Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

the solonaceae or nightshade family. Many nightshade species are toxic. Perhaps we can find some likely specimens there. Also, if you can get me a list of all the related cultures you have, I'll cross-reference them with plant suppliers and see if we can get the ball rolling. I'll also speak to Seymor about getting some help on the ground on Earth.”

Nyk walked back to Dyoman's office where Senta was completing her conversation. “Thank you Senta,” Hasse said. “I'm sure this will work out.”

“Nice seeing you again, Nyk,” said Ryanna.

Nyk escorted Senta outside into the midday heat and popped open the groundcar. “I heard Ryanna say, 'Nice seeing you again,'” Senta said. “How do you know her?”

“She used to baby-sit me when I was little. I hadn't realized she married Dyoman.” Nyk brought up a list of destinations on the car's display. “Home? Or do you have somewhere else you'd like to go?”

“Home. It'll take me some time to be accustomed to Sudal as home.”

“Car, the Residence.”

“By the way, Nykkyo, you can dispense with the gloating.”

“Who's gloating? You made the right decision, even if you did it for the wrong reason.”

“What do you mean the wrong reason? It's simply become a necessity due to the logistics of working with the pilot beds, especially now we've added more crops to our sequencing schedules.”

“The fact this decision came on the heels of Andra's freedom is nothing more than a coincidence?”

“Yes, a happy coincidence for me, but a coincidence nonetheless. Now, I'm going to do you a favor and forget I heard you say that.”

The groundcar left the Sudal city limits and headed toward the coast. “How are you going to solve all the problems of relocating?” he asked.

“What problems?”

“The laundry list of reasons you give me every time I suggest moving the labs. For example, the staffing problem.”

“Dyoman says we will have no trouble finding the necessary staffing. Some of the City based staff will relocate. We'll make it attractive for them. A few have homes here and will be happy to move ... Don't you dare say it!”

“Say what?”

“Don't you dare say I told you so. Nykkyo, we are doing this for the good of the program and it'll involve sacrifice on the part of everyone, not the least myself.”

Nyk lay nude on his childhood bed. Senta entered his bedroom wearing her light, sleeveless robe. She looked around in the subdued light. “No cover?” she asked.

“There's one in the closet if you must.” Senta retrieved a lightweight blanket and spread it on the bed, folding it back above Nyk's waist. She slipped off her robe, climbed into the bed and lay beside Nyk. “You have beautiful eyes, Senta.”

“I mean it, Nykkyo -- don't you even think about it. If you lay a hand on me, I'll kick your ass straight to the edge of that bluff and down onto the rocks!”

Nyk cracked a smile. Senta smiled and they both laughed.

“Would you let me rub your back?” he asked.

“You'd rub my back?” She rolled over onto her stomach. He sat up and began stroking her back between her shoulder blades. “That feels good... You used to do this after we made love...”

“Yes, to compensate for being a rotten lover.”

“I never said you were a rotten lover.”

“You never had to say it, I knew it.”

“You've improved over the years...”

“Yes, under your tutelage. You're qualified to give master lessons in lovemaking. I'm afraid I shall forever be a novice.” He made strokes down the length of her spine with the heel of his hand. “I wanted this time with you, Senta, because we have some important things to discuss.”

“Yes, we do. Nykkyo, I'd like for us to consider reconciliation. I know you'll have responsibilities on Earth with the Agency. But you, Andra and I can make this work. There's plenty of room at this house, for the times your onworld. And when you're offworld -- if you'd like to maintain the occasional liaison with the Earth woman... I'll look the other way.”

“Andra? What does she have to do with this?”

“She's more than willing to be our amfin.”

“Has Andra agreed? I understood she was merely considering it ... as a last resort.”

“She will agree to it, I'm confident... Especially if you're in the equation, Nyk.”

“Me?”

“I've seen how you two interact. Believe me, I'm as surprised as anyone, but there's no denying it. I'm sure Andra wouldn't refuse you.”

“I figure THAT's the reason you want a reconciliation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Senta -- you have all the trappings of a position of power. You have a luxury apartment in Floran City ... your personal skimmer ... assistants at your beck and call... There's only one thing you lack, and that's an ax'amfin consort. You want me as a way to have Andra.”

“How dare you!” Her eyes reddened. “Have you totally discounted the notion that I might actually still care for you?”

“Not totally... Senta, do you know that, when you get upset and your face gets red -- it makes your eyes look even greener?”

“You do enjoy upsetting me, don't you?”

“I do not.”

Senta clamped shut her eyes and pursed her lips. “To demonstrate my sincerity I'm going to forget I heard your hurtful words, Nykkyo. I'm not letting you goad me into an argument. All I want is for us to return to the way we were. Andra has nothing to do with it.”

“I'm sorry, korlyta. It's out of the question.”

“Why? Why is it out of the question?”

“Because when I make transit to Earth, it'll be a one-way trip. I'll be Earthbound.”

“No, Nyk! You don't mean it!”

“I do mean it. I've wrapped up my onworld affairs, and I make transit tomorrow. There I'll join Suki and fulfill my destiny as father to her child.”

“What of Andra?”

“I thought you said she had nothing to do with it. Andra fully understands why this is what I must do; and she's sending me on my mission with her blessings. If you can't comprehend... Well, maybe you should ask her to explain it to you. She has tasted her freedom, Senta; and I doubt she'll ever permit herself to be bound to you, me or to anyone. If you were to ask her to join you voluntarily, as your peer ... she might accept.”

“This can't work, Nykkyo. You can't be a father to an Earth woman's child.”

