Ben Bova - End of Exile

Then he was falling, in his dream, falling through darkness with the evil red eyes of the rats chasing behind him. But the eyes all merged into one single huge red eye with a great hollow booming voice roaring after him. Linc fell through the empty darkness, cold, alone, helpless…

And woke with a shock. He was lying face down on the soft floor of the eating room. Soaked with sweat, hot, mouth open in what must have been a yell of terror.

He sat up.

He felt wide awake. The dreams quickly faded into the dark parts of the mind where forgetfulness covers everything.

Drawing his knees up under his chin, and wrapping his arms around his legs. Linc tried to concentrate and think.

Almost immediately he smiled to himself. “Magda, wherever you are, forgive me. I’m not going to meditate. I’m not going to ask for Jerlet to point out the way I should go. I have to think this out for myself.”

It was funny, but in a bitter way. Here I nearly kill myself to find Jerlet, and it turns out that he’s crazy. A new thought struck Linc’s mind, and even his faint smile vanished. Maybe he’s dangerous! Maybe he’ll try to hurt me… kill me. He sure looked angry at lastmeal. Sounded it. too.

Carefully, Linc pushed the door open and peered down the narrow, strangely-curved passageway. No one in sight. He tiptoed down the passageway and tried several other doors. No sign of Jerlet, although he did find a couple of sleeping rooms, complete with sonic showers and bins full of strange-looking clothes.

All the machines worked up here! Linc saw that the lights were all glowing faithfully. He stepped into one of the bedrooms and the door slid shut behind him automatically. He tried the water tap, a shining metal faucet set above an equally-sparkling sink, and water flowed sweet and cold from it.

I’ll bet the sonic shower works, too.

Locking the door to the passageway. Linc quickly stripped off the formless white robe Jerlet had dressed him in and showered. The tingling vibrations all over his skin made him feel better than he had since he’d been a child. No standing in Linc. No worrying about the power running down before your turn comes.

He examined the clothes that were stored in the bins next to the bed. They seemed too small for Linc to wear, but when he tried on one of the shirts, it stretched to fit his body exactly. The pants, too.

And there are different colors!

One of the wall screens was strangely shaped, long enough to reach from ceiling to floor, and so narrow that it was barely as wide as Linc’s shoulders. And it was bright; it reflected everything in the room very clearly. Linc had never heard of a mirror before, but he automatically used this one as he tried on clothes of different colors.

He finally settled on a high-necked shirt that was almost the same shade of blue as his eyes, and a dark-brown pair of pants. He found slippers in another bin, and even they adjusted their shape magically to fit his feet snugly.

“Hello!”

Linc jumped as if an electric shock sparked through him.

“Hello!” Jerlet’s rough, husky voice called again. “Can you hear me?”

It was coming from a speaker grill in the ceiling, Linc realized. There was a viewing screen on the wall facing the bed, but it was dark and dead.

“Look… I don’t even remember your name, dammit. I, uh, listen son, I got very upset yesterday and I acted like an idiot. I’m sorry.”

Linc saw that there was a small keyboard on the table beside the bed. Frowning, he wondered if he should touch any of the buttons.

“It won’t do you any good to hide from me. You’ll have to come out for food sooner or later,” Jerlet was saying. “And I really want to help you, son. Really I do. The way I acted yesterday… well, I’ll explain it if you’ll give me a chance. At least turn on one of the screens so I can talk to you face to face… what in hell is your name, anyway. I know you told me, but you mentioned all those other names, too, and now I can’t remember… guess I’m getting old.”

Linc stepped across to the table where the keyboard buttons glowed in their different colors. He felt as if his head was spinning; not just from the low gravity, but from the effort to decide what he should do. Slowly, reluctantly, he reached out for the buttons.

“If you want to turn on a screen,” Jerlet was saying, “just punch the red button on any of the keyboards—”

Linc’s outstretched finger touched the red button. Jerlet’s haggard, stubbly face leaped into view on the wall screen across the room.

He was still saying earnestly, “I know I acted like a madman last night, but I can explain… oh, there you are!”

Linc gazed straight into Jerlet’s eyes. They looked sad now. The pain was still there, but it was deeper, covered over by sadness.

“Linc. My name is Linc.”

Jerlet bobbed his head eagerly, making his fleshy jowls bounce. “Yep, that’s right. Linc. You told me, but I couldn’t remember.”

Linc started to reply, but found that he had nothing to say.

Jerlet filled in the silence. “I see you’ve cleaned up and changed clothes. Good! How about meeting me in the autogalley? Got a lot of things to show you.”

“The autogalley?” Linc asked.

“The eating room. Where the food selector is.”

“Oh… Okay.”

“Do you know how to find it from where you are?” Jerlet asked.

Linc nodded. “I can find it.”

“Okay, good. I’ll meet you there.” The old man seemed genuinely happy.

He was still smiling when he eased his bulk through the doorway of the autogalley and glided toward Linc. He stuck out a heavy, short-fingered hand.

“Linc, I dunno what kind of customs you kids have put together down in the living section, but it’s an old human custom for two men to shake hands when they meet.”

Thoroughly puzzled. Linc put his hand out.

•Jerlet waggled a finger at him. “No, no… the right hand.”

With a shrug, Linc raised his right hand and let Jerlet grasp it firmly. The old man’s a lot stronger than he looks, he realized.

“Good!” Jerlet beamed. “Now we’re formally met. Got so much to show you.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s start with the food selector. Show you how that works.”

They ate well. Jerlet showed Linc all sorts of new foods and tastes that he had never known before. As the food began to make a comfortable warm glow in his middle, Linc found his worries and suspicions about Jerlet melting away.

Then they were up and moving through the nearly weightless world of Jerlet. The old man showed Linc the power generators, the mysterious humming machines that kept electricity going out to all parts of the ship. Then the master computer, with its blinking lights and odd sing-song voices. And a room full of servomechs, standing stiffly at attention, mechanical arms at their sides, sensors turned off.

“Are they dead?” Linc asked, his voice hushed.

“You mean deactivated,” Jerlet replied in his normal booming tone. “Here… look, lemme show you.” He took a tiny control box from a shelf near the door and touched one of the buttons studding its top. The nearest servomech came to life. Its sensors glowed; it pivoted slightly to face Jerlet, moving on noiseless little wheels.

“See?” Jerlet said. “They all work fine.”

Linc shook his head. “Down in the Living Wheel they all died, a long time ago.”

Jerlet snorted. “Well, we’ll have to do something about that.”

He took Linc down the passageway and through a set of double doors into a strange, dead silent room. It felt odd. Linc knew he had never been here before, yet there was a faint odor of something that made his spine tingle and the back of his neck go shuddery. The room was filled with strange glass spheres, long looping tubes, viewscreens, desks, other things of glass and metal and plastic that Linc couldn’t even guess at.