Chapter 17

Spwat

Kwait and Phoenix were sitting talking in one of Marshia’s seven bars.

“Traffic problems mean we can’t hop to Spwat III,” said Phoenix to Kwait. “So we’ll have to stroll, I’m afraid.”

“So how long will it take?” askedKwait.

“About two weeks,” said Phoenix. “Just enough time to get the hyper-jump drives fully recharged in case we have to do some leaping around.” Phoenix looked quite pleased. “All quite exciting, really,” he said rubbing his hands together with enthusiasm.

Opposite Kwait and Phoenix sat Streemly and Vick, who were indulging in the frivolous pastime enjoyed by friends everywhere.That of talking complete bollocks.

Kwait had never heard Vick speak at a normal volume before. The warm timbre of Vick’s voice seemed strange coming from what Kwait had always seen as being such an angry little man. Vick said, “You know that old thing about a tree falling in the woods and if no one was there to hear it, would it make a noise? Or my version, if a sleeping bear farted in the woods and there was no one there to sniff it; does it smell?”

“Yes,” laughed Streemly. “I mean, I’ve heard of the tree falling thing. I’ve no idea about the windy bear.”

“Well, what they’re saying is, if an event occurs that has absolutely no consequences whatsoever; not observed and nothing observable ever observed. Does the event actuallyhappen. ”

“Agreed,” said Streemly.

“What happens at the end of the universe?” said Vick.

“How do you mean?”

“If there was nothing at all or just some infinitely dense singularity; there would be no records of past events, and well, none of this would ever have happened, would it?”

“But plainly it has,” said Streemly, “as our existence shows.”

“So does that mean my leaning forward now is going to make some kind of observable difference to whatever is left at the end of the universe?”

“And just as importantly, if not more so,” said Streemly, “there has to be something doing the observing. So perhaps the universe never ends.”

“Or perhaps unobserved events do take place,” said Vick.

“Or maybe it doesn’t matter,” said Streemly.

“And what does ‘observed’ mean?” said Vick.

Streemly sucked air noisily through her teeth. “In this context,” she said, “‘observed’ means ‘had an effect on’. For something to have observed something means it must have been affected in some way.”

“Don’t you have to be conscious to observe something?” said Vick.

“I don’t think so,” said Streemly. “Not in this context. Conscious things can observe the results of something unconscious that recorded something from something else that was unconscious. And so on.”

“So long as something records the event,” said Vick, “it happened. Time coming to an end is of no consequence.”

“Hmmm,” said Streemly.

They lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

“She’s a fine girl,” said Phoenix, indicating Streemly. “You must be very proud.”

“Oh, yes,” said Kwait.“Most of the time, anyway.” He looked at his daughter fondly. “She’s very like her mother when she’s relaxed like that.”

“ I know you’re talking about me, ” Streemly’s voice came into Kwait’s mind.

“ Mind your own business! ” he thought back at her. “ I’m talking about you not to you. ”

“Where is Mrs Naize?” asked Phoenix.

“ Tell him to mind his own business. ”

“She was killed,” said Kwait.“A little over two years ago.A plane crash.”

“Oh, I am sorry,” said Phoenix. And he was. He liked Kwait.

Kwait had never really talked to anyone about Vairy.The loss. Sure, he had cried with Streemly and accepted the well meaning condolences of friends. But he had never talked or shared his thoughts with anyone except the Vairy he held in his mind. Memories of his desolation came back. He remembered the call vividly. Being told Vairy was dead. He collapsed. His legs gave way under him but he managed to hang on to the hand set. Suddenly, he was two people.One numbly observing, watching as the other him cried, choking and gasping uncontrollably for breath. Two minds trapped together. One helpless, paralysed, watching.The other a whorl of pain, colour, emotion.

Kwait felt his stomach tighten and an uncomfortable lightness enter his chest. Could he really say that to another person? He knew Phoenix was a genuine person. He wouldn’t ridicule Kwait.Would be genuinely sympathetic. It might be good to say it. Get it out there. It might be good.

“It was a long time ago,” said Kwait.

“I lost a brother many years ago,” said Phoenix. “I know how it hurts.Even now. I dropped like a stone when my mother called and told me. I would never have believed I would have reacted like that. One minute I was talking to her on the telephone the next I was sat on the floor blubbering like a big baby.”

Kwait felt uncomfortable. He stood. “Anyway,” he said, “if you’ll excuse me I’m feeling very tired. I Think I’ll go and get some rest.”

“ You OK Pop? ” came Streemly’s thought.

“ No problem. ”

“Yes. I think I’ll do the same,” said Phoenix.

