The Silver Suit
from the Library cassettes, year 200 SM:
CITIZENS MAY NEVER ENTER THE LIBRARY ROOM. CITIZENS WILL BE GIVEN ACCESS TO THE LIBRARY ONLY THROUGH OFFICERS, AND THEN ONLY ON CERTAIN DATES ... .ON THESE DAYS THE LIBRARY WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE, WITH A PROGRAMMER ON DUTY, UNTIL ALL CITIZENS HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO ASK THEIR QUESTIONS; THOUGH SOME QUESTIONS WILL CERTAINLY BE UNANSWERABLE ...
THEY STOPPED TWICE: ONCE AT THE MARKET, TO LET Raym off with half his pay in hand, and once at a pond, to refuel.
Belmy’s log was very slowly turning end-for-end. A thread of steam poured from above the tuft. As Cariot made her final bum to bring Logbearer to rest near the midpoint, Woodsman cast loose and moved toward them.
Serjent House was just visible to antispinward: west. Rather tried not to think about the dot visible alongside it. He welcomed the delay.
Debby said, “I’d like to get this over with-“
Clave shook her by the ankle. “Wrong! We went into the Dark for mud, and we’re back to get rid of it. We don’t know of anything urgent. We’re in no hurry at all.”
Carlot shouted from where she and Rather worked the rocket. “Stet! Treefodder, they always make us wait!”
They had it all figured out. But copter plants were launching their seeds in Rather’s belly.
Woodsman eased alongside. Hilar and RaffBelmy flew toward Logbearer. “You’ll like Raff,” Carlot whispered. “Ac? like you like Raff.”
“It’s all right. I’d make babies with him if it’d make you happy ... or get me away from the Navy.”
Hilar introduced his son. (Treefodder, but they were big!) Raff smiled much and said little. He was shy for an adult, Rather thought. He stared at the tree dwellers, but his eyes seemed to slide aside from Rather’s.
The teapot passed. Carlot asked, “How are you doing with the log?”
Hilar shrugged. “No burl yet.” The others laughed.
“Give it time. We have some spin. I don’t think we want to overdo it. We’ve splashed a pond against the trunk; that gives us a water flow. How are you planning to deliver the mud?”
“I ... hadn’t thought past just bringing it here.”
“Raff and I talked it over-“
Raff spoke. “Dad always says keep it simple. We’ll just impact it against the tree, lee side, two, three klomters above the tuft. There’s already water running down to the treemouth. Let it carry the mud too. Easy, steady delivery system.”
He can talk when it’s about something real, Rather thought. “Have you done a lot of logging?”
Raffs head bobbed. “I spend more than half my life in the outer sky. Sometimes I wondered what living in a tree would be like.”
They were getting used to that question. Clave said, “I miss it myself. Well, you grow up shorter and stronger. Cooking’s easier. Hunting’s different: the wind throws the prey at you ... ”
Rather tuned it out. The dot next to Serjent House must be a Navy ship. He felt their long-sight devices on him. What the Navy saw must look puzzling. Let them wonder:
he had an explanation both interesting and innocent.
His attention snapped back when Hilar said, “Booce has been making deals. I expect he’ll pay back the loan well before crossyear.”
Carlot asked, “Has the Navy bought the metal yet?”
“No. In fact, something’s upsetting the Navy. I haven’t heard a rumor I can believe, but ... stay alert, Carlot. You know you’ve got visitors?”
“We can see them. Hilar, Raff, it’s time to deliver our cargo.”
It took a day and a fraction and was entirely straightforward. Logbearer burned toward the turning tree. Her crew dismounted the spokes that braced the web that supported the mud. Mud and lines and wooden spokes smacked the trunk hard enough to stick. Water flow was already carving a runnel in the mud as Logbearer accelerated away. They’d be back to collect the beams and lines after they were washed clean.
Gyrfalcon was not moored; it floated free a hundred meters from Serjent House. Two men working on the hull did not return Clave’s cheerful wave. Rather recognized one as Petty Wheeler. They watched fixedly while Logbearer’s crew swarmed out and set about the business of mooring their ship.
Rather looked around the common room while they tethered their wings. One fast look and then he’d have to react:
No teapot. Not a social occasion. Booce Serjent looked angry and unhappy. Bosun Sectry Murphy started to jump toward Rather, then pulled herself back. Three longlimbed Navy men were stationed around the walls, and a fourth: silver suit, helmet thrown back, bearded dwarfface within. Wayne Mickl.
