Douglas K. Bell - Infinity City 02 - Jason the Rescuer

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

" J A S O N T H E R E S C U E R "

Infinity City series book #2, 7Mar94.

This work is registered with the

UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE,

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

* Reg. No. 537383 *

All Int'l rights reserved.

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This document is for use only by permission of the

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

>>> If you would like "SEARCH FOR KATZ", the next exciting

book in the series, just email me!

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

Author:

DOUGLAS K. BELL

Pleasanton, California

Email: dougbell@netcom.com

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

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

1. HOME.

Jason left the happy occasion of his parents 100th

anniversary party slightly early, feeling a little miffed at

still not being able to talk them into having more children. He

quietly left their little apartment above their family store, a

curio shop of exotic items from around the Galaxy, and headed to

his electric rent-a-car parked along the street here in the

quaint little section of Infinity City known as Oldtown, where he

had grown up. Jason had actually only recently returned to

Infinity City. *1. (See footnotes at end of this chronicle.)

With the extraordinary amount of money resulting from his last

rescue mission of a stranded space vessel, he had purchased for

his parents an anniversary gift of 100 years supply of the PILL

OF LIFE. *2. They were extremely grateful, as the PILL was

expensive, and their only source of income was from their little

curio shop. Their old supply of the PILL was almost out. 'What

would they look like if they started to age?' he wondered.

Strange to think... Yes, it had been a happy reunion with them,

in spite of the mysterious little audio tape they had acted so

strangely about, now tucked safely into the pocket of his flight

jacket.

Now, it was down to the shining Infinity City gold souqs to

make his final purchases prior to sailing away tomorrow morning

on his next rescue mission of a huge derelict colonial space

craft, lost somewhere up in the Galaxy outside the black hole of

Infinity City. *3. Miraculously, he had just finished all his

provisioning that very day ahead of schedule and all that was

left was to purchase a good supply of pure, soft buttery-yellow

gold ingots for trading with colonists aboard the stranded ship

he was looking for. Often in the past, the broken down ships

that he had rescued had contained surprising and amazing cargoes

that he would sell for high profits back on Infinity City.

He folded his tall, well-toned physique into his little,

automatic rent-a-car and instructed it to take him to the Oldtown

gold souqs. Jason had gone on the PILL before his aging began

and perpetually looked like he was still a radiant young man in

his early twenties. Exercising frequently, vigorously, almost

religiously, he kept himself in the best shape that he could.

This was a tradition among the Adventurers of Infinity City. It

had another Grand Purpose for Jason, though. HE could not resist

the challenge of a pretty lady (single ladies only, of course...

usually). He had blue eyes and wavy almost-blonde hair that

would always blow around at the slightest breeze giving him a

wild look; as if his personality was not wild enough. He tried

to keep his hair short, but always preoccupied with preparation

or execution of a rescue, it tended to get a little too long.

Slightly sunken cheeks and a fair complexion gave him a

misleadingly austere look when he was calm and a frightful

grimacing scowl when he was roused. Jason was the epitome of the

Infinity City Adventurer ideal. Wild, a little greedy, uncanny

clever, light-hearted, passionate and always at odds with the

ultimate authority of the Grand Dames. But, when it came to the

actual execution of an Adventure, he was dead serious.

He also had a small secret tattoo that he would brag about

to peak the curiosity of young ladies. It could be viewed in

only the most intimate of circumstances. Jason was, after all, a

rogue.

His prize feature, to him, was a small scar down the left

cheek of his clean-shaven face, won during a battle in his active

duty with Infinity City's Militia Guard. In conversation,

especially with ladies, he would stroke his left cheek with a

finger, to draw attention to the impressive little scar, hoping

for someone to ask about the story behind it, which had grown

into quite a remarkable tale, over the years.

