?
Ell Donsaii
lives on that little farm!”

Ell did her best to look surprised, “Really?! Do you think
she’d
come to a block party?”

“Well, I’m sure I don’t know.” She waggled her eyebrows
and grinned, “But we could send her an invite.”

Ruth eventually finished giving Ell the dirt she had on the folks in the neighborhood and left, promising to plan a block party. After the door closed Amy threw her head back on the couch and laughed. “You’re going to get her to invite you as Ell!? You can’t come as Ell
and
as Raquel you know.”

“Sure I can,” Ell sniffed
and lifted her nose, “just not at the same time.”

***

Viveka stood red eyed and watched the small crowd gathered for her father’s funeral. Having grown used to wearing western clothing in Delhi, she felt uncomfortable wearing the langhati—or two piece sari—her mother had borrowed for her. She didn’t really know most of the people who had gathered, though many of them told her they remembered her from when she was a child.

The people danced and beat drums as they normally did for funerals. Some of the men drank
excessively which Viveka found repugnant. She knew that men commonly drank to excess at funerals, but to her it felt disrespectful. Her father had seldom partaken of alcohol and she felt like the drinking at his funeral ceremony would have offended him.

Viveka stiffened as she heard her Aunty behind her, “What will you do with Viveka now?”

Her mother replied desolately, “I don’t know.”

“Well, if you couldn’t afford a dowry before, you
certainly
won’t be able to muster one now.”

“I’m not worried about a dowry
yet. She wants to finish her last year of schooling.”

“You can’t afford that either! The way your cousin has been gouging you to keep her in Delhi is a crime.”

Viveka closed her eyes in despair. So far she’d only thought about the loss of her father. She hadn’t considered what it meant to her own future. She’d dreamed of one day making enough money to recompense her family for the sacrifices they’d made sending her to Delhi. She’d never pay back her father now. If she couldn’t graduate, she probably wouldn’t be able to pay back her mother either.

Her mother said,
“I know I can’t afford it. But I think you are wrong about Moman. She wouldn’t charge me unfairly, we grew up together. Perhaps… perhaps Moman will keep Viveka this one more year, allowing Viveka to pay her back once she has a job.” Viveka’s mother said this without conviction.

“Ha!”
Viveka’s aunty barked, “Fat chance of that! Moman gouges
everyone
when it comes to money.”

“Maybe…
Viveka could work… or get a loan?”

“
Viveka’s already working as a maid for your cousin. I’ve asked around. In the city, someone who cooks and cleans like Viveka shouldn’t
have
to pay for their room. But as many hours as she puts in as a maid, she surely doesn’t have time to work another job
and
go to school.”

Viveka’s eyes widened. If that were true…? Perhaps she could work as a maid for someone else, getting room and board without paying extra? She’d never considered the possibility…
Her mother and aunty moved out of earshot and one of the men Viveka’s fathers had worked with came to pay his respects. Viveka felt absurdly glad that this one wasn’t drunk.

***

Ell looked around the table at D5R’s leaders. They were mostly people who’d been there when she started the company. They were also the people who were now leading D5R’s subsidiaries. They’d finished everything else on their agenda. She cleared her throat, “So, I’m going to be taking a long vacation this summer.”

Ben’s head shot around with a dismayed look on his face. “How long? When?!”

To her surprise, many of the others looked worried too. Ell said, “Five weeks, mid-July to mid-August. Don’t look so shocked… just because I hadn’t taken a vacation so far didn’t mean I never would.”

“But, but…”

“But, you guys don’t need me. You’ll just keep doing what you do and doing it brilliantly. If you really need me, you can
always
reach me.”

“Are D5R
’s investors OK with this?” Fred asked, a furrow between his brows.

“Yeah,” she grinned, “
they
think I need a vacation too.”

Ben snorted, “I’m trying to keep in mind that a few years ago… I thought the last thing I needed was an underage CEO
telling me how to do my job.” He looked around the table and shook his head mournfully, “Now I’m worried about what we’re gonna do without her around here spewing crazy ideas…”

***

Viveka alighted from the bus feeling exhausted. Her aunty had found a young man going to Delhi for Viveka to ride with which had at first relieved her trepidation about riding the bus alone. But it had proven that the young man had heard that all the women from Delhi had loose morals. Only a few minutes into the long ride he’d begun speaking suggestively to her.

Fortunately, verbal dissuasion had been all that had been required to stop him. Nonetheless, Viveka had slept poorly. Any swaying of the bus that bumped their legs together woke her with her heart in her throat. She set out to walk to Moman’s house
carrying her little bag.

