Tranquility Down

Tranquility Down

Part Seven

by G. Lawrence

In this sequel to Tranquility in Darkness, we find Grey, Kris, and their allies struggling to establish the Lunar Republic as a legitimate nation. This old-style science fiction novel is presented in 11 parts.

Recap: Hiding on Earth, Grey is working on a southern California farm pretending to be a drifter named Ben Brown. To appreciation for his help, the Farmer family sent Grey into town with the Edelson brothers for an evening of recreation. All characters are over 18 years old. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 7

LONE RANGERS

"Not much, but it's home," Judith said as she opened the door to her apartment.

Grey had never seen such a dwelling unit before. At least, not on Earth. Tranquility's personnel compartments tended to be small, rarely including more than one room and a bath. Even the Governor's Quarters wasn't especially large, though bigger than any of the others except for the VIP suites. Judith's unit actually had three rooms closely linked together, not including the bath, and Grey showed interest in how the rooms were arranged.

"Never been in a girl's apartment before?" Judith asked, amused by his curiosity.

"No," Grey replied.

"I hope you've been deflowered already," she said, giving him a push onto the couch.

"Deflowered. To lose one's virginity. Yes, that has been accomplished," Grey said, trying not to misread the situation. As both Life Support and the Medical Computer had warned him that human mating rituals could be complex, he didn't wish to transgress.

Judith pinned him against the back of the couch and gave him a deep, breathless kiss, stroked the hair off his forehead, and kissed him again while holding his face with both hands. Grey did a better job of returning the kiss the second time, then felt Judith slip her tongue into his mouth.

"I can tell you're shy, so I got right to the wet one," Judith said. "I didn't want you wondering why I brought you up here."

"I assumed you want me to review your research notes and help develop an outline for your graduate proposal," Grey guessed.

"Well, that too," she confessed with embarrassment. "Doesn't mean we can't have some fun, though, does it?"

"Fun can be worthwhile," Grey agreed.

He took her in his arms, rolled her down on the couch the way Kris liked, and kissed her softly but with feeling.

"Are you this good at everything?" she asked.

"I'm well trained in a variety of areas," Grey said, guessing this was a form of pillow talk.

They got off the couch and went into the dimly lit bedroom where Judith pulled Grey's clothes off, pushed him on the bed, and disappeared into the bathroom. She returned a moment later dressed in a very sparse negligee.

"Sailor home from the sea?" she whispered, quoting a line from a popular Broadway show.

"Sailor home, upon the sea; won't you come away with me. Sailor sit, upon the shore; and be my lover forevermore," Grey chanted.

"You get around, don't you?" Judith smiled.

She activated the music sensor, instructed the lighting to an indirect setting, then stood at the foot of the bed and slowly took the nightgown off, humming the song as she performed a slow strip in the half shadows.

"Comfy?" she asked, crawling in next to him and initiating foreplay.

After a variety of activities that had been recommended to him by the Medical Computer, Grey moved on top and realized this was quite a different experience than he had expected. Where Kris was muscular, a soldier by trade, Judith was soft. Where Catarina had been hesitant, Judith was passionate. Where the moon's lighter gravity made such activity a challenge, and zero gravity made it all but impossible, Earth's heavier gravity provided a whole new physical dimension, allowing concentration on the sensual aspects. Once Grey discovered he could be more aggressive without bouncing both of them off the bed, he carefully began to exert more strength.

"I'm not fragile," she said, as if reading his thoughts.

To prove her point, she slipped an arm under Grey's shoulder and rolled him over on his back with her sitting on top.

"See?" she smiled.

She found him ready to continue and started again, sliding down and taking what she wanted. Grey liked the feel of her soft flesh, her interesting smell, and appreciated her enthusiasm, doing his best to share it. But Grey could not help thinking that he would rather be with Kris. Judith was pleasant, but Kris was special.

"You're very disciplined," Judith said after they finished. "Don't get me wrong, it was good, but you need to loosen up. Next time, try not to think so much. Hungry?"

A few minutes later they were entering the office, which Grey learned was actually a second bedroom. Dressed in cotton bathrobes, they sat down at the desk eating snack food, sipping a red wine, and going through the notes Grey had made at the nightclub. Once the new information had been downloaded in her computer, Grey showed her how the theories fit together and mapped out a thesis project for her.