Rather let himself break into a delighted grin. It was surprisingly easy. He wanted to reassure Sectry; he was glad to see her. He let his eyes flick from Sectry to Wayne Mickl to Sectry again. He blurted, “Am I in?”
Sectry flashed from unhappy to angry. Wayne Mickl broke into delighted laughter. “Very good! But, Rather, there just aren’t enough dwarves to make it work. Take him.”
Two of the Navy crew were on him. They pulled him loose from his handhold, set him spinning in the air. He caught glimpses of them rebounding from walls. Then one had wrapped his arms and legs around Rather’s lower ribs from behind, and the other had a foot in Rather’s crotch and Rather’s two ankles in his hands, stretching his legs straight.
There was a wrestling trick. Jill had shown him, in the brief period when she was stronger than he was. You wrapped your arms or legs around your opponent’s short ribs and tightened them. Your opponent couldn’t inhale. Presently he would faint.
Rather had used it on others afterward, and been punished for it. Most of the children were smaller than he was. Jilly wasn’t, but she didn’t have the strength of a dwarf after they beth got older. Rather had been taught not to fight. He still got angry sometimes, but he learned to control it. Sometimes he wrestled with adults. He generally lost.
The man behind him (call him Navy #1) was letting him breathe, but shallowly. The other (Navy #2) wasn’t kicking Rather’s seeds into his belly; but he could. Rather held the red rage in check. “Booce?”
Booce answered the implied question. “You tell me. Where have you beenT’
“The Dark. We’ve delivered Hilar’s mud. We’ve got some walnut-cushion and-“
“The Navy went through this house like a whirlwind. I told them about the sporing fringe in the concrete. I was about to show them a hiding place I made in the door. I think they’d rather chop my house apart, and I get the distinct impression that it’s all your fault-“
“Shut it, Booce,” Mickl said. “Rather, what did you think you were coming home to?”
Anger made his thoughts murky, but he’d rehearsed this part in his mind. “I thought ... I saw Sectry and I saw you. I thought the Captain-Guardian had come personally to tell me I was in. The Navy. You know. But-“
“You must know that an officer wouldn’t care that much about a new inductee.”
“Well, you’re here and ... someone told me you’re very eager to put another dwarf in the Guardian slot. What me you doing here, Captain-Guardian?”
“It’s a mistake!” Sectry burst out.
Mickl didn’t shout; he projected his voice over hers. The walls shivered to it. “Let me tell you something about mistakes. There’s-“
“No, allow me.” Rather reached for the foot in his crotch with both hands. He had it before the leg could snap straight, and he twisted. His rib cage closed. He stopped breathing and kept twisting. The leg buckled;
Navy #2 was pulled close; he loosed Rather’s ankle and Rather kicked him twice under the jaw. Now his hands were free to pull the constricting arms apart and over his head and down. Torsion pulled the legs free too, and he could breathe.
Navy #2 kicked at Rather with his good leg. Rather caught it on his foot. Reaction separated them: Navy #2 was headed toward a wall. There was blood on his mouth. Rather pulled the other’s arms around behind him. They came, not easily, and Rather kept pulling until he had pulled Navy #l’s shoulder from its socket.
Clave had a rib lock on the third man.
Rather pushed Navy #1 away. The man turned in the air, moaning, his arm at a crooked angle.
Navy #2 had reached the wall. He jumped. They traded blows: Rather put his heel in the other’s midsection, but a fist smacked solidly into the side of Rather’s neck. Short arms and legs had cost Rather more than one match.
Again the blows had thrown them apart. Rather’s ears buzzed; lights flared in his eyes. He was too far from the walls. He waited ... but Navy #2 was curled in a tight ball. When a wall touched him he stayed there, winded, resting.
Wayne Mickl was pointing a crossbow at Rather. “Cut it. I’ll shoot you someplace nonlethal. You too, Jonthan. Stay there. You, the tree man, let go ofDoheen!”
Clave released Navy #3. Doheen was unconscious.
Panting, elated, Rather said, “Stet. But mistakes are something ... somebody pays for, and that’s what ... the word is for. Or am I going too fast for you?”
“Yes. Pause a minute. J- What is it now?”
The men in the doorway both looked surprised. One was a Navy crewman. He had Raym Wilby in a rib lock. “Captain-Guardian, this one flew up like he was coming to the house. Then he saw the ship and turned around and flew away. The Petty and me chased him down.”
“Who are you?” Mickl demanded.
