EarthBound

by D M Arnold

  “You're too late.”

  “Oh, no! Don't tell me he took Andra!” She buried her face in her hands and began sobbing. “He'll kill her, or she'll kill herself. She said she'd die before returning to him, and I believe her. I can't bear it. Poor, poor Andra, it's all my fault,” she wept. “I talked her into running away. I don't know how I'll live with myself. I love her so much.”

  “No, Senta. Zander's dead. Andra killed him with nerve toxin.” Nyk beckoned Andra to the vidisplay and stood back.

  “I'm all right, Senta.”

  “Oh, Andra, thank goodness, thank goodness! I'm coming to Sudal. I'll be on the next train. I'm so happy you're all right, and I'm so happy you're finally free from that horrid, horrid man.”

  Andra turned her shoulder to the vidisplay and touched the diamond- shaped Baxa wedding crest tattoo. “No, Senta. I'll never be free from him.”

  “I'll see you tomorrow.”

  “Senta, you shouldn't come down here until we get the all clear from Seymor,” Nyk said. “It may not be safe. I'll call once I hear from him.”

  “Do you promise you'll call?”

  “I promise.” The vidphone window went black.

  Andra stooped, picked up the shell and held it to her bosom. They climbed the spiral staircase to the trapdoor in the roof. Nyk pushed it opened and they stepped onto the flat observation deck in the center of roof and looked toward Sudal. Starlight illuminated the countryside to full-moon brightness.

  “I can't believe you had the presence of mind to do what you did. I'm useless in a fight.”

  “You were wonderful, Nyk. We defeated him together.”

  “So you didn't really inject yourself all those times.”

  “Cooperation was better than punishment. The academy taught us one lesson above all others. The first order of business is survival. I cooperated to survive.” He felt her arm around his waist. “I'd never have gone back to him, not after tasting my freedom. Senta's right -- I'd have used that toxin on myself, first. I'd have used it eagerly.”

  Nyk pointed toward a large skimmer approaching in the distance. It set down beside Zander's shuttlecar and a squad of men emerged. They were armed with stunners and wore sashes identifying them as Internal Affairs officers.

  Nyk led Andra down the spiral staircase. He stood by the main entrance and met the officers. “This way,” he directed them up to the main living level.

  An officer gestured toward Zander's body. “From the look of it, he died a rather unpleasant death.”

  “ID him.”

  An officer approached Zander's body with a portable scanpad and held it to his right wrist. The scanpad chirped as it read the ID chip in his metacarpal bone. The officer looked at the scanpad. “The ID comes back for Frax Hawryt.”

  “That's impossible!” Nyk exclaimed. “This is Zander Baxa, no doubt.” He lifted Zander's left wrist and pointed to scars. He showed the officer those on his own wrist. “Zander and I made these marks on each other as boys. It was our bonding ritual.”

  The officer consulted his handheld vidisplay. “We are requested to bring Frax Hawryt in for questioning. It seems he disappeared from Exo-401 over a year ago.” He touched the screen. “Zander Baxa is wanted, dead or alive, for his involvement in the Ricin Plot.”

  “Do you have a photoimage of Frax?” Nyk asked.

  The officer manipulated the vidisplay. An image appeared and he compared it with the body on the floor. “The resemblance is close -- quite close. We'll take him for positive genetic identification. Until that's done, I'll ask you two please not to leave Sudal.”

  “We're not leaving this house,” Nyk replied.

  The officers put Zander's body onto a levitating pallet and loaded it onto the skimmer. The skimmer lifted off.

  Nyk led Andra to the house's control screen. He scanned his wrist, touched the screen and scanned his wrist again. “Scan yours,” he directed. She pressed her wrist to the scanpad and it chirped. “Now only you or I can open that door.” He touched the screen again and the door slid shut and latched.

  * * *

  Nyk heated a pair of dinner packages and set one in front of Andra. He sat at the table and opened his. “Ten days -- we've been cooped up in here with the shutters down for ten days.” He held up his thumb and forefinger. “I am this close to going stark, raving mad. How can you stand it?”

