Jack McDevitt - Coming Home

“Of course not,” he said. “You think I’d let somebody sink one of our boats to—?” He shook it off. “No, what I meant was that I was there, and there was no way I was going to let anything happen to you.”

I’d informed Alex that Khaled was in town, and he was wearing that occasionally smug smile when I showed up at the country house next morning. “Well,” he said, “how’d it go?”

“It was fun. I have to admit, he is a pleasure to be around. And I needed an evening like that.”

“Where is he now? Do you know?”

“He was talking about going down to tour the Hall of the People.”

“Well, things are pretty slow here. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Go over there and join him?”

“Thanks, Alex. But I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, whatever you want. Just let me know if you leave, okay?”

I left the country house in the early afternoon and picked up Khaled at his hotel. I took him to Kornikov’s German Restaurant for some sauerbraten. Afterward, we went downtown and toured the government buildings and the cultural center. We attended a concert, had dinner, and headed for the Hall of the People, a magnificent, sprawling, marble structure, four stories high, roughly a half kilometer long. As always at night, it was bathed in a soft blue luminescence.

We strolled through the surrounding grounds. Flags and banners of the Confederate worlds snapped along its front in the winds off the ocean. Tourists filled the area, taking pictures, explaining its significance to kids. The Council meets there, of course. The executive offices are located on the lower floors, and the World Court convenes in the eastern wing. The White Pool, with its myriad fountains, runs the length of the building, and the Silver Tower of the Confederacy stands at its north end. The tower was barred to visitors, as is normal after dark. In the daytime, people can take the elevator to the top, where a balcony circles the building.

We went inside the Hall to visit the Archive, which houses the Constitution, the Compact, and the other founding documents. “You know,” Khaled said, “I’ve taken the virtual tour, but it’s nothing like actually being here.”

“I guess,” I said, “that living a few kilometers away kind of dulls the effect. I think most locals take everything for granted. I came out here for the first time with my seventh-grade class. We walked through the building, went back to the school, and, if my memory is right, we wrote essays about our reactions. Which probably meant making stuff up.”

“So you said how you were overwhelmed?”

“I suppose. And I probably talked about how good the pretzels were.”

He laughed and commented that it reminded him of some of his own best work. We came out and sat by the pool for a while. We talked about my experiences with Alex, and Khaled described how fortunate he was to be able to make a living taking people for boat rides. And how much he was enjoying being on Rimway. And, finally, he brought the conversation around to us .

“Do we have a future?” he asked.

It wasn’t an easy question to answer. “Probably not,” I said finally. “I love my job here, Khaled. There’s just no way I would leave it.”

He stared down at our reflections in the water. “Well,” he said, “there is another possibility.”

I became aware of a cool breeze blowing out of the west. And a sprinkle of rain, there for a moment, then gone. Like a fly-by-night romance. “Khaled, we don’t know each other very well yet. We don’t know enough to make major decisions.”

“What you’re saying, Chase, is no .” He was still looking down at the water. “You’re closing the door to every possibility. Am I reading that right?”

“Look: Why don’t we do this a day at a time? Let it play out a little? I know we live kind of far apart, but that doesn’t mean we have to make major decisions tonight.”

He nodded and finally lifted his eyes. “How many days do we have left?”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “I’ll be leaving after that.”

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Then you will see me tomorrow? You’ve been kind of reluctant to—”

“Yes, we can get together tomorrow. If you want to. I’d been concerned because I have to go up to Skydeck and make sure our yacht gets its maintenance service.” Actually, that can all be taken care of without my being personally on the scene. But I was trying to send a message. Though I didn’t want our last possible day together to get away from me. So if you ask what the message was, I wasn’t sure.

“What’s a good time?” he asked.

It seemed like the moment to take advantage of Alex’s offer. “I have the day off.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You know what I’d like to do?”

“What’s that, Khaled?”

“I’d like to go for a ride out on the Melony.” I looked out at it, placid and quiet in the starlight.

“Okay,” I said.

“It’s the way we met. Maybe it should be the way we say good-bye.”

“Khaled, that’s not what I’ve been saying.”

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

I was dressing when a call came in from a guy I didn’t know. He identified himself as Kyle Everett. “Chase,” he said, “I’m one of John Kraus’s administrative assistants. We’re trying to get this thing organized. We’re dividing the Lifeboat mission into divisions and squadrons. Would you be interested in being a division commander?”

“That sounds a little above my grade level, Kyle.”

“John made the call. He says you’d be fine. You wouldn’t actually have to do anything except relay information. We’re going to run everything from the Dauntless . We’ll have approximately ten ships to a squadron, and ten squadrons to a division. There’ll be nine divisions. When we decide to do something, we’ll let you know, and all you have to do is pass it on to the squadron commanders. They’ll relay it to their ships. When everyone complies, they’ll acknowledge, it’ll come back to you, and you will send it on to us. Clear?”

“Sounds simple enough.”

“Then you’ll do it?”

“Sure.”

“Good. We’re going to have almost a thousand vehicles out there. We don’t want pilots making individual decisions, so we’re going to maintain a tight control from the Dauntless . Any questions?”

Sunlight poured through my windows in the morning. A beautiful, unseasonably warm, bright day. Perfect for a ride on the river. I showered, got dressed, and was sitting down to breakfast when a call came in. It was Khaled. As soon as I saw him, I knew something was wrong. “Chase.” He tried to smile. “I’m going to back off today. I’m sorry. But I don’t want to go through a last day with you.”

“Okay, Khaled. I’m sorry, too. But I understand.”

“I’ve got a ride out of Skydeck this afternoon.”

“All right. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. You’ve been honest with me. I guess that’s enough.” That brought on a long silence while both of us struggled to find something to say.

“You have a reservation on the shuttle, Khaled?”

“Yes. I’m all set. I just wanted you to know that I enjoyed the time we had together. Here and back home.”