He had even gotten to tell this, his favorite tale, twice

during the evening at his parent's anniversary. An opportunity

came to tell it a record third time, but his parents, bored after

having heard it countless times before, demanded that Jason tell

them all the exciting details regarding his UPCOMING rescue

mission. He sighed and agreed. He took rescue missions very

seriously (about the only thing he took seriously, his parents

worried) and would have preferred to jabber away about the

dangers and successful completion of some past mission already

under his belt. But, his parents and friends were crowded

around, leaning forward, eagerly awaiting something new, and they

had all heard his other stories before anyway.

He told them about how, at the Infinity City Grand Library,

he had performed exhaustive computer searches of news releases

from all over the Galaxy to find anything about spaceships in

need of rescue. He learned about a famous case, in which a huge

space-liner full of over nine hundred colonists, from a modern

world named CONOVER around RIGEL, had been reported missing

eighty-seven years ago. The 'Heaven,' it was called. The

purpose of its important voyage was to colonize a newly

discovered planet, only a few stars away from RIGEL. The voyage

should have taken only about ten years. (They only had primitive

ion-engines, though, at least, with direct mass-conversion

nuclear power.)

After it was reported missing, by the advanced scouts at the

new world, search ships were sent out but mysteriously found

nothing between the HEAVEN'S origin and destination. No debris,

no trace, no radio distress messages. Conover loyally continued

the search for decades! The regretful conclusion of the official

investigation was that it must have gone off course and

tragically had been lost.

Jason had his own exciting theory of what happened, though.

Its course was near one of Infinity City's main Militia Guard

patrol routes, around one of the "neighbors". *4. Jason's eyes

widened and he grew animated telling the expectant crowd about a

wonderful clue to the ship's mysterious disappearance. Only five

years before, Jason, on active duty with the Militia Guard, had

been assigned a patrol mission around that very same "neighbor."

Before he left, he had received the usual briefing, but this one

had an urgent addendum regarding a dangerous gravitonic whirlpool

that had just been reported by an Adventurer newly arrived on

Infinity City. Jason had remembered this because the report

related an amazing account of how the Adventurer himself had

gotten caught in the whirlpool, been slung out catastrophically

near the speed of light and thus so slowed down in time that when

he finally returned to Infinity City, though only a few ship-

board months had passed to get back, he discovered that 93 years

had passed on Infinity City since he had last been there.

Time aboard a spaceship or anything traveling near the speed

of light, adhering to the Law of Relativity, slows down and

approaches a stopping point at the exact speed of light, which

cannot normally be reached since this would take an infinite

amount of energy. The sailships of Infinity City employ the

probabilistic field shift method, reeling out gigantic sails of

special molecularly laminated material that redirect the

gravitons about the ship, utilizing the phenomenal effects of

gravitons upon local probability.

The report prudently noted that his wise investments in the

Infinity City Militia Bond fund had made him so wealthy, that he

had moved away to retire on some obscure planet around RIGEL.

When Jason had seen the news report at the library about the

missing colony ship and read that its course had been near his

old patrol area, he had become very interested. When he read

that the ship had been from RIGEL, he remembered the Adventurer's

report regarding the whirlpool which had been very near to the

ship's planned route. Jason surmised that the whirlpool had

swung the ship way off-course, probably also slinging it so close

to the speed of light that the crew were now living too slow to

have transmitted a distress call yet. On the colony ship, it may

have only been a few days or just A FEW HOURS since the

catastrophe!

Jason told the expectant crowd, that he planned to sail off

to the whirlpool and begin searching the gravitonic currents

radiating out, for the lost ship. The original searchers, from

the colony ship's home planet, had no gravitonic technology and

so never searched these currents. The colony ship, according to

Jason, was probably sliding along one of them at near light

speed.

Everyone had grown just as excited as Jason about the story.

Everyone except his two parents, who just stood looking at each

other with a serious look of silent communication which Jason

noted wryly most married people always seemed to develop. He

asked, "WHAT, are you two thinking now?"

His mother conspiratorially asked his father, "Should we

tell him?"