Kwait and Phoenix excused themselves to Streemly and Vick and went their separate ways. Vick watched Kwait leave. “He misses your mother very much,” he said.

“Yes,” said Streemly. “As far as I know she was the only woman he ever loved. He’s certainly never even looked at another woman since mummy died.”

“Two years ago?”

“Yes,” said Streemly. “Seems just like yesterday.” She took a sip from her drink. Vick mirrored the action. “I had just passed my driving test when daddy told me. I was so excited.” Streemly looked into her drink. “When he told me I hit him.Actually slapped him across the face.Called him a liar. Said it was all his fault for making mummy take the night flight.” Streemly looked close to tears. “God, I was such a bitch,” she said.

“Shock can make us act in strange ways,” said Vick. “Many, many years ago when I first started experimenting with the transporters a frog jumped into the export beam just as I activated it. The transfer seemed to be fine but I was, as you can imagine, a bit concerned. Physically I was as perfect as you see me now.”

Streemly smiled.

Vick continued, “But I did have an overwhelming craving for fly soup!” Streemly laughed. “I reversed the procedure, just in case, but ended up with my body and the frogs legs! Well I was hopping mad, I can tell you.” Streemly’s laughing forced her to put the glass down. “I reversed the reversal but ended up turning completely into a frog! So it looks like I’m stuck this way until I croak.” Streemly groaned.

“Anyway,” said Vick. “I can’t stand here ribbiting all day. I’d better hop it.” And with that Vick assumed a frog-like pose on the floor and started hopping towards the door much to the amusement of the rest of the bar’s occupants. Streemly ran after him laughing.

“Stop that before you do yourself a mischief!” She grabbed Vick, hauled him to his feet and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“That’s better,” said Vick smiling fondly at Streemly.“Now.” He linked arms with her and headed them both for the door. “What shall we tinker with today?”

*

Bev was a bit concerned about Spwat III. Or, more precisely, he was concerned about letting his inexperienced colleagues loose among its inhabitants.Pebbles was an innocuous planet with fairly friendly natives. But Spwat III was another planet entirely. Its history was one of violence and upheaval. The mineral rich soil was perfect for growing the notorious Medusa Tree. Its fist sized fruits, looking like a herd of worms with their bottoms glued together, contained the Armpit Nebula’s most powerful and addictive narcotic. Few species were immune to its effects. Once the fruit had been ingested the victim was rendered immobile but his mind went on an inter-galactic journey covering hundreds of planets. A journey which seemed to the victim to take hundreds of years but only took a few minutes of real time. Addicts came back for more time and time again, unable to face life in the pedantic real world. SpwatIII was also extremely rich in vital ores.

Its central position deep among the civilised star systems was a third reason for its popularity with fortune seekers, tyrants, and criminals of all kinds.

There had inevitably been many disputes over the millennia with warring factions doing battle over fertile areas or areas rich in minerals. The planet had settled into an uneasy stability with the surface being hardly inhabited at all.

Surface dwellers fell into two categories: machinery maintenance engineers or militia. The machinery was used for mining or harvesting the Medusa Tree and the militia were there to defend the areas owned by the various factions.

By far the majority of the population lived in orbiting space stations of which there were thousands.A strange environment indeed for mankind to set up shop. But people through the ages had been forced to do any number of unpleasant things in the cause of survival.

The colony specialising in freight lived in one such station.

The freight business was obviously very important for drug dealers and mineral traders, to be sure. But Bev was not there to pass judgement. No one had a right to condemn people for a lifestyle they probably had no choice but to accept. The important thing was the location and apprehension of Django Twip. He had to be brought to justice for his crimes against Earth. These people could be descendants of Django Twip’s entourage. Contact had to be handled very carefully.

Bev knew that Marshia’s arrival would raise a few eyebrows. The changes Streemly and Vick had made to date put Marshia into a class of battle cruiser that Bev and all of his information MAIDs had never seen or heard of before. She could easily wipe out multiple star systems in a matter of seconds. She could also burn a hole in the hat of a chicken farmer on a planet ten million miles away before he had time to say “Pluck!”.

Bev knew it was impossible for Marshia to fall into the wrong hands but the guys out there lusting after her would not know that. Not until it was too late. The last thing Bev wanted was bloodshed. Bev had done his duty. He had shared his concerns with everyone. He could do no more. But he was worried. The creatures they could come into contact with were some of the vilest droppings of some of the vilest organisms the universe had ever had the insensitivity to vomit into existence. Not nice people at all.

