The Gentle Seduction

by Marc Stiegler

  And there would be other problems, Veddin realized as he looked outside at the damaged hovacar coming to meet him. Veddin knew it was damaged, because there was just an open cockpit where the sealed capsule should have been. With an effort, Veddin accepted that the hovacar was not damaged at all. Lords of Tarantell! The people on board wore no spacesuits, nor even breathing masks! They were outside, on the surface of a planet, without any protection whatever! It made Veddin very queasy indeed. He tried to think of the phenomenon in a different way: Here was a planet where, instead of sealing small cities, they'd simply sealed the whole planet from outside disturbances.

  He still felt queasy. Well, the people were wearing more clothing than people normally wore around Kaylanx; perhaps Veddin could think of the full-length pants, shirts, and boots as a sort of very light spacesuit. A very light spacesuit.

  He pulled on the clothes the Seekers had given him on Kaylanx. They were a bit small—even the Seekers had been unprepared for a 230-centimeter-tall ex- wrestler—but Veddin was thankful for them. He would have felt terribly exposed, standing outside on a planet with only a pair of shorts, sandals, and a utility harness.

  At last he stepped out of the airlock. As Veddin came down the ship ramp, he recognized one of the three Couples waiting for him: Tarn and Tara Westfall. Each Couple stood hand in hand, fingers lightly interlaced. Meanwhile, the song of joy in Veddin's soul—Autumn's song, he realized—grew stronger.

  Veddin stumbled as the world ended.

  At least, it seemed like the world ended. Autumn's song just . . . stopped. For a moment Veddin was too stunned by his own loss to notice events around him.

  One of the Couples screamed. Another Couple dropped to the ground, and the third Couple grabbed each other desperately.

  A supply truck nearing his ship veered, coughed across the white armalloy skirt of the spaceport and crashed into a derrick. Thick smoke billowed around it.

  Veddin regained partial awareness. The lost song was still his most immediate reality. When he saw the truck burning he gasped, "Autumn!" She must be in the wreckage.

  Now fully aware, he ran for the truck. It was hopeless, he thought; Autumn must have died, or he would still feel something. Nevertheless he ran, and pulled at the crushed door. It came off easily in his hands.

  There was another Couple in the truck. They seemed unhurt, yet they clawed at each other and wept, oblivious to the danger around them. "Autumn!" Veddin cried, peering through the smoke. She wasn't there. New fire belched from the truck's belly. He turned back to the hysterical Couple. "Get out!" Veddin screamed. "You'll be killed!"

  They didn't respond. There wasn't time to coax. Veddin grabbed the man and hurled him from the wreckage. He took the woman's arm and dragged her away from the flames. The truck exploded. The Couple was still too close to the flames, but they seemed vaguely aware now, and they struggled away from the disaster.

  Veddin wiped his brow. Where was Autumn? His eyes bulged as he saw a hoverplane slide over the horizon, canting to one side. Autumn's hoverplane! Still breathing hard, he ran for his ship.

  His shiplink hadn't been affected by whatever calamity had struck the Couples; the DareDrop responded calmly to his commands. "Lock onto that plane," his urgent thought rang out. Through his ship's sensors, he watched the craft come down at a crazy angle toward the port. "Tractors on—hold the plane off the ground" —but as he gave the order his ship's computer told him the plane was too far away, and the angle was wrong. Veddin cursed; he'd have to launch to catch her.

  But Autumn's parents were right next to his ship; they'd be crisped if the DareDrop took off now. He turned away from the airlock. One half of his mind watched the plane through his ship's eyes, one half sorted out the pathetic humans there by the landing struts. Pair by pair he dragged them onto their hovacar.

  He coaxed Tarn Westfall into pressing the accelerator. As the hovacar rocked away, Veddin rushed back to his ship.

  Only the fact that the hoverplane started high in the sky had spared it from crashing; its rate of descent had increased dramatically. The plane was slowing down now, but it wasn't slowing down fast enough.

  Veddin fell into his chair as the boosters blazed. He still shook with exertion, but he had to get into the air now.

