by D M Arnold
“God, Nykkyo. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be the one to come between a man and his wife.”
“There was plenty between us already. I've known Senta since we were children. Her stepfather's an old friend of my dad's. He used to bring her with him to Sudal on vacations. Senta was still at university when she agreed to marry me. Her stepdad prodded her into it. He wanted it more than we did, to bind himself to the memory of my father. Marriage on this world is less about love and more about family alignment, anyway.”
Nyk placed his hand on Suki's shoulder as he looked out her window onto the city streets. Dusk had passed. The sky darkened and the city lights shone brightly.
“Do you have to leave me alone tonight?” she asked.
“No.” He opened the sofa into a folding bed and lay on it. Suki lay beside him. He held her and stroked her hair.
“Mmm, this feels so good,” she said and kissed his cheek. “Bon'noka, Nykkyo.”
* * *
Nyk pressed his wrist to the scanpad at the apartment. The door popped open. He glanced around for sign of Senta and figured she was at the lab. He showered and changed into a fresh tunic and xarpa.
He sat at a vidisplay and placed a call. “Nykkyo,” Veska answered. “Senta told me about your injured comm tech.”
“I did what I thought was right and time was of the essence. Veska, I need to schedule a return packet to Earth, for tomorrow.”
“Two seats? Well, our offworlder's better off there than here. I'll check the packet schedule and send a telemessage with the details.” The vidisplay went dark.
* * *
Nyk handed Suki a length of cloth. “I brought you a lifxarpa. It completes the woman's costume. I'll show you how to wear it.” He placed the center of it behind her neck and crossed it across her breasts. He crossed it again behind her back and brought the ends around to form a sort of belt. “The crease goes at the bottom, and the folds serve as a pocket for small articles.” He knotted the loose ends. “There. You look great in Floran clothing, Suki.”
“All the doctors and attendants came to see me off. I'm sorry to go home. Everyone was so sweet -- I love your people, Nykkyo.”
He led her to the lift and they rode to the tubecar platform. Nyk pressed his wrist to the scanpad and ordered a ride to the shuttleport. A bullet-shaped vehicle stopped and the cowl slid back. He helped her in and started the car.
She looked up through the transparent cowl and tube. “Look at the color of that sky! Are those stars?”
“Yes, some stars are visible in broad daylight.”
The car pulled up to the shuttleport terminal. They waited in the departure lounge until their flight was announced. Nyk escorted her through a movable bridge and they took their seats.
Suki leaned toward Nyk. “The interior of this shuttle is just like a small Earth airliner,” she said. Nyk helped her fasten her safety harness. “This looks like what race-car drivers wear.”
“It's a five-point harness. I should warn you, we'll experience some weightlessness on the ride up. I hope you're not bothered by motion sickness.”
The shuttle hatch closed and it taxied and lifted off. Nyk gazed out the window as the ground dwindled below them. The sky outside the viewports faded from indigo to black. Suki reached and grabbed his arm. “This is such an unusual sensation. I think I'm having a panic attack. It feels like we're falling!”
“We are. Being in orbit's an endless, circular fall around the planet. Are you going to be sick?”
“I don't think so. I'll try some meditation techniques.” She closed her eyes for several moments. “I'm better now, but it's still an odd sensation.”
The shuttle pulled onto a landing pad on the transit platform. Normal gravity returned as the shuttle felt the influence of the artificial gravity generators on the platform. Nyk guided Suki from the craft through the docking port.
He led her to a capsule resembling a tubecar. The vehicle sped from the shuttle pad to the lower level packet concourse. Nyk presented his wrist to a scanpad in the departure lounge, spoke to an attendant and turned to Suki. “She said we'll board as soon as the vessel is serviced.” He motioned her to a viewport and pointed to the packet being serviced by tender shuttles. “We'll be aboard the Myataxya and Lexal packet. They're diverting to Earth after the stop at Myataxya. This will be a treat.”
The docking port doors opened and Nyk gestured toward them. He and Suki boarded the packet. The interior resembled an Earth wide-body jetliner, except the seats faced to the sides rather than front-and-back.
“Fasten your belt. Sometimes the warp jump tosses things around a bit.”
“No five-point harness?” she asked.
“No, the packets have gravity generators. It should be a smooth ride.”
A row of indicators below the viewports glowed white and the viewport shutters closed. The indicators glowed blue and a jolt shook the vessel. “That was the subjump. We're now outside Floran's heliopause.”
“Heliopause?”
“The boundary between a star system and true interstellar space.” The indicators glowed blue again and another jolt was felt. “We're now outside the Myataxyan heliopause. The packets travel most of the distance between stars without moving at all -- at least not in normal space.”
The lamps glowed blue again, and a third jolt shook the packet. “Was that the Myataxyan subjump?” she asked.
“You catch on quickly.” The indicators went dark and the viewports opened. The passengers let out a collective gasp. “That always happens on the approach to Myataxya. Once we're in orbit, we can stand and look out a viewport. There's no transit platform here, so they'll dock shuttles with the packet and exchange passengers. We'll have some time to sightsee.”