*

Heeding Bev’s advice for caution, Marshia stayed well away from Spwat III to begin with. All transmissions between the space stations and the planet’s surface were monitored and analysed. A fascinating picture began to emerge. The orbiting stations were identified as casinos, shopping malls, repair centres, freight handling, residential, brothels, in fact all one would expect in a large city. The occupants of one station were dedicated to keeping the peace and resolving minor disputes. They policed the other stations and represented the law, such as it was. A significat difference between the orbiting society and a surface based one was the sheer size of it. Plus the very definite boundaries of vacuum that separated each station. The orbits varied enormously so some stations moved through and around other groups of relatively stationary satellites. Things seemed to pan out though. Kwait watched one residential block for some time. The occupants travelled in communal shuttles to and from nearby stations to do a “day’s” work. Every day a different shopping mall passed by. Seven orbiting malls shared similar orbits, strung out around the planet with an orbital period of one day. Some of the utility stations followed suit but the majority stayed in clumps. Each clump representing the interests of a particular faction.

By analysing some of the encoded messages Marshia was able to determine that, even though the occupants of several factions thought they were separate from, and competing with, all the other factions, a lot of them were actually reporting back to the same source. An interesting state of affairs maintained deliberately for reasons that could only be guessed at.

Of immediate interest, and possibly a source of the most help, was the police station in polar orbit. It was decided that Bev and Kwait would approach the police commander to find out if he could be of any assistance.

Marshia hopped to within one hundred yards of the spinning doughnut-shaped station matching orbits perfectly. Bev and Kwait monitored the transmissions as they came out of the jump. The massive Marshia, appearing instantly with no warning at all from any of the scanners, caused quite a stir. Questions were whizzing backward and forward trying to find out who this powerful newcomer was. Interestingly, only one transmission was directed at the orbiting police station and that came from a patrolling police scout ship.

It appeared that the police were very much out on their own with no one to talk to. The scale of the interest and the fact that they had remained undetected until they actually appeared gave Bev some confidence that they were dealing with a technology that was not as advanced as their own. Marshia made contact with the station and arranged for Bev and Kwait to meet with the commander, Dan Bwagon , within the hour.

West was quite miffed that he had not been included but quickly conceded in a gentlemanly manner when it was pointed out that the situation could be dangerous.

“Besides,” said Bev, “we don’t want to unnerve these people by introducing someone as high powered as your good self at this early stage.”

West had no trouble relating to that either.

As the appointed time approached, Marshia was repeatedly probed unsuccessfully by scanners from many of the space stations. Bev and Kwait thought a little muscle flexing would not go amiss, so demonstrated their flawless transporter technology by porting straight into the commander’s office. As the rather dull brown office materialised around him, Kwait wondered briefly if the police commander was alone and if so what he was doing. What, wondered Kwait, are the three most popular past times enjoyed by people who think they are alone?Nose picking?Armpit sniffing? Having a good scratch in one of those private little places? That was assuming, thoughtKwait, that the police commander had a nose, armpits or private little places. He did, as it turned out. The station commander was a Pebbling. And this Pebbling was exploring his ear with his trunk when the two visitors materialised.

“Hell’s bells!” said the startled commander. “I’ve heard this transportation thing had been sussed by someone but I had no idea it was you lot.”

“Us lot?” enquired Bev.

“You ... people ... humans,” said Commander Bwagon .

“Yes,” said Bev, “‘us lot’ have had it sussed for some thousand years now.”

“And you are?” asked Bwagon regaining some composure.

“This is Doctor Naize,” said Bev, “and I am simply Bev.”

“Ah, yes.” Bwagon looked at his watch. “Bang on time. I had assumed you would be coming via more conventional means. Please, sit down.” Bwagon indicated two chairs in front of his desk. “Now, how can I help you?”

“Quite simply,” said Bev, “we are in the throes of pursuing a person, human like ourselves, who has, albeit in the distant past, in a most heinous and contemptible manner, violated every imaginable ethical and moral code in committing a transgression of such hideously vile and disgusting evil against humankind and its planet of origin that we have been compelled to give chase and apprehend the perpetrator in as expeditious and non-intrusive a manner as is, err ... humanly possible.”

Total incomprehension clung to Bwagon’s face like an old balaclava. “Pardon?” he said.

“We’re after a guy called Django Twip,” said Kwait. “Heard of him?”

“Django Twip and the planet Frimp are legendary in these parts,” said Bwagon .

“In what way?” askedBev.

“Just a moment, please,” said Bwagon , leaning towards his intercom. “Locate Captain Rex and have her sent in, would you please Sonia.”