"Am I going too fast?" Grey asked, seeing Judith frown as he zipped from one series of screens to the next.

"It'll take time to catch up, but I have a photographic memory. Anything that's not clear now I can always research later," she said, anxious for him to continue.

Grey finished the sequence and leaned back in the chair, pleased with the result. And impressed by the modern entry panel of her computer, which allowed faster referencing than Tranquility's older system. Between the temple headset, vocal prompts and keyboard sensors, he had produced more data more quickly than expected. Judith was pleased, too.

"I can't thank you enough for this," she said. "Not that I won't try."

She pulled his chair back, dumped him on the floor, and playfully held him down while she kissed his neck and worked her way south. The sudden assault took Grey by surprise and he felt that he should protest, but he didn't want to be discourteous.

Half an hour later, while sitting in the bathroom spa finishing the wine, Judith nestled close to Grey and ran her fingers over several old scars on his chest. She also found faint evidence of wounds on his neck, shoulders and legs.

"You've really seen some action, haven't you?" she observed.

"Not as much as I've seen tonight," he jested.

"Thank you," she laughed. "It must have been exciting at the Landing tonight. How did you knock down all those seekers?"

"I've not made such a claim," Grey replied.

"But it was you. Your friend even talked about the prize money."

"His sibling won more money wagering than the prize was worth."

"But you don't deny it, do you?" Judith persisted.

"It's nothing worth bragging about," Grey answered, seeking to change the subject. "They were only holograms. Anyone with appropriate training can do it."

"You should be more careful. Those brothers might not be too bright, but if you do things like that too often, others are bound to catch on. And I assume you don't want that. I'm glad you decided not to be so secretive with me, though," she explained, her tone growing serious.

"Your meaning is obscure," Grey said.

"No, I'm not being obscure. Just discreet. It's not every woman who gets made love to by the Governor of the Moon. Grey." Judith looked him straight in the eye, making her confidence in the deduction clear.

"So much for my career as a secret agent," he whispered.

"This is so incredible. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Among other things, spending some time being an ordinary person," he explained.

"You couldn't be ordinary if your life depended on it, and I certainly hope it doesn't. Isn't being in the NA dangerous for you?"

"Perhaps, but necessary," he reluctantly admitted.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"The longer my identity remains unknown, the easier it will be for me to return home safely. Otherwise, pursuing your studies is your best method of contribution."

"My studies?" she asked.

"You display much talent. The future needs good scientists more than ever before, and if M.I.S.T. doesn't want you, I know a more remote institution that does," he suggested.

"Wow, I just can't believe it," she sighed. "Grey Waters, sitting in my hot pool."

"I hope you don't believe those outlandish stories they tell about me," Grey said.

"They say you've got a girlfriend who'll burn my ass if she catches me in your arms," Judith teased.

"Why would Kris do that?" Grey inquired in all seriousness.

"Do you have an open relationship?"

"I don't know what that means," he replied.

"Are you allowed to sleep with other partners?" she clarified.

"The subject has never come up. Is it important?" he asked.

"You really are a babe in the woods, aren't you?" Judith laughed, giving him another wet kiss.

____________

"Tyman's pissed off again," Admiral Trolleni grouched, entering the officer's lounge of High Command Headquarters without his aides. Sitting at the window overlooking the parade grounds, also without their staff members, General Smyth and General Vandebrown looked unsurprised.

"What's up his butt this time?" Vandebrown asked.

"It's weird, Jim. We've got a stockpile of reports that aren't adding up," Trolleni related. "And even worse, there's a new communications web in orbit. Can you believe it? A whole goddamn web."

"Let me guess? Tranquility?" Smyth smirked.

"Goddamn right," Trolleni confirmed. "If we don't do something about this so-called Lunar Republic soon, they'll not only dominate lunar space, they'll control our orbital paths, too."

"Calm down, Carlos, there's no evidence they're trying to impede our right of way," Vandebrown said. "Someone would have put up a new web eventually. So what if the moon beat us to it?"

"Because we can't censor this one," Trolleni said. "Whole network is relayed. Coordinates with the moon's web and feeds ground stations all over the world."

