Copper Rain

Copper Rain Part 12

The Present

Well I'm OK, but I'm wondering how Zoie is coping. I've done plenty of deep space walks and I've got a pretty good suit on. Zoie, however, still only has the shabby enviro-suit I rustled up for her nubside. Still, this little journey doesn't fill me with glee, and I'm not looking forward to stepping outside. The trick we have going here is to launch out of the airlock at precisely the right time and ride the momentum to the exterior of the space elevator. There, apparently, we'll hook up with the others, and al will be revealed.

"So what happened to Dali and Ines?" I ask.

Zoie shrugs, she's looking dubiously at the suit and picking at the bits and pieces flaking off. "Ask him."

Titus's image is now revolving on the screen. His features are blandly composed with unblinking eyes. "He doesn't seem to be here," I say.

"Then he's probably not."

"What does that mean?"

"He's a cy-tex, not a program. He can't be in two different places at once."

"How does that work?"

"Titus is a unique sequence of coding. He can move within a system just like you can walk from place to place."

"But?"

"He can't just leave a piece of himself behind, any more than you could leave an arm or leg behind."

"And what about you?" I ask.

"What about me what?"

"The Zoie I knew was a corridor kid, but never part of the gangs."

"Stuff changed."

"For the better?"

"Maybe. Time will tell."

I'm about to ask further when a discreet cough gets my attention.

"Time to boogie, humans," says Titus. "Your airlock awaits."

"Too late to jump off this roundabout?" asks Zoie.

"The moment you pried that card from my cold dead hands it became too late," answered Titus.

"Wait, I thought it was Val that saved you," I say.

"A cy-tex can't be poetic? Anyway, you need to get sealed up and in the airlock."

I click on my helmet, and the magnets snap it closed. I help Zoie double check her rig, and we're good to go. I open the outer door of the airlock, we step in and Titus's voice comes over comms.

"Don't miss, people. There's no second chance for this one."

I see the pressure wheel on the outer door starting to turn. I lock arms with Zoie and admire the twinkling starlight of the now exposed universe.

"Guess you didn't see this happening when you sat down next to me at the bar," I say.

"Tarquin, if you had even half and idea of what is coming up, you'd be shitting yourself," she tells me.

I laugh to myself. What makes her think I'm not shitting myself?

* * *

The Past