What Kate Found in the Fringe

by Nemo West

Table of Contents, parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

part 4

Evening melted to turquoise over the farmlands east of Cinder Pointe. In the dusk, a canvas of position lights twinkled to life on myriad agri-bots — scuttling tortoise-shaped tillers, crab-like pickers, a behemoth tractor with battered skirting. The ice-flat tableland where they toiled testified to the settlement’s poverty.

Discount terraformers often used land-movers to construct plains like these because the flat terrain could be farmed by economy-line agri-bots. The suspension on mid-range bots could typically handle inclines of up to thirty-degrees, and specialized quadruped models could even labor on grades as steep as sixty. This allowed most settlements to preserve natural geography — an aesthetic concern for resorts, communes, wineries, or vacation homesteads. By contrast, flat just meant cheap.

Kate and Quince gazed over the artificially smooth landscape from a wooden bench on the outskirts of Cinder Pointe. Patricia had given them the rest of the day off, following Quince’s surgery. Still slightly groggy from the anesthesia, he sipped a cup of warm broth. Beside him, Kate nursed a local beer with a coarse, earthy flavor.

Eventually, Quince cleared his throat. “So, are you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

He cocked an eye at her. “I was awake enough to hear what Patricia said in the infirmary. They were going to bundle me up to the transport and send me back to civilization. But you ran to Cinder Pointe and convinced the locals to intervene.” He tapped the cast that would protect his leg for the next few days while stem gel stitched his bones. “Why?”

She shrugged and absently swirled her beer. Shy to admit the entire truth, she said, “Because I didn’t want to get stuck doing all the admin work by myself.”

Quince appeared to accept that answer. He sipped his broth for a few moments before remarking, “I don’t imagine my treatment was covered by our Terra Novus medical policy.”

Kate glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

“Medical supplies are a precious commodity on the frontier.” He gestured to his cast. “The locals wouldn’t just donate this kind of care to an off-worlder. Someone must’ve bargained with them, offered them something in exchange.” He eyed Kate. “And since you came up here to ask for help when Patricia wanted to send me home, it’s not hard to guess who that someone was.”

Kate shifted slightly. “So?”

“So, what did they want?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious.”

“You’re nosey.”

“Are you afraid to tell me?”

“Why would I be afraid to tell you?”

“Then tell me.”

“All right.” Kate took a long drink of beer. “I agreed to help Janco unlock an Eschbach drive.”

Quince balked. “An Eschbach drive?” He turned to peer at Cinder Pointe over his shoulder. It looked like a shantytown, with shipping bins, machine parts and debris littering its muddy roads. “How could anyone here afford something like that? The settlers are obviously broke, and Raumstrasse is a penny-ante frontier outfit.”

“Janco said it fell off the back of a freighter.”

“Ah, I see.”

“It was encrypted for humanitarian use,” Kate explained. “Janco remembered me saying I’d done a tour with the Blue Star Service Corps and asked if my aid worker registration was still active. It is, so we were able to make a deal.”

“Wait, you used your registration to unlock a stolen drive? Won’t that flag your account as soon as they turn it on?”

She shook her head. “They stripped out the Net interface. Since it’s keyed as a humanitarian device, it can still run offline on a sort of emergency setting; survival protocol, in case of a shipwreck or something. That’s why we always had to be careful with our gear in the Service Corps. The black markets salivate over any tech that can run dark.”

“So, you won’t get into any trouble over this?”

“A Colonial inspector would have to get his hands physically on that drive to trace the forensics back to me, and that’s not likely to happen out in the Fringe.”

“Well, that’s good. But I still can’t believe Janco managed to get his hands on an Eschbach drive out here. Those things enable serious machinery, like atmosphere scrubbers, starship drives, and omnifacturing plants. What’s he going to do with something like that on Oberon?”

“Who knows?”

Quince shrugged. “Guess it’s not really our problem.” He leaned back and folded gangly arms across his belly. After a few minutes, he turned to Kate with a peculiar expression. “Did you know, statistically, coming out to the Fringe is riskier than skydiving, comet surfing, or Durban League rugby?”

She sipped her beer and tolerated the change of subject with an unexpected tingle. He was probing, she could tell, but she had to admit she enjoyed the attention. “It is, huh?”

“Yep. It’s very easy to meet an unfortunate end out here.”

“So I keep hearing.”

Quince continued, “Extreme weather, unstable geology, terraforming accidents, or a bad harvest can lead to starvation or colony collapse. Even things that would be mundane back in the Core, like accidents or illness, can be deadly out here.” He gestured toward his cast. “If my leg had gotten smashed out in the wilderness and our power banks were down because of the overcast, who knows what could’ve happened.”

Kate nodded.

“Of course, those are just the basic risks you’d face on any new colony,” Quince continued. “But out on the frontier, you also have to worry about the Beyond.”

Kate eyed Quince sidelong. “And what do you think the Beyond really is?” she asked with a skeptical wrinkle on her brow.

“Just what we’ve always heard it is.” Quince waved a hand toward the stars. “Everything out there that’s beyond the reach of the Colonial Administration.”

Kate pursed her lips. “I don’t doubt that there are unregistered settlements out beyond the frontier, but all the horror stories about them can’t possibly be true.”

Quince shrugged. “Sure, not all the stories, but think about it. There are only so many ships available to patrol the Colonies, and they can’t be everywhere all the time. Anyone who wants to skip out on a warrant, set up a drug farm, or manufacture knock-off service bots just needs to head out far enough, pick an empty rock, and set up shop.”

“Okay, but I have a hard time believing the Beyond is some sort of outlaw paradise full of smuggling cartels, illegal gene labs, and bandit warlords.”

