Austin Station

  Austin Station

Una storia di nuovi inizi ....

Con Kalin Ringkvist

Capitolo 1

Sareena, anziché concentrarsi sul suo compito calcolo come se avesse intenzione di fare, si ritrovò a guardare fuori dalle finestre enormi che allineato il piccolo caffè. In questo momento della giornata, in questa fine della stazione, era in grado di avere una visione abbastanza stupefacente della Terra, un pianeta che non aveva mai in vita sua messo piede. Ecco perché è venuta qui ogni giorno, nello stesso tempo a mangiare il suo pranzo e il suo studio di matematica. Ma oggi, a quanto sembrava, non era in grado di concentrarsi su uno di questi due. Ha semplicemente seduti e guardare fuori dalle finestre. Com'è bello il mondo guardato oggi! Avrebbe voluto visitarlo, in qualche modo, ma lei non avrebbe mai nella sua vita per permettersi un viaggio laggiù. Invece, ella accettò di Austin Station come a casa. Era abbastanza contenuto con quello.

Si guardò lontano appena in tempo a prendere il suo tofu-burger e cominciare a mangiare. Ha imbavagliato il primo morso e sputò di nuovo sul suo piatto. Questo è stato sufficiente per uccidere l'umore. Lei spinse il piatto velocemente lontano da lei, afferrò i suoi libri e zaino e si diresse fuori dal piccolo e caratteristico bar. Si guardò indietro per un momento a vedere un droide subito smaltire il disordine che aveva fatto.

E 'stata una ventina di minuti a piedi a casa, per i corridoi ampio piena zeppa di gente. I marciapiedi sembrava muoversi lentamente in modo andò a una breve passeggiata accanto a loro. Questo è stato un modo semplice per evitare la folla. Ha bisogno del suo esercizio comunque. Da quando si stava muovendo verso il centro della stazione, giù parlava quattro, la terra era di spalle e lei non poteva guardare All'attacco, mentre passeggiava.

Austin Station ha un design abbastanza semplice, otto raggi, che si estende da un hub centrale, e il collegamento con una ruota esterna. Un nono parlato esteso dal centro ad un angolo perpendicolare agli altri otto. Alla fine, c'è stata una grande manopola, che sembrava un gigante tifa. La manopola ospitato i sistemi di gravità artificiale per l'intera stazione. Come Sareena proseguito verso il centro, più vicino al nono parlava, poteva sentire il suo peso crescente. Poteva pesare venti chili adesso, quando tre minuti fa, al caffè che pesava solo trenta.

Rispetto ad altri, più recenti, le stazioni in orbita attorno al pianeta natale, Austin è stato uno dei più piccoli. Costruita quasi cento anni prima, si trova a meno di cinquantamila persone. Sareena, però, non si vede come a tutti di piccole dimensioni. Lei non aveva ancora esplorato ogni corridoio, negozio, o il caffè, ma non era mai stata fuori dalla stazione di visitare anche gli altri. Questa era la sua casa, e mentre lei voleva poteva vedere altri posti, non aveva intenzione di andarsene. E 'stato semplicemente troppo costoso.

Si girò l'ultima curva sulla sua strada di casa. Si fermò davanti alla porta. Il sistema di identifi cazione bip felicemente come lei scansione identificazione personale. La porta si aprì con un ronzio appena percettibile. Stepping all'interno, il Sareena prima cosa che notò fu la strana donna in piedi in cucina. Che non la sorpresa. Suo padre era costantemente portando a casa le donne strane. Era alto, biondo, pesante petto. L'esatto tipo di donna Sareena ci si aspetta da suo padre.

"Ciao", disse la donna. "Sto assumendo devi essere Sareena, giusto?"

"Che sarei io, sì," rispose Sareena. "E hai ragione Sarah?"

La donna sembrava confuso. "Cosa? Sono Carol. Non è tuo padre ti ha parlato di me? "

"Non ha mai parlato di Carol a me."

"Non ha?"

"No.".

"Allora chi è Sarah."

Sareena pausa. Devo dirle?, Si chiese. Papà potrebbe ottenere abbastanza pazzo. Ma lui non aveva mai detto niente in merito a qualsiasi persona Carol a lei. Non aveva alcun obbligo di aiutarlo a mantenere segreti. Sareena disse: "Lei è questa ragazza che ha visto in questi ultime due settimane."

Carol fissò. "Come una ragazza?"

"Questo è quello che è stato mi dice."

"Capisco."

Sareena guardato con divertimento soffocato come Carol si guardò intorno alla stanza, come se si fosse appena svegliato in un posto che non aveva mai visto prima. "Penso che sarà meglio lasciare ora", ha detto Carol.

"Va bene, era piacere di avervi conosciuto», ha detto in una Sareena allegra, voce quasi beffardo. "È mio padre qui, a proposito?"

"No, no. Lui non è qui. Non so dove sia. "E con questo, Carol rapidamente lasciato l'appartamento, con quello che sembrava uno sguardo sulla sua faccia stordita.

Sareena ridacchiò leggermente a se stessa che portava la borsa libro nella sua stanza e lo gettò sul letto. "Musica", ha comandato, e il computer di casa subito ha iniziato a suonare un mix scelto a caso della sua musica preferita preprogrammati. "Volume giù per tre", e il suono era abbassato di conseguenza. "Devo studiare», mormorò a se stessa.

Prese il suo libro Calcolo dalla borsa e capovolto fino alla pagina che aveva cercato di leggere prima aveva lasciato il bar. Ha trovato un po 'più facile concentrarsi sul suo lavoro, qui dove non c'erano finestre per distrarla. Tuttavia, lei era ancora in grado di dare un senso a nessuno dei problemi. Ha cercato per quasi mezz'ora, ma alla fine, ha rinunciato e ha continuato a compiti diversi.

Quarantacinque minuti dopo, è stato fatto di tutto ma il suo calcolo. Lei non voleva tornare a che ancora una volta, così lei semplicemente seduto e ascoltavo la sua musica e alla fine si addormentò.

E 'stata svegliata dal padre come lui scoppiò in camera sua.

Non era una grande figura, né minaccioso guardare. Aveva circa quarantadue anni, e iniziando a calvo. E 'stato breve per un uomo della sua età, ma ancora in piedi a pochi centimetri sopra Sareena.

"Che cosa hai detto a Carol, oggi?", Ha chiesto di lei.

"Cosa? Che cosa stai parlando? "Sareena chiesto rapidamente.

"Sai cosa voglio dire. Hai avuto una chiacchierata con Carol. Che cosa hai detto? "

"Ho parlato con lei per appena due minuti."

"Ma che cosa hai detto a lei? Hai detto qualcosa di me e Sara, non è vero? "

"Sì, così?" Sareena risposto.

"L'hai detto che era la mia ragazza."

"Sì".

Fece una pausa, e la fissò, guardando perplesso. "Perché dici così?"

"E 'vero non è vero?" Sareena detto. "Lei mi ha detto te l'altro giorno."

"Be 'che diritto si deve andare annunciarlo a tutti?"

"Mi ha chiesto che Sarah era. Che cosa dovevo dire? "

Sospirò e guardò con rabbia mentre lei lo fulminò indietro. "Music off", ha detto.

La musica che aveva suonato in tutta la conversazione, ha continuato.

"Off musica!" Gridò.

La musica continua.

"Computer, musica pausa", ha detto Sareena, e il suono di conseguenza interrotto. "Dovete rivolgervi ad essa quando c'è un'altra persona nella stanza. Realmente dovete sapere che da ora. "

Lui la guardò, con rabbia. "Shut up", ha detto.

Lei ridacchiò leggermente, alzò le sopracciglia a lui, e indicò la porta. "Get out", disse, con voce beffarda.

Fece un passo minaccioso verso di lei. "Non mi dica che cosa fare a casa mia".

Lei alzò le spalle in un modo beffardo di scusa.

"Hai idea di quanti problemi che mi hai causato, oggi?", Ha gridato mezzo. "Ora Carol dice che non vuole più vedermi."

"Sì, beh, mi sembra che quello è più colpa tua di quello che è mio".

Ed è allora che il padre si fece avanti e colpì Sareena, duro, in tutta la faccia.

______ ______ ______

"Yo, Peterman, stiamo ottenendo in prime foto della Terra".

Stanley Peterman, un po 'spaventato dalla voce invadente, guardò in alto, sopra la sua pad computer palmare che stava leggendo da. Estian, un uomo basso nella sua metà degli anni Venti, la manutenzione di lavoro in basso a tre ponti della nave, c'era più di Stanley, sorridendo selvaggiamente, a quanto pare sinceramente entusiasta della manifestazione.

"Sono già in?" Stan chiesto rapidamente.

«Non ancora», rispose Estian, "ma stanno arrivando, in circa dieci minuti. Vieni giù a vedere em con il resto della squadra? "

"Sì, certo lo farò. Non vorrei perdere l'entusiasmo. "

"Andiamo".

I due andarono insieme, camminando di buon passo i lunghi corridoi del veicolo spaziale. La sala riunione sul ponte quattro era la loro destinazione.

Le quattro Galaxy era la più grande imbarcazione interstellare mai costruito, quasi sei chilometri di lunghezza. Aveva 26 ponti, quattro sale mensa, diverse aree assemblea generale, cinquanta o sessanta bagni, e una mezza dozzina di massa "parchi" o "giardini", completo di erba e alberi e frutti e fiori e tutto quello che poteva sperare di trovare in un parco vero e proprio sulla Terra. Non c'erano finestre sulla nave. Il novantanove per cento del tempo speso dal personale interno è stato quando la nave era in viaggio alla velocità della luce, e non c'è assolutamente niente da vedere alla velocità della luce. Nonostante le sue dimensioni grandi dimensioni, la nave effettuato solo qua-tre persone, facendo è sale rather arido e solitario maggior parte del tempo, ma ha dato a ognuno la grande quantità di spazio libero, e ha reso facile per qualcuno di essere solo quando volevano a. Era stato il trasporto di questi tre quaranta persone per sette anni.

