Chapter 17

Solomon entered the large building and looked around without expression. To his immediate left a nude woman was striking different erotic poses, which she would hold for several seconds before changing to another. On his right, a nude couple followed a similar pattern of sexual positions, although they never actually made contact. At the end of the large room was a massive TotalVid stage, where a pornographic production was in progress. In between were various erotic exhibitions, bars offering either alcoholic beverages or assorted drugs, and booths displaying a wide variety of sexual wares.

Solomon walked slowly down the center aisle, occasionally nodding to someone he recognized. He walked to the far right corner of the room, where a spiraling silver escalator rose to the high ceiling around a pole with a subtly phallic design. Solomon walked past the escalator, however, to a small door in the corner that blended into the wall. He pressed his palm against the plate by the door, which opened to his touch. Solomon walked through the door and fell down a drop tube that took him two levels beneath the main floor.

As he stepped out of the drop tube, Teknos moved forward to greet him.

“Solomon Smith, my friend!” the large man boomed. “It’s really great to see you again.”

“Thank you, Teknos Thanatopolous. You too. You’re looking extremely fit, as usual. And where is Wafer hiding himself?” Solomon asked, looking around the moderate-sized room. The floor above them held the storage rooms and offices for the Eros Club. Although exactly as large as the exhibition hall two levels up, this basement had been divided into four rooms. Where they stood served as an office. The door to their right led into a TV production room, the one to their left into a supplies storage room. From the production room, one could enter the largest of the rooms, which was a laboratory. By the standards of the Institute, the lab was fairly small. However, it was elaborately equipped with the most advanced equipment Solomon could buy. There were even a few pieces that, legally, could not be obtained by any private citizen. Each piece had cost Solomon at least seven times the nominal value of the equipment because it had to go through a number of hands in the black market to erase its path to this underground lab.

Teknos’ grin flashed whitely in his broad face. “He’s upstairs.”

“Ah. I didn’t see him.”

This brought a low, rumbling laugh from the big man. “I’m not surprised. He’s probably in one of them private booths on the upper level.” He flashed his wide grin once again.

Solomon started to make a small grimace, but then slowly smiled to himself. It was ironic the person who had strongly objected to using an eros club as a cover for their covert activities should be the only one to take advantage of the activities it offered. However, if Wafer found some recompense for a previous lifetime of physical deprivation, Solomon thought, then let him take what pleasure he could. These thoughts brought back vividly the conversation the trio had engaged in two nights after their original meeting, nearly three years before.

“An eros club!” Wafer had exclaimed, as though Solomon had suggested they start covens for Satanic rituals. “Why ... why ... one of those?” The words had obviously been too distasteful to repeat.

“Because they’re the most logical. And I think, in many ways, they’ll be the safest.”

“Right, right. I got to admit you got us fascinated, Solomon Barnaby. Maybe you can explain to us how.”

The trio had already dispensed with much of the formalities that Solomon was used to at his level of society. Due also to the informal and secretive relationship they were discussing, and which Solomon knew would soon become a reality, they were using more casual personal names and language.

“Many eros clubs are very large, with huge memberships. That will allow us to rent a space with enough room for secret laboratories and other activities. Moreover, it will have many people coming and going. While I may stand out a bit if the Zaibatsu does monitor my activities, may I say with no offense intended that Teknos will be able to blend in without a problem. Wafer, of course, is such a handsome devil he’d stand out in any crowd.” They both smiled at the polite joke. “I think we can meet in such a place without raising any suspicions. After all, who would know we were together in any way? What’s more, if I make quite a show of becoming interested in erotica now that I have a fortune to waste on such frivolities, I think it will cause less suspicion than many other hobbies I might take up to cover our activities.”

“Any other ‘logical’ advantages you think they have?” Wafer asked, unconvinced.

“Consider locations alone. You two are here in Greece, only a few kilometers from one of the cities still considered a ‘decadent pleasures’ haven. If we start our own eros club in the city, you can go do your work there, which I will explain shortly. I can also set up a laboratory with very little suspicion, and we can meet without anyone even suspecting we know each other.”

“Hmmm,” Teknos rumbled, chewing at a fingernail in deep thought. “Yeah, right. I think I see it. You can’t start a business, so what excuse could you have to rent a space large enough to house a lab? On the other hand, any group can form any club for any purpose, right?

“Except any that would plan harm to the system, of course,” Wafer clarified.

