Bastion Science Fiction Magazine - Issue 3, June 2014 by R. Leigh Hennig

Author:R. Leigh Hennig [Hennig, R. Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bastion Publications
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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"May we please see the baby?" said the old woman, flanked by her fellow missionaries, a man and a woman. Shoe read the trio like a hand of cards, and saw the opening as a "granny" move.

"No," said Young, sitting behind his office desk. "He's doing fine."

"I'm sure that baby's a ton of trouble," said the male missionary, stepping forward. "We could take him off your hands for you."

"No thank you," said Young.

"He has a name, you know," said Shoe. "It's Tony Jade."

"Ah, Jade," said the woman, taking her turn. "Because that's the best luck, am I right?"

"You got it, sister," said Young.

"My husband erred in trying to make it sound as though we would be doing you a favor in taking Tony Jade," she said. "We humbly request it for the child. The Goddess of Mercy would smile upon such an agreement. This is no place for an infant."

"Now look here," started Young, his face flushing.

"Mr. President, allow me to explain," said Shoe, making like a diplomat. He turned to the outsiders and said, "We acknowledge that our settlement is less than optimal for childrearing. We citizens desire improvements to that end, but only on our terms. I myself lead a majority faction with plans for a hotel with which we could entice one or two good families to immigrate. These families would have women and children, both of obvious benefit for Tony Jade."

"What about the minority faction?" asked the woman, an eager light in her eyes. "What do they want?"

"They want to keep things as they are, at least for a year," said Young. The light in the woman's eyes died, and then he added, "The compromise was a four-month wait."

Then the old woman suddenly dropped to her knees. "We beg you," she said, as the others followed her lead, "in the name of Mercy!"

"Get up!" shouted Young. "Get out of here! How dare you! I should have you thrown out!"

"This meeting is over," said Shoe, and he hustled the missionaries out.

When he returned a few minutes later, Young had composed himself.

"Well, that's over," said Shoe, dusting his hands off.

"See why I made sure that Doc kept Tony away?" asked Young. "That would've been just another way to get their foot in the door."

"Are they gonna stay long?"

"I'll only let them have another day or two."

Shoe stretched, his arms going up and out, his back popping.

"That's the end of my day at the office," he said with contentment. "You ready to quit yet?"

"In a while. I'll meet you at Jin's."

Shoe went out, emerging at the uptown end of the main cave. He clomped along the sidewalk past the dormitory section, past the mining shaft, and came to Jin's Hydroponics. When he walked in, Jin called out, "What's the word, Shoe?"

Before Shoe could answer there was a deep rumbling sound and a tremor in the floor. Pressure doors automatically slammed shut as someone shouted, "It's a blowout!"

Shoe ran to the window just in time to see a few men sucked out into space through a gaping hole in the sky.

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