by Allen Steele
“Oh, yes, we do.” Sucking up my courage, I took a step toward him. “We can go back to where we came from, and never have anything to do with you again. Nice to make your acquaintance, but…well, if you think we’re going to be your cabana boys from now on, then think again.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see the members of the High Council turning toward one another. We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I had little doubt that I’d ruffled fur, feathers, scales, or whatever else they had on them.
“Jules…” Rain whispered. “What are you…?”
I ignored her. Too late to back down now. And damn it, it was time to take a stand.
“We are what we are,” I went on. “Perhaps we’re not as mature as you’d like us to be. Maybe we’re going to make mistakes. I know I have, and my friends have had to pay for me being a fool. But you’re just going to have to accept that, though, and cut us some slack.”
I paused, then shook my head. “But no more conditions. No more jobs. Period.”
The chaaz’braan said nothing. For several seconds, the air around us remained clear, vacant of floating words. He stared at me for a long time, the wattles of his thick neck trembling with what I assumed was irritation. Around us, the other aliens continued to talk among themselves. Hard not to figure out what they were saying: who the hell does he think he is?
I stole a glance at Rain. Her face had gone pale, but she nodded in quiet agreement. I’d just drawn a line in the sand; now we would have to see whether they would cross it. At last, the chaaz’braan spoke.
You may return to your world. We will be contacting you soon with our decision.
And then, without so much as a farewell, he faded from sight. An instant later, the other aliens vanished.
The room went dark, save for the shaft of light in which Rain and I once again found ourselves. The door through which we’d entered swirled open, revealing the corridor beyond. Neither of us said anything as we left the room, but as the door shut behind us, she let out her breath.
“So”—she hesitated—“what do we tell the others?”
I shrugged. “We tell ’em we can go home. After that…I don’t know.”
( TWENTY )
Home run…
a sudden Rain…
key to the galaxy…
the narrative ends.
XIV
Three days later, I was sitting in the bleachers of University Field, watching the Battling Boids thump the Fighting Swampers.
The Boids had gotten a little better since the last time I’d seen them…which seemed like a lifetime ago, although it had only been a week. Either that, or I’d become a little more forgiving; when the Boid pitcher allowed a Swamper to slide into first on a bunt, I wasn’t cursing the way I once might have. Perhaps I’d grown up a bit. Or maybe it was simply because, once you’ve been halfway across the galaxy and back again, it’s hard to take baseball seriously anymore.
Indeed, ever since my return from Rho Coronae Borealis, it had been hard for me to get back into the habits of my old life. Ash was right; now that I’d seen the Great Beyond, nothing was the same again. Oh, I still had my room at the Soldier’s Joy, and the previous night I’d trooped over to Lew’s Cantina and put away a few pints of ale…but when I had finally left the bar, I’d found myself standing in the middle of the street, staring up at the night sky. Somewhere out there were countless worlds whose inhabitants were waiting for humankind to join them. What are beer and baseball compared to that?
But it was more than that. I was alone.
Rain wasn’t with me.
When the Pride of Cucamonga finally made the jump back to 47 Ursae Majoris, hardly anyone took notice of our return. I wasn’t expecting a parade, mind you, but nonetheless it was disappointing to find that no one paid attention to the fact that we’d just completed a journey of more than four hundred and fourteen light-years. Indeed, we practically limped home; there was barely enough fuel left in the tank to get us from the starbridge, and a shuttle had to be sent up from New Brighton to meet us once the ship settled into orbit above Coyote. As the shuttle detached from the docking collar, I caught one last glimpse of the Pride through the window beside my seat. Before we’d left, she had merely been a beat-up old freighter. Now, with her cargo modules gone, her shuttle missing, and her hull plates pitted, warped, and scorched, she looked like a candidate for the junkyard.
Nonetheless, she’d brought us safely home. No one said anything as the shuttle peeled away, but I couldn’t help but notice Emily rubbing the corners of her eyes, or the way Doc gnawed at his lower lip. I think everyone was saying farewell in their own silent way.
