John Ringo - East of the Sun, West of the Moon

“Not at all,” Herzer admitted, looking at another file. “This guy is old but another of his comments is that he’s a long-distance runner. That will at least mean he might be in shape. Pilots?”

“That was somewhat easier,” June said, smiling. “I’ve got nine of those. One of them… is a little odd…”

“Define odd,” Herzer said, frowning. “And no ancient or cripples?”

“Not crippled by any means,” June said, frowning. “Her file actually came from the Intelligence Department; she had been some sort of an agent in Ropasa but is now in the UFS. She Changed herself, before the Fall, into a… well, a bird, sort of…”

“Jolie?” Herzer said, picking up the file. “No, Joie?”

“You know her?” June asked.

“I met her; she had joined up with Megan in Gael,” Herzer said, looking at the file. “She doesn’t have a current listed address. What is she doing?”

“Working as waitress in Balmoran,” June said, shrugging. “But she piloted before the Change, including interplanetary. She’s trained, according to the records, in celestial navigation and orbital mechanics.”

Herzer considered his memory of the seven-foot-tall bird-woman and shrugged.

“Odder things have happened,” he said. “Get the word out to get her down here right away. What about computer techs?”

“Fewer of those,” June admitted. “Only six and one is nearly three hundred. He’s still alive but mostly retired, he does woodworking in Raven’s Mill. And we can’t find one,” she added, slipping out a file and sliding it across the table. “A Courtney Deadwiler. I think she might have married and changed her name, but I didn’t find it in the records.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Herzer said, opening up the file and glancing at the data. “Jesus Christ! Courtney?”

“You know her, too?” June said with a faint smile. “Do you know where we can find her?”

“Right here in Washan last time I checked,” Herzer said. “She and her husband are here lobbying the Agriculture Department. They’ve got a farm outside Raven’s Mill and are trying to get some of the opening land in the Sippa delta.” He paused and shook his head in disbelief at the image of Courtney in a space suit. “She’s got four kids!”

“Fast work,” June said, smiling faintly.

“Courtney on a space ship?” Herzer said, shaking his head. “I have a hard time picturing that!”

“She listed a background in early computer technology, hardware and software,” June noted. “System analysis, routing… frankly, she looks like the best replacement we have if she wasn’t padding her resume.”

“I don’t know if they’re currently here,” Herzer temporized. “Hang on a second.”

He went to the door and gave the sergeant of the guard orders to go check their hotel and see if they were still in town.

“If they are, leave a message that I need to see them this evening. Not before then but it’s urgent.”

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said.

“Go yourself,” Herzer added. “Tell your lieutenant I ordered it. And send a message for Cruz to be here at four.”

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said as Herzer shut the door.

“We’ll see if they’re still in town,” he added to June. “Find someplace at the War Department for interviews and start rounding all the rest up except the ancient and the cripples.”

“I will,” June said, picking up the files.

“I’m going to need copies of all that,” Herzer said, gesturing at the paper. “More reading. Bleck. And tell Edmund that we’ll either need copies of all the planning data up at the camp down here or we’ll have to move up there, soon.”

“Will do,” June said, stuffing the last file away. “I don’t suppose I could go?”

“The lure of space,” Herzer asked, shaking his head. “Got a background in early technology?”

“No, unfortunately,” June sighed. “But this is going to be the last chance to work with technology for most of us until the war is won. It would be nice to ken again.”

“I don’t know that the ship has that ability,” Herzer pointed out.

“Oh, I’m sure it has replicators at least,” June said. “But I get your point. I guess I’ll have to remain ground bound.”

Herzer considered June’s words after she had left. Prior to the Fall there had been many people attracted to space. He didn’t know why; there wasn’t anything out there. But it was a major lure in a time when finding something to pass the time was a major factor in survival and boredom came on easily. Some people had even moved off planet and a few had Changed themselves to be able to actually live in space for short periods.

There had been a brief heyday when terraforming of Mars and the Moon had been considered but eventually abandoned. There simply weren’t that many people interested in moving off Earth given reduced populations and the diversions available on the planet.

But there were… he searched his memory for a moment… habitats that existed in space. He had no idea what had happened to most of them, if anyone survived. He wasn’t sure how they could but, then again, he wasn’t sure that they had been as drained of power and function as Earth. It might be that some people survived to this day. There wasn’t much that anyone could do for them; the only reason the shuttles were going to work was that the power drain protocols wouldn’t affect them. So anyone who had been off planet was stranded; any attempt to enter Earth’s orbit would mean loss of power in their vehicle.

Shanea came into the room with a tray of cold cuts and bread and looked around.

“Your guest is gone already?” she asked unhappily.

“Sorry,” Herzer said, shrugging. “It didn’t take as long as I thought it would, mainly because there wasn’t much to choose from. I’ll eat it, though.”

“Oh, okay,” Shanea said sunnily, sliding the tray onto the table. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“No,” Herzer said, making a large sandwich of various meats and cheese.

“I hate eating alone,” Shanea said, picking up a slice of cheese and nibbling it, as she sat on the edge of one of the chairs.

“I don’t,” Herzer said, shrugging. “I’ve eaten alone and I’ve eaten in a crowd of thousands of people. You can be just as alone there,” he added.

“I mean alone like nobody to talk to,” Shanea added. “I like to talk to people when I’m eating.”

“Don’t get a full mouth, then,” Herzer said.

“Depends on what it’s full of,” Shanea said, then blushed. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Herzer replied, looking at her with one eyebrow raised. “Harem humor?”

“Something like that,” Shanea sighed. “I don’t miss the harem, much, but sometimes I get more bored here than there. I feel all cooped up. Megan hardly lets me go out at all.”

“Uhmmm, Shanea?” Herzer said. “You’re your own person. You can go out any time you want.” He paused and thought about it. “Can’t you?”

“Well…” Shanea said, then shrugged. “Megan doesn’t like it. She’s never really said it, but she always says no when I ask if I can go shopping or something. And Mirta and Meredith and Ashly go out all the time. I think it’s because she’s, you know, important now. And I hear things, you know? And, face it, sometimes I do some dumb things, too. So she’s afraid I’ll embarrass her. At least, that’s what I think,” she ended miserably.

Herzer considered her words for a minute and then frowned.

“I can see part of the point,” Herzer admitted. “You do have access to some very high-level intelligence and you’d be surprised how easy it is to make the mistake of giving something away. But you shouldn’t be held against your will. And you shouldn’t need Megan’s permission to go shopping. There are other ways to handle it.”