166
chapter lxxxviii 167
Time Travel for Beginneers EPILOGUE
The Escape for Pureprint.indd 166-167
‘The railhead,’ Modeste Servitorius said as we caught sight of Al-Kantara. Pepper trees and saltbush followed the Canal shore until j&k’s wharf appeared with its piled crates. The Captain asked Modeste to take me ashore and as we descended the swinging gangway ‘Terra firma?’ he asked as if trying to tell me something. ‘The view from the top is good, how about it?’ We walked past the Depot buildings where in faded blue were painted the letters o.p.p.a. ‘This was the terminal … ’ Mountains of crates towered above us. ‘Our dockers build pyramids,’ said Modeste. ‘We asked them to stack in two tiers, but the fellaheen went on making pyramids. Must be in their blood.’ He led me through the Depot, his great nose slicing the air. ‘We can deliver by remote control, long-distance, but we have to use crates because everyone else does, and the Canal Inspectorate expects it. Here we are staggering around with this,’ he paused, ‘this obsolete technology so as not to frighten the horses.’ ‘Otherwise you’d transmit merchandise around the globe that would materialise on touch-down?’ I hesitated. ‘That would kiss good-bye to the ss Rangoon, wouldn’t it?’ ‘Pretty much,’ he nodded. ‘Without these crates, there’d be no voyages, and we’d be out of a job. Seen our Memorial to the Crate, at Stettin?’ ‘So you’re like.. Astronauts in the Stone Age?’ ‘Monsieur,’ he replied obliquely, ‘there have been one or two Canal Inspectors who realised. But they never last long.’ He looked casually down the shady avenue between pyramids, ‘when you get the picture it is time to set up on your own. People have the wrong idea, they think we’re Traders in Bulk Sediment, our warehouses full of Used U-Name-It, blabla, but they don’t know we can work in any period yet prefer this one. We love the Steam Age; it’s got smoke and mirrors, brass, teak and the livery of innocence. The Nuclear one round the corner is less fun and we’ve tried
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