Douglas K. Bell - Infinity City 01 - Van Gogh in Space

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* * * -------------------------------------- * * *

" V A N G O G H I N S P A C E "

Infinity City series book #1, ed7.

This work is registered with the

UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE,

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

* Reg. No. 500413 *

All International rights reserved.

* * * -------------------------------------- * * *

This document is for use only by permission of the

author and may not be sold, licensed, or rented.

>>> If you would like "JASON THE RESCUER", the next

exciting book in the series, just ask for it!!

* * * -------------------------------------- * * *

Author:

DOUGLAS K. BELL

Pleasanton, California

Email: dougbell@netcom.com

* * * -------------------------------------- * * *

(Note: Pretend words in all CAPTIALS are really in *italics*! )

N O W , L E T T H E S T O R Y B E G I N ! !

PROLOGUE

SEETHING with frustration after standing for over two hours

under the sweaty summer sun of southern France, staring at the

beckoning though blank canvas, but really aware of nothing but

the heavy pistol weighing down his pocket -- and his soul -- the

lean, red-bearded painter noticed the tall, mysterious stranger in

the distance bouncing along the road on a bicycle across the

beautiful, rolling, green French countryside... It was said the

stranger made all his purchases with impossibly pure gold and

flawless precious jewels. It was also said that he had murdered

a young local man -- somehow the scandal involved the affections

of some young and pretty French girl.

The painter was in no mood for an encounter with this

approaching man; the painter was in no mood to encounter ANYONE

ever again at all! He threw down his palette then jabbed his

hand into his pocket, grasping for the loaded pistol...

CHAPTER 1 - INFINITY CITY

Infinity City is an interesting place and not just because

it happens to be located in a black hole. Though, this of course

does affect the style if not the standard of living of the

natives. Infinity City is wonderfully interesting because

throughout its long existence its people have always maintained a

virtual Cult of Adventure due most probably to the excitement of

living within the FIRST EVENT HORIZON of a black hole. Adventure

dominates the lives of the men of Infinity City. Controlling

these men, to avoid the trouble their Galactic scale Adventures

usually cause, dominates the lives of Infinity City's remarkable

women.

Infinity City is a romantic place. Death from aging has

been eliminated through the monthly ingestion of the PILL OF

LIFE, an hormonal protein inhibiting the human body's genetic

propensity toward immune system degradation. Love can last an

eternity! Feuds between some families smolder on and on. And,

without the natural process of aging, unbearable lives can last

forever. But, seldom do...

The WELL OF THE WISH, a mysterious brick cistern at the very

heart of Infinity City -- located above the sparkling point of

the black hole's second event horizon -- has been the scene of

many a tragic life's ending.

The WELL OF THE WISH! The final solution for those with

intolerable situations, unattainable dreams, unbearable

memories... Duels of incredibly macabre nature take place when

proud men fail to compromise over political power, business

judgments, and of course, the alluring women of Infinity City.

Ah, the women of Infinity City! They are free from the

looming threat of death from old age. Many find themselves

blessed with timeless beauty. But, they are still limited to

fertility's finite period. And, after that? After giving birth

and rearing as many children as are wanted (the now traditional

occupation of a woman's first 30-60 years) what follows? The

serene, graceful peace of female political control, for some.

Business, careers, enjoyment of riches, perhaps even Adventuring

for others. Many others follow children that have grown bored

within the confines of Infinity City and have sailed off

throughout the Galaxy to seek fame and fortune; the inhabitants

of Infinity City "sail" through the Galaxy aboard faster-than-

light GRAVITONIC SAILSHIPS; few other human worlds have the

sophisticated knowledge and intricate technology to allow this.)

All in all, the population has remained stable near one million.

With the Grand Dames firmly in control through intricate networks

of familial alliances, the forces of power, business, male

adventurousness, and female security are all maintained in

equilibrium.

And so, on with the saga of a mysterious man given the

chance to live again in a mysterious world, another tale of

Adventure springing from this the most fascinating city of human

future history: Infinity City!

