Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

“I don't use them, but thank you so much for offering,” Nyk said imitating Andra and mocking her curtsy. “It was enough to make one gag. And how she dotes on Zander. They've been married more than three years and she sticks to him like glue, like a newlywed. It was the most nauseating display. You never gave me that kind of attention.”

“Perhaps he deserves it. Where do they live?”

“Zander has an apartment somewhere in the city. He also has a home on Earth, and he spends more time there than here.”

“Maybe I'll give Andra a call. She probably has some free time on her hands.”

“I hope you're not considering adding her to your list of conquests.”

“I thought Andra was sweet and I'd enjoy having her as a friend.”

“Senta, sometimes ... I just can't believe it.”

“Are you saying you don't want me to have her as my friend?”

“Have anyone you want as your friend.”

“But you don't approve of her, do you?”

“You know how I feel about the ax'amfinen and the schools that produce them. I wouldn't have a thing to do with any of them.”

“Do you think Andra is somehow ... less than human? Do you think the blood flowing in her veins is some color other than red?” Senta shook her head. “This is so unlike you, Nyk.”

“The whole institution is an abomination and must be abolished.”

“Andra is not the institution. She's a pleasant young woman.”

“She enables it. Without the likes of her the institution would starve to death.”

“What do you know of how the finishing schools operate?”

“I know enough -- enough to form a low opinion of anyone who'd enroll there.”

“I had an opportunity to talk with Andra last night while you were holed up in your study. It wasn't her choice to enroll. Her parents sold her to the school. I'll bet you didn't know that, Nyk. She was only fifteen and she hasn't seen nor spoken with them since. If you had mingled with our guests, if you had engaged them in conversation rather than sequestering yourself in your study, you might have learned something about Andra. You even might have made a few friends.”

“I leave in a couple segments for a yearlong assignment on Earth. I'd rather we not spend our parting moments arguing. If you want to be friendly with Andra, it's fine with me.”

“I don't need your approval, Nykkyo.”

“As you've demonstrated many times over the years.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Senta, can we drop it?”

“As you wish,” she said as she selected clothes from her wardrobe. She slipped into her tunic and donned a lifxarpa, securing it with a pin emblazoned with the Kyhana crest. “I'm sorry I won't be able to see you off, but we're having an appallingly busy time at the labs. You'll call once you're there, won't you?”

“Yes. We have a comm station moored above their sun's north pole. The station connects us with our communications systems, and also ties into the Earth computer network. Communicating with you will be as easy as if I were in Sudal and you were here.”

“What are your plans?”

“I'm taking the train to the fusion plant this morning. My packet leaves at zenith.”

“Why the power plant?”

“To collect diamonds from the ash pile. I must bring at least a half- kilogram of diamond crystals to the Agent-in-Chief. The Agency sells them on Earth and the proceeds fund our operations there.”

“I don't understand the value of those rocks on that world,” she said, glancing toward the balcony. “My skimmer's here.” Nyk gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck on your assignment.”

“I'll be in touch.” He watched her climb into the skimmer.

Nyk stepped off the shuttle and onto the transit platform, a large spaceport in synchronous orbit. He headed toward the departure lounge for the interstellar packets. His father-in-law spotted him and waved him into his office. “Hello, my friend and son.”

“Veska. I'm on my way to Earth.”

“Yes, I've diverted the Gamma-5 packet for your benefit. How does Senta feel about your assignment?”

“She's not happy about it. She'd rather I'd signed aboard a scout cruiser.”

“Life on an ExoScout's hardly a stroll in the park. Many of those cruisers spend long stretches out of range of the comm net. At least on Earth, you have communications. I'm always more than happy to divert a packet to bring you home if you're needed.”

“Tell that to your stepdaughter,” Nyk replied, “unless she wants me out of reach for a year.”

“Your packet boards at port three, middle level. Good luck on your mission.”

Nykkyo picked up a case loaded with empty stasis canisters and capsules. He stepped into the lift, rode it to the middle level and proceeded to the departure lounge.

He could see the packet through the viewports. It was docked with the transit platform and being serviced by tender shuttles. Nyk entered through the docking tunnel, found his seat and belted himself in. He glanced out the viewport for a final look at his world -- an indigo sphere suspended in the black of space.

The packet's airlock shut. The starliner detached from the platform and sped away. The viewport shutters closed and the subjump jolted the ship. The vessel had left orbit and was now outside Floran's heliopause. Another indicator flashed to signal the interstellar jump. He felt the jolt as the warp coil fired, rupturing the timespace fabric and permitting the starliner to travel two hundred lightyears in an instant. The viewports opened.

Nyk could see the comm relay station as the packet approached in a docking maneuver. He walked through the docking tunnel into the station's main workroom. A short, older man with receding grey hair greeted him. He was Seymor, the Agent-in-Chief for North American Operations.

Zander had told Nyk of Seymor -- that he had grown fond of an Earth lifestyle. “Seymor's sponged a personal fortune from Agency coffers, a fortune worthless to him on the homeworld. It's no wonder he never sets foot off that planet.”

Seymor addressed Nyk in English, “Greetings, Nykkyo Kyhana. From now on, you will answer only to the name Nick Kane. Your wife's name is Cindy. You were born on the 27th of April 1974 in Augusta, Georgia, and your parents are deceased. Your assigned locale is near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The wardroom is over there. Select some appropriate Earth clothing and we'll head down. It's September, so you won't need anything too warm.”

