Wormbender's Circus

Rannish ergs...a protonoid or two...performing Omega centipedes...forceball act...webwire act...light sculptures...walk-through holograms...exotica collection...clowns... Sebastian drew up a list of the acts for the circus. Each would require space in the hold, probably extra exit ports and ramps would need to be consructed. Then there would have to be a dome to cover the whole show. Advance notice remotes would be required to give publicity while the Semiramis was still in deep space. They would need housing and launch bays too. Would it all fit in the available hold space? Would it work? Would Casey be able to do the modifications? All these questions went buzzing round Sebastian’s head as he laboured long into the night to bring his plans to fruition. Suddenly he was having to learn whole new areas of skill. He would have to be able to pilot his ship, do basic navigation, some elementary maintenance, not to mention the economics of the business. It began to seem like an impossible task.

He was pondering all this and leafing through his latest printouts when a melodic chime filled the air, signifying that he had a visitor. Wearily he snapped on the little monitor screen above his head and saw Casey’s distinctive saucer hovering outside his front door.

Puzzled and pleased, he opened the door. The saucer was clearly too wide to pass through, but with a smile Casey pressed a button and the edges of the disc folded up like wings. The saucer squeezed narrowly through the doorway.

When he managed to catch his breath, Sebastian gasped, “Casey! What brings you here?” As he moved to close the door, Casey stretched out a hand to stop him.

“Igor’s just coming with my overnight bag. I hope you don’t mind if I sleep on your couch?”

“N..not at all,” said Sebastian. Igor entered carrying a large holdall.

“Put the bag down by the couch and make yourself at home, Igor,” said Casey.

“Come in,” said Sebastian superfluously. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“Igor will take care of that,” said Casey with a smile. “That’s what he’s there for. How do you have your coffee?”

“Black with one sugar,“said Sebastian. Igor trotted off toward the kitchen

“Am I disturbing anything?” said Casey, after a pause.

“Not at all,” said Sebastian, easing himself into a chair. “I was just working on the plans.”

“I thought you would be,” Casey smiled. “I also thought you could use some help.”

“I sure could.” Sebastian’s relief was audible. “Lots of help.”

“I guessed as much,” Casey said. “That’s why I took the liberty of coming down here.”

Sebastian’s mind was still reeling.

“But...what about your business?”

“I sold it.”

“Sold it?”

“To a friend. Lock, stock and barrel.” Casey chuckled to himself. “It was really funny. He’d been trying for years to get me to take him on as a partner. Then I just called him up the other day and offered him the whole works. He was just knocked out.”

“But...what are you going to do?”

Casey looked at him for a moment. “Ever since I was a kid I wanted to join a circus, but I never dreamed of one like yours. Can I join you? Will you have me? I can be real useful...”

Sebastian beamed. “Welcome to the team.”

Igor appeared with the coffee.

“Where did you grow up, Casey? Earthside?”

“Nah.” Casey sipped his coffee. “Out in the asteroid belts, mostly. Dad was a geologist. Had high hopes for me, but I wasn’t interested. Dropped out before I ever really dropped in.”

Sebastian raised a quizzical eyebrow, encouraging Casey to say more about his past, but he wasn’t giving anything more away.

“Okay,” Casey said when they had finished their coffee, “let’s go and see what you’ve been up to.”

When they got to the computer terminal, Sebastian sat down, and Casey pulled a small box out from his saucer.

“Do you mind?” he said.

“Go ahead,” said Sebastian. Casey plugged his machine into the terminal.

“It’ll give us a better picture of what’s what,” Casey explained. “Can you give us the readouts for your plans for the hold so far?”

“Sure,” said Sebastian. He touched the control pad. A three-dimensional representation of the cargo hold of the Semiramis hung over the desk.

“Can you blow her up a bit?” said Casey. Sebastian obliged.

Casey scanned the lines for a minute, turning the structure this way and that.

“Ah,” he said at last, “I see the problem.”

“I didn’t know there was one,” said Sebastian.

“Sure there is,” said Casey. “This beam you’ve taken out of this bay here is a central structural member. She’s got to stay.” He paused a moment. “But if we do this...” The lines on the model rearranged themselves slightly. “And if we rearrange the bays like so, it should be fine. We just have to realign a couple of ports, and shift the walkway like so...”

“That’s amazing,” said Sebastian. “It’s taken me a couple of weeks to put that together.”

Casey grinned. “Oh, it’s easy when you get the hang of it. I’ve done a few customising jobs over the years. Usually hot rods, though.”

He caught Sebastian looking at him curiously.

“I’m trying to decide what it is about you that’s familiar,” Sebastian said.

Casey pulled at the end of his nose and drew a heavy sigh. “I was in the news a few years ago. I got involved with the wrong sort of people.”

“Ah yes,” said Sebastian, “it’s starting to come back to me now. Go on.”

“Ah, I’m sure you remember the story,” said Casey, wondering if Sebastian would now be so keen to have him as a shipmate. “We were running three million gallons of booze out to Ganymede. Somebody squealed to the cops and they were waiting for us. I lost my legs in the fight.”

“You did time?”

“Two years breaking rocks in the Erebus 3 mining colony. Dad would have been proud of me. Breaking rocks was what he was into. Being a geologist and all.”

“Maybe not.”

“Yeah, maybe not.”

“So what did you do after that?”

“Laid low for a while, then set up the old pre-owned ship business with some money I had, ah, salted away.”

Sebastian decided not to enquire any further into Casey’s nefarious past.

“Well?” said Casey.

“Well what?” said Sebastian.

“I’ve told you all about myself, which I had completely made up my mind not to do. Am I still in the team?”

Sebastian stared at him. “With your skills? I don’t see how I could make it without you. Of course you’re still on the team.”

“Thanks,” said Casey. He smiled and shook Sebastian’s hand. “Thanks, pal.”

“When can we get to work on the ship?” said Sebastian.

“Well, if there isn’t too much more planning work to do, we can head back Farside tomorrow.”

“Great!”

“Let’s go back in the living room,” said Casey with a smile. “I have some excellent Scotch in my bag.”

“Huh!” snorted Sebastian, “more Earthshine, I suppose.”

“Oh no,” Casey smiled, “This is the real thing.”