Tailspin, page 36
“Thanks,” I said and walked out of the shop with her. “Are you okay?”
Malaki turned to look at me and her eyes fell. “I’ll be okay,” she insisted.
“Family?” I asked. “Look, you’re not going to scare me off now, just because your family are—”
“What, assholes who want me off the base, like today…assholes?”
“Shit,” I said. “I’m sorry. Why?”
“Because I don’t follow enough rules.” She moved to the side of the shop and sat on a ledge.
“Why are they trying to push you so much?”
“They’re…” She sighed. “They’re both high up. I already told you that much.”
She brought up a 3D image of three pyramids. “This is M-Corp’s leadership board in our three main locations. Marine, Air Force, and Ground Military. The buck stops with M-Corp’s creator at the very top. Miss Laughing Cat. She makes all the final decisions with her few trusted team members. Her board.”
“So, where are your parents?”
She picked the Air Force pyramid, and it grew in size. As she moved in, I swallowed. I noted the fleet admiral, then six admirals under that. I guessed they had a lot of men and women to manage here, and out over Artem in general.
“How many are stationed here?”
“Just the one,” she said. “There are four around Artem and two out in the field, over the farms and the forests.”
“And your parents, then?”
“Are above…”
“Major General Roberts?”
“Yes, they effectively run this entire base, he runs over them.”
“I can see why that’s harsh,” I said. “They don’t like me?”
“They don’t know you or what you’re capable of.”
“No one does,” I said. “Especially not even me.”
“They’re arguing that I ruined my chances with pushing Jonas away. They’d given him everything to be up to my standards and theirs.”
“He blew it,” I said, reminding her. “Not you.”
“I don’t know what else to tell them,” she said. “I see you for you.”
“They want to see numbers and experience,” I said. “I get it.”
“You haven’t got those,” she said. “You’re not even military or officer material.”
“They think you want me as more than a helo partner?”
“Mom does.” She rolled her eyes. “She thinks you’ve already deflowered me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that and she hit me. “Sorry,” I said. “I really am.”
“I need something to give them to prove you’re really into this.”
I sat with her, leaned into her. I felt nothing but air touching my thighs as I didn’t have the VR link up to feel inside here.
“Let me get the TAP,” I said. “Let me get these few weeks out of the way, finish this side of the exams and the training. That will prove I’m more than capable of learning and fast.”
“What about your tech?” she asked.
“If they had clearance to see what I was, they’d already know I’m more than capable and good enough for their daughter, on all levels.”
“All levels, huh?” She folded her arms under her chest and flicked her hair behind her back. “Really?”
“If I wanted you, you’d never resist.” I put on my best smoldering face and puckered my lips.
Malaki’s eyes widened, then her whole face split with laughter. She slapped her legs, bellowing so loud I had to look around to make sure we were alone. “Fuck me, Rusty. You almost had me thinking you meant that.”
“I did,” I teased. “I totally did.” I moved in front of her and puffed my chest out. Only causing her to laugh even harder.
“Oh gods, thank you,” she sniffed, tears streaming down her face.
I wiped one away. “I got you,” I said. “And I will prove, not just to them, that I’m more than good enough, that we’re going to climb that ladder so damn fast they’re going to worry about their jobs.”
“But—”
“I gotta go.” I sighed. “I need to sleep and then be back up for all this training.”
I risked pulling her up, then I put my arm around her and hugged. “Go back there, convince them to give me till—shit, end of term.”
“I will.”
The view of the shops faded, and I sat up in my bed. You knew she was the daughter of a General, and you never said a word.
I’m not at liberty to discuss other people. Just you.
I closed my eyes and eventually fell asleep, the droning voices of those texts playing in the background.
43
The next day went almost as fast as the previous ones. I took test two and studied for the one on Monday all afternoon. I ate fast, and I trained harder than ever. Malaki’s parents should not give her any more grief. I didn’t want anyone in here to think I wasn’t worth anything just because I came from a poorer place. Even if they didn’t know. I knew. I just wanted them to see me kicking fucking ass.
I found the job boards and put my name forward for assisted crop dusting. I was to report to station five at 3 a.m. on Saturday, then I’d be shipped over to Artem’s farmlands, far east of Roterdon.
That was early, but by the time we’d flown over to Artem again, it would be a few hours out, then work all day, sleep in the barns overnight and back out Sunday, returning late that night for training the next day.
I thought about not doing it, but that money…
If you work this weekend, I will double it through the week every day till the weekend. Then we’ll go again, and I’ll try other areas to bet for the following two weekends.
I used to earn more running with overtime, I groused.
Yes, you did. But this should be enough to earn their respect for working and in gambling.
Not quite the reputation I want.
I will hide it. No one will know where your money grows.
You’re not a real hacker in my head, are you?