His father said with irritation, "I don't want to tell him.

You tell him!"

"I can't! It was hard enough making that tape."

"Then, let's just give him the tape like we planned to

anyway."

Jason asked, "What tape? What IS all this?"

His father addressed his mother, "Go get the tape, Maynyn"

She went off to search for it. His father turned to him, but

could not meet his gaze. "Jason, this story you just told us

reminded us of something that happened a long time ago. Long

before you were even born. Something happened that... Well,

that we aren't very proud of. And, that really turned bad,

and...", his voice was beginning to shake. He stopped and took a

deep breath. "You should know. During your last absence, we sat

down and recorded a tape of the whole story. I just can't tell

you about it! Now, look. Let's just forget it. This is a happy

night." His mother returned with a small audio tape. His father

said, "Here, just take this tape and listen to it during."

Jason tried to learn more about the mysterious contents of

the tape, but they would say nothing. He finally just put the

tape in his jacket pocket and change the subject, bringing up a

topic he had hounded them about for years now. "You know, when I

come back from an Adventure, something is really missing. Other

Adventurers come back and are welcomed by their huge families. I

just have you two. I was just wondering if you two had been

thinking about what you promised me to think about. Remember?

Before my last voyage?"

His father rolled his eyes, "Oh, Jason, not this again!"

Jason stubbornly drove on, "You promised that you would

think about having more kids! I hate having such a small family.

I love you two, sure, but I want brothers and sisters and nieces

and nephews so much! You two need to get on the ball here."

His mother looked down in embarrassment, then walked away to

go talk to some of the other guests. His father squinted at him.

"There's nothing stopping YOU from getting married, Jason.

You're 45." And then dryly, "I think you're just about mature

enough."

Jason did not know if he was being serious or sarcastic. In

any case, settling down was the lowest of his priorities at this

point in time. "Dad, come on. I haven't found the right girl

yet." He grinned his ear to ear grin. "I'm sure looking around

a lot, though!" Then, returning doggedly to his obsessive quest

for siblings, he cajoled, "Come on, why won't you have more kids?

You both came from big families! Why not? What is the damn

mystery here?!"

His father looked at him sharply, "You want to know the

mystery? Why we don't have more kids? Listen to the damn tape

and you'll find out! Now come on, let's forget about it. It's

our anniversary tonight, everybody's having a good time. You

gave us a wonderful gift. You're our wonderful son and you're

about to leave again, so let's just have a good time, too...

Hey, did you read in the JOURNAL OF RECENT ADVENTURE about your

friend John One bringing back Van Gogh? That's incredible!"

Jason had not felt like small talk. Soon, he had said his

good-byes and left.

Jason pulled his car away from the curb of his parents'

little two-story curio shop and apartments. Looking up into

Infinity City's nighttime sky, he noticed that someone was

playing a laser show. Thick, fuzzy beams of pistachio green and

hot pink drew wild geometric shapes through the nighttime mist

being released at the very top of Infinity City's atmosphere.

Infinity City was located midway between the first and second

event horizons within a black hole, about halfway toward the

center of the Galaxy. It was roughly disk shaped and was

surrounded by an artificial atmosphere, held in place by

artificial gravity and heated by a revolving artificial sun.

Probably the most stunning and complex creation of mankind,

Infinity City had been built by the mysterious Original Builders

many millennia ago.

Jason began to feel the usual home-sickness prior to leaving

on one of his self-appointed rescue missions. Sometimes he was

gone for many years. Finding lost ships always took a long time

and never ending patience and persistence. And, sometimes the

repairs could take over a year. His wonderful sailship cruiser

was outfitted with an amazing workshop where he could perform

electronic repairs, machining, software programming, even

woodcraft (a hobby during the long months in space). He had even

repaired one ship captain's noisy plumbing in exchange for some

rare zoo animals which he had transported and sold back on

Infinity City.