  She picked up the shell and put it to her ear. “I can hear the sea.” She smiled. “I'm happy to be with you, Nyk.”

  Nyk stood. “More tea?” She nodded and he refilled her cup.

  “Senta called last night,” she said. “You were asleep. I think she's sorry for some of the things she said about you. She said she wishes you hadn't gone on that Agency assignment. Things might've been different. But might-haves don't count, do they?”

  She reached across the table and took his hand. Nyk patted her forearm. “I can't believe what an idiot I was about you, Andra. You and I might've been good friends.”

  “We are now, aren't we?”

  “Yes, but I agonize over the time I wasted.”

  The vidisplay signaled an incoming call. Nyk answered it with a wristscan. “Lad, I think the coast is clear. We've rounded up the lot of them. The assistant director of the ExoService has committed suicide. The headmistress of Vebinad Academy was detained, and has undergone interrogation.”

  “With truth drug?”

  “Yes, lad. She wasn't very cooperative, so she was transported to T- Delta. The authorities there are less squeamish about using truth agent. She became very cooperative once they started pumping the drug into her.”

  “What was the Service head's role?”

  “He was a double agent for the Altian faction. He arranged communication and transportation for the ricin plotters, and he recruited the crew manning the Exo scout. Zander was his right-hand man. The Vebinad headmistress was also his.”

  “There's our link to the academy,” Nyk replied.

  “Yes -- her cousin was one of those executed five years ago. The commander of ExoScout 327 has been detained. The Service overseer in charge of the 300-class Scouts has disavowed any knowledge and the commander is being permitted to twist in the breeze.”

  “Tell me I'm not crazy, Seymor -- that was Zander.”

  “No doubt. Internal Affairs made a positive genetic match.”

  “What of the man whose identity he assumed?”

  “Good question, lad. Frax Hawryt went AWOL from a 400-series Exo cruiser a year ago during a port-of-call. His shipmates said he had an assignation scheduled on Lexal.”

  “So, Zander seduced him for his identity chip. Who looks at faces these days?”

  “Zander could assume either identity at will.”

  “What of Mykko Wygann and the weapons?” Nyk asked.

  “Wygann has issued the following statement: 'I can with complete honesty categorically deny that anyone in my administration has received weapons from Earth or from anywhere else. Lexal is a peaceful colony, and the Lexalese a peaceful people.

  'I can speak without encumbrance on behalf of the Lexalese colonial legislature and the Lexalese people. We deplore the transshipment of weaponry anywhere within the Floran hegemony, and we sincerely hope the perpetrators are captured and punished.' He also stated the man who visited Zander's apartment, one Rud Vadima, left his administration two years ago and his current whereabouts are unknown.”

  “Do you believe that?” Nyk asked.

  “I don't know what to believe. I do know the trail goes cold after Lexal, so it may have been a transshipment point.”

  “Or Wygann's lying.”

  “It wouldn't be the first time a politician lied.”

  “And Andra?” Nyk asked.

  “Innocent -- or, an expert at covering her trail. It's something ax'amfinen are taught at the finishing schools. Her information was very useful -- she has the thanks of the Service.”

  “I have a better opinion of those schools after this,” Nyk said. “Andra wa
s taught some survival skills, and she outsmarted Zander in the end. I think the Service owes her something. She's been through a terrible ordeal and for no reason other than she was born with certain physical traits. ExoAgents take care of each other. We should take care of Andra.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Sudal University is establishing a sea research center. She'd like to be part of it.”

  “I'll put in a word with the university. I think we can work something out. What next for you, lad?”

  “I'm holding you to your assurances that I can have transit to Earth.”

  “What are your plans here?”

  “I have none, except to get there. I'll figure out my next move, then.”

