Fall Revolution 4: The Sky Road

drifting in from other functions
going on in the hotel: a business conference, an anime con, and
at least two weddings.
    ‘What does it matter?’ she asked.
‘We’re nothing, we’re probably among the last
Internationalists in the whole fucking world.’
    ‘Indeed we are,’ said Valentina. ‘But
there’s still a couple of things we can do. One is give our
comrade a good send-off, by getting absolutely smashed in his
memory.’
    They knocked glasses, drank.
    ‘And the other thing?’
    ‘Oh, yes. We can see if there’s anything the
International is planning to do about the coup.’
    Tou must be fucking joking.’
    ‘I am not. If you want my guess, that’s what they
wanted the assets for.’
    ‘Whoever thought of that must be out of their
tinyfucking minds. Talk about adventurism.’
    ‘I’m not so sure. Remember, there may not be many
of us left in the world, but -’ Valentina leaned closer
‘ – there isn’t only one world.’
    ‘Oh, don’t be – ’ Myra gave it a
second thought. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Our friends in
the sky.’
    ‘Yeah,’ said Valentina. ‘The space
fraction.’ ‘I don’t want to discuss this right
now,’ Myra said. She looked around, wildly. The place was
jumping. One beautiful Kazakh girl whom she’d thought was a
bride yelled something in what sounded like Japanese. Her big
white dress shrank like shrink-wrap to her body, changing colour
and hardening to a costume of pastel-shaded plastic armour. A
smart-suit – made from, rather than by, nanotech –
was a heinously expensive novelty, offering a limited menu of
programmed transformations. Myra wondered how long it would be
before its price plummeted, its repertoire exploded; how long it
would be before people could as readily transform their bodies. A
world of comic-book super-heroes – it didn’t bear
thinking about. The girl struck a combative pose, to a scatter of
applause from the other anime fans.
    ‘Let’s get drunk,’ Myra said.

 
5
The Church of Man
     
     
    Merrial was, as promised, waiting. She sat on the plinth, as I
had done, under the Deliverer’s equestrian statue. She wore
a loose summer dress with a colourful tiered skirt. Something
stirred in my memory, then vanished like a dream in the morning.
She was in animated conversation with a man sitting beside her.
They both looked up as I arrived.
    ‘Hello,’ I said warily.
    He was a tall, thin man, about thirty, I reckoned; quite
brown, with sharp features and dark eyes which had a sort of
quirky, questioning look in them; black hair curly on top, short
at the back and sides; dressed in leather trousers and jacket and
a white cotton T-shirt with a red bandana. A fine chain hung
around his throat beneath the bandana, its pendant – if any
– below the T-shirt’s round collar.
    ‘Hello,’ Menial said warmly. ‘Clovis, this
is Fergal.’
    The man stuck his right hand out and I shook it,noticing as I
did so that one of his thumbs pressed the back of my hand and
that he held on, as though waiting for some response, for about a
second longer than I subconsciously expected, before letting
go.
    ‘Pleased to meet you, Clovis,’ he said. His voice
was low and deep, his accent was hard to place: correct, but by
that very correctness of intonation in each syllable, somehow
foreign; it reminded me of a Zanu prince I’d once heard
speak at the University.
    ‘Let’s get some drinks,’ he said, rising to
his feet. We strolled to the nearest vacant table outside The
Carronade. Fergal took our requests and disappeared inside.
    ‘Who is that guy?’ I asked.
    Merrial favoured me with a slow smile. ‘You sound
jealous,’ she teased.
    ‘Ah, come on. Just curious.’
    ‘I’ve known him a long time,’ she said.
‘Nothing personal. Just… one of us.’
    ‘Well, I had kind of figured he was a tinker.’
    Menial’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Yes,
that’s it,’ she said.
    Fergal returned in a few moments, taking his seat beside me
and opposite Merrial. I offered him a cigarette, which he
accepted with an oddly ironic smile.
    ‘Well,’ he said, lighting it, ‘you know
about the… concern, for the ship?’
    I nodded. Tes, but Merrial said nothing about its being
shared.’
    He grinned. ‘Oh, it’s quite widely shared, I can
tell you that. It’s a brave offer you’ve made, and
-’ he spread his hands ‘ – all I can say is,
thanks.’
    I was more puzzled than modest about this