Evolution (6 page)

“Pirate Tobes aren’t like Earth Tobes. You noticed his scars? How do you suppose a being without mass would be injured like that?” Sophie’s question made Sam reconsider the damaged pirate ship.

“Guess I just assumed it was a reflection of the ship itself.” As he said it, he realized it didn’t sound likely.

“No, we’re not personifications of our vessels—though Spike does like to talk about my ample engine bays and long, sleek hull as if they’re parts of my body. I can only go where the solar transfer array reaches. That’s my limitation as an Earth-based Tobe. Pirates have to be less confined. Spike can communicate over the Moons of Jupiter network as well as Earth’s system of communication, or he can cut himself off entirely for a short time.”

The language barrier, as Joshua had described it, separated the two networks. Sam had never heard of a Tobe bridging the two. “Is that true for all pirate Tobes?”

“I don’t know,” Sophie said as if she’d never given the idea any thought. “Spike doesn’t like me talking to other pirates. But as most of them carry scars, I’d assume their connections aren’t any more stable than his.”

“So without that umbilical cord to the rest of your kind, you’d deteriorate?” Jillian asked.

“We need others,” Sophie said. “It’s not just the sharing of information or downloading what we know. Without that web of consciousness, we lose our way. Our sense of identity depends on those around us. Cut off those connections and we suffer, but unlike people, we show our emotional pain in physical manifestations. Alone, we seek out anyone to connect to. Earth Tobes can’t talk directly to the Moons of Jupiter Tobes. The emotional pain Spike’s endured has opened him up to both networks.”

D
uring the three
-month journey to Earth,
Persephone
became more than a home. Sophie wasn’t just the ship’s captain—she was family. Her being everywhere at once made her a confidante to the twins, best friend to Jillian, and trusted advisor to Sam and Jess.

As the ship rounded Mars, Sam knew his family would only be one more day in space.

Jess snuggled tight to his side as the red planet filled half of the bridge’s view screen. “Do you think we’ll ever get used to being constantly displaced?”

“I’ve never had a problem leaving places—except Chariklo—but Lev and Sophie blur the line between location and family.” He suppressed his suspicions that this would be his last time aboard
Persephone
. Instead, Sam turned his attention to Mars. “No desire to make a quick stop and show the girls what all the fuss is about with those Martian Romance Adventures you were fed at their age?”

“No. After they’ve become sexually mature maybe. Mars isn’t for the uninitiated. Reality first—then the fantasy of fiction novels—then reality again. But seeing the results of trying to explore one’s fetishes without the first two is just discouraging.”

Sam had never considered the conflict of Jess’s upbringing with her love of the romantic adventure books. “Were you dissatisfied? I mean, you read those books before your time with Yoshi and Mira. Didn’t those stories leave you with an unrealistic idea of the connection between love and sex?”

“I wouldn’t say that. Doc made sure I balanced my intake of reading material. I studied sex, going back hundreds of years. I discovered a lot of misconceptions over the generations, but it was an interesting study.”

Sam hugged her tight. “Should we start the girls reading some of that stuff?”

“What makes you think they aren’t already?” Jess asked coyly. “We began with Masters and Johnson a year ago. Guess it’ll be a little more challenging to provide directed study on Earth with all of mankind’s literature at their fingertips. I need to acquaint them with the
Kama Sutra
. I wondered if Mira had already given them a copy, but they’d have posed more detailed questions had that been the case.”

Sam shook his head. “Too close to home. Doc talked to me about that one long ago. He said it had a big impact on him as a young man—not so much the sexual-position stuff as the philosophy. He wanted the village to develop on its own without some ancient blueprint, so he only brought along his personal copy.”

“I found it all a little too poetic for my tastes,” Jess said. “Doc made me read it until I understood the hidden meanings, but I’ll confess, I was more interested in the sexual positions. I’ll assign it as family reading. Between the five of us, perhaps we’ll figure it out. I did notice my copies of
One Hundred and One Ways to Masturbate
were missing. I just hope they started with the female edition—much easier to begin with the equipment you know.”

