Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

The driver nodded, tapped out a cigarette and lit it.

Nyk proceeded to the apartment building and pressed the doorbell. “Yes?” came a voice through the intercom.

“Nick Kane. I have a delivery.”

“Leave it outside the door and knock twice.”

The door latch buzzed and he let himself into the building. He climbed the stairs, found the door and knocked twice. Nyk held the case to the peephole, then set it down. An acknowledgment rap came from behind the door.

The cab returned him to the airport and he caught the afternoon flight to LaGuardia. He returned to the Kyhana household and rang the bell. Yasuko answered the door. “Sukiko's upstairs napping.” Nyk climbed the stairs to the apartment and opened the door.

He saw the laptop computer sitting on the table and switched it on. The incoming mail indicator flashed -- one from Zander requesting a vidphone call. He activated a voice-only link.

“Nykkyo?”

“Mission accomplished.”

“Excellent,” Zander replied in English. “What are your return plans?”

“Return?”

“To the homeworld.”

“Indeterminate, right now.”

“Nykkyo, are you going native? You surprise me! If I'd known that ... You don't know how useful it would be for me to have a full-time associate on the ground there. I would like you to do one more thing for me. I was figuring you'd need a lift home and this could serve double-duty. If you're not coming home, maybe you could do this for me as a favor.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Where's your base of operation?”

“I'm in New York right now.”

“No, where's the shuttlecar parked?”

“In Wisconsin.”

“Oh, yes. I recall setting up the commlink there. I'd like you to go to Wisconsin and wait for a shipment. It'll come by truck. Load the shipment into the shuttlecar, and make a transit. You'll rendezvous with the same ExoScout that took you out. Offload the goods, and then you can return to Earth, if you'd like. Or stick around and we'll take you home to Floran.” The vidphone session terminated.

Suki emerged, yawning, from the bedroom. “Whom were you talking to?”

“My friend on the homeworld. He needs another favor.”

Nyk sat in the house in Wisconsin and looked out the window. A rusty panel van pulled into the driveway. He heard heavy steps on the porch and a loud knock on the door.

“Delivery. Where do you want it?”

“On the porch.”

Nyk watched as the driver removed two dozen long, flat wooden crates from the van. He slammed the van's rear door, gave Nyk a salute and drove off.

Darkness fell and Nyk backed the shuttlecar from the garage. The crates were heavy and he struggled to lift them into the shuttle. He loaded half of them, secured the rear hatch, climbed in and headed out toward his country road. He passed a police car that had stopped another vehicle. He looked behind him. The officer was engaged in a discussion with the driver.

Nyk stopped on the shoulder and began prelaunch diagnostics. He checked for traffic. A pickup truck whizzed by. A pair of headlights came from the other direction.

The roadway was now clear. He launched and programmed the subjump with the rendezvous coordinates. Transponder signals from the ExoScout appeared on the sensors and he tuned the guidance system to them.

The shuttle drew close to the cruiser. He piloted it toward the port nacelle. The forward bay door opened and guidance lights flashed in sequence. Nyk manipulated the unistick and touched down on the shuttlebay deck. The bay repressurized and the safety catch on the shuttlecar door released.

Nyk popped open his door and stepped out. He opened the rear hatch and began removing the crates. A Service corpsman helped him load the boxes onto a levitating pallet. “There's more -- I'll make another trip,” he told the crewman. He climbed into the shuttlecar and awaited depressurization. The bay door slid open and he backed the shuttlecar into space.

Nyk piloted the shuttle to Earth, pulled up to the house and began loading the remaining crates. He made another transit and pulled into the ExoScout's shuttlebay. The crewman was awaiting him with another pallet. Nyk opened the rear hatch and unloaded the boxes. He climbed behind the controls of the shuttlecar and the crewman gave him the traditional Floran salute.

He pulled the shuttlecar from the scout. The cruiser's viewport shutters closed and she vanished in the flash of her warp jump.

Nyk climbed the steps and rang the bell. Yasuko admitted him. “From the looks of it, you've had a busy night. Would you like some lunch?”

“Yes, I'd like that.”

“Sukiko tells me you're a vegetarian. It's made planning meals a challenge. George likes his steak.”

“I'm one only out of habit,” he replied. “I'm not adverse to consuming meat, so long as the item doesn't remind me of the creature from which it came.”

“If that's your definition of a vegetarian, then I am one also.” She set a cheese sandwich on the table and sat across from him. “Nick, I don't mean to be nosey, but what exactly are your plans?”

“I'm not sure. Suki has asked me to stay on, to help her raise the child.”

Yasuko's jaw dropped. “You can't be serious! She can't be serious!”

“I'm sorry, Yasuko -- didn't she tell you?”

“Has she really decided to carry the product of that assault? That's ... that's... that girl's gone mad!” She eyed him. “Did you have anything to do with this ridiculous decision?”

“We've talked about it. Suki thinks it's the right thing to do, but she needs help. I've agreed to help.”

“Nick, do you have any idea what it means to raise a child? This isn't even your child.” Her eyes narrowed. “Or, is it?” He shook his head. “Are you sure?”

“I'm positive -- our relationship is strictly platonic.”

“You two don't behave as if it's platonic.”

“Nonetheless, it is.” Nyk took a bite from the sandwich. “Besides -- it's not the child's fault who his father is. Suki and I love him already.”

“Him? How do you know it's a him?”

“We assume it's a boy.”

“Do you have the ... means to help support a child?”

“I haven't thought too much about it... Yes, I think I do.”