Ci sono voluti i due circa cinque minuti per arrivare alla sala riunioni. Giunti sul posto, Stanley notato che la viewscreen gigante era stato eretto in fondo. Ha acquisito la stanza. A prima vista, gli parve come se tutta la nave era in presenza, anche il capitano. Si guardò intorno, alla ricerca di volti scomparsi, ma erano tutti qui. Dopo aver trascorso sette anni con lo stesso gruppo ristretto di persone, si impara a riconoscere tutti in un colpo d'occhio, e può sempre dire il numero esatto manca dal totale.

Questo non era certo un incontro richiesto. Le immagini potrebbe facilmente essere visto da qualsiasi altra parte della nave, ma a quanto pare tutti avevano voluto vedere tutti gli altri la reazione al primo assaggio di qualcosa che non vedevo da più di un decennio e mezzo.

Tutti parlavano in una volta. Stanley convertito la sua attenzione avanti e indietro da diversi diverse conversazioni che udiva, mentre si sedeva in un posto non occupato accanto a Estian. Erano tutti a parlare, in una forma o nell'altra, su quello che stavano per vedere o sulla loro viaggio che stava per trarre al termine.

"Questo è grande, non è vero?" Estian detto, come le sue mani si contrasse eccitato in grembo. "E 'tutto sarà più in pochi giorni. Io, per esempio, sono contento anche. Senza offesa, ma mi sto dannatamente stufo di voi gente ".

Stanley, più interessato al caso che con parlando con Estian, semplicemente borbottò qualcosa di incomprensibile, e guardò avanti a viewscreen anteriore.

"Allora qual è la prima cosa che faremo quando torneremo sulla Terra", Estian chiesto.

Stan guardò il giovane. Pensò alla questione. "Non lo so», ha detto. "Forse vado in piscina".

"Sai cosa ho intenzione di fare? Io voglio andare in montagna e andare snowboard. Fare questo può essere quello che ho perso la maggior parte in questo viaggio. "

"Huh," Stan rispose, guardando di nuovo verso la parte anteriore della stanza.

"Hey Peterman?"

Guardò Estian. Il ragazzo aveva un aspetto grave sul volto. Si guardarono l'un l'altro per alcuni secondi fino a quando Estian far uscire quello che era, ovviamente, un singhiozzo completamente artificiale. "Mi mancherai uomo", e nascose il viso nella spalla di Stanley. Dopo diversi secondi di emissione ad alta voce, falso grida, lo staccò da Stan, sorrisi e ridacchiò selvaggiamente. "Che ne pensi? Buona? Ti ho stupido? "

Stanley scosse la testa, contrariato.

"Oh, l'inferno. Davvero, non ha ancora-? "Ma era interrotta quando il capitano si alzò in piedi di fronte alla folla e cominciò a parlare.

"Signore e signori", ha detto. "Come ben sapete, stiamo per ricevere le prime immagini del mondo a casa. Dovrebbero venire sulla viewscreen in un altro paio di minuti. Let's accenderlo ora, "-lo schermo lampeggiava su ed è stato riempito con una serie di abbagliamento, agitando i colori-" e attendere che si vede qualcosa. "Il capitano, apparentemente normale e tranquilla, si è seduto in prima fila, di fronte al schermo enorme, incombente sopra la testa.

La folla tacque, come la vista cambiato dai colori vorticoso di una visione chiara di stelle pianura. C'erano centinaia di stelle da vedere, che punteggiano tutta l'oscurità del viewscreen. Tutti stavano lentamente muovendo verso i bordi esterni, e sostituito al centro da quello che appariva come uno spazio vuoto. Ed eccolo lì, al centro dello spot. Era piccolo, impossibile da distinguere niente, ma è la forma generale, poi è cresciuto. Un mormorio basso salito nella folla, ma è morto come è cresciuto il pianeta più grande-grande abbastanza per fare i colori, gli oceani, continenti. Dopo alcuni minuti passavano, la Terra era abbastanza grande da riempire l'intero schermo. La vista si fermò zoom a. Qualcuno ha iniziato battendo le mani, e poi un paio di più. C'era un tifo che lentamente ha cominciato a salire dalla massa di persone sedute in sala. E 'continuato a salire, lentamente, fino a quando tutti i presenti erano in piedi, urlando di gioia. Stanley si guardò intorno nella stanza e vide le lacrime reale su alcune delle facce dei suoi compagni.

Era qualcosa che aveva visto centinaia di volte dal loro partenza, sette anni fa. Spesso egli era entrato in banche dati al computer e recuperato una foto del pianeta era ormai a guardare, ma quelli erano stati semplicemente ricreazioni, artificiale, fotografie. Questo è stato vivo. Questo era il mondo reale era venuto. Questo era dove stava andando a casa a. Quelle vecchie foto non lo aveva mai effettuato in questo modo.

Il suono poi ha cominciato a morire in giù, e quando lo ha fatto, il capitano, ancora una volta si alzò e si mise a un lato del viewscreen e ha pronunciato un discorso. "Va bene, ragazzi», disse, abbastanza forte per tutti da ascoltare. "Devo segnalare qualche progresso: abbiamo cominciato a decelerare. Siamo ora viaggia a poco meno di velocità della luce. A mezzogiorno di domani, andremo a metà di tale tasso. Ora siamo a meno di quarantotto ore dalla nostra destinazione. Nel caso vi stiate chiedendo, saremo in una stazione docking piccolo spazio in orbita attorno al pianeta. Si può guardare in alto. Si chiama Austin. "

______ ______ ______

Mentre stava guardando il suo volto nello specchio, Tyson non ha potuto evitare di pensare che il dolore terribile nel suo stomaco. In un primo momento aveva pensato che era semplicemente causato dalla sbornia estrema era duraturo, ma no, questo dolore non era qualcosa che potrebbe essere causata da un disturbo fisico semplice. Neanche a breve. E 'stato il dolore della colpa. E 'stato il livello di dolore che non può essere raggiunto, ma una volta nella vita. E 'stato il dolore che senti quando ti rendi conto che hai preso la vita di qualcuno.

Si guardò, gli occhi iniettati di sangue, il suo viso arrossato. Gli eventi della notte precedente si sono precipitati indietro. Ricordava tutto. Avrebbe voluto che non poteva.

* * *

Lui era fuori a bere in un bar del centro sportivo con alcuni suoi amici di ieri sera. Ci aveva bevuto gare tra le quattro di essi. Hanno giocato piccoli giochi e simili, chiacchierato con il barista, ha cercato di far salire le donne. Essi si interessò in un gioco di bowling che stava giocando su alcuni dei televisori di tutto il bar. Hanno messo su piccole scommesse i giocatori. Tyson è stato il più pesante bevitore tra loro, ma questo era dovuto principalmente al fatto che tutti gli altri dovevano andare al lavoro la mattina seguente. I suoi amici si tolse presto e Tyson è stato lasciato a se stesso e il suo bere. Rimase per ore un altro paio, a bere sempre di più, colpendo al signore seduto vicino a lui, in genere si divertiva. Dopo essere stato abbattuto ben due dozzine di volte, e ha ricevuto una grande quantità di minacce provenienti da alcuni dei ragazzi delle donne, divenne frustrato, ma ho sempre più forte e talvolta violento. Il barista finalmente buttato fuori dello stabilimento, poco dopo le tre del mattino.

Pioveva forte ora, come Tyson provato per diversi momenti per ottenere la serratura della sua portiera della macchina aperta. Infine, ha ottenuto in, completamente bagnato, si sedette e disse al veicolo per portarlo a casa. Quando la vettura non ha risposto, Tyson ha preso un altro minuto o due di ricordare che aveva per accenderlo prima. Lo fece e disse: "Portami a 2141 East Terrace. Questo è a sud di qui. "

La macchina lentamente tirato fuori dello spazio di parcheggio, in mezzo alla strada e cominciò a portare a casa Tyson esattamente sessanta chilometri all'ora. "Puoi andare un inferno di molto più veloce di questo. Non c'è nessuno in mezzo. "

"Il limite di velocità su questa strada è di sessanta chilometri," la vettura ha risposto con una voce computerizzata. "Questa è la nostra velocità attuale."

"Non mi interessa ciò che la nostra velocità è! Let's Move it! "

Tyson guardato come il tachimetro digitale è andato 60-61, sessantadue, sessantatré anni, e finalmente fermato a sessantacinque anni.

"Più veloce!" Tyson gridato.

"Il limite di velocità su questa strada è di sessanta chilometri. La nostra velocità attuale è di sessanta anni. "

"Voglio andare a-cento e dieci. Aumentare la velocità di 110 ".

"Sarebbe una velocità non sicure. Raccomanda aumentiamo di settanta chilometri. "

"Ah, l'inferno», disse a se stesso. "Al diavolo questa merda. Release AUTODRIVE ".

La macchina ha risposto immediatamente. Una volante spuntato fuori dal cruscotto, due piccoli peddles emerse dal pavimento, e la macchina sbandò a sinistra, verso il traffico in senso contrario. Tyson afferrò freneticamente al volante e oscillare violentemente verso destra. Si sentiva una scossa come la vettura è schiantato sul marciapiede, e rimbalzò in strada. Ha continuato a guidare per il gas spacciare al pavimento, tessitura avanti e indietro attraverso due corsie di traffico.