We touched down in New Brighton, and it was there that we saw the last of Morgan Goldstein and Mahamatasja Jas Sa-Fhadda. Once Rain and I had returned to the Pride after our meeting with the chaaz’braan, I was surprised to learn that Jas had already come back aboard and programmed the coordinates for 47 Uma into the nav system. After that, the Prime Emissary spent the rest of the trip in hisher cabin; when the shuttle landed, Morgan escorted himher to a waiting hovercoupe, and the two of them departed without so much as a good-bye, leaving the rest of us to catch the afternoon gyrobus to New Florida. Hell, we even had to pay the fare ourselves.
Not that our merry band had much left to say to one another. Perhaps it’s uncharitable to say it, but the truth of the matter was that we were sick and tired of each other. It had been a long and exhausting journey, and I think all of us were just happy to get home alive. So the ride back to Liberty was made in near silence, and once we got there everyone pretty much went their separate ways. Ted and Emily caught a shag wagon to their house, Doc escorted Ali to the hospital for further treatment, Ash lurched off to the nearest watering hole, and Rain and I…
Ah, but that’s a different story, isn’t it?
Sure, we went back to the Soldier’s Joy together. That’s where we’d left our belongings; for me, it was the only home I knew, at least on Coyote. But if I had any notions that Rain and I would consummate our romance with a playful romp in bed, I was sadly mistaken. Once we retrieved our room keys from the front desk, Rain gave me a quick buss on the cheek and said that she’d see me later. Since the landlady was giving us the eye, I figured that it was a bad time to push the issue. Besides, I was dead tired; all I really wanted to do in bed just then was study the insides of my eyelids.
So I went up to my room and rediscovered the subtle charm of being able to sleep on a mattress. Eight hours in the hay, followed by a hot shower and a change of clothes, put me in a better frame of mind. The sun had risen on a new day, and I figured that the proper thing to do was find Rain and buy her breakfast. And while we were at it, perhaps we’d figure out what to do next.
Yes, well…maybe that’s the way things should have gone. But it wasn’t the way it went.
When I knocked on her door, there was no answer, and when I checked the dining room, I saw only a handful of strangers. I was about to go back to her room and try again when the innkeeper spotted me crossing the lobby. Was I looking for my lady friend? Sorry, sir, but she’d checked out earlier that morning…and no, she hadn’t left a forwarding address.
And that was it. She was gone.
XV
So there I was, watching a baseball game and trying not to feel like a guy whose heart had just been carved from his chest and handed to him, when someone sat down on the bench next to me. I looked around, and saw that it was Rain.
“Hi,” she said. “Miss me?”
“Umm…” About a half dozen possible responses flashed through my mind, some more heated than others. I settled for the simplest and least angry. “Yeah, I did. Where have you been?”
“Away.” She wore a homespun hemp sweater and a long cotton skirt, and it was the first time in a while that I’d seen her in anything that wasn’t suitable for space travel; the change was nice. Aware that her reply didn’t explain much, she went on. “I needed to get away for a bit, think things over. So I went to sta
y with my aunt and uncle, and now…”
A crack of a bat, and we looked up in time to see a Boid send a fly ball into center field. The Swamper outfielders, slow off the mark, scrambled to catch it, but they recovered too late to prevent the batter from making it safely to first or the guy on second from grabbing third. The crowd around us clapped and shouted, save for the handful of Swamper fans who scowled at another lousy defensive play by their team.
“So you’re back,” I said, once everyone had settled down again. “Did you…I mean, have you worked things out?”
Rain didn’t say anything for a moment. She sat next to me, arms propped on her knees, a smile on her face that was both warm and cautious. “What about you? I see you’ve still got a room at the inn…or at least you did when I checked a little while ago.”
That must have been how she found me; I’d mentioned to the landlady that I was planning to go to the ball game. “Yeah, I’m still there. Right after you left, Morgan sent over his man Kennedy with a check for what he owed me. Not much, but enough to pay the rent.” I shrugged. “Or at least until the proctors haul me off to the stockade.”