  The DareDrop lurched into position. As the tractors locked on, the plane actually fought against their guidance; but despite the plane's most furious counterthrusts Veddin landed it with a feather touch. He landed close by and jumped out.

  Autumn leaped lightly from the plane. She looked awfully young in person. But, Lords of Tarantell, she was beautiful! Her deep blue one-piece jumpsuit held flickering threads of silver that outlined her long, supple body; the ocean wind whipped through her strawberry blonde hair, to set it shimmering in the sunlight. Her golden eyes blazed with angry fire.

  Veddin paused as he realized she was angry.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled at him. She had a thick accent, a more distorted form of Standard than even the language of Kaylanx. She stamped her foot. "I have to get to the space port. I don't have time for idiots."

  "I'm sorry," Veddin muttered, blushing. With a start, he realized how unjust her attack on him was. "Wait a minute. Your plane was about to crash. I just saved your life."

  She stared at him. "Man, what planet're you from? Haven't you ever ridden a plane before? That's the way they always fly. Computer controlled. Multiple redundancy. Nothing can go wrong." She muttered something under her breath.

  This time Veddin turned bright red. "I'm sorry. It's just that, I'm from Kaylanx, and I've never—"

  "You're from where?" Autumn had started to turn away, but now she turned back. "Veddin!" Her voice softened; indeed, Veddin wouldn't have guessed it was the same person speaking. "Are you, are you Veddin Zhukpokrovsk?"

  Veddin nodded. "Yes, I'm, uh . . ." He was lost in her eyes. She approached him slowly, held out her hand, and his hand was there. When they touched, Veddin could feel a hint of that earlier joy.

  Now Autumn blushed. "I'm sorry. When the feeling . . . stopped, I just had to get to the port as soon as possible, to find out what happened."

  Veddin nodded. "Yes." He frowned. "I think there's something terribly wrong here. Your parents are, uh . . ."

  "What? What about them?"

  Veddin's voice caught on the words. "I'll show you." He took her into the ship and they hopped across the last kilometer to the port, with the hoverplane in tow.

  As they flew, Veddin considered the mistake he'd made. "I guess I was hasty to assume your plane was falling out of control, but I thought it was manually operated, like the supply truck that crashed on its way out to my ship." He frowned. "Why are the planes automated and not the supply trucks?"

  He realized it was a dumb question; how would Autumn know about spaceport supply trucks?

  But she looked around the tiny compartment of his control room, and Veddin could almost see her picturing the outside of his vessel; a tight little gray teardrop, battered and scarred from too many encounters with too many enemies. She answered, somehow sad. "I've never seen a ship like this before. Probably the automated trucks wouldn't know what to do with it. They keep a couple of manual loaders just for unusual ships. "

  They arrived at the spaceport. Veddin landed a safe distance from the Couples and led Autumn into the open. He had been watching the Couples through his ship's sensors, but when Autumn saw her parents, she gasped and ran to them. "Mom, Dad, what's wrong?"

  All three of the Couples had stripped of clothing. They clung to each other in grim caricatures of love's embrace. But there was no love there, only desperation, fear, and horror. Autumn made an effort to cover the three pairs with the discarded clothes, failed, gave up.

  She swung toward Veddin. "Don't stand there staring," she said, "we have to cover them up or something."

  Veddin knew this wasn't a funny situation, but for just a moment he was taken by the absurdity of it all. He gave an explosive laugh
, shook his head. "I'm sorry, my dear, but they pulled their clothes off of their own volition. It hardly seems like my responsibility to clothe them." A new expression spread over Autumn's face; he wasn't sure what it was, but he knew he wouldn't like the results. He continued hastily, "Actually, I think I may have some blankets on board my ship; I know I have some tarps, anyway." He led the way back into the ship. There was a narrow vertical tube just outside the control room, in the thick part of the teardrop. He knelt there and pointed down the ladder rungs. "There are towels and such in the bathroom, on that side."

  She peered over his shoulder. "Okay, I'll see what I can find. What else do you have?"

  He rose and unlatched a compartment above them, which crashed with a resounding ring against the rear bulkhead. "Sorry," he muttered, "I usually don't do this in gravity."

