Dust and Echoes/In the Immediate Distance - Chapter 6 (Part 1)

The lowest ring of New Denver, the Heirloom, said Loyalty. ‘Old and sentimental’. These people deserve more respect than that. They put in the work to build this settlement, and gave the Star its selling point as it stole their town away from them.

So honorable, as ever, responded Logic. Still, I agree that the term is not particularly accurate.

The clattering of pots and pans, followed by a crash and a few choice curses came from somewhere to the right.

Elegant… interjected Cunning sarcastically.

I almost forgot about Mr. Perfect over there, retorted Heroism.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Said Logic.

I’m making a sandwich! I’m hungry.

Us being hungry… remarked Cunning.

Ridiculous, agreed Logic.

Do you think we are technically telepathic? said Loyalty. Just a weird thought.

Logic gave a mental sigh, which was really quite humorous if you thought about it, and prepared to lecture Loyalty for the hundredth time. For us to be telepathic, we would need to be physically separated. Our communication is much simpler than telepathy would have to be, if it were possible.

I was just thinking out loud, said Loyalty.

You can’t think out loud – Logic started before getting the joke. Loyalty had been attributed the abstract and meta-type reasoning processes, if only because they were more counter-intuitive and pointless than Logic cared to deal with. After all, he couldn’t claim to be the only one that could think. Thade took a sip of his tea.

You kind of type-cast each of us, said Loyalty. You realize that, right?

That’s kinda the point.

Heroism left his personal corner of the flat and strode down the short crimson staircase to the sitting room at the center. There didn’t appear to be a door in the room at all; someone probably should have thought of that before building it. When are we going to the Diplomatic Zone, again? Dallying here seems somewhat less important than whatever damage evil could be doing and how boldly we could be stopping it.

We need the connections, said Cunning. Extra favors to call on, just in case.

WOW, Loyalty said. These are friends, not connections!

Are they Player Characters or Non-Player Characters? shot back Cunning.

Well, if we were in a video game they would be NPCs I guess; hey they’re PEOPLE!

Thade took another sip and took in his surroundings. It was a well-furnished house, even by inner colony standards. One of the two cats that lived there roamed towards the empty kitchen. The house was nice, but - without its inhabitants - decidedly less interesting than the five room flat that he had reconstructed in his mind.

Its inhabitants were in actuality him, of course; four different modes of thought split into distinct voices, each named after their respective ideal, that could take problems and decisions and argue with each other to work out a solution. It was a strategy from one of his favorite readings, though it was not as easy as walking around with five heads (the four manufactured ones and his own as an impartial arbitrator) on one body. Only when he he had time to really think, and the ability to focus and clear his mind, could he mentally construct the flat and its tenants to entertain himself and to process his thoughts in-depth.

There was a knock at the door, and the scene faded from Thade’s mind as the pair that had left him in the living room let themselves back into the house. A tall, red-haired woman entered the room followed by a shorter bald man with a dark goatee.

Over time, Robert Thade had made a habit of meeting select people and becoming fast friends as he traveled from place to place; he had first met Ava and Tim Banden-Muldoon while they were living on Genesee – a beautiful world known for strong artistic and culturally diverse communities, much closer to the center of the Republic. Thade had played through the encounter in his head as they made their way from the door to where he sat; it was one of his fonder memories, and they were among his better friends.

“Have you moved?” Ava asked. She spoke with the only Scottish brogue Thade had ever heard outside of Brandon Cailan’s.

“As you know,” said Thade, “I tend to be either incredibly busy or not busy at all.”

Tim turned to Ava. “Robert Thade: the man with no business but the business of other people.”

Thade decided that the description did apply particularly well to him, especially when it came to these two - though he wanted to protest that he did have business of his own, and in point of fact was currently about to begin some business of a very interesting quality...

“So who’s curious business are you carrying out this time?” Ava said. “What brings you out here? I hope it’s a woman, finally -”

Tim cut in. “Ava, leave him alone.”

“What? He needs to hear it. You always go where there are tons of pretty little girls with empty heads, and say there’s no one looking for a real relationship. And what do you do when you meet someone real? You lace up your track shoes. Remember that one, Karen I think? She was perfect for you, but you kept saying ‘There was just no connection’.”

Thade laughed at her booming representation of his voice. “Breathe, breathe. Glad you got that off your chest?”

“Yes, much better,” she said with a smile.

“Well unfortunately, I remain free of home and hearth - despite your sage advice. Still free to roam the galaxy under the guise of ‘Captain Robert Thade, dashing rogue’.”