“They won’t.” She shook her head. “Whatever else happens, that’s not something you have to worry about anymore.”
She said this with such confidence that I forgot about the game. “How do you know?”
“Umm…” Rain hesitated. “I told you I went to stay with my aunt and uncle, right?” I nodded. “And you know, of course, that my family is pretty well connected?”
I recalled my argument with Ted, shortly before the Pride set out for Rho Coronae Borealis, during which he’d quietly let me know that Rain’s family owned the Thompson Wood Company. I hadn’t thought much about it since then, but now…“Yeah, I know that.”
“But I bet you don’t know just how well connected they are.” Moving a little closer, she dropped her voice so that she wouldn’t be overheard. “Ever heard of Carlos Montero? Or Wendy Gunther?”
I hadn’t been on Coyote long enough to learn all of its history, but nevertheless, those were names that even people on Earth recognized. “Sure. Original colonists. Led the Revolution. Went on to become presidents of the Coyote Federation, one after the other. Why do you…?”
My voice trailed off as I suddenly realized what she was saying. Before I could do little more than turn my mouth into a bug trap, she gave me a solemn nod.
“Uh-huh. My mother is Carlos’s younger sister. She married into the Thompson family, which makes Hawk and me…” Realizing that she was about to mention her brother again, she stopped herself. “Anyway, they’re my aunt and uncle. Surprised?”
“Yes.” That was all I could manage at the moment.
“Thought you might be. At any rate…” Rain folded her hands together in the lap of her skirt. “While I was staying with them, I told them all about you and how Morgan has tried to screw you out of the deal you guys made. Now, even though Uncle Carlos also happens to be one of Janus’s major investors, he’s also learned not to trust Morgan very much. And if there’s anyone in Liberty with more clout than Morgan Goldstein, it’s my uncle.”
“So what does this…?”
“Mean?” A sly smile. “To make a long story short, this morning he met with the Chief Magistrate, and over coffee he managed to persuade her to drop all charges against you. Not only that, but your plea for political amnesty is being”—a sly wink—“considered. But since you’ve got him on your side, I’d say it’s a safe bet.”
I let out my breath, shut my eyes. For a few moments, I didn’t know how to respond. Rain must have sensed this, because she took my hand. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “All you have to do is say, ‘Thank you, Rain.’”
“Thank you, Rain.” Then I looked at her again. “Do you know just how much I…?”
“I’m not done yet.”
Down in the batter’s box, a Boid finally struck out, ending the fifth inning. I wasn’t paying much attention to the game anymore. “There’s more?”
“Uh-huh.” Rain gently removed her hand from mine. “Speaking of Morgan…”
“Oh, crap. Here it comes.” I shook my head. “He’s not very happy with me, y’know. Not after I dumped his cargo. And I can’t imagine he’s going to be very pleased about…”
“He’s not, but that doesn’t matter anymore.” She hesitated. “He knows about what happened back there. On Talus qua’spah, I mean.”
I stared at her. We’d been careful not to reveal the details of our encounter with the chaaz’braan and the Talus High Council, other than to tell the rest of the crew that we’d met our obligation and had been given permission to return to Coyote. “You didn’t tell him…I mean, about what I said to…?”
“I didn’t, no…but he learned that for himself. From Jas.” Another pause. “That’s the other reason I’m here. Heshe called me last night and told me that heshe wants to see you.”
“Jas?” I asked, and she nodded. “When? Now?”
“Uh-huh. Now.” She glanced at the field. “Unless, of course, you’d rather wait until this is over.”
It was the top of the sixth, with the Boids leading the Swampers 5–2. I figured that my team could get along without me, so I stood up. “No sense in keeping himher waiting,” I said, offering her my hand. “Let’s go.”
XVI
We climbed down from the bleachers and left the field, then walked across the university campus until we reached the low hill overlooking the hjadd embassy. An ironic moment; it was at that very same spot Morgan had told me how he wanted to gain access to their technology. In only a week or so, I’d come full circle.
