The other big difference was that this hallway had many doors and many people. Or bots. I soon found out it was very difficult to tell without touching them if they were human or bots at a glance. Sure, talking to them you could pick out little differences. Some bots don't even try to mimic facial expressions. But some do. Others have little mechanical hiccups, little ticks that repeat in ways no human would. And others blended so well that there was no way to tell at all.
No one spoke to us as we passed, but many gave smiles or nods. They all had StarTech uniforms of different designs. We twisted and turned down hallway after hallway past room after room. Some were on coms. Some were at desks working. Some were talking to each other. I was trained from birth to study, to look for similarities and differences. It's something I never really gave thought to before. As we walked the hallways, I began to notice that those behind desks had one uniform, while those talking to each other had different ones. Several people pushing carts had basic uniforms, while one woman who walked past us like she owned the place had a very nice looking one covered in patches. What job you have determines what uniform you get. I wondered if the people pushing the carts were in Lena's class.
And none of them had our uniforms.
We entered another elevator and the bot pressed the lit number on the keypad. It only took seconds, and then the door opened into a large room. I thought the wood panels were something. They were nothing compared to the obvious richness of this room. I know I don't know people. I have no idea what passes for luxury on Earth. But sometimes you don't have to know to be able to tell. Wealth is the same, no matter the planet. You can look into a room on Laak'sa or v-2445 or, apparently, Utopia and just be able to know the ones you are about to deal with are at the top. There is a feeling you get, some subtle clue that tells you to stand still and not touch anything. So I did.
A man behind a large desk across the room glanced up, saw us, and said something quickly to his com. He stood and walked over, his hand out to Ralph.
"Sergeant Buttrick. I cannot tell you how excited I've been waiting to finally meet you!"
Ralph shook the man's hand. "And you are?"
"Reginald Luckston."
A smile spread over Ralph's face. "Johnny's son?"
Reginald smiled as well. "Grandson." He waved a finger at Ralph. "You've been gone longer than you think, sir."
Sir? Sergeant? Interesting. I never thought of Ralph having a rank. Or being treated with that much respect, actually. To me we were all equal on the ship. Well, not Mother. She outranked us all. But everyone else was just the same. Interesting, indeed.
Reginald stuck his hand out to me and when I shook it, he grabbed it with both hands and pumped it very excitedly. "And this is Jake. My god! You can't believe how thrilling this is. I'm positively tingling!" He was grinning and shaking and all in all I was completely uncomfortable. He pulled his hand back and held it up. "Look! Shaking with excitement!" He motioned towards two seats near his desk. "Sit. Sit. Charles!"
The bot came up. "Yes, sir?"
"Get these men a drink. And call for Bradley and the team."
"Yes, sir."
Ralph sat, motioning for me to do the same. The seats were fluffy and felt like they were sucking me in. I struggled, then found if I sat forward I could perch on the edge and be safe. "Bradley? As in Colonel Justin Bradley?" Ralph asked.
"Admiral Justin Bradley," he corrected. "He passed years back. But his databank was uploaded into his doppel-bot. We couldn't run things without him."
"Uh huh," said Ralph. "And what would a doppel-bot be?"
Reginald frowned and looked at Ralph for a minute before shaking his head. "Wow. I mean, I understand you've missed a lot, but I suppose I've never thought how much. Boy. Um...a doppel bot. Okay, well our thoughts and memories are recorded in the implants, then when our bodies die, a double is made in the form of a bot. Doppelganger, doppel-bot..."
"I see."
"It's Bradley, or at least what he knows. Just in a bot form." Reginald flashed another grin and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. It's really you. And you haven't aged. It's amazing."
Ralph gave an uncomfortable laugh. "I have aged."
"Not nearly like you should. You should be dead like the rest of your contemporaries."
Ralph looked at him and said slowly, "Yes. Well. I'm not."
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, and I got the feeling he meant it. "I didn't mean to put it that way." Reginald sat back and put his fingertips together. I'd learn he always does this when he's thinking. "You're the first. Well, both of you. You are a pair of firsts. We've never had anyone come back before. To us it's been so very long. You were put in a ship...what? Eighty six years ago."
"Has it been that long?"
"Here, yes." He sat forward, gesturing on his desk while he spoke. He's a very expressive man. "Think of it. My grandfather, one of your best friends as I understand..."
"One of the very best."
"He waved goodbye and eighty six years here passed, while for you, it's only been...what?"
"Sixteen or so," I offered.
Reginald turned to me. "And you! Look at you! Not even a twinkle in anyone's eye back then and look at you. A teenager, when you yourself should be getting near death!" He sat back and ran his hand through his hair again, messing up the whole "rich man" look and not even caring. I started to like him. "It's always just been theory. No one else has returned."
"None from the early missions?"
Reginald frowned. "Mr. Buttrick..."
"Ralph."
He flashed a grin. "Okay, Ralph it is! Ralph, no one from any mission before you or after has returned."
"There were ones after?"
Reginald almost exploded in his excitement. "Dozens! One a year for about a decade after, then our tech got better and we could pump out the ships faster, two a year since. We gave up for a few years when it looked hopeless and concentrated on solar travel only when we finally started getting communications from Eunice Cosworth herself. Well, not me," he said, turning to me to explain. "My father."
"Little Petie," said Ralph.
"Yes. Peter. StarTech had almost lost any hope at all when we received a communique saying that the jump was a success and that they, or you, landed on an asteroid. So we sent a transmission back, and waited and waited and about once a year, we'd get another message. Frustratingly slow, but hopeful. It made us redouble efforts, made Utopia viable." He pointed at me. "And you." He shook his finger. "You are an impossibility. And your mother kept you a secret for a long, long time."
I didn't know what to say. I didn't know if I should say anything at all. Ralph handled it for me. "We all did, Reginald. We thought it best."
Reginald shrugged. "Probably. Dad was a hard man in some ways. But really, what could we have done, hm? Sure, it's illegal. But who's going to stop you?" I grinned at him. I made up my mind to really like him then. "However, I'm not going to lie. You do present us with a problem." The bot entered again and put drinks down in front of us.
"Bradley and the team have assembled outside, sir."
"Thank you, Charles. Tell them to wait."
"Yes, sir." He gave a little bow then turned and left again.
"We'll face the lions when we have a plan." He sat back and tented his fingers again. I sat waiting to hear why I was such a problem. "No one knows you exist," he said after a few minutes.
"Oh."
"Yes, 'oh'. There are conspiracy nuts, of course. Fueled by old men spilling their guts on their death beds and blabby techs that don't know how to keep their mouths shut."
"Why such a secret?" Ralph asked what I was thinking.
"Because we didn't know how it would turn out. Simply put, Dad thought it best. And we built everything around that. We have no idea how someone develops in deep space. So what are we going to say, hm? Are we supposed to say that we allowed the world's top scientists to conduct human experimentation in another galaxy?" He shook his head. "Now don't get me wrong, Jake. I'm not sorry at all that you were born. That's not what this is about. It has always been a requirement of StarTech to forbid procreation off world."