Майкл Бишоп - The Final Frontier - Stories of Exploring Space, Colonizing the Universe, and First Contact

Adel was wondering what color Sister Lihong Rain’s hair was and how it would look spread across his pillow when Kamilah spoke through the closed door.

“Send Adel out,” she said, “but put some clothes on him first.”

Adel’s head jerked up. “How does she know I’m here?”

“Time is it?” said Meri.

“Don’t know.” Jarek moaned and gave him a knee in the small of the back. “But it’s for you, brother, so you’d better get it.”

He clambered over Meri and tumbled out of bed onto her loafers. Their clothes were strewn around the room. Adel pulled on his saniwear, the taut silver warm-ups that Meri had created for him and his black softwalks. The black floss cape had been his own idea—a signature, like Kamilah’s medallion or Sister’s veil. The cape was modest, only the size of a face towel, and was attached to his shoulders by the two merit pins he’d recycled from his Host uniforms.

He paused in front of a wall, waved it to mirror mode, combed fingers through his hair and then stepped through the door. Kamilah leaned against the wall with her medallion in hand. She gazed into it thoughtfully.

“How did you find me?” said Adel.

“I asked Speedy.” She let it fall to her chest and Adel saw the eating man again. Adel had noticed that her eating man had reappeared again and again, always at the same table. “You want breakfast?”

He was annoyed with her for rousting him out of bed before morning chime. “When I wake up.” Who knew what erotic treats he might miss?

“Your eyes look open to me.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Busy night?”

He considered telling her that it was none of her business, but decided to flirt instead. Maybe he’d get lucky. “Busy enough.” He gave his shoulders a twitch, which made his cape flutter. “You?”

“I slept.”

“I slept too.” Adel waited a beat. “Eventually.”

“Gods, Adel!” Kamilah laughed out loud. “You’re a handful, you know that?” She put an arm around his shoulders and started walking him back up Dream Street. “Meri and Jarek had better watch out.”

Adel wasn’t quite sure what she meant but he decided to let it drop for now. “So what’s this about?”

“A field trip.” They started down the Tulip Stairway. “What do you know about physics?”

Adel had studied comparative entertainment at Great Randall S&A, although he’d left school in his third year to train for the Harvest Olympics and to find himself. Unfortunately, he’d finished only sixth in the 200 meters and Adel was still pretty much missing. Science in general and physics in particular had never been a strength. “I know some. Sort of.”

“What’s the first law of thermodynamics?”

“The first law of thermodynamics.” He closed his eyes and tried to picture the screen. “Something like… um… a body stays in motion… ah… as long as it’s in motion?”

“Oh great,” she said wearily. “Have you ever been in space?”

For the first time in days he missed the familiar buzz of his opposites. He lifted their mute.

—she thinks we’re a moron—buzzed minus .

—we are a moron—plus buzzed .

“Everybody’s in space,” he said defensively. “That’s where all the planets are. We’re traveling through space this very moment.”

“This wasn’t meant to be a trick question,” she said gently. “I mean have you ever been in a hardsuit out in the vacuum?”

“Oh,” he said. “No.”

“You want to?”

—wow—

— yes—

He had to restrain himself from hugging her. “Absolutely.”

“Okay then.” She gestured at the entrance to the Chillingsworth Breakfasting Room. “Let’s grab something to take away and head down to the locker room. We need to oxygenate for about half an hour.”

—but why is she doing this?—buzzed plus .

There were two ways to the surface of the Godspeed: through the great bay doors of the Well Met Arena or out the Clarke Airlock. Adel straddled a bench in the pre-breathing locker room and wolfed down a sausage and honeynut torte while Kamilah explained what was about to happen.

“We have to spend another twenty-minutes here breathing a hundred percent oxygen to scrub nitrogen out of our bodies. Then just before we climb into the hardsuits, we put on isotherms.” She opened a locker and removed two silky black garments. “You want to wait until the last minute; isotherms take some getting used to. But they keep the hardsuit from overheating.” She tossed one to Adel.

“But how can that happen?” He held the isotherm up; it had a hood and opened with a slide down the torso. The sleeves ended at the elbow and the pants at the knee. “Isn’t space just about as cold as anything gets?”

“Yes, but the hardsuit is airtight, which makes it hard to dissipate all the heat that you’re going to be generating. Even though you get some servo-assist, it’s a big rig, Adel. You’ve got to work to get anywhere.” She raised her steaming mug of kappa and winked at him. “Think you’re man enough for the job?”

—let that pass —buzzed plus.

“I suppose we’ll know soon enough.” Adel rubbed the fabric of the isotherm between his thumb and forefinger. It was cool to the touch.

Kamilah sipped from the mug. “Once we’re out on the surface,” she said, “Speedy will be running all your systems. All you have to do is follow me.”

The Godspeed displayed on a section of wall. She was wearing an isotherm with the hood down; it clung to her like a second skin. Adel could see the outline of her nipples and the subtle wrinkles her pubic hair made in the fabric.

—but they’re not real—minus buzzed .

“What are you doing, Kamilah?” said the Godspeed . “You were out just last week.”

“Adel hasn’t seen the view.”

“I can show him any view he wants. I can fill the Welcome Arena with stars. He can see in ultraviolet. Infrared.”

“Yes, but it wouldn’t be quite real, would it?”

“Reality is over-rated.” The Godspeed waggled a finger at Kamilah. “You’re taking an unusual interest in young Adel. I’m watching, perfect one. “

“You’re watching everyone, Speedy. That’s how you get your cookies.” With that she pulled the top of her scrubs off. “Time to get naked, Adel. Walk our hardsuits out and start the checklist, would you, Speedy?”

—those are real —buzzed minus.

—Meri and Jarek remember—

—we can look—

And Adel did look as he slithered out of his own clothes. Although he was discreet about it, he managed to burn indelible images into his memory of Kamilah undressing, the curve of her magnificent hip, the lush pendency of her breasts, the breathtaking expanse of her back as her tawny skin stretched tight over nubs of her spine. She was a woman a man might drown in. Abruptly, he realized that he was becoming aroused. He turned away from her, tossed his clothes into a locker, snatched at the isotherm and pulled it on.

And bit back a scream.

Although it was as silken as when Kamilah had pulled it out of the drawer, his isotherm felt like it had spent the last ten years in cryogenic storage. Adel’s skin crawled beneath it and his hands curled into fists. As a swimmer, Adel had experienced some precipitous temperature changes, but he’d never dived into a pool filled with liquid hydrogen.

—trying to kill us —screeched minus.

“Are you all right?” said Kamilah. “Your eyes look like eggs.”

“Ah,” said Adel. “Ah.”

—we can do this—buzzed plus .

“Hang on,” said Kamilah. “It passes.”