Occasionalmente si è incontrato con traffico in senso contrario, ma il pilota automatico in loro automobili esperto lui evitato. Spesso avevano bisogno di sterzare completamente fuori strada, ma non venne mai pericolosamente vicino a lui colpire. Le vetture nella sua corsia di traffico proprio allo stesso modo lo evitavo e lui superato facilmente tutti, come lui correva lungo l'autostrada a oltre 120 chilometri all'ora. E 'stata una esperienza piuttosto divertente, per un po'. Non aveva effettivamente percorso di un auto a molti mesi.

Ma il suo divertimento finì in fretta, quando vide un passo in giovani donne in strada, un buon modo davanti al suo veicolo. Era giovane, forse 22. Short, biondo. Portava una piccola borsa nella mano sinistra.

reazione di Tyson ha preso parecchi secondi. Ha sbattuto il piede sul freno, e la macchina cominciò immediatamente a sbandare. Cose svaniva come la macchina filato selvaggiamente in tutta la sua corsia. Egli intravide secondo resoconto della donna. Lei era l'unica cosa che riusciva a vedere chiaramente. Egli freneticamente cercato di portare la vettura sotto controllo, ma era solo riuscito a rendere le cose peggiori.

La vide ancora una volta, fuori dalla finestra laterale del conducente. Molto più vicino questa volta. E poi lei era lì, il viso contro la finestra. Ha sentito un tonfo, come lei collegata con il suo veicolo. Lui la guardò. Aveva gli occhi azzurri che sembravano guardare indietro su di lui. I suoi lunghi capelli biondi, leggermente tinta rosso sangue, circondata la testa e si preme contro la sua finestra. Aveva il volto più forma perfetta che avesse mai visto. Carnagione chiara, due separate, le sopracciglia ben collocati, e labbra carnose con una punta di rossetto rosa. Un bel volto. Poteva essere un modello, è stato l'unico pensiero che aveva.

Poi la vettura testacoda indietro verso sinistra ed è stato ben diritta, in linea con la strada. Cadde via, e subito la parte posteriore sinistra della vettura sbandò improvvisamente verso l'alto.

L'auto poi slittato ad una fermata, posizionata lateralmente, attraverso il centro della strada. Si guardò indietro e lei era lì, sdraiato immobile nel mezzo della strada una buona distanza schiena, e guardava il sangue schizzato attraverso la finestra a sinistra e il lato sinistro del parabrezza. La pioggia dura stava già cominciando a lavare via.

Non ha mai ritenuto di tornare indietro. Ha semplicemente detto la macchina per portarlo a sud, da qualche parte. Ha pensato di andare a casa, ma semplicemente non riusciva a dire la vettura di fermarsi. Ha continuato per tutta la notte, fino a circa mezzogiorno del giorno successivo, quando si fermò e preso una stanza in un piccolo motel da qualche parte nel nord della California. Si addormentò subito dopo di andare a letto, dopo non essere in grado di dormire in macchina. Ha dormito per sette ore, e si svegliò soltanto dieci minuti fa.

* * *

Fissò se stesso per qualche secondo, poi si voltò in bagno e vomitò. Era tempo di partire. Aveva bisogno di andare altrove. Non aveva idea di quanto era venuto la notte scorsa, ma comunque era lontana, non era abbastanza lontano. Aveva bisogno di uscire dal paese. Forse Messico.

Uscì dal bagno, nella zona principale della sua camera d'albergo. Ha trovato il suo terminale di banca in tasca della giacca e controllato per vedere i suoi fondi in corso. Aveva diverse migliaia di dollari al suo nome, ma era in forma di moneta elettronica. Valuta che potrebbero essere rintracciati. Avrebbe dovuto fermarsi a una macchina di banca e di scambio che per contanti e avrebbe dovuto farlo presto, prima che la polizia capito chi era e messo su un tracciante suo terminale della banca. Speriamo che non avevano ancora fatto.

Un'altra cosa che avrebbe dovuto fare era trovare un hacker che potrebbero entrare nel banche dati della sua macchina e di cancellare ogni traccia di quello che era successo e dove era stato, ma fino ad allora avrebbe dovuto stare attento a guidare sempre sotto il limite , e spero che lui non ha ottenuto tirato su.

Guardando fuori dalla finestra, è stato sorpreso di vedere che era già cominciando a fare buio. Per fortuna non vedeva auto della polizia, e ha riconosciuto la propria auto parcheggiata in fondo del lotto. Ancora sensazione terribilmente malato, ha raccolto le sue cose e scese verso la cassa.

Ci sono voluti Tyson circa quindici minuti la guida in città prima di trovare una macchina banca. Ha parcheggiato la macchina dall'altra parte della strada e si sedette per alcuni istanti, temendo che cosa sarebbe successo quando ha inserito il suo terminale nella fessura della macchina. Vedeva nella sua mente, decine di poliziotti scoppiare dal nulla, sirene spiegate, avventandosi su di lui mentre cercava di arrivare alla sua risparmi di una vita. Ha cercato disperatamente di forzare la visione della sua mente, ma ha rilevato che non poteva.

Dopo un altro pochi istanti, ha raccolto la sua volontà, ignorando i pensieri si affollavano nella mente, aprì la porta e attraversò la strada. Guardò alla sua destra e sinistra per assicurarsi che nessuno lo stava osservando prima di inserire il suo terminale rapidamente nella fessura sul lato della macchina. Strinse le mani saldamente insieme, cercando di reprimere lo scuotimento.

"Voglio ritirare tutti i miei soldi», disse in fretta, non appena il piccolo schermo di un computer lo ha spinto ad entrare nel suo comando. "In contanti. Anni Cinquanta. "

           He expected alarms, something telling him he was under arrest. He at least expected to be told he couldn't withdraw his money. But no, nothing like that. His heart leapt with joy as the small tray at the bottom of the machine opened up and crisp, new, fifty dollar bills began pouring out in a neat little stack. He waited nervously until it was finished, grabbed the pile in two hands and managed to stuff it into his coat pocket.

Holding the wad of money in his pocket with one hand, he sprinted back across the street and got into the car as quickly as he knew how. “Go, now,” he said. “Hurry. Go straight on this road.”

He continued south, like he had the night before. As the car carried him along the freeway at one hundred twenty kilometers per hour, well under the legal limit, he tried to go over his options. There were so many things he needed to find out, but couldn't because he would need to go into a computer and give his identification. He needed to find a police report, something to tell him how the investigation was going. He needed to know if they were able to retrieve eyeflashes, pictures pulled straight from the woman's brain of the last thing she would have seen before her death. If so, they would have pictures of his vehicle, possibly even a license number–or maybe, he feared, even an eyeflash photo of himself. He needed to know but it was impossible to find out. He thought they might say something on the radio about it, but flipping continuously through the stations revealed no useful information.

Eventually he noticed a highway sign, giving directions to the local airport. He thought about that. He had enough money to buy a ticket somewhere but he would have to ditch the car, which was not something he wanted to do, but if it had already been identified, he would have to get rid of it sometime. The longer he drove, the closer he was to being caught.

”Pull off, next right,” he said, and gave the directions to the airport.

He paid eighteen dollars for parking, parked, and walked briskly into the main terminal, constantly glancing over his shoulder at anyone that passed near him. He wandered the airport for a long while, asking himself where it was exactly that he wanted to go. He stopped at a computer terminal and asked it to bring up a list of all outgoing flights within the next forty-eight hours. The screen that popped up contained hundreds of different flight numbers, destinations, and corresponding prices. Off to one side he saw a listing of flights to the habitat worlds. This caught his attention. He brought it up. This list was much shorter, only nine entries. He checked the list. All were out of his price range–all except one. Flight 2131 to Austin Station. Four thousand, three hundred dollars for a one way ticket. He would have just enough left over to start his life over again.

Without giving the idea a second thought, he told the computer he wanted to buy the ticket. Immediately he began pushing fifties into the slot in the terminal that was specially designed for the rare occasion when someone wished to buy something with cash.

Capitolo 2

It was several days before Stanley was able to get away from the group, the reporters and all his interviews, and wander Austin Station by himself. In fact, he had to sneak away when nobody seemed to be watching.

The place was huge. The captain had said that it was a small station. Stanley couldn't even begin to imagine what a large one would be like. He wandered aimlessly, frequently crashing into various people he had never before seen, and managed to make a great number of them mad at him. What amazed him most was the sheer number of people crammed into such a small space. He eventually became claustrophobic and spent all his energy, dodging left and right across the corridors, trying to find one without too many people. He had expected there to be more open spaces here than had been on the Galaxy Four , but the halls here seemed even more cramped for some reason.

Alla fine sono imbattuto in un piccolo caffè a un'estremità della stazione dove poteva sedersi. Questa zona è stata un po 'meno affollato, ma anche così, era solo in grado di trovare una singola tabella non occupato. Si sedette e guardò le stelle attraverso le finestre foto giganti che fiancheggiavano la parete di fondo e il soffitto. Voleva qualcosa da mangiare. Guardò la console alla fine della sua tabella che gli avrebbe permesso di ordinare tutto quello che voleva, ma non aveva soldi, non c'è modo di pagare per qualcosa che poteva ottenere. Così semplicemente seduto, riposato, ha ascoltato le conversazioni degli altri, e guardò fuori dalle finestre.

Dopo pochi minuti di questo, sentì una voce di donna. "Ti dispiace se mi siedo qui?"

Alzò lo sguardo, sorpreso. "No," ha detto. "Andate pure avanti."

«Grazie», disse mentre uno zaino abbandonato sul tavolo e si sedette. "Non ci sono altri posti vuoti".