A thin crackly female voice came back over the intercom, “Anything for you, my liddle honey bunny ...”

“ And, ” said Bwagon stabbing the intercom button, “send in two teas for my guests , please.”

A short embarrassed silence was followed by a staccato, “Right away, sir.”

Dan Bwagon cleared his throat. “Rex will be able to help with some of the details. She was in charge of the case.” Bwagon tried to retrieve some kind of credibility. “So what is your connection with Django Twip?” He directed the question at Kwait, not wanting the short, bearded guy to start rambling again.

“Django Twip,” said Bev, ignoring the slight, “virtually destroyed our home planet wiping out the vast majority of the population in the process.”

“Some of us were just left to survive as best we could in outposts on other planets,” said Kwait.

“When did this happen?” asked Bwagon .

“Three thousand years ago,” said Bev.

“Are you pulling my trunk?” said Bwagon , doubt creasing his brow.

“Due to certain ... refinements, there is no theoretical limit to our life span,” said Bev. Bwagonrearranged his features to that of one who is suitably impressed and said, “From what I remember, this Django Twip character was convicted of trying to poison this entire star system. He was run to ground on Frimp but he put up some kind of planet wide force field that we couldn’t get through. The field’s still there as far as I know. And so is Twip.”

“That’s interesting,” said Bev. “But what do you mean by ‘poison this entire star system’?”

“Well ...” began Bwagon , but he was interrupted by a knock at his door. “Come!” he said. A tall, slim human female entered. Not a classic beauty but a beauty borne of self-confidence and inner calm. The way she moved had Kwait’s information MAIDs presenting him with images of a long extinct species of gazelle from Earth.

“Ah, Rex,” said Bwagon . “This is Captain Rex,” he said to Bev and Kwait. The humans nodded to each other. “These gentlemen are interested in finding out more about Django Twip.”

“Is that ship yours?” asked Rex. Kwait noticed her eyes were so dark as to appear allpupil .

“It is indeed,” said Bev. “And may I extend to you the enthusiastic hand of camaraderie and fraternity and welcome you back, one of our long displaced comrades, to the bosom and brotherhood of humanity from which you were, so long ago, unceremoniously torn to be cast upon the uncertain sea of fate and the vagaries of the far flung reaches of space.”

“Pardon?” said Rex, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

“Hi,” said Kwait, “and yes, that’s ours.”

“Neat trick,” said Rex. “Where are you guys from?”

“Earth,” said Kwait.

“Get away,” said Rex in amazement.“Earth? I thought that was just an old fairy tale.”

“We are no fairy tale as you can see,” said Bev. “We are from the cradle of humanity.A cradle which Django Twip tried to destroy. A cradle which is being rebuilt and starting to rock again as we speak.”

“Far out,” said Rex.

“About seven hops,” said Bev.

Kwa##itintervened. “About Django Twip; I believe you have some information about him.”

“Yes,” said Rex. “I suppose I’d better give you the full story as far as I know it.”

“Good idea,” said Kwait.

“Twip’s been around these parts for as long as anyone can remember. There are some old freighter legends that say he’s the father of all humanity in these parts. Anyway, he started Twip’s Fish and Chip Emporium. He opened more and more outlets and eventually there was at least one, and in some cases hundreds, of Twip’s Fish and Chip Emporiums on every inhabited planet in all the Armpit Nebula’s star systems.”

“That represents one hell of a lot of fish and chips,” said Kwait.

“Tell me about it,” said Rex. “Anyway, the standards commission got a bit concerned when muggings of people carrying bags of Twip’s fish and chips started. People were getting killed over a lightly battered cod, or cod-a-like, and a bag of chips.

“They analysed some of the chips and found minute traces of Medusa. Not enough for the full-blown trip but enough to make people euphoric and want for more.

“A joint Nebula operation closed down every shop simultaneously. Twip went to ground on Frimp . That was his home base anyway. He put up some kind of impenetrable force field. They tried everything to get through it but, nothing doing. It wouldn’t budge. After a few years they figured he was a prisoner there anyway. We’ve had a monitor on the field but I reckon he’s probably dead by now. Whatever, he isn’t going anywhere without our knowing about it.”

Kwait told Rex and Bwagon the story of Django Twip, the two moons and the force field around Earth.

“So you got through the field?” Rex asked Bev.

“Well, my brother did, certainly,” said Bev. “And I do believe the transporter technology has improved beyond recognition even since then.Thanks to the efforts of Kwait’s daughter and my brother.”

Kwait looked puzzled. “But, given what the field did to life on Earth, it’s questionable as to whether Twip could survive on the surface of Frimp , surely.”