I thought Rain was going to take me the rest of the way to the compound; instead, she stopped and took a seat on the wooden bench beneath the trees. Puzzled, I was about to ask her why, when she looked past me and nodded. I looked around as two familiar figures emerged from the shadows behind a tree.
Jas, once again wearing hisher environment suit. And with himher, Ash.
I couldn’t say which of them I was more surprised to see. The hjadd seldom left their embassy. Not only that, but judging from his steady gait, I could tell that Ash was stone-sober.
“No, I haven’t been drinking.” As usual, Ash was one thought ahead of me. “To tell the truth, I haven’t touched a drop since…” A sheepish grin from within his hood. “Well, since the bender I had right after we got back.”
Two days. For him, that was something of a record. “I’ve been wondering why I haven’t heard from you…your guitar, that is. You’re not at the inn anymore?”
“Checked out the next morning, after I spent the night in an alley.” He reached up to pull back his hood. “Y’know, every now and then, an alcoholic receives a moment of clarity when you come to realize that, if you don’t stop drinking, you’re going to die. I think I had my moment while we were out there…just took a little while for it to sink in, that’s all.”
“So you’re on the wagon?” I asked, and he nodded. “Good for you.”
“Well…” Ash glanced at Jas. “I’m getting a little help from a friend.”
“Mr. Ash is working for us now.” Jas’s voice purred from the grille of hisher suit. “The High Council has reached its decision, so we will need someone to act as an intermediary. I have offered him that position, on the stipulation that he discontinue his alcohol abuse.”
“Sa’Tong is an interesting religion…well, it’s not really a religion, or at least not as we know it. However you want to call it, though, it has some neat tricks for learning mental discipline.” He paused. “I’m not over it yet, but I’m getting there.”
“Well, that’s…” I suddenly realized what Jas had just said. “Whoa, wait a second…what’s that about the Talus?”
Jas moved a little closer, until I could see my reflection in the faceplate of hisher helmet. “Upon the recommendation of the chaaz’braan, the High Council has decided to invite humankind to join the Talus, provided that your race accepts and agrees t
o abide by its rules. Even as we speak, the hjadd embassy is sending a formal communiqué to the Coyote Federation, requesting a meeting in which we may negotiate trade and cultural exchanges.”
For a moment, I was unable to speak. Feeling my knees giving way beneath me, I hobbled over to the bench. “Easy, now,” Rain murmured, reaching up to help me find a seat. “Deep breaths…thataboy…”
“I thought…I thought…” For the second time in the last hour, I didn’t know quite what to say. I took Rain’s advice, and once my head stopped spinning, I tried again. “I thought the chaaz’braan…well, that I’d blown it.”
“Blown it?” Jas’s helmet cocked to one side. “I fail to understand.”
“That I’d said too much. Or said the wrong thing.”
“No. What you said to the chaaz’braan and the High Council was correct. Humankind has the right to exist on its own terms, without being subservient to others. Your race has met its obligations. There will be no others.”
“In other words, they’ve decided to trust us.” Rain smiled at me.
“She’s right.” Ash nodded. “I’ve heard about what you said to them. They didn’t like hearing it, but it went a long way toward redeeming us.” Another pause. “That took a lot of guts, man…but it paid off.”
Now that was a lot to absorb. At the very least, it wasn’t what I’d expected to hear. Another deep breath, then I sat up a little straighter. “So…well, that’s great. Glad to hear that everything’s going to work out for the…”
“I have not yet finished.” Jas held up a hand. “Once the Talus has completed negotiations with your race, the hjadd will be able to resume trade with Coyote. Morgan Goldstein has already expressed his desire to continue transporting consumer goods to Talus qua’spah, although I understand that he wants a more equitable arrangement.”
I couldn’t help but grin. Couldn’t blame Morgan for wanting something more useful than two thousand paperweights. And if I never saw another gnosh again, it would be too soon. “Sounds reasonable. Of course, he’s going to have to get another ship.”