An announcement was made on the vessel's PA system. “We're in orbit. Come look.” He unsnapped his belt and escorted her toward a viewport.
“Oh, my God!” Suki exclaimed.
Nyk slipped his arm around Suki as he gazed upon Mytaxya's parent planet, a gas giant. It was a golden sphere with brown and orange bands and surrounded by multi-colored rings. From their vantage, the planet was half in light and half in shadow. Lightning flashes illuminated the cloud cover on the dark side. Nyk pointed down at an Earth-like moon, with a small ice cap, sapphire oceans and brown continents. White clouds laced the Myataxya colony atmosphere.
“This is a favorite resort and retirement colony. On the surface, it's a tropical paradise. It's our version of Hawaii.”
“It's beautiful beyond description from here,” she replied. “What must it look like from the ground?”
“I've never been there. I've never been on any planet other than Floran and Earth. We'd better reclaim our seats.”
8 -- You belong to your world and I to mine.
The packet's indicator lamps glowed white and the viewports closed. Next came blue indicators and the subjump jolt -- then the main jump. The viewports opened.
“Here's our stop,” Nyk said. The packet docked with the relay station. An attendant gestured toward him and he escorted Suki through the docking tunnel into the workroom.
“What's this place?” Suki asked.
“It's one of our communications relay stations. We have many of these -- they permit the colonies to keep in touch. This one's located just outside Earth's heliopause and it connects to Earth's Internet.”
Nyk stepped into the wardroom and emerged wearing his Earth clothes. “I'm sorry, but you'll have to wear the tunic. We don't have any women's clothing on the station right now.”
“Your shirt's covered with blood -- my blood.”
He gestured her through the pressure door to the awaiting shuttlecar, removed the power cables, opened the door and climbed in. She sat beside him. “We travel to Earth in this?”
“Yes.” He began manipulating the control panel to begin prelaunch diagnostics. The panel lit up in a blue go condition. The bay depressurized and the door opened. Nyk grasped the unistick and pulled it back.
The shuttle responded by backing into space.
Nyk pointed out the windscreen toward a large, bright star. “That's Earth's sun. That's home.”
“How far away are we?”
He made a mental calculation. “About five billion miles. I'm preparing for the subjump.” The shuttlecar windows darkened. “Here's the jump.” He pressed the actuator and the warp coil fired, jolting the craft. Transparency returned to the windows and a blue orb filled the windscreen.
Suki grabbed his arm. “That's a beautiful sight! Oh, Nykkyo, I wish I could share this experience.”
He pushed the unistick fully forward and the craft accelerated toward Earth. The blue sphere grew in size. Then, using the craft's inertial sink, he piloted it through the atmosphere into the darkness of the North American night. Navigational images appeared on the windscreen. The shuttlecar punched through a high overcast and he could see street lamps outlining the small city.
Nyk piloted the shuttle to a landing on a country road and steered it to the faculty apartments. He reached into his pocket and handed Suki her door key. “I'll put the shuttlecar away and change my shirt -- then I'll come over. I'll help you clean up the mess in your bathroom.”
* * *
Nyk helped Suki make her bed. “I suppose I owe you a sheet,” he said.
“Don't worry about it.”
“We must figure out our next move.”
“What'll happen to you?”
“I imagine Seymor will have a talk with me. I expect I'll be sent home. I won't call him -- I'll let him call me. That might stretch it awhile.”
“I've only paid the rent through the end of this month. I'll need a place to live.”
“There's a spare room with a bed in it at my house. You can move in with me, at least for a while. Suki, I know you've had a disagreement with your parents, but I think you should call them. If you thought enough of your mom to write her a note, you must think enough of her to call.”
“I don't know. I'm not ready for that. Did you read my note to her?”
“Of course not.”
“I'll destroy it. It'd be rather embarrassing, now.”
“There's something else. Aahhn told me he thinks you're a recovered bulimic.”
She looked away. “It's behind me. I don't want to talk about it.”
“Are you sure it's behind you? I'd be devastated to learn you're engaging in self-abusive behavior, Suki. Bulimia is a problem on my world, believe it or not. Please assure me you're not doing anything like that now.”
“I'm not, Nykkyo.” He touched her chin with his finger, turned her face toward his and looked into her eyes. “There's much you don't know about me and much I don't want you to know,” she said. “This is behind me. Please, let's drop it.”
“Aahhn's concerned for you. He wants me to encourage you to get some counseling.”
She turned away again. “I'm not going to a counselor. I went to one in high school, and it didn't work. I'll thank you not to mention it again.”
“But Suki... You've just tried to kill yourself. You must have some ... issues a counselor might help you resolve.”
“I'll think about it. I promise -- okay?”
“Good. None of this changes how I feel for you. Remember that, Suki. There's nothing you can say to me that'll change how I love you.”
“Nothing?”
“No, nothing.” He stretched out on Suki's bed and she lay beside him. He held her and stroked her hair.
“Oh, Nykkyo, I wouldn't need a counselor if I had this. When you hold me like this the hurt goes away.” She leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. Nyk started to kiss her cheek but she turned her head and his lips met hers. She ran her fingers through his hair. He kissed her lips again and felt her tongue exploring his mouth.
