The Universe — or Nothing by Meyer Moldeven
Chapter FOUR
The meeting hall was roughly triangular, the rowsof form-fit seats molded into the deck which slopeddownward toward a slightly raised platform jammedinto a corner. Alongside the platform a meter-wideview tank rose from the deck to merge with theoverhead. A single cable snaked from the viewtank's base and disappeared into the nearbybulkhead.
The six inmates entered, milled about, silent,their features without expressions. In their owntime, they each took seats, several empties apart.The first three rows remained vacant.
Hodak broke the silence. "The Blue Plate Specialthe Looie gave didn't sound right," he growled."I want to know more about what he was gettin' atwith that crack about our schedule 'being different'."
Adari turned, eyebrows raised, to stare at himthoughtfully. She nodded slowly and turned backto join the others to focus on a figure perchedon a high stool beside the view tank.
He looked tall, despite his being seated. Aslate-gray uniform covered him from neck to ankles;his feet shod in high-top deck slippers that matchedthe shade of his garment. He wore no insignia. Long,crowded features and tawny space-worn skin formeda face of planes and angles. His hairless head andlong hands looked like they might have been hackedfrom a block of Mercurian tuscanite and left toweather for a few million years in the sun's glare.
The hall quieted. Satisfied that he had theirattention, the man stood. The mere suggestion ofheight, seated, did not do him justice. He unfoldedlike an articulated, mechanical crane. Fullyextended, his towering frame rose more thantwo meters from heels to naked, gleaming scalp.
His first words took Hodak's challenge.
"You will know, Hodak." His voice was soft, andcarried the gravity of authority.
His eyes moved from one to the other.
"What I say here applies to all of you," he said."I will not answer all of your questions, but youwill be told all you need to know at this time."
He stepped down toward them from the dais,halting inside the curve of the first row of seats.
"I am Ram Xindral," he said, "your orientationlecturer, your trainer and, should you need one,your counselor. I am also your Control. Takespecific note of the term 'control'. It has onlyone meaning: you are in a prison, but from here ontake no orders from prison staff. You take yourorders only from me; I am not 'prison' staff."
"What the hell!"
Hodak again, bouncing up, down, up again. Adari,her mouth open in surprise and alarm, also stood,paused, and moved to stand beside Hodak. Zolanremained seated, his hooded eyes on Xindral. Kumikoshifted position slightly and stared vacantly atthe deck. Myra remained motionless, her face alsoclosed. Brad, brows drawn into a frown, crossedhis arms, waiting.
"Hah! This sure as hell isn't the standardorientation lecture for new inmates." Adari'sjeering laugh burst from her in a sardonic cascade.
"No, Adari, it isn't," Ram said with a smile, "buthear me out."
The hall was suddenly charged with tension andwariness. Hodak remained on his feet, bent forward,hands gripping the back of the seat in front of him,challenge in his eyes.
Xindral clasped his hands behind his back. Thegesture tightened his frame and seemed to increasehis height. He faced away from them, strode backto stand beside the view tank and turned. Hodakgrunted, sat, muttered under his breath; Adari tookthe seat alongside, leaned in toward Hodak, listenedto him mumble, and grinned, nudged and nodded.
"Details later," Xindral continued. "Let's getthis first part over with. I'll talk. Cut in withquestions if you must, and bitch if it helps; we'llget to know each other better. If you take offon a tangent, so be it. I'll go along, within limits.I didn't expect this to be a monologue, by far.It'll take a while, but you'll get the informationI intend you to have."
An uneasy shifting about ensued. The prisonersweren't buying. Brad sensed the apprehension inthe others that he felt in himself. Xindral's openingremarks along with his aura projected formidablepower despite his slender frame.
"Before we continue," Xindral said, "know thatyou are not quartered in the penal section of thestation. The usual new arrivals don't get this sortof attention. Furthermore, the lectures givento them are confined to station routines. Theirprocessing includes a few tests that are evaluatedfor basic intelligence and skills. It helps thestaff assign them to shops, rehab training,and eventually for return to the outside world.You're not that lucky."
Xindral's last words jolted Hodak back on to hisfeet.