  “Nyk, you'll receive a commendation for this. I'm authorized to reactivate you as an Agent in good standing. Once you arrive here, be sure to stop by the office. I've an assignment that could occupy you nearly full time, if you're interested.”

  “I'll think about it.”

  “Seize the opportunity when you can, lad. These assignments don't come along too often.” The vidphone session terminated.

  Nyk touched the house control screen. The storm shutters flung open, filling the house with golden sunlight. He opened his arms to Andra and embraced her. “It's over.”

  “Now you're headed to Earth, to Sukiko. Go to her, Nyk, and fulfill your destiny.”

  “If I could take you to Earth with me, I would.”

  “If I could go with you, I would,” she replied.

  “Oh, Andra -- I hate the notion of losing a friend like you.”

  “You're not. We'll never lose each other so long as we can communicate. That's what love is -- it's communication, and I know ours with Earth work well. You and I are friends and lovers for life, Nyk -- no matter where either of us may be.”

  “Would you like to take a walk on the beach with me?” He took her hand and headed toward the bluff.

  17 -- A Unique Laboratory

  Nykkyo stood on the middle level of the Residence looking down the access road. He saw a groundcar approaching and he recognized Senta's red hair. He watched the car pull to a stop outside the main entrance. Senta removed her case from the luggage compartment and headed up the spiral staircase. She stopped. “Hello, Nykkyo.”

  “Senta, I screwed up again, didn't I?”

  She shook her head. “I don't know what to think of you, now.” She proceeded up the staircase and embraced Andra. “Oh, Andra, I'm so happy you're safe. Now you can lead a normal life. I can't wait till you're back in your apartment in the City. Or maybe you'd like to move in with me. My place is much nicer than that hovel of Zander's.”

  “I'm not returning to the City. I'll be putting Zander's apartment back to Central Admin. I'm staying here.”

  “Here?”

  “Yes. Nykkyo showed me the beauty of the sea. I'm applying to join the sea research center at the university, here in Sudal.”

  “Senta shook her head. “Here? In Sudal? Am I hearing you right?”

  “Yes, and Nyk said I could use this house.”

  She glowered at Nyk. “You're letting her use this house?”

  “For as long as she wants. It's too nice to remain shuttered up -- I'd rather see the place used. I've asked Central Admin to convert it, eventually, into a center for sea research, and to name it after my father. It's a fitting tribute to him.”

  “What're your plans, Nykkyo?”

  “I'm returning to Earth at the earliest possible convenience. Seymor's hinting I may be restored to good graces within the Agency.”

  “So you're headed to Earth to complete your Agency tour.”

  “I'm headed there to find my destiny. Senta, I know how much Andra means to you. I was hoping you and she could be together, now.”

  “Well, you've certainly changed your tune since the last time I saw her. What happened to all the snide remarks, the rude comments? He never approved of you, Andra. He disliked you for reasons I couldn't fathom.”

  “I was wrong about her -- and about you. I've tried to make amends.”

  “Nyk and I discovered we love each other,” Andra said. “It doesn't mean I feel any less fondness for you, Senta.”

  Senta's lip trembled. “Fondness! Andra, I love you! I've been worried sick about you!”

  “I never knew. Why didn't you tell me?”

  “All those times we spent together? How could you not know? What could I have done differently to show you?”

  “I'm sorry, Senta. I was too wrapped up in my own misery. You've helped me so much. I love you like a sister.”

  “I love you like a lover! How could you stand there and tell me you've fallen in love with a ... fool like him?”

  “Nykkyo's a fine man, and he's no fool. If he hadn't been here when Zander came looking for me... I'd be dead, now, Senta -- without a doubt.”

  “I want you two to be together,” Nyk said. “I told Andra she owes herself the chance for you to show her how you truly feel.”

  “He did indeed say that,” Andra added.

  “Why don't I heat some dinners?” Nyk suggested. “We can all take a walk on the bluff after dinner and then sleep on it. We might as well start working out sleeping arrangements. I'm using my old room and Andra's been using my mom's.”

