The Gift

The little blonde looked at Shandon with a stunned expression. "Deal?" she blurted out incredulously, "You don't even know what I want yet? I know I said I'd give you the locket but..." she stopped and shook her head. "Well," she started more calmly, "It must be important to you". She paused sighing, then looking up at Shandon she continued, "Tell you what, I won't hold you to this deal until you know what I'm after, why don't we sit and have a chat. Then you can make an informed decision, although you look like your mind is already made up. "

"Pretty well is...", mumbled Shandon eyeing the locket earnestly. They stepped back from the window and sat down facing each other on the benches that lined the sides of the smoke room. The blonde woman leaned over and pulled the door closed then folded down the table that was hinged to the back of the door.

"First let me introduce myself," she began leaning one elbow on the table and pulling a folded 8 by four-inch white unsealed envelope from her pocket. My name is Casey, Casey Alexander. I'm an American you know." She looked up while unfolding the envelope and searchingly ran her eyes over Shandon's face at the mention of the country name. "Do you... know where that is ?"

Shandon blushed, the children of the float were notoriously uneducated about the international community, although none were more so than the scientist's children. Most never left the westside buildings and only went from school to home, to the labs. For fun, many participated in the gardening of herbs and fungi that were used in the labs, some enjoyed simulated reality via closed server video games. Others may have thought it odd that Shandon got out so much compared to other scientist children, Shandon had assumed it was due to his mother's position. His mother was a getter, she didn't work in the labs like other scientists. She met with people either on the east side to get grocery orders fixed or picked up, and with the fancy people that visited from the off-float.

The schools the scientist children attended focused on, well, science, practical science. But Shandon's mother gave him little lessons here and there about the places in the rest of the world and where the people she met with had come from. Kaharon also told him all the stories she learned from the jade fleet captains and crews she frequently visited.

It was because of the grocery runs that Shandon was able to get out. His mother had become friendly with Kaharons family, the Alarie's. One time during a diplomatic visit his mother had complained off-handedly about not wanting to leave Shandon home alone while she was entertaining the off-float guests. Mme. Alarie had suggested that she bring Shandon by and her daughter Kaharon could watch him, they watched cartoons on VHS, something the Alaries near ritualistically collected and traded for.

While it might have seemed easier to leave Shandon with one of the other scientists his mother never did. Even at school, the other kids walked around in packs but Shandon never hung out with them. Shandon and his mother didn't do group activities or holiday greeting parties. Shandon had assumed it had something to do with status and his mother being only a getter, it never bothered him though because he liked being able to explore the rest of the Floatilla.

He looked at Casey hesitantly, "I know things," Shandon uttered shyly and quickly turned his gaze to look out the window. He noted how the sea looked like a picture on the wall through the window, looking like it was trapped inside the thick double-paned glass, sequestered away in a tiny distant space.

"My mother taught me about America, and other places too. She teaches me things, you know, extra things". "Oh," Casey said ruminating out loud, "Your mother is Vanesse Beaufort then?" Shandon turned his head sharply and looked at her with some alarm "How.. how do you know her name?" "Well," replied Casey, "Your mother is actually very.. she was going to say controversial but stopped herself, "Important person". If you know about the land then she must be your mother.

"Mmm." Shandon grumbled almost worriedly. On the Floats, he and his mother were very distant from the other scientists in the labs, almost outsiders. He had thought that his mother was something like a secretary for the labs, or a servant. Even in the classroom, it was like he wasn't there with the other kids. They all sat in rows, they all did their lessons, they answered questions when called upon. But there was something in the way the other kid's eyes stopped contact with him before he had finished talking to them.

No, he thought to himself Casey doesn't understand who my mother is. He rationalized that Casey knew her name because his mother was the contact to the outside. The scientists needed food and outsiders need to be spoken with, but his mother wasn't doing the ultimate work, the practical science. Shandon didn't even get to participate in lab science and trials, he wasn't even in the lab technician training groups. He was a lab assistant but it was more like a janitor in training, like his mom who would bustle around checking on labels and organize things, riffling through paperwork and turning out tubes so you could see where everything was.

Once on his Mothers day off while Shandon was working sanitizing the floor, he saw his mother re-arranging tubes with colored caps. "Mom what are you doing? I thought you were going out today?" he had asked her, "Oh, she said dreamily," obviously enjoying herself as she pulled a teal-capped tube from a group of purple ones, I'm just making the rainbow again. You know those technicians," she scoffed good-humouredly, "always in such a hurry."

Casey coughed gently, "You know I have to pay by the minute for one of these smoking booths." Shandon started out of his reverie and turned from the window, "S-sorry," he blurted turning away from the window, "I guess I got lost in thought. Anyway, what is it you came here to get?" He assumed it was something from the labs, "I work in the labs" he offered with uncertain confidence.