"Look, whoever the hell you are," he rumbled,jabbing a stubby finger at Xindral, "let's cut outthe crap about our luck. First the Looie, now you,puttin' on this mystery act with fancy hints thatdon't make sense. You said we're allowed to askquestions. OK, here's one: am I an inmate in thisprison or not?"
"You are, and you aren't," Xindral shrugged."That's my answer at this time. As we talk,the picture will clear."
Xindral's face flexed into a grin.
The animosity in the hall was palpable, exacerbatedby Xindral's evasive response to a fair question.As Hodak grumbled his way back down into his seatthe elongated figure drew a flat, palm-sized controlfrom a sheath fastened to his belt and pressed anembedded key.
The view tank's haze cleared to the standard solarschematic. The scene faded, replaced by a ring oftiny multicolored lights: the Asteroid Belt.
"This display is tailored to the general run ofinmates processed through orientation, just to givethem an idea where they are. Their familiarity withdeep space is often limited, so station lecturesstart with fundamentals. We'll pass on this."
Brad tensed at Xindral's choice of words, andsensed the others had been similarly alerted.He glanced sideways. His companions, as he,stared at one another as if seeing them forthe first time. Were they of a kind?
Xindral continued as if he hadn't noticed.
"A footnote," he said. "The Belt's been cleared ofalmost all rocks and swarms, plus the big ones thatwe couldn't use for outposts. As you may recallfrom your school days, it wasn't easy haulingmicro-spunnel terminals around the Belt and rammingrocks into the hoppers for transfer to meltdown andrefining above Venus.
"In short, the big space sweeps of five to eighthundred years ago cleared away most of the residuein Belt orbits that had no beneficial purpose andwere a hazard to traffic. The Belt was a goodsource for minerals -- while it lasted."
He paused to key the instrument in his hand.
"That's done," he said. "What's left are only a fewof the big asteroids, like Ceres. They serve bothregions as Solar Spacetrack Centers, communicationsrelays, search and rescue operations, space lanesdebris collection teams, urgent care hospitals, andfor spunnel gateways management."
As he spoke the ring of lights in the tankflickered. Another ring formed, evenly spaced rods,each glowing a contrasting color.
"The Guardian Stations," Xindral said, "have beenin position for more than six centuries. Twentystations; no more are planned."
The tank zoomed in on five of the twenty rodsin a quarter segment of the full orbit; the rodsexpanded to form slowly rotating cylinders.
"The Guardians are apportioned among fourgenerally equal sectors, any one of which servesthe quadrant that it happens to transit at thetime. Responsibilities and missions overlap, andare passed along from the station moving out of aquadrant to the one entering it along the commonorbital path. Using standard and hyperspaceomnidirectional surveillance, each station'sprimary job is to monitor its sector: inward towardthe Sun, and outward to the rim and beyond as far asour technical capabilities extend. The service areaschange constantly in keeping with the alignmentsand dynamics of planets and their satellites,traffic-lane management, neutralizing debrisintrusions, and conventional and spunnel teleportmaintenance."
Xindral folded himself back on to the high stool ashe spoke.
"After the political separation of the Inner andOuter Regions these Guardian Stations revertedto us by the treaty. Formally, they serve only theInner Region's jurisdictions. Informally, however,the stations cover the entire system; to dootherwise wo
"The Guardians' functions include standard andspunnel communications, disaster relief, search andrescue of distressed spacecraft, intercepting anddiverting comets-of-hazard, meteors, debris andother threats to traffic in the space-ways thatserve the Inner Region's space colonies needs.Often the Outer Region's folks help when theirinterests are involved; just as often they don't.It's one of the prices we pay for this politicalbreach, and one of the most frustrating."
Zolan turned to aim a remark at Adari. She giggledand elbowed Hodak. He growled and twisted away.Kumiko's eyes lifted from the deck to lazily roamthe blank overhead.
Myra's face openly played non-listener. Bradcontinued to observe Xindral closely, glancingoccasionally at the tank.
Aware that he was losing his audience, Xindralpaused and stood quietly for a moment.
"Do my words bore you?" He leaned forward totake them all in. His voice, still soft, neverthelessexposed a cutting edge.
Zolan looked at Xindral as he contemptuously gavethe tank the back of his hand.
