314 Far Future Ch. 24 – The Land Down Under (1/2)

”So, My Queen, what wonderful stuff do you have for me to do today?”

The fact I actually stopped by the office instead of just calling him up didn't get any more response out of him than anything else. Such a master of the unflappable, as immovable as his mustache.

”Jobs in the Underspire.” He reached over, liberated six different files, slapped them down on his desk in front of me. ”Pick the one you would like to do first. Consider it your test to keep your Level Two Rating.”

”Okie-dokey.” His eyes flicked at the odd term, but he continued working on his computer, while I picked up the folders, old flimsy, shook my head, and scanned through them quickly.

Jeez. Sentient rat swarm. A predatory ooze creature around the algae vats. Tracking and charting the spideroid infestation. A missing Termite. A missing work crew near The Hole. Probably Morlocks tapping the powergrid. Rumors of things coming up out of the Sunken Sea.

”This looks like the work crew and the missing Termite might be related... maybe not.” Huh. Near the Hole and everything. ”They're both near the Hole. I'll take 'em and see if there's a connection, howzabout?”

He grunted his enthusiastic assent to my overwork. Must not have been a huge amount of competition for these jobs, strange.

The fact that finding out what happened to a Termite, and fairly recently, was one of them, verified my faith in My Queen. Just getting the job done and taking care of his living employees.

”Can I get approval to order some more stuff with my dop bonus money and stuff?” I asked archly.

He looked at me. ”Before or after.”

”Order it, I'll pick it up when done,” I assured him.

”What are you looking for.”

”Well, I need seven additional psi-crystal-worthy geodes, some generic crystal-crafting matrix geodes, a set of the appropriate tools... oh, and a laenwork printer, shaper, and actuator, if possible?

”Which reminds me that I need an ammunition maker, too. Slugthrowers are best for a Sun Strike.”

”I will see what I can do. Those are restricted items.”

”I'll make some ammo for you,” I winked at him. ”These two.” I shoved the missing Termite and work crew to one side. ”Code me up, dump the files on me, and I'll be off!”

He just glanced at me, summing up my condition and equipment, and not saying anything else.

My Band beeped. I was off!

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There's Crownspire, high-tech fairyland where the obscenely wealthy well-born dwell, generally noble merchant clans who control off-world trade routes, the keys to the stars. That's the crown of the Central Spire of Janus Prime, reaching way up there to the space elevator controlled by the City Lord, the most powerful sot on the planet. Of the Planet. The Emperor's Own Knights and Cutthroats would claim something else.

Upspire is where wealthy commoners, powerful government officials, and minor noble houses of this world held power, generally controlling great businesses, resources, factories, or work forces, their cash boxes filled by the High Houses. They were still fantastically rich by any standard, but don't have the multi-world and multi-city power of the High Houses.

Midspire was your better educated workers, usually white-collar, with education or skills that were in demand.

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Downspire is where the poor labor force dwelled, but since there's a massive demand for manpower, they aren't out and out destitute. Well, mostly. They are treated like a resource, and not having all the nice stuff that exists in Upspire breeds some ferocious class resentment, which often spills over into lots of violence as they rail against the system.

All of this was built overtop of Underspire.

Janus Prime was a mega-city thousands of years old, its roots sunken way, way down into the mantle. Early mines became foundations for expansions of a workzone into a city, drilling deep into the mantle as machinery for the establishment of a true colony city was set in place, and things grew and grew and grew with time, layer on layer rising, ever rising, while down below, everything remained.