Lifeline

Of course the other children obeyed, like all good Filipino boys and girls. Obeying rules was part of their culture, part of what they had brought up with them from the Islands. And since Ramis was the foster son of the dato—the president of the colony—the others expected him to follow rules better than anyone else. Ramis smirked to himself at the thought. Father Magsaysay did not push him—all the pressure to conform, and to excel, came from within. He could never live up to his parents’ names as great martyred researchers unless he constantly pushed himself, proved that he was better than anyone else.

Ramis always pretended to acquiesce to the rules, to go to his quarters during the dark period when the Aguinaldo engineers louvered the outer mirrors away from the lightaxis port. Then, in the early morning hours, he slipped out to do his Jumps before the mirrors swung back into position again. He was careful. After all, it was against the rules, wasn’t it? And he was the best.

Ramis stretched in the air, taking his time to get to the wall since he had more than an hour before the subjective dawn—

Streaks of light shot through wire-fine fiberoptics as the louvered mirrors opened up. Every few millimeters along the axis, a thousand fiberoptic threads frayed outward to illuminate the ten-kilometer span.

On one end, flares of raw sunlight bounced off outer mirrors into the transparent viewing segments. The shielding iris over the viewport end dilated, opening to a vista of space with the Earth hanging off to one side. With the sudden view, it seemed as if the entire end of the colony had sheared off.

Panicked, Ramis squinted at his chronometer in the glare. The lightaxis was on a full hour early. He twisted himself around, trying to see if anyone had noticed him in the air. Luckily, he had drifted far enough away from the circumpond that he wouldn’t draw suspicion to himself.

Sounds of shouting came from the inner surface below him; muffled PA announcements echoed in the living units. There was no broadcast over the general colony loudspeakers, Ramis realized, because everyone should have been inside.

A crowd of people began to gather near the curving viewport end, pressing their faces against the transparent segments, climbing up the rungs on the wall to get a better vantage point. Ramis emptied another can of air to increase his speed, then turned around in the air, squirting short bursts in the opposite direction to slow him again as he reached the crowd.

Ramis spread his palms to absorb momentum against the wall. Bouncing, he reached a rung, then hand-walked himself down to one of the elevator platforms. It took him to a scattered group of people who stood looking out into space. Sobs mixed with angry shouting.

“What is it?” he yelled, looking for a face he recognized. “What is happening?”

Behind the broad viewing wall, the Earth hung alone in space, shining blue and white. Somebody pointed, and Ramis caught snatches of words. “I cannot see! No, over there. Look! There goes another one!” It made no sense to him.

A shaggy, white-haired man pushed impatiently past to the rungs that would take him up to the observatory alcove. Ramis tried to get his attention over the noise. “Dr. Sandovaal! What is happening?”

“Are you blind, boy, or just stupid? I am in a hurry!”

“But—”

“I have no time right now.”

Sandovaal climbed into the Aguinaldo’s observatory. The toroidal alcove surrounded the lightaxis, jutting out from the colony. An inertial platform inside the observatory kept the telescopes and instruments pointed toward their target—Earth, in this case.

Ramis decided against provoking Dr. Sandovaal by following him. He stared out the viewing wall, mystified, until he heard someone call his name. “Ramis! Over here, Ramis.”

“Dobo!” Ramis flipped over and anchored onto the wall-handle with his feet. Sandovaal’s assistant waved his arms over the sea of feet. “Dobo, what is going on?” Ramis called.

Dobo pointed to his ears, then cupped his hands to yell over the crowd. “Too noisy! Can you get over to me?”

Ramis kicked out into the air and maneuvered to Dobo. When he got close enough that Dobo could hear him, he yelled, “Dr. Sandovaal just rushed past me on his way to the observatory.” He felt a twinge of anger at the dismissal—after all, Ramis’s parents had worked with Sandovaal at the Institute on Earth, and had left everything to come up to L-4 with him.

“Never mind Dr. Sandovaal. He would ignore his own grandmother if she got in his way—especially right now.” He hauled Ramis in with an outstretched hand. “Are you all right? Did you come with President Magsaysay? I did not see him here.”

Ramis chose not to answer. “He must be around somewhere. But what is all this commotion about? Dr. Sandovaal seemed even more upset than usual!”

Dobo blinked at him. “You have not heard? I thought the announcement was broadcast to every dwelling.”

“I am trying to find out, Dobo! Tell me.”