Moman opened the door, “Viveka? I heard about your father. You poor girl! Without your papa I didn’t think you’d be able to afford to come back to Delhi?”

Staring at her shoes Viveka whispered, “I can’t.”

“My goodness girl,” Moman said, “then what are you doing here? You’ll just make your situation worse.”

“I hoped you would let me stay a few days while I look for a cheaper place to stay.” Moman said nothing for a few moments so Viveka finally looked up to see her face.

Moman’s expression couldn’t be interpreted, but she said, “I’m not running a charity here you know?”

Viveka nodded, “Only a few days?”

With a sigh Moman said, “OK, three days. But you’ll need to do your chores.”

Viveka nodded and followed Moman inside. Glancing about she realized that nothing had been cleaned or straightened since
the day she left two weeks ago. She looked at Moman who glanced about without embarrassment, “As you can see, there’s a lot to do. Please get the laundry done before you go to bed, we’re running out of clean clothes.” Moman turned toward the room where she watched her vids.

With a sigh Viveka carried her bag to the
laundry room where the cot Viveka slept on had been located. With slumped shoulders she saw that her cot been taken down and would need to be reassembled.

A little after midnight, the laundry done and kitchen cleaned, Viveka slipped into the room where Moman’s husband Alagan kept his computer. An older model, it still outstripped Viveka’s resources which consisted of the minimal net connection she could make on her prepaid phone. Her phone would provide virtually no net access before its prepay ran out. Booting up the computer, she began to look for jobs, or at least for room and board. To her surprise she found several ads looking for someone to clean and cook breakfast as she had been doing for Moman. Room and board and often a small salary were provided, rather than costing money.

Her heart rose and she went to bed filled with hope.

In the morning Viveka got up early to make poori for the family’s breakfast. Alagan came in, “Viveka! I was very sorry to hear about your father but it’s good to see you girl.
” He lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Breakfast has been terrible while you were gone.” He rubbed his hands together in anticipation, “I love your poori.”

Viveka passed him a poori and he bit into it happily. “Will you be staying? Moman said you might not be able to afford to continue school?” He frowned, “I thought you had a scholarship?”

“I do, but without Papa, I can no longer afford to pay for my room and board here.”

Alagan frowned again, “I thought you cleaned and cooked breakfast for your room and board?”

“Alagan,” Moman said imperiously as she swept into the kitchen, “don’t try to get involved in the running of the household.” She sat and turned to Viveka, “Pass me the poori.” When Viveka had handed her a plate with several poori she sniffed and said, “You used too much oil.”

Alagan drew his head back. “That’s the way I like them. These are perfect!” He turned to Viveka, “Make a couple more, I’ll take them for my lunch.”

Viveka finished cleaning the house in the morning and then snuck into the computer room to check for responses to the queries she’d made. Two of them had responded! They wanted to interview her.

“What are you doing in here?!”

Moman stood at the door. “Using the computer to look for jobs,” Viveka said in a small voice.

“I thought you used the computers at your school?”

“Normally I do, but they’re not available when school’s not in session. Your husband said I could…”

“Alagan doesn’t run this household. I do. You should ask me!”

“Yes Ma’am.” Viveka said with downcast eyes.

“Turn it off.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Viveka said quickly looking at the two phone numbers and committing them to memory as she reached to shut it down.

“I need you to go to market.” Moman held out a list.

Viveka took the list, turned it over and wrote the two numbers down. Marketing hadn’t been one of her tasks in the past.

“What are you doing? Don’t be adding your own items to our list.”

“No Ma’am.” Viveka raised her eyes to Moman’s, hoping her hatred didn’t show through them.

“On your way then.”

Viveka didn’t take her eyes away from Moman’s, “I’ll need money.”

“Nonsense. Bring me the receipt and I’ll repay you.” She shrugged, “Actually,
you
should buy these groceries to recompense us for your room these three nights.”

“I don’t have enough money
Moman,” Viveka said, waving the pencil at the list without looking away from Moman’s eyes. She half expected Moman to demand to see the bottom of her empty wallet.

Moman sighed exasperatedly, “OK, I’ll get you money. I’ll expect receipts and change.”

Once out of the house Viveka called the two phone numbers, hoping against hope that she could finish arranging interviews before the few minutes she had
left on her phone ran out.

Hanging up from the second call she saw with dismay that she only had thirty seconds of time left on her phone. But she
did have two appointments, one in thirty minutes and the other in two hours. If only she could find both of them afoot without too much trouble.