He spontaneously decided to stop by the WELL OF THE WISH and

pay his respects to the Original Builders. *5. Legend had it

that they had one by one all jumped down. He told the car to go

there instead. The WELL was at the center of Oldtown and also

the precise center of Infinity City itself, which meant that it

was exactly at the center of the Black Hole Normal Line. From

outside a black hole, the event horizon is the shape of a

spherical shell. Relative to the inside of a black hole, all

event horizons are points. (See subsequent I.C. chronicles for

interesting accounts of adventures within various other event

horizons...) The Horizon Normal Line, an imaginary line between

the first and second event horizon, plays a crucial role in

astronavigation. When a sailship leaves Infinity City, its

temporal point of emergence, back in the outside universe, is a

function of the ship's exit angle to the Horizon Normal Line.

After a few minutes, the car pulled into the small parking

lot outside the wall surrounding the WELL. A little old man, too

poor to afford the Pill, sat snoring in the guard booth, his chin

resting on his chest. Jason grinned and stole quietly past,

through the open gate in the wall and into the translucent

roofed-over interior. The lighting was subdued. He moved to the

old black and red brick cistern and looked inside. At the

bottom, far below Infinity City, was the second event horizon.

Tonight, it was a bright white whirling star, that looked very

far away. Some said what you saw determined your future. Jason

did not believe superstitious nonsense. However, he had a

reverence for the forces that kept the Universe running.

Looking into the WELL before a rescue reminded him of two

things: The powerful forces of nature he would have to deal with

in space. And, how the Original Builders, his forefathers, had

bent these forces, no matter how immense, to their purpose.

He longed for a cigarette or a cigar, but they were

currently banned and he had not yet found a supply anywhere. Oh,

well. Smoking gave him bad breath, anyway...

He turned away from the WELL and left. Just as Jason exited

the gate, another car pulled up and out sprang Vincent Van Gogh

with paintbrush and palette. He stormed toward the gate. Jason

had just been introduced to him the day before. As he passed,

Jason greeted him, "Hi, Vincent!", but Van Gogh ignored him and

marched through the gate. TEMPERAMENTAL ARTISTS! Jason thought

to himself. (See previous chronicle for a full account of Van

Gogh on Infinity City...)

He hopped back into his car and told it to take him to the

gold souqs. The car rolled off and after a few minutes, pulled

into the busy street adjacent to the bright, flashy gold souqs.

It was a busy night and the car took a while to find a parking

place. Finally, Jason was able to jump out. The street was

brightly lit from the intense indoor lighting reflecting a

fortune in gold shining out of all the shops. He looked up at

the dazzling store fronts, with all sorts of gold jewelry hanging

in display. He turned, walked down the street a way, wishing he

had brought sunglasses, and turned into one of the narrow,

connecting alleys between each avenue of the souqs. This one

lead to the second row of souqs. He was looking for a particular

merchant, who always had an amazing variety and who would give

Jason his usual "discount" without Jason having to waste any time

haggling. He quickly found the store. It stood out among its

neighbors, as if its owner took far more pride in his business.

He went up to the large glass door and it slowly swung open

automatically triggered by his presence. It was about three

inches thick, made to withstand intrusion.

Inside was a flaming, dazzling fortune in golden glory!

Finely worked jewelry with and without precious gems hung

everywhere. The decor this time was all wood flooring &

paneling, with bamboo furniture. The soft, light toned wooded

wall panels seemed to glow with a life of their own reflecting

the hanging long gold chains, bracelets, rings, and more. The

overhead lighting was tuned to make the gold as instinctively

alluring to the human eye as possible. Jason felt the excited

stupefaction that always overcame anyone surrounded by the most

ancient of mankind's treasures. Gold was still precious, too

expensive to synthesize, even for the "alchemists" of Infinity

City.

Several young clerks genially waited on customers. Jason

looked for the owner and saw him just coming out of the back room

The owner, a Mr. Abu originally from the Earth, spotted

Jason and recognized him immediately. He moved toward Jason and

greeted him, "Ah, Mr. Jason, my friend! It has been so long!

