Freelance On The Galactic Tunnel Network by E. Foner (best beach reads of all time TXT) 📗

from people who know I’m funding Colony One out of my own pocket. They think I want to set myself up as queen of a new world.”

“But from everything I learned about the time involved to acquire a colony ship, you’ll be, uh…”

“We’ll all be dead by then,” Sally said. “No need to beat around the bush about it. So, are you both looking forward to the tour? We can start anytime.”

“I don’t understand,” Rachel said, looking around the docking bay where the shuttle from the elevator hub had deposited them. “Are we it?”

“Tours are starting continuously and around the clock. The colony ship’s guiding AI, Flower, has deployed bots to lead the tours herself. There’s a line of them waiting by the lift tube.”

“That sounds like fun. We’ll take the tour and then lunch is on me. I insist,” Rachel said.

“You’ll have to argue with Flower about picking up the check,” Sally said as she led the way to the lift tube. “She’s going all out with the welcome mat. I’ve already lost two of my staff.”

“Lost? As in, you can’t find them because they wandered off?”

“Lost as in Flower convinced them to immigrate, to remain on board. She’s around four and a half million people under capacity, and running a ninety percent vacancy rate is bad for her bottom line. I cheated a little and took a quick tour last night. Can you guess where Flower brought me?”

“To the bridge,” Georgia said immediately. “She must know who you are and she wanted to wow you.”

“Flower brought me to an independent living cooperative for humans sixty-five and older. And I have to admit I was impressed, but I’m not quite ready to hang up my spurs yet.”

“Three for the tour?” a floating four-armed robot inquired when the women reached the lift tube bank.

“That’s right,” Rachel said. “Are you artificial intelligence?”

“It’s just a maintenance bot, but Flower controls them all directly,” the founder of Colony One explained.

“Thank you, Sally,” Flower said through the bot’s speaker. “I know that you’re Georgia Hunt because I read your press ID, but who might your companion be?”

“Rachel. Pleased to meet you.”

“Are there any particular attractions you came to see or should I give you my standard tour?” Flower asked as the bot ushered the three women into the lift tube capsule.

“I saw in a Colony One brochure that the outer deck of Dollnick colony ships is always a reservoir,” Georgia said. “I’d like to see how that works.”

“Splendid,” Flower said. “We’ll start at the hull and work our way in, though it will take a few minutes to get there. What else did you learn from the Colony One brochure?”

“Well, I saw that Frunge colony ships are—”

“Deathtraps,” the Dollnick AI interrupted. “I suppose with your short lifespans you might gamble on the cumulative effects of sub-par radiation screening, but then again, your DNA isn’t as robust as that of the advanced species who’ve been traveling the stars for thousands of generations.”

“Oh. Well, I thought that the Drazen colony ship—”

“More of a space-going hotel,” Flower interrupted again. “Did you know that their current model has to tow in an orbital to do any serious terraforming work? I mean, what’s the point of a colony ship if you get to your destination and you can’t re-engineer the atmosphere.”

Sally nudged Rachel and mouthed, ‘All last night,’ indicating that the conversation was a rerun for her.

“The Grenouthian design looked very comfortable,” Georgia persisted. “Every deck was a park.”

“The Grenouthians build a fine ship, the Verlocks as well for that matter, but let me ask you this,” Flower continued, and lowered her voice in a conspiratorial fashion. “Would you buy a colony ship from a species that hasn’t colonized a new world in over a hundred thousand years?”

“You mean they’re just trophy ships?”

“Exactly. The Verlocks are too busy doing science and magic to be bothered with exploring anymore, and if the Grenouthians ever decide they want a new world, they’ll run the numbers and find that it’s cheaper to buy a custom job from us.”

“Do any of the other species build a colony ship you would recommend?” Sally asked, winking at the other women.

“Well, the Cayl build an impressive vessel, but they keep them for themselves,” Flower said grudgingly. “And here we are.”

The lift tube doors slid open and the passengers exited onto a metal catwalk above a disconcerting lake. It took Georgia a moment to realize that there was something in the human psyche that rebelled against the idea of water sloping upwards to both the left and right, where it was held against the inner hull by centrifugal force.

“The lake extends all the way around your circumference?” Rachel asked.

“I’d be awfully out of balance if it didn’t,” Flower replied. “And it runs the full length of my axis as well. You can never have too much water aboard a colony ship, I always say.”

“It’s beautiful,” Georgia said. “I wonder that it’s not wall-to-wall tour groups.”

“There are currently six hundred and thirteen visitors on the reservoir deck. I intentionally brought you all up through different lift tubes so you’re either hidden from each other by the curvature of the deck or spaced out along the axis beyond your visual acuity.”

“I heard that you have so much fresh fruit growing on board that you’re giving it away,” Rachel said.

“Samples, not bulk quantities,” Flower corrected her. “If you’ve seen enough of the reservoir deck, I have something I want to show you.”

“I thought you wanted us to tell you our interests,” Sally said, and winked at the others a second time.

“One for you, one for me,” the Dollnick AI responded. “It’s only fair.”

Flower’s choice turned out to be a model residential cabin, which all three visitors had to admit was an