Cantilever Jones Swings Low, Part 1
[Everyone knows that, Rand.]
Ha ha.
“Don’t suppose,” Gaflus said, clearing his throat, “That you’d need an extra set of hands out there?”
I didn’t. Not strictly speaking that is. And for all I knew, he’d be more trouble than he was worth. But still, for him
to make that offer, it meant something. Something I could not afford to let slide or ignored. “We leave at first
light,” I replied. “Be there and come with us.”
“All right, he said. And then, without a good night, he went away.
*
*
*
The snow was blue. Long over the great northern mountains, and on the tundra that followed, the powder was
deep blue, and lustrous, glittering even though the solar light was covered behind iron-grey clouds. I peered out
over the cockpit, as Vin brought us through re-entry and I asked him why the snow was blue. He said he didn’t
know. He said it plainly and factually, as if there was nothing more to say. That he didn’t have even enough data for a
low-grade speculation worried me.
We set down on some snow and we didn’t sink into it, which meant it was icy and hard. We sat a bit and waited to
see if anything greeted us. Nothing did. Finally I turned to Gaflus and said, “better check it out.”
“Yeah,” he said, clearly scared shitless but trying not to be. I could practically hear his violated sense of taboo
screaming at him. But he followed me anyway and helped me break into the cold-weather gear: parkas and blast-
torches and glare-masks and all the rest. We went to the ramp and met Pale-Face and Dark-Face and the… what
was her name?
“What’s your name?” I asked the girl.
The girl stared straight ahead and did not answer.
“What’s your name?” I asked again.
“We have prepared her,” said Dark-Face.
“She needs your understanding,” said Pale-Face.
[Let it Pass…]
I let it pass. “We’re ready, Vin” I said, and with loud creaks and other forms of cavitation the ramp lowered down
and the cold bit our faces. I breathed in the cold air deep to acclimate myself and to defy it at the same time, and
then I led the crew down.
The weather had held. There was hardly any breeze, and although the iron-grey clouds looked ominous, there was
no smell of moisture in the air. We spread out in an arc around the bottom of the ramp and looked around. Other
than the blue of the snow, everything looked normal.