  Autumn hung on to him, rather shaken. "Yeah, I'll bet."

  "Anyway, the tarps are up there, if you can find 'em."

  "Okay. Can you give me a boost?"

  "Sure." He lifted her up into the compartment. "Meanwhile, I have work to do." He retreated into the control room before Autumn's wrath could catch him.

  "Where are you going?" she screamed through the walls at him.

  "I'm gonna try to raise somebody on the radio," he yelled back.

  "Who?"

  "Just anyone at all on this peculiar planet of yours."

  "Oh." Something clattered over head, but Veddin forced himself to disregard it and work with the ship's various receivers and transmitters. First he tried contacting the port control tower, using the frequencies they'd used to guide him in. All he could get was muffled whimperings in the background. A thump outside announced the return of Autumn from the overhead compartment.

  "What does anyone at all say?" she asked.

  Veddin shook his head.

  "Oh." She disappeared again.

  Veddin was lost in his efforts for some time thereafter, growing more grim as each effort produced fewer results. At last he yelled, "I can't find anything!"

  There was a gentle tap on his shoulder. "You don't have to yell," was the dry rejoinder.

  He looked up; her nose was within inches of his. He was astonished at how beautiful Autumn's eyes were. He swallowed hard. "Did you get your parents all bundled up?"

  "Yeah. They're, uh, all right I guess." She shook her head. "Faresh and Hella are almost catatonic, but at least they're still breathing."

  "Um." Veddin shook his head, returning to the communication problem. "I get lots of inter-robot traffic, but there don't seem to be any people out there, sending or receiving anything."

  "I'm not surprised—even if this is just a local problem, you're not likely to find people talking by radio."

  Veddin stared at her. "Why not?"

  She pursed her lips. "They're all psychic, you numbskull. What do they need radios for? Some of the more powerful transmitting couples run a sort of broadcasting system for news of general interest. There are some Couples that can t find a resonant psiband in common with some other Couples, but it's easy enough to get an intermediary if you've really got something to say."

  "I see." Veddin bit his lip; he wished she'd told him that earlier. Well, she was concerned with her parents.

  "Can we bring them on board?"

  "Who?"

  "My parents and the others. Can we bring them on board?"

  Veddin opened his mouth, shut it. "Sure, we can stuff em in the empty supply holds."

  Autumn's voice took on a dangerous edge. "It's either that or carry them to the control tower. The ship's closer."

  Veddin felt his neck muscles tense. "Don't you think we should find out what else is happening around here? At least your parents are safe. Others may not be."

  She gritted her teeth, then the defiance disappeared. "You're right, of course."

  Veddin nodded solemnly. "We all have our moments."

  Autumn harrumphed. "Only a moment, now and then."

  Veddin rose from his chair, ducked out of the control room. "Where's the nearest town?"

  As they stepped out of the airlock, Autumn pointed south. "I remember seeing a cluster of buildings that way as I was coming in."

  "Okay. The next question is, how should we get there: Your plane or my ship? If you don't mind, I think we should take your plane. I doubt they'd appreciate me obliterating a couple of buildings with backwash,"

  Autumn put her hands on her hips. "Of course we're taking my plane. You think I'd trust your driving?"

  They were standing next to the plane's door before Veddin realized that, for a long time, the two of them had been holding hands.

  As the plane took off, Veddin turned to Autumn. She was turned away from him, and her shoulders were shaking. He touched her. "It'll be all right. All we have to do is find out what's causing this, and we'll fix it."

  She turned forward. "I just don't understand why it's destroyed everybody. As nearly as I can tell, they're all all right except that they've lost their Touch."

  Veddin nodded. "What penalties are involved in becoming a Couple?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Do you lose anything in exchange for the wholeness of finding your touched-one?"

  She shook her head violently. "Of course not."

  Veddin decided not to pursue it, but Autumn continued. "They've just lost their loved ones, that's all, in a way we can't even understand."

  "Not even the loss of your loved ones should destroy your ability to act."

  "Well, maybe it shouldn't, but it does. It would probably happen to you too if you lost your family."

  Veddin looked away. "No, it wouldn't."

  "How do you know?"