Sam looked past the red planet to the blue dot on the horizon. “I wish they’d had more time on Chariklo—free from the sexual conflicts of Earth.”

Sophie materialized on the captain’s chair. “The girls are continuing their independent research—nothing too untoward, but they’re going to love having so much information easily at hand.”

Sam suspected a discussion of sexual education wasn’t why Sophie had joined them. Good-byes between people made him uncomfortable. But a god saying it to one of his creations skirted the line of blasphemy—deities were always supposed to be accessible. So many emotions had no corresponding words. “We’ll always be grateful—”

Sophie’s dress darkened to a deep crimson as she spoke. “Stop. Whatever you’re going to say isn’t necessary. If our link isn’t based on love, what good is it? And since I believe that wondrous state connects me to you, things like good-byes are just illusions.”

Jess’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s not fair that I can’t hug you.”

“As I understand the act, I’ve been hugging all of you for the last three months,” Sophie said. “I’m going to miss that.”

* * *

E
arly the next morning
,
Persephone
took her place orbiting Earth with the other transport ships. Sam watched in disbelief as the moon crept out from behind the blue planet. Instead of the reflected light he’d grown up with, it now radiated all on its own. And rather than the pure light the sun sent around the solar system, the moon’s light sputtered with yellows, oranges, and blues—explosions of color, the result of Earth’s wastes combined with the Moons of Jupiter’s experiments in nuclear fission.

Larry greeted the family as they finished breakfast. “Ready to resume your place as the head of Earth’s economy?”

Sam was glad he hadn’t referred to his divinity. “As I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

Larry gave Sam a knowing wink as he departed to prepare the shuttle.

Emily couldn’t contain her excitement. She darted to the view screen that dominated one wall. “Can we see your building from here, Dad? Why is
Persephone
so far away? I can barely make out anything.”

Sara did only slightly better than her sister. “Emi, you can’t see anything from up here. Earth’s really big. Much bigger than those little planets Lev visited.” Then turning to Sam, she said, “But what are those swirling things in the sky?”

Sam surveyed the unpredictable storms that tormented the planet. “That’s part of the water cycle on Earth.” Saying anything else would only frighten the girls. Jess gave him a concerned look as she too inspected the number of hurricanes that spun about the large oceans.

Sophie, wearing her most respectable captain’s outfit, escorted the family along the familiar corridors to the shuttle bay. The tension was palpable as they walked in silence. Emily and Sara both reached out for their friend’s hands, only to see them disintegrate into silvery tears that fell halfway to the floor before evaporating back up into fingers. Jillian held tight to Jess as if she were a physical substitute for the woman they’d be leaving.

As the large doors opened to the massive landing bay, Sam turned to Sophie. “Good-byes don’t work for us. Love unites us. Your hug has kept my family safe. So I hope you’ll understand when I say you are our home, Sophie. The penthouse, the agro pod, Chariklo—they’re all important places to me, but combining location and love creates home. That’s who you are in my life.”

“And I’ll never be whole again until you’re back aboard.” Sophie faded from sight rather than draw out the separation.

Larry, confident as ever, directed the girls into the back of the shuttle. “Sit up front with me, Sam.” As Sam looked at the rear cabin he noticed the view screens were turned off.

Jess gave him another concerned look as she joined Jillian and their daughters.

Once secure, Larry closed the hatch between the control bridge and the comfortable main cabin. “It might be a little bumpy. I’ll do my best to dodge the bigger hurricanes, but we won’t be alone. Lots of shuttles are trying to outsmart the storms today.”

Sam surveyed the ships around them as Larry maneuvered the craft out of
Persephone
. Small transports made their way to and from the orbiting spaceports while dodging larger vessels, like theirs, that could make the trip down to the home planet. It was chaotic enough in space. Looking down made his stomach churn. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait out some of these storms?”

