Tumbler Read online

  Tumbler

  by Brand Gamblin

  Chapter 1

  Libby pushed off from the porthole, and floated over to her makeshift bed. She finished packing just as a thunderous, scraping metal gong sounded, like a magnet sticking to an iron bell. She floated down the corridor toward the center of the sound. It came from the bottom of the cargo hold, near a round seam in the metal wall.

  Even from a distance, Libby could see the large circle in the wall rotate slowly in place. It groaned and shrieked with metal fighting metal, until finally it snapped with a noise so powerful that she could feel in her head. Her ears popped with the sudden change in pressure as air rushed in.

  As the new air blew past her, Libby smelled the dirt again. For weeks she'd lived in that cargo hold, sitting on twenty tons of soil, fertilizer, bacteria and chemicals, all packed down tight and shrink-wrapped. When she'd first climbed in, the smell was horrible. But after all that time, she had forgotten the stink of the dirt and chemicals. Now, as new air flooded the compartment as the pressure stabilized, and she remembered the smell. The contrast was blistering, and made her eyes water. Whatever was outside the ship smelled hideous in comparison.

  Expecting someone to come through the door, she hovered near the hole, grasping the edge and waiting. When no one showed up, she poked her head through the door. A tube, hundreds of feet long, snaked between the ship and the main bubble of civilization. The tube connected the cargo ship to the station, undulating lazily in the vacuum of space. Libby floated into the tube slowly, touching the sides of it. A coiled wire provided the shape of the thin, translucent plastic, and when she touched it, it crinkled like wax paper. The plastic cover felt thin, like it could give at any moment, so she decided to get out of it as soon as possible.

  Libby pulled herself down the tube, hand over hand, gaining speed as she went. The closer she got to the atmospheric bubble, the faster she moved. Soon, Libby was sliding down the tube, as the low gravity of the asteroid started to claim her. She bumped against the tube, ricocheting into one plastic wall, then the other. She knew that Ceres had one-third the gravity of Earth, so technically it should feel somewhere between her weight on Earth and on the Moon. But how far up was she falling from? How fast would she be going when she hit the bottom?

  The acceleration didn't feel safe, and it started to make her nervous. Libby reached for the plastic walls wondering if she was doing this wrong. She grabbed at the plastic, hoping to find a seam that would slow her down, but she kept gaining speed as she slid off the tube. Fear started to well up in her, and she felt a scream building in her chest. She was sliding faster and faster as she saw a tan light at the end of the tunnel. She tumbled out of the exit, and into the biggest mess she had ever seen.

  She fell on her back in a pile of dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust that lingered, dispersing slowly. She gagged on the smell, and tried to keep her food down. The whole place was filthy, reeking of pigs, chickens, soot, and most of all, humans.

  One single human being alone generally doesn't smell too bad. Put a few of them together in a crowded elevator, and you could be worried about your antiperspirant, but put thousands of them together, all in the same area, breathing the same recycled air, for years at a time, and the stench gets overwhelming.

  On top of the smell, the noise was unbearable. People teemed from every alley, all moving with a quick purpose, not even bothering to look at her. They poured out of the city, swarming around her, chattering, shouting, fighting, laughing. There was a loud crunching noise each time someone raised a foot to walk, and the cumulative effect was like a crackling rumble of a thunderstorm. Libby could barely stand, with all the people penning her in. She gagged at the smell and noise, dry-heaving and crawling on her hands and knees, just trying to get away. Tears welled in her eyes as the smell overpowered her. She nearly ran into a man's legs as he smiled down at her.

  He stood with his meaty hands resting on his wide hips. He wore a thick brown longhair coat. Between the coat and his massive girth, Libby thought he looked like a giant hairball. He nodded at her happily, "There you go, don't worry about it. Everybody gets that way at first. I won't say the smell gets better, but you'll get to where you don't mind it so much." He nodded again, as she tried to stand up.

  She stumbled, one hand going to her mouth, covering it involuntarily. He reached down and helped her up, saying, "There, there. You'll be all right. Just give it some time." She clutched at his shoulder, not trusting her legs. Normally, one-third Earth's gravity would make her bounce all around the place. However, after living in freefall for so many weeks, she felt heavy and struggled to keep her legs under her. Her breathing was labored, and the smell still made her stomach want to turn.

