I felt a sudden chill. “Don’t even think about it, Derek.”
Thousands of uncleared acres adjoined the cultivated fields.
Some of them had hardly been explored.
He shivered. “Well, maybe not while we’re still here. But when I get back to town I’ll file suit.”
“No.”
“He can’t be allowed to get away with it. If I move fast I’ll save--”
“No, I said.”
“Why not?”
I was nettled. “Do you plan to stay on Hope Nation to fight a lawsuit?”
“I guess I can’t, unless you let me resign, but--”
“Get this straight, Mr. Carr! For the next four years you’re a midshipman in the United Nations Naval Service! You go where the Navy sends you. Understand? You took an oath, and a gentleman shouldn’t need reminding. The life you see here--it doesn’t exist yet.”
“But--”
“This is a form of time travel. Perhaps someday you’ll live here and worry about your riches, but not now. I took you on a visit to the future. You can’t touch anything and nobody can hear you!” There was silence. “Understand?”
He didn’t answer. I rolled over and snapped off the light.
Presently I heard Derek Anthony Carr, scion of the Hope Nation Carrs, cry himself to sleep after his Captain’s tonguelashing.
In the morning I felt guilty for having spoken so sharply.
We brought our duffels down to breakfast. I had Anthony thank everyone in sight. Even Plumwell smiled as we tooled down the drive in our electricar.
“Now what?” I asked when we were out of sight.
Derek’s tone was petulant. “I’ve seen enough plantations, if I won’t be--” His fingers drummed on the armrest; when he spoke again his voice was subdued. “Sorry, sir. Do you still want to take me to the Venturas?”
“Yes.”
“I think I’d like that.”
We headed back to Centraltown, camping once along the way. By the time we were back Derek was in good spirits, and I found to my surprise I’d begun to miss the organized bustle of shipboard life.
I decided to shuttle up to Hiberniafor a couple of days before leaving for the Ventura Mountains; Derek opted to stay in Centraltown. The peasant and the aristocrat parted company with awkward shyness.
I changed back into Navy blues and tried to tame my wild hair before checking in at Admiralty House. Forbee confirmed that there was still no interstellar Captain in the Hope Nation system. Unless Telstarunexpectedly appeared, none was scheduled to arrive for another five months. In the meantime they’d radioed all local vessels to ask for lieutenants and midshipmen. If none volunteered, Forbee would simply assign me the necessary officers, and leave the local fleet shorthanded.
After boarding, I took a luxurious hot shower in my cabin, ran all my clothes through the sonic cleaner, and hunted up a barber on Orbit Station. Hair trimmed back to my normal Navy length, I felt a new man. I roamed my empty ship as if looking for something, but I knew not what. Vax, when I stumbled over him, greeted me like a long-lost brother. He too found the ship’s silence eerie and disturbing. I even unbent so far as to try a game of chess with him, to his delight. He was no match.
Vax had learned through the grapevine that I would remain with Hibernia.To my astonishment he was pleased rather than apprehensive. I’d have thought he had more sense than to look forward to a cruise with an unqualified Captain who had my peculiar emotional disabilities. I didn’t remind him that depending on what officers were reassigned to Hibernia,he might be transferred out as a replacement. Time enough for that if it happened.
Depressed and not knowing why, I took the next scheduled shuttle back down to Centraltown. Customs and quarantine waved me through; by now I’d become a regular. Small-town life was amazingly relaxed compared, say, to Lunapolis.
I still had two days before I was to meet Derek for our trip to the mountains. I toured downtown Centraltown, explored the local museum, and ate in two of the recommended restaurants, occasionally encountering crewmen and former passengers. I stayed overnight in a prefab inn with the usual plastic furniture and decor. I bought a newschip and stuck it in my holovid; on page three was an announcement of an Anabaptist revival meeting in Newtown Hall. Mrs. Donhauser wasted no time. I thought of attending, but decided I didn’t care to meet her in her professional capacity.
Thoughts of our passengers reminded me I’d promised to look up Amanda Frowel. I immediately decided against it.
Then I spent the best part of an afternoon wandering aimlessly up and down the streets, arguing with myself. Sheepishly, I dug her address out of my duffel. After dinner I strolled across town to the address she had given.
“Nicky!” An apron around her waist, she smiled happily through her screen door, old-fashioned and domestic, inflicting a pang of regret that I soon had to leave the colony.
“Come in!” Her home was the back half of a comfortable wood house on a quiet side street on the edge of town. She rented, so help me, from a widow trying to make ends meet.
“I was just passing by,” I mumbled, sounding an idiot.
“But I was hoping you’d come. Look, my books are all over the place!” She brushed aside a pile of holovid chips scattered on a table. “I started work three days ago. Know what? They don’t want me just to teach natural science; I’m supposed to set up the whole science curriculum! They’ve never had one, isn’t that ridiculous?”
“Hasn’t anybody been teaching geology and biology?”
“Sure, but not in any organized way. They just got people who knew their subjects to come in and talk about them. Isn’t it quaint?”
“Very.” My tone was sour. Our world aboard Hiberniaseemed light-years away.
“Would you like to take a walk? I’ll show you the school.”
She was so enthused I agreed to go, wishing I hadn’t come to visit. She threw on a light jacket against the evening cool, and we set out for the school, about a mile away. She chattered with animation at first, but after a while she sensed my mood and grew quieter. We walked, hand in hand, under two moons. Their crossed shadows began to make me dizzy.
The public school was a one-story building encased in sheet metal, apparently a popular local building material. Amanda unlocked the door and took me inside. “This is where I work.” She showed me a classroom. The consoles at the student desks struck no chord of recognition, as my own schooling was at home with Father. Amanda’s desk and master console were to one side, where she could watch both the large screen and the students.
“The new term starts in three weeks. Nicky, it’s so exciting! The joeys will be so different from northamericans.”
“You think so?”
“Wouldn’t they, growing up in such a wild, free place?”
“I suppose.” I was feeling more and more depressed.
“Amanda, I have to go. I have an appointment.”
“You couldn’t stay awhile?” Her voice was wistful. My chest ached.
“Come, I’ll walk you home.” I wanted to leave and stay at the same time. On ship I’d never felt so bumbling and awkward with her. We walked mostly in silence through the darkened streets; Major had set and only Minor remained to guide us.
She hesitated, in front of her rustic home. “Will I see you again before you leave?”
“I don’t think so. I’m taking Derek to the Venturas tomorrow, then I’ll have to go back aboard.” I hadn’t mentioned I was still in command.
“Lieutenant Malstrom promised to take you there, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” I was grateful she remembered.
“Oh, Nicky.” Gently, she kissed the back of my hand.
“Life isn’t the way we plan it.”
“No,” I said miserably. I forced myself to smile. “Goodbye, Amanda.”
“Good-bye, Nicky.” We looked into each other’s eyes before she turned to go. As if in astonishment, she said, “We’ll never see each other again.”