Rhombus was situated in what had been known as Iran, part of an area called the Middle East, which the first Venusian explorers had selected for a base on account of its central position in the main Afro-Euro-Asian land mass. The initial consideration was proximity to a wide range of geology and climates. However, this was followed by rapid expansion to accommodate just about every line of research when the region was recognized as having been where many of the major Terran cultures and racial divisions met. Perhaps not coincidentally, it had also been the focus of the Central Asian War, which had been one of last great conflicts to be fought before the Terrans died out.
The town derived its name from the shape of the main building of the original base of fifteen years previously, still discernible among the sprawl of launch and transportation installations that formed the outskirts on the east side. That was also where most of the scientific complexes were concentrated, having grown from the first field cabins and laboratory shacks. Subsequent development became more orderly as it spread westward and now constituted the central district, with residential precincts, services, amenities, and supporting industries that had quickly come into existence to ease the burden on the supply ships from Venus. On the western periphery was an animal and plant breeding station, where attempts were being made to re-domesticate what were thought to be the descendants of former artificial Terran strains that had reverted to wild.
A white, dust-covered bus brought Kyal, Yorim, and a batch of other arrivals to a reception building in the service area clear of the launch areas. It was their first taste of being out of doors since leaving Venus. Kyal had never seen a landscape of such dazzling clarity under the clear blue sky. The Sun was noticeably smaller than he was used to, but impressively radiant. Venusian days were hazy even when the cloud cover broke, which was seldom. The other striking thing was the dryness of terrain, extending away as a brown, dusty plain on the far side of the launch area to craggy hills rising in the distance. Venus was humid and soggy everywhere. Supposedly, Earth had been like that once. He tried to imagine the surroundings without the launch gantries, servicing hangars, or any of the other constructions, empty and desolate, as it had been fifteen years ago when Armin Harra set the first Venusian foot on the surface of Earth. There wasn't a Venusian who had never seen the recording of that memorable moment, or a schoolchild who couldn't recite the immortal line that had gone down in history. It was only years later that the diligent research of a zealous student journalist established that the first words actually uttered on the surface of Earth had been, "Is the camera running yet?"
Inside the building, a knot of people were waiting to meet the incoming arrivals, and the two groups dissolved into a flurry of pairs and more finding each other, and a few lost souls looking around for sources of information or inspiration. Casselo had arranged for Kyal and Yorim to be met by a clerk from the local admin office called Vereth, who had called them shortly before they boarded to let them know he would be there, identifiable by a red cap and a light blue jacket. Yorim spotted him first as they halted and looked around.
"There's our man, over there—in front of the wall with the map and the posters. I think he's seen us."
"Yes, he's coming over." Kyal sent a confirming nod and raised a hand. Vereth was somewhere in his twenties, lean and bony, with short-cropped hair and dark skin that set off his teeth when he smiled. He took off his cap and made a short bow. Kyal and Yorim inclined their heads.
"Master Reen and Fellow Zeestran?"
"Our pleasure," Kyal returned.
"A pleasant voyage and a comfortable descent, I trust? Welcome to Earth." Vereth replaced his cap.
"Decidedly so. May life be as kind to you."
"Nice hat," Yorim said.
Vereth didn't seem sure how to respond and looked around. "The staff in here are all going to be tied up taking care of people with pre-arranged schedules," he said. "But I've talked to somebody in the Site Operations Support office who has been making arrangements for you. It's just a short way along the block outside. Please come this way."
He led them from the reception hall and out through some doors on the opposite side of the building to that where they had entered. The bus had delivered them to a glass-fronted dock, so this was their first real exposure to Terran air. It was invigoratingly fresh and clean, but cool. The oxygen content was higher than on Venus.
Yorim drew in a slow breath as ambled beside Kyal in long, easy strides, the bag he had brought with him for the week slung over a shoulder. "Say, this feels alive!"
"Chilly, though" Kyal said. "I'm not so sure I could go for this swimming idea of yours."
"Aw, I don't know. it's pretty high up here," Yorim said. "And it'll be warmer farther south. I'll find a spot."
"Very dry too," Vereth said. "Best to use cream on the skin until you get used to it. Especially the lips."
