White Clouds

Chapter 17

Dall went toward them. The green of their foliage was a refreshing change after not having seen anything besides gray walls for what felt like forever. But what he really exalted in was his PL being able to connect again. It felt amazing - the shackles binding his mind finally lifted.

Predominantly, his waiting messages were from his friends. They worried sick about him. He viewed countless notifications piled up in his vision. And Fai, poor Fai, must have been so worried. But could he risk her, his friends, by contacting them? He walked toward the trees, focusing on his virtual vision. As he got closer, he noticed Tauri was sitting on one of those colorful blocks. It looked like she had been crying.

He rushed to her. "What happened? Are you ok?" he asked. She wiped her tears away and looked up to him, her face white. "A friend of mine. He, he said that if I got his message, it means he's dead..." she stopped to sniffle. "He kept saying he was sorry, that they had tortured him, he didn't have a choice. I think he told them about me..." Dall didn't follow her sentences. They didn't make much sense to him. "Wha, what does it mean?" He asked, trying to sound sympathetic. "It means they'll be coming after me next. You're not the only one that needs to disappear. For a second, she looked fragile, sitting there looking up at him. A second later, that look was gone, and she was back to herself. She jumped to her feet.

"Wendall! Don't fucking disappear like this. I didn't know where you went." It was the angry voice of the detective. "What's going on here? Miss Long, I thought we agreed. Do I need to have you escorted home?" He continued. Wendall turned around to see the detective's hand was on his holster. "She's in trouble," Dall said. "We need to help her."
"I don't like this. It can all be a show. It's all too convenient." The detective soured. His hand stayed put.

"Tell him what you've told me." Dall urged Tauri. He then listened to her explain, with more clarity this time, about her friend Jeremy that had provided her information about the timings and routes of illegal shipments. Tauri told them how she'd used that information to record evidence and get the smugglers apprehended. She didn't share how her friend obtained such details. She then told the detective about the message her friend sent before being killed. Dall thought she might cry again, but Tauri kept it together. Hor asked her to send him the message so he could listen to it.

"Well, this still doesn't change things. I'm sorry, but I'm not taking the risk. Wendall, let's go." The detective declared and walked. Dall didn't move. Hor stopped and turned around. "Fuck! Wendall, now. Let's go."
"She's coming too, or I'm not." Dall stood his ground. "How about I fucking arrest you again and let those agents take you? How would you like that, huh?"
"You're not gonna do that," Dall answered in a cool voice that surprised even him.

Dall knew the officer was bluffing. Hor stepped toward them. "Oh? wouldn't I?" Hor stared into Dall's eyes intently. Dall stared back without flinching. "Fucking young bastards! Ok, come on. But I want monitor-access to your PL." He said that to Tauri. "Fine. Whatever."

Appeased, the detective turned to go. "Come on. We shouldn't be in one place for too long. Miss Long, you said you have a ship? It's proving for me a little difficult to find an arrangement without attracting unwanted attention. I suggest we use yours."
"No. That's not an option anymore," she said in a low voice. "I can't put him in more risk than I have already. Jeremy's message was vague and short, but his crew may come for me. I can't go near my father. But don't worry, I still know enough people. In fact, I know just the one that can help us and be discreet. Follow me." Tauri said. She started striding in a different direction.

Hor and Dall had no choice but to follow her. The detective's hand went back to his gun. Dall didn't think he was conscious of the gesture. Hor leaned closer to Dall - "I hope you insisting she comes isn't just to get in her pants."
"What?!"
"I know you've been locked up for a while, but this is an enormous risk we're taking." Dall gave the detective a shocked look and then picked up his pace without answering. "What?!" he heard the man say from behind.

******

Sam left home and made his way to the office. It was only a short walk, and the path took him between large greenhouses and flat-topped hangers. He felt proud to walk amidst this flourishing empire he was a part of. The Farm they called it, a name reminiscent of times long gone. Yet, it was a very suiting name. Despite the name, the place resembled Earth's farms in very little. The Farm was a space station orbiting Grandpa. It was egg-shaped, like most of the stations in the system. Morning light filled its domed surface.

The Farm was tiny compared to any of the Clouds. Even Abalone. Still, it was home to thousands of people and responsible for growing fifteen percent of the natural foodstuff humanity devoured every year. Everything from vegetables, to fruits, to meat was grown and cultivated in the large greenhouses that took most of the station's space. Anywhere there weren't buildings, one could find a tree or patch of grass or other types of plants. There were open fields and even an enclosed jungle habitat. It was a beautiful place. He could never understand those who left to live on one of those giant, crowded, busy Clouds.

Stepping inside a cattle-meat growth hangar, Sam checked up on the status of the climate control system. Last night there was an alert he and his team rushed to attend to. The temperature raised half a degree above the norm. A little higher, and they would have had to void the entire batch. The thought of tons of fine meat liquidated and blasted out to space was not one he enjoyed pondering. It turned out to be a mix of a faulty coolant recycler and a dysfunctional drone that failed to fix the former problem. The worse was that the drone didn't alert its governing system. Sam planned to review every system protocol and routine flows to make sure this didn't happen again.

Facing him, rows upon rows of giant meat slabs rising high on their stands. Cold air flowed slowly. Bluish glow covered each cherry-red slab, coming from the bio-sheet filament protecting them from coming into contact with the air. Everything was in order. Sam stepped outside and continued his stroll to the office. He met and greeted friends good morning on his way.

His small office building nestled between sprawling hangars. Once inside, the first thing Sam did was brew some coffee for himself. There was nothing like the day's first cup of coffee. His wife claimed that his coffee-making routine every day was the closest to a religious ritual she had ever seen. He supposed she was right. He did enjoy it very much. With a steaming cup in hand, he went into his tiny room. As Chief Cultivator, his job required him to roam around the Farm to make sure everything flowed with machine-like precision. That was easy, as most of his subordinates were machines or drones.

After a good long sip from his excellent coffee, Sam signaled his desk panel to load the system protocols to begin his review. About an hour later, a strange alert appeared on his display. It was an incoming call from an unidentified caller. Sam couldn't remember the last time someone called him on this device. He forgot the thing had the capability. He answered and a voice he hadn't heard in a long while spoke.

"Hi, dad. How are you? It's me, Hor." Sam had to close his mouth after the surprise of hearing his son's voice had loosened his jaw. "Horologium. Are you all right, son? Where are you calling from? Why didn't you ping my Link?"
"I'm fine, dad. Everything is ok. Listen, I'll explain later, but for now, I need to ask if you can help me hide someone for a little while. It's very important." Sam didn't know how to react to that at first. "I don't hear from you for what? Almost half a year and this is all I get? Horologium, are you sure you're ok?"

"Just Hor, dad. I'm fine, but this person I need you to hide, it's a life and death situation, dad. Will you help?" Hor's voice had some exasperation in it. Sam knew his son well, despite hardly seeing each other anymore. He was familiar with his short temper all too well. Something he got from his mother. "Yes, of course, I'll help you. You know I'm always here for you."
"Errr... Ok, good, thanks. I guess I'll see you soon. Bye." The call ended before Sam could say anything else.

It wasn't the first time his eldest son needed his parents' help. Typically, it was him needing to vent some stress off or blow the time off a suspension. Horologium was a brilliant detective, but his temper got him into trouble more than once. This time was different, felt different. Hiding someone was definitely unusual. Sam supposed there wasn't much else to do besides waiting for his son to arrive with this person in need. The next thing he did was ping his wife to let her know their son was coming for a visit.