[Earthsiders] Rela figures something out.
Jan. 6th, 2007 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
freosanThey fight, a lot. It's because they're so strong-minded, Boss says - 'Kueh says it's because they're both stubborn egotists, but he sounds grudgingly respectful when he does. Possibly, Rela thinks, these are the same.
Today it's about spaceships. Well, no, not quite, but it started with spaceships, and with 'Tatsu going over a full blueprint with her. She can point out every bit of the physical thing - engines, insulation, computers, environmental controls - and she knows all the concepts, shock waves and zero-g and trajectories and Lagrange points. What she doesn't know - what she can't know, 'Tatsu tells her, since she's never been a pilot - is the human half of it.
"See," he says, leaning back in his chair and kicking his legs up on his desk, "When you're flying, it's like - it's the ship doing the flying, right? You're the pilot, yeah, you're supposed to tell it where to go, but a really good pilot, he lets the ship fly itself. When you really know your ship, years and years out, it's like you just disappear." He punctuates his words by grabbing the end of his ponytail and flicking it around. "You're the ship, the ship is you, and it's just this little carbon-based sack of water and a few bits of titanium and atmosphere, all out on their own. And space is - to steal a phrase - vast and infinite."
Rela leans back, pulling her own braid over her shoulder in unconscious mimicry. "Just disappear, no?" She knows she looks skeptical. It's because she is. "You Spacers are weirder than I thought."
'Tatsu laughs. "You don't know the half of it, little lady," he says. "But I'm an Earthsider now, so don't get to calling names," and his voice holds just an edge of warning in it.
"What name am I supposed to call it when someone says he has been part of a spaceship?" she asks, shaking her head. "You will never get me in one of those."
"Hey, now, careful what you say. Future's up in space, you know."
That makes her mad. "No, past's up in space. The Spacers have fucked it up for the rest of us!" she says, trying not to show her anger and failing, because she hears herself nearly yelling on that last word.
'Tatsu's eyes are a bit glassy, not quite there, but the anger in his voice is all directed at her. "Thought you just called me that? No mind, I know you're Earthbound. Watch out for sour grapes, little lady."
Rela knows that story and makes a dismissive noise. "I'm not a fox, pilot. Future's here on Earth, if we stay free from the folk who think that just because they have left it behind it is not of use!"
He snaps back to attention, then, sitting up straight and planting his feet on the floor. "So you're sayin', correct me if I'm wrong, that everyone from space has left Earth behind?"
"That is not what I said and you know it!" She matches his posture with her own.
"Yeah, but I know what you're implyin', and so do you. You think we're all psycho, is that it?"
She races back over the conversation. Perhaps it could be - but... "That is not what I meant at all."
"But it's what you said, lady." 'Tatsu looks suddenly, undeniably old. He's less than ten years older than she is. Where'd he get those lines around his eyes? "Now get out of here before I throw something at you."
She gets. She's guilty, she knows it, and though she hadn't meant it she'd insulted him. Great.
Later that night, she slips out the window - to avoid loosing the locks and waking her sleeping Schuu - and finds a piece of concrete to sit on, a high point that used to be a parking garage.
She looks out at the city, windows covered in black fabric and streetlights out, to keep anything from being a target. She looks up at the sky. The stars are bright tonight, and she tries to see the Pleiades in liu of looking at the shining point that is American Space Colony Pacem.
For just a minute, she feels Earth turning beneath her. She's moving through all that space - all those stars, all that blackness - at roughly one thousand kilometers per hour.
She and the rest of the city.
For just a minute, Rela disappears, to be one part of a city of broken glass and steel.
No wonder 'Tatsu was offended.
Today it's about spaceships. Well, no, not quite, but it started with spaceships, and with 'Tatsu going over a full blueprint with her. She can point out every bit of the physical thing - engines, insulation, computers, environmental controls - and she knows all the concepts, shock waves and zero-g and trajectories and Lagrange points. What she doesn't know - what she can't know, 'Tatsu tells her, since she's never been a pilot - is the human half of it.
"See," he says, leaning back in his chair and kicking his legs up on his desk, "When you're flying, it's like - it's the ship doing the flying, right? You're the pilot, yeah, you're supposed to tell it where to go, but a really good pilot, he lets the ship fly itself. When you really know your ship, years and years out, it's like you just disappear." He punctuates his words by grabbing the end of his ponytail and flicking it around. "You're the ship, the ship is you, and it's just this little carbon-based sack of water and a few bits of titanium and atmosphere, all out on their own. And space is - to steal a phrase - vast and infinite."
Rela leans back, pulling her own braid over her shoulder in unconscious mimicry. "Just disappear, no?" She knows she looks skeptical. It's because she is. "You Spacers are weirder than I thought."
'Tatsu laughs. "You don't know the half of it, little lady," he says. "But I'm an Earthsider now, so don't get to calling names," and his voice holds just an edge of warning in it.
"What name am I supposed to call it when someone says he has been part of a spaceship?" she asks, shaking her head. "You will never get me in one of those."
"Hey, now, careful what you say. Future's up in space, you know."
That makes her mad. "No, past's up in space. The Spacers have fucked it up for the rest of us!" she says, trying not to show her anger and failing, because she hears herself nearly yelling on that last word.
'Tatsu's eyes are a bit glassy, not quite there, but the anger in his voice is all directed at her. "Thought you just called me that? No mind, I know you're Earthbound. Watch out for sour grapes, little lady."
Rela knows that story and makes a dismissive noise. "I'm not a fox, pilot. Future's here on Earth, if we stay free from the folk who think that just because they have left it behind it is not of use!"
He snaps back to attention, then, sitting up straight and planting his feet on the floor. "So you're sayin', correct me if I'm wrong, that everyone from space has left Earth behind?"
"That is not what I said and you know it!" She matches his posture with her own.
"Yeah, but I know what you're implyin', and so do you. You think we're all psycho, is that it?"
She races back over the conversation. Perhaps it could be - but... "That is not what I meant at all."
"But it's what you said, lady." 'Tatsu looks suddenly, undeniably old. He's less than ten years older than she is. Where'd he get those lines around his eyes? "Now get out of here before I throw something at you."
She gets. She's guilty, she knows it, and though she hadn't meant it she'd insulted him. Great.
Later that night, she slips out the window - to avoid loosing the locks and waking her sleeping Schuu - and finds a piece of concrete to sit on, a high point that used to be a parking garage.
She looks out at the city, windows covered in black fabric and streetlights out, to keep anything from being a target. She looks up at the sky. The stars are bright tonight, and she tries to see the Pleiades in liu of looking at the shining point that is American Space Colony Pacem.
For just a minute, she feels Earth turning beneath her. She's moving through all that space - all those stars, all that blackness - at roughly one thousand kilometers per hour.
She and the rest of the city.
For just a minute, Rela disappears, to be one part of a city of broken glass and steel.
No wonder 'Tatsu was offended.