Vertical parallax alters perspective

The control tower over the main landing pads gives a commanding view of the town and its surroundings. It should. That's why it's there, at the top of the main cargo lift for the elevated pad over Fook's. It was a favorite spot of mine. The vertical separation gave me a good perspective on the whole town and, when needed, gave me a good perch from which to use the long gun.

From the tower, I could see the area off the edge of town to the East where Blue Sun was building a new installation. Supposedly, it would be the Corporate Headquarters, but I found that doubtful. If Blue Sun was anything like KHI, and as a Corporate entity I was sure they were quite similar in that respect, they would need considerably more space and personnel than they could possibly get out here on our little slice of Heaven. Hale's was just too bloody far from anywhere important, and lacked the resources and infrastructure, to support anything as resource intensive as the headquarters for a huge multi-world corporation like Blue Sun.

The fact that x0x0 had recently taken control of the company and was moving her own offices out here not withstanding, the Blue Sun installation was much too small to serve as anything but a base for her personal staff. Her staff, and the science team they'd sent out to study the "phenomenon" that was AuroraBlue. Aurora. Blue. And Lily.

From the tower I could see the whole construction site. At least the parts that were above ground. There was a distinct possibility that there was more being built under the installation than we knew about. Even with x0x0's reassurances that everything was above boards, I knew that there were internal factions within Blue Sun that might try and hide things even from her. Given the levels of tech they had access too, it was possible they could hide extra construction from the rock imagers we'd trained in the general direction of the build, and Wave Equation's sophisticated ground penetrating sensors.

It was just the way the game was played.

I had to hope x0x0 was being straight with me. She was very difficult to fathom, even with my experience and professional training. She'd given me no reason not to trust her, but until I knew more I would have to be vigilant. If all went well, and the 'Verse was smiling on us, something truly good could come out of this. If not? If not, I would do what I could to do right by family and the colony.

Family. Here. On a little moon that adopted me more than I'd adopted it.

To the West, near the enclave where most of the folks from Blackburne had settled, I could see the combination coffee house and pet store Lily had opened. Starstrucks. Cute name. Cute place. It might put a dent in Sobi's coffee sales, but I doubted he really cared. He'd been the first to sneak half a kilo of quality beans into my hands, telling me to give it to Lily as a present.

Seeing it, from up in the tower, filled me with a sense of pride. It was Lily's store. Her project. Seeing it succeed filled me with the kind of pride I didn't take in my own accomplishments. I'd told her I was proud of her, but from up here, now, I felt like I hadn't made it clear enough. The contrast between the Blue Sun installation on one side of town, and the little coffee shop on the other, just brought it home.

Contrast. Perspective. Parallax.

From up here it all looked so right. But I knew it was changing. It was always changing. For better or worse, I couldn't know yet. All I could do was watch, analyze, and try to guide things in a direction that would be good for the people who trusted me to lead them. For my friends. For my family. For this adopted little slice of Heaven.

Up here, alone in the tower, watching a world change.