Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

grew violet- black, gas-filled spheres that served as leaves. The spheres appeared impaled on the stalks. Between the spheres grew orange trumpet-like spore disperses. He approached the entrance and pressed his wrist against the scanpad. The house recognized his ID code and came alive. The shutters flew open.

He carried their travel cases into the structure and up the spiral staircase to the living quarters on the second level. There were no outside walls on the second and third floors. The wedge-shaped rooms had no back walls - - they were open and overlooked the sea.

Nyk carried his case to his childhood bedroom. “Were you planning on sleeping with me tonight?”

Senta brought her case into the room and set it down. The sea breeze was blowing, bringing with it the musty, bitter scent of the Floran sea. It carried a faint trace of rotten egg. Nyk inhaled the air deeply.

“I don't know how you can stand that smell,” she said.

“I'm going to walk on the beach. Would you care to join me?”

“I can barely tolerate that smell from up here. Go by yourself -- I'm going to review some sequencing reports.” She sat at a tabletop vidisplay, brought up her reports and began dictating annotations to them.

Nyk walked out to the edge of the bluff and looked down at the sea. He could see the surf pounding in on the black, basaltic sand on the beach below. The surf was more violent than usual. He knew a tropical storm was brewing somewhere beyond the eastern horizon.

He climbed down the rocks leading to the beach, removed his sandals and walked barefoot on the black sand, dodging bits of marine vegetation broken loose by the force of the surf. He looked down and saw a specimen of Floran sea fauna, an arthropod-like animal with five legs. The surf had tossed it onto the beach and it was struggling to right itself. Nyk picked it up and tossed it into the sea.

He recalled reading Koichi's journal entries about Floran's sea and how it differed from Earth's. Koichi's family owned a summerhouse on Long Island. Koichi loved strolling the sands and appreciating the marine life. He expressed in early journal entries his repugnance for the smell of Floran's sea. Only in his later entries he wrote of developing a tolerance for it.

Dusk approached. Nyk climbed the rocks to the Residence. Senta was busy annotating sequencing reports. He went into the house's storage room, retrieved a couple prefab meals and warmed them. He opened the packages and placed one before Senta. Then he pulled up a chair opposite her and began eating his dinner.

“Will you take a walk on the bluff with me later?” he asked.

Senta looked up from the vidisplay at him. “All right, so long as we don't go too close to the sea.”

Night was falling. More stars became visible as the sky darkened. Nyk looked up and saw a pattern in the sky -- a bright star with four dimmer companions making up a lopsided rectangle. He knew from his training Earth's sun lay in the sky in that vicinity. He looked down. The land breeze was beginning to develop.

“It doesn't smell so bad, now,” Senta said. He walked hand-in-hand with her along the bluff, listening to the surf pound below.

“I wish you could learn to like this place. It's my home, and I love it. I know you grew up in the City, when you weren't on the transit platform. I understand what the City has to offer and why you like it. I wish you could like this place enough to spend a little time here during the year.”

“Nykkyo, it's not that simple. I can't be so far from my work. The sequencing labs are located in the City. It takes a half a day to get from here to there. If you need to spend time here, by all means, please do so. It simply won't work for me.”

“I think you could relocate the sequencing labs to Sudal. They'd be much more convenient to the pilot beds and the research facility.”

“Where would I find the staff to run the labs? None of our current staff would care to relocate to the south. I doubt we could find qualified technicians in this backwater.”

“Talented and qualified people must live here,” he replied.

“Moving the labs here simply won't work. I don't wish to discuss it further.”

Nyk continued to walk, holding hands with his wife. “Senta, it's good to have some quiet time with you. Let's go in and share the gift.”

He led her to his childhood bedroom on the second floor and stood, gazing into her eyes. Senta's eyes were emerald green and Nyk considered them her most striking feature.

Although far from homely, her face didn't fit the Floran definition of beautiful. Hers was oblong, and she had a high and broad forehead. Her nose was strong and straight, with a discernible bump near the bridge. Senta had a prominent lower lip that gave her a perpetual pout. When she smiled, though, her stern visage softened, her eyes sparkled and Nyk thought she became almost pretty.

Her eyes began to glisten. She clamped them shut and bit her lip; then said, “Nykkyo... I do love you. I wish we could be the way we once were. If I seem harsh with you ... well, it's because I'm at a loss. I simply don't know what to do. I want to make this work. Will you at least try? Please?”

“I'll try.”

“Good.”

“Senta -- I've always thought you had a very pretty smile.”

“Why, thank you Nyk.”

Nyk grasped the hem of her tunic and lifted it over her head. She replied by lifting and removing his. He stood for a moment and regarded her nude body.

Except for her breasts, which by Floran standards were ample, Senta had the figure of a teenager. Her ribs and hipbones were prominent, her arms and legs were spindly and her knees bony. Her hands and feet were too large for the rest of her frame, giving her an awkward appearance. Her face was framed by bushy red hair which extended down her back to her shoulder blades. Her skin was creamy with a ruddy mottle and a pattern of broad freckles covered her shoulders and upper arms.

Nyk gestured toward the bed. Senta reclined on it and he lay beside her gazing into her eyes, stroking her cheek and awaiting her signal. She took his hand and guided it to her breast, and he placed hers upon his chest. He caressed her and kissed her neck and shoulders.