"How terrible," Vandebrown said. "The people will have access to the truth. Should we declare war?"

"Damn it, Jim, this isn't funny," Trolleni said. "The politicians are up in arms, demanding we do something. Knock the web down or jam the relays."

"If we start knocking down satellites, it will violate every treaty we've signed in the last three years," Vandebrown warned. "We'd be at war so fast the draft boards couldn't keep pace."

Trolleni sat down in a big chair across from the two generals, pouring himself a cup of coffee and looking at the cadets drilling on the field below them.

"There's something else, but it can't leave this room. Not until we know more," Trolleni said. "Waters didn't return to the moon like we thought."

Vandebrown and Smyth both straightened up, giving Trolleni their full attention.

"If he didn't go back to the moon, what happened?" Smyth asked.

"At first we thought the warhead got him," Trolleni suggested. "Not the first one, we know he escaped that. The second one, on X40."

"The asteroid he deflected to help us?" Vandebrown asked.

"Well, we're not sure what he was trying to do," Trolleni said. "But his shuttle slipped into orbit and deployed those satellites that Tyman's all irate about, then dropped into the stratosphere."

"Burned up?" Smyth asked.

"Can't be certain, but doesn't look like it," Trolleni said in a hushed tone. "Packet broke up all right. We found debris floating in the Pacific. But there's tracking to show what looked like a meteor might actually have been a controlled fall. Intel thinks it may have been an escape pod."

"Christ Almighty," Vandebrown said. "Do we know where it landed?"

"West coast, probably. If it landed intact," Trolleni hinted.

"What are we doing about it?" Smyth asked.

"Assigned a silent force to beat the bushes. If Waters came down in one bite, they'll try to scoop him up quietly," Trolleni confided.

"And if they can't take him quietly?" Vandebrown asked.

"Accidents happen. Don't worry, the administration won't get blamed," Trolleni assured him.

"I'll activate a home guard unit," Vandebrown offered. "If you need back up, we'll be ready."

"Thanks, Jim," Trolleni agreed. "With these politicians twisting my balls, it's good to know I still have friends."

____________

On a beautiful Sunday morning, the runner returned from Ventura along the main highway and up a smaller road, passing farms and ranches as it entered Hope Valley. When the runner neared the town, they turned down a side street past the park, pulling to a stop before a tall white church built in a style made popular two centuries before. Though the parking lot was full, there were no parishioners in evidence.

Accompanying Peter and Walter, Grey followed them up the recently painted wooden steps but paused before going inside.

"Come on, Ben, we're already late," Walter urged.

Dressed mostly in their Saturday clothes, except for clean shirts, the brothers went in with Grey tentatively trailing behind. The building had a small entry area that opened into the much larger chapel. Grey noticed the entry area had an ancient form of local information exchange called a bulletin board, and the far corners were used to store folded tables and chairs. As he stepped into the chapel, Grey saw the pews were nearly full, more than a hundred people in all, and the minister was standing to one side while a choir of a dozen men and women sang an old hymn. Grey recognized the song, it was one of the more common ones used at Tranquility's Interfaith Chapel.

"I've got a lot of sin to repent today," Walter whispered with a grin.

"It wasn't sin for me," Peter said. "I'm in love."

Walter laughed. "What about you, Ben? Was it love?" he asked.

"It wasn't sin," Grey merely replied.

As they entered the chapel, many heads turned in their direction, a few in recognition when they saw Grey, most in curiosity. Grey spied the Farmer family off to one side. Old Sam with his wife and granddaughter, and the Higgins family, were sitting nearby. John waved his hand to the minister, who stopped the choir in mid-song, and soon the congregation had gotten to its feet looking at the late arrivals.

"Ben, welcome to our church," John said loudly.

Marsus pushed past the children and came up the aisle to take Grey's hand, leading him back to their pew. Everyone slid over to make room and Grey quickly took a seat so he wouldn't be so easy to stare at. The congregation sat down again and the choir resumed.

"How was your night on the town?" Marsus asked in a low voice.

"Excellent," Grey said just as quietly, careful as always to be respectful in such a place. With so many vital missions to accomplish, it would be unwise to offend the God of the Humans.