  "Who-" Libby's head was swimming and she couldn't breathe, as her blood got used to flowing the right way again. She took a deep breath and held it, one palm resting on her forehead, then said, "Who are you?"

  He grinned widely at her and held out one meaty hand. "Name's Sam! I'm with the company." Libby took the paw in her tiny hand and shook it. "I'm a kind of liaison, I help people get acclimated, show them to their housing, make sure they have the company stipend." She nodded slowly at him, waiting for her head to clear enough that she could understand him.

  She paused for so long that he frowned at her, "Or have they already set you up with your company stipend?"

  She shook her head not trusting herself to speak yet. Sam reached into his coat, and produced a small coin purse that jingled as he withdrew it, "Here now, let's get your purse, and I'll set you up with the first month's payment."

  Libby reached for her purse, and holding it up, the world swam out from under her. Her head throbbed as blood pounded in her ears. Sam held her shoulders to steady her, "Here, now. You're pretty bad off. You need to sit down, before you fall down."

  Sam guided her to a grubby park bench, asking, "How long has it been since you've eaten, little one?"

  She clutched her bag in one hand and dangled her meager purse from the other, trying to remember her last meal. Was it breakfast? Dinner?

  He frowned down at her, "You're going to black out if you're not careful. Now put your head between your knees, and take a few slow breaths. Don't worry, dear, you'll start to feel better."

  She did as she was told, lacing her fingers over her head with her eyes closed. Her head cleared, and while the smell did not diminish, she didn't feel like hurling anymore. Libby looked up slowly, not trusting herself yet, "Thank you. I don't know-"

  There was no one there. He was gone. The press of people swarmed all around, but the portly man was missing entirely. The only stable things she could see were the bench, her pack, the mass of people pushing and shoving, but no Sam. . . and no purse.

  Chapter 2

  Libby gasped and checked again. She looked under the bench, then climbed up onto it to get a better vantage point. Through the sea of people, she couldn't identify anyone, or even tell one person from another.

  A young man in S&V coveralls ran up to her, and frowned, "Um. Ms. Carter? Sorry I missed you at the door. My name's Mike and -"

  "We have to find him!" She shouted at the boy.

  "Who?" Feeding off of her immediacy, he jumped up on the bench.

  "Sam. The company liaison. I think he still has my purse!"

  After a moment, she could feel the boy's look on her back as she continued to cast about, "Um, miss? We don't have a company liaison."

  She scowled at him, "Of course you do. Large man, wears a fur coat. Calls himself Sam."

  The boy waited and watched her as it sunk in. The rustling din of the foot traffic died down in her mind as she adjusted to it, and her scowl deepened. Her eyes narrowed as realization dawned on her. Squaring her shoulders and holding her head up, she asked, "O
kay, so then. How do we find him?"

  He shook his head slowly, "Large man with a fur coat. Goes by a fake name. I'm sorry, miss, but I don't think we'll find him."

  "Well then, let's find a cop!" She frowned at him as he stood still, trying not to make it any worse. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. Glaring at him, she said the words for him, "But there aren't any cops out here."

  He shrugged, "It's a new frontier, miss. People are still worried about scraping up a living. We haven't had enough time to worry about grocery stores, fire departments, or law enforcement. I think he's gone, miss."

  "But he's got all my money! Everything that I had left! What am I supposed to do?" Tension started to make her voice crack.

  The boy shrugged again, "If it makes you feel any better, there's no shortage of work around here. I'm sure you'll be able to find a job in no time."

  She glared at him, "So if you can't help, what good are you? Who the hell are you, anyway?"

  He blinked for a moment, then nodded as though he suddenly remembered, "My name's Mike, and I'm here to help you out. See you off the ship, carry your things, that sort of thing."

  She nodded, "Okay, so, where do I go?"

  "Sorry?"

  "Where do I go now? You know, to get my free land."

