“All of this,” he
pointed to the paperwork and files on his desk, “this all has to do with my
legitimate business. Everything else, I keep up here,” he said, pointing to
his head. “Anything digital can be traced and tracked. A lot of things that
are not digital can be traced and tracked. We try to avoid leaving a
signature anywhere, but…” He hesitated a moment before speaking again. “…But
as this war develops, it seems that there are no guarantees about anything. I
suppose uncertainty is always the product of any war…” Pook looked up and
appeared to decide against whatever it was he had been going to say.
“How did the trip go?” Pook asked.
“Not bad when you consider how bad it could have been,”
Dawn said with a sigh. “Things have obviously gone downhill since I was here
last. The biggest road bump was when Jed here and his new friend Jerry got
pinched by Transport for insurrectionist conversations during their
holo-trip.”
Pook looked at Jed and nodded his approval, as if he were
impressed. Jed responded silently by pointing at Jerry.
“That’s a story you’ll have to tell me later.” Pook
looked at his cousin. “Do you have the gold to get yourself into the AZ?”
“Donavan had to go back and get it from the station.”
“Donavan?” Pook snorted with obvious dissatisfaction.
“Jed thought he was busted, and he hid the gold in the
seat of his pod.”
Pook nodded again. “Okay… well… Jed here is a thinker.
I’ll give him that, for sure. How do we know Donavan won’t skedaddle with the
gold?”
“I told him I wasn’t paying for the exfil or the BICE
removal until he shows up with the gold.”
“Clever of you. Not so much of him. Doesn’t he know that
unis are basically worthless?”
“Apparently not.”
“Well let’s hope he gets here with the gold before he
finds out,” Pook said with a wink. He stood up and walked toward the door.
“We’ll have to go next door to the antique shop, that’s where I keep the
Transport forms for the AZ.”
****
Merrill’s Antique Shoppe had been spared most of the
damage from the recent battles that the grocery supply building had suffered.
Pook unlocked the door with an old-fashioned metal key, and as they walked in,
only a faint blue-grey light from the streetlamps filtered into the darkened
building, casting a ghostly hue on the items in the shop.
Without even being able to see much of it, the old
building gave Jed a brief feeling of comfort. He felt like he was in one of
the ancient buildings on his family’s farm back on Earth. Everything in the
building was old—and for Jed, strangely, it was the first time he’d felt safe
since he’d left the Amish Zone back home. Here he was on a planet in a
completely different solar system, and everything around him looked vaguely
familiar.
Pook pulled some heavy blanket curtains down over the
glass windows in the storefront, leaving them in almost perfect darkness. Then
he walked through the store, and as he did he paused occasionally to light some
fuel-burning lanterns that hung from wrought-iron hooks throughout the
building. Jed couldn’t say what kind of fuel the lanterns burned, but in his
melancholic reverie he could swear that it smelled just like kerosene. A
golden glow flooded the store as Pook lit the last lantern.
“A lot of this stuff might look really familiar to you,
Jed,” Pook said, almost as if he sensed what Jed was feeling. “We buy a lot of
old junk on our regular trips to the Amish Zone. People in the City like Amish
stuff for some reason. They’ll hang just about anything Amish on their walls.
I sold a six-inch piece of rope the other day for a thousand unis.” He shook
his head and let out a little giggle. “Of course, now that unis are worthless,
maybe I was the one who got the short end of that deal. Seemed good for
me at the time, though.”
“The paperwork?” Dawn
pointed to the paperwork and files on his desk, “this all has to do with my
legitimate business. Everything else, I keep up here,” he said, pointing to
his head. “Anything digital can be traced and tracked. A lot of things that
are not digital can be traced and tracked. We try to avoid leaving a
signature anywhere, but…” He hesitated a moment before speaking again. “…But
as this war develops, it seems that there are no guarantees about anything. I
suppose uncertainty is always the product of any war…” Pook looked up and
appeared to decide against whatever it was he had been going to say.
“How did the trip go?” Pook asked.
“Not bad when you consider how bad it could have been,”
Dawn said with a sigh. “Things have obviously gone downhill since I was here
last. The biggest road bump was when Jed here and his new friend Jerry got
pinched by Transport for insurrectionist conversations during their
holo-trip.”
Pook looked at Jed and nodded his approval, as if he were
impressed. Jed responded silently by pointing at Jerry.
“That’s a story you’ll have to tell me later.” Pook
looked at his cousin. “Do you have the gold to get yourself into the AZ?”
“Donavan had to go back and get it from the station.”
“Donavan?” Pook snorted with obvious dissatisfaction.
“Jed thought he was busted, and he hid the gold in the
seat of his pod.”
Pook nodded again. “Okay… well… Jed here is a thinker.
I’ll give him that, for sure. How do we know Donavan won’t skedaddle with the
gold?”
“I told him I wasn’t paying for the exfil or the BICE
removal until he shows up with the gold.”
“Clever of you. Not so much of him. Doesn’t he know that
unis are basically worthless?”
“Apparently not.”
“Well let’s hope he gets here with the gold before he
finds out,” Pook said with a wink. He stood up and walked toward the door.
“We’ll have to go next door to the antique shop, that’s where I keep the
Transport forms for the AZ.”
****
Merrill’s Antique Shoppe had been spared most of the
damage from the recent battles that the grocery supply building had suffered.
Pook unlocked the door with an old-fashioned metal key, and as they walked in,
only a faint blue-grey light from the streetlamps filtered into the darkened
building, casting a ghostly hue on the items in the shop.
Without even being able to see much of it, the old
building gave Jed a brief feeling of comfort. He felt like he was in one of
the ancient buildings on his family’s farm back on Earth. Everything in the
building was old—and for Jed, strangely, it was the first time he’d felt safe
since he’d left the Amish Zone back home. Here he was on a planet in a
completely different solar system, and everything around him looked vaguely
familiar.
Pook pulled some heavy blanket curtains down over the
glass windows in the storefront, leaving them in almost perfect darkness. Then
he walked through the store, and as he did he paused occasionally to light some
fuel-burning lanterns that hung from wrought-iron hooks throughout the
building. Jed couldn’t say what kind of fuel the lanterns burned, but in his
melancholic reverie he could swear that it smelled just like kerosene. A
golden glow flooded the store as Pook lit the last lantern.
“A lot of this stuff might look really familiar to you,
Jed,” Pook said, almost as if he sensed what Jed was feeling. “We buy a lot of
old junk on our regular trips to the Amish Zone. People in the City like Amish
stuff for some reason. They’ll hang just about anything Amish on their walls.
I sold a six-inch piece of rope the other day for a thousand unis.” He shook
his head and let out a little giggle. “Of course, now that unis are worthless,
maybe I was the one who got the short end of that deal. Seemed good for
me at the time, though.”
“The paperwork?” Dawn
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