Free Swallow the Sky: A Space Opera by Chris Mead

“I know, but it’s designed for privacy” he whispered.
    He looked around; they
were alone.
    “Put this on quickly.”
    He ripped open his package and pulled out two black jumpsuits, giving one to Aiyana. They had them on in less than
a minute. Aiyana squirmed as she wriggled her fingers into the gloves at the
end of each arm. Following Carson’s example she kept the hood down, leaving
their heads exposed.
    “These are stealth suits”
he explained quietly “they serve the same function as a privacy room. No-one
can scan our biometrics while we’re wearing them and when we pull up the hoods
they won’t be able tap into our systems either – we’ll be effectively invisible
and untraceable.”
    “My God! Are they legal?”
    “Sure, if you test
equipment in a licensed communications facility.”
    “So how did you manage to
get them?”
    “It wasn’t too hard; I
bought them from a local hoodlum. Finding a competent criminal is the same in
any society – you start at the bottom and work your way up the food chain. The tricky
part was keeping Sosimo off the scent.”
    “And” he added “I’ve been
learning some interesting stuff about Kaimana’s infrastructure.”
    Before he could continue Aiyana
stepped forward and kissed him. Startled, he began to pull away but then heard
other voices. The two women he had seen had finished their tryst and were heading
to the hotel. He put his arms around her and they stood in a frozen embrace as
the lovers walked by.
    “They’ll need help if
they’re going to imitate that statue” said one.
    “Want to volunteer?”
replied the other. They both laughed and continued down the leafy path.
    Aiyana stepped away as
soon as the couple were gone.
    “Sorry” she said “I
thought we should act the part.”
    He shook his head in
dismissal and gestured for her to follow him.
    “How about a bike ride?”
he said loudly for the benefit of any eavesdroppers “I’ve rented a tandem.”
    The bike was waiting
outside the hotel entrance. Designed for tourists, it was little more than a
couple of saddles straddling a squat cylinder.
    “Greetings honored
husband Smith and wife Smith” cried the bike.
    Aiyana gave him a deadpan
stare but said nothing.
    “I thought we’d go for a
ride by the lake” he told the bike as they climbed on board.
    “What a romantic idea! Both
simulated moons are full tonight and the view will be lovely. Did you know that
the lake filled the entire crater before the first colonists arrived? Achieving
its current state was a challenging –”
    “Shut up” said Carson.
    Inertial fields gripped
their legs and the bike lifted off into the darkness. A few minutes later they
were skimming over the central park’s tailored meadows. The grasslands had been
planted with luminescent flowers and graceful arcs of color rolled beneath them
as they sped towards the lake. Dense knots of the glowing plants illuminated
tiny picnic pavilions and they could hear the voices of revelers drifting up
through the fragrant night air.
    He leaned over and
studied the darkened landscape.
    “Park by that stream” he
told the bike.
    Once they had landed and
dismounted he added “We’re going for a long walk. Wait here until we return.”
    “This vehicle is rented
on an hourly basis honored customer” the bike cautioned.
    “I know, we’ll be back in
a while.”
    “Will we? Be back, I
mean” asked Aiyana once they were out of earshot of the vehicle. They were
walking besides the stream, heading away from the lake.
    “Like hell” Carson said
and picked up the pace.
    After a kilometer’s hike through
the meadows they found themselves enveloped in a forest, the trail gradually
steepening as they approached the base of the caldera wall. Eventually the
stream disappeared into a three meter wide tunnel in the rock face.
    “The lake is fed by
streams like this all around the crater” he explained. “They simply channel
rainwater from outside.”
    “Time to get