IN THE CITY

As soon as the meeting broke up, Jordan and the four others headed for the city. It was nearly sunset when they left the base camp. The shadows of twilight lengthened as they marched along the forest trail. Jordan realized he didn’t know how to contact Adri with his pocketphone, yet he had the feeling that Adri knew perfectly well that he was coming.

Sure enough, the alien was standing at the edge of the city, on the stone walk that circled the buildings, practically beaming at the five approaching humans.

But Aditi was not with him.

“Welcome, my friends,” said Adri, extending both arms to them.

“We’re here to begin the process of learning to get along together,” Jordan said. In his own ears, the pronouncement sounded slightly pompous.

But Adri’s aged face smiled at him. “Very good. But let’s have dinner first.”

Aditi joined them for dinner, and Jordan felt happy and relaxed at last.

Jordan woke up the next morning feeling truly rested. His bedroom in the city was almost like home to him: he felt comfortable in it, at ease. The room wasn’t spacious, yet it felt pleasantly airy. Its only window looked out on a charming courtyard, colorful with blossoming shrubbery and a stately tree at its center. Even the hummingbird buzzing overhead seemed familiar, friendly.

He hoped that Brandon felt the same way, then wondered if Bran were in his own room or down the hall with Elyse.

Staring up at the high ceiling, he thought of Aditi. Except for that one quick kiss in the rain a few days earlier, Jordan had not made any romantic moves on her. He wanted to, the physical urge was definitely there, but thoughts of Miriam rose in his mind. Her ghost separated them.

For her part, Aditi had seemed pleasant enough through dinner, a warm, happy young woman who laughed easily and sparkled with intelligence. Yet she seemed content to be a friend, a companion, and nothing more. There was a limit to her friendliness, he could feel it, like an electric fence.

While the dessert was being served, Jordan asked her about her people’s customs regarding marriage and family.

“I’ve never been married,” she said, as if surprised by his question.

“But your people do marry,” he pressed.

She glanced at Adri, seated beside her. “Yes,” she said slowly, almost reluctantly. “Marriage is rare among us, though. Our birth rate is so low that there is little need for marriage and child rearing.”

“But you do marry.”

She finally understood. “Yes,” Aditi answered with an amused smile. “But marriage isn’t necessary for a couple to have a sexual relationship.”

And suddenly Jordan felt tongue-tied. He turned his attention to his dessert and hoped none of the others noticed his burning cheeks.

Lying in his bed, Jordan remembered the moment and his embarrassment. Like a pimple-faced teenaged bumpkin, he said to himself. Like a foolish—

His phone chirped, interrupting his musings. He sat up and reached for it on the bedside table.

Geoffrey Hazzard’s face filled the little screen, dark, unsmiling.

“Good morning, Geoff,” Jordan said. “You’re up pretty early, aren’t you?”

Hazzard broke into a sardonic little smile. “You’ve slept pretty late, haven’t you?”

The clock readout at the bottom of the phone’s screen showed it was precisely 8 A.M. New Earth’s spin rate was almost exactly the same as Earth’s, to within a few milliseconds. Another coincidence that seemed too good to be true. But there it was, coincidence or not.

“I’m getting lazy, I admit it,” Jordan said, suppressing a yawn. “How’s everything aboard the ship?”

“That’s what I’m calling about.”

Jordan felt a pang of alarm. “Something wrong?”

“Not with the ship,” said Hazzard. “All systems check out solidly in the green. Nothing wrong with the fusion drive.”

“Then why are you calling?”

“Half an hour ago our sensors detected a major flare on the Pup. It’s putting out a lot of energy. Looks like we’re going to be hit by a major radiation storm.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Could be. I’ve stepped up the power for our magnetic shielding. It’ll stop the protons, they’re the biggest danger, but a lot of gamma and X-ray radiation’s going to zip right through the magnetic field.”

“You’ll have to spend a few hours in the storm cellar, then.”

Hazzard frowned slightly. “More like a couple of days.”

“I see.”

“I was thinking maybe we could come down to the surface for a day or so, stay at the base camp.”

“And be protected by the planet’s atmosphere.”

“Beats sitting in the damned coffin for hours on end.”

“What about the ship’s systems? Will they be damaged?”

“They’re hardened. Should be okay. If there’s damage we could repair it afterward.”

Jordan thought swiftly. “All right, come on down, then. I’ll alert Thornberry and the others.”

The astronaut broke into a big, bright smile. “Thanks, Jordan. I’ll tell Trish and Demetrios.”

Hazzard’s image winked out. Jordan put in a conference call to the others in the city and asked them to meet him in his quarters immediately.

*   *   *

“A solar storm?” Elyse said, suddenly excited. “I’ll have to get to the observatory! I can observe the planet’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the plasma cloud. This is wonderful!”

She and Brandon were in the sitting room that connected Jordan’s bedroom with his brother’s. It was obvious that she had spent the night with Brandon.

Thornberry, slumped on one of the armchairs, was less excited about the impending storm. “Could be trouble for the ship’s electronic systems,” he muttered, rubbing his stubbled chin.

“What about the propulsion engines?” Jordan asked.

Thornberry made an elaborate shrug. “Might fry the electronic controls, but it shouldn’t hurt the engines themselves. They see plenty of radiation when the fusion reactor’s burning, they do.”

Longyear looked thoughtful as he sat in the other armchair, leaning his chin on his fists. “Hazzard and the others ought to be safe enough in the storm cellar,” he mused.

“He’s asked to come down to the base camp,” said Jordan. “And I agreed.”

“Then there’ll be nobody in the ship?” Thornberry asked.

“For a day or two,” Jordan said.

Thornberry chuckled. “I can just hear Meek shrieking when he finds out about that.”

“What would Meek have to complain about?” Brandon asked.

“He’ll say this flare was caused by Adri, to get us to abandon the ship, so he can have all of us in his grip here on the ground.”

The others laughed, weakly. Jordan wondered if Meek would be right.