“Why did you not declare your sentient device?” The agent demanded. The Sudaato clearly did not trust sentient machines.
Tracy looked at the two uniformed cat people who were staring at her from across the low table. It was hard for her to take them seriously. While a few were tall, like humans, Sudaato came in all sizes only more so. These two imperious sounding agents, speaking through a common translator device, looked to be little larger than children. However, the gray specks of fur near their whiskers spoke of age and experience, if not wisdom.
“I apologize, but we had no idea that we needed to declare Perry Six,” Tracy tried to explain. She was angry at the droid for not mentioning that requirement. Perry Six seemed to know everything else, how had he overlooked this?
“Declaration of a personal device is not normally necessary,” the second Sudaato officer said in a soft voice that sounded a lot like purring. “However, your device is not normal. It violates the treaty on sentient machines. It is self aware.”
Tracy and Jessica looked at each other.
“It is?” Jessica asked sounding surprised.
“I mean, aren’t they all?” Tracy interjected.
“No, no they are not,” the kind officer with the golden fur answered. The grumpy officer with the grey striped main interjected. “Your device is among the most sophisticated we have ever met. It is not a standard utility droid. Being self aware, by definition it is not under anyone’s control, but its own, and even that is questionable.”
Where the hell had Keres gotten Perry Six? And why had he employed an intelligent droid? Tracy wanted to know.
“For what purpose did you come to Sudaato section?” The golden cat person asked. It was hard for Tracy not to think of them as cat people. She weighed the pros and cons of giving a straight answer.
“We need to get to Metropol South urgently,” She said, “And we were told there was a transfer gate in this section.”
The two agents glanced at each other. “Why so urgent?”
Tracy opted to explain her mission to recover the missing ship.
“And you came to the Cross Roads to find a ship lost in the outer systems?” Golden kitty asked.
“Every ship we have sent after them has vanished,” Tracy explained. “We intend to petition the Scout Guild for more information on that sector before we jump.”
The two Sudaato glanced at each other. “It appears your employer sent you with a sentient machine in the event that the two of you do not survive the jump.”
“It’s that obvious?” Jessica asked.
“It seems clear to us,” The agents said.
“This is a complicated situation,” Tracy replied. Normally not given to self doubt, Tracy was none the less beginning to feel extremely tired. This was turning into a complete hash. Tracy had never understood her family and friends that moaned and cried about their insecurities. Just go to work! She wanted to yell at them. But at the present moment, the fatigue of her journey was beginning to set in. Even the nanites could not seem to bolster her mood by stimulating the production of the necessary hormones.
Her body was tired. “This has been a very long and challenging day,” Tracy admitted. “What do you plan to do with us?”
“We have checked your credentials,” The gray cat said, his voice sounding like a deep growl rumbling in his throat. “You are licensed and under contract to recover the ship you described. However, there is no mention of this - “ he waved a long dexterous hand toward Perry Six “Device. The two of you are welcome to visit our section as Global Citizens. However, your device must remain here in custody or you must remove it.”
“What about the jump station - or transfer gate, or what ever you call it?”
“The portal,” the golden cat answered, “is indeed active, and normally open to the public.”
“So we can use it?”
“Yes, you may, but your device cannot.”
Tracy sagged, “So you’re saying that we can use the transfer station, but our machine must be left behind.”
“No,” gray cat explained. “While you as citizens may use the portal, you may not leave your device here and it can not pass through the gate.”
Jessica took a deep breath, then stepped in. “Tracy, I know what we have to do. You’re going to go ahead through the jump gate. I’ll take Perry Six back to the sky train and return to the human section, and we’ll go the long way around.
“Will that meet your conditions?” Jessica asked.
“That is acceptable,” The golden cat answered in soft tones.
Tracy looked at Jessica then at Perry Six. In truth she was relieved, she preferred to work alone, and Perry Six was a wild card of the worst kind. However, she still felt some responsibility for Jessica and her involvement. Plus she liked Jessica. It had been a long time since she had someone to hang out with. Hell to talk with. Even Perry Six was an improvement on that score. For a brief moment, sadness swept over her. The years taking care of her father, who despite all the best care had deteriorated over time. Years spent in the company of a living corpse, a mummy kept alive by technology and care, but mentally absent. The guilt of those thoughts, and the fatigue threatened to overwhelm her.
“Okay,” she said, not seeing another way through this block. “Jess, you take Perry Six but please stay in contact.”
Jessica put a hand on Tracy’s shoulder. “You okay?”
Tracy shook her head. “I need to rest, but that’s not an option right now is it?”
“They’ve been missing for almost a week, what more is a week going to do?”
“I don’t know, and that’s the problem,” Tracy said.
“If this solution works for you, are we free to go?”
The two Sudaato turned to look at each other then turned back to Tracy and Jessica. “You may proceed,” they fairly purred in unison.
