Read Online Complete Atopia Chronicles by Matthew Mather - Free Book Online
Authors: Matthew Mather
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room, and a grunt from Solomon House was driving our point of view around it with dizzying speed. It was a month-ahead projection of winds, storms, surface and sub–surface ocean currents and temperatures, plotting an optimal course through it all.
Atopia wasn’t really a ship of course, she was a platform, but we could drive her around comfortably at a few miles per hour and more if we really needed. Staying away from bad weather also meant that the beaches were usually sunny, which was a plus even in a place where everyone was off in synthetic space most of the time. Long range future predictions indicated a gathering string of depressions coming our way, so we’d begun backing away north and eastwards towards the distant coast of America.
“Great! Well, that’s it then,” said the grunt, a pssi–kid named Eddy.
He floated in a lotus position in the middle of the display, toying with it. Officially the Command ops team needed my sign off, but they could see my mind was elsewhere. They were just humoring me with their detailed explanations. Eddy rode the disappearing projection like a magic carpet, receding into an infinitesimal point in the middle of the room.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, taking a sip from my coffee. Give me boots in the mud over this any day, but I was there and had to try to wrap my tired head around it.
I summoned up some energy.
“So you think I should bring on Jimmy, huh?” I asked, looking at a note from Patricia Killiam in the report. Her proxxi, a young looking woman named Marie, materialized in front of me, leaning on a railing and stretching her long legs between us.
“Yes, we do, absolutely,” Marie responded. “You know as much as we do that you need all the help you can get in this area.”
“I don’t disagree, it’s just…he’s just a kid.” I knew any objections would be pointless, but thought it worthwhile to at least express my opinion.
Patricia had taken Jimmy under her wing like her own child when his parents had abruptly left Atopia, so beyond his doubtless qualifications there were other factors involved. There were rumors of marriage problems and abuse involving Jimmy which struck a very personal chord. I’d had it rough growing up too.
“He’s a kid that knows more about conscious boundary security systems than you and the whole rest of your team,” she argued, and then added, “and pretty much more than anyone else for that matter. We have to stay on top of the threat posed by Terra Nova.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Personally I didn’t go for all this stuff about Terra Nova. They didn’t pose any tactical threat to Atopia, but they sure were worked up about it. On the outside, Atopia and Terra Nova were more or less viewed as two sides to the same coin, but the rivalry between these competing colonies was whipping up into a fervor. I wasn’t sure it was for the best.
“Yeah, you’re right,” was all I could think to say at that point. “Hey, this tub is your party. If you want some kid with peach fuzz for whiskers on the Security Council, it’s all good with me.”
“Jimmy is a special kid, Rick,” she mused. “Anyway, he’s our pick.”
She said this with some finality. I let it settle.
“Good enough for me, then.” I grinned.
“Good.”
She smiled winningly at me and faded away.
§
It’d been a long day, and I’d been mulling over my idea for Cindy the whole time. Standing alone in the featureless tubular corridor outside our apartment, I hesitated. Was it really what I wanted?
Our door slid open as I strode in.
“Hey honey, I’m home!” I yelled out as enthusiastically as I could muster, and then stopped and tried to make sense of what appeared in front of me.
Our apartment was gone. Well, not exactly gone, but replaced by a pssi projection.
Marbled columns rose around a sunken living area in the middle of the room, surrounded by a raised terrace, and there was a feast waiting on a low table with red and gold pillows
Atopia wasn’t really a ship of course, she was a platform, but we could drive her around comfortably at a few miles per hour and more if we really needed. Staying away from bad weather also meant that the beaches were usually sunny, which was a plus even in a place where everyone was off in synthetic space most of the time. Long range future predictions indicated a gathering string of depressions coming our way, so we’d begun backing away north and eastwards towards the distant coast of America.
“Great! Well, that’s it then,” said the grunt, a pssi–kid named Eddy.
He floated in a lotus position in the middle of the display, toying with it. Officially the Command ops team needed my sign off, but they could see my mind was elsewhere. They were just humoring me with their detailed explanations. Eddy rode the disappearing projection like a magic carpet, receding into an infinitesimal point in the middle of the room.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, taking a sip from my coffee. Give me boots in the mud over this any day, but I was there and had to try to wrap my tired head around it.
I summoned up some energy.
“So you think I should bring on Jimmy, huh?” I asked, looking at a note from Patricia Killiam in the report. Her proxxi, a young looking woman named Marie, materialized in front of me, leaning on a railing and stretching her long legs between us.
“Yes, we do, absolutely,” Marie responded. “You know as much as we do that you need all the help you can get in this area.”
“I don’t disagree, it’s just…he’s just a kid.” I knew any objections would be pointless, but thought it worthwhile to at least express my opinion.
Patricia had taken Jimmy under her wing like her own child when his parents had abruptly left Atopia, so beyond his doubtless qualifications there were other factors involved. There were rumors of marriage problems and abuse involving Jimmy which struck a very personal chord. I’d had it rough growing up too.
“He’s a kid that knows more about conscious boundary security systems than you and the whole rest of your team,” she argued, and then added, “and pretty much more than anyone else for that matter. We have to stay on top of the threat posed by Terra Nova.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Personally I didn’t go for all this stuff about Terra Nova. They didn’t pose any tactical threat to Atopia, but they sure were worked up about it. On the outside, Atopia and Terra Nova were more or less viewed as two sides to the same coin, but the rivalry between these competing colonies was whipping up into a fervor. I wasn’t sure it was for the best.
“Yeah, you’re right,” was all I could think to say at that point. “Hey, this tub is your party. If you want some kid with peach fuzz for whiskers on the Security Council, it’s all good with me.”
“Jimmy is a special kid, Rick,” she mused. “Anyway, he’s our pick.”
She said this with some finality. I let it settle.
“Good enough for me, then.” I grinned.
“Good.”
She smiled winningly at me and faded away.
§
It’d been a long day, and I’d been mulling over my idea for Cindy the whole time. Standing alone in the featureless tubular corridor outside our apartment, I hesitated. Was it really what I wanted?
Our door slid open as I strode in.
“Hey honey, I’m home!” I yelled out as enthusiastically as I could muster, and then stopped and tried to make sense of what appeared in front of me.
Our apartment was gone. Well, not exactly gone, but replaced by a pssi projection.
Marbled columns rose around a sunken living area in the middle of the room, surrounded by a raised terrace, and there was a feast waiting on a low table with red and gold pillows
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