CHAPTER 2 - JOHN ONE

A young man, John One, received a generous offer from his

wealthy uncle to sail a small merchant ship up and out of

Infinity City, taking it back in time to the latter part of

Earth's second Christian-era millennium in search of general items

of artistic and rare value. John was tall and slim, clean-shaven

with short, light brown hair. He had the peaceful looks of

someone preoccupied with inward reflections, due to the deep

influence of his days at the Militia Academy. There, he had

developed a strong belief, even a passion, for discipline and

self-control. His warrior training had demanded he learn to be

constantly relaxed to conserve physiological energy before and

during battle; hand-to-hand or ship-to-ship. His high

aristocratic cheekbones and thoughtful looking gray eyes were

common in his family. All in all, he had the appearance of

someone you could have confidence in; someone you could trust

immediately. And, most people he met did!

He had just finished a five year commission with Infinity

City's Militia Guard. With his training and experience piloting

advanced scouting ships and even a few battle skirmishes with

hostile sailships, and with nothing better in mind, he accepted

the offer from his uncle the owner of the little merchant ship,

after a long, good natured negotiation over profit margin.

His uncle prepared and provisioned the ship for the journey

while John One was charged with the responsibility of gathering

the specifics he would need to get by in second millennia Earth:

Speech translator, automatic pistols, sophisticated first-aid

equipment, fabric and sewing equipment for making local

costumes... And, of course, a large supply of the PILL OF LIFE

anti-aging drug (though he was really not physically old enough

yet to require it). The technology for the production of the

PILL is unknown anywhere else in the Galaxy, the scientists of

Infinity City never successfully manufacturing the PILL outside

of the unique gravitonic radiation within the black hole.

Adventurers normally take a large supply in case they become

stranded and also for barter (though a given prescription works

for only one specific person and is worthless to anyone else

except, perhaps, as a souvenir). Unfortunately, the molecular

structures of the proteins making up the PILL are very complex,

giving the PILL a shelf-life of only about 25 years; if an

Adventurer is stranded even with a large supply he'll only stay

young for 25 years and then begin aging. The PILL cannot survive

cryogenic storage.

A few days before his scheduled departure his uncle threw

the traditional party for a young man's first grand adventure.

Hundreds of family members attended. Wrapped up in his academic

studies, even at an early age John One never developed close ties

within his family, even with his brothers and sisters. In spite

of this, he had always taken his familial responsibilities

seriously, had a good reputation for being helpful and was graced

with the favor of the family's Grand Dame matriarch for always

supporting her position during the inevitable family squabbles

which in Infinity City, with the number and ages of the

individuals within a family, could become immensely complicated

affairs making or breaking personal fortunes and futures.

So he was surprised at the intimacy with which his brothers

and other male members would coach him regarding the delights and

techniques of seduction of second millennium Earth women. Any Grand

Dame upon hearing such conversation would steer him away and

lecture him on his responsibility to alter as little as possible

the events and objects in the time that he was about to find

himself.

At the end of the evening, on one knee with his head bowed,

various Grand Dames ceremoniously bestowed upon him ribbons and

medals of faith in his upcoming adventure. The family matriarch

Grand Dame Deirdre herself wearing her family crown and a formal

gown of sky blue with an immense ruffled collar presented him

with a thin ribbon with spiraling rainbow colored patterns.

After the party had ended, a somewhat stuffy and formal

affair, John One found himself excited and restless, so he

decided to take his favorite coup for a last drive around

Infinity City before his grand departure.

Infinity City lay spread across the top side of a disk-

shaped superstructure about 30 miles across and 2 miles thick.

It floated like a "big dime" (the actual nickname within the

venerable Militia Guard) in the middle of the black hole's egg-

shaped first cycle "pocket." Actually, it was not floating --

complex gravitonic engineering kept the world safely at

equilibrium with the gravitonic torrents pouring between the

first and second event horizons at the top and bottom of the

black hole.