  The boy's eyes widened and ran one hand through his tousled blonde hair. Libby rested her fists on her hips as she waited. He had to know what she was talking about. S&V LLC had offered her free room and board, as well as a workable asteroid of her own. The deal was that she worked for them in exchange for the free land. And while she may have been tricked out of her life savings so far, she refused to let them welch on this.

  The boy took a deep breath, and let it out from puffed-out cheeks. "Oh, okay. Well, wow. Um. Tell you what. I'm supposed to help unload this cargo on G deck. Why don't you wait in the Mary, and I'll -" He looked around for some way out, "or, you know, if not me, maybe somebody else'll come to take you to your place."

  She nodded slowly, "Okay, well, I'll just wait in the, um, Mary?"

  A grin broke across his face as he nodded, "Yeah! The Hail Mary. It's the biggest building in town. Just start walking, and you'll see it. I'll have someone come by to help you in just a bit."

  "All right." Libby shouldered her pack, one hand clasped around the strap, and started to merge into the teeming throng of people.

  She took one step, then stopped. Her feet felt wrong. When she was crawling onto the bench, she had been too disoriented to notice, but as soon as she started walking, her feet felt sluggish and resistant. They seemed to pull back when she lifted them. It felt a bit like when your feet go to sleep, and you have to move them with deliberation.

  She lifted one foot to check the sole of the boots she had found in the ship's locker. They seemed like good, sturdy work boots, but there was something else on the sole. Running her hand over it, she felt thousands of tiny bristles all along the surface. She dropped her foot and looked at the dingy yellow thoroughfare. Between the press of people walking, she could see that it was a carpet. The yellow roads of Blessed were covered in thin, plastic fur. At first, it didn't make any kind of sense, then it clicked, and she grinned.

  She breathed the word, "Velcro."

  Mike was still standing next to her, and he smiled, "Oh, yes ma'am. We use velcro for all our roads. Well after all, we're standing on one-third Earth's gravity, so you've gotta make sure people aren't bouncing all over the place, running into each other." She listened to the wave of crushing, crunching noises and recognized it for what it was. That background din that seemed to undulate like an ocean wave, was just the sounds of thousands of feet, attaching and detaching from the ground.

  She stared out at them, as slow grin forming, "Of course. Nice." She turned back to him, "Okay, thanks!", and dived into the throng.

  As she was carried away by the pressing current of people, she heard the boy shout, "Ask for Mary when you get there!"

  Libby tried to weave through the crowd, tried to push past some of them, but in the end found it was easier to let the traffic take her where it wanted to go. In the distance, between people's shoulders, a tall, bright blue roof emerged, with an arrow made of rope lights pointing to the entrance. Libby pushed her way through the throng, and into the place.

  She was hit with a gust of air as she opened the door. Cool, clean, pure air, coursed over her and through her hair. She closed her eyes and luxuriated in it. The wind blew back her hair, and she felt the oppressive humidity of the dismal street wash away. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a bar.

  The huge bar ran the length of one wall in the biggest room Libby had ever seen. It was almost as big as the cargo hold she'd traveled in. The dim lighting could not have been responsible for the bright atmosphere. She took a few steps in slowly, smelling a stew, redolent and strong. Some parts reminded her of a bar, but other things just didn't fit.

  People sat at tables spread out all over, but the white-cloth covered tables each had a candle sitting in the middle. They engaged in lively conversation, and dug wildly into their meals, but no smelly drunks lay draped over any of the tables. People played cards, laughing and shouting, but no cutthroat games like she had pictured.

  The greatest oddity of all stood behind he bar. The huge woman in a bright red dress, smiled and laughed as she poured drinks. Her immense red sequined blouse flashed like a warning light behind the bar. Libby headed up to the bar, and took a seat far away from any of the patrons. The place looked nice, but she kept a tight grip on her pack.

  She looked around to see if there were table games. Pool, darts, things a normal bar might have. The place was devoid of any -

  "Ice Tea!"

