Danan came running up. “Juna! I’m coming to the shuttle station to see you off. Can I ride in back with Moki?”
Juna glanced at Selena, who nodded. “Of course, Danan.”
“So I hear you’re planning on putting me out of business,” a voice said.
“Dr. Engle!” Juna cried in delight.
“I couldn’t let my favorite patient go away without saying good-bye,” he said, giving her a hug.
“I’m glad you could come,” Juna told the doctor.
“What you’ve done for Toivo is just amazing,” he told her.
“That was the Tendu. I couldn’t even help out much, because of the baby.”
“Well, it was miraculous, no matter who did it. I understand you’re off to Snyder Research Hospital.”
“Yes. They’re going to study how the Tendu heal.”
“I wish I could be there,” the doctor said wistfully. “I envy those researchers, Juna. I only hope they appreciate what they’re getting.”
“Come visit us,” she said. “You hardly ever take time off, and we’d love to see you. You can tell those researchers what to do.”
Dr. Engle patted her hand. “Maybe, Juna. But you know I’m needed here.”
She smiled. “I know. I wouldn’t want to trust my baby to anyone else.”
“Thank you, Juna. I’ll see you when you come back for the last few months of your term. Just remember to eat well, and don’t tire yourself out.”
“Moki and Ukatonen won’t let me,” she said. “They’ll take good care of me.”
“Good.”
Then Toivo was pulling on her sleeve. “Juna, it’s time to go.”
Juna headed for the truck, hugging people as she went. It had never been this hard before to leave home, but now it felt as though her heart were being pulled out of her chest with every step. What had changed? Not Berry Station or her family. It was still the home she remembered, though the people were older. She was the one that had changed. Living among the Tendu had changed her from a solitary person to someone who needed to be part of a community. How strange that being the only human in a world full of aliens would make her appreciate her family more. She climbed into the truck and waved good-bye to her friends and family.
Moki watched Danan’s house recede into the distance. They had been here only a few short weeks, less time than the months spent on the ship, but the time had been so full of people and events that it seemed as though a year had passed since they left the ship. He liked it here, and was sorry to be leaving. He„ would miss Danan, and the horses, and Netta-Tdti’s good cooking, and the grapes. He pulled his warmsuit closer around him. It would be warmer where they were going, but there wouldn’t be as many trees. It would be more like the space station where the ship had landed. A cloud of regret passed over him at that thought. He could hardly wait to come back here again.
Ukatonen saw the shuttle station draw closer. He had learned a great deal, living here, but it was time to go somewhere else and learn more. He was becoming too close to Eerin’s family, and was in danger of losing the detachment expected from an enkar. It would be a good place to come back to, especially when he needed to see green things growing again. The trees here were nice, but he missed the forests of Tiangi, with its dense canopy of vines and leaves. It was strange, seeing trees without their leaves, and he was glad to be leaving them behind, even though the place they were going to didn’t have nearly as many trees. But there were healers there, and he was sure that they had much to teach him.
He looked up at the naked trees, and wondered when they would go to a place that was like Tiangi. Juna had said there were places like it on Earth.
Earth. That was where he really wanted to go. He wouldn’t fully understand humans until he had seen their world, the place they had come from. He was tired of living in boxes, even in a big, beautiful box like this one. He wanted to be someplace where there was a horizon, and wind, and living things as far as you could see, with the knowledge that there was even more life beyond the horizon. A flicker of impatience passed over him, and he schooled himself to patience. Sooner or later, they would reach Earth, and then everything would make sense.
Five
Sohelia AND Analin were there to meet them when they arrived at Snyder. They introduced Juna and the Tendu to Ayub Martin, the Snyder Station security chief.
“Welcome to Snyder Station,” Chief Martin said. “We’re honored to have you here. I’ve assigned our best security team to look after the three of you. You shouldn’t have any worries about your safety here.”
They might not have any security worries, Juna thought as she thanked him, but there were plenty of other things to worry about. Her Pop Con hearing was only a few days off. After the hearing there was a long-term-planning meeting with the Survey officials. Hopefully, they could arrange a diplomatic visit to Earth sometime in the next four or five months, before her pregnancy made travel difficult.
Then there was their work at Snyder Research Hospital. The doctors had agreed to a two-week initial assignment in order to study the Tendu’s abilities. If things worked out, the assignment would be extended. But there were so many things that could go wrong.
“How is the baby doing?” Sohelia inquired.
“She’s fine,” Juna said, putting her hand on her belly. “But she doesn’t seem to approve of space travel very much. I was a little spacesick.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“A little tired, but otherwise fine.”
“There’s a mob of press outside the terminal,” Analin informed her. “Are you up to facing them?”
Juna shook her head. “Not really.”
“I can take you through the service tunnels to the hospital,” Chief Martin offered.
“That would be wonderful,” Juna said.
Martin called for a couple of service carts, then opened a small service panel in the wall and inserted an electronic key. A wide section of wall swung back, exposing a bare grey concrete tunnel lined with conduit and piping for air, water, heating, cooling, electricity, comm lines, and sewage. They waited in the corridor, listening to the pipes gurgle and hiss, until the service carts arrived to take them and their escort to the hospital.
“They’re expecting you up at the hospital,” Martin said when the carts arrived. “After that, the guards will take you to your quarters.”
He handed Juna a card. “Here’s my comm code. Let me know if we can be of any help, or if there are any problems with your security detail.”
“Thank you Chief Martin,” Juna said. “You’ve been very kind.”
He nodded, winked at Moki, and then vanished back into the access tunnels.
The hospital staff were polite, but guarded. Clearly they doubted that the Tendu had anything to offer them. Juna decided that it was not worth getting angry about. She was rather looking forward to their surprise when they discovered what Moki and Ukatonen were capable of.
Their quarters were near the hospital, just down the broad corridor from a park with a grove of large banyan trees. The security team checked out the apartment and then let them inside. The unit was small, but comfortable, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living room, and a tiny kitchen. Juna had stayed in much smaller places. She freshened up, and then joined the others in the living room, where Analin and Sohelia had set out tea, sweet biscuits, and sandwiches. Ukatonen vanished into the bathroom for a shower.
Juna’s fragile stomach was not quite ready for sandwiches, but she sipped the tea and nibbled gratefully on the biscuits. The sweetened tea and biscuits settled her queasy stomach.
“Thank you so much for this,” Juna told the women. “I needed it.”