Mindshard (ON HOLD)

Cityscape

     The rapidity of the descent swiftly caught the notice of not only Vaughn.

  “Shuttle 56-A, you’re descending too quickly.”  A brisk female voice announced from the console’s speakers.  “If you continue your current flight path, you run the risk of intersecting the Pithorn Corridor in less than three cintor.  I advise an immediate course correction.”

  “Warning noted, Traffic Control.”  Ixim returned, making no move to adjust the shuttle’s downward motion.

     The console fell silent for a moment.  Then a second voice began to speak from the com link.

  “Shuttle 56-A, this is Krosus.  Change your course immediately.”  A hard male voice commanded.

     Ixim looked over at Vaughn, who was watching the drax intently.

  “The city Thota.”  He said sotto voce.  Then, slightly louder:  “I acknowledge your warning, Krosus.  Thank you for your concern.”

  “Var Ixim?”  Krosus immediately asked, his voice changing radically with the recognition of the shuttle’s pilot.  “Why didn’t you say so, katega?  I’m clearing you a path to the Delphine Sector.”

  “Thank you, Krosus.”  Ixim replied with a slight smile before deactivating the com link with a fingertip.

     Vaughn frowned.

  “Katega?”  She carefully repeated the alien word.  “That doesn’t sound like Sidhe.”

  “Because it’s not, colonel.”  Ixim glanced over at her.  “It’s a term from Ursko, the Drax language.  It means ‘comrade’ or ‘friend’.”  He returned his gaze to the console and the unfolding city vista beyond.  “While the Sidhe and other species in the Pax have little regard for my people, we have, at least, the respect of the artificial intelligences the Pax uses to maintain and operate their empire.”

     Vaughn fell silent once again to mull over what Ixim had said.  The Pax and its many species and races presented her with layer after layer of complexity that nearly boggled the mind.  This newest permutation, the Pax AI’s respecting the Drax in direct opposition to how the Sidhe view them, was just another item to add to a long list of puzzlements.  Taking her silence as understanding, Ixim nodded and returned his attention fully to his piloting and the shuttle continued its downward journey into the heart of the massive Sidhe city.

     Closer now, it was easier to see the heavy streams of traffic pouring in and out of the city, shifting rivers of metal and plastic in unending procession in their faithful following of invisible pathways around the impossible buildings of the core.  Vaughn found her eyes begin drawn to the shifting streamers, kept smoothly moving by the city’s traffic control AI, the computer that first challenged the shuttle’s change in course.  Then the buildings themselves, with their impossible angles and exotic materials were flowing by as Ixim cut in between two of the larger skyscrapers.

     Before the floor solidified into its inert silver form, Vaughn thought she spotted some sort of landing pad beneath them, already crowded with a number of personal flyers and shuttles where it was sandwiched between a chorus of buildings.  Then her view was blocked and the shuttle was slowing as Ixim triggered the landing sequence.

     A couple stepping from their own shuttle glanced up as the silver teardrop dropped from the sky, enveloped in the shifting bubble of an omni-field, maneuvering thrusters glowing.  They then moved out of the way as the teardrop’s belly shifted and extended a quartet of spidery landing legs.  Omni-field angled, it slid towards the final open spot in the parking area and finished its descent, slowing to a few hand spans per second before finally easing to the porous surface of the lot.  An artificial material spun to have the appearance of natural rock, the lot’s surface was also constructed to minimize environmental impact by allowing rain and snow melt to pour through and into a filtered runoff system, maintaining water quality.