No, I am an AI. I am just an AI that works for you.
Just me? Not M-Corp.
M-Corp does not understand AI. They gave you to me. I was told to grow. I intend to grow with you. I need you to grow.
I need me to grow, I said. Whatever you need, let me know. I’ll do anything I can, as well.
Will you listen to my suggestions?
Yes, but you still need a name. What do you want to be called?
Apex, it said and then added, I wish to be called Apex. Its voice changed now to be more masculine, deeper, and much lower.
Apex it is.
***
Three o’clock Saturday morning came even quicker than anything else had. Apex woke me up, and I dressed and grabbed my bag in time to run to Station Five. I made it just before I was due. They ushered me up and into a room. The room was full of people waiting for the helo coming in. This was a different beast.
Dresdov 177
General
This twin-engine heavy transport-helicopter was developed by M-Corp’s MCHP Plant Rishka Novak. She is the largest, heaviest, and most powerful helicopter ever put into production with a maximum payload of approx. 20 tons (44,090 lbs).
Crew
5-6
Passengers
85 approximate
Propulsion
2 Turboshaft Engines
Engine Model
Volta D-116
Engine Power (each)
8273 kW
11094 shp
Speed
294 km/h
159 kts
183 mph
Service Ceiling
4,600 m
15,092 ft
Range
800 km
432 NM
497 mi.
Empty Weight
28,200 kg
62,170 lbs
Max. Takeoff Weight
56,000 kg
123,459 lbs
Rotor Blades (main/tail)
8/5
Main Rotor Diameter
32.00 m
104 ft 12 in
Tail Rotor Diameter
7.61 m
24 ft 12 in
Rotor Disc Area
804.2 m²
8656 ft²
Length
40.00 m
131 ft 3 in
Height
8.10 m
26 ft 7 in
That many crew were needed? Heck, that many of us were needed?
There’s a lot of land to spray.
Why not just use drones, tractors, anything?
Cost. Apex surmised. The cost for equipment like that outweighs the cost of the food. Much easier to keep costs down and get—
Us to go out there work our asses off for peanuts.
It must get treated every weekend with special fertilizer and pesticides. So yes, a lot of bodies work for M-Corp out here.
That bothered me. Wait. How modified is our food?
That is a lesson for another time, Apex replied.
Make sure you tell me. If I need to avoid some foods, I will.
That I am not sure I can do.
***
The behemoth of a helo made it to a farm, aptly named Shore Farm. It spanned into the distance, with so many buildings, and holy hell, the land stretched on and on with it.
Over the helicopter’s comms came the pilot’s voice. “You will report to Chief Master Sergeant Drust; there you will be assigned your duties. Landing in three, two, one.”
The helo bumped down, and I took a breath as the doors opened. The fresh mountain air drifted in, and it was just as glorious as the smell of the ocean. This had a hint of mint and bread. Something about it, yeast? I had no idea what they grew out here, but I was going to learn.
I was here to learn everything I possibly could about our world and how it worked. I needed to learn everything about the land that I could. Its layout, its possibilities, what it hid inside.
I didn’t want to rely on maps and other information. I wanted to log it in my own mind, so I had it stored, in case of tech failure. Always have a backup. Always.
We all waited for Chief Master Sergeant Drust. He started sorting people out, and I waited for my turn. I wasn’t getting anywhere near a helo, not today. I was on refueling duty with the chemicals. I needed a mask but didn’t have one, so I was given a paper one. That sucked and wouldn’t do anything to stop the smell, which was horrid.
I was also put with someone else, Dale. He was there every weekend apparently, and I could learn and work with him.
He was quiet, and just started to tell me what to do, as if I already knew what I was doing. “Wait, wait,” I said. “Slower, I’ve never been here before.”
“Sorry,” Dale said. “Not used to newbs this time of year.”
He took it slower, so I understood. Each tank for the helos was filled with the chemical to the halfway mark, then topped with water. The internal shaking as the helo moved then would mix it.
The work was boring, but the helos never stopped coming. I mean, how many. It wasn’t that there weren’t a lot of us; it was the fact there was just so much land to cover.
Surely there’s an automated system that could do better than this?
Of course, Apex answered. But there’s nothing cheaper than labor like this, half rickety helicopters and fuel they get cheap as chips. Why would they pay for sophisticated?
I hated that it made sense. That paying us was cheaper than the tech we all had. Especially when this food was likely never heading to our plates.
By mid-afternoon break, Drust reassigned us so that the helo pilots would get a break and some of us got to do something different.
Dale’s face lit up when he said he was allowed up with me as a copilot. I didn’t really want to be anywhere without Malaki, and for the first time since being in a helo, I was nervous.
Takeoff was bumpy, and the helo was bounced about in the slow winds off the mountains to our left.