Lui la guardava come ha studiato il computer e console scelto un antipasto per sé e pagato per questo con un terminale palmare bancario. Era giovane. Ha giudicato forse diciotto. Aprì la borsa e cominciò a rovistare, ma poi semplicemente posto al piano sotto il suo sedile e cominciò a bussare le nocche sul tavolo.

Un droide educato poco fatto uscire il suo piatto pochi minuti dopo. Stanley fissò la cena. Era più fame di lui aveva pensato. Ma lei non si curò per il suo sguardo. Si voltò e continuò a guardare fuori dalla finestra.

"Non sei tu a mangiare qualcosa?" La sentì chiedere.

"No, io non ci riesco," rispose.

"Non ha fame?", Ha detto attraverso un boccone di hamburger.

"Niente soldi".

"Niente soldi?", Ha chiesto, sorpreso. "Che cosa, hai dimenticato il proprio terminale a casa?"

"Non ho un terminale. Ho appena ricevuto da una nave, vedete, e non ho ottenuto intorno a scoprire se ho i soldi rimasti dalla prima della mia partenza. "

"Quanto tempo fa hai lasciato?", Ha chiesto.

"Sette anni".

"Sei stato su una navicella spaziale per sette anni?"

"Proprio così".

"Perché vuoi fare questo? È stata una di quelle navi da crociera costoso? È questo che soffiava su tutti i tuoi soldi? "

"Era un mestiere interstellare, capace di velocità della luce."

"Stai scherzando!"

"No. Siamo stati ad esplorare un sistema stellare una decina di anni luce di distanza. "

Lei lo guardò con sospetto. "Ma sei serio?"

"Certo".

"Wow, non ho mai incontrato nessuno che ha effettivamente lasciato il sistema solare." Lei gli porse la mano. "Sono Sareena".

"Peterman Stanley."

"Buddy Guarda," disse, "Non mi importa quello che mi dicono ma io non ti sto acquistando la cena. Ho pensato di dirti che per te intice verso veridicità. "

"Pensi che sto mentendo?"

"Il pensiero mi attraversò la mente."

"Beh io non sono," ha detto. "E io non sono che fame comunque."

"Allora, cosa hai fatto su questa nave?"

"Sono stato un ingegnere. Contribuito a rendere sicuro tutto è andato bene. "

"Un ingegnere, eh? Non ingegneri avrebbe sfondi in matematica? ".

"Io faccio. Perchè? "

Prendendo un morso di un cuneo di patate da dosso piatto, ha detto, "Ho un piccolo problema nella mia classe di matematica",

Fece un piccolo gesto con la mano. "Vediamo il libro."

Lei andò a prendere un libro denso blu del Calcolo del suo pacchetto e delicatamente posò sul tavolo davanti a lui. Si alzò e camminava dietro di lui e si fermò a guardare da sopra la spalla. Lei allungò la mano e selezionata una pagina. "Proprio lì," disse, indicando un problema particolare. "Non riesco a capire. Continuo a ricevere risposte diverse ".

Guardò il problema. "Questo è tutto?", Ha detto con sarcasmo. "Non ha niente più difficile di questo?"

Lei lo guardò con rabbia. "Lo sapevo", ha detto. "Non ne ho idea, vero?" Ha raggiunto per il libro come aveva intenzione di riprenderselo.

Ha afferrato la mano e la tenne dietro. "No, non posso fare questo. Dammi solo un secondo. "Pensò per qualche secondo su come effettuare il problema. La sua mano era sdraiato sopra di lei, appoggiato sul tavolo. "Okay, quindi ecco quello che fai ..."

           It took ten minutes or so until she had grasped the concept of the first problem. Then they went on to more problems. She sat down beside him. They spent nearly forty-five minutes working. She seemed to get truly interested in the subject of mathematics and she was obviously understanding at least most of what he was telling her. He was actually pretty proud of himself. I should be a teacher, he thought.

Finally, it came to a close. Apparently satisfied with her new found knowledge, Sareena closed and put away her book. “Are you really not hungry?” she said.

”I'm starving.”

She smiled, pulled out her bank terminal, and inserted it into the slot at the end of the table. “What do you want?”

He found a nice, moderately priced pasta dinner and ordered it. “Thank you,” he said.

”I should be thanking you,” she said. “You have no idea how much you've helped me out today.”

He looked at her, smiled. “You have no idea how hungry I am.”

She laughed lightly.

Then she did something completely unexpected. She pulled herself closer to him. She leaned her face in towards his, pausing slightly before closing the gap and kissing him quickly on his lips. She pulled away again and looked down at the table top. His stunned gaze remained constant. She turned back to him. She looked strange, nervous, embarrassed, and Stanley could think of nothing to do to relieve her, but lean back and return the kiss. This one remained for longer. He felt her start to move her lips across his, he felt a little wetness, and finally, he felt a tiny tongue, burrowing it's way between his clenched teeth. He opened up and let her in but he looked upward, away from her and saw out of the giant windows, what he had been missing since he had been concentrating on her calculus. The view of the planet below now filled his entire line of sight. It was enormously, overpoweringly, beautiful, much bigger and fuller than he had seen on the Galaxy Four's computer screen and this time he knew he was looking directly at it.

”Holy shit!” he blurted.

She screamed and pulled away from him. She put her hand across her mouth. “What the hell do you think you're doing? You bit me!”

But he was still staring up at the Earth looming above him and her voice didn't quite reach his inner consciousness.

She pressed her tongue against the back of her hand for a few seconds then looked closely at her hand. “Owe, hell. That hurts. Now why'd you have to go and do that?”

Now he looked at her. “What?”

”I'm leaving,” she said, and grabbed her bag and slung it across her back.

Stanley looked back up at the windows. Then he realized what had just happened. "No! Wait!” He reached out for her but she was already beyond his grasp. At a last desperate attempt, he leapt from his seat, fell on his stomach flat on the floor but managed at least to grab a strap hanging down from her pack and hold her back. “Don't go. Mi dispiace. It caught me off guard, that's all.” As he looked up at her, he noticed, on the edge of his vision, all the people in the cafe seated near them were now staring intently at him.

”You bit me,” she said softly enough so only he could hear.

”I didn't mean to,” he said.

”Get up,” she said. “You look like an idiot.”

He picked himself off the floor and they stared at each other, consciously aware of the dozens of people still watching. “Can we sit down now?” he asked her quietly.

They sat back down at their table and tried to look calm as they waited for everyone around them to lose interest. “I'm sorry,” Stanley finally said. “I've been away a long time.”

”It shows,” she replied.

”Next time we do this, ” he said, “do you think it would be possible to find someplace without so many people watching?”

She smiled. “I think that could be arranged.”

______   ______   ______

Take-off è stato ritardato sei ore a causa delle difficoltà tecniche sullo shuttle. Questo ha reso Tyson un po 'inquieto. Aveva già dovuto aspettare quasi trenta ore. Non voleva più aspettare. Era come se potesse senso le autorità sempre più vicino al suo luogo con ogni minuto che pigramente sprecato.

Era seduto nel salotto vicino al suo terminal passeggeri per la maggior parte di questo tempo. I droidi di manutenzione i negozi in quella sezione dell'aeroporto avuto modo di conoscere lui piuttosto intimamente come avrebbe fatto passare per ciascuno ogni paio d'ore, raramente comprare niente. Ha comunque, comprare un breve romanzo horror per passare il tempo, ma è stato fatto con esso nel giro di poche ore. Pensò di ottenere un secondo, ma decise che era necessario per lui per salvare il suo denaro per quando finalmente avuto modo di Austin. Se mai sarebbe arrivato.

L'auto era ancora in partita. Aveva acquistato un biglietto giornaliero due parcheggi in modo che non avrebbero ancora da traino. In un certo senso ha voluto che avrebbero. La vettura era qualcosa che poteva essere rintracciate e se non fosse la stessa posizione in fosse, sarebbe in una fase molto più sicuro. Come ha pensato il suo veicolo seduto da solo là fuori nel parcheggio, è diventato sempre più preoccupato che qualcuno avrebbe trovato e lo riconosce. Egli ha infine deciso, per quanto temeva tornare indietro, avrebbe dovuto verificare se la macchina era a posto.

Egli ha deciso di non cavalcare la metropolitana ad alta velocità, che correva tutta la lunghezza dello scalo. Sarebbe ammazzare il tempo a camminare, e lui non era affatto ansioso di arrivare a destinazione in ogni caso. Ci sono voluti Tyson quasi quarantacinque minuti per la lotta contro la folla tutta la via del ritorno attraverso l'altro lato dell'aeroporto e sulle massicce, sessantasei garage storia parcheggio. Quando arrivò davanti all'ascensore che lo avrebbe portato, lui tirò fuori la carta di poco la sua auto era stampato per lui, per ricordargli dove aveva parcheggiato lui. La guardò e lesse:

Lotto: B

Livello: 23

Blue Sezione

Fila: 19

spazio # 63

Quando l'ascensore colpito il pavimento ventitreesimo, egli scese lentamente e con cautela, preparati a vedere le masse di poliziotti riuniti intorno solo aspettando il suo ritorno. Non vedeva la polizia in giro, però, poche persone vaganti alla ricerca di loro automobili. Egli stesso ha permesso di respirare un sospiro di sollievo prima di continuare su.

Il blu grandi frecce dipinte sulle pareti lui puntato nella giusta direzione. Ha seguito i numeri lungo la passerella, spesso guardando sopra la spalla e muoversi in ogni direzione alla ricerca di qualsiasi segno di qualcuno che potrebbe essere lui a guardare.

Ha raggiunto diciannove fila e cominciò a camminare con cautela giù, la scansione in tutte le direzioni e alla fine ha visto la sua auto, situato comodamente tra un carro grande stazione di famiglia e un camion pieno di dimensioni pick-up. Nessuno era in vista.

