A Visitor to the Future - 30 - The Airborne Auditor
With Chisom busy with her lessons, we took a nice walk through the town, enjoying the general atmosphere and the afternoon sun. I asked if we could return to Anchor for the time being, at which Sarkona nodded and summoned another dronecraft, identical to the one we had used to get here with the exception of the interior furnishings - they were brighter colours this time around. We saw Thomas again on the way out, playing with friends, and he gave us a small, nervous wave as we left. I was sure I'd see him again - I'd be returning for Human lessons soon enough.
Sarkona and I spent the rest of the afternoon taking it easy in one of the hotel's many lounge areas. This particular lounge was interesting because there was a large, open fire in the middle of the room - it was like sitting around a campfire, but with all the comforts of being indoors. I was suddenly struck by how odd the scene was - Sarkona sat upside-down on a sofa and I was sunk into what looked like a large beanbag, but was infinitely more comfortable - yet the room we were in was in a tall hotel perched on top of one of the layers of Anchor, and all of that was above the churning mass of the ocean below. Thankfully Sarkona had the good timing to distract me from my sudden revelation and the sinking gut-lurch sensation which followed.
"Tungsten says hi," Sarkona said, "He's been meeting with some Auditors just outside of Anchor. He says you might want to consider meeting with them."
I briefly tried to sit up, but just sunk further into my seat, "A lot of people have mentioned Auditors in passing."
"They're generally interesting people, so no wonder!" said Sarkona, "Want me to set up a meeting? Tungsten says they could come and pick you up. I have a few plans myself tomorrow if you don't mind, so Tungsten says he'll meet you there."
The next morning came around quickly, and I made my way down to the lower landing pad area. There was a crowd gathered around the railing at the edge of the layer, and I moved closer to see what they were looking at. A small grey flying craft was nimbly corkscrewing through the air some distance out, spewing a white line of vapour behind it which quickly faded away. It did inside and outside loops, pulled straight up into a climb and seemed to stall slightly, falling towards the ocean. Then the aircraft seemed to wrest control at the last moment, travelling across the surface of the waves towards Anchor. As it came closer I could see a smaller shape in the shadow of the craft - a small, squat drone that hung a few metres back.
I was very surprised when it turned out that the same craft was the one I was supposed to meet. At this distance I saw that its design was far different to the dronecraft that I'd seen so far - it almost looked like a fighter jet from my own time, if a bit larger. The design was definitely of a different aesthetic to the soft curves and padded interiors of the Consortium's craft, made for function over comfort. The side of the craft was open, and I could see a man climbing down a ladder in a grey pilot's suit. Long, dirty blonde hair was tied back into a bun, and as the man turned around he scanned the faces of the crowd around him. As he looked towards me he smiled and began to approach with a jaunty swing in his step.
"There you are mate!" he said as he came within 15 metres, the smile never vanishing from his face. His accent seemed to be some hybrid of Australian and Kiwi, "I can always tell a relic like me! Something in the body language." He extended a hand towards me and I shook it instinctively. "And that confirms it!" he said.
He turned to face the craft and pointed at it with both hands. "What do you think? Another relic, the Crux Axiom - the best pre-Consortium aircraft ever made. You've got an aerodynamic shape that took the better part of a year to master, hydrogen powered turbofans - and none of that metastable stuff! No, this is one of the best craft ever made," he gave me a sly grin, "And I should know, I designed the thing - absolutely no bias or pride at all there mate! Anyway, enough about that - nice to meet you, I'm Blaise Allen and I will be your pilot for today - no, I can see that expression on your face, don't worry, I've had my fun on the way over! Can't exactly pull Gs with you in the passenger seat."
We began to walk over to the craft, Blaise pointing out more details as he did so. "Look, sensors built into the whole chassis, thrust-vectoring engines - absolute dream to fly. My wife at the time used to say that when I was designing it I was clearly making it for myself, nevermind Crux, you just wanted somebody to give you a blank cheque, she said. Bless her, she was absolutely right. Design projects like that only used to come along once in a lifetime."
"Sorry, Crux?" I asked.
He waved a hand dismissively, "Oh, ignore me - I'm just babbling about days gone by. I'll introduce you to the other relics when we get to the Tom - you'll be in good company! That mate of yours is also there. Alright, up you go!" he said, pointing to the ladder.
I was a bit hesitant at first as I strapped myself into the old-fashioned passenger's seat and harness the interior a lot more compact than anything I'd seen so far. Blaise sat in front of and slightly below me, the cockpit canopy covering both seats. There were instruments and switches around me which Blaise instructed me not to touch.
"Right, ready?" said Blaise, "Might be a bit louder than the Consortium's craft but she'll feel much better to ride." The engines began to fire up and we gently lifted up into the air. "Put that headset on!" shouted Blaise over the noise. I did so and the noise lessened substantially. "Alright," said his voice over the headset, "Off we go."
To Blaise's credit he was true to his word and the flight was very smooth with no risks taken. He brought us up much higher than the Consortium had in the drone yesterday, and I could see small wisps of cloud that I felt I could almost reach out and touch. Blaise spoke up, his voice transmitted to my earphones, "If you look to your right, you'll see the coastline of Africa, including the former nationstates of Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and Bayelsa. On your left you'll see the damn massive space elevator that everyone keeps going on about. Not that old country names really matter much these days, apart from for relics like us!"
"If you don't mind me asking," I said over the headset, "How old are you?"
"Four-hundred and fifty-four years old next week! Pre-Consortium vintage! But don't let that scare you - I'm definitely one of those people that gets older, but not wiser. No, that just means I've spent a few hundred years goofing off and occasionally auditing things!"