They had come out onto a roadway running between the reception building and an adjoining shed that looked like a vehicle depot. A couple of side roads opposite disappeared among a conglomeration of metal and plastic buildings butted together in ways that spoke of sporadic additions and extensions in whatever way was expedient, intermingled with shacks, communications masts, storage tanks, and tangles of pipes. Apart from a slow-moving truck a block or so away, the traffic just at this moment was all pedestrian. The higher buildings of the central area of Rhombus some distance away were visible above the roofs ahead of them. Kyal found himself feeling mildly agoraphobic at being unenclosed by walls for the first time in months, but it would no doubt soon pass. Yorim slowed several times to draw a toe of his boot wonderingly through another novelty spread out under their feet: sand. Vereth looked amused. Kyal had the feeling he'd seen all this before.
"Where are you from?" Kyal asked him.
"Korbisan, originally."
"You look on the dark side for a Korbisanian."
"The sun here will do that."
"How long have you been on Earth now?"
"A year."
"What brought you out here?"
"I came to join my older brother. He's with an excavation party working over in the east at the moment, in China. My family were pressuring me to find a wife and get married."
"Oh." Kyal didn't want to get too personal. "What brought your brother out here?"
Vereth's teeth flashed in a quick grin. "Same reason."
The Site Operations Support office was located in a two-story building on a corner across the street, announcing itself under a larger sign that read ARMIN HARRA SPACE PORT. Vereth brought them to a room with some chairs and a counter. A plump, middle-aged woman in tan work fatigues appeared through a doorway from an office to the rear at the sound of their entering. "You found them, then?" she said to Vereth, and nodded jovially to the arrivals. "It's a long trip out, isn't it? Glad to have you here."
"This is Olin," Vereth said. Kyal and Yorim inclined their heads. "What have you managed to come up with?"
"A week, and then going to Luna."
"Yes," Vereth confirmed.
"It's a bit difficult. The hotel rooms and the short-term apartments were all taken by pre-bookings. It's always like this when a ship arrives."
"Olin doesn't mean just the regular commercial hotels," Vereth explained. "It's what people here also call the quarters that ISA manages for professionals visiting Rhombus"
Olin looked at Kyal and Yorim anxiously. "The best I've been able to do is a double room in the hostel. It's where people like technicians usually stay for a few days when they come down to the surface. But it's comfortable and clean. And you'll probably be away seeing other places for most of the time anyway."
"It wasn't decided until lunchtime today," Kyal said. "We're very grateful. The hostel will be fine."
"You make life too easy."
Yorim was studying a wall adorned with notices, timetables, and a large map of Earth showing the main surface bases and areas of ongoing exploration. Rhombus was marked prominently, sitting in t
he middle of it all. "Here are your cities, Kyal." He pointed at areas to the west and north. "Europe and Russia. Those are the areas you wanted to see right?"
"A lot of work is going on in those areas," Vereth said. "Huge old cities, millions of people. They even built them in colder climate where the precipitation falls as snow."
Olin shivered. "I'll just stick to watching the pictures," she said.
Kyal moved closer to the map to look at the region Yorim had indicated. It was where the latest Terran civilization seemed to have originated, the one known as Western, which the Americans took over and carried worldwide. A number of other major civilizations had come and gone before the rise of the Western, but none had attained a significant level of technology. The Venusians had gone unerringly from simple beginnings to industry to air flight and space travel with no such diversions in other directions, as if they had been predisposed in that direction. No particular explanation had been offered as to why there should have been such a difference, or seemed called for. It was just one of those things that was accepted.
"What other kinds of things are there to see closer to home?" Kyal asked, turning back toward Olin. "Here in Rhombus, for instance—for the first day or two, anyway. A lot of things happen here too, don't they?"
"Many of the scientific labs and academic offices are concentrated here," Olin said.
"They can give you a list of what's where," Vereth interjected.
Olin went on, "There's a shop not far from here that bits of Terran machinery are brought back to for assessment and cleaning up. Some of it gets refurbished and shipped back to Venus. A lot of the language work is centralized in Rhombus, correlating inputs from all over. We've got biology and micro-organisms, a big geological lab with all kinds of departments. Between them, they can give you a good guide as to what's going on in other places. And Rhombus is a good center for transportation to any of them. There are flights coming and going all the time, and getting rides is usually not a problem. One benefit of being in the hostel is that you'll meet plenty of people who'll be able to give you pointers. And you know my name: Olin. If you need anymore, or get stuck, you have my number on the net. Is there anything else I can do for now?" Kyal and Yorim looked at each other. Both shook their heads.
"Sounds just fine," Yorim said.
"You've been more than helpful," Kyal told Olin.
"We try to please our guests."
"Shall we go, gentlemen," Vereth asked. He acknowledged Olin with a nod. "I'll show you the way to the hostel."
"Enjoy Earth," Olin called after them as they left.
