Under the Canopy Read Free

the type.' I remembered the pause in Edlon's speech. Though I felt a bit uneasy about asking, I did it nevertheless. 'You've mentioned the locals. Are they hostile?'
    Such a simple question, but it awoke a whirlwind of emotions which passed under the surface of Edlon's face in a couple of fleeting moments. I saw that and knew that I had struck something deep. Something better left unturned.
    'Not really,' Edlon said. 'Just stay clear of them and don't let them past our cabins.' His pause was pregnant with something, but Edlon aborted it and said, 'Sawmill guards don't like them near the facility.'
    Suddenly I felt ashamed of my inquiry. Blood rushed to my face, and it felt like burning. I could clearly see that Edlon was thrown off kilter, so I chose to drop the subject. 'Good to know,' I said. 'Roomie.'
    Edlon smiled again and then slapped himself on the forehead. 'The sawmill, right! The facility is to the south of here, pretty far. You’re supposed to give them all possible assistance, but don't forget that you are working for the army. Don't let them boss you around too much. Got it?'
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘Well, that’s it, I think.’ Edlon’s eyes darted back and forth as he was thinking and then he grinned again. ‘See ya. If you have any questions or get bored, just call me. Our coordinates are preprogrammed.'
    I smiled back. 'Thanks for everything, Edlon. Fly safe.'
    Edlon nodded his head and smiling, crow’s feet appearing near his eyes. Though we were around the same age, he looked much older in that moment. With that, he walked away and got into the floater.
    I stood on the roof of my new home, hands in pockets, and watched the metal carriage get into the air. It rose up and up until it disappeared into the light. The sun blinked, and the floater was out in the open again.
    I looked around the empty platform, sighed and went inside. However little stuff I had brought here, it needed unpacking nevertheless.

Safunian Hospitality
    A couple of days passed. I was slowly growing roots at the cabin.
    It was surprisingly clean inside. Almost amazing, considering that only men had lived here. Alone. The secret was soon revealed. When I moved the couch, I accidentally struck the table. A bottle of water that was standing on it dropped on the floor and the contents spilled out. I cursed under my breath and picked it up. I was about to go to the bathroom for the rag to wipe the spill when faint buzzing reached my ears.
    A panel in the wall slid to the side, and a cleaning droid rolled out. Turned out, it was a self-cleaning cabin. However, another surprise presented itself. The robot got stuck.
    Half of it came out and the other half remained in the wall. The poor thing buzzed and shuddered, trying to get free, its manipulators waving in the air. I tried to pull it out by the hands, but it didn't budge. Disgruntled, I kicked the lousy janitor, and by doing that resolved the problem. The machine got free and went about its business.
    The droid cleaned up the spill and returned to its place in the wall. Since I didn't really need such help, I took the bedside-table and put it in front of the droid's dwelling. I'd rather clean my mess myself than be a nanny for such a clumsy thing.
    The monitoring system also worked by itself. A camera was always recording and sending video to the main computer. If the computer saw something strange, it sent me a signal. In the beginning, I tried to sit and watch all the feeds, but eventually gave up on that. It was just too tedious and pointless; staring at a screen and waiting for something to happen. Instead, I grabbed my rifle (the second rule of the forest — never go anywhere unarmed), went down to the garage and started one of the scooters. A good ranger should know his land.
    The door opened, and the light scooter with its rider flew out. Following Edlon's advice, I didn't push the pedal too hard and flew several feet above the greenery. Neither bushes, nor branches posed a threat to me.