“The survival of my brother and me is directly attributable to the MAIDs ,” said Bev. “Without them we would have had no chance at all. Actually that’s not strictly true. If not for my brother’s modifications and refinements of certain MAIDs we would have perished hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately the modifications came too late for our friends.” Bev’s eyes were moist. “The final experiments we did on ourselves had only a fifty-fifty chance of success. My presence here is entirely due to my brother’s brilliance.” Bev produced a handkerchief from his sleeve and blew his nose loudly.

“Maids?” asked Rex.

“Miniature Artificial Intelligence Devices,” said Bev.“Microscopic devices which, jointly, have a limited intelligence capability.”

“Oh,” said Rex, not really understanding.

“They sort of keep us healthy and enhance our normal body functions,” explained Kwait. Rex nodded. Kwait continued, addressing Bwagon and Rex. “I’m curious about you people; this seems a very strange place for a police station. Who pays your wages?”

“The reason we’re here is to protect the interests of Pebbling, Gamma Froth and the human communities,” said Bwagon . “Pebbling and Gamma Froth have a considerable amount invested in the mining operations on the surface. The human community provide an invaluable service with the freight services. Our paymasters are a committee of representatives from all three nations plus a small sum donated as taxes by the druggers . It’s been recognised that trying to put an end to Medusa production would result in an all out war. There’s just too much hard cash at stake. So we’re here to keep the peace as best we can. Keep everything civilised and running smoothly.”

“It must be very difficult to turn a blind eye to drug running,” said Kwait.

“It’s simply a numbers game,” said Bwagon . “Keeping the mining operations open benefits tens of thousands of billions of individuals.Whereas Medusa is a problem for just a few hundred millions. So you have to keep things in perspective.”

“It’s outrageous!” said Kwait indignantly. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

Rex intervened. “Believe me, I know it’s hard to swallow but these druggers are very powerful. War would cost millions of lives and Medusa would not go away. Someone would figure out a way to grow it somewhere else. Here, at least we have some control over its distribution.Negotiated capping, and all.”

Bev stepped in to change the subject. “I would be very interested to meet some human settlers here. See what sort of life they have set up for themselves. Would that be possible?”

Rex’slook said no problem but she turned to Bwagon for confirmation.

“I ...” - Bwagon was still bristling - “... see no reason why not. Why don’t you show them round, Rex. Introduce them to the freighters. When you’re through I would appreciate a little chat about how you intend toproceed vis-à-vis the Django Twip case.”

“Will do,” said Kwait.

“Thank you for your time,” said Bev. “It’s been much appreciated.”

“My shuttle or yours?” said Rex.

“We did not bring ours with us,” said Bev.

“Fine,” said Rex.“This way then.”

*

“ It’s amazing what people can get used to, ” thought Kwait. Rex looked relaxed and cheerful as she piloted the shuttle at speed through the access tunnels. Kwait noted with some satisfaction that Bev’s knuckles were just as white as his own as they threatened to crush the arm of the seat he was strapped into.

The shock of sudden zero gravity was compensated for by the sight that greeted them as they shot from the brightly lit tunnel to empty space. They were looking at one edge of the Armpit Nebula from the inside; a beautiful band of star dust shining white and blue to violet. Behind them the station receded. Momentum-induced gravity grabbed at their stomachs as Rex pulled back on the joystick bringing the great, bright, beige disk of Spwat III into view above them.

In fronttwinkled Spwat III’s irregular necklace of jewels that were the orbiting space stations. As they got closer they could see the staggering amount of activity as shuttles of all shapes and sizes zoomed nonchalantly in, around and between the stations.

“You know,” said Rex looking around her feet, “I’m sure I had a map in here somewhere.” She looked up just in time to avoid running into a larger shuttle running across their bows. The simultaneous release of breath from both Bev and Kwait caused Rex to say, “Sorry about that. I suppose these things take a bit of getting used to. Don’tworry, I’ve never hit anything yet. Well that’s not strictly true. There was that one time when I used to smoke. I dropped a ciggy in my lap. The next thing I knew I was face to face with a Froth who was glued to my front screen. He’d been out cleaning the station windows when I happened by just a little too close.” Rex laughed. “Talk about being pissed off. I thought the guy was going to climb out of his suit, through the screen and bop me one there and then.”

She started looking around her feet once more. “Now, where’s that map?” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Kwait said a little too hastily. “The old point and tell routine will be fine. We’re not intent on staying too long.”

“OK,” said Rex, smiling slightly.