"Who're you trying to kid?" His challenge wascast low, tight. "I don't know about the rest ofthese folks. I haven't asked any of them aboutthemselves, nor have they tried to check me out.But you wouldn't have brought us together withoutfirst investigating us for whatever your purposemight be. For example; you must know I'm a spacecommunicator. So, frankly, your rambling on likethis not only bores me, its phoniness is clear andinsulting."
Hodak slapped his knee and laughed. He pointed atZolan, then wagged his finger at Ram.
"Comm isn't my beat," he said. Thumbing over hisshoulder at Zolan, he added, "but what he said goesfor me."
Xindral brushed the keys on the control andreturned it to its case. The view tank fadedas he fixed his eyes on Zolan.
"Yes, Zolan, I am familiar with your background."Shifting to Hodak, "Yours, too." His glance widenedto include the others, "as I am with the backgroundsof you all."
In response, the prisoners silently glared defiance.
"Zolan's observation is correct and on point,"Xindral said, ignoring their disdain. "We're notfooling one another. Simply stated, you have muchin common. You are professional space men andspace women, and highly qualified at that. Yourskills and resourcefulness remain with you andI am aware of them."
Slouchers straightened. Hodak and Adari lookedaround and their faces broke into grins, which werereturned. Tension remained, but subtly altered.
"A couple of points," said Xindral. "First, you areall from sunside of the Belt and you are not known,as far as my sources can determine, where I don'twant you to be. Second, together, you represent across-section of space professions and experiencevital to the success of an important and urgenttask. What you are going to be asked to do willplace your lives at risk. You will need to rely oneach other, personally and professionally, underdifficult circumstances."
Brad had enough.
"Now let's just wait a minute!"
Brad was on his feet, instantly joined by theothers.
Xindral, head cocked slightly to one side, satand listened.
"Zolan said it first," said Brad. "None of usspeaks for the others, so what I say is formyself. Who are you to force me -- us -- intoa life-risk situation?"
The words, tightened in long-suppressed rage,spewed forth.
"You just counted off a couple of 'points'." Bradraised his hand, index finger raised. "Now here'sone for you. I'm here because I was convictedof a so-called offense against society. No waydo I consider myself a criminal; furthermore, Idon't know if these others," motioning in theirdirection, "consider themselves criminals or not.Again, I say, not my business. I'm here to servea prison sentence, and that doesn't include doingodd jobs where my life goes on the line."
Brad and Xindral faced each other acrosstension-charged space. The momentaryconfrontation passed, Brad, obviously fed upwith Xindral's evasions, crossed his arms acrosshis chest and waited. The tall man studied him.
"Your point is well made," he said. "You haveforced the issue forward, and your challengemust be answered before we go much further.Here are a few of the pieces. Think about them."
He stepped back on to the platform and took hisseat.
"You were selected only after a searchinginvestigation into your backgrounds," he said."We considered your records, personalities,and your capabilities: phys and psy, professionalskills, job performance, resiliency, whatever thetask I assign to you will likely call for.
"You are now a UIPS task group, for want of abetter designation. One of you will be appointedCommander. You will be given a job to do. Youwill depend on each other in most difficultcircumstances: your records for reliabilityunder stress were among the selection criteria.You were acceptable.
"As to your appointment, that was made by anauthority outside this station, actually, outsidethe Correctional Service of which this penalinstitution is a part. From the time you weremoved into the holding cells for transfer here, youcame under the jurisdiction of a Ministry that isinvolved with the most vital interests of the UIPS.The specifics of your mission will be covered in ournext session."
"The hell you say." Hodak bounced again. "You'restill dangling us on a string. Lay the whole bitout. Now!"
Nods and grunts followed Hodak's demand.
"Very well," Xindral said, after a short pause."Actually, there's no reason to delay your marchingorders."
His voice flattened.
"By direction of the President of the United InnerPlanetary System you are appointed to the StrategicPenetrations Detachment of the Ministry ofIntelligence. Your unit identifier is 'Sentinels'.Your unit commander is Brad Curtin, present.
"Copies of your orders are in a secured file inthe Ministry of Intelligence. A copy is temporarilyposted in your core compartment. When you read it,note that all requests for release or reassignmentare denied."
Xindral folded back into his normal, slightly bowedposture. His audience, frozen, stared at him blankly.
"That's it for now." Xindral ordered, the flatnessgone. "Return to your compartment and reportback here in an hour. Brad, please stand by."