Raym only gaped. Cariot said, “It’s Raym Wilby. He guided us into the Dark.”
“Wilby, what were you flying from?”
“I ... I just don’t like N-Navy.”
“Stet. Jonthan, wipe your face, then take Wilby into the storage room. Ask him about the trip. Be polite.”
Doheen blinked; his eyes opened. The man from the ship took charge of Navy # 1, the man with the dislocated arm. Rather heard him yell as his shoulder popped into place. Jonthan (Navy #2) wiped blood from his mouth with a cloth, then took Raym Wilby by the elbow and towed him away. Rather noticed for the first time that Sectry had a crossbow too. It was pointed at Clave.
Mickl ignored it all. “Now, Rather, tell me about a pressure suit that looks like mine. Don’t forget the crossbow.”
Rather was still panting a little. He took a moment more than he needed. “Pressure suit? Booce told me. You’ve got three. Nine crew to use them, but you’re short of dwarves.” Which ought to be a pun, he thought; but he’d irritated Micklenough without that.
“A fourth pressure suit invaded Headquarters fifteen days ago. You were in it.”
Rather stared. “No, I wasn’t. Fifteen days? I was in the Dark getting mud. Is that what this is about?”
“Rather, it’s your bad luck that I’m interested in dwarves. I know where every dwarf in the Admiralty is right now. There are twelve. Ten are in the Navy. One is eighteen years old. He’ll be a Petty soon. Sectry already is. The rest are Guardians. There’s a Dark diver’s boy, but his brain was thick with spores before he could grow a beard. And there’s you.”
“And another pressure suit.”
“Yes. I want it.”
Rather wiped sweat from his face. He was thinking as carefully as if he were innocent. The trick was not to know anything he shouldn’t. This seemed safe: “Captain Guardian, if a pressure suit got into the Admiralty without you knowing it, maybe there was a dwarf in it.”
Mickl didn’t answer. Rather said, “S- the Bosun and I are about the same size, but I think you’re bigger. How big was that fourth suit? Would I even fit?” He was stuttering a little; he had to think every word through first. How clearly had Mickl seen the silver suit? It always looked bigger than the occupant. “Maybe it’s smaller yet. Maybe it’s so small that it’ll fit in places you wouldn’t look, a closet in a happyfeet ship-“
“Why that?”
“Happyfeet tried to rob us before we got here. They don’t care much about laws. Isn’t there a Lupoff ship in dock?”
“True enough, but a closet is silly. He’d suffocate.”
“Somewhere else, then.” There’s air in the silver suit. Am I supposed to know that? What else am I not supposed to know? “What really happened? What is it you think I did?”
“You entered Headquarters in an unregistered pressure suit painted like mine. You got into the Library. You got rid of the Guardian. We haven’t been able to find out what you did there, or whether you got what you wanted, but Voice was running when you left. When I came in you scattered sporing fringe throughout Headquarters and got away.” Mickl’s throat worked, and Rather saw how close he was to uncontrolled rage. “I went after you. I couldn’t catch you.”
“Um ... that doesn’t make sense. Booce told me never to try to outfly Navy. The wings are different-“
Mickl slashed the air with his arm. “The suit outflow me! This isn’t just another pressure suit. You’d be in enough trouble if it was only that. We’ve got to have this suit. It’s special.”
“How?”
“Classified, you little fungus!” Wayne Mickl closed his eyes. He pulled air in through his nose until his lungs were full, then let it all out. Calmly he said, “Booce, show me this hiding place.”
Booce showed him. We wouldn’t have been told this either, Rather thought. Secrets!
Mickl closed his helmet. When he peered into the compartment, light blazed from the forehead. He studied the interior at length. “Ingenious.”
“Maybe not. It weakened the door.” Booce pointed out the hole. Mickl nodded.
Jonthan was back. A long bruise was forming on his jaw. His glance at Rather seemed disinterested. He and the dwarf officer conferred in low voices. They disappeared toward the storage room.
That left only Navy #3, Doheen. He and Clave were holding a staring contest. Clave smiling, the other pokerfaced.
Booce said carefully, “Rather, there’s something you should know. You’re trying to tell the Captain-Guardian that you’re probably innocent. It’s not enough.”
Rather had thought things were going well. “Raym was with us. He’d have to believe Raym was lying too. Raym doesn’t have the brains.”
“No, of course not. Mickl believes you now.” A quick glance at Doheen, who reacted with something like a shrug. “But just in case he’s wrong, he’ll stop Logbearer from ever leaving the Admiralty, because we might be smuggling that fourth suit. He’ll ruin me financially, in case I might say something to save myself. He’ll hound you. It’ll never be over.”