“I love her and I've agreed to help her raise her child. This isn't a whim, Senta -- it's something I must do.”

“Do you mean the bastard child from the rape? She'll be an unwed mother. I can't believe you'd involve yourself in such! If it were I, I'd be mortified. I'd ... I'd ... Well, I'd never carry such a child. What of the line?”

“You're talking of my line. Earth attitudes on unwed mothers are far different. Destiny has put this into motion. Her child's on his way, and he needs a father. Remember, without that child, there'd be no Kyhanas. There'd be no me, and perhaps no you ... perhaps no one.”

“I did this, didn't I? You're doing this to punish me, aren't you?”

“No, Senta. You and I have never been right for each other. That became clear to me during my Agency assignment. We married because Veska wished to bind to the Kyhana line. It's the wrong reason. We should admit we made a mistake and get on with being friends. I respect you, Senta -- I admire the work you do and the person you are. I welcome you as a friend.”

“Maybe it is good you'll be Earthbound for a while. It'll give me time to sort out my feelings for you. Maybe we can work things out when you come back. I think you will return, once the reality of what you're doing sinks in.”

“Senta, there's something else. Andra told me you know something about my family line. It's something you discovered while sequencing Suki's hair.”

She raised up on her elbows. “Andra told you that? I swore her to secrecy! I'll have words with her in the morning.”

“It's my family. I think I have the right to know what you discovered.” She sat up and turned from him. “Senta, what did you find?” She pressed her fist to her lips. “Tell me what you found.”

“Nykkyo, please try not to be too upset. Promise me you won't be upset.”

“I can't promise anything until I know what it is.”

“Nyk, I'm afraid you're not as closely related to Sukiko as I led you to believe.”

“You said the probability of ancestry was eighty-five to ninety percent.”

“I said that probability applied to Sukiko's ancestry to Gordo Kyhana.”

“He lived over three thousand Floran years ago. Tell me the whole story, Senta.”

“Nyk, I'm speaking as a geneticist. When you delivered Sukiko's hair to me, I realized I had a unique opportunity to study how human genes mutate and become diluted through the generations. It's not every day a scientist is handed such a laboratory. I thought I had the raw material for a very interesting publication in the Genetics Journal.

“My plan was to use Sukiko's genetic sequence as a baseline. We have no sequencing data to fill the gap between Sukiko and Gordo, or even Koichi and Gordo, but the records are complete from Gordo on. I wanted to try applying to humans the techniques I developed for tracking genetic changes in our food crops.

“I began comparing genetic markers from Gordo onward, with the intent of extrapolating the changes back to Sukiko. I was especially interested in estimating exactly when the Japanese racial traits vanished. With the extrapolated data, I could reconstruct the likely appearance of any generation of Kyhana between Sukiko and Gordo.”

“When you visited Suki in the clinic, you wanted to see for yourself her physical characteristics. It was for your research, wasn't it?”

She nodded. “Nykkyo, contact with her is a unique opportunity. It's much more rare than once in a lifetime -- it's once in a people's lifetimes.” She sniffed. “You are so lucky, I am so envious of you!”

“Senta, there's no reason you can't be friends with Suki, too.”

“No? Do you think so?”

“She'd probably welcome it. When you did the sequencing, what did you find?”

“The data all looked promising. I had nearly perfect correlation. Then the endpoint wouldn't fit. It was an obvious outlier.”

“The endpoint? Do you mean me? Am I the endpoint, the outlier?”

“Yes, Nyk. At first I thought I made a mistake. I double-checked, and obtained the same result. I started working backward from your sequence. I didn't have to look far.”

“Senta, can you explain what this means in language I can comprehend?” Her lip trembled and her eyes began to fill. “Senta, tell me what this means.”

“Nyk, you're not the biological son of Xarvo Kyhana. I'm so, so sorry.”

Nyk began to hyperventilate. He closed his eyes, clenched his fist and pressed it to his lips. “Who is my father?” Senta wiped tears from her eyes. “Senta, tell me who my father is!”

“I don't know.”

“How could you not know? You didn't do a search and find out?”

“No, Nyk, it's not that simple. There's a good reason the family lines follow the paternal side. We can index the male side easily by tracing the Y chromosome. It's the only chromosome guaranteed to pass from father to son, and it changes little from generation to generation. You're a freak of nature -- you suffer atypical female syndrome. You don't possess a Y chromosome, so I had to sequence you as if you were a woman. On the female side, it's much more a game of statistics. There are billions of possible combinations, and billions of candidates. It's not practical to perform a statistical match on them all. If we could narrow it down, it'd be much easier.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” Senta sniffed. “Senta, why didn't you tell me?”

“Because I figured what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you. I knew how much it meant to you to be a Kyhana, with the crest and Koichi's journal and all. It doesn't matter. Xarvo and Jylla Kyhana took out your birth license, so legally you are a Kyhana and nothing can take that from you. You're the same Nykkyo today as you were yesterday. It really doesn't matter who your biological father was.”

“It matters to me! How dare you assume what matters and doesn't matter when it's my family and my genes?”

“I'm sorry, Nyk,” she sobbed. “I didn't want to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you. I do love you. You probably don't believe that, right now, but I do. Oh, Nykkyo, I don't want to lose you.” He pulled away from her as she reached toward him.

Nyk stood and walked, nude, down the spiral staircase and onto the bluff. He sat on a rock, listening to the sound of the surf wash in below him. He heard Senta from behind. “Nyk, please, please. I'm so sorry! Please come