ALTHOUGH UNQUILL had been declared an enemy of humanity, he discovered to his surprise that the soldiers guarding the eastern entrance to the Lotus Lion Bridge hadn't heard about that yet. Unquill then remembered a conversation he'd overheard during a rest period at work, when he'd been laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. One person, a man named Boosa Rem, had been a surface dweller until his work on temporal mechanics had drawn the attention of the Constabulary. Life in the sky, Boosa had complained, proved very different than life on the ground. Everyone in the sky forgot about everyone on the ground, yet no one on the ground every forgot about those who lived in the sky.Unquill wondered whether the council had indeed forgotten to disseminate up-to-date information to their soldiers on the ground. If they had, he wasn't about to correct the council's error. In between getting shot at by the Black Brigade, having robots detain him in a dirty prison cell and living through a spaceship crash, he had almost become convinced that he would never again observe that look of respect every citizen conferred upon a member of the Temporal Constabulary. Yet he saw it in the faces of the soldier in charge of guarding the east entrance, a man named Pavun Kiro.
Pavun, by rank an Indigo in the ranks of the United Solar Army, commanded what had been originally intended as a teaching mission. The army, Pavun explained, had been assigned to teach the local law enforcement officers how to guard the bridge for themselves. Yet, within a month of the soldiers arriving, the locals had rebelled. The island's governor in the capital of Antananarivo had issued a public proclamation ordering all citizens to resist the army with all their strength. That, Indigo Kiro claimed, was before they got more sophisticated weapons.
Winnow, who had never heard of the unrest taking place on the island, asked why the island's leader would say such a thing. Pavun didn't know himself, though he said that he wished he did. The governor had been arrested for sedition, then replaced by appointment with another man who urged the citizens to cooperate with United Solar Government's efforts to mine the rare mineral Estonite. The citizens, to the council's consternation, held in their memory the previous governor. They would not listen to the new governor, now matter how sensible or reasonable the man tried to be. Thus, the island had fallen into chaos.
The Council of Thirds didn't know how to correct the problem. Pavun, three months away from retirement before assigned to his post, had been in place for a year and a half. He wished only to go home, where his seventeen great-great-great grandchildren awaited.
Pavun Kiro was tall, even by the standards of the 73rd century. He stood twelve feet tall with long, flowing white hair. As was the privilege of soldiers who had advanced beyond the rank of Blue, he had grown out a beard. However, he had been clean-shaven for so many years that now, past his retirement age, thin wisps of stubble grew upon his face in odd places. His facial hair did not fill out or thicken in places. He stroked his facial hair as he spoke of his problems running the operation.
Unlike many men his size, he remained stubbornly thin so that he resembled a very long, narrow reed. Upon his right breast, he wore the pin of command which depicted a blue X over top a gold background. While inside his command tent, he had sat his helmet down on the table in front of him. The helmet bore three indentations from bullets, he claimed. The rebels used actual bullets propelled by gunpowder- as if using phosphorous wasn't antiquated enough.
He spoke with a no-nonsense authoritative voice that Unquill picked up on right away. He delivered his words in the form of concise sentences which left no room for doubt as to his meaning. He had firm, clear eyes that, despite all the problems he described, remained focused on whatever he beheld. He carried three energy weapons: one upon his right hand, the two upon his hip.
He said to Unquill, "Who are those two little ones you carried along? I'll know their identities so they can be returned to their families."
Unquill, who judged that Pavun didn't like the truth hidden from him, decided the truth would be best. Sitting opposite from Pavun with a sturdy wooden table between them, he said, "They're citizens from the time stream. We were on our way to the council when our ship crashed."
Pavun tapped a finger on his helmet. He considered both Unquill and Winnow, then said, "I'd believe it, if the brightness I saw in the sky had anything to do with your crash. Amazing sight that was. Skytrack rails falling all over the place, down into the ocean, on the other side of the island, everywhere. It will take the government a good long while to fix that system. Then, the crash. Are you both all right?"
Winnow lifted his arm a slight distance away from his stomach. Even that much hurt. He winced. "This arm is broken."
"Oh, so that's what it's for," Pavun ceased tapping on his helmet. "All right, I'll have Doctor Dalk check you out when we've finished our interview here. One more question before I let you go, though. What in the name of the Unbroken Tower were those three metal people that came by here yesterday? Do you know?"
Unquill tried not to blush. He wasn't sure if he succeeded. He said, "Those were robots, property of Hensen Var. May I ask what you did with them?"
