I first met Norm at the first xxx launch back in the early 50s. I'd been
staying at the Scottish embassy in Nairobi, waiting for my El slot to come
up - I was to meet the rest of my team at the Eternal Mother Hotel on the
Pan Africa Station in good time for the launch window. As was quite common
at that time, there had been a flurry of threats of sabotage from the UDF,
and security was tight, but we weren't aware of any specific concerns as we
boarded the El.
Norm was in the line ahead of me, standing a good 25cm taller than me, and
I'm easily 190. He was not imposing however, but quite slim - muscular, but
not bulked, more like a climber than someone who lifts weights. It turns out
that a life in and out of low earth orbit will do that to a person,
particularly if they spend a lot of time in progressive gravity
environments.
Ahead of him, some tourists were starting to make a fuss. I wasn't paying
any particular attention - there's always something that will trigger the
ire of entitlement at security. I imagine this is how airports must have
been, particularly toward the end of high speed air travel when planes were
dropping increasingly often but the old ways were still thought of as
baseline, just subject to interruption.
Unusually in this case though, voices were quickly rising. I looked up from
my pad to see a couple being escorted, with some enthusiasm, from the line
by four security personnel, one on each side of each detainee. This was
quite shocking in itself; escalation was not unheard of in these situations,
but situations I'd encountered in the past tended to be slow burners,
security being well trained in the art of de-escalation.
Even before I had formed a coherent picture of what I was seeing, Norm had
stepped up in front of the struggling group of people and was talking calmly
and quietly, directing his focus at the security person I assumed must be in
charge, but having an immediate effect on everyone involved. Remarkably, the
volume immediately dropped and body language quickly moved from aggressive
and defensive to relaxed and even good humoured. This tall, willowy ghost of
a man gave his full undivided attention, one by one, to each individual
albeit briefly, and then stepped back into line as they returned to complete
the interaction that had gone almost disastrously wrong for that couple.
I didn't think much more about that situation, or Norm (though I didn't know
his name yet), and continued shuffling along the line, eventually getting
through the security barriers and into the pre-boarding lounge.
The lounge itself is a fairly large donut of a room, wrapped around the base
of the El. The central area where the transport car sits when at rest,
currently empty but for the anchored base of the el-stalk, was brightly
sunlit and silent behind the reinforced glass and sliding doors. I wandered
around checking out all the shops and cafes around the rim - aimlessly, and
not really exploring - I'd been through this routine probably 40 times over
the previous two years, so this was virtually habitual.
I should give you a little context I guess, because that's a lot of elevator
time for anyone. I'm a drone engineer by trade. I've been doing this work
for two decades, starting out as a programmer of OODA systems, focused on
the gnarly parts between the second O and the D. Lots of knowledge
representation and higher order logic, though it had been a few years since
I'd pulled one of the 48 hour psychedelic deep dives that would bring the
breakthroughs that built my rep. These days I was running a small team of
hardware and software folks - still doing technical work, but much more
integration and deployment than research and development. My people were
already up at PA Station and had been for the best part of the last month.
This was an important launch coming up, and not only were we responsible for
the ongoing security and surveillance of the station itself, but also for
the swarm that was to accompany the xxx on its long flight to Enceladus.
So I wasn't particularly excited to be boarding the El. Any flutter of
anticipation I might have nursed early on was long ago settled. I was
sitting at my gate, gazing out at the hardy grasses that populated the
landing area, waiting for my ride, when Norm sat down on the bench seat next
to me.
"You must be Dr Cat" he said, offering his hand.
"I am indeed," I said, taking his hand. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"My name is Hunu Ofori, but you can call me Norm. I'm here as your aide for
this mission" he replied. "I've read great things about you and your crew."
I had not been anticipating any additions to my team. Indeed, I hadn't asked
for or interviewed anyone, or heard any suggestion that this might be
happening. But I didn't doubt that he was being honest - there was something
about his manner, as I'd seen earlier in line for security, which was
inherently reassuring.
"That's... not a very descriptive title" I said, leaving the open questions
on the table.
"That's true! I would describe myself as a 'political assistant', but my
role is always that of fixer. I am also trained as a mechatronic engineer
and though I'm not a software person, I am not entirely illiterate." He
smiled, putting me immediately at ease after knocking me slightly off
balance with that last gently delivered joke. "I was born in space, en route
to Mars - a child of convicted billionnaires I'm afraid. But that wasn't my
doing" that smile again, "and I was raised by the transport crews that ran
that route. I'm here because I have a unique skillset - not only am I
completely at home in microgravity, but I understand and empathize with
folks as alien to one another as any human has ever been. Hence 'political',
which I use in its most fundamental sense."
"Ah yes," I said. "I saw you in action earlier, you were very impressive."
He looked troubled. "That is why I'm here. Tensions are particularly high
right now - I'm told the UDF has hooked up with the local de-federalists and
has made some quite specific threats against this mission. That earlier
incident was of course unrelated, except insofar as the mood music was
already set for quick escalation."
I pondered this for a moment. I had many questions, none of them quite
formed as a shadow grew across the central atrium. We looked up and saw the
El decelerating to its terminus.
"Welp," I said, "time to be on our way. I'm going to get settled in my cabin
and take a shower - shall we meet in the lower observation lounge and get to
know one another better in, say," I looked at my watch "30 minutes time?"
The doors were opening and the returners began disembarking, wheelie luggage
and the occasional robotic helper following them out. "OK," nodded Norm,
"I'll brief you fully on what I know and what I and my bosses believe to be
happening. And we can watch the world transform into something perfect
together."