The same gravitonics also held an atmosphere as thick as

Earth's on Infinity City's life side. (Its other side underneath

the great disk was barren, but could be used in the future if

population pressure ever required expansion.) The atmosphere had

manually controlled weather and was natural enough to even allow,

with the help of an orbiting artificial Sun, open-air

agricultural -- the produce of which was far more popular than

the inexpensive though not-quite-natural fruits and vegetables

grown in oozing hydroponic vats.

John One had an urge to leave the central, metropolitan area

and head out to the open agricultural periphery of Infinity City

to have a final look at the family "farm" -- the Larsch

plantation, largest on Infinity City, a sprawling area of

thousands of acres.

He drove away from the family mansion 'Old Rumble' along

smooth, wide tree-lined boulevards within the aristocratic and

governmental confines of the Canterbury district where he had

grown up. Here and there were the halls of government, two or

three story buildings shaped from cubes of various sizes with

overly rounded corners, each a different shade of flat gray.

Also could be seen, at the end of fine, stately landscaped lawns,

were the mansions of Infinity City's greater and lesser

controlling families -- some were not even occupied but it was

tradition for each Grand Dame to maintain at least token

residence within the Canterbury district.

Leaving Canterbury, he passed beside the mysterious Old Town

at the very center of Infinity City. This section had been

constructed by the Original Builders themselves and still

maintained the same quaint style of architecture the Original

Builders had brought from ancient Earth. Something about the

area always filled John with uneasiness. Perhaps the Well of the

Wish at the center, the dangerous shaft which led all the way

down through Infinity City toward the tiny second event horizon

at the bottom of the black hole.

John One tapped a command at the luxurious little coup's

hand-held control unit ordering the onboard computer to generate

more energy from the cold nuclear pile which was converted to

angular kinetic energy through electromagnetic phasing directly

into all four of the independent wheels -- he had pressed the

FASTEST button -- the car smoothly shot forward. The little two-

seater luxury sport coup was the best money could buy, featuring

the latest in related technology. With magnetic suspension the

wheels were not physically connected to the car -- with no

vibration from wheels, the car seemed to float like a magic

carpet. Using four wheels with independent computer-controlled

suspension, the car was unaffected by Infinity City's sometimes

less-than-perfect road system. (The Family responsible for the

extensive road system throughout Infinity City complained that

they did not have the resources to handle the endless repairs

caused by the incredible variety of ground vehicles so popular

all over the City. Sky vehicles had been tried from time to time

during Infinity City's long history but were always eventually

outlawed in response to citizens uncomfortable with hundreds of

vehicles weighing several tons constantly swooping by overhead.

John headed down West Road one of the four main compass-

point roads that headed straight from City center, out past sub-

road turnoffs to the many large estate farms and smaller family

farm businesses, and out to the periphery road which circled the

perimeter at the edge of Infinity City. Along the periphery

road, at the four points of the Infinity City compass were the

four Militia Guard bases: North Base, East, South, and West.

And at periodic intervals along the periphery road were the

gravitonic control installations that kept Infinity City in the

center of the black hole, and maintained local gravity and

atmosphere.

John One turned off West Road at the entrance to the Larsch

plantation with a sign that read "Larsch Farm" emblazzoned in

gold on a fancy overhead arch. Feeling an urge for solitude he

drove around without stopping at any of the plantation houses or

agribarns. It was late night and dark and all there was to see

was the tiny guide lights along the edge of the roads, the

striking and beautiful sprawling spot-lighted landscaping around

the many plantation houses, and night time lighting of the

robotic field harvesters slowly spiraling around the circular

farm areas. John One smiled remembering the many happy times out

here as a boy chasing around with his cousins aboard the farm's

many hoverbikes. He had a sudden urge to stop and lug one into

the storage trunk of the car and bring it with him to old Earth.

