That sounded easy enough. “Okay with you, Belle?” I asked.
she said.
Ark made the connection and we were immediately overwhelmed with applause and music. Belle adjusted the sound, and we listened to a multitude of voices cheering and toasting and laughing and delivering messages of love and relief. Incredibly much of it was in Standard. And please don’t ask about the toasting. I’ve no idea whether anyone anywhere was raising a glass. Or if so, how they were managing it. All of Ark’s efforts to explain failed.
Some of the music was of course from their culture, loud and ponderous rhythms that shook the passenger cabin. Some was from the Confederacy, occasional classic pieces like Markovy’s Sonata in C Minor and Ribbentrop’s , and more popular music like “Twilight Passages” and “As Time Goes By.” Belle later admitted that she’d known in advance about the party and provided much of the music during the previous hour.
I felt an urge to dance, but there was no possible partner other than Gabe. Or maybe Zykum. And not really much space. At one point I asked Ark if the party would be different if we were back on their home world where they could get together physically.
He went silent, and then came back.
“No. I just think not being able to include physical contact in a relationship loses something.”
“I think you miss a lot,” said Gabe.
The celebration went on for hours. “You know,” Gabe said, “one quality these guys have that I hadn’t noticed: they never seem to sleep.” I eventually went back to my cabin and crashed. I’m pretty sure Gabe did the same though he always maintained he kept going until the end.
he told me later.
It was still happening when I woke up. Eventually, though, we entered orbit around Kaleska and it was finally time to stop. Time for Sayla to go home. We said good-bye to everybody and got into the lander. Ark did not physically accompany us, but he had access to me through my link. We descended onto the edge of a town that seemed lost in a mountain range and touched down in a parking area almost filled with antigravs similar to the ones we’d seen on the rooftops in the city. The buildings were small, mostly one or two stories. They had a polished metallic appearance, with a copper hue. Dish antennas were everywhere.
Several robots came out of a circular structure, lined up, and stood without moving as we got out and walked in through the front doors. said Ark.
I was carrying Sayla. she said.
said Ark,
“How long were you out there?” asked Gabe.
“Who lives here?” I asked.
said Sayla.
“Anybody else?”
“I wish we could say hello,” said Gabe.
said Ark.
Gabe was clearly unhappy, but he let it go. We walked down a corridor, made a turn, and a door opened. We went into a room. It was spacious, considerably larger than a human’s apartment would be. Large violet curtains were drawn across the windows. There was a sofa, armchairs, a couple of side tables, and something with a display screen. Sayla explained.
The apartment looked as if it had been cleaned and straightened that morning.
I was holding Sayla again, looking around, wondering where she wanted me to put her.
she said. It was a frame on one of the side tables, near a display. I fit her into the frame and she became secured. Presumably magnetized. she said. It provided a better view of the display.
We stayed and talked for a while, allowing time for the to complete an orbit. She told us she was sorry we were going away and that we would probably never see each other again. That if we ever returned, we should contact her. And finally it was time to leave. No parting hugs. No lifting of a glass. Just a quiet good-bye. I suppose Ark had a point about accessible minds, but I was grateful for my physical dimension.
We rendezvoused with the ship and were on our way again. “Where are we going?” I asked.
said Ark,
“Not really,” said Gabe. “I think we’ve resolved the issue we came here for. I can tell you in all honesty that I would love to take back with us some artifacts from this civilization. For example, a history of what’s happened here?”
“I guess neither of us is in a position to change his mind. I assume we can’t have any photos either?”
“I understand.”
Gabe thought about it, and finally shook his head. No. “We’ll have to pass. It would be too painful to look through treasures that we couldn’t share with the world back home.” He delivered a barely audible “damn” under his breath. “I think we’ve been gone long enough.” He sat for a few more seconds, wrapped in indecision. “Chase,” he said, “we should take Ark back to his home. And then get moving.”