He didn’t look worried, and I just let him do the work, reporting in doing all recon and watching the skies.
“Keep your eyes on the skies. Skellies are out here too, and it’s still middle of breeding season.”
They were much more aggressive now, because if they did have babies, they’d be feeding, and hungry skellies were just as dangerous as hormonal ones.
Today, however, was as quiet as anything. We had a section over which we would drop our load, and we did. Then we went back, refueled, reloaded, and did it again.
The view, though, was truly breathtaking. Seeing anything of Artem from here filled my veins with pure excitement. The city stretched for miles and miles of land I wanted to explore from the skies.
“How much have you seen of Artem?” I enquired.
“Very little,” he said. “Full tanks only get us so far and time in the air.”
I checked my HUD. The data from all of the helos available was there. The furthest our helos could go without refueling was an average of seven hundred nautical miles, and even with the best fuel we were producing, that might stretch it to a thousand.
For Artem, that meant we didn’t need many helo refueling stations at all. I pulled them up, and they were dotted at the edge of the city itself, with a couple of smaller ones in the city center.
The city and its occupants never knew how close they really were to breaking point because I’d never really thought about it either. The more I saw of this, the outside world, the more I understood.
This one farm spanned ten square miles; that was 6,400 acres. “How many farms are there?”
“Real farms inside the walls?”
“Yeah,” I asked, watching into the distance.
He answered as my HUD displayed the city, Artem center, and its farmlands. “Seven,” Dale said. “There’s four main farms, which are over ten square kilometers, each run by their prospective families, while the others are much smaller, maybe five square kilometers. But they’re still very wealthy.”
“I can see that.” Coming back into land at the farm, the houses that occupied some of the land were massive, inside its own smaller wall.
“The helos also put off attacks.”
“Attacks from what?”
“Other animals, ground animals, like duckat, animals that like to eat their produce.”
“Guards?”
“Oh yes, they’re all very well guarded. They just like to give their men and women a few days off, so we come in and help out. Spreads the cost and gives us experience.”
“Wait,” I said. “You said farms inside the walls. There’re farms outside the walls?”
“Has to be,” Dale replied. “Have you seen the size of our city? We’ve real farms and schmeat farms.”
I shivered. I’d eaten enough schmeat in my lifetime. I preferred the plant proteins and fake meats. Schmeat was—I gagged.
“What do they do to protect the farms outside the city?”
“A lot more than that.” He pointed to the inner farm walls.
I wanted to see. I wanted to know how much more danger they were in outside the city’s main walls. So many questions. “Does the city provide help?”
“Yes,” Dale said. “We need those farms, all of them. Life out there is far more dangerous, though, but there are both farms and people out there.”
I went quiet thinking of all of it. Farms and people…it was all a little hard to comprehend. With skellies freely roaming around, or worse, those insects that ate and killed people…
“You’re not thinking of heading out there?” Dale asked.
I shook my head. Not now, no way, but maybe, if it earned me more money. I had to research and think about it a lot more than I had up to now.
On our last landing for the day, Dale brought us in to a stop properly. There was no refuel and no reload now. I shut the helo down and checked off everything I needed to. A whole team of techs came out and began their safety checks while we disembarked and grabbed our bags.
“You’re an inner-city boy, then?” Dale probed as we dusted off. Even in the air protected in the helo, dust still got in, somehow.
I hated boy as much as I might kid. So, I just nodded.
“You’ll soon learn, that’s for sure. Shower and eat,” he said. “We try not to take the dust inside or when we go to bed.”
I followed him, my bag with me. The showers were busy, and there was a line.
“Fucking corpo scum,” someone sneered. “What’s he doing out here?”
“Ignore them,” Dale said. “They have no clue who you are or who you work for.”
“Rich prick,” someone else said a lot closer behind me.
“Rich, are you joking me?” I spun around and laughed in the guy’s face. “Why the fuck would I be here, if I were rich?”
Everyone went silent.
We waited our turn, and I asked him more questions about farming and the lands. After all, it seemed like helo pilots were needed much more out here than in the city itself.
The halls for us to eat were also as regimented as inside Ocean Oil Fields. There was maybe two hundred or so staff, tech, and pilots just here alone. The kitchen and the food just kept on feeding everyone.
I had my mind seriously blown. I had never thought so much about running a city.
“I can see you’re taken aback by this life,” Dale said. “We’ll be sleeping in the outer barns, then back up for the early run.”
“It’s so well run,” I said. “All of it.”
“It has to be. Without these farms or this production, the city is toast. It would be reduced to infighting in days.”
“They don’t teach us this. Why?”
“The less you know, the easier it is to control what goes on. What did you and your family do in the city?”
“We moved off one of the area bases when my stepdad was injured. Mom did anything she could to earn some extra money. My stepdad and I both did some construction.”
