had always thought, been a mistake to let the
Amish have their way over ID tracers. The agency had been keen to have the
Amish on board to give a little local colour. Every planet they settled seemed
to have a component of one minority group or another. The NeoMarxists on Tgao
4, the Silent Order of Penitents on Felixia and many more. The policy had
worked well, and had added to the variety of ways of life being tried out by
humanity, which was generally considered to be a good thing.
But
good thing or not, it left Jackson with four adults and two children
unaccounted for who he couldn’t trace. Shit, no. Five adults, there was still
that first guy, Gunnar Olafson. There was still no sign of him. Jackson
connected to Lana.
“Lana.
How are you getting on?” In the background he could faintly hear what she was
hearing, the rush of wind.
“Hi
Jackson. Doing fine, just been over Crescent Waters, Heart Lake in about forty
minutes. The horse still there?”
“Yes,
it’s still there. Listen, do me a favour. Could you keep an eye open for a
solitary walker? I meant to track him down a few days ago but a lot has
happened since then…”
“Oh
yes, is this that Norwegian Asteroid guy?”
“Yes,
that’s him. Don’t deviate from the course, but if you see him let me know.”
“Will
do. Speak to you soon.”
“Thanks
Lana.”
“Don’t
mention it.”
<><><>
Lana
trimmed the canoe to lose a little height, she had just remembered a trick her
brother had invented and she wanted to try it out. You left the A/Gs on the
setting they were on, trying to hold you at a certain height, then you forced
the canoe down against their resistance by leaning forward, putting the nose
down and using the fan propulsion and the aerodynamic forces on the hull to
force you down in a nose dive. In the end you reached a point where the A/G’s
won out and you wouldn’t sink any further. Then you leaned back and shot into
the sky like a catapulted stone! With a whoop Lana shot upwards, completing the
stunt, her stomach full of fluttering wings and her sight greying just a little
at the edges.
Lana
got her breath back and started the manoeuvre again. Ahead she could see the
settlement of Crescent Waters with its big open green on which the tiny rash of
a crowd was gathered. She adjusted her course a touch to the left so that she
would pass near one edge of the crowd. By now, the A/G’s were grumbling and the
canoe was just about at the bottom of the dive. She held it just a little
longer, passing over the houses at a hundred metres. She could see the crowd
turning to look at her, suddenly turning lighter as upturned faces replaced
darker hair. She caught a glimpse of the horse in the middle of the crowd, now
being ignored.
She
leaned back, hard, and the canoe stood on its stern. The A/Gs’ grumble rose to
a whine as the load on them was suddenly reduced. The canoe shot forward and
up, pinning her into the rear of the cockpit. Her toes felt tingly and were
being pulled back towards her away from the footrest by the Gs.
Her
velocity began to decrease and she pulled gently on the stick, steepening her
angle while she still had momentum, maintaining the pressure of centrifugal
force pushing her into her seat. The canoe went through the vertical and tilted
backward, more and more until she lost centrifugal force and after a second’s
weightlessness, hung from her straps, looking down from a thousand metres to
the gasping crowd below her.
She
leaned hard forward, her stomach muscles straining with the effort, and the
nose came down through the horizon and began to point ever more directly at the
ground below until she was hurtling straight down, height peeling away in the
screaming wind. Her hair, in its pony tail, flapped and banged in the
turbulence behind her, tugging pleasurably at her scalp. Her eyes streamed with
tears which were flicked away as soon as they formed, and her cheeks bulged
wide as the wind blasted into her
Amish have their way over ID tracers. The agency had been keen to have the
Amish on board to give a little local colour. Every planet they settled seemed
to have a component of one minority group or another. The NeoMarxists on Tgao
4, the Silent Order of Penitents on Felixia and many more. The policy had
worked well, and had added to the variety of ways of life being tried out by
humanity, which was generally considered to be a good thing.
But
good thing or not, it left Jackson with four adults and two children
unaccounted for who he couldn’t trace. Shit, no. Five adults, there was still
that first guy, Gunnar Olafson. There was still no sign of him. Jackson
connected to Lana.
“Lana.
How are you getting on?” In the background he could faintly hear what she was
hearing, the rush of wind.
“Hi
Jackson. Doing fine, just been over Crescent Waters, Heart Lake in about forty
minutes. The horse still there?”
“Yes,
it’s still there. Listen, do me a favour. Could you keep an eye open for a
solitary walker? I meant to track him down a few days ago but a lot has
happened since then…”
“Oh
yes, is this that Norwegian Asteroid guy?”
“Yes,
that’s him. Don’t deviate from the course, but if you see him let me know.”
“Will
do. Speak to you soon.”
“Thanks
Lana.”
“Don’t
mention it.”
<><><>
Lana
trimmed the canoe to lose a little height, she had just remembered a trick her
brother had invented and she wanted to try it out. You left the A/Gs on the
setting they were on, trying to hold you at a certain height, then you forced
the canoe down against their resistance by leaning forward, putting the nose
down and using the fan propulsion and the aerodynamic forces on the hull to
force you down in a nose dive. In the end you reached a point where the A/G’s
won out and you wouldn’t sink any further. Then you leaned back and shot into
the sky like a catapulted stone! With a whoop Lana shot upwards, completing the
stunt, her stomach full of fluttering wings and her sight greying just a little
at the edges.
Lana
got her breath back and started the manoeuvre again. Ahead she could see the
settlement of Crescent Waters with its big open green on which the tiny rash of
a crowd was gathered. She adjusted her course a touch to the left so that she
would pass near one edge of the crowd. By now, the A/G’s were grumbling and the
canoe was just about at the bottom of the dive. She held it just a little
longer, passing over the houses at a hundred metres. She could see the crowd
turning to look at her, suddenly turning lighter as upturned faces replaced
darker hair. She caught a glimpse of the horse in the middle of the crowd, now
being ignored.
She
leaned back, hard, and the canoe stood on its stern. The A/Gs’ grumble rose to
a whine as the load on them was suddenly reduced. The canoe shot forward and
up, pinning her into the rear of the cockpit. Her toes felt tingly and were
being pulled back towards her away from the footrest by the Gs.
Her
velocity began to decrease and she pulled gently on the stick, steepening her
angle while she still had momentum, maintaining the pressure of centrifugal
force pushing her into her seat. The canoe went through the vertical and tilted
backward, more and more until she lost centrifugal force and after a second’s
weightlessness, hung from her straps, looking down from a thousand metres to
the gasping crowd below her.
She
leaned hard forward, her stomach muscles straining with the effort, and the
nose came down through the horizon and began to point ever more directly at the
ground below until she was hurtling straight down, height peeling away in the
screaming wind. Her hair, in its pony tail, flapped and banged in the
turbulence behind her, tugging pleasurably at her scalp. Her eyes streamed with
tears which were flicked away as soon as they formed, and her cheeks bulged
wide as the wind blasted into her
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