Dopo una passeggiata per la sua auto una volta infilato nel posto di guida e rilassata. E 'stato molto più comodo qui di quanto non fosse stato in sala d'attesa all'interno dell'aeroporto. Si dispongono di cinque minuti per il riposo e calma, poi ha detto la macchina per far apparire il video giornale di bordo.

Il viewscreen poco integrato nel cruscotto lampeggiava su Tyson e vide una vista del parcheggio, così ci sembrava, se ha semplicemente guardato fuori dalla finestra.

"Log Scan," ha detto. "Se vuoi qualcosa di fuori dall'ordinario".

Lo schermo sfocato e un'altra vista del parcheggio circostante si avvicinò, questo da una prospettiva diversa. Un uomo, forse trent'anni, incrociate davanti allo schermo e sparì dall'altra parte. Lo schermo sfocato di nuovo e Tyson guardava e aspettava, come ha visto decine di persone a piedi lungo il passato viewscreen, nessuno di loro mai guardare nella sua direzione e, probabilmente, del tutto ignari del fatto che erano in fase di registrazione.

«Quando è stato registrato?", Ha chiesto a un certo punto.

Il computer ha risposto mettendo su una lettura sullo schermo, visualizzando il tempo in cui ogni evento significativo, se si potesse chiamare significativo successo-.

A un certo punto quando lo schermo sfocato, Tyson è stato salutato da una vecchia rugosa con grave ed appendere la pelle e troppo ombretto, guardando direttamente verso di lui. Si allontanò da lui e urlò: "Io penso, penso avrei trovato." Ha guardato indietro, socchiuse gli occhi. "Cosa?" Gridò a qualcuno evidentemente più righe di distanza. "Penso che questo lo è. Cosa? Oh, l'hai? Ah, va bene. "Lei indietreggiò, si voltò e scomparve dalla vista. "Perché non mi hai detto che hai una stampa?", Ha detto poco prima di lei era fuori portata audio.

"Lascia perdere questo", ha detto Tyson. "Non c'è niente qui. Annulla la ricerca ".

Lo schermo obbediente è andato in bianco di nuovo.

Ha pensato a cosa fare adesso. Sarebbe sicuro lasciare la macchina qui?, Si chiedeva. Non gli piaceva il pensiero di abbandonarla. It was an expensive piece of machinery and to simply throw it away would be such a waste. And it provided for him a sense of security, that if anything happened to go wrong, he could just drive away. Without it he would be stuck. If he told it to leave, then the flight to Austin was canceled, he would be stuck here forever.

But he knew that the car was something that could be traced. As soon as the police found it, they would simply go through the list of outgoing flights and it would only be a matter of finding which one was paid for with cash. They would have him pinpointed, trapped on one of the puny habitat worlds.

I have to ditch the car, he decided. There's no getting around it.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, in three minutes I want you to pull out of this parking lot, head towards the freeway going east and travel in that direction until there's no you're out of gas.”

The vehicle made a little beep that meant it understood the directions. A map appeared on the computer screen and the route Tyson had just programmed was shown in red. He looked at it. “Yeah, that's good,” he said.

He got out slowly and walked back towards the elevator. Halfway down the row of cars, he stopped and watched his car pull easily out of it's space and drive off. It was like watching the last bit of his former life drifting away.

On his way back towards the waiting area, he noticed an unoccupied computer terminal. He thought about the danger of being caught. He knew almost nothing about the inner workings of a computer and had no idea how much information he could retrieve before someone caught on to who he was and what he had done. He didn't even know if he would be able to get any information. Any police report might be classified and not open to just anyone wanting to see it. However, he was simply too curious about the fate of that young woman to head off without finding out whether or not she was actually dead.

He slipped his bank terminal into the slot and watched in suspense as he logged on to the world-wide net. There were probably thousands, maybe millions of people logged onto computers in this area. It would probably be nearly impossible for someone to get a good lock in on his terminal. Just the same, Tyson wanted to get in, get the information and get out as quickly as possible.

”Show me the obituaries for Roseburg, Oregon.” That seemed like a good and safe place to start.

A list of names appeared on the screen. Too many of them.

”Exclude the males,” he told the computer.

The list shortened by about half.

”Exclude all that died of natural causes.”

The list was still too long.

”Exclude everyone that died in their home.”

Now the list was only six names long. Alphabetical order. He touched the first name. “Bring up this one,” he said.

The words “Auto Accident,” caught his attention. He read on, not paying much attention to the photo in the upper right corner of the screen. He thought he might have dreamed up what she looked like and couldn't trust a picture alone. He found that this woman had been driving a vehicle with faulty auto drive and had been dozing. The report said she had died instantly when her car crashed into a large pine tree at 190 kph.

           Tyson went on to the second obituary, an elderly woman who had been knifed to death by an anxious mugger.

The third woman had died of a drug overdose.

The fourth was a suicide.

Tyson was, by this time, growing a little less concerned. Perhaps he hadn't killed her. Maybe she was just fine, in a hospital somewhere, recovering slowly but surely.

He brought up the fifth one and was relieved to find she had died falling from the sixth floor of an office building.

With shaking fingers he touched the sixth name. The screen flashed, seemed to pause longer than it had on the previous names, and went clear again to reveal the last obituary.

And there she was.

He recognized the picture immediately: the young blond, clear complexion, perfectly shaped facial features as if they had been carved from stone. He read the words, “killed by drunk driver,” and nearly doubled over from the return of that terrible pain in his stomach.

He closed his eyes, tried to calm himself. “Oh, God.”

He read the caption. She had been a law student, home for the weekend. Her name was Anathene Ravanis. She had grown up in north-west Washington with her natural parents. They moved to Oregon to be closer to the rest of the family when Anathene was fourteen. She moved back to Washington state when she was barely into her twenties to study to become a lawyer. She was twenty-four when she was tragically run down in the middle of the street three days earlier. She was survived by her two parents, her husband of three years, and her six month old daughter.

”Exit out,” Tyson said quickly, now suddenly, not wanting to learn any more. “Turn it off.”

The screen changed to show him that it had charged him three dollars for the retrieval of the information. His bank terminal popped out of it's slot. He grabbed it and hurried off towards his shuttle, the tears just barely standing out in his eyes, the pain in his stomach spreading towards his chest and growing with every step he took.

______   ______   ______

Sareena decided to bring Stanley back to her apartment. When the two arrived, she was happy to find that her father was not home. They sat on the couch in the living room, listening to music, talking. Their conversation shifted from subject to subject, never sticking in one place too long. Stanley told her a good deal about life aboard a starship, and she told him bits and pieces of what it's like to live on Austin station. She mostly tried to avoid talking about herself though. She felt her life was small and meaningless when compared to his.

Eventually they became bored with talk and moved on to other things.

They started out small–little pecks on the cheek–but it did not take them long before they were into the long, deep, passionate kisses that Sareena enjoyed so much. She pulled herself close to him. As she felt his hand, slowly and cautiously, moving under her shirt, she thought to herself, perhaps things are moving a little too quickly. At first she had an urge to push his arm back, to tell him she wasn't ready, but she quickly rejected the idea. She was too into the moment.

Then, suddenly, she heard a low, almost silent, hiss as the front door slid open.

Her reactions were quick. She slammed her hand down on his arm, driving his hand out from under her clothing and at the same time leapt away from him. She turned, straitened herself on the sofa and looked towards the door as her father entered, looking somewhat tired out.

”Hello, Daddy,” she said, trying her best to sound calm.

”Hi,” he replied. He seemed to immediately notice Stanley, sitting next to Sareena “And who would this be?”

           ”This–” Sareena thought as quickly as she could to come up with a worthy lie. “This is my math tutor, Stanley Peterman.” That seemed believable enough. She paused. “Oh, and Stanley, this is Spanfell, my father.”

”It's nice to meet you.”

The two men shook hands.

Her father's eyes visibly narrowed. “Where's your math book, Sareena?”

”We haven't started studying yet,” she replied quickly. “We were just talking”

”Well then, I guess I'll leave you two alone,” He quietly left the room and headed towards the back of the apartment. Sareena saw him glance back over his shoulder at them once as if he suspected something.

”You live with your parents?” Stanley asked after Spanfell was completely out of earshot.

”Just my dad,” Sareena replied.

”I figured you lived by yourself. It's a little surprising to have someone burst in like that. What does your father do anyway?”

”He's a courier,” Sareena answered.

Stanley didn't seem to understand her meaning.

”He pressures people into giving him money so he can show them around Austin. He gets them hotel rooms but that's about it. They pay him pretty good money for it too–when he actually has a client. Most of the time he's just looking for newcomers who don't know their way around.”

”That sounds like fairly interesting work,” Stanley said.

”He seems to think so.”

Sareena looked at him. She wanted to restart what had been so rudely interrupted. She wanted to move in closer to him again but couldn't seem to bring herself to close the gap between them. It didn't seem appropriate anymore. They sat silently for a long while.

Finally, Stanley said, “They're probably missing me back at the docking bay and on the ship. I never told anyone I was leaving. I really ought to be getting back.”

”All right,” she said. “Are you coming back here sometime?”

”Sure. I'll stop by in a couple of days.”

”I guess I'll see you then,” she said as she watched him cross the room to the door.

”Thanks for the pasta,” he said, just before the door closed.

Sareena was left to herself. She contemplated what she was going to do for the rest of the day. She sat for a long while, thinking. It had been a strange day, one to remember. She didn't know what to make of it all.

Eventually she got up and went to her room.

Before she had settled in, her father entered. “Did your friend leave already?” he asked.

”He just left,” she said.

”Did you two get much studying done in that short time?”