Pavun leaned back in his chair. "Blew them to scrap, of course," he said. "Wasn't much choice. Don't know who this Hensen Var fellow is. He should take better care to program his robots not to draw weapons upon Solar officers. Well, if you ever see him again, tell him that. For now, go ahead and have your arm checked out. I'll have more questions for you later."
Unquill, who dreaded what Pavun might have to ask, left only the command tent as quickly as he'd entered.
KENNETH COULDN'T DECIDE if the man who introduced himself as Doctor Dalk was a duck or not. At least, he thought duck was the right word. He couldn't remember if that was the right adjective to use when describing a man of medicine who had no idea what he was doing. Kenneth developed this impression when Dr. Dalk pushed his fingers against parts of Kenneth's body that, to him, had nothing to do with personal health. He certainly didn't see the point of anyone tapping anything on his knee to make it jolt up in the air, even if his pediatrician in the 21st century had done this to him as well.
After all the tapping and prodding was finished, Dr. Dalk said, "You're in perfect health as well. I assume you are a citizen of the time stream, like your companion?"
Kenneth, who still remembered the curiosity he'd felt at discovering a small box planted underneath his skin at the hip, raised his shirt to show the doctor the device which kept him alive. "That should be all the proof you need, right?"
Dr. Dalk blinked at him. He said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what that is. It seems I may have offended your companion by assuming a glandular disorder, so I thought I would ask to make sure this time."
Kenneth crossed his arms over his chest. He looked away. "I don't have a problem with taste buds," he said.
Dr. Dalk, who always had a smile ready, laughed. He produced a pleasant, happy sound that relaxed Kenneth. The doctor said, "I suppose you don't want that. Though I wonder what if that pink mark along your thigh might be? Is it pink, isn't it? It's hard to tell color by touching the skin."
Kenneth, who had forgotten all about the scar he'd gotten on the inside of his leg at nine years old, looked back at the doctor, who seemed not at all perturbed at Kenneth's attitude. He said, "It's more white than anything, whiter than my skin anyway."
The doctor pulled a thin, metal rod out of a pocket in his lab coat. He said, "They taught us that in history class. People of the past went about calling themselves white and black. How silly to identify yourselves according to skin pigmentation. Just you wait until there's an outbreak of vitiligo...oh, it's all right if you don't understand. Open up and say ah."
Kenneth allowed the metal device to be placed under his tongue, judging it to be a thermometer. He didn't feel like he had a fever. Nor did he know why it mattered even if he did one. He tried not to think about the people throwing great big black balls full of fire at him outside the military's barrier. Seeing a man die from being burned alive had weakened Kenneth's resolve to see it all through- whatever it was that he had to do. He hadn't expected the future to be a violent place. He had thought that, if everything in the past and future was known, people would figure out that video games were more fun than throwing bombs.
Kenneth didn't say ah, but the device beeped anyway. The doctor withdrew it, then placed it in a white plastic slot before a computer screen. The computer displayed all manner of information about him. Kenneth couldn't read it all, nor did he understand the words he could make out. He said, "Did you do that to Savannah as well?"
The doctor turned away from the computer screen, frowning at Kenneth. "No, I didn't," he said. "Is there any reason why I should have?"
Kenneth shrugged his left shoulder while tilting his neck to that side. He said, "I don't know, you're the duck. You tell me."
Dr. Dalk laughed. "Ha, actually, although I do belong to the chordata phylum, I suspect you'll find the hominidae and anatidae families quite distinct from one another."
Kenneth, who had never paid attention in science class, said, "Yeah, I don't know what that means."
The doctor patted Kenneth on the shoulder. "It means, I'm not a duck."
"Oh, okay. I think. So what do my test results say?"
Dr. Dalk returned to studying the computer screen once more. "If I saw these results from anyone living in this time, I'd say you wouldn't have long to live- perhaps 70 years or so. As it is, since you're from the distant past, I suspect that sort of result is all right. Life expectancy was rather short back then, as I recall."
Kenneth, who didn't like the idea of living for hundreds of years when he hadn't ever liked waiting for anything to happen, said, "Can I go now?"
The doctor withdrew the metal device from its slot. He said, "Well sure, the guard outside will show you to your quarters. Don't hesitate to ask if you need to see me again. Citizens of the time stream are currently ranked as high medical priorities."
Kenneth got up off the bed and left the room. Before closing the door behind him, he stuck his tongue out at the doctor's back.
The doctor said, "I heard that."