Over one year! I read about your latest rescue in the JOURNAL.

*6. Breathtaking Adventure, my friend, breathtaking!" He was

wearing the customary robe of the Infinity City gold merchant,

bright starched white. On his head, he wore laurel leaves of

very thin gold, each leaf tipped with a tiny, sparkling diamond.

Jason said, "Over sensationalized, I'm sure, Mr. Abu. How

have you been? Prosperous year?"

"Ehh... I get by, I get by. My wife, she leaves me with

nothing. All profit goes directly to her. Why do I work so

hard?!", he shook his head in mock-misery. He was very old and

had deep lines about his eyes and mouth that made him look a

tragic figure, which he often used to play upon the sympathies of

lady clientele. The PILL OF LIFE did nothing for wrinkles. He

obviously had avoided the Infinity City plastic surgeons, opting

instead for the distinctive look of wizened age, accentuated by

his drooping, long pointed nose and long, gray pointed beard.

"Well, that's why I'm not married," Jason said with a sly

grin. "Tomorrow, I'm sailing away early in the morning. I need

some gold for trading. I haven't much time. Can I get my usual

discount?"

"Yes, of course, my friend!" He leaned close to Jason,

looked this way and that, then squinted one eye and said in a low

voice, "I will save you even more, Mr. Jason! I have found a

vendor who is just new and trying to undercut his competition.

His prices are so low, he must be insane. Maybe some offworld

syndicate trying to muscle in, eh? Who knows?! Come, let me

show you some things I think you will like."

"Did you get any bulk ingots?"

"Ah!" His bushy old eyebrows shot upwards. "I knew you

would be back someday to ask just that very question! Yes, I

did. Twice as many as you asked for the last time." He put his

arm around Jason and lead him back into the private showing room.

2. DALTON.

Jason and Mr. Abu were outside the gold souq chatting about

the usual wild goings on of Infinity City. Jason's purchase was

in a secure leather satchel at his feet. His hand held firmly to

the shoulder strap. As they chatted, a boy just into his youth,

dressed in old clothes, confidently sauntered past them and into

the shop. Mr. Abu stopped talking in mid-sentence and

suspiciously watched the boy through the display window, out of

the corner of his eye. His gaze narrowed with deeper suspicion.

"What's the matter?" asked Jason.

Mr. Abu grunted, "After all these years in this business, I

now have a sixth sense about trouble. That boy. He's been

hanging around here for days now. Just a child of the streets,

probably. Maybe a laborer over in the industrial district."

"He looks too young for that," Jason observed.

"Street child, then. Infinity City, the most advanced city

in the universe, still with street kids and bums! I will never

understand," he shook his head and pulled a little control box

from a pocket up his sleeve. He pressed a button. He shook the

little box in Jason's face. "This transmitter will alert my

clerks to be wary. Look how much of my merchandise is in open

displays! Ah, but to touch is to buy..."

"Where's the police? I haven't seen one patrol all night

here."

"Bah!" and he spat. "There must be some big convoy in at

the space field. They always yank the souq police for extra

customs duty. We pay our taxes! We deserve full protection! I

have heard there are only three patrolmen assigned to the gold

souqs now. This is why the kid has come here. Well, he will

find that my staff have eyes in the backs of their heads!"

They secretly watched the boy as he strolled around the

store with his hands behind his back, ostensibly admiring the

stunning displays of gold broaches, earrings, charms and other

fine items. More than once, as he would slowly walk past, other

customers would sniff at the air in puzzlement, and then make

faces of disgust.

Finally, the boy, noting the ever-watchful eyes of the

clerks, headed back the way he had come. As he stepped outside,

he apparently tripped and bumped into Jason leaning back against

the store front. He looked up at Jason, to excuse himself, their

eyes met, and then for a moment they just looked curiously at

each other. The boy was thin, with unkempt, dark brown hair,

dark eyes, dark complexion. To Jason's puzzlement, there seemed

something hauntingly familiar about him. As Jason opened his

mouth to ask him who he was, the boy quickly excused himself and

walked away, disappearing into the next alleyway down the street.

