Liberty's Heirs

Chapter 35

"I'm Ooler Mang," said the man with short-cropped black hair standing next to an outstandingly beautiful house in what was once Altadena, California.  Blion's mission would require living with the Mangs for some time until the bomb could be obtained, perhaps a year or more.

"Wow!" said Blion, "I never thought I'd get to live with the famous designer Ooler Mang and his lovely wife."  Blion took her hand and gave it a little kiss as he'd been taught was once a formal Ancient tradition by a movie.

"And I'm Jang," said the immaculate little woman standing at Ooler's side.  She was getting older but still very attractive with her artfully applied make up and lustrous long hair.  She had a very unique dress on, clearly very fashion conscious.  They both appeared to have a good deal of Asian in their ancestry as well as fairly light skin.

"What do you do for work?" asked Blion.

"Mac Spencer skipped that detail, did he?" said Jang, with a little scowl.  "We'll, don't tell anyone that I'm an Agent.  My cover is that I'm a Master of Fashion Design."

"Which is absolutely true," interjected Ooler.  "In fact, she is your sister's Master."

Blion had been horrified to learn that Riojme was his sister.  His strong romantic feelings for Keira had been enough to quash the ones he had had for the outstandingly beautiful Riojme, but this knowledge killed any lingering in his subconscious.  He was not allowed, on penalty of death, from ever telling Riojme about their shared parentage.

Jang continued: "Ravis and Oolyn will be home from school in a couple more hours, they'll love to meet you."

"Ravis, our son, is a bit of a hand full," said Ooler, "but I'm sure you'll get along with him once he gets to know you."

"Tomorrow," said Jang, "you'll start your apprenticeship under Blanu."

Blion had met him a couple of times before.  He was Riojme's adoptive father.  He was a handful too. He was funny because he was so arrogant.  That was fine when he was someone you met once in a while, but a big nuisance when you had to deal with him everyday.

"Hopefully you'll find your time here a welcome break from your Agent training.  I hear that your adventure was very trying."

The sun was not far from directly overhead and the hot air of the Southern California summer was sweltering, even under the sycamore trees that surrounded the Mang's lovely home.  "I think I'm going to go for a swim," said Blion.

"There's a great swimming hole at the base of Mount Lukens.  Lot's of kids there when school lets out but quiet for now."  Ooler advised.  "Enjoy your week off." 

Jang added: "With what's coming, you're going to need it."

"I'll meet the kids when I come back," said Blion.

"We'll be waiting," said Jang.  "Don't stay out late."

A few minutes later, Blion's vacikarce had taken him to the swimming hole.  Several boys, the oldest of whom he recognized from the Hunt Club, had somehow taken the day off, were already there swimming.  Blion was already hungry though it had been just a couple of hours since lunch.  He grabbed a sapote fruit off of a conveniently planted tree went inside the little changing hut to get ready.  The high level of ultraviolet meant that all of them would end with skin cancer and eye damage but it was nothing that a few minutes at the Medical Tower wouldn't be able to fix thirty years hence.

He came out in a few minutes to a big ruckus.  All the boys had taken their headbands off and two were preparing for some kind of fight while the others were keen observers.  No doubt there was a girlfriend involved somewhere.  A shame their weren't any girls around right now.  Their testosterone might have redirected their interests to something besides fighting.

Blion immediately called an Attendant with his headband, but he knew it would take two or three minutes to arrive.  "Hey, guys," Blion yelled, "why don't we get back in the water and enjoy our afternoon.  No good is going to come from fighting about it."

Blion approached the group at a fast jog.  One of the larger guys approached from behind and grabbed his headband, removing it from his head.  Blion knew what was coming next: the big guy was going to give him a hard push into the water so he'd be out of the way for the fight to begin.  No headbands meant that only memory testimony would be available in court, instead of the standard sensory input records.  Still a good enough record of what happened but it did muddy the water some, so to speak.

Blion easily doged the shove.  All he had to do was delay the boys for another minute and a half and the Attendant would arrive.  "Look, guys, I don't want anyone to get hurt or end up on trial.  Let's just have fun.  If you want a fight, pick on me."

The two boys who were prepared to fight, did decide to take him up on his offer.  The first one lunged at him with his fist preparing for an upper cut.  The second one came from a slightly different direction planning a hard hit to Blion's stomach.  Internally, Blion was ammused.  People from the Aye society were not at all prepared to fight.

The first one who was aiming for an uppercut, found himself felled on the sand due to Blion's evasive action and a carefully timed, but gentle shove to his back.  The second one likewise missed and fell victim to yet a different sideways push.

The two boys, both bigger than Blion, though well outclassed, got up and prepared for another round.  They began circling Blion like sharks, arms out stretched for a grappling contest.  Blion's thin physique belied strength that exceeded their own.

Suddenly, one of the boys stopped dead in his tracks and snapped to attention causing everyone to look at his strange behavior.  He was looking behind the group and only Blion knew what he was looking at.  The group turned around to match his gaze just in time to see a Attendant drop from a vacikarce into the sandy shore below.  Nine feet of gleaming metal stared back at them.  It was rare for an Attendant to speak, probably none had ever heard it before.

"Do we have any trouble here, Advocate?" The androgenous voice from the silvery machine emotionlessly addressed Blion.  "I am prepared to take them into custody for trial on charges of assault."

Looks of deep concern crossed the boys faces.  Blion felt for them.  They didn't want months of Discipline.

"No, Attendant.  There is no trouble here.  I asked you here because there is no lifeguard and I just wanted to make sure everyone is safe.  I had a near drownding a few months back and I didn't want it to happen to anyone else."

"Yes, Advocate," replied the Attendant nodding at Blion.  "Please put your headbands back on to help me assure your safety."

"You heard the Attendant, guys.  Put your headbands on, you know they don't like to talk."

"Yes, Advocate," the boys chanted in unison.  The boys each gave an obsequious little bow to Blion and the Attendant and with their heads down, returned to the water.