“Right, but this wouldn’t, of course. And I hear many big shot citizens join eros clubs in distant places so they won’t be embarrassed close to home, right? Although they’re socially acceptable, I understand they’re looked at like some kind of weakness in those circles, am I right?”

“Yes, exactly,” Solomon agreed. “While drugs, eroticism, and other such habits are legal, they are nevertheless still considered vices by many people who are in the top Levels. After all, it becomes quite difficult to rise when one is already in the top circles, so any such sign of a weakness, as you say, is quite a negative. I may lose some respect among my colleagues, but that matters nothing to me compared with what we’ll be trying to achieve.”

“But what about credits?” Wafer protested. “I could possibly stretch to join an Eros Club, but how could Teknos ever afford the fees of a large club?”

“An excellent point, Wafer. You shall both assist me in my research projects.”

“What? What kind of research projects?”

“I’ve never actually shut down my research into mental phenomena affecting temporal alterations, and I’ve decided to step it up again. It has all been very carefully recorded, naturally, and I’ve arranged for Teknos to record such sessions here in Greece. Additionally, I’ll need to have programming and other computer services performed to support the research, to which you will shortly be Assigned, Wafer. You will both be given very handsome fees for such valuable scientific work, and of course none of this will be traceable back to me.”

“You can do that?” Teknos asked with a heavy tone of respect.

“Teknos Thanatopolous, this is a world where very few people are allowed to earn credits outside of their Assignments, and there is no such thing as legal private business. You, much better than I, should know the effectiveness of well hidden bribery and black market gifts.”

Teknos laughed heartily in appreciation. “Right, right. Citizen, I must confess I’m well aware of it. I just had no idea you would latch on so quickly, no offense, and be able to use the system under the system, you know? I have to confess, in spite of what Wafer told me about you, I’m still underestimating your brilliance.”

“No offense taken. I’ll have to join a few clubs in other parts of the world, of course, to reduce suspicion about visiting this city too often. However, that will give me a chance to secretly start a few other clubs where we can have duplicate facilities, just in case the Security Force somehow gets suspicious and finds out about our, shall we say, extracurricular activities. I have a feeling,” he said fatalistically, “we may someday be thankful to have more than one place in which to try to hide.”

“Okay, I see the point of all this,” Wafer said reluctantly. “But what about this work you mentioned we’re going to do? Is it just a front, or will we actually be doing something productive?”

“Absolutely you will. Teknos, do you think we could set up some sort of small TotalVid production facility where you could produce special vids?”

“With your money? Yeah, right, no problem. What kinda vids?”

“The true history of the world. It will all have to be done with special effects, of course, as we can’t really get actors to perform this kind of thing. In addition, you need to start building a myth.”

“Right, right. Whaddaya mean?”

“You’ll be trying to combine what you two were saying the other night. You want to get the message across that, when the time comes, there will be someone and something out there to give the movement an edge. Wafer doesn’t want to specifically mention me or the TDM because it will alert the Zaibatsu. Somehow, then, within the context of this vid you produce, you’re going to have to wrap in some promise, some implication, without getting too specific.”

“Right, right, I get it. Kinda like a future savior, some earth-shaking event that will be the signal the time is right.”

“That may be a little too strong. No ‘savior’ images. It’s not true, and it will probably sound too far out there for the average citizen. More like a catalyst, a person who will do something to trigger this event. That part’s good, but we don’t want to imply one person is somehow going to overthrow the power structure of the Council. The only way to effectively eliminate such a massive system, especially if we want to do it without bloodshed, is if the vast majority of the population make it clear they want a change. Do you remember what happened in the Soviet Union in the last part of the Nineteenth Century?”

“Right. Well, I think so. Some country called Russia had collected a bunch of satellite countries. Then the whole thing fell apart real quick, right? And there was something about knocking down some wall somewhere.”

“Exactly. A popular revolt toppled a powerful dictatorship without a single shot being fired. That’s the kind of thing we should aim for here, yes?”

“And what’s my part in this?” Wafer wondered.

“Two things, Wafer. First, we’re going to need a lot of information. In order for Teknos to be able to produce the most effective vids possible, we’ve got to have all the facts. What really happened, how has the Council distorted the truth, and who has it benefited? Also, how have they established such strong controls on society that keep us all virtually powerless. From what you’ve said, there’s already a lot of resentment among the lower levels, and we’ll want to feed that anger and give it an outlet. For peaceful change,” he hastened to add.

Both of the others nodded.