  "Because my younger sister was on Moon Leiea when the Squishies destroyed it." He tried to swallow but could not. "Leiea was in my defense sector. When Laurain died, I knew." His voice took a note of determination. "But I couldn't stop fighting because of that. There were other moons, and Kaylanx itself. They would have destroyed the whole system, just the way they destroyed Colander, if we stopped fighting."

  Autumn seemed slightly chastised. "I'm sorry."

  "So am I." His hands roamed over the deep rips in the arms of his chair, the internal scars that matched the scars on the DareDrop's hull. "I'm just glad the Hydrans felt the disturbance in the psifields and found us. Without you, we would have lost everything."

  Her shoulders sagged, and for a moment she did not look adolescent. "Why do they all hate us so much? I can see why normal species think we're deformed mutants, with our occasional super-resonant Couple, and our billions of people with no psi resonance at all, but why can't they just leave us be? Isn't the terrible isolation we suffer punishment enough?"

  Veddin watched the planet slip underneath. A cluster of unnatural shapes approached. "Look," he said.

  She peered over his shoulder. "It's the city."

  Veddin never would have recognized it as a city. On Kaylanx, a city was a tight crush of warrens. Here the buildings were only one or two stories, and they were scattered across a grassy plain, completely exposed to the elements. To the northwest there were three stadium-sized buildings, and when Veddin scrutinized them he could make out the shapes of robots scurrying about.

  Autumn saw the direction of his gaze. "Those are factories," she explained. "Mostly run by robots, though they're supervised by us. These factories make spaceship parts; the tallest roof encloses a final assembly area for small ships." As she described Hydra's shipbuilding industry, Veddin was again amazed by Autumn's technical expertise.

  He made no comments.

  She pointed back at the city proper. "Normally, you'd see Couples here and there sunning themselves." She bit her lip. "And there would be hovacars coming and going, and laughter—" She stopped on a sob. "It's happened here, too."

  Veddin reached over to hold her by the shoulders, then gasped. "Look!" He pointed at a Couple near the edge of town, directing a motley collection of robots to cart another Couple indoors. Even as V
eddin watched, the Couple stopped supervising the robots. They reached out to hold each other tightly for a moment, then returned to their work.

  Autumn redirected the ship's computer to steer them toward the Couple. "Thank the Lords there's someone left!"

  The Couple on the ground was equally glad to see Veddin and Autumn step out of the hoverplane under their own power. The dark-skinned, dark-haired man clasped each of them by the hand. "Shea and Fanth Ostrit," he introduced his wife and himself. "I thought we were the only survivors," he said. "We need all the help we can get."

  Veddin nodded. "What are you doing?"

  "Getting people inside before they blister in the sun, trying to get them to eat." He shook his head. "Not much success with the second. We fixed up the first Couples with intravenous feeders and robot attendants, but we ran out of equipment." Even as he spoke he reached for his touched-one, who reached for him as well. The conversation ended while the two revitalized each other.

  A baby cried on the second floor of the building to their right. Shea and Fanth broke out of their trance at the sound. "I'll go see if there's anything wrong," Shea said. She trotted into the house.

  Veddin asked Fanth, "What is it that's happened to everybody?"

  Fanth shrugged. "Somebody's jamming all our resonances."

  "Fanth!" Shea came to the balcony of the house, cradling a child in her arms. "Hurry up here. The mother is turning blue. I don't know what's wrong with her."

  "Right." Fanth dashed toward the house. He turned before entering and waved at one of the robots. "Peter! Follow me."

  Veddin came up behind Peter, and Autumn followed him. "Why aren't you and Shea affected?" Veddin asked as they climbed the steps.

  "We are. But I guess we're getting along better than most because we're sort of new here. The Seekers just brought us together about a year ago, and we haven't developed as close a bond as the others." He looked puzzled. "Don't you feel the jamming? Are you multiply resonant psimates, who're strong enough to overcome it? You don't seem to be affected at all."

  They reached the second-floor landing; the door to one bedroom hung open. "No, we're not multiply resonant," Veddin said. He felt a warning tug on his arm from Autumn, but he disregarded it. "We're isolates."