"Hmm work in them ?" Casey teased arching an eyebrow, "work with the materials?" Shandon blushed again. "No," he admitted, "I'm just a lab assistant." Casey smiled at him warmly and leaned forward "Well, I would have guessed they wouldn't have let Vanesse Beauforts child work with... the materials. But if you are a technician does that mean you have full access?"

"No." Shandon responded truthfully, "not everything, I'm not allowed in the freezer, or the group youth lab, I clean the other labs though, and the work stations, and storage, and..." "Oh," Casey interrupted, "What kind of storage? Material, or equipment?"

"Both," Shandon responded, "But not all material storage. I clean after test material storage, lab manufactured samples, but not live pre-experiment storage." Casey leaned back and relaxed her shoulders "Perfect," she sighed and smoothed out the crisp white sheet of eight by ten and slowly turned it around on the table so Shandon could read it. She slowly slid the printout to Shandon, " This," she said, "Is what I came here for."

Shandon leaned forward and arched down to read the print, and scan the sheet. Casey noted with amusement that he didn't put his fingers on the paper, smart kid, she thought to herself.

The sheet had a diagram of a sample tube with a pea-green lid. "Pea-green?" Shandon said incredulously and then looked up at Casey's quizzical expression. "um," he pointed at the diagram of the tube, "That isn't a standard coding color."

"I know," said Casey. Taking the paper and folding it back up, She looked up at Shandon as she inserted it back into the envelope. As she leaned over to get the envelope in her pocket she glanced out the window, then back at Shandon. "There should only be a few vials," she said, "And they should be isolated. I'll be meeting with your mother soon, that's sort of my front for being here."

"Why don't you just get a vial from her then?" Shandon naively suggested. "Well," Casey replied, "It's not for sale." Shandon mulled that over, for sale? Shandon muttered and looked down at his hands, he tried not to think about that too hard. Scientists didn't have any money, so why would something be for sale, but, I guess... he thought, I guess maybe it goes back into running the lab. He decided to ask his mother about it at another time, and then quickly buried the thought in his mind.

"I'll look around when I tour the facilities with your mother and see if I can figure out where she keeps it, I know I won't be able to access it though... you probably will," she pointed at Shandon. "I'm meeting her today, so can you meet here again tonight?" "Um," Shandon started, "Actually my shifts are at night, you know when the lab assistants aren't in." Casey nodded "well, that's perfect in its own way." she half muttered. She got up from the seat and said while she stowed the table "Same time tomorrow morning then?" Shandon leaned back to clear the lifting table "Uh, yeah sure," he said, "You know it's still a deal ok."

"Ok kid," Casey said turning to him with a smile as she was about to open the door, "Are you using the door or going back through the window?" Shandon looked at her blankly and sheepishly pointed to the window. Casey opened the window with her guest key, "Out you go, I'll lock up behind you." Shandon hooked himself to the brass rail and scrambled out the window, "Take care," said Casey as she closed the window behind him. The room went dark as she opened the door and stepped back into the hallway of the tavern.

Shandon sat for a few minutes on the brass bar watching the waves collide and come up through the cracks in the dock. The boats were moored way out on a floating dock and visitors had to get shuttled in. All four docks for each side of the floatilla were the same, the floating docks were actually repurposed oil derects, tough as nails, and never capsized but you had to sign a waiver when you docked that the floatilla was not responsible for any damage to your vessel. There were floatilla based ferrymen that shuttled people back and forth, with no schedule as they worked on call. The view from the hotel window Shandon was perched on was almost as good as the one from Westpoint, except in Westpoint you could also see a good chunk of the floatilla. Shandon frowned a little as he saw a lobster boat repainted yellow and black heading toward the dock. No one would recognize him, but still, it would be odd if they noticed that someone wearing white was visiting the hotel for a deal, they'd know right away he was from the scientists. Not unheard of but not usual, it would garner some talk on the chat circuit. Shandon decided to get out of there quick, no view was that good.

Got to make it home without running into Kaharon he thought to himself. It wouldn't be so bad now during the late morning if one of his mothers friends saw him, they would just assume he had been out with Kaharon and was now coming home, and his mother should be asleep. Sleep Shandon thought to himself dolefully as he climbed the portside ladder of the southernmost container stack. The portside had only windows and in the dark of early morning it was easy for him to go up and then across the top of the inflatable walkways, but it was daylight hours now. He paused mid-rung about halfway up the third container and looked toward the sun, raising a hand outstretched in front of him he counted the fingers between the sun and the sea to the east, about 10 o'clock. letting his hand drop to his side and leaning back he allowed the spray to gently mist him as he looked down and watched the waves biting up to the 1st container and washing over the catwalk that edged the outer port side. the containers were right on the edge of the floatilla. Hmm, Shandon thought to himself, storm tonight, hopefully not the big wave. He would normally be waking up in four hours, it's gonna be a rough night he thought to himself.