“Second, you can help distribute the same message through email. You could attach a copy of this vid production to email, which will reach a lot more people than direct distribution. Of course, you will also encourage that the recipient pass it along if they agree. You’re going to have to exercise your talents as a hacker to the maximum, Wafer.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun.”

“I hope it will be.”

Teknos and Wafer had indeed enjoyed their work to bring the truth to the people. During the past few years, the pair had worked hard to build a ground swell of focus for the unhappiness with the Zaibatsu system. They felt there had been some strong reaction to the TV production and email campaigns, but they weren’t willing yet to become visible themselves. Consequently, the “Revos” had become a legend, and perhaps a promise, as opposed to an active, visible group.

During the same period, Solomon had slowly built up a reputation for being a devotee of eroticism. He had first conspicuously joined a few Eros Clubs, and then secretly helped to finance a few more, starting with the one in Greece. While the clubs seemed to be randomly placed around the world, they all had to meet his needs in regards to doing his work. That meant they were in cities where he had an excellent chance of getting the equipment he needed without attracting attention. They also had to provide some channel through which to transfer funds into the accounts of first Wafer and Teknos, and then later a few other people whom the two recruited to the cause.

As distasteful as this cover was, it wasn’t the worst part. Solomon had felt compelled to redecorate his apartment to seem consistent with his new persona for the odd times people visited him. He didn’t mind wasting hundreds of thousands of credits to provide a believable, useful cover for the Revos cause. He did, however, mind having to look at erotic art objects every time he went into his own home. Oh, well, he thought, other people in the past had made greater sacrifices for their causes.

Naturally, the Council had heard rumors there was a group actively seeking a way to somehow overthrow, or at least dramatically impair, their system. Although they didn’t take the threat very seriously, they had recently decided to monitor its activities.

Very carefully, Teknos and Wafer had put their trust in a few other people. These were the members of the group who bore the direct burden in the recruitment process, as well as in renting the space or buying the equipment used in the secret labs. Solomon made sure they were all hired as research subjects so he could funnel additional funds into their accounts. While the pair implied there was some ‘extremely high level’ government official who was behind all of the money and the ‘future event’ that would trigger the revolution, they never gave specific information that could lead to his identity. This air of mystery actually seemed to help create the mystique of the Revos.

“You want me to go find him?”

“Pardon? Oh, Wafer,” Solomon said, shaking himself out of his reverie of the formation of the Revos. “Yes, please, if you don’t mind.”

“No problem.”

Just as Teknos started towards the drop tube, the door slid open and Wafer scooted through, barely breaking to a halt in time to keep his gravchair from crashing into his friend.

“Oh, hi, guys. Sorry to be late.”

“It’s alright, Wafer. I’ve only been here a few minutes.”

Teknos just grinned at his friend.

“Oh, good. Glad I didn’t hold things up any.”

“You didn’t hold anything up?” Teknos asked slyly.

“What? Hey, you cut that out!” Wafer blushed furiously.

“So why don’t you two give me an update on how our information and recruiting campaigns are going.”

“Oh, right, right,” Teknos agreed, getting himself back into a business mode. “I added a new segment to the vid, something I’m sure you’ll find very interesting.”

“Which is?”

“Well, you remember about a year ago you asked Wafer to do some real quiet investigation. See if he could find out why your friend was E-Termed on such a seemingly minor matter, right?”

“Yes, of course. And I take it he did?”

“Why don’t you tell him, Wafer.”

“Sure. Sorry it took so long, but it turned out to be in heavily protected files. The Zaibatsu isn’t really used to hackers and doesn’t have that strong of protection on most of their stuff, but this was really hard to get into. I had to work backwards from the Court records, although some of them had been deleted. Then I followed a trail back to memos on advanced technology research. The memos were records from Council meetings!”

Solomon waved away both the apology and the explanation. “So what did you find?”

Wafer nearly tripped over his own tongue in his eagerness to relay the news.

“The Council felt that even the general knowledge that space travel was being pursued would cause some yearning in the population for such adventure and freedom. Space travel itself could cause serious threats to their control. They want to keep everybody on the Earth, because who knows what kind of threats to their power might be developed by people up in space stations or even on other planets. On the other hand, they wanted time travel developed because it would help them manipulate history to enforce the status quo and their mastery over the world. It would also help them track down potentially threatening groups – like ours. That’s why your work is so important to them.”

“Of course! It always comes back to the same thing with those damn people, doesn’t it?” Solomon said bitterly.