Yasuko propped her elbow on the table and held her head. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “I was pleased to see you walk in that door, Nick. I think Sukiko's at a point in her life in which a relationship with a man like yourself would be good for her.” She shook her head. “But for her to use this ... travesty of a pregnancy as an excuse to play house! She has no career, just that part-time job. She has no idea what she's getting into, and I fear neither do you. I must have some words with that girl when she comes home.”

“We can support her or fight her, Yasuko. I think we're better off supporting her.” He took another bite from his sandwich. “Suki told me a bit about her situation prior to moving to Wisconsin. You came close to losing her once.”

“Oh, Nick, I know. You can't imagine the heartache, not knowing where she was or if she was all right. I was so happy the night she called.”

“She called you right after her suicide attempt. Please don't let her know I told you that.”

Yasuko gasped. “Suicide attempt? Oh, God, Nick! Were you there?”

“I got to her in time.”

“Oh, thank you! She tried that once before. I had hoped she was beyond it.” Yasuko sobbed. “I can't bear the thought of my baby...”

“It was an epiphany for her. I think it snapped her out of an unhealthy mental state. She's been much happier, since. Yasuko, I know you love Suki. I assure you I love her just as deeply as you do.”

“I'm pleased to hear that.”

“Let's give her love and support. Let's let her make her decision and help her carry it out.” He finished his sandwich. “I'm going upstairs to lie down. I didn't get much sleep last night.”

Nyk lay on Suki's bed with his hands laced behind his head. She spoke to him from the bathroom. “How did it go?”

“Mission accomplished, but I don't like it. It looks like someone's using Floran diamonds to finance buying something on Earth and shipping it to the homeworld.”

“Floran diamonds?”

“Yes.” Nyk hopped off the bed and opened his travel case. He removed a sack of raw diamonds, dipped into the bag and displayed a handful of the crystals. Suki's eyes popped. He dropped a few into her palm. “This is how the ExoAgency funds its operations on Earth.”

“I've never seen an uncut diamond. They feel cold.”

“A diamond is a good conductor of heat, like a metal.”

“No wonder they're called ice in slang. That stone you gave me for Christmas came from these?”

“Indeed. These are so plentiful on Floran we truly pave the streets with them.”

“Why on Floran?”

“They're the byproduct of our power generation. Our power comes from fusion reactors. Hydrogen from seawater is fused to helium, then the helium into carbon. These crystals are ash from our reactors. I brought some in case I need to raise some cash on my own. It appears someone else had the same idea.

“I assume the box we delivered to Brooklyn was full of diamonds -- they're about the only Floran commodity with any value on Earth. The case I took to Oklahoma City was full of cash. The crates I took to the ExoScout were full of who-knows-what. I did not care for the look of those crates.”

“What Earth product would be in demand on Floran?”

“That's what I can't figure out. The way I see it, I've done my favor for Zander, and now I can get on with caring for you.”

Nyk lay on her bed and Suki cuddled with him. “Nykkyo, do you know what might've been wrong with my mom tonight? She'd gaze my way and look like she was about to bust out crying.”

“We had a talk about you and the baby.”

“Oh. She worries so much about me. I'll speak with her in the morning.”

He embraced her and kissed her hair. She rolled with her back to him. Nyk switched off the light and lay beside her, his arm around her waist. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

Sensations of her caresses roused him. He felt her kisses on his neck and shoulders. She took his hands and guided them onto her body, urging him on with her eyes.

Nyk lay on his back. She knelt, straddling his hips. His hands smoothed along her thighs, savoring her yellow-brown skin. “No! Stop!” came a voice from the back of his mind.

“Stop! Don't!” the voice grew into a cacophony. His dream image dissolved and he found himself on his back -- unable to move, unsure of his surroundings, panting and his heart racing. Wakefulness seeped into his consciousness. He caught his breath, his heart slowed and he recalled where he was -- the upstairs apartment at the house in Queens, in Suki's bedroom.

Nyk glanced beside him in the dim light and saw Suki sleeping, her back to him. He rolled beside her and slipped his arm around her waist. Her hand touched his. He closed his eyes and forced out a tear.

Suki caressing his face woke him. “Bon'matina,” she said.

“Bon'matina.”

“Time to wake up and smell Mom's coffee.” She looked at him. “Is something wrong?”

“I'm a bit embarrassed. Last night I dreamt we ... you and I ... that we made love. I had to force myself awake before ... I disgraced myself.”

“I've had the same dream,” she said.

“This is a very cruel game Destiny's playing.”

“What if it's no game? Perhaps Destiny is trying to tell us something about our love.” She slipped out of bed and into her robe. “Come on down for breakfast.”

Nyk pulled on a pair of trousers and a polo shirt and followed Suki downstairs. Yasuko set two bowls of oatmeal on the table. Suki sat beside him. “How are you feeling this morning?” her mother asked.

“Fine -- no morning sickness, yet. Mom, you don't have to give me the concerned look.” She patted her stomach. “He hasn't been giving me trouble.”

“There you go again,” Yasuko replied. “How are you so sure it's a he? You're not far enough along for tests.”

“Call it a ... premonition,” she replied, “a feeling -- the same sort of feeling that's telling me keeping this baby is the right thing to do.” Yasuko shook her head. “Now, it's the you-don't-know-what-you're-getting-into look.”

“You don't,” Yasuko shot back. “You have no idea what it's like to bear and raise a child. It's much harder than you imagine.”

“I suppose you were so much better prepared when you had me.”

“In fact, I was.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters, your father and I had been married for five years. He had a career and we had medical insurance.