“Divide your mind,” she coached him. He attempted to focus the front of his awareness onto the cues her body was giving and to force sensations of her touch into his back mind. “Concentrate, Nyk. You're not concentrating.” Nyk closed his eyes and attempted to regain his focus. He began caressing her again. “That's better,” Senta said and guided his face to her chest. “Mmm... Like that...” He traded kisses with her. She caressed his body. “Now, you're rushing it. Did you forget what I taught you? For the technique to work you must keep your focus on your partner.” He closed his eyes again, took a deep breath and returned to caressing her. “No, Nykkyo. Not like that...”

Nyk lay on his back and held her beside him. He stroked her arm, playing with a vein that ran along her bicep. “I'm sorry, korlyta. My mind's too preoccupied.”

“Maybe we should've used performance-enhancers,” she said. “I did bring some.”

“Where are the drugs? I'll use one and we can try again.”

“No, Nyk, you don't have to do that, now. You've been through a lot lately, and I know you're not emotionally equipped to deal with it.” She smiled and kissed him. “I'll be patient.” She rolled with her back to him. “Good night, Nykkyo.”

Floran's golden dawn waked him. Nyk arose and stood at the rear of his wall-less bedroom and looked out over the sea. Senta was asleep. He headed for the bathroom, shaved and showered and slipped into a pair of loose shorts. He began to brew a pot of green tea.

Senta stepped from his bedroom toward the bath. He could hear her showering. The vidisplays began signaling him. His wristscan answered the call and a blue, voice-only screen appeared. “Hello, Nykkyo?” a voice greeted him in English.

“Suki!”

“I'm trying the laptop computer. I'm in the apartment and I have it connected to the phone line. It works! I feel so much better knowing I can call you.”

“Yes, our communications work well. How are things going for you?”

“I have a lead on a job. It's part time at my old grad school. They're looking for someone to be a contributing editor for an archeology journal the school publishes. It's not much, but it gets my foot in the door, and I can finally use my degree.

“Yes, Nykkyo, I'm beginning to believe what you say about Destiny tracing paths. What're you doing?”

“Nothing, right now. I'm taking some time to clear my head. Have you thought about what we discussed?”

“Yes ... Nykkyo, I'll follow my path -- to wherever and to whomever it leads. Right now, I have so many other things to occupy me.”

“Fair enough,” he replied.

“My mom's calling me for dinner. I'll call again later. See you, Nykkyo. I love you.”

“I'll never stop loving you, Suki.” The session terminated. He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back.

“What was that about?” He heard Senta behind him. He jumped, turned and saw her standing, nude and dripping by the bathroom door. “Was that who I think it was? With what other woman would you be speaking in that language?” Nyk stood and faced her. Her lip was beginning to tremble. “I thought you said it was over between the two of you.”

“You were the one who said it's over. I never said that.”

Senta stormed into the bedroom and pulled the door shut. She emerged in her tunic carrying her lifxarpa and pounded down the spiral staircase to the lower level. Nyk headed after her. “It's definitely over between us!” she shouted as she headed out the main entrance.

“Senta...” Nyk followed her. “Senta ... Suki's my friend. She can't be my lover and she knows it.”

“I don't believe you.” Senta glowered at him. “You lied to my dad and now you're lying to me!” she said as she opened the groundcar.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the City -- and don't you dare set foot in my apartment.”

“But Senta ... You're taking the groundcar. I'll be stuck here.”

“It's not my problem.” She pulled the cowl shut.

“At least let me ride with you to the train station,” Nyk yelled. The car rolled toward Sudal. “Senta!” he shouted as she disappeared into the distance.

Nyk walked to the edge of the bluff and paced back and forth. On the eastern horizon he could see a line of grey storm clouds. He walked inside and took inventory of the prefab meals in the storage room. A check of the vidisplay gave him a storm forecast. A category three storm was approaching and would hit by nightfall. All Sudalese were advised to prepare for two to three days under cover. He pressed the house's control panel and the storm shutters slammed shut.

Nyk carried a meal tray to his vidisplay. Outside the wind howled and he could hear pelting of rain and hail against the closed shutters. The tempest had raged for four days. He poked the vidisplay and received the latest weather update -- the storm had been upgraded to category four. The vidisplay signaled an incoming call. He pressed his wrist to the scanpad and a vidphone session opened. He saw Suki's face break into a smile.

“Nykkyo! It's so good to see you! I love seeing you in that tunic. I must call more often.”

“Where are you calling from?”

“From my office at NYU.”

“You know you must be careful not to let others see this technology,” he said.

“Yes, I know. Don't worry, it's after quitting time. My office is on the top floor of the NYU union. The place is deserted.” He saw her fingers loom large in the image as she removed the digital camera. A panoramic sweep of her office appeared on the vidisplay. “See, no one's here but me. I share this office with a woman named Cathy. She's an inspiration to me, Nykkyo. Cathy's blind, but she gets around almost as well as a sighted person.”

“Does Cathy work on the same journal?”

“No, she's the editor of a newsletter the university publishes for the disabled. She has a computer that's set up with a speech synthesizer so she can hear what's on the screen. She's amazing. I've only known her for three days and we're getting along really well.

“The office has a high-speed data port, so I decided to try