The shuttle banked and swooped towards a huge red platform. Cubes, spheres and tetrahedrons had been glued together forming an absurd snake that wound round its own coils.

“This,” said Rex taking the shuttle through one of the spiky loops causing Bev and Kwait to duck involuntarily, “is Action Stations. Cute name, huh?Gambling, sex, booze.Pursuits of that ilk.Mainly frequented by surface workers.”

The shuttle shot away from the red craziness of Action Stations and on towards a massive collection of flat platforms and enormous grabber arms. Freight carriers of all shapes and sizes could be seen all around. Some floated patiently waiting to be tendedto, others were magnetically glued to platforms while more lay in the gentle embrace of the gigantic mechanical arms. Streams of shuttles moved from freighter to freighter and to and from Spwat III’s surface. Tiny suited figures could be seen fussing around some of the vessels carrying out general repairs and inspections.

Rex steered the shuttle towards an enormous barrel of a construction rotating gently along its axis some mile and a half away from the main freighter terminal.

“Bobbin,” said Rex. “That’s where we’re headed. It’s mainly residential but there are a few shops and bars and shuttle repair bays and stuff.”

“Bobbin,” said Bev.

“Yes,” said Rex.

“Bobbin.Bobbin.Bobbin.Bobbin,” said Bev.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” said Rex giving Bev a strange look.

“Sorry,” said Bev, “but it’s just such a nice word.”

*

The shuttle rolled, banked and dived a little aggressively, Kwait thought. They came in along Bobbin’s axis. It loomed before them like a giant horticulturist’s lawn roller. Kwait saw that at the centre was a large circular entrance way leading into a dark interior. As they got closer the scale of the thing became apparent. Kwait estimated the diameter at well over two thousand yards. The central entrance dwarfed the shuttle and was easily capable of taking a vessel four times her size. Rex started to roll the shuttle matching the rotating station. When the two synchronised their dance, perceptions jumped so that it was they and the station that were static, while the stars, other stations and the planet Spwat III orbited them.

As they manoeuvred towards the entrance Kwait could see through some of the long curved windows. He felt slightly queasy looking around the great circle at the hundreds of people going about their business.Their heads towards Kwait at the centre, their feet towards the circumference. The interior loomed and was no longer dark. Bright lights were suddenly all around them. Shuttles passed by close enough to touch. Rex followed a system of lights that Kwait could not understand. The lights eventually led them to a docking station just big enough for the shuttle to enter and settle gently into place. The docking bay doors came together and a klaxon blasted its warning. A few seconds later and the word “AIR” appeared in large red lettering on the wall in front of them as the klaxon ceased its wailing. A gut-wrenching pull surprised Bev and Kwait as another sign appeared on the wall.

“GRAVITY”.

“One ‘G’ wherever you go,” said Rex, shutting down the shuttle. “Not bad, heh ?”

“No mean feat,” agreed Kwait, undoing his straps. They left the shuttle and stood in front of a heavy steel door.

“Just one thing,” said Rex, grabbing the door handle. “If you get lost ask for bay Yellow-27.”

“We won’t get lost,” said Bev as Rex pulled open the door. They walked out into what was plainly a huge shopping mall. Thousands of people milled around. Shopping, chatting,eating .

“Wow,” said Kwait. “How many people are there on Bobbin?”

“About half a million.Give or take a few thousand,” said Rex. “It’s pretty stable. Available space dictates the size really. Though Bobbin is expanding very slowly.”

“How is all this financed?” asked Bev.

“The freight handlers you saw on the way here,” said Rex. “They make most of the hard currency and tradables . They also do a brisk trade in servicing and repairs. The paintings bring in quite a lot too.”

“Paintings?” asked Bev in surprise.

“Yes. I know,” said Rex. “Don’t ask me why but the Pebblings and Froths think our paintings are out of this world and are prepared to pay handsomely for them too.”

“What do Froths look like?” asked Kwait.

Rex frowned and looked around the crowds. Most were humans. “Pebblings you’ve come across,” said Rex nodding towards a lone trunked figure looking into a shop window. “Ah!” said Rex. “Over there.”

Bev and Kwait looked in the direction Rex pointed. Two short, dark humanoids threaded their way through the crowd.

“Just like an ancient people back on Earth,” said Bev rather sadly. “All extinct now, I’m afraid. Pygmies, we called them.”

Kwait accessed his information MAIDs . “Yes,” he said. “I see what you mean.”

Rex had the feeling she had just missed something. These two seemed momentarily ... distant. She ignored the feeling. “Want to have a look round?” she asked.

“Sure,” said Kwait as they set off into the crowd.