The choir finished singing and the minister stepped back to the pulpit. He was a tall man with a youthful appearance who smiled directly at Grey, then addressed the parish.

"We owe special thanks today," the minister said. "We haven't seen this house so full in many years, nor has our valley had so much water in just as long. I might be tempted to wonder if one has anything to do with the other, but I know my neighbors better than that. We have come through difficult times together, and now we look forward to healthy crops, fat stock, happy children, and a strong community. What better way to celebrate His blessings? Let us pray."

Every head in the church quickly bowed except Grey, who was caught off guard. He did not want to insult his hosts, but he also had no wish to mock their faith. He compromised by tilting his head slightly and watching to see if anything unexpected would happen.

"Dear Lord, thank you for your strength in adversity, your compassion in time of loss, and your love that shines upon our families. And thank you for this new beginning. Amen."

"Amen," the parish echoed, and at the same moment, Grey could feel Marsus squeeze his hand. Many others looked in his direction and smiled at him, as if he had something to do with it. If there had been enough space to crawl under the pew, Grey would have given it a try.

After services, the chapel emptied out amid a buzz of conversation, moving into the nearby park where lemonade, a beer keg, and baskets of food suddenly appeared. Grey found himself one focus of attention, though the big smiles that Peter and Walter wore also drew a crowd. Grey was close enough to hear their stories about the Lunar Landing and winning the bets, and was relieved when they neglected to mention his role in the escapade. Perhaps Judith is in error, he thought. The brothers may not be so dense after all.

"Let the boy get something to eat," John said, coming to rescue Grey from a bevy of well-wishers.

Jaybee was nearby, also running interference, and Susie took Grey to the picnic table where the food was laid out. Grey breathed a sigh of relief. Though he believed he was getting better at dealing with large numbers of humans, the sensation of panic was still sometimes hard to suppress.

"What would you like, Ben?" Susie asked, getting a plate for him.

Several ladies quickly made suggestions, but Grey stayed with the vegetable dishes he knew best, then returned to the protection of a large shade tree where the Farmer family had camped out.

"First picnic?" John asked as he munched on fried chicken wings.

"First time I've been to a picnic outdoors," Grey said, sensing the relaxed nature of the surrounding park. "Are community gatherings of this nature common?"

"When weather permits," John said. "And when enough people feel like getting together."

"Women like to meet and talk," Marsus said. "The men like to gossip and burn food." John grinned.

Soon a female approached, apparently by invitation, and joined the family, presenting a freshly made strawberry pie for dessert.

"This is Meredith, Seth Lefebvre's daughter," Marsus introduced. "His only daughter. Meredith, this is Ben Brown."

"Lefebvre owns that big ranch east of the main highway," John quickly added. "Mostly cattle, along with some bison and ostrich."

Grey had seen the well-managed ranch from the road. And he noticed the female as well, her dress and posture far different than many of the young women he had met. Dressed in the rural tradition, petite, demur, and quite striking, she smiled at Grey under tilted eyebrows.

Grey guessed the strawberry pie wasn't the only thing being offered. He wasn't sure how he knew that, at first, but then he recalled having watched an old entertainment vid with a similar plot. A glance at the other picnickers, who were surreptitiously looking in their direction, helped to confirm his theory.

"I guess we were a little clumsy about that," John said after Meredith left.

"What is it you're seeking?" Grey asked.

"A few of us were talking," John said. "What you've done for my place, well, there's lots of farms and ranches in the valley that could use some help. Most of the work we can do ourselves, but you have this ... I don't know, sixth sense about how to get things accomplished. We thought about forming into teams, and with your help..." John's voice trailed off, embarrassed to be asking such a favor.

"I'm not sure how much longer I may remain in this area, regardless of how pretty the rancher's daughter is," Grey said. "But if your neighbors meet my terms, I'll do my best to provide assistance."

"We don't have much money. Not until the crops come in," John said. "Maybe after harvest?"

"Credits are irrelevant to me," Grey said somewhat curtly.

"Sorry," John apologized. "What is it you want?"

"You ... farmers, debate each decision at length. I have no patience for such a process," Grey explained. "If you wish my help, only procedural questions will be allowed. If your neighbors can't match my pace, that's understandable, but I won't be held back merely to avoid hurt feelings."