“Maybe not. But what Janco said about pirates and smugglers, that’s all true. Raiders really do cross the frontier all the time. Colonial patrols are just spread too thin to stop them.” He gestured with lanky fingers as if bookending his remarks. “The Fringe really is dangerous.”

“Well, of course it is.”

Quince eyed her steadily. “Then why did you volunteer to spend a year out in the middle of it?”

Kate shrugged. “I already told you.”

He lowered his chin to peer at her more intently. “Kate, people don’t come to the Fringe for college credits or to polish their resumes. They come out here because... they don’t really care if they ever make it back.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. This is a routine survey expedition on a piss-ant little dirt farm, not some cry-for-help act of high drama. Why do you keep pushing that angle? And why are you so anxious to get inside my head?”

“I told you when we met: I’m not normal.”

“And you keep proving yourself right.”

He didn’t react to her teasing. Instead, he took a slow, deep breath. “To be honest, I’ve learned to preface myself that way when I meet new people, because... it helps delay the inevitable.”

Kate sensed his mood change. “What do you mean?”

“It’s always just a matter of time, Kate. Normal people like other normal people. But I’m not normal.” He made a half-hearted shrug. “Sometimes it’s quick. Sometimes it takes a little while. But eventually everyone reaches a point where... they’ve just had enough of me.” He slouched on the bench. “Even my own family.”

Her heart went out to him. “I’m so sorry. I... know what it’s like not to get along with your family.”

He blinked. “You do?”

She nodded.

Quince kept his gaze on her for a long moment. She couldn’t really see him out of the corner of her eye, but the way he worked his jaw and cleared his throat seemed to indicate he was marshalling his courage. “Kate, can I ask you something?” he finally ventured

“What?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Her pulse fluttered and a sudden blush warmed her cheeks. “What? Why?”

“I’m curious.”

She arched a brow. “Not nosey?”

With a cautious grin he ventured, “How about... flirty?”

“This is how you flirt — by talking about death statistics and pirate raids?”

Quince spread his palms and shrugged meekly. “I’m... not normal.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

He hunched his brow apprehensively. “Did I just strike out?”

Kate smiled. “You know, I was beginning to wonder when you were going to start pitching.”

He pursed his lips. “You mean swinging, actually.”

“What?”

“Swinging. Not pitching. You jumbled the metaphor a bit.”

“Wow, you really aren’t normal, are you?”

“Not even when I try,” he admitted with a sigh.

Kate shook her head and grinned. Then she slowly slid across the bench to sit right beside him. After nudging his shoulder, she flashed him a gentle smile.

He cocked a hopeful eyebrow. “So, I guess I didn’t strike out then?”

“No, you didn’t,” Kate assured. Then she sipped her beer and smirked. “And by the way, you’re not the only one who isn’t normal. Just ask my family.”

* * *

“It wasn’t your decision to make,” Patricia said.

Bucknam’s eyes smoldered. “And why not?”

“The camels are an expedition resource, and I make decisions about expedition resources.”

“What was there to decide? The damn thing tripped on a root and snapped its leg. Did you expect me to call you and ask for permission to put it out of its misery?”

“That’s exactly what I expect!” Patricia replied irritably. “You were close enough to camp that we could’ve sent out a truck to bring it back.”

“So we could’ve butchered it back here instead of out there? What difference does it make?” He shrugged with the cocksure demeanor of a street thug smirking at an elderly neighbor. “Either way it’s a chance to have a little meat instead of all that mushy zuka the locals keep feeding us.”

“The difference is that you are an expedition employee and I am in command of this expedition. You don’t get to make decisions like that without my permission.” Patricia’s jaw clenched. “Then there’s the matter of your judgment.”

Although she was trying to stay discreetly out of the sight at her workstation, Kate couldn’t help noticing the sudden change in Bucknam’s expression. Surprise and loathing flickered in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“It was sundown,” she continued. “The rest of the scouting team urged caution, wanting to stop and set up camp for the night. But you ordered them to continue.”

Kate noticed Bucknam glance at the assistant surveyor who had accompanied the scouting team. Patricia noticed as well. “Everyone on your team told me the same story, so don’t single anyone out,” she warned. “They were all quite candid about the unnecessary risk, and who they considered responsible. The only person you have to blame for this is yourself.”

Bucknam focused an ominous glare on Patricia.

She responded with the stern gaze high-school principals direct toward students who have exhausted their patience. “Let me be clear, captain. I will not tolerate another lapse of judgment. This is your one and only warning. Had it been a member of the expedition that was injured instead of livestock, you’d be scrolling through job listings aboard the transport right now.” She stared him down until he lowered his eyes. “Something like this will not happen again,” she said firmly.

Bucknam’s shoulders twitched like the temblors of an imminent volcano. “No, it won’t,” he gritted.

“Good,” Patricia replied, already turning to other duties.

As Bucknam departed with a stiff stride, Kate heard Quince let out a sharp breath beside her. “You okay?” she asked.

He jerked. “Huh?” Then he recovered quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

She eyed him for a moment. “Bucknam really seems to make you nervous.”

“It’s nothing.” Quince grimaced. “Patricia should just be careful. That guy’s dangerous.”

Kate hunched her brow. “What makes you say that?”

Quince hesitated for a moment. “He... just seems like someone I wouldn’t want to antagonize,” he said, repeating his previous explanation. Then he noticed Kate’s curiosity lingering on him and quickly went back to work.

She thought about pressing the issue but was interrupted by a string of incoming reports to process. Soon she was busy flicking through screens and confirming coordinates. Yet, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help wondering if Quince knew more about Bucknam than he was letting on.

* * *

Proceed to part 5...

Copyright © 2021 by Nemo West