Jupiter's Halo Book Two: The Fall

Chapter 29

Arto was still talking as they made their way from the cruiser’s viewing lounge and headed for the exit onto the docks.

Red had begun to phase him out, letting her mind wander through the intricacies of her next steps while he chatted animatedly about passenger numbers, colony management and the way the great station had come together.

The cruiser she’d travelled on, Maria’s Grace, was a low cost, high volume barge. Free of luxuries and frills, but capable of delivering two-thousand souls safely through the void. Arto had told her that too, taking a brief diversion from his rhetoric about the Jovian station to educate her on the ship.

He walked ahead now, turning back to smile and point out things of interest as they traversed the long, windowed umbilical that would lead them into the station proper. Red followed his gestures, seeing the sheer magnitude of the docks and the slow movement of ships entering or leaving. The area was a cut into the ring of the Halo; a piece that looked to have been bitten out by some gargantuan celestial beast. To her left, she could see the light speckled darkness of space, to her right the girders, gantries, support struts and various other paraphernalia that allowed the coming and going of so many vessels and people.

"Of course, this is only one of the docking areas," Arto was saying as they walked. "There is one like this for each quadrant, so four in total. Then, of course, there are the smaller ones for VIPs and dignitaries."

He turned and smiled his grandfather smile again.

“Can’t have important people mixing with the likes of us, eh?”

Red returned his smile.”And then there are the military docks. My word, you should see those. You think this is impressive?” He waggled his eyebrows in a mildly disconcerting way. “I managed to wangle myself a short tour once, it was simply breathtaking!”

She saw his eyes mist with the fog of recollection and his steps slowed a little.

“The magnitude, the sheer size of it all… I saw a capital ship. Kilometres long it was. Just sitting there, half of it sticking out into space like some displaced spoke from a giant wheel. Like I said: breathtaking.”

Red nodded, imagining the memories he was looking back into. His reduced pace had caused them to create a bottleneck in the corridor and she was bumped forward as those behind finally lost their patience and pushed past. She stumbled from the shove, half falling against Arto.

“I say!” He called out after the man who had barged his way past. “There’s no call for that. We’ll all get where we’re going.”

The man ignored him, stomping on ahead without apparently realising he was being addressed. Arto offered Red a hand to steady herself and she smiled gratefully as she took it.

“Maybe we should just wait here a moment to let the rush pass,” he suggested. “After all, it’s not like this is a bad place to waste a few minutes.” He turned his eyes to the nearest window and she saw a look of contentment come over his face. “There are certainly worse views one could gaze upon.”

Red stepped to the side, allowing the flow of people to slip by. She took a moment to study Arto. He was old, that was clear, but exactly how old she wasn’t sure. He spoke in an old fashioned way, certainly for the Deorum. He seemed like a gentle soul and it was clear he held a fondness for the Halo that sat somewhere between reverence and love. She found she quite liked him, despite his tendency to talk endlessly without ever considering his audience might not be as enthralled with the choice of subject as he was.

“Why have you come here?” She asked.

The question seemed to pop into her mind from nowhere and was out of her mouth before she even had a chance to think about it. Which persona had it come from?

She hadn’t meant to do anything more than let him witter on until she found an appropriate place to leave him, but something about the old man’s kindly way had snuck under her skin.

He turned from the window and the face she looked upon seemed to have clouded with a hint of darkness she wouldn’t have expected.

“Oh, well, family affairs,” he replied vaguely.

Red got the sense she had inadvertently opened a door he wanted to keep closed. Maybe that was why he talked so much. To be brought down by such an obvious question seemed ridiculous, but if he never allowed a companion the chance to speak it would likely go unasked.

“Sorry,” she said gently. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

Arto brightened suddenly, beaming at her with a smile as forced as it was wide.

“No matter. And no need for apologies. Now,” he started to walk on, the flood of people exiting the cruiser reduced to a final trickle. “You really must let me tell you about the original docking arm mechanism and the (insert date/name) incident that led to the entire way the structure is built needing to be changed.

Red followed on as he talked animatedly, describing what sounded like a horrifying occurrence for all involved, in jolly, excited tones. It took another five minutes to reach the end of the umbilical and make it through the customs checkpoint at the gate. Arto was still educating her on the changed safety protocols by the time they’d made it through the other side and still hadn’t moved on from the subject when they reached the Amory quadrant foyer.

She stopped, looking around and waiting for a breath in his monologue in which she could insert a few words and give herself an exit. Ahead she could see how the station opened out into the cavernous space of the main deck. Lights flashed, the busy sounds of life filtered through from open-sided bars, restaurants, vendors and the catwalks that crisscrossed above. The station was vibrant with movement and noise. So full, so busy, so different from the life her temporary persona had left behind and her real one had grown up knowing.

She let the sights fill her eyes, the sounds flood her ears. Arto might get his kicks from admiring the station’s architecture, but this was the truly breathtaking aspect of the place.

In the distance, she could see the white-faced buildings that rose from a high mezzanine. The administration offices of Amory quadrant were housed there; the local branch of government and all that entailed.

Her eyes traced down to the blurry, darker area sat below. Somewhere in there, in the depths of the Halo, she would find what she’d come here seeking. It wasn’t a part of her task she needed any hangers-on to witness.

Red turned her attention back to Arto and his apparent ability to speak forever without pausing. The pressure of time wasn’t lost on her, but she knew now she liked the old man. She decided she could afford to stay a while longer. He was pleasant and harmless and so clearly lonely. The darker part of her mission would still be waiting in another hour. She could use a little light to remind her why she did what she did, so, for now, she linked her arm through his and let him guide her, talking all the while, into the great bubbling morass of life that was Jupiter's Halo station.