“Then ... ” What’ll I do? There can’t be a way to convince Mickl I’m innocent. I’m guilty!
Admiralty pressure suits don’t have working jets. No fuel. There’s a suit with jets, somewhere, and Mickl wants it. He’ll never settle for less.
Give him the silver suit? He’d know we’re guilty then.
If I could- Ah. He had something.
I can’t ask Booce. Doheen’s listening, and Booce doesn’t know what happened anyway. The others-
Fate and air currents had put Rather near Sectry. He moved closer. She moved the crossbow aside for him. Her face was hard to read.
“I shouldn’t have left,” he said.
“Why didn’t you wait?”
“They tell me the Navy takes forever to do anything. I couldn’t just hang around twitching, and we needed the mud.”
Their voices had dropped. She said, “I was here. I turned down a flight, but I can’t do that twice running. You left me for mudT’
It was a miserable thing to have to admit, but it was better than the truth. He nodded.
“Rather, nobody makes decisions when he’s on fringe. So tell me, am I too strange? Am I too old?”
“My mother’s older than my father. I like strange. I’m in the Clump because I like strange. Sectry, I don’t regret anything I said or did.” Which was not quite the truth. Secrets- “Hilar Belmy is trying to grow a burl tree.”
She said, “That never works.”
“Well, he’s trying something new. Booce bought a piece of the tree. And he owes us.”
“So it’s not just mud, it’s money. All right. Rather. I can understand money.”
“That’s more than I do. It’s power, but it doesn’t make you an officer. Are there un-rich officers?”
Her lips twitched. “They marry rich citizens. Their children are officers. The number of officers goes up. One day we’ll all be officers.”
“Why does Wayne Mickl want that suit so much? I’d think it would be the other way around-“
“It’s bad for the Admiralty if happyfeet hold old science. I think Wayne’s almost given up on taking his Captain’s seat. The pressure suit is as much power as he’ll ever have, and he takes his responsibilities-“
They were back: Wayne Mickl and Raym Wilby and Jonthan. Raym was unwontedly quiet. Mickl said, “And what were you discussing with the Bosun?”
Sectry was flustered; Rather answered first. “I was suggesting that if you did have a fourth pressure suit, you’d need twelve dwarves to man them.”
Sectry tried to cover her laugh with her hands. Booce laughed outright. Doheen’s mouth was rigidly straight. Mickl was about to explode.
And Rather had learned little from Sectry, but it might be enough. Go for Gold. Before Mickl could speak, he asked, “Does it fly better than your suits?”
Mickl’s face didn’t change. “Yes. How did you know that?”
“You said it outflew you. Besides, I heard something once.”
“You’ll tell me.”
“Privately, if you don’t mind, Captain-Guardian.”
They took the kitchen. Mickl said, “That fringe-addled Dark diver makes you a poor witness.”
“I don’t know anything about your Chairman’s Court.”
“You’ll see a court soon enough. Talk to me, boy.”
“I don’t know anything about your mutineer pressure suit either-“
“Then-“
“I once heard that there’s a way to make little holes on a pressure suit spray fire. Then it can fly without wings.”
“Go on.”
“Maybe I can find a man who can do it. He doesn’t have a pressure suit, so he’s never tried it.”
“Take me to him.”
“They don’t deal with Navy. They don’t even come into the Admiralty.” Rather visualized a mysterious happyfeet tribe, isolated and distrustful. “They sent copsiks once. The Scientists don’t come themselves.”
“Give me a name.”
He picked one he could remember. “Seekers.”
“There’s no such tribe.”
Rather shrugged.
“Well, what are we doing here, Rather?”
“What happens is, you give me your pressure suit-“
Mickl laughed.
“I take it somewhere.” Payment? Not money; the Seekers might not use money. “I take fringe too, maybe twenty kilos. I take tools. I bring the suit back. They keep the fringe and the tools. Maybe the jets work and maybe they don’t.”
“Let me tell you why I can’tgive you my pressure suit,” Mickl said gently. “First, it belongs to the Admiralty. Second, it alternates among three Guardians. My triad would notice. Third, turning a pressure suit over to savages would certainly be judged as mutiny, especially since-fourth-you might not bring it back. Stet?”
“Not stet. Let me think.”
“While you’re thinking ... This mysterious tribe, did they ever have a pressure suit to practice on?”
