PYRA AND THE TEKTITES

by Rebecca Melanie Sunquist

Part 8: The Man with the Iron Nose

The bridge of the Ventussa was large enough to seat both Pyra and Flanagan comfortably. They sat watching the stars through the Videx screen above the instrumentation console while the small cruiser held to the course they had set, toward Europa and the Institute for XenoCultural Studies. Fortunately, Jupiter and its moons were aligned approximately in conjunction with the Aquarium, and the Ventussa did not have to cross the Solar System to reach her destination. Travel was a simple matter of transference from the asteroid belt outward toward the orbit of Jupiter.

In the Aquarium, before they left, Pyra had bathed and then attired herself in a fresh, dark brown outsuit--a single garment that sealed down the front--and combed and bound her hair in a short ponytail, and put on black all-terrain boots. Now, seated in the co-pilot's chair on the starboard side of the bridge, she looked quite ready for any event...or for adventure. But the experience with the sharks floating and flying around in the docking chamber had made her thoughtful and silent.

"Are you asleep?" asked Flanagan.

The sound of his voice startled Pyra--she had been dreaming about home, and her own bed, and her parents. She hadn't planned to be gone for so long.

"How far is Ceres from here?" she asked.

Flanagan looked at her for long seconds. "Want to go home, do you?" Pyra gave a hesitant nod, and he said, "You gave Ichthia your parole, Skinny."

"What does that mean, parole?"

"You said you would accompany me on this mission. You don't want to be known as someone who doesn't keep her word, not out here. Perhaps afterwards, if we find the Unicorn Stone, I can take you home."

Pyra pouted. "I wish I hadn't flunked math. School on Mars can't be worse than this."

"The way you lined up those sine waves in the oscilloscope, I would never have guessed you failed math. What happened?"

"The tests were okay. I didn't do my homework."

"Watched too many entertainment holograms, did you?"

Pyra stuck her tongue out at him. "I like Barfi and the Hurlers, okay?" Flanagan did not respond. After a long silence, she asked, "Did you go to school?"

"I used to teach school, Pyra. History and Planetography, and sometimes I substituted in other classes."

A grin tugged at the corners of Pyra's mouth. "So you ran away from school?"

"Something like that. Let's just say I didn't like the rules...or the Rulers. So I started running contraband. Like the Solia bacteria."

"Why would anyone want germs?"

"The bacteria help create soil. But MarsCorp controls all that. The Tektites are trying to develop their own farms, in addition to hydroponics. If people can provide their own food, or enough of it, they won't have to rely on MarsCorp and your...and on the people in charge for their food. They can live free."

"On my father. That's what you started to say, isn't it? People wouldn't have to rely on my father for their food?"

"I'm not sure he fully realizes the consequences of his actions, of his policies, Pyra. He can't be a bad person. After all, you're his daughter."

A glow came over Pyra. She wished she had something to do now, some task to perform. She could do it well, now.

Flanagan climbed out of his captain's chair. "I'm going aft to saw some logs, Pyra. Come get me if there's a problem."

She flipped him a mock salute. "Aye, Cap'n."

Space travel wasn't all that difficult, reflected Pyra, after Flanagan had gone into one of the empty cargo holds to lie down. All you had to do was sit here and watch dials and stars. And planets, of course. Already the great orb of Jupiter was visible, like an ornament for a gigantic Christmas tree. She keyed a question to the ShipComp and learned from the response in the monitor that Jupiter was in fact ten million miles away now. They would arrive in orbit around Europa in twenty hours.

In the monitor, the words and numbers vanished, and were replaced by: WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?

That stumped Pyra. She had not supposed the Ventussa had come equipped with entertainment facilities. She keyed, WHAT KIND OF GAME?

Immediately a map filled the monitor screen...a map of the Solar System, with a pathway of little squares that led to each planet and to the larger moons. Two flashing lights--one red, the other green--occupied the square marked START, just inside the orbit of Mercury. At the bottom of the monitor was a blank line for communication.

The ShipComp said, RED OR GREEN?

RED, keyed Pyra. WHAT DO I DO NOW?

YOU ANSWER QUESTIONS. FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER, YOU ADVANCE THREE SPACES. FOR EACH INCORRECT ANSWER, YOU RETREAT TWO SPACES. THE FIRST PLAYER TO COMPLETE A CIRCUIT AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM WINS.

THAT'S NOT FAIR, keyed Pyra. YOU ALREADY KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS. YOU WOULD WIN.

The ShipComp replied: YOU ASK ME QUESTIONS.

