“Yes, certainly.”
“We have to,” said Aditi. “Otherwise we would put a strain on our natural resources.”
With a sigh, Jordan said, “I wish our people on Earth were that wise.”
“It is necessary,” said Adri. “We must live in balance with the planet’s resources.”
Brandon said, “Back home we use the resources of the rest of the solar system.”
“And our numbers keep growing,” Jordan added.
“Yes, that may be so for you,” said Adri, “but as you can see, we have no other planets to exploit. We must live within the resources that this single world can provide.”
With that, they approached the main door to the dormitory building. It opened for them automatically.
Visitors’ Quarters
The interior of the building was richly decorated with swirling, colorful abstract murals.
“Each corridor is color-coded,” Adri explained. “The predominant tone in this main corridor is orange, as you can see. Side corridors are in cooler tones: blue, green, lilac.”
“Impressive,” said Jordan. “And delightful.”
“I’m so pleased you enjoy it.”
Brandon asked, “Do you sleep here? In this building?”
“Yes, we do,” Aditi answered. “On the upper floor.”
Adri stopped at an intricately carved door. It slid open at the touch of his fingertip.
“I hope this suite will be comfortable for you,” he said, ushering Jordan and Brandon in with a sweep of his arm. “It has two separate bedrooms connected by the sitting room, here.”
Aditi remained out in the corridor.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Jordan called to her.
She broke into a bright smile and stepped into the sitting room.
Jordan looked around the room. It was handsomely furnished with a long, low sofa, several armchairs, two desks on opposite walls. The walls themselves glowed slightly, a pearly gray. Wall screens, he realized. He noticed a faint trace of a floral scent. Jasmine? he wondered.
“If this is a dormitory room,” Brandon said, grinning, “I can’t imagine what your luxury hotel suites must look like.”
Jordan saw that the doors leading to the bedrooms were both open. The bedrooms looked identicaclass="underline" large, comfortable, attractively appointed. He caught a glimpse of a small gray creature that scurried beneath the bed in one of the rooms. Startled for an instant, he recovered his composure. Vacuum cleaner, he reminded himself.
“You can communicate with your ship,” said Adri, “using the wall screens.”
Aditi said, “The closets contain robes in your sizes. We were uncertain as to what you would prefer for clothing, so we merely provided the robes. I hope they’re satisfactory.”
“Perfectly satisfactory,” Jordan said.
Brandon joked, “I hope whoever’s in the room above us isn’t a flamenco dancer.”
Adri’s expression went so perplexed that Jordan had to stifle an urge to laugh.
“Flamenco dancer?” Aditi asked, also obviously puzzled.
“It’s a form of entertainment,” Brandon explained, and he stomped his feet a few times while snapping his fingers.
“I see,” said Adri, still a bit uncertain.
But Aditi broke into laughter. “It’s a joke! You were being humorous.”
“I was trying,” Brandon said.
Quite seriously, Adri said, “I can assure you, whoever is residing above this suite is not a flamenco dancer.”
Jordan said, “We’re glad to hear that.” And he studied Aditi’s vivacious, happy face, reveling in the sound of her laughter.
Adri said, “If you don’t mind, we’ll leave you two to familiarize yourselves with your quarters and relax awhile. Shall I call for you for dinner in a few hours? Will that be all right?”
“That’ll be fine,” Brandon said.
To Aditi, Jordan asked, “Will you join us for dinner?”
“If you like,” she said.
“I’d be very pleased if you did.”
With a smiling nod, Aditi said, “I’ll be happy to.”
Once they were alone in the sitting room, Jordan flipped his pocketphone open and called Thornberry. To his surprise, the roboticist’s face appeared on the wall screen opposite the sofa, slightly larger than life.
“All is well,” Jordan reported. Swinging the phone slowly around the room, he went on, “As you can see, they’ve set us up in very comfortable quarters. We’ll be having dinner with Adri in a little while.”
“We’ve been monitoring you through your phone,” Thornberry said, his heavy brows slightly knitted. “Glad to get visuals, though. Now what was that business about energy domes?”
Jordan felt mildly annoyed. They’re eavesdropping, he thought. We’ll have to turn the phones off if we want any privacy.
“I’ll ask Adri for more details,” he replied. “When you come down here, perhaps you can meet with their technical people.”
“I’d like that,” said Thornberry.
“What about Meek and de Falla?” Jordan asked. “Are they coming up to the ship or staying down here?”
Hazzard came into the picture, behind Thornberry’s shoulder. “They’re coming up here. I pointed out to them that they’d just have to go back tomorrow, but they insisted on returning to the ship. They’re really spooked, especially Silvio.”
“I’m afraid so,” Jordan agreed.
“How are the aliens treating you?” Hazzard asked.
“Very well indeed,” said Jordan. “You can tell de Falla to relax.”
“You’re in uncharted territory, Jordan,” Hazzard said. “Be careful.”
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll call you first thing in the morning.”
“Or sooner, if you need to.”
“Yes, certainly. But for now I’m going to turn off our phones.”
“No!” Hazzard snapped. “We need to be in constant touch with you.”
Frowning slightly at the oversized image on the wall screen, Jordan said, “I don’t feel comfortable having you listening in on every word I say.”
“We need to know what’s going on,” Hazzard insisted. Thornberry agreed with a tense nod.
Jordan saw that his brother was grinning at him. To Hazzard, he said, “Geoff, I’m going to pull rank on you. I’m going to turn off our phones after dinner. If they murder us in our sleep you’ll find out about it soon enough.”
“I don’t like it,” said Hazzard.
“I understand,” Jordan replied. “Your objection will be noted in the ship’s log.”
Once the wall screen went blank, Brandon said to Jordan, “You want some privacy when you’re with Aditi.”
Jordan tried to stare his brother down, failed, and at last admitted, “Wouldn’t you?”
The four of them had a leisurely meal in a sizeable dining room down the corridor from their suite. Several dozen tables were filled with couples and larger groups. Human—or rather, alien—waiters served trays laden with steaming soups, crisp salads, and savory meats. There was no wine, but Adri introduced them to a pungent drink that somehow seemed to go well with each course.
Jordan chatted with Aditi, for the most part, leaving Brandon to talk with Adri.
“I take it that Adri heads your government here,” he prompted.
“Government?” Aditi asked, as if the term was new to her.
“He’s your leader,” Jordan said. “He makes the final decisions about things.”
“Oh! You mean chief of the administration. Yes, you could say that’s Adri’s position.”
“And you? What do you do?”
Again Aditi looked briefly at a loss, but then her expression brightened. “I’m a teacher.”