That would be fun, he thought excitedly, zipping around on old

Earth on a modern hoverbike, watching the natives stare in

wonder! But then he remembered admonishments of his Family

mothers warning him that travel into the past could be dangerous

to the fabric of the Universe and that it was best to disturb

things as little as possible -- the Universe quickly 'healed'

from the wounds of change caused by travel into the past but

there were theorists who constantly warned of too great an effect

on the past causing an irreparable tear that would affect the

future in some dismally cataclysmic way. John's male relatives

had winked at him and grinned, taking him aside to reassure him

that the women were over cautious, that the great Adventuring men

of Infinity City had been bouncing back to the past throughout

the long, long history of the City with hardly ever a

catastrophe. Nevertheless, John knew there were many Grand Dames

that had sworn to eventually outlaw travel into the past. And

when he thought about it, trips to the past were rare indeed;

there had not been one since he was born. If there was so much

money to be made -- as his uncle assured him -- why weren't

"back-bounce" trips to the past common?

John One left the family farm and continued heading west

toward the edge of Infinity City. To dispel the slight anxiety

he now felt over his impending trip into the past, he slid open

the car's large moonroof, took the car up to full speed, and

enjoyed the roar of the cool, night wind overhead -- the car's

computer diligently watching ahead with radar eyes for oncoming

traffic or obstacles in the road. Just before the gates to the

Militia Guard's West Base, John slowed and turned right onto the

periphery road that encircled Infinity City. He took the car up

to full speed again and sat watching the far away little lights

from all the distant farms. You could spend hours at night on

the periphery road slowly circling Infinity City watching the

multi-colored jewel-like lights of agribusiness and passing by

the great Militia Guard base complexes with the brooding snouts

of the huge defensive photonic canon rising upwards.

At night the road was popular among the younger set cruising

along on the prowl for rendezvous with their fantasies, and

romantic couples already living theirs. John passed other cars

from time to time and found himself remembering the young ladies

he himself had brought out to the periphery road for a 'spin.'

John grinned in fond recollection of a certain embarrassing

incident during his Militia Guard Academy days when his lecherous

older friend Jason had talked him into coming out for an 'orbit'

or two along the periphery road. He had shown up with two girls

and a large jug of local wine. The girls worked at one of

Jason's favorite lounges just outside the space port, and were

impressed almost to the point of swooning over one of the

Family's larger saloon cars John had borrowed for the drive. And

what a night that had been!

He continued curving from north to east along the periphery

road, the tiny far away lights of Infinity City to his right, and

to his left the blackness of space just off the edge of the Big

Dime. There were stories of adolescents modifying their cars to

exceed the computer controlled established speed limits along the

periphery road dangerously close to the edge of the great disk.

Some had lost control and gone flying off Infinity City, out past

its atmosphere, dying in the vacuum of surrounding space, to be

eventually sucked down through the second event horizon.

As he approached North Base John One thought of the Star

Admiral of all the Militia Guard who was headquartered there.

John's strong natural sense of duty took hold of him, he turned

to the right, off the periphery road, and onto the North Road

heading south back toward the center of Infinity City, back into

the quietly regal Canterbury District, and back home to 'Old

Rumble.'

At the entrance to the Family's garage bays he left the car

and turned the car's hand-held command unit -- or 'key' as they

were referred to -- over to the garage bay supervisor who looked

inside the car then grinned over at John One and asked, "No

GUESTS tonight, Master One?"

John smiled. "No, Halvers," he had a knack for remembering

the names of everyone working for the Larsch whom he'd ever met.

"I just wanted to take a last drive around Infinity City."

"Yes, sir! We'd all heard you were leaving on an Adventure

tomorrow. Best of luck to you, young sir. But, don't be calling

it your 'last drive'! That's bad luck, I hear, begging your

pardon, sir."

"Very well," John called as he began walking away. "I'll

call it just my 'last drive for a while'!"

"Very good, sir!" supervisor Halvers cried merrily as he

tapped the return code for the appropriate garage bay into the

car's command unit and watched as the car slowly rolled off to

put itself away.

CHAPTER 3 - LIFT OFF

On the day of departure, his uncle, reclusive father, and

three generations of grand-fathers, all chauffeured in one of the

family's prestigious antique electric cars, delivered him to his

ship all the way out to the far end of the launch field reserved

for private astrogation -- last minute sage advice, tips, and

tricks of the trade flowed continually until John One, with a wan

smile, a nod and a wave slid fast the main hatch.