  “I'll use the other room upstairs.”

  “I'll put your case up there.” Nyk picked up Senta's case and took it to the third level. He descended the stairs and began heating meal packages. He set them on the kitchen table. Senta glowered at him.

  “If you and Andra would like to sleep together tonight, please do so,” he said.

  Senta's expression toward him softened. “Thank you, Nyk. Andra, would you sleep with me?”

  “I'd love to.”

  * * *

  Nyk lay in his childhood bed. He could hear, vaguely, Senta and Andra talking together in the room above his. He tried to fall asleep. The conversation from above was replaced by the muffled sounds of lovemaking. He couldn't stand it any longer.

  He arose, descended to the lower level and walked out onto the bluff and down the slope to his bowl-shaped depression. He lay nude on the sand and looked up at the stars. His gaze caught the sight of a bright white star with four dimmer companions tracing a lopsided rectangle in the sky. Why, as a child, had he never heard his parents' lovemaking? He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

  * * *

  Dawn awoke him. Nyk walked up the bluff and into the house. He showered, dressed and began brewing a pot of green tea. Andra came into the kitchen drying her hair.

  She opened her arms. “Good morning,” she said. He hugged and kissed her.

  “Andra, I heard you and Senta last night.”

  “I'm sorry we disturbed you.”

  “That's not it. I heard you and it upset me. It shouldn't have, but it did. I must be developing Earth attitudes. What did you two work out last night?”

  “I know she loves me, I could feel it.” She presented her cup and Nyk filled it. “She asked me to be her amfin.” Andra sipped her tea. “Senta and I have different needs, Nyk. Mine is for a roof over my head. A widowed ax'amfin has few options. As her amfin I'd have some rights and some security.”

  “You're not seriously considering that, are you?” he asked.

  “I'd be foolish not to.”

  “My offer stands -- you're free to use this house. Suppose you're accepted into the sea research program? That would give you a career with living credits.”

  “Suppose I'm not. I'd still need credits to buy food. I hope I am accepted into that program. If not ... at least with Senta, I won't be a ward of the state.”

  “But, you'd be a kept woman. Is that any different than Zander?”

  “Senta is not Zander, Nyk.”

  Senta walked into the kitchen wearing a light, sleeveless robe. She walked over to Andra and embraced her. “Good morning,” Nyk said.

  “Nyk, who's the Food Service Ag Director these days?”

&nbs
p; “Dyoman Hasse.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “Yes, I've known him since I was a boy. He was an assistant head when my dad was in charge. Why?”

  “Would you be kind enough to arrange a meeting between him and myself? As soon as possible.”

  “He's your peer, Senta. You should be able to arrange such a meeting.”

  “You've known him longer. I'd rather you set it up.”

  “Whatever you want.” Nyk began scrolling through directory listings on a vidisplay. “It's been years since I've spoken to him ... He can meet with us this afternoon, is that soon enough?”

  “Fine, thank you.”

  Nyk returned to his teacup at the kitchen table. “So who sleeps with whom tonight?”

  “You and Senta should have a night together,” Andra said. “Maybe you'd like to catch up.”

  “Senta, would you sleep with me tonight?”

  “I'll sleep with you but don't you even think about lovemaking.”

  * * *

  The groundcar pulled up to the Food Service complex and parked. Nyk and Senta walked into the building and approached a receptionist. “Dyoman Hasse is expecting us.”

  Shortly the Food Service director and a woman walked into the lobby. “Nykkyo, good to see you again,” Hasse said. “Senta, I'm delighted to meet you in person. It's not everyday one has the chance to greet a holder of the Chancellor's Medallion.” He embraced them both. “How's the exobotany business, Nyk?”

  “I've been working on a project that's ... had nothing to do with plants.”

  “This is my wife, Ryanna. Let's go back.” They headed for his office. “Senta, I hope this is in regard to my last memo.”

  “Yes, Dyoman, it is.”