“This isn't a good idea,” he said.
“Why not? You're the first man I've ever wanted, and I want you so much! I thought you looked so sexy in that Floran tunic. Your legs looked so good, with those sandals that lace up your calves. I could barely stand it -- I wanted you in the hospital room. Why can't we have each other?”
“It's because of the role Destiny's planned for you.”
“What of my role?”
“Nothing specific. I do know making love jeopardizes it.”
“How?”
“I can't explain it. Please trust me. I want you just as much. We mustn't.”
She cuddled against him. “So, tomorrow we pack up my stuff and take it to your place?”
“That sounds like a plan,” he said as he stroked her hair.
* * *
Nyk dragged a handcart toward the house. Stacked on it were some boxes and a pair of suitcases. Suki dragged another suitcase behind her. “Eight boxes and three suitcases. All my worldly belongings.”
He opened the front door and helped her carry the boxes into the house. “You may stake claim to the kitchen.” He set down the carton containing her utensils. “You like to cook and you're good at it. You'd be appalled at what I've had for meals when I was alone. My idea of a fully equipped kitchen is a can opener and a spoon.”
He led her to the spare bedroom. “You can sleep in here.” He carried her suitcases into the room and helped her make up the bed.
Nyk surveyed the remaining boxes. “I think those can wait for morning.” He picked up the telephone and handed the handset to her. “Now, call your mom.”
She looked up at him, punched in the number and held the handset to her ear. She reached for the switch hook. “No answer... Hello, Mom? Yes, it's me ... I've been fine, just fine ... Oh, Mom! Please, don't cry. Mom, don't cry. I love you, too ... I'm in Wisconsin. I was just let go from a teaching position ... Campus politics, you know how that goes ... Well, I'm not sure what I'll do next. I was wondering... Thanks, Mom ... I'd rather not ... Please, Mom, I'd rather... Hello, Daddy.” She held the phone to her ear and listened. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her face. “Yes, Daddy... Goodbye.” She hung up the phone. “I didn't want to speak with my father.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked me to forgive him, and he said I was welcome in the house, if I wanted to come home.” She wiped tears from her face. Nyk held her. She began sobbing. He stroked her hair until she calmed herself.
“Will you forgive him?”
“I don't know.”
“Can you forgive him?”
“I don't know that, either.”
“Suki, please consider my situation. My parents are dead. I have some unresolved issues with my mom and dad, especially with my dad. Now, they'll never be resolved. If I had a daughter as special as you are, and if she had left my life because of some hotheaded act on my part, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I think you should give him a chance and try forgiving him.”
“You don't know my father.”
“But I think I know you.” He kissed her forehead. “I'm exhausted. I'm going to turn in.”
“I'll unpack some more.”
Nyk undressed to his briefs, slid into his bed, switched off the light and laced his fingers behind his head. He closed his eyes and attempted to will himself to sleep. A knock came at his door. He switched on the light. “Yes?”
“May I come in?”
“Come in.”
Suki entered wearing a short robe. “I'd like to sleep with you, Nykkyo. I need you to hold me.”
“If you don't mind I'm in my underwear, come on in.”
“If you don't mind I'm in my underwear, I will,” she replied. She untied the belt to her robe and slipped it off. Nyk scanned her from head to toe to head. She, too, was wearing only a pair of briefs. He forced himself to look away.
She slipped between the sheets and cuddled to him -- he on his back and she lying under his left arm. He put his arm around her and stroked her back. She kissed his cheek. “I'm feeling better ... now.”
He felt her fingers stroke his shoulder and arm, exploring the shapes of his muscles. She kissed his lips. Then, she rolled over w
ith her back to him. He rolled beside her and placed his arm around her waist. She stroked his hand and forearm. She took his hand and kissed it, then cupped it around her left breast. “Oh, Nykkyo, I love you. I want you so, so much!” She pressed his hand against her breast and Nyk could feel her heart pounding through her flesh.
“Oh, Suki, I want you, too.” She rolled over to face him and placed her hand on his chest.
“I'm yours, Nykkyo.”
He shook his head. “We mustn't, Suki. We must be strong.”
“I don't want to be strong. I want you!”
“What you and I want isn't important.”
“Oh, Nykkyo, I wish it were different.”
“So do I. Believe me, Suki, it's not because I don't desire you or love you, because I do.”
She caressed his shoulders. “I don't understand it! I've never wanted anyone like this before. I've never wanted a woman like this, and certainly not a man. I don't want you for me, I want you for you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, and I want you for you, too. How I wish we could.” He lay on his back and coaxed her to snuggle to him. “To think this started with a simple question about miso soup!”
* * *
Nyk handed Suki the house key. “I'm off to the lab. I must see what I can salvage of my cultures. I'm leaving the key with you in case you need to go out for anything. I'll be home around noon and we can do something for lunch.”
“Have a good morning.”
He walked to the lab and opened the door. He looked in dismay at the trays of cultures he had left two weeks before. With a shake of his head he began tossing out the spoiled ones and making a list of the ones he'd have to redo. He looked at the sprouting beds and began clearing them and replanting them with fresh seeds.