YOU MEAN, I HAVE TO FIND QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW THE ANSWERS TO?

THAT IS CORRECT.

Pyra sat back in her chair and huffed, annoyed. How could she be expected to figure out a question that she knew the answer to but that the Ventussa computer did not know the answer to? It was impossible!

"I'll bet you never failed any courses at Computer School," muttered Pyra.

YOU ARE RED. YOU PLAY FIRST. HERE IS YOUR QUESTION.

'Wait!" cried Pyra. She also keyed WAIT, but it was too late. The question scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

NAME THE FIRST ASTEROID TO BE DISCOVERED.

Pyra laughed. "That's easy," she said, and keyed, PALLAS. Her red dot moved forward three spaces, and landed on Mercury.

The cursor blinked in the bottom left corner of the monitor, waiting for her question. Suddenly Pyra laughed. "I know!" she said, and keyed, WHAT IS THE UNICORN STONE?

The answer scrolled immediately: IT IS ONE OF SEVERAL CRYSTALS OF ICE FOUND ON THE SURFACE OF JUPITER. THE MOLECULES ARE SO COMPACTED BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE THAT THEY DO NOT MELT EXCEPT UNDER DIRECTED INTENSE HEAT.

So that's what it is, thought Pyra.

The answer vanished, and the cursor reappeared, blinking. After several seconds, a new message appeared: IF THE RESPONSE IS CORRECT, TELL ME SO, AND I WILL ADVANCE MY MARKER THREE SPACES.

"Um," said Pyra, and shrugged. CORRECT.

The ShipComp's next question was, WHERE ARE THE UNICORN STONES KEPT?

Pyra threw up her hands in exasperation. "How would I know?"

But her red light kept blinking. Well, thought Pyra, we're bound for Europa, so they must be kept there in the Institute. EUROPA, she keyed.

After the red light advanced another three spaces, almost to Venus, the cursor waited for her question. OF WHAT USE ARE UNICORN STONES?

Again the response was immediate: WHEN THEY ARE MELTED, THEY EXPAND TO ALMOST A THOUSAND TIMES THEIR FROZEN VOLUME.

"But what would that matter?" said Pyra, as she keyed CORRECT.

As the new question scrolled across for her to answer, Pyra caught a glimpse of movement outside: another cruiser was in the vicinity, off to port, matching their course. She guessed it was about a kilometer away. A row of white lights along its starboard flank beamed at her. She located the communications monitor and enabled it, ready to receive messages.

Flanagan's hand on the keyboard surprised Pyra. She yelped, and ducked aside. "Belay all that," he said, and cleared the game monitor. A man's face appeared there, a squarish face with spiky brown hair and blue eyes that squinted. In place of a nose he wore a metallic knob that had been riveted to the middle of his face.

"Taggart," said Flanagan, seating himself. To Pyra he added, "He's a hacker. Among other things."

Pyra saw that Flanagan's face was hard and angry, despite his calm voice. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Not your fault." Flanagan enabled the commo unit. "All right, Taggart, leave the girl out of this. What do you want?"

The face in the monitor vanished. In the distance, the cruiser accelerated, and was soon no more than a speck, visible only by the rocket booster burn.

"Is this bad?" asked Pyra.

"He must have acquired us by commo signature as we cleared from the Aquarium," answered Flanagan. "He had to know we were on a mission."

"But is that bad?" Pyra persisted.

"It depends on how much he knows." Flanagan played back the game questions. "Razza frackin," he swore softly. "Pyra, you should have known this game was a ruse."

Pyra's heart sank; Flanagan was disappointed in her. "How?" she asked, feeling tears form.

"The first asteroid to be discovered was Ceres. Yet the game said your answer was correct." Flanagan sighed. "And now Taggart knows we're headed for Europa and the Institute, where they keep a few of the Unicorn Stones."

"And that's bad?"

"Well...if he follows his usual pattern, he'll wait until we acquire a Stone, then take it from us."

"Then we'll take another one."

"Pyra, if he follows his usual pattern, we...won't be able to take another one. Besides...I'm the reason he has a metal nose."

"Oh," said Pyra. And she said it very quietly.

Don’t Miss PYRA AND THE TEKTITES, PART 9: 'THE VAULT OF CRYSTALS' appearing on this site on 15 February 2003.

PYRA AND THE TEKTITES appears EXCLUSIVELY on the AOIFE’S KISS/KISSES FOR KIDS sites courtesy of prize-winning writer Rebecca Melanie Sunquist.