Kwait thought how they could easily have been strolling around a shopping mall at home. Ignoring the curved floor, that is. Perhaps there was a fundamental need in the human psyche for shopping malls and market places.

Shops held everything you would expect from any surface based mall.Clothes, food, entertainment and life-improving goods by the score.

The crowds, people mostly, looked well fed, well healed and well pleased with life.

“This is fascinating,” said Bev. “Tell me, what sort of social structure holds all this together?”

“It’s pretty rigid ... in a loose kind of way,” said Rex. She frowned prettily, trying to put words to her thoughts. “I supposeit’s best summed up as co-operate or die.”

“You sound a little disillusioned, my dear,” said Bev.

“That’s a different story. It’s why I chose to be a cop on a different station,” said Rex. “Basically you survive here by contributing. You have to work on the rigs or be a dealer or techie or do something useful. If you don’t give you can’t take. So if you’re incapable in some way, physically or mentally, and you haven’t made provisionor have no help, then you’re out.”

“Out?” said Bev with some concern.

“Not outside ,” said Rex, “but as good as. The skin is full of people who can’t make it inside. They call them Flakes.”

“Skin?” asked Bev.

“There’s a ten feet gap between the outer and inner hulls.” explained Rex making a circle with her hands.

“Flakes huddle around the heating elements and live off the garbage and pray they survive the next mite hit. Err, micro-meteor hit, that is.”

“That seems very harsh,” said Kwait.

Rex shrugged. “They say it’s the only way Bobbin can survive. No passengers.”

“But who controls the station?” asked Bev.

“Well, the dealers dictate where Bobbin goes,” said Rex. “Which is basically wherever they can get the best handling prices.There’s a shift boss on each freight handler. The techies here keep everything running. Apart from that, it just sort of runs.”

“Fascinating,” said Bev, edging past a young lady with a clipboard. The young lady spotted Bev and started walking beside him. “Excuse me sir would you have a moment to spare I won’t take up too much of your time and would like to ask you a few questions if that’s all right please,” she said a little desperately.

Bev stopped. “Of course, my dear,” he said. The young lady looked ecstatic, hardly believing her luck. Kwait and Rex slowed to a snail’s pace, walking amongst the traders but keeping Bev in view. The young lady beamed at Bev. “Thank you very much,” she said breathlessly, “this will only take a few minutes.” She shuffled with her clipboard. “Right,” she said after finding the correct page. She reddened slightly. “Male obviously ... Are you under thirty?”

“No,” said Bev.

“Thirty to forty?” she asked.

“No,” said Bev.

“Over forty then,” she said, ticking a box on her questionnaire.

“Do you use an underarm deodorant?” she asked.

“No,” said Bev kindly.

The young lady frowned. “No,” she said under her breath and shuffling with the clipboard. “Go to fifty nine-b.” She smiled at Bev.

“Right,” she said. “You do not use an underarm deodorant because: a,You can’t find the right fragrance b, You have sensitive skin or c, You don’t think you need to?”

“b,” said Bev.

The young lady looked sympathetic. “Ooh. Me too,” she said. “I just break out in horrible blotches if I so much as look at a bottle of Pitstop . I look like I’ve got anti-gravity pucks strapped to my elbows!”

Bev smiled kindly. “Anything else?” he asked.

“Err, yes. Sorry. Err, b. Right. Have you ever used an underarm deodorant?”

“Yes.”

“And, what was it called?”

“Beast Within,” said Bev.

“Ooh,” said the young lady. “I’ve never heard of that one. Is that ‘B’ ...?”

“B-E-A-S-T W-I-T-H-I-N.”

“...I-N. That’s it,” she said, noting down the name. “Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure,” said Bev, turning to look for his companions.

He spotted Kwait and Rex deep in conversation.A small island of calm in the busy mall. Kwait had his hands in his tunic pockets, his body slightly turned away from Rex, his face alternating between being intent on whatever Rex was saying and animated conversation. Rex stood holding her hair back from her face as she looked up at Kwait. She leaned unnecessarily close to his ear when speaking, tossing her head occasionally and waving her free hand as she spoke. She stood square on one foot and on the heel of the other.

Bev smiled, trying to find a word for what they were doing. Not flirting. Not at ease. Attracted and trying to be businesslike?

He turned back to the young lady and gently took her arm. “It seems my companions are indisposed at present,” he said.

The young lady felt a gentle tingling in her arm where the stranger touched her.

“Would you care to show me around this fascinating place you live in?” said Bev. Th#eyoung lady’s mind went blank apart from the overwhelming desire to give this stranger a guided tour of Bobbin.

