“Really? The food gave you gas?”
Brandon grinned slyly. “A little. Not as bad as I made out to Paul.” He shook his head. “He thinks they’re manipulating our minds, that all this is just an illusion.”
“It could be. Gas and all.”
“Get real, Jordy.”
“Is that possibility any less real than the idea that this planet is a natural duplicate of Earth? Down to an intelligent race that exactly resembles us?”
Before Brandon could reply, a fluting musical tone filled the room. Turning, Jordan saw that their front door was glowing with a pulsating light.
“Doorbell?” he wondered as he rushed to the door.
It slid open at the touch of his finger. Aditi stood in the corridor, smiling at him. She wore chocolate brown shorts and a lighter short-sleeved blouse. Her hair, the color of autumn leaves, was nicely tousled.
“Welcome!” said Jordan, delighted. Then he noticed an orange-furred catlike creature slinking around Aditi’s ankles, looking up at him with big, bright, saucer-shaped curious eyes.
“Welcome to both of you.”
Aditi glanced down at the animal. “Sleen is a pet. She’s very quiet. You don’t mind if she accompanies us?”
“Not at all. Come on in.”
“The robe fits you,” she said as she stepped into the sitting room. “I’m relieved. I wasn’t certain we had the right measurements for you. We only had an hour or so, and the remote measuring system can be … well, less than exact.”
“The system worked beautifully. The robe is very comfortable,” Jordan said, ushering her in with a sweep of his arm.
Aditi said, “I thought we’d have some breakfast and then go to see the farms.”
“Fine,” he said, “although I should speak with the people on the ship first. Why don’t you and Brandon go to the restaurant and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
She looked slightly disappointed, but said, “Very well.”
Brandon offered his arm and gallantly led her out of the suite. The furry pet trailed after them, tail held high. Jordan stood in the middle of the sitting room, wondering if he’d just made a grievous mistake.
The wall screen was wide enough to show Thornberry, Hazzard, and Meek sitting side by side at one of the wardroom tables. They looked grim, like three judges about to pronounce a death sentence.
“We’ve reviewed the mission protocol,” Hazzard said, without preamble. “There’s nothing in it that covers the situation we’re in.”
With an amused smile, Jordan said, “I should think not.”
“But we can’t all go down to the surface, Jordan. The protocol specifies that there has to be at least a skeleton crew aboard the ship at all times.”
“That could be handled by robots, couldn’t it, Mitch?”
“It could,” said Thornberry.
But Hazzard said, “The protocol says crew members, not robots.”
“How many would constitute a skeleton crew?”
“Three, at least,” said Hazzard.
“So seven of you can come down and join Bran and me here.”
Meek spoke up. “Not there, where you are. Not in their city.”
“Why not?”
Thornberry said, “We thrashed this out last night, Jordan. We’ve come to the conclusion that we should set up a base camp for ourselves, just as we planned to do before we knew that the aliens existed.”
Jordan felt slightly nettled. “But why go to the trouble of setting up a camp when you can live here in comfort? Even luxury.”
“Mission protocol,” said Hazzard, rigidly.
“But—”
Meek pointed a lean finger and said, “We’ve decided it will be much safer for us to set up our own base and not be in the hands of these strangers.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little … well, overly cautious?” Jordan asked.
Thornberry smiled placatingly. “Look, Jordan. These folks may be grand and wonderful people. But we don’t know that for certain, now, do we?”
“They’ve certainly treated Bran and me very handsomely.”
“Yes, surely they have. But there’s nothing wrong with being just a teeny bit careful, is there?”
Before Jordan could answer, Meek blurted, “Safety first! Fools rush in, but we’re not going to be foolish. No matter what you say!”
Good lord, Jordan thought. I have a rebellion on my hands!
Hazzard looked grimly adamant. “Look, Jordan, we’re on our own here. The messages we’re sending back to Earth take more than eight years to get there. And another eight years for them to respond. We’ll get no help from home.”
“But we’re not under any threat. Adri and his people have been more than kind to us.”
“We have no idea of what their motivations are,” Meek said, almost vehemently. “Or their intentions. I, for one, have no desire to live among them. Not until we learn much more about them. Much more.”
“We’ve decided that’s our best course of action,” Hazzard said.
“I see,” said Jordan. Trying to buy time so he could think the situation through, he asked, “Have you decided where you’ll set up your camp?”
“In the clearing where the rocketplanes put down,” Hazzard replied. “It’s close enough to their city to be convenient and—”
“And far enough away to give us a measure of safety,” Meek added.
Jordan saw that Thornberry wasn’t wearing his usual slight smile.
“Mitch, do you feel the same way?”
Looking uncomfortable, Thornberry spread his hands and said, “It’s for the best, Jordan.”
Is it? Jordan wondered. But aloud, he replied only, “Perhaps it is.”
And he thought, When faced with a rebellion, join it so that you can lead it.
The Farms
After breakfast, Brandon returned to their apartment, eager to talk with Elyse, back on the ship. Aditi, with her pet slinking alongside her, led Jordan along a street faced with low buildings to the edge of the city and the stone walkway that seemed to circle its perimeter.
Beyond them stood large cultivated fields, rows of green crops poking their heads above the neatly tilled soil. The catlike Sleen bounded into the field and was quickly lost to sight in the greenery.
“Don’t worry about Sleen,” Aditi said. “She always finds her way home. She’s just out hunting for a while.”
Jordan nodded.
“You’re very quiet this morning,” said Aditi.
“I have a lot to think about,” Jordan said.
“Such as?”
“Well, this is all rather overwhelming. To find a planet so much like Earth, peopled by creatures who look exactly like human beings—”
“We are human beings,” Aditi said, a smile dimpling her cheeks. “Just like you.”
“Really?”
Her smile faded. “Our studies showed that you are xenophobic. I was hoping you wouldn’t be. Adri told me you were carrying weapons when he first met you.”
“We were in a strange environment,” Jordan tried to explain. “Possibly hostile…”
She smiled at him. “But now you know better?”
“It’s just that … well, as I said, it’s rather overwhelming. Please give me a little time to get accustomed to all this.”
Aditi looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then said, “You can have all the time you need.”
Turning, she began to explain that the farms were outside the energy dome that protected the city from weather. Jordan saw heavy-looking deep brown animals moving slowly along the rows of crops, with long snouts and flicking red tongues.
“Do those beasts tend the farms entirely on their own?” he asked.
“Mostly on their own,” said Aditi. “They behave almost entirely by hardwired instinct. They have a very low order of intelligence.”