Canticle Blue

52. Picarin

The Picarin had not been ready to leave Innis as the lunar orbiter drew near. So Corei was dispatched in the Silver Run to find the probe and report its movements. This might have proven extremely difficult except that, while exploring one of the more promising approach vectors, he happened to catch a distant reflection of the orbiter as it turned to decelerate. As he adjusted his course to pursue it, he noticed that it was surrounded by a faint blue glow which was growing brighter by the second. Then, while he could still make out the outline of the probe, it spun violently, almost as if thrown, and sped off toward Innis with its engine blazing. Before its impact, there was a long trail of blue light across the moon's surface which quickly faded and disappeared. In describing these things to Innis base as he was returning, Corei also related that he had seen this same blue phenomenon on the day Per'sa Island was destroyed.

Even with the orbiter gone, evacuation of the remaining Bryn colonists was a very pressing matter. The nearly constant night flights of Colony spacecraft were still falling far short of what was needed. So, when the semi-darkness of a massive electrical storm afforded the rescuers additional cover, the Picarin itself was launched.

Because the Picarin helm controls were not yet fully integrated, several pilots and navigators were needed to fly it. This required a very active dialog between them, all the more so as they descended on Havel. In this endeavor, Shei Pendel controlled the sphere drives and was thrilled, in more ways than one, to be part of such a dangerous and exacting challenge. She knew of no other vessel in history that had been so severely tested on its maiden voyage.

In order to afford a minimum turnaround time for the transport ships, the pilots had suspended the Picarin just above the lowest storm clouds, at the risk of being quickly pulled down by gravity if anything went wrong. Later, as storm activity increased, they had been forced to ascend through and above the thunderheads themselves. Fortunately, by that time, nearly all of the people had been rescued.

When the transports left the Bryn Institute for the last time, they rejoined the Picarin at a staging point far above the southern pole of Havel. There the ship would float upright in space, taking advantage of the planet's gravity, as construction continued.

Finally free of time constraints, the Arna and Crisopa then began to ferry passengers between the Picarin and Terreska, reuniting families and bringing older students to a fledgling Bryn Institute on the the new ship. The voyages could sometimes take several weeks, but the shuttles were now well equipped and large enough to keep them comfortable, if not entertained. When the relocations stabilized, there were over two hundred families living in the Picarin habitat section, with many more prepared to move in from the docking complex as space became available.

Well before the Picarin interior was finished, it was already a source of continual amazement. Its habitat section was spherical, and was so huge that children onboard said it was like living inside a planet. It featured double-hull construction in all but the bow section, with enough separation between its spherical shells to be occupied. The inter-hull spaces included warehouses, fabrication areas, sealable bulkheads, and secondary transportation corridors, while the inner sphere contained many levels of habitats and growing areas. When complete, both shells would provide strength, shielding, as well as functional transparency for the V-sky.

Like the Terreska, the Picarin had a transparent forward canopy, with a piloting bridge level just below it. All of the Ship's interior levels surrounded a central atrium which extended all the way from above the docking-support area to the canopy. The "overlook" areas  surrounding the atrium featured curved safety barriers that, when finished, could be raised to seal all sections of a level, when necessary.

Because of the habitat section's shape, its levels varied greatly in area, the most expansive of those covering the full circumference of the inner sphere. That level would eventually be devoted to the new educational facilities of the Bryn Institute and would also include parks, two seminar amphitheaters, and faculty living quarters. The levels above and below the institute level were reserved for plant cultivation and food production. Evenly spaced columns supported the inner boundaries of all the levels and also contained elevators.

An alternate elevator—more popular, but much slower—was the original conservatory dome—now called Center Island—which moved up and down within the atrium and normally stopped at each level. In keeping with the new tradition started on Terreska, it also contained a small Canticle Moon.

The Picarin V-sky would eventually cover the perimeter walls of all levels. For those on walkways near those surfaces, they would be virtual panoramic windows. Other accessible areas of the V-sky would incorporate interactive panels which could be used for personal communication and C-link access. In the rare instances when it might become necessary to put the ship in free-spin, the V-sky would update accordingly.

The Middi aboard the Picarin stayed characteristically busy during construction. But, for them, as Annibet often said, "activity was leisure." With no need for sleep, they worked throughout the ship but spent much of their "off time" preparing their own quarters. Although they were free to live anywhere in the Picarin, they deferred to the needs of human families in new housing areas. But the polar ring levels of the habitat section had been set aside just for them. The Middi were not only agreeable to this, but actually seemed delighted. They viewed those portions of the Picarin, even in their initial austerity, as gifts to be treasured.

In the uppermost level, Corei planted a grove of "bead trees." The V-sky in that area was virtually continuous with the perimeter of the Picarin bridge, and the trees could be custom fit there. Beneath the vault of stars, for children harvesting beads or enjoying the view, it was like a forest moving through space at night. For Estmere, that enchanted place was literally a dream come true.

A dedicatory plaque in the grove featured a poem by Ip:

As if innate:
the wish
to play