‘I can't believe you dragged us out of bed to watch the sunrise,’ Coral grumbled.
‘Second sunrise,’ Ludokrus corrected her. The orange-brown smudge of Tena was already well above the northern horizon.
They settled on deck chairs on the balcony, sipping from steaming mugs of tea as seabirds circled and called to each other in the cool morning air and smells of the ocean wafted up from far below. All but Ludokrus were still in their dressing gowns, and everyone was a bit achy after last night’s tide ride. All secretly craved a few more hours rest, but no one had been able to resist their insistent host.
Coral spotted it first. A dozen houses further around the curving clifftop, a man stepped up onto the wide balcony railing, turned, leaned down to kiss his wife, then jumped.
‘Oh my god!’ She leapt to her feet, knocking her chair over backwards, watching as he fell.
Suddenly the sky was full of falling bodies. All around the clifftop, other figures appeared and launched themselves into the clear morning air.
‘They’re wearing wingsuits!’ Norman cried.
For ten full minutes, Kestel Bay was filled with swooping, diving figures like giant birds. Some, like their neighbour, treated it in a businesslike manner, heading straight down in wide, sweeping circles while others tried to maximise the ride, catching updrafts, swooping and diving, chasing birds and wisps of cloud.
Tim shook his head in disbelief. ‘That’s one heck of a way to wake up in the morning!’
‘Rush hour,’ Ludokrus said. ‘You ask why the town is build so high. Because of the tides you see last night. This is the quickest way to get to work.’
Down below, they saw the figures land and gather on the beaches and docks, greeting each other and chatting as they headed for the boats.
‘Are they all fishermen like your great-great-grandfather?’ Ludokrus nodded. ‘And those things they’re wearing are like the wingsuits people have back on Earth?’
‘Almost same, but computer-controlled. More safety.’
Norman’s face was alive with excitement. ‘The real question is, can we try it for ourselves?’
‘Oh sure, but after breakfast. Yes?’
* * *
Tetzul was still a glimmer below the horizon, and the campus of Theia University was quiet and still. Most of its students were sound asleep, but a few lights still showed on the outer faces of Pyramid K. One of those was in room nine on level nine.
Being a syntho, Albert didn’t need much sleep. The first part of running a mini Valax – gathering the data – had been rather monotonous, but now it was all in and he’d reconfigured the stacks of study-slabs to analyse that data, progress was swift. As the pieces came together, trends began to show and unexpected patterns emerged. It was all he could do to keep up his handwritten notes.
One of the patterns to emerge was particularly interesting. So interesting that he copied the details to a flexi-disc and slipped it into the back of his notebook. As he straightened, a sharp clatter-clack sounded from the balcony behind him. A second after that, his comms died.
Three war-bots dropped from the floor above as three more battered down the front door and burst in through the main entrance. The balcony bots didn’t bother with the sliding door. They just kicked in the glass to secure the only possible escape route.
Albert put his notebook on the coffee table and looked around, hearing calls of ‘Room clear,’ ‘Room clear,’ ‘Room clear,’ from the corridor, before Triple-Dub strode into the lounge led by Welis.
‘Good morning,’ Albert said.
Welis looked around the room. ‘Where are the others?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
Welis grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. ‘The others, syntho scum. Where are they?’
‘If you mean the children, they’re sightseeing.’
‘What?’
‘They’ve gone off for a bit of a holiday.’
‘Where?’
‘They didn’t say. They left me behind.’ He tried to sound hurt.
Welis released him and strode around the apartment, inspecting the stacks of study-slabs. ‘What is all this stuff?’
‘Some sort of experiment, I think. For one of the courses. I don’t really know. I’m supposed to keep my eye on things and swap out any faulty machines, but they’re all still ticking over––’
‘When will they be back?’
‘They never said. A few days, perhaps. A week.’
Welis jabbed a finger. ‘You’re coming with us for further interrogation.’ Two thug-bots seized him by the arms as Welis turned to his clone-brothers. ‘You two, fix the damage, leave everything as it was, and set a watch-bot for when the kids get back.’
Wilis looked mutinous at being ordered about, but Walis only had eyes for Albert, ‘Why did you come down from orbit in a radiation casket?’ he asked.
‘That? Oh, I misread the Geiger counter,’ Albert replied with a nervous laugh. ‘I didn’t realise it till the casket fell over. When I double-checked – you know, in case of leaks – I saw I’d got everything backwards and opened the lid, forgetting about the security seal. I’d have told you, but the pair of you ran off.’
‘How did you get out of the building?’
‘Down the back stairs.’
‘We sealed all exits.’
‘We never saw anyone,’ Albert said simply, his expression guileless.
‘Enough of this chitchat,’ Welis barked, ‘Get him out of here. And get this place cleaned up!’