  Libby jumped in her seat and spun around to see the corpulent woman grinning at her from behind the bar. The woman smiled at her as Libby looked at the astonishing collection of jewelry on her fingers, in and around her ears, about her neck, even a circlet riding on her brow. The woman wore about a dozen necklaces strained around her throat like multifaceted chokers. As the woman grinned widely Libby saw a huge span of bright teeth inches from her face. She blinked back the mental image of a shark.

  "I- I'm sorry?" Her pack was suddenly pressed against her chest, where she gripped it closely. Libby wondered briefly whether she clutched it to protect the pack or use it as a shield.

  The woman let out a loud healthy bray of unconcerned joy, "You're an Ice Tea if I ever saw one! I'm never wrong about what people drink, and I dare you to be the exception." Her grin never faltered as Libby stammered again. Before she could say anything, the woman shouted, "Go on, order a drink."

  Libby nodded, "Well, an ice tea does sound nice." Before she finished saying it, the woman placed a cold glass of tea in front of her, with a lemon perched on the edge. She backed away from Libby for a moment, and raised one eyebrow, "You look like you just fell off the ship. Means you haven't had a proper meal in a while. What would you say to a hot bowl of stew?"

  Libby started nodding as she reached for the ice tea, but as her hands touched the cool, wet glass, she stopped. She pushed the glass away, "I'm sorry. I can't. I just- I lost all my money. I mean, I didn't lose it. I know who has it, but I don't know where he is, and I can't . . . " Libby caught herself, and snapped her mouth shut. She straightened and squared her shoulders as she looked the huge woman in the eye, "I'm sorry, but I can't pay you. Maybe next time."

  The woman frowned, her whole face crumpling dangerously as though unaccustomed to the expression, "Hon, this is a border planet. We know the value of bartering, and I can tell you're hungry." As if on cue, Libby's stomach began rumbling. The woman continued as though she hadn't heard it, "Fact is, if you've got anything at all, I can find a way to make it a fair trade."

  Libby shrugged and started searching through her bag, "All I've got are old clothes, a weblink, my music, and . . . " her hand brushed against something at the bottom. A pair of earrings. A cheap pair of earrings at home, but here, millions of mi
les from Earth, they might be worth something. They might be worth a lot to a woman who collected so much jewelry.

  Her hand shook a little as she withdrew the earrings. They didn't make a sound as she placed them on the bar. Libby's eyes never left the earrings as she said, "Those are all I've got of . . . well, they're all I've got. They must be worth more than the food."

  The bartender raised an eyebrow and scooped them up with one sweep of her arm. Libby stared at the dark wood of the bar as the immense woman held her earrings up to the light. The woman said, "Well, they're pretty enough, but it's cheap metal, plated, and I'm pretty sure the stones are fake."

  Libby's hands balled into fists on the bar as her ears flushed red, but she bit her lip and refused to look up.

  For a long moment, the woman watched Libby, holding the earrings as if weighing them in her hand, then she nodded once. She dropped the earrings to the bar with a clatter, "Sorry, hon, but I run a business here, and those things aren't good enough for barter." She moved on down the bar as Libby returned the earrings to her bag, her face flushed. She just wanted to pack up her stuff and get out of town.

  A hot bowl of stew clattered onto the bar in front of her. The woman stood frowning behind it, arms crossed over her immense chest, "No, I'd say those earrings are barely enough to qualify you for a tab here at the Hail Mary."

  Libby blinked and looked up at her. The woman dropped a spoon in the bowl without smiling. Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Don't make me regret it, honey. This is my place, stores are tight, and I don't ever give away food. Ask anybody."

  Libby reached a hand out for the spoon, then extended it further, offering it to the woman. "So, are you Mary?"

  A smile broke out on the woman's face, and she wiped her hand on her apron before shaking, "In a manner of speaking. My name's Miriam, but everybody here calls me Mary, on account of the bar." Libby frowned and nodded, which Miriam took for an invitation, "You see, my bar was one of the first buildings erected in this place. It was originally a communal soup kitchen for the miners. I ran the place back then, and once we started making money, I bought it outright. Back then, they had just named the city Blessed, so I went with a name that would appeal to the holy sentiment, the 'Hail Mary'. Most people don't see past the religious aspect, but for me, the name stood for the big chance everybody was taking with their claims."