Nyk found a pair of jeans and a polo shirt and selected a pair of running shoes. “Very good, lad. You look every bit the university researcher. Here are your identity papers -- birth certificate, passport and Social Security card. This is a debit card you may use to access funds deposited in your draw account. I believe you have something for me.” Nyk turned over the bag of diamonds. Seymor examined the contents and scowled. “Next time, bring bigger ones. These will do for now. I will be riding to the surface with you. You are qualified to operate a shuttlecar, yes?”

“Yes, I've had the required simulator training.”

“Simulators and the Real Thing are like Theory and Practice,” Seymor lectured. “In theory, they're the same. In practice, they almost never are. I want you to take the controls.”

Nyk initiated pre-launch diagnostics and tested doorseals. He started shuttlebay decompression and the bay door retracted. The shuttle rolled forward and leapt into space. He checked the subjump coordinates and pressed the actuator. The warp coil discharged with a bang. The windows and windscreen lightened and he saw a deep blue planet flecked with white, swimming in the void. As the craft descended the sphere grew until it filled his field of vision.

“Well done, lad,” Seymor said. “I'd think you've done this a dozen times.”

“I have -- in my dreams.” He computed an orbital insertion vector, executed it, and activated countermeasures to make the craft invisible to Earth radar.

Seymor pointed to a control on the panel. “You can use the timeline vernier to make slight temporal adjustments in your warp subjump. The goal is to arrive when North America is in the dead of night. We're a bit early and we'll have to sit in orbit awhile before we risk setting down. You can save some time by adjusting your vernier, remember that. It's a little tricky, but you'll get the hang of it.”

Seymor gave Nyk the go-ahead for landing. He nosed the car down using its inertial sink to absorb re-entry forces. The shuttlecar landed on target, a quiet country road. His final destination was programmed into the navigational computer. At Seymor's direction, Nyk piloted it into a small city near Milwaukee and parked in the driveway of a house.

“Don't power down the craft yet,” Seymor chided as Nyk began to switch off the life-support system. “We must pull it into the garage. This vessel resembles an Earth automobile at a glance, but we don't want curiosity-seekers taking too close a look.” Seymor stepped out. He unlocked and opened the garage door and motioned Nyk inside.

Nyk pressed the unistick forward and the shuttlecar rolled into the garage. “Okay, secure it.” He initiated an orderly shutdown. The craft went dark and he sat in it for several moments. Then he opened the door and put his foot onto the hard-packed dirt floor. A quiver ran up and down his spine -- he was now on Earth! He inhaled the smells the place exuded.

“Come along, lad.” Nyk walked from the garage and glanced around. The dim glow of street lamps illuminated the undersides of leaves on the trees lining the street. He looked at the houses. All were similar but each differed in detail. Many had cars parked in their driveways. He heard the sounds of the slumbering city, of sparse late-night traffic on the distant main highway and buzzing from the trees.

Seymor climbed the steps leading to the front porch of the house and beckoned Nyk to follow him. He opened the door and Nyk stepped inside. “As you recall from your training, Earth days are shorter than Floran days. You'll need some time to become accustomed to them. This is your home-away-from-home.”

The house was an older, two-story dwelling on a small city lot. Seymor pointed out the kitchen, bath, and bedrooms. The furniture was old and battered, with wear showing on the upholstery. Seymor led him upstairs and into a bedroom converted to a study.

He handed Nyk a small, black device with a button. “Here is the most important feature. Press the button.” Nyk pressed it and a wall of bookshelves swung open to reveal a concealed room behind. Inside was a rack of equipment, some of it Floran and some of Earth origin.

“This is one of our communications uplinks. There is a GravNet transducer concealed beneath the roof. This equipment is a GravNet transceiver, and this is a protocol adapter.” Seymor pointed to another rack. “That is all Earth equipment, connected to a high-speed data circuit. This house is one of five such facilities in North America. Remember, under no circumstances should any Floran technology be left lying about the house. Keep it in this room, and keep this room shut and locked unless you have a specific need to use it. Now ... it's two in the morning, and I think we'd both benefit from a few hours' sleep. We'll conclude the briefing in daylight.” Seymor retired to the house's spare bedroom.

Nyk walked around the darkened house. The kitchen cabinets and refrigerator were empty. He sat on the sofa in the living room. Built-in bookshelves stood vacant except for an old television set. He climbed the stairs to the master bedroom, stretched out on the bed in his clothes and shut his eyes.

Dawn's first light roused Nyk. He descended the stairs from the master bedroom. Seymor hadn't arisen, so he decided to look at the planet's sights in daylight. He opened the front door, stood on the porch and felt the cool dampness of the morning air. Walking onto the lawn, he stooped to pick a blade of grass, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. A grin spread across his face.

He began looking around attempting to identify some of the plants he saw. An ash tree, he thought, a maple and an oak. Nyk walked to the oak and stroked its bark. The house caught his attention and he compared it with his mental image of the one Koichi described in his journal.

Seymor called to him and he and went inside. “What's your impression of the place in daylight?”

“Green! The vegetation's green. Everywhere, green. I'm trained in the appearance of Earth plants, but seeing it for real!

“This house must be similar to the one Koichi describes in his journal. It's in New York, in Queens, and it belonged to the family for two hundred years before him. You're stationed in New York, you might've gone past it.”

“New York's a big place, lad, and I