The ship was small, modern and shaped like a bullet with its

tip pointing toward Infinity City's sky. The sky was currently

the same shade as Earth's, though the color of the sky of

Infinity City was artificial and controlled by the Infinity City

civil engineers. An amendment to the Infinity City constitution

limited changing the color of the sky to only once a year, and

then only by popular vote. Over the centuries, this yearly event

has grown into the SKY COLOR FESTIVAL in which light-hearted

political "color parties" spring up trying to convince the

populace to vote for their color. Naturally, a great deal of

wagering goes on over the final outcome. The most popular colors

through the years have been Earth sky blue, soft lavender and the

breathtaking chromium yellow.

The ship had its engine room at the bottom, a cargo hold in

the middle and John One's combination living quarters and

piloting room at the top. The three rooms were about the same

size, though the walls of the pilot room converged together.

Going about his final checkout of systems and supplies, he felt

an unusual welling of incredible excitement within himself. He

thought about the riches he was bound to find and how proud his

family would be upon the announcement of his return and

discoveries in the "INFINITY CITY JOURNAL OF RECENT ADVENTURE."

For the first time he would be completely out of touch with

Infinity City and his family for, perhaps, several years. He

suddenly realized how much he dearly loved both.

John One strapped into the pilot seat, verified his

automated departure program with the on-board computer, gave the

computer the instruction to activate the launch systems, and when

all astrogation system telltales showed green he signaled launch

field control to request take-off: "Launch control, this is John

One piloting the EXCEPTION -- requesting launch synchronization."

The communication screen lit up with the crest of the family

that managed Infinity City's main launch field. A male voice

replied, "Acknowledged, EXCEPTION. Switch in your computer for

flight program verify." Partially covering the displayed crest,

a window now appeared on the screen with the title: "FLIGHT COM

STATUS" and below this, the flashing yellow message: "PROGRAM

VERIFICATION..."

John asked launch control, "Busy up there right now?"

Launch control answered, "Negative, EXCEPTION. Last launch

occurred 2 hours 23 minutes ago. None tentatively scheduled."

John realized he must be speaking to the launch control computer,

the human controller probably too busy with other duties to

bother with a private launch on a quiet day. John thought to

himself, it would have been nice to hear one more human voice

before passing out of radio range beyond the event horizon. He

asked, "How's your wife and kids?"

The launch computer replied, "I have heard that one before.

The controller suggests I respond with: Fine, how's your voltage

and checksum?"

John chuckled. Soon the FLIGHT COM STATUS changed to the

green message "COMPUTERS LINKED. AWAITING GO..." and the launch

computer ordered, "Launch program now running. Launch field all

clear. Raise your sails."

John activated the overhead gravitonic launch arms that

would support the ship's launch sails between them. As the

launch arms extended above the ship, the whine of the gravitonic

field generator rose and then fell as the couplers received a

maximum charge for launch. Once the launch arms were extended,

he loosed the launching sail and leaned forward until he could

see it through the nose cone view port. And, there it was,

between the launch arms, unfolding, billowing, and shimmering in

Infinity City's artificial nuclear sunlight. The port he was

looking through was at least a foot thick but perfectly

transparent, though with liquid crystal doping for controlled

translucence and opaqueness. It was about one foot wide and went

all the way around the cone to form a ring shaped panoramic view.

After satisfying himself that the sail was secured to all of

the arms, John checked the flight board telltales for any

problems and seeing none he reported, "Launch control, this is

EXCEPTION. Ready for automated take off."

"Acknowledged. Initiating take off now." And, with that,

the communication screen changed to the message "COMPUTERS

LINKED. LAUNCH GO..."

