Strangely, beyond reason, even in that first look he read compassion on the face.
The creature bore David Ryersonтs body in its arms.
XVII.
WHERE Sundra Straits lay beneath rainўbut sunlight came through to walk upon the waterўthe land fell
steep. It was altogether green, in a million subtle hues, jungle and plantation and rice paddy, it burned with green leaves. White mists wreathed the peak of a volcano, and was it thunder across wind or did the mountain talk in sleep?
Terangi Maclaren set his aircar down on brown-and-silver water and taxied toward the Sumatra shore. Each day he regained flesh and strength, but the effort of dodging praus and pontoon houses and submarines still tired him. When his guide pointed: уThere, tuan,ф he cut the engines and glided in with a sigh.
уAre you certain?ф he asked, for there were many such huts of thatch and salvaged plastic along this coast. It was a wet world here, crowding brown folk who spent half their cheerful existences in the water, divers, deckhands, contracting their
labor to the sea ranches but always returning home, poverty, illiteracy, and somehow more life and hope than the Citadel bore.
уYes, tuan. Everyone knows of her. She is not like the rest, and she holds herself apart. It marks her out.ф
Maclaren decided the Malay was probably right. Tamara Suwito Ryerson could not have vanished completely into the anonymous proletariat of Earth. If she still planned to emigrate, she must at least have a mailing address with the Authority. Maclaren had come to Indonesia quickly enough, but there his search widened, for a hundred people used the same P.O. in New Djakarta and their homes lay outside the cosmos of house numbers and phone directories. He had needed time and money to find this dwelling.
He drove up onto the shore. уStay here,ф he ordered his guide, and stepped out. The quick tropic rain poured over his tunic and his skin. It was the first rain he had felt since .
how long? . . . it tasted of morning.
She came to the door and waited for him. He would have known her from the pictures, but not the grace with which she carried herself. She wore a plain sarong and blouse. The rain filled her crowтs-wing hair with small drops and the light struck them and shattered.
уYou are Technic Maclaren,ф she said. He could scarcely hear her voice, so low did it fall, but her eyes were steady on his. уWelcome.ф
уYou have seen me on some newscast?ф he inquired, banally, for lack of anything else.
уNo. I have only heard. Old Prabang down in the village has a nonvisual set. But who else could you be? Please come in, sir.ф
Only later did he realize how she broke propriety. But then, she had declared herself free of Protectorate ways months ago. He found that out when he first tried to contact her at her father-in-lawтs. The hut, within, was clean, austerely furnished, but a vase of early mutation-roses stood by Davidтs picture.
Maclaren went over to the cradle and looked down at the sleeping infant. уA son, isnтt it?ф he asked.
уYes. He has his fatherтs name.ф
Maclaren brushed the babyтs cheek. He had never felt anything so soft. уHello, Dave,ф he said.
Tamara squatted at a tiny brazier and blew up its glow. Maclaren sat down on the floor.
уI would have come sooner,ф he said, уbut there was so much else, and they kept me in the hospitalўф
уI understand. You are very kind.ф
уI . . . have his effects . . . just a few things. And I will arrange the funeral in any way you desire andўф His voice trailed off. The rain laughed on the thatch.
She dipped water from a jar into a tea kettle. уI gather, then,ф she said, уthere was no letter that he wrote?ф
уNo. Somehow . . . I donтt know. For some reason none of us wrote any such thing. Either we would all perish out there, and no one else would come for fifty or a hundred years, or we would get back. We never thought it might be like this, a single man.ф Maclaren sighed. уItтs no use trying to foresee the future. Itтs too big.ф
She didnтt answer him with her voice.
уBut almost the last thing Dave said,ф he finished awkwardly, уwas your name. He went in there thinking he would soon be home with you.ф Maclaren stared down at his knees. уHe must have . . . have died quickly. Very quickly.ф
уI have not really understood what happened,ф she said, kneeling in the graceful Australian style to set out cups. Her tone was flattened by the effort of self-control. уI mean, the ╬cast reports are always so superficial and confused, and the printed journals so technical. There isnтt any middle ground any more. That was one reason we were going to leave Earth, you know. Why I still am going to, when our baby has grown just a little bit.ф
уI know how you feel,ф said Maclaren. уI feel that way myself.ф
She glanced up with a startled flirt of her head that was beautiful to see. уBut you are a technic!ф she exclaimed.
уIтm a human being too, my lady. But go on, ask me your question, whatever you were leading up to. Iтve a favor of my own to ask, but you first.ф
уNo, what do you want? Please.ф
уNothing very important. Iтve no claim on you, except the
fact that your husband was my friend. Iтm thinking of what you might do for his sake. But it will wait. What did you wonder about?ф
уOh. Yes. I know you tuned in the aliensт transceiver and didnтt realize it. Butўф Her fists clenched together. She stared through the open door, into the rain and the light, and cried forth: уIt was such a tiny chance! Such a meaningless accident that killed him!ф
Maclaren paused until he had all his words chosen. Then he said, as gently as might be:
T wasnтt so wildly improbable. All this time weтve known that we couldnтt be the only race reaching for the stars. It
was absurd to think so; that would have been the senseless unlikelihood. Well, the Cross was farther out than men had ever gone before, and the alien spaceship was near the aliensт own limit of expansion. It was also bound for Alpha Crucis. Odd what a sense of kinship that gives me, my brother mariner, with chlorine in his lungs and silicon in his bones, steering by the same lodestar. Contact was certain eventually, as they and we came into range of each otherтs signals. Your David was the man who first closed the ring. We were trying call patterns we could not measure, running through combinations of variables. Statistically, we were as likely to strike one of their patterns as one of ours.ф
The water began to boil. She busied herself with the kettle. The long tresses falling past her face hid whether she was crying or not. Maclaren added for her, уDo you know, my lady, I think we must have called hundreds of other space-traveling races. We were out of their range, of course, but Iтm sure we called them.ф
Ё Her voice was muffled: уWhat did the aliens think of it?ф
уI donтt know. In ten years we may begin to talk to them. In a hundred years, perhaps we will understand them. And they us, I hope. Of course, the moment David . . . appeared . .
they realized what had happened. One of them came through to me. Can you imagine what courage that must have taken? How fine a people your man has given us to know? There was little they could do for me, except test the Crossт web and rule out all the call patterns which they use. I kept on trying, after
that. In a week I finally raised a human. I went through to his receiver and thatтs all. Our technicians are now building a new relay station on the black star planet. But theyтll leave the Cross as she is, and David Ryersonтs name will be on her.ф
уI thought,ф she whispered, still hiding her face, уthat you I mean, that quarantine rulesўф
уOh, yes, the Protectorate tried to invoke them. Anything to delay what is going to happen. But it was useless. Nothing from the aliensт planet could possibly feed on Terrestrial life. Thatтs been established already, by the joint scientific commission; we may not be able to get the idea behind each otherтs languages yet, but we can measure the same realities! And of course, the aliens know about us. Man just canтt hide from the universe. So I was released.ф Maclaren accepted the cup she offered him and added wryly: уTo be sure, Iтm not exactly welcome at the Citadel any more.ф
She raised large eyes to him. He saw how they glimmered. уWhy not?ф she asked. уYou must be a hero toўф