Ava snorted. “I can’t believe people still buy that whole thing. You’re not really that great of an actor.”

“It’s more of a filter,” said Thade, “to separate those who actually want to get to know me from everyone else.”

“Ooo, so how’s my baby? Still the fastest piece of metal around?”

“Yup,” Thade said, “and the Return still matches you; she’s as much a fiery ginger as she was when you made me get that stupid paint job.”

“Hey!” Ava shot back. “First of all, that paint job is cool. Second, it’s a better camouflage than black or anything - what, with the people you hang around.”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” said Thade. “That’s why it’s still on there. As for the reason I’m here, I’m trying to get to the DZ – with the help of someone who doesn’t want to go, of course.”

“You finally made it to your frontier, then,” said Tim. “It’s not all Cowboys and Indians out here, remember. We still haven’t found our Indians yet – “

Ava hit him on the shoulder. “That’s, like, actually a terrible thing to say! And it’s not that bad. It’s still war, but it’s suit-to-suit, mostly in court. We do fine.”

“Well either way, I’m glad to see you as ‘jazzed’ as always - and safe,” said Thade. “How’s work going?”

“Great! We recently finished the lights, you know, in that huge tree; they took forever, but it was worth it.”

“Oh, I saw that,” said Thade. “’The Tree of the Stars’. Impressive.” He finished his tea.

“And did you see the building with the vines all over that pulse?” said Ava with a flashing gesture. “That was my idea.”

“She loves it,” interjected Tim. “She spends most of her time there, and I’ve got a nice souvenir store. We get some free shirts and decorations here and there, which is nice.”

“I was about to say, selected pieces of Ava Banden-Muldoon and travel posters are not a usual combination, décor-wise.” Thade put up his hands, as if using them to frame a painting on a gallery wall. “‘Caecus lemurs in Tourism, and in green oils on canvas’. Have you ever seen one of those, by the way?”

“Yeah, loads!” Ava replied. “They have a place at the Heirloom’s animal shelter where they come and go. No one’s been able to catch one and keep it, though.” She put on her best colony accent. “’They’re too smart for us colony folk.’”

“Ah, it’s the same as every old grandpa and his cats,” said Tim. ”always on about the whole ‘they’re smarter than most cats’ thing.”

“They do have opposable thumbs, though,” said Ava, demonstrating with her own pair.

Thade thought for a moment. “Are they indigenous to this area?”

“No, actually,” said Tim, getting visibly excited. “The traces of their presence only predate the first colonist’s sightings by a few years! Plus, though nobody believes them, there are actually reports of seeing eerie blue eyes from the bushes on other planets in the system. Maybe they have space travel!”

Ava giggled.

“What?”

“You get dimples when you’re excited.”

Thade put his cup down and sat back. “Still insufferably cute, I see.”

Ava turned her teasing smile to him. “Only with people we like.”

*   *    *

Thade had been spending a few months on Genesee; Tim Banden was the manager of a well-known art gallery featuring the art of one Ava Muldoon, and the two young artists had met initially to discuss the logistics of the showing. It was a huge success, and talks of one exhibition turned into plans for a series featuring ‘one of the brightest young talents on the colonial scene’.

Weeks went by with more and more conversations drifting from strictly business subjects. They met each week, even if there wasn’t much that needed to be settled - the meetings were already in the schedule, after all, and who would say no to company sponsored lunches? Tim’s cynical opinions on the landscape of art had sparked against Ava’s curious excitement about the universe, and Thade arrived in the midst of it all in the guise of a faceless patron of the gallery. He was on some errand or another that required little of his time, and he decided to meet Genesee’s hometown darling.

He made quick friends of both of them, and noticed their attachment to each other in the first few days (though it was not an entirely subtle one). He encouraged Tim’s high opinion of Ava, bolstered Ava’s sense of kinship with Tim, and finally arranged a chance dinner meeting to set the gears to turning; the night had ended with two slightly intoxicated but starry-eyed individuals wishing that it wouldn’t. Tim, Ava, and Thade spent much of his remaining stay there together, and he returned to Genesee at their behest a year later when they were married. A fall wedding, with the reception under the light of an unexpectedly clear moon. Ava had been requested by name soon after to help with design and artistic direction on Kurese’s Star, and after Tim found a position for himself they had moved out to the edge of space.

Adorable, said Cunning.

Oh, as if playing matchmaker wasn’t your idea, said Logic, after I quite astutely observed their connection.

Still, said Heroism. It’s a great story.