Automated commands began to scroll across his on-board

computer's screen. The ship creaked and groaned as the sail

couplers sent a high energy burst of special sub-atomic

particle/waves of just the right characteristic to make the sails

react to gravitons. The gravitonic field generator rose to a

scream in response to the demand on it to overcome Infinity

City's local "storm" of gravitonic forces designed to simulate

Earth's gravity, contain a local atmosphere, and also provide

enough meteorological chaos to generate weather for agriculture.

John gripped the levers for manual gyro-override and as he

watched the commands flying across his on-board computer screen,

the ship lurched upward, rising in a straight line. Looking out,

he eye-balled the launch sails billowing with the peculiar

saddle-shaped launch configuration. Looking down, he saw the

launch field drop away; saw other merchant ships, mostly tear-

drop and bullet shapes of various sizes; and several Infinity

City crab-like men-of-war down for provisioning or refitting.

Soon, all Infinity City could be seen spreading out away

from the launch field. He could see the tall buildings of the

nearby metropolitan sector, the quaint and colorful dwellings of

the "oldtown" at the city core, and the grid-like structure of

highways leading out toward the geometric patterns of agriculture

with green, yellow, and russet crops, and the distant, spreading

estates of the large Families.

On the other side of the launch field the black barrier of

space at the edge of the blue atmosphere could be seen curving

around the horizon, merging with the blue artificial skies and

fluffy clouds.

John looked down at his excellent view of the different

zones making up the immediate City. He could see municipal zones

with mixed single and family apartments and shops, one, two, or

three storys high; the nearby prestigious Canterbury zone with

mansions and gardened grounds of some of the most powerful

families; and the industrial zone of warehouses and automated

manufacturing plants. The closest thing to Utopia that anyone

knew of, John thought to himself.

He neared the boundary of Infinity City's controlled

gravitonic field and could see one of the huge suspension

generators that held up the egg-shaped envelope of protective

force, keeping at bay the maelstrom of gravitonic forces coursing

between the black hole's first and second event horizons, keeping

Infinity City forever floating right in the middle of the first

cycle of the black hole's infinite singularity wave.

He quickly began the procedure to extend the ship's mainsail

rigging. Manipulating controls, he sent the various mainsail

yards extending out in a crown pattern about the bow of the ship.

He energized the piezoelectric plates in the molecular

laminations of the sail yards causing them all to bend inward

until they all touched. Then, he ran up the mainsail field pump

setting its efficiency phase at 10% and backed off on the sail

yard piezopower unfurling the shimmering mainsail between all the

sail yards until a beautiful, gossamer crown-shaped mainsail was

spread before the ship.

Evenly, he switched the gravitonic generator's power over to

the mainsail. He then reefed the launch sail back in and

retracted its sail arms. The gravitonic generator was wining

loudly now as it filled the mainsail to its maximum thickness of

slightly less than a single millimeter.

John checked all systems for readiness. He was about to

leave the black hole for some point in Earth's second Christian

millennium. He took a deep breath. Then reported to launch

control, "This is the EXCEPTION. Ready for arc and vector." *1.

(See footnotes at end of chronicle.)

"This is launch control. Acknowledged EXCEPTION, your

request for arc and vector. Checking for previous conflicting

use of vector... None. Checking for traffic due... None.

Computers performing final vector program verification...

Completed. Awaiting your go, EXCEPTION."

And, John One said, "Go!". With that, he twisted the

microelectronic phase of the mainsail to maximum efficiency and

felt the familiar vertigo as the mainsail bit into the storm of

gravitons between the two event horizons and propelled the ship

into an arc, positioning it for the vector out through the first

event horizon point that would correspond with Earth's second

millennium. Manual guidance through the black hole's gravitonic

storm to an accurate vector was impossible by manual steering.

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***--------------------------------------***"VANGOGHINSPACE"InfinityCityseriesbook#1,ed7.InternationalCopyright1991-1994ByDouglasK.BellThisworkisregisteredwiththeUNITEDSTATESCOPYRIGHTOFFICE,THELIBRARYOFCONGRESS.*Reg.No.500413*AllInternationalrightsreserved.***--------------------------------------**...

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Douglas K. Bell - Infinity City 01 - Van Gogh in Space

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