”Some.”

They stared at each other for several seconds, not speaking. She tried her best to put on an innocent-looking face, but, while she could not see herself, she was unsatisfied with her attempts.

Spanfell sat down on the edge of Sareena's bed. “So who is he?”

”He's my Calculus tutor.”

”That's a likely story.”

”He is!”

”Why'd he have to take off so quickly after I got home?”

”He had to get back to his class.”

”Is he a student or a teacher?”

Sareena randomly chose one of the two options. “Teacher,” she replied.

”So why did he come here at all if he had to leave so early?”

”He didn't leave early,” she said. “We were studying for a couple hours before you got here.”

”You told me you hadn't started yet.”

”I said that?”

”Yes you did.”

”I don't remember saying anything like that. No, we studied for a long time before you came home. I had just put my book away.”

”What were you studying?”

”My math!” Her voice was raised to a high level now from the frustration of the conversation. “Don't you listen to anything I say?”

”I happen to listen very well,” he said, calmly. “I have very good ears. I also have very good eyes. I can see what's going on between you and that guy.”

”What makes you think anything is going on between us?”

”You're tongue down his throat was my first clue.”

She stopped, glared at him. He glared back, but in a sort of triumphant way, apparently proud of himself for discovering her lies.

”Well so what?” she said after a long while. “What does it matter to you anyway?”

”I'm your father, Sareena. I worry about you.”

”I'm sure you do but I think I can make my own decisions about who I spend my time with.”

”You don't seem to be making very sound choices, Sareena. He's too old for you.”

”That's for me to decide,” she said.

”So you're not going to obey your father?”

She thought about how to handle the situation. He seemed to be acting coolly. He seemed to be calm, rational–at least on the outside. He had probably planned out everything he was going to say to her.

”What do you want me to say?” she said.

”I want you to say you'll stop seeing him.”

”I'm not going to do that.”

She could see his anger rising. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a second. “He's no good for you, Sareena. What is he, twice your age?”

”I doubt the difference is that great,” she said.

He sighed. “So how long have you been seeing this guy anyway.”

”Oh, I'm not seeing him,” she said. “I've just been fucking him off and on. Surely you of all people would understand that.” She regretted saying the line even before the words had exited her mouth.

He stood quickly. “God damn it, Sareena! Can't you take anything seriously?”

As he raised his hand, Sareena suddenly thought he was going to strike her again, like he had several days earlier. She flinched, put her arm up to block. But he didn't hit her. He clenched his fist tightly, as if he was trying desperately to hold himself back. Taking a deep breath, he looked away from her and walked quickly out of the room, pounding his fist into the door activator. A second later, it closed behind him.

She looked after him. She shook her head and sighed. Why do I do this?, she thought. Why can't I just think before I say things like that?

She sat for a long time, wondering what she should do. She didn't want to apologize to him for what she had said, but she also couldn't stand the idea of him staying mad at her for any long period of time. Why should I have to do this?, she thought. He's the unreasonable one. Why can't he just let me run my own life, and quit butting in? I can make my own decisions. Why doesn't he see that?

But she knew she was going to have to do it. She was going to have to go out and talk to him, but she waited a while longer and planned out exactly what she was going to say. Finally, she took a deep breath, got up, and went out towards the main room of the apartment.

She found him sitting at the kitchen table, silently, his head resting in his hands. She leaned up against the counter top, a few meters away and watched him, not saying anything. Eventually he looked up at her. They silently stared at each other for a while.

”Look,” she said finally, “I appreciate your concern in this matter, but really, it is not needed. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I'm not interested in Stanley. That kiss you saw was just a one time deal. It's not going anywhere between us, and he understands that. He's just a friend.” It was all a lie, of course, but he seemed to buy it.

”That was all I wanted to hear, Sareena.”

”I know it, but what if I did like this guy? I'd like to think that you wouldn't go blowing up on me if I brought home a guy you didn't approve of.”

”I'm sorry I got so mad at you,” he said. “It's just that I worry about you so much. I don't want to see you get involved with someone who's no good for you.”

”I understand that, but you can't decide that. I think I can decide for myself who I want to be dating. All right?”

”All right. From now on, I'm going to try to stop making your decisions for you, but if I see you making a poor one, I'm still going to tell you.”

”Just don't be too pushy about it, okay?”

”Sure.”

”Look,” she said, “I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier.”

”Don't worry about it,” he replied.

”So are we squared away now?”

”Yeah, we are.”

”Good. I'm glad.”

”So you're not going to be bringing Stanley by here anymore?” he asked.

”Well, yes, I am. He's still going to be helping me with my Calculus.”

”You weren't lying about that?”

”Of course not.” She grinned at him. “Have you ever known me to lie to you?”

______   ______   ______

He felt the cold rain of the roadway, soaking through his pants. He was dazed. He could barely stand. Every time he would try, he would get to a low squat, and the gravity would shift and he would topple to the ground. It was raining hard. He knew it was raining, but for some reason, the only dampness he could feel was coming from the road he was lying on. It was dark. Blackness was all around. Penetrating blackness, the kind that chills the soul, but for some reason he could see. He could see the buildings standing tall above him on both sides of the road, or perhaps he simply sensed that they were there. They were all dark and empty, as if they had been abandoned long ago. He looked all around him. The area was somehow familiar, but he couldn't remember when he had ever been here. He realized he was crying, but couldn't seem to remember why.

”Get out of the road,” someone said.

Tyson looked around, frantically searching for the source of the sound.

”Get out of the road.”

”Who are you?” Tyson shouted.

”Get out of the road.”

”I can't.”

He turned, and suddenly, standing high above him, was a man of great size with a wicked glare on his face and a long dark beard, hanging down to his chest.

”Get out of the road,” the man said.

”I can't. Can't you see I can't move?”

”You're blocking traffic.”

Tyson looked up and down the road. He could see no cars. “Who are you?” he asked.

”I'm here for you.”

Waves of fear crashed in on him. They had found him! They had finally found him. But who were they? And why were they looking for him?

”No!” Tyson screamed. He curled himself up, making himself as small as he possibly could, putting his arms over his face to block the view of the hulking figure. “No, please. Leave me. Leave me alone. Please!”

Then, everything was silent. He looked up and the man was gone. He got to his knees, and with a little bit of trouble was able to stand up. Looking down the road, he saw something lying there. It was a woman, face down. He slowly staggered over to her.

”Get out of the road,” he said.

She didn't respond.

”You're blocking traffic.”

After a moment she replied, “Please, leave me be.”

”Why?”

”Just leave me be. I beg of you.”

”You're going to get hurt.”

”That's my choice.”

”Very well.” He turned to walk away from her but her hand caught him by the back of his pantleg.

”I'm sorry,” she said.

”For what?”

”I'm sorry.”

”You didn't do anything.”

”Yes I did,” she said. “I hurt you. I made you this way. I didn't mean to do this to you. I didn't. I'm sorry.” She turned onto her back and looked up at Tyson. For the first time, he saw her face. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He knew immediately who she was.

”You're supposed to be dead.”

”I was,” she replied.

That confused him. He had always believed that a person could not be dead one moment then alive the next. He thought about that a long time, and finally concluded that he must have been mistaken on that point. A person could be alive one moment then dead the next, so why couldn't it work the other way around? He wasn't the type of person to question the way of the world anyway.

”Here,” she said. She took his hand and directed it towards her face. “Do I feel dead to you?”

”No,” he said as he ran his palm across her warm cheek.

”Everything comes back,” she said. “Did you know that? Things happen again and again and again. They're beyond our control. We live in a wheel. It goes round and round and around, and we can never get off. Mai. It will spin around some day and this will come back to haunt you.”

He stared at her, barely comprehending her words. She was standing now and he was lying on the pavement again. “Who are you?”

”You know who I am.”

”You're supposed to be dead.”

”I've come back.”

”Have you come back to haunt me?”

”I've come back to show you things.”

”Like what?”

”Like what I just told you–how we live in a wheel. How things will come back for you. Like how this will come back for you.” She pointed down the road and Tyson saw a car coming towards him.

He looked at her, tried to move towards her but found himself immobile. She took a cautious step backward. “Help me,” he pleaded.

”I can't. It was meant to be. It's coming for you. They're coming for you. Deal with it.”

He tried desperately to move but found himself stuck to the roadway. He was strapped down, by some invisible harness. He watched the car speeding closer and closer, making no move to avoid him. Covering his head with his arms, he gave out one last frightful scream, a plea to the woman to help him, but she did not, and he finally felt the incredible impact of the car's bumper as it connected with his body.

*   *   *

He awoke with a start, drenched with sweat, the safety harness digging into his flesh. He breathed a deep sigh of relief realizing he was still on the shuttle. The people around him were all still sleeping. His sedative must have worn off early. He looked out one of the side windows and saw the earth, looming before him. He was escaping. In a few hours he would be on the station, a brand new world to him, and he would start a new life.

Capitolo 3

Spanfell stared for a long while, through the glass wall that separated him from the shuttle's passengers that were now starting to come off. He searched the crowd, looking for one who seemed like he didn't know what he was doing or where he was going. It didn't take long to find one. That one, right there, he told himself. The one who's trying so desperately to blend into the crowd.

He watched as the new arrivals exited their shuttle. Where was this one from?, he wondered. Earth? One of the other habitat worlds? But it didn't matter where they were from as long as they had money and didn't know their way around.

He watched the young man he had selected, burned his face into his memory so he could pull him aside as soon as he exited the decontamination chamber. He walked along, keeping pace with him until the group of new arrivals were all herded into a side chamber where they would go through the process of decontamination.