“Have you seen the health care and crèche centres?” she asked.

“No,” said Bev. “Do, please show me.”

*

“But I probably paint an over-bleak picture of Bobbin,” said Rex. “Not everyone feels the way I do, plainly. There are a lot of people here who could leave but choose to stay.”

“Indeed,” said Kwait looking around the mall. “Most of the elements you describe here could be found back home. Just in a slightly different form. Tell me ...” Kwait paused. “...what do people do for fun around here?”

“Fun?” said Rex.

“Yes,” said Kwait, “fun.Entertainment. How does a ... Bobbinette ? Bobbinling? Bobbinner?”

“ Bobbinnerwill do,” said Rex smiling.

“How does a Bobbinner get away from it all? Relax?”

“You mean the Holiday,” said Rex.

“I do?”

“Yes. When it’s time to Holiday, Bobbin is moved to Gamma Froth,” said Rex. “It’s really something. Fantastic beaches, jungle, snow, amazing restaurants. Everything you could ever want. The whole of Bobbin goes surface side.”

“All of you go on holiday together?” said Kwait.

“It’s not as bad as that,” said Rex. “Gamma Froth is big enough to pull point nine G. You can be on there for weeks without ever meeting another Bobbinner .”

“And how often does this Mass Holiday take place?”

“About every six months,” said Rex. “It’s mainly down to the traders. They pick the best time to go.”

“What about on Bobbin?” asked Kwait. “What do folks do around here for fun?”

Rex looked at Kwait for a moment. She seemed to come to a decision.

“Do you like sports?” she asked.

“Depends,” said Kwait cautiously.

“Follow me ...” Rex stopped in her tracks, suddenly aware of Bev’s absence. “Where’s Bev?” she asked, looking around in concern.

“He seems to have found someone else to play with,” said Kwait, pointing out the receding figures of Bev and a young lady.

“We’d better go and get him,” said Rex, starting off after Bev.

Kwait stopped her, saying, “I wouldn’t worry about Bev. It’s the rest of Bobbin you should be concerned with.” Kwait’s voice trailed off as he looked vague.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rex.

Kwait held up his hand motioning Rex to wait. After a while he said, “Sorry about that. I was just getting a message from Marshia.”

Rex drew breath to ask who Marshia was then remembered Kwait’s incredible ship. She marvelled at this amazing technology but wondered just how intrusive it really would feel.

“It seems,” said Kwait, “that Marshia is ready and we’re to set off for Frimp shortly.”

“Good,” said Rex, pulling her beeper off her belt and holding it to her lips.“Captain Rex requesting system transport.”

Kwait could hear a tinny little artificial voice responding, Voice match. Request actioned . Police Vessel Lima Oscar 3 will be at Bobbin Dock White 9 in 15. Out.

Kwait felt unaccountably awkward for a moment. “Well,” he said, “I’d better be off.”

Rex ignored Kwait’s remark. “Is there any way I can talk to your Captain?” she asked. “I’d like to make arrangements for the handing over of Twip when he’s caught.”

Kwait’s eyes defocused as he consulted Marshia. “Just talk into your beeper,” he said. “Captain Phoenix can speak to you through that.”

Rex looked suspiciously at the familiar device. “Captain Phoenix?” she ventured tentatively.

“Captain Rex.” A thin representation of Phoenix’s voice came from the beeper. “What can I do for you?”

The look on her face showed Rex was impressed. “I’ll be taking system transport to Frimp ,” she said with an unimpressed voice. “When you apprehend Twip and he’s ready to be transported to our vessel, will you need anything from us? Documentssigned, etcetera?”

“You are more than welcome to accompany us to Frimp , Captain,” said Phoenix. “Django Twip will, however, remain in our custody for trial and sentencing.”

Rex frowned. “Twip is accused of crimes against several systems in this area,” said Rex. “You will have to hand him over.”

“You will have to take that up with the Presidium,” Phoenix responded genially. “Goodbye, Captain.”

“Captain?”Rex said into her beeper.“Captain!?”

Voice match. Further data required, Captain Rex. Over.

“Oh, bugger!” said Rex stabbing the beeper back into her belt.

“I’m sorry,” said Kwait. “But we’re being recalled.” He looked apologetic and made a half gesture towards reaching for her hand. “I must go,” he said.

Rex opened her mouth to speak as Kwait disappeared with a gentle pop. She looked around and saw Bev a few dozen yards away. He was still talking to the young lady. But as Rex started towards him, Bev moved a pace back from the girl, smiled kindly and disappeared.

“Damn them!” said Rex in frustration.

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