CHAPTER FIVE
The hostel was situated a few blocks farther on in the direction of the Central District, where already the surroundings began to feel more like a town meant for people than an industrial suburb of trucks and machines. Although the effect was marred somewhat by the profusion of overhead cables and communications antennas everywhere, the place did make the effort to look more like a residence than an office block or factory shed, and even sported some color in the form of planters containing strange red and orange Terran flowers, standing along the foot of the walls either side of the entrance. Vereth regretted that the hostel didn't have a restaurant in the manner of the hotels, but he pointed out a cafeteria adjacent that he said was "interesting." Terran steaks tended to be on the chewy side, he told them, but they tasted wonderful.
A clerk at the lobby desk greeted them with customary pleasantries and confirmed the details that Olin had given. Vereth saw them to their room, where they deposited their bags, and they walked with him back to the lobby. Was there anything else he could do? No, he had been more than helpful already. It was his privilege. Echoing Olin to remind them that they could always feel free to call him on the planetary net, he made his parting bow and left.
The hostel lobby had its notice-board wall complete with map too, but embellished with poster-size prints of Terran ice cliffs, mountain peaks, and deserts, and giving details of local entertainments and activities that would help newcomers meet their neighbors and make some friends. A quick perusal revealed a couple of longball teams, a drama group, a class for Terran art and architecture studies, a debating group hosted by the Progressives, a club devoted to a Terran game of positional strategy called chess, which was becoming popular back on Venus, an organized sightseeing itinerary, and several musical groups. There was also the usual collection of ads describing items for sale, lost and found, attempts to match skills for hire with work in demand, and shyly disguised pleas from lonely hearts looking for company.
"That place that Olin was talking about sounded interesting," Kyal remarked.
"You mean the shop where they bring the machines and things?" Yorim said over his shoulder as he scanned the board.
"Yes. If we've only got a week, we might as well make the best of it. What do you think?"
"I say let's get something to eat next door first." Kyal agreed, and they turned to head back out the door.
"Try a Terran steak," the desk clerk tossed after them as they left. "The chicken bird is good too."
Yorim had the steak. Kyal tried the chicken. They sat on opposite sides of one of the lont, eight-seat tables, munching in silence as they experimented. "What do you think?" Kyal asked finally.
"Okay . . . but a bit bland compared to a good flank cut. Better when you spice it up." There were some home-imported sauces on the table. "How's the bird?"
"Okay, I guess."
"I read somewhere that the domesticated variety the Terrans had didn't fly. Maybe it was better."
"Oh, really?"
"Your face looks a bit funny. Kind of distant. Are you feeling okay?"
"A bit muzzy headed," Kyal admitted. "But I don't think it's the food. The air, maybe."
"It could be the gravity," Yorim said. "You're feeling the effects of a whole planet for the first time in months. A ship's G-polarizers are localized. It produces a subtly different effect. Some people are sensitive to it. It'll wear off by tomorrow. Did you feel dizzy on the first day or two out in the ship?"
"I can't remember. . . . Could be, I suppose. Let's hope so." Kyal took a sip of water. It tasted sweet and clean. "How was the tour of the G-system in Explorer 6? You never told me."
"Interesting. They're not under drive in freefall, so you can't divert power from the charge generators the way you can when you're in Venus transit. So they extract it from orbital momentum with periodic reboosts."
"Casselo could tell you everything you wanted to know about it, then, eh? So you think he's okay too?"
"As good as we'll get," Yorim agreed. "My take is that we picked ourselves a good boss here, chief. I don't see any problems."
Kyal chewed silently for a while, then asked nonchalantly, "Did he bring up any political angles? You know, feelers about attitudes and views about different things? . . ."
"No. We just talked about longball and technical stuff."
Kyal felt relieved. It seemed that Casselo didn't represent an extension of Sherven in that respect, that would intrude into their working relationship. The findings on lunar Farside sounded too intriguing for the work to be marred by concerns that belonged back home, and as far as Kyal was concerned, were better left there.
Others had been drifting in since they sat down, mostly younger people but with a few older ones among them too. A girl detached herself from a group who were finding seats at one of the other tables and came over. "Well! Two familiar faces. This huge world is becoming smaller already." It was Naseena, the geologist who had come with them on the Melther Jorg.
"Naseena!" Kyal exclaimed. "And you seem to be making a good start in getting to know people already."
"Hey," Yorim greeted.
"I thought you two were going to that place on Luna," Naseena said.
"We're taking a week's break to look around a little down here first," Kyal replied.
"Where are you staying?"
"Next door."
Echoes of an Alien Sky Page 4