Hurrying towards the gate where he knew his target would be coming from, Spanfell tried to get ahead of the rest of the masses of people, some of who were waiting to meet incoming family members, but most of who were couriers, like himself, out to make a buck off the tourists.

He made it to the main gate, stopped and waited. After a few moments, the doors opened and the people started piling out. He saw his target in the middle of the crowd, saw that no one was coming to meet him. Watching intently so as not to lose him, Spanfell plowed through the rest of the people and started walking close to the young man he had selected.

”Hello, my name is Spanfell. I'm here to give you a hand in finding your way around.”

The man stopped. "Cosa?"

”My name's Spanfell. I'ma courier. I'm here to help. This is quite a large and confusing station, but I can guide you all through it–for a small fee of course.”

”A tour guide?”

”And much more. What do you say?”

”I don't think so buddy. Sorry. "

”Oh, now come on. I haven't told you what it is I can do for you.”

”What can you do for me?”

”I can get you hotel or restaurant reservations. I can hook you up with just about any type of person you'd want to meet here. If you're thinking of moving here, I can handle all it takes to get your citizenship. I can do basically anything you need done.”

”Can you get me a job?”

”I could do that. What kind are you looking for?”

”One that pays.”

”I think I can handle that. But first we need to get the business of my fee out of the way.”

”What is it that you charge?”

”I never caught your name,” Spanfell said.

”Tyson. How much do you charge?”

”I'll offer you a deal. Two hundred a week. You may actually save money by hiring me though, since I can get you the best deals on anything around. Anything you can possibly get on Austin Station. So is this your first visit to this fine habitat world?”

”Yes, it is,” Tyson said.

”Have you ever visited any other stations?”

”No.”

”Then you don't know much about station life do you?”

”I guess not.”

”Well, I can help you out there. I can teach you anything you need to know. Station life is pretty confusing you know, but I've got it down and I'll help you get it down too.”

Tyson pulled Spanfell aside, out of the stream of traffic and said to him, “Okay, I'm going to need a job, a place to stay, a citizenship here, and I need it all to be completely confidential. I don't want anything entered into the computers about my being here. Nothing that could get back to Earth.”

”I think I could pull that off. Nessun problema. May I ask why it must be confidential though?”

”No you may not.”

”So am I hired?”

”Two hundred, you say?”

”Uh-huh.”

”I suppose I could handle that, assuming you find me a paying job real quick.”

”I'll get on it right away. Do you have a place to stay?”

”I'm expecting you to find me one. Not too much though. I'm rather short on funds right now.”

”You have enough for my fee though don't you?”

”Barely.”

”Well, let's say we get that out of the way right now, shall we?”

”How do I know you won't just run off with my money and leave me hanging?”

”You can trust me.”

Tyson shook his head. “No. I can't risk that. I can't afford to put all of my funds into something before I even have a job here. I'll pay you fifty now, and the rest when you find me a way for me to make some money.”

”That would be acceptable I suppose.” Spanfell pulled out his bank terminal and presented it to Tyson. “Fifty now, and I should be able to find you some sort of work within the next few days, but you can't take the job until you've paid me the other one-fifty.”

Tyson shook his head. “I don't have any electronic funds. You're going to have to accept cash.”

Cash? That was certainly odd. Who used cash these days?

Spanfell shrugged. What did it matter? Money is money. “Whatever you say.”

Tyson handed Spanfell a fifty dollar bill. Spanfell stared at it for several seconds. It had been a few years since he had seen actual money like this. I wonder if it's real, he thought. Going to have to check that out before I do anything big for this guy.

”All right,” Spanfell said, “you say you need a place to stay. Should I show you to a place I happen to know?”

”The cheapest you can find.”

”Of course.”

Spanfell led Tyson down the crowded halls of the station towards a small hotel that he often used for his clients. He wondered why this man was here. Probably running from someone. That was fairly obvious. He hadn't brought any baggage with him so it must have been a fairly hasty decision.

”So where are you from?” Spanfell asked.

”Earth.”

”I know that. Where on Earth?”

Tyson didn't answer, and Spanfell decided that it probably wasn'ta good idea to push the subject.

They soon arrived at their destination. Tyson checked in and paid for a room and Spanfell followed him up to it. Tyson gave a quick run around the small apartment, checking it all out, came back and sat down on the bed with Spanfell.

”Okay, What kind of a job do you think you can get me?”

”What are your qualifications? What did you do on Earth?”

”I was a salaryman for Microsoft.”

”What level?”

”Thirteen.”

”Hmm.” That probably wasn't going to help much. A thirteenth level salaryman wasn't too far up the corporate ladder, but it would probably put him at the top of the list for any menial, minimum wage job that happened to be open. “What we're going to need to do, is first of all, put your information down in the computer.” He went over to the desk sitting against a wall and flipped on the computer terminal.

Tyson went over and stood by the desk. “What sort of information do you mean?”

”Anything that would be relevant to prospective employers. Where exactly did you work before you came here?”

”Look, I don't know if I can do this.”

”What?”

”I'm not supposed to be here. I can't enter in anything that could pinpoint who I am.”

”Well now, that could be a problem. How am I supposed to find you work if I can't tell them about any of your past experience?”

”I have faith in you.”

Spanfell flipped the computer terminal off. “All right then. This may take a while. Shall I go now and start looking or is there anything else you're going to need tonight.”

”No. Go now. My money is running short already. I need a way I can get ahold of you though. Give me your ID number.”

Spanfell found a small piece of paper in his pocket and wrote out the eighteen digit code and gave it to Tyson. “Why don't you give me yours too.”

Tyson shook his head. “Can't do that. I'm going to have it changed soon anyway.”

”How do you plan on doing that?”

”I have no idea. I'm trusting you to find me a way. Go, now. Find me work. Hurry. You can call me here. I should be right here for the next couple days.”

As Spanfell was shooed out of the room, he thought to himself, Jesus Christ, this guy's going to be a real problem.

______   ______   ______

Stanley Peterman sat, waiting at the same table where he had first met Sareena. They had agreed to meet here. He was anxiously awaiting her arrival. Picking at his french fries absently with one hand, he stared up through the huge windows at the Earth that was just beginning to come into view.

”You came,” he heard Sareena say.

He looked at her as she took a seat across the table from him. “I told you I'd come,” he said. “I missed you the last couple days.”

”Me too.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss then began picking at his plate of fries.

”So what do you want to do?” he asked her. “Do you want to go back to your place?”

”Don't you have a place here yet? I don't really want to go to mine. I'm afraid my father's going to be there.”

”What is with him anyway? Do you fear him or something?”

”No,” she replied. “It's just that I don't want him to know what's going on here.”

”I don't understand why not.”

”I had a long talk with him just after you left the last time. He thinks your just my math tutor.”

”You know, Sareena, I think your life would be a lot easier if you were just honest with him. A lie can get quite complicated if you don't know how to control it.”

”I know how to control myself,” she said. “I have a great deal of practice with this.” Her voice softened as she said, “He can't handle the truth anyway. He wouldn't know how to deal with it. He still thinks of me as his little baby girl.”

Stanley shook his head. Sometimes he wondered about her. Was she a pathological liar or did she actually have good reasons for avoiding the truth when dealing with Spanfell? He wondered what kind of secrets she might someday start keeping from him.

”So should we go to your place?” she said.

”I suppose we could do that. Andiamo. I think I remember how to get there.”

           As they left, Stanley watched a human attendant come out and clear his half eaten plate of fries.

He led the way this time, through the crowded corridors, away from the little cafe. After a time, she took his hand in hers and they walked in that fashion for half an hour or so around the outer wheel of the station. Every once in a while, a window would open up along the roof of the hall they were walking through and they would both glance up at the planet above them.

After a time, Stanley said, “I'm going to be leaving here soon.”

Sareena stopped and turned to him. "Cosa?"

”I'm scheduled to take a trip to Earth in three weeks.”

”You're leaving me?”

”I wasn't planning on it,” he said. “I'd like it if you came with me.”

”What? Come? I don't have enough money to finance a shuttle trip.”

”I'll pay for you.”

”I thought you didn't have any money,” she replied. “I had to buy you lunch not too long ago because you were flat broke and starving.”

”I wasn't broke. I just didn't have a bank terminal at the time.”

”And you do now?”

He pulled it out and showed it to her.

”And you expect me to go with you down to the planet? Just like that? Not a second thought?”

”It doesn't have to be forever, Sareena. You can come back whenever you like.”

”Will you pay for my return too?”

”Of course.”

”I don't know if I can ask you to do that. We've only just met. Shuttle tickets are expensive.”

”They paid me well for taking the Galaxy Four trip.”

”But still–”

”Please, Sareena?”

”But what about my father?”

”Forget about him for the moment. Don't you want to see the world down there. You've never been there have you? I know I'm anxious to see it again.”

”We'll see,” she said. “We'll just have to wait and see.”

______   ______   ______

Spanfell wandered the station aimlessly, stopping here and there, asking if there were any employment opportunities for an inexperienced man who, for one reason or another, was unable to look for a job himself. He wasn't having much luck.

As he turned out of a small antique shop, he happened to notice his daughter some distance away, down the corridor. She was stopped, talking to someone. He started towards her, wanting to ask her to keep her eyes open for a possible job opportunity. But then, he saw who she was with. It was that guy–what's his name?–Stanley. Her math tutor, or so she says. Spanfell stopped in his tracks and watched them for a short while. They were just talking. He crept closer to them, making sure to blend in with the crowd. When he had gotten as close as he dared, he stopped and continued watching. It appeared as if they were simply having a discussion. Hopefully about her math, but it seemed a little too animated of a conversation to be about school work. Eventually they began walking again. Spanfell followed the two for a while.