Larry shook his head. “Not anymore. The atmosphere has gone full psychotic tantrum with the moon’s energy beaming down on the oceans.”

They’d been three months getting to Earth, and Sam had no idea how much longer
Persephone
had been in space before that. “Have you made this landing recently?”

Larry laughed as he tilted the craft down toward the environmental maelstrom. “Not to worry. I’ve landed in much worse.”

Sam clutched the armrests as Larry dodged shuttles large and small. Lines of lights appeared on the main view screen. Faces—Sam assumed them to be Tobes—flashed in the four corners along with instructions. Larry’s eyes darted about the screen, picking out paths and information at a speed that made Sam dizzy. He had flashbacks to his time working on
Leviathan
’s central computer. So much information hitting the human brain that fast couldn’t be healthy.

But the time in space paled in comparison to maneuvering around the hurricanes. Rain lashed the view screen, turning it white with water. Larry’s eyes and hands activated controls to diminish the water’s effects on visibility. No sooner had he made the compensations than a new weather event dominated the screen. Lightning, hail, dense black clouds that threatened with their fury—Sam longed to close his eyes but dared not.

Then—as though they’d passed through a doorway—the storm vanished. Blue sky showed above sparkling seas. Larry banked the shuttle into a tight spin. “We can ride down the eye of the hurricane. It’ll be bumpier once we’re out, but there aren’t as many shuttles down low. The little spaceport crafts stay as high as they can for as long as they can. Once we’re below the cloud cover, we’ll be fine. Just hang onto something.”

Living so many years in the zero gravity of
Leviathan
—and then the low gravity of Chariklo—Sam hadn’t experienced vertigo in many years. But as Larry pitched the shuttle into a sharp downward spiral, mimicking the direction of the storm, Sam thought he was about to lose his breakfast. “What about them?” He nodded toward the rear cabin.

“Don’t worry about your family. Gravitational dampeners make it so they’re experiencing a nice summer’s day.”

Sam found that hard to believe. He also wondered why Larry felt it necessary to subject him to this test of manhood. “Why me?” was the only question he could shout above the noise.

Larry looked like a maniacal shuttle racer as he banked the craft back into the wall of the storm. Sam could make out one word: “Lud.”

Red flashing lights filled the view screens as walls of pitch-black clouds gave way to hard-driving rain. Bursts of lightning lit up the control bridge, enhancing the image of Larry as a pilot possessed by demons.

A hard thrust from the shuttle’s engines shot the craft beyond the reach of the monster storm. Larry eased off the control levers. “That’s one. Three more before we hit New York. With any luck, the tropical storm over the Rendition Building will have cleared by the time we land. I’ll try to circle these next big boys. From down here, we should be able to work around the central funnels.”

In the distance, Sam could make out the dark cloud that pointed down to the water—and beyond that lay two more just waiting for their chance to batter the relatively tiny shuttle. Bad as Earth’s weather had been, he couldn’t ever recall so many hurricanes hitting at once.

Larry aimed the shuttle at the monster column of wind and water. As the ship began to shake, he banked so that the storm funnel rotated above with the ocean out the side view screen. Hurling around one mass of energy, the ship took aim at the gap between the remaining two hurricanes. The break between the storms diminished. Larry spun the ship like a bullet out of a rifle.

Wind and rain battered the craft from all sides.
Up
and
down
lost meaning to Sam as the ocean and storm swung round and round in the view screen. Green lights lit up between the red lines, though how Larry found any of that information useful was beyond Sam’s understanding.

Larry’s voice cut through the storm. “Landing looks good. We’ll be down shortly.”

As the storms let go of their hold on the ship, Larry eased it out of the tight spiral. With a quick snap, he reversed direction to once again face the monsters still out at sea. The shuttle stood still in midair for a moment then settled down onto the roof of Rendition.