“They say they did-“
“Could they have got it working again?”
This was taking Rather into empty sky. Treefodder! Maybe it was lost, or stolen, or-
“Talk to me!”
“I was trying to remember. They threw it away.”
“What?”
“It killed three citizens.”
“How?”
“The ... silver was only for one who was worthy. One day the old dwarf died while he was using it. Three dwarves wrestled for it-“
“That sounds like too many dwarves. Rather.”
It did. “I saw two myself, and I never got inside the jungle. I guess Seekers get more dwarves.”
“ ... Goon.”
“The winner put the suit on and died. The one who lost to him put it on and died. The last one was a woman. She started to get into it, but while the-“ Rather patted his skull “-this part was still open she said she heard the voice of Kendy the Checker. Nobody else could hear it. They got scared and dumped it and moved to another part of the sky.”
“Sounds like the air feed went bad. What then?”
“That’s when they found the Admiralty. They say one of your ships tried to rob them-“
“Nonsense.”
“We say treefodder. They say you did.” It might have happened in the past: Navy robbing savages-
Wayne Mickl was looking disgusted. He said, “It’s possible. A ship low on provisions ... this isn’t helping.”
“Wait. You three who trade your suit off. Are you always on duty at Headquarters?”
“No, of course not. Why?”
Rather took a deep breath. “Your fourth point: of course we’ll bring the suit back. Not all of us will go. You’ll keep friends of mine to answer for it if the suit doesn’t come back.
“Your third point: maybe it’s mutiny if you lose your chance at a pressure suit that can fly without wings, especially if it belongs to the Admiralty, which was my first point, and especially if you could get three\ So let’s work on your second point. Can you get the Admiralty’s permission?”
“Admiral Robar Henling would rather give up his seeds. At his age it wouldn’t- No. Just no.”
He was getting somewhere. He had Mickl’s attention. Think! “Will your, uh, triad try to track down that flying pressure suit?”
“We will. We are!”
“You can go anywhere if you think it’s the right direction, stet? You’re Guardians. One of you is an officer. Nobody’11 ask. Am I completely off the track?”
“ ... Not yet.”
“So off you go, tracking rumors of a fourth pressure suit. Maybe you find it. You close in. But there’s a dwarf in it, and he sees you coming and flies away laughing. What he doesn’t know is that your triad was working without a pressure suit for a while. Then it came back. Now off goes the bandit dwarf, but he’s doomed, because your suit flies too and he doesn’t know it!”
Mickl’s grin was not quite a pleasant sight. “Were you a Teller, where you came from?”
Rather knew exactly what he meant. “Our Teller was Merril till she died. These days everyone does some telling. Captain-Guardian, I’m trying to help. I’ll bring the suit back whether it works or not.”
“But would your Seekers give it back?” Mickl sighed. “I don’t blame you for attacking my men, and I won’t charge you. We’ll leave it at that for the moment. This isn’t finished, Rather.”
The civilians watched the Navy people fly toward their rocket. Sectry was trailing; and when he saw her look back, Rather snatched his wings from the door and jumped after her.
She stayed in the air while he strapped his wings on. A voice spoke from the Navy ship’s cabin; she answered. Then she kicked away to avoid the rocket’s exhaust. She did not fly back toward Serjent House.
The Navy rocket departed.
Rather reached her. He didn’t have breath to speak. She said, “You’re involved in something.”
He shrugged helplessly.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want any part of it. I’ve decided I don’t want to live in a tree either.”
Rather had his breath back. He said, “We’re the right size.”
She shook her head violently. Teardrops flew. “Didn’t Wayne tell you how many dwarves there are in the Admiralty? Rather, it was a good offer. Nobody makes real decisions when she’s on fringe. I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” His tongue was in knots and his thoughts were scrambled. The Scientist and the Checker, they caused this, they sent me into Headquarters! Would it be different if they hadn’t? Did I mean it, that offer? How will Carlotfeel about this? Or Jill?
“I do want to see you again. After this is over, if it’s ever over. You’ll be going back to the tree, won’t you? You won’t like it here, not with the Captain-Guardian on your tail!” She didn’t wait for his answer. “Well, sooner or later there’ll be a mission to Citizens Tree, and I’ll be on it. I hope this is all cleared up by then.”
She flapped spinward, toward Headquarters or the Market. He called after her. “We have a rocket-“
“No. Thanks. I’ll go on foot.” She kept kicking. Rather turned back to Serjent House. He was going to have to do some fast talking ... again.