Tracy and Jessica stood up at the same time and gave each other a hug. Tracy again, almost felt overwhelmed with emotion. Why was she feeling this way? It had to be the fatigue. Jessica also looked a little swept up in the moment and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
“You better get going. I’ll see you later - I don’t know how much longer, but likely by tomorrow morning or so.”
Tracy nodded. “I hope to have the answers by then, or at least some clue as to what we’re facing.”
The golden cat stood and lead Tracy out of the room, “I will show you to the transfer station. It is not far.” Tracy glanced over her shoulder one last time at Jessica who waved and smiled back. “I’ll see you soon.”
It made her sick to leave them, but at this point she was too tired to think of another solution. She followed, the agent down the hallway and asked, “What is your name agent? I never heard it.”
“My name is Gerrlinda,”the cat person replied.
Tracy hardly noticed the city as she followed Gerrlinda. What she did notice was that almost nothing was flat, and the walk way was incredibly narrow. There seemed to be an unusual number of box like ledges, and the Sudaato, agile and strong leapt effortless from one platform to the next, as easily as she could walk in a straight line. she seemed to be confined to a twisting winding path, with other more heavy set Sudaato, or ones that had more grey and silver in their fur. Even so, none of them walked in a straight line. They sauntered, and swayed, flowing around her with a graceful elegance that approached dance. She felt like a stone in a river, or a slow tug moving up stream. The buildings struck her as something between a bird house and a tree house. Small round doors, many open to short ledges. She watched in disbelief as the felinesk people bounded gracefully up a set of block like steps set at odd angles and then ducked through the doors. One family exited an entrance, a full three stories above her, like furry canon balls, mother in front followed by three smaller children. They fell fifteen feet and redirected off a block set an equal distance in front of their apartment and turned 90 degrees effortlessly joining the flow of foot traffic in the “street”. She realized it was more of a thorough fair than a street. There was hardly anything street like about it.
From her perspective it felt like a mossy stone forest made of blocks, an organic path that hid some deeper mathematical principle. There was a pattern, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t quite make it out. She ducked through tunnels, and over bridges that spanned creeks bubbling with water, lined with flowers, beneath shade trees that hung low and kissed the surface. Everything about this city struck her as cozy, warm, close. The Sudaato flowed through their environment, lived with it. They did not bend the world into gleaming inorganic shapes the way humans did. It was like they had applied their technical prowess to make their organics more functional without losing the life force behind them. Human cities were beautiful, but the life came from the people living in them. The Sudaato city would have felt alive and teaming with life without the sentient inhabitants.
The many layered paths, and routes, made Tracy think of a jungle evolved. The Sudaato didn’t leave the wilds behind when they evolved, they brought it with them.
Gerrlinda motioned for Tracy to follow a steep set of oddly shaped steps up to one of the few buildings that was not covered in plants, moss, or flowers. The smooth stone clearly identified this as a place of serious technology. It was the transfer station.
Tracy struggled with the strangely spaced steps. Gerrlinda arrived at the top platform in three graceful bounds. At the top of the steps she found a wide flat plateau and two golden doors. Gerrlinda placed a furry hand in the center of the right door and it swung forward without a sound. She motioned for Tracy to step inside and she followed.
Unlike on Earth where the transfer stations were massive spaces and long lines, this space was tiny. She found herself standing in a stone room that was as tall and wide as the doors behind her. In front of her stood a clear glass wall and a empty room a little bigger than a cubicle. The glass slid back and her guide motioned for Tracy to step inside.
“Metripol South?” Gerrlinda asked.
Tracy nodded.
“Do not touch the sides. Your transfer will be complete in a moment.”
Tracy stepped in and the glass panel closed behind her. She waited for the final steel wall of the booth to descend but it never happened. One moment she was staring at her Sudaato guide and the next she was staring out at a mountain frozen in ice. The glass door slide aside and she stepped forward and down the steps feeling the blast of cool air as the wind whipped up the steps. She arrived at the steps to find herself in the middle of some kind of plaza. The steps behind her lead up to a small pagoda. The transfer had been one way. Clearly this structure lacked the machinery to send her back.
She also realized she was under dressed for this climate. And the mixture sudden chill and the realization that she was completely alone almost brought her to her knees. She felt so tired. And here she was again. Alone. The fatigue and stress washed over her like a wet blanket. She needed to find a place to put her head down, to rest, to regroup. She forced herself to move forward, and started looking for a room to rent. She stumbled up the street toward a crowd of humans walking down a narrow cobble stone street that looked warm and, if not friendly, inviting.
She tried to take a quick inventory. She’d reached Metripol South, but she still needed to make her way to the Scout Compound (which she had no idea where it was), and gain access to their database. Only now, Jessica and Perry Six were taking the long way around. A brief moment of hope lit up for her. She knew Rodney was on Cross Roads, but where? Could he be here? In Metripol? Or would she find him in New Washington? With Perry Six around, there was no point in looking, for Rodney. Not only would Perry Six not allow it, it would more than likely create more problems for him. But now…. dared she risk it?