After the shuttle came to a near-silent halt, the hatch swung open, and tendrils of the moist hot air of summer merged with the ozone-oiled air of the shuttle itself. I waited until the narrow-faced woman was clear of her couch and the others in red and green and blue were filing out into the diffuse sunlight beyond the cabin before I stood. Then I rose slowly and went back to the lockers to retrieve my single small duffel.
Despite four weeks of high-gee reindoctrination on the orbit station, I felt logy and tired, too massive for legs that wobbled like straws supporting a hog ready for slaughter. I stepped down the ramp with great deliberation, pausing at the base, and glanced around.
After a time, I turned toward the operations building and began to walk, stopping frequently to both catch my breath and to rest already aching muscles. Sweat coated me, and my heart pounded by the time I reached the operations desk. I didn't know where else to go. I stood there, breathing heavily.
'Candidate Tyndel?' asked the dark-haired man behind the console after a time. The sleeves of his silver gray singlesuit were striped with green.
'I'm Tyndel.'
'Good. Coordinator Andra asked me to convey her apologies for not being here.' He extended a folder. 'That has all the information you need - your room assignment, your gymnasium and exercise schedule, and your first week's re-indoc activities. Oh, there's a map there, too. Try to get plenty of sleep and exercise.' He offered a smile. 'The first month back on earth is hard. Good luck.'
I took the folder and opened it, noting that he'd summarized the contents exactly. 'Thank you.'
'There's an electrocart through the back way, ser. You'd better take it.' His tone was wryly amused.
'Thank you.'
In slow steps I made my way to the rear of the building and stepped back into the heat under a shadowed overhang.
A stocky brown-haired woman dressed in dull gray coveralls, much like those I still wore, stood as I neared the six-seater cart. 'You're candidate Tyndel?'
'That's what everyone's calling me.' I let the duffel rest on the permacrete as I blotted my forehead. I'd forgotten how hot true summers could be. I'd never known how heavy full gravity felt after three years in null gravity.
'Hop in, ser. I'll run you over to the transient quarters. They're expecting you.'
I set the duffel on the cart floor behind the first two seats and eased my too-heavy body into the seat beside the driver. The deep breath as I sat was in spite of my efforts not to sound like a stuffed boar.
'Even with nanite support, the first month's hard. How long have you been off-planet?'
'Three years personal objective, more than four elapsed time.'
'They must have sent you a long ways.' As she spoke, she eased the cart out of the shade and along the stone lane.
'Omega Eridani.' The sun smote me like a wall of fire, and my eyes slitted involuntarily. Even so, I could make out the half-remembered two-storied long structures with smoothly finished stone half walls topped with metal-and-glass window panels and glistening gray slate roofs. The antennas on several, especially those of the operations building we had left, glittered in the full sun.
'There's logistics,' offered the driver. 'Trans quarters are just ahead, on the left there.'
The transient quarters had no shaded overhang, and I continued to sweat as I carried my duffel into the front foyer. Finally, sighting an open door, I trudged toward it, having to make an effort to lift my feet.
The blocky blond woman who stood as I peered through the door was familiar, and I searched for her name. 'Ah ... Thaya. I'm Tyndel, and I've been sent here.'
Again,' she confirmed with a warm smile that was also slightly sardonic. 'Cerrelle said you'd do it all the hard way.'
'She was right' I lowered the duffel.
'I see you've got your schedule. Come on. Let's get you to your quarters before you fall over.' She stepped around and started down the corridor.
I followed, less expeditiously. Climbing the one flight of stairs wasn't agony, but scarcely pleasant, either. She held the door open as I staggered into the sitting room and study and set down the duffel that no longer felt particularly light.
'Same as before. There are candidate greens in the closet, to your measure, as well as exercise clothes and a few other necessities. Your quarters and food here at Runswi are paid by the Authority. Your stipend goes to your free balance. You pay for anything else out of that. You need anything else, see me or Yrila - she's my assistant.'
'Yrila ...' I mumbled. My mouth was dry. 'Thank you.' Free balance - I'd almost forgotten about that. I hadn't even cared when I'd been in Runswi before. Did I have a balance? I could worry about that later.
'You've got two hours to rest. Then you'll go to the pool.' She paused. 'Do you recall where that is?'
'No. I didn't use it before.' I forced a grin. 'I didn't get that far.'
'It's on the map, about two hundred meters south of here. Start early so that you can take your time. You'll spend a lot of time there for the first month. Believe me, it feels better than walking around. Then they'll really start the physical conditioning program.'
I sank into the straight-backed chair before the built-in data console.
Thaya shook her head. 'Two hours.'
'I know.' The words came out like a groan.
'It's too bad you had to do it the hard way, Tyndel'
There hadn't been any other choice for me. So I just nodded as Thaya closed the door and left me.
As before, the two rooms and a refresher that I got were comfortable and large, especially compared to the cube I'd had on OE Station. And I could barely wait for Thaya to leave so that I could stretch out on the bed.
One thing bothered me as I stood and walked slowly into the bedroom, where I sat on the edge of the bed. Cerrelle or Andra could have had the cart meet me at the shuttle, short as the walk had been. Why hadn't they? Because they wanted me to understand what terrible condition I was in? Had I been that difficult before?
I pulled off my boots and laid back.
Yes, came the answer before my eyes closed.
48
All life is structure.
The late summer rain fell like cool steam across Runswi, except where the fine droplets struck the permacrete of the magshuttle landing strip. There, hot fog from the strip rose to meet the sultry mist that seeped downward from the thick gray clouds, following the rain.
I walked slowly toward the logistics building and my first nanite indoc or briefing since I'd returned. Ten days of mainly physical therapy - interspersed with tests designed to measure something about my mind and personality - had left my legs much stronger. I'd actually come to enjoy the work in the pool.
For the first time since I'd returned to Runswi, I finally met Andra - in the logistics building. Her pale gray eyes were flat as she studied me. 'Greetings,' I offered.
'Greetings, Tyndel. Are you willing to work ... this time? You're not going to oppose what we're trying to do?'
Oppose? I remembered Fersonne's words - 'Why don't you do something because you want to, not because you're opposing something else?' Then I nodded. 'No ... I mean, I'll be working.'
'Good. The first briefing spray will be the same as the last one you had. We'll need to check the retention level.' A brief smile crossed her narrow lips. 'That will also make it easier for you to get back into the feel of training.' She stood and walked through another door, into a small room, as she had years before, and lifted one of the canisters.
My eyes went to the large metalicized plastic screen on the wall. I'd forgotten about the collection systems.