Teknos and Wafer were both shocked by the vehemence of his tone, as well as the use of an oath. In the three years they had known Solomon, they had never heard him either swear or sound seriously angry.

“Right, right. Uh, well, anyhow, what I meant to say was, I put it into the vid, right? Oh, don’t worry,” Teknos added quickly. “I made sure I didn’t get real inflammatory about it, like you said. I just put it in real factually, like it was just too bad the Zaibatsu took the attitude space travel wasn’t something the citizens of the world should be entitled to or even know about. I’m real sorry I didn’t check with you before putting it into the vid, but Wafer and me agreed it was so important we couldn’t wait until our next meeting to spread the news.”

“Yes, that’s great. I’m sure you handled it well, Teknos. Uh, you didn’t happen to use the name...”

“Of either one of you? Hey, come on, Solomon, whaddaya think I am? Of course not! You know how careful we are to protect you!”

“Yes, I’m sure, but –”

“We didn’t even mention the time travel angle because it might have been too obvious a connection.”

“Of course. Please accept my apologies. I guess I really am starting to get paranoid these days. In addition to the Revos finally starting to make an impact on a few people throughout the world, I’m making some fairly significant strides on the TDM. That is, I hope they’ll turn out to be significant.”

“Yeah, right, right,” Teknos said, hardly mollified, but not wanting to push it.

“Please tell us,” Wafer could not contain his eagerness. “Is it regarding the power source, by any chance?”

“You guessed it. I think I’ve found a way to contain a black hole.”

“Oh. Right, right. Good job. Uh, don’t you just contain most holes by how wide and deep you dig?”

“Never mind him,” Wafer said condescendingly. “I’ve told him you’re using black hole technology as the energy source for your TDM. He just likes people to think he’s more funny than intelligent.”

“Yes. Sorry. I thought I’d mentioned that before,” Solomon said.

“Well, you may have said something like that,” Teknos admitted, “but I honestly thought you was just talking about a place that was deeper and darker to contain the testing. You said it was kinda dangerous.”

Solomon laughed. “I think you remember I used the word ‘containment,’ but maybe got a little mixed up on the context.” Wafer also chuckled at that.

“I know you guys are smarter’n me, but that don’t mean I’m stupid,” Teknos groused. “I don’t know a thing about physics. You both got more education, you know.”

“I know, Teknos,” Solomon said gently. “And I’m sure you know we were amused by your joking – or at least honest ignorance.”

“Of course!” Wafer agreed. “You started the joke. You know we weren’t laughing at you, don’t you, Teknos?”

Teknos tried to glare at them angrily, but it was no use. He gave a sheepish grin. “Yeah, ‘course I know that. I know you both know a lot more’n I do, but you don’t lord it over me like that.”

“Of course not,” Solomon said sincerely. “How could we? As you know, that’s one of the inequities of the system we’d like to rectify.”

“Yeah, I know, Solomon,” the big man growled. “It just kinda gets under the skin now and then, you know?”

“Of course we know!” Wafer exclaimed.

“Yeah, right, right. So how come you seem to know all about this black hole stuff all of a sudden?”

“Because Solomon has been teaching me.”

“What! You’re kiddin’ me.”

“Well, I’ve been giving him some tutelage,” Solomon said. “But he’s been learning a lot all on his own from what’s on the net, as well as some of the instructional vids I’ve borrowed from the Institute’s library. It’s amazing how far he’s come.”

“You don’t say.”

“Well, I don’t know...” Wafer said modestly.

“Sure you do,” Solomon contradicted. “Why don’t you explain black holes to Teknos?”

“Well, if you think I can,” Wafer said uncertainly. He turned to his big buddy. “You see, when a star collapses to become a black hole, the amount of energy they give off and the total gravitational energy from the normal mode excitation they tend to give off differs with the pressure. Interestingly, at least for our purposes, models with greater pressure, meaning the larger ones, collapse more slowly and generally emit lower amplitude ringing radiation than those stars without pressure, which is considered more in the range of dust collapse. Additionally, the apparent horizons, which are essentially the ‘shells’ that surround the black holes, may be very distorted and non-spherical during the early evolution, but quickly settle down to a nearly spherical configuration as the black hole becomes more well defined. The configuration and the horizons then almost always oscillate at the quasi-normal frequency of the final black hole.”

Wafer paused for a sip of his drink. He wasn’t used to such long speeches. Solomon was looking very pleased with his protégé, while Teknos face was completely blank.