"Do you know him?", the gold merchant asked suspiciously.

"No, not at all!", replied Jason.

"You looked at him as if you knew his face."

"Something about him. Thought I'd seen him before, I

guess."

"Yes, maybe working around the space field. Jason," he

said, touching Jason's arm. "Check you pockets."

"What? Why?", Jason asked baffled.

"Pickpockets. Have you never heard of them??"

Jason groaned, then smiled as he felt his valuables safe and

secure, "Look, all tab-lock pockets. I have a tough enough time

opening them, let along a thief."

"What about that open breast pocket?", Abu said, pointing to

a pocket in Jason's flight jacket without any tab lock, meant for

sunglasses.

Jason began, "I don't keep anything there...", then he

remembered the tape from his parents. He had put it in that

pocket! He checked the pocket. It was empty. The tape was

gone.

Instantly enraged, he cried, "Hold this!", tossed the handle

to his bag of gold to Mr. Abu and then sprang off in the

direction the boy had gone. He, decided the boy would heading

deeper into the maze of souqs. Jogging up to the alleyway, he

turned into it, heading toward the 3rd avenue. The alley sides

were two stories high and featureless, except for low footlights,

at regular intervals. Each side of the alley could be touched by

extending both arms. The boy was not to been seen.

Jason emerged into the 3rd avenue. He looked to the left.

Nothing, just more souqs with ornate signs hanging from elaborate

glittering, golden metalwork hangers and shoppers leisurely

strolling along the boardwalks before all the storefronts. He

looked to the right... The boy! He was walking up the street

and, as Jason watched, turned into the alley leading to the 4th

avenue!

Jason ran up to this alley and peeked around the corner. He

saw the lad walking down the alley with a bouncing confident

gate, slapping a bulging trouser pocket smugly. This must be the

tape. The tape was in a little black metal box. Jason thought

that the boy would probably think it contained gold or some other

valuable.

As soon as he reached 4th avenue, he turned to the left.

Jason decided to surprise him. He turned and ran back up 3rd

avenue, to the next alley and then ran into it, running as fast

as he could to pop out of the alley just as, he calculated, the

boy would reach it.

He burst out of the alley, expecting to confront the boy

face to face. But, the boy was not there! Jason looked up the

avenue and there was the boy, leaning against the corner, next to

the alley he had just left, examining the little black tape box!

He took one look at Jason and jolted with surprise. The tape

case flew up in the air. The boy deftly snatched it back, then

sprung forward, dashing across 4th avenue toward the mouth of the

alley to 5th avenue.

Jason started after him, then decided to veer to his left

and go through the alley across from the one he had just left.

Maybe the boy would turn left at the end of the alley.

Just as the boy entered the alley, he quickly stole a glance

in Jason's direction then continued forward. Jason ground to a

halt. If this kid is smart, he thought, he'll see I'm heading

for the next avenue, so HE'LL double back! Jason veered slightly

to the right and ran to the storefronts next to the alley the

youth had taken. He leapt up to the old-fashioned wooden

boardwalk and pounded off toward the alley to hopefully catch the

boy should he double back. The boardwalk was only wide enough

for two or three people. Eveninggoers gave him haughty looks as

he rudely slid past them.

He was almost to the alley, when a man and woman, arm in

arm, stepped up from it to the boardwalk, having just crossed

from the opposite boardwalk. Jason veered slightly to the left

to pass the couple as he jumped into the alley, hopefully to land

dramatically right in front of the boy. Unfortunately, in the

doorway just a step ahead, Jason was unable to foresee the two

men carrying out a heavy crate, containing an extremely heavy

Douglas K. Bell - Infinity City 02 - Jason the Rescuer

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