Then he noticed something about them. They had started holding hands. So they were lovers. This enraged him. She had lied to him. He wanted to run up and throw Stanley to the ground and beat him, but he held himself back. He stopped, glared and watched them disappear into the crowd.

______   ______   ______

The prospect of finally seeing Earth firsthand was both exciting and frightening at the same time. This was something she had wanted–or thought she had wanted–for all her life, but now she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave her life on the station, even for a short while. She knew this place. This was her home. She knew her way around almost perfectly. On Earth, she wouldn't have the first clue how to get anywhere. She would be tiny, insignificant. Here she felt as if she was somebody, large, important in some way.

Sareena turned to Stanley. They were sitting close together on the couch in his apartment. “When would we leave?” she asked.

"Tre settimane. There's still more work for me to do on the ship before we can go.”

”I'm not even sure I'll want to go,” she replied. “I don't know if I can just pack up and leave my home like that.”

”I'm not asking you to leave for good. Just a little vacation. You could come back at any time.”

”Would you come back with me?”

He waited a long while before answering, “I don't know if I could. I don't like it here. It's too crowded, feels as though the walls are closing in. I want to see the open sky again. I want to live out in the open like I did before I left on the Galaxy Four .”

”I want to too,” she said. “But–” and she stopped herself. How could she say no? This was something she had wanted all her life. To see the world up close. Could she ever live with herself if she let an opportunity like this slip through her fingers. How could she ever live with herself if she let him walk out of her life? “All right,” she said. “I'll go. I'll need to talk with my dad first though.”

”I wouldn't let you leave without telling him.”

”But he may not let me go,” she said. “I'm going to have to tell him about us. I may end up having to sneak away from here without his permission.”

”I figured you'd be up for something like that,” Stanley said.

______   ______   ______

Now that things had finally settled down for Tyson, he had a chance to finally sit and think to himself. Alone in his hotel room, he thought, for once, not about Anathene, but about his past life, the one he left behind down on Earth. He had been a salaryman for a large American company. Not a glamorous job, or an exciting one, or a well paying one, but it was better than he could ever hope to achieve on this tiny station. He wondered if his boss had found a replacement for him yet.

He missed his family, his friends, his coworkers. He wondered if he could ever see any of them again. It's strange, he thought, how one instant, one moment in time, one tiny decision can completely alter your life forever.

But he didn't want to get too tied down thinking about the past. What's done is done. There's no going back. What he had to do now was look toward the future. He had to make a new life for himself here on the station, and he had to do it quickly before his funds ran out. He needed to get in touch with Spanfell, see how the job search was going.

Tyson went over to the little computer on the desk against the wall and entered Spanfell's ID code, instructing it to seek out Spanfell and get in touch with him. He turned around, and began to wander the apartment, expecting the search to take several minutes, but instead, Spanfell's face appeared almost immediately on the small screen.

”Hello,” he said.

”I just called to see how the hunt is going. Have you found me anything yet?”

”Not yet,” Spanfell said. “I'm still working on it.”

Tyson noticed that Spanfell looked agitated, angry about something. “Is there something wrong?” he asked.

”Nothing wrong,” Spanfell replied. “Family troubles is all. Just sit tight. I'll find you work very soon.”

”Within the next couple days?”

”Very soon. Non si preoccupi. Ho fatto prima. I should go now, continue the search. Was there anything else you needed?”

”No. I just wanted to make sure you were out and looking. I'm rather desperate you know.”

”Don't worry. I'm doing a good job out here. I'll find you something.” And the screen went blank.

______   ______   ______

Instead of continuing his job hunt like he said he was going to, Spanfell went home. He sat for a long while at the kitchen table, trying to stifle his anger, waiting for his daughter to return home from wherever she was. He knew she would be here soon. Her book bag was here and she needed to be at school in less than an hour now.

Why am I making such a big deal out of this?, Spanfell asked himself. Why should I care? I should let Sareena make her own decisions.

           He couldn't understand why it mattered to him that Sareena was seeing someone who was so much older than she was. He had always believed that age shouldn't be a factor in a dating relationship–or thought he had.

It was because she had lied to him. That's all he cared about. He hated being lied to. If she had simply told him the truth from the beginning, instead of trying to hide it, he probably wouldn't have had a problem with her relationship with Stanley. It was a frustrating situation. He was frustrated because she had been so stupid to lie to him. It would have been so much easier for everyone if she had just been straight with him. Why didn't she understand that?

He wanted to just forget it all. He wished he could just let Sareena alone and allow her to live her life as she saw fit. She deserved to be able to do that. But, for some reason he knew, he would not be able to just leave it alone.

Sometimes, he thought, I just have no control over myself. This thought set his mind racing back to one of the most recent times where he had been unable to gain control over his own actions. He saw himself stepping forward, menacingly, towards his daughter, unthinkingly, raising his hand, striking her across her cheek. That one moment kept running through his mind, over and over again. One moment of weakness. He had just been so upset from being dumped by Carol that he was simply unable to control himself, but that was no excuse.

It doesn't matter, he tried to tell himself. She probably never even thinks of it. It probably never even mattered to her at all. It was just a little slap, barely worth mentioning. It never happened before. It'll never happen again.

It will never happen again, he told himself. Mai. I won't do it again. I couldn't.             But for some reason he couldn't make himself believe that.

Spanfell shook his head wildly, trying to force the thoughts from his mind. He wished he could stop thinking about it all, for once, put it behind him. Burying his face in his hands, he began vigorously rubbing his eyebrows with his fingertips, as if he could physically force the unwanted thoughts from his mind.

Just then, he heard the front door open. Looking up, he saw Sareena come in. He had forgotten he was waiting for her. He wanted to talk to her on a subtle level, hinting at what he had found out about her and Stanley, but as soon as he saw her, he couldn't help blurting out, “You lied to me didn't you?”

”What?” she replied quickly.

”I saw you with that Stanley person today. You two were holding hands.”

”Oh, Jeez! Why do you have to do this? You were spying on me again weren't you?”
”No. I just happened to notice you two together, that's all.”

”Well what the hell should it matter to you anyway?” said Sareena.

”You lied to me.”

”I had to. You would have gone berserk if you knew the truth.”

”Do I look berserk to you Sareena?” Spanfell was sitting, his hands folded, calmly watching his daughter. But it was taking all he had to contain himself.

She shook her head. “I don't care. I don't care what you think. Just stay out of my life. Quit spying on me.” She said this as she was walking back towards her room. A moment later she returned, carrying her backpack across her right shoulder, and hurried towards the door.

”Sareena,” Spanfell said.

She stopped. "Cosa? What do you want?”

He paused. He decided it would perhaps be better if he let the subject drop for now. “My latest client is looking for a job. Could you keep your eyes open, look for any openings?”

”Sure, I suppose I could do that,” she said, heading for the door.

”Thank you,” Spanfell tried to tell her but she was already gone.

Capitolo 4

Spanfell was becoming more and more worried that he would never be capable of finding Tyson a job. He had had no idea how difficult the search was going to be. The calls from Tyson were becoming more and more frequent. Apparently he was even more agitated about it than Spanfell.

           Spanfell made a quick stop at his apartment for a meal break. He was there for fifteen minutes or so, and was just about ready to head out the door again and continue the job search when he heard the door chimes. He got up and opened it.

It was Stanley.

Spanfell hadn't seen Stanley since he had spied him and Sareena holding hands in the corridor several days earlier. Since then he had kept his distance from his daughter and had tried his best not to think about the subject. But now, the sight of this man enraged him. It was mostly the frustrations of job hunting that made him so angry but Stanley was his most immediate target.

”Is Sareena here?” said Stanley.

Spanfell lunged, driving his right fist hard into Stanley's jaw.

Stanley was forced backwards and landed five or six feet away on his back, but quickly rolled to his feet. He put a hand to his chin. Spanfell saw blood.

”What the hell?” Stanley said.

”Stay away from my daughter.”

”What? I'm just her Calculus tutor. We had a study session scheduled.”

”Stay away! The next time you show up at this door, I'll kill you.”

”But–”

”Do you understand me? I'll kill you.”

Stanley said, “So I take it you know what's been going on between us.”

”Leave! Now! Go! I don't ever want to see you around here again.”

Stanley rubbed at his chin where Spanfell had struck him. “It's not really a good idea to go around hitting people,” he said as he turned to leave. “One of these days someone is gonna hit you back.”

______   ______   ______

After the unexpected encounter with Spanfell, Stanley decided to head home and call Sareena from there. It didn't take long for the computer to track her down. Fortunately she had not been at home. She was on her way home.

”I just had a rather interesting discussion with your dad,” he said to Sareena.

”Oh, what happened? What did you say?”

”We didn't say much, actually. He seemed kind of mad about something. Did you tell him about our plans to go to Earth?”

”I haven't found the right time yet,” she said.

”I'm beginning to think maybe you shouldn't tell him. Maybe we should just leave and you can call him when we get there.”

”What?” she replied. “Why do you say that? You were the one who was pushing me to always tell him everything about us.”

”I didn't realize what kind of a guy he really is.”

”What do you mean? What happened when you spoke to him today?”

”He hit me, Sareena. He attacked me.”

”You're kidding! Are you okay?”

”I'm fine. He doesn't hit that hard. It was just sort of stunning. What is his problem anyway?”

”Oh, I don't know,” she said. “He doesn't have a girlfriend. He's upset about that. And he has this client who needs him to find a job for him, but he can't come up with anything. He's been out looking every day for the past week. It seems like no one on the station is hiring these days.”

”What kind of job does this client want?”

”Just some menial job, I guess. Minimum wage. Look, do you want me to come over? I should be on my way to school right now but I could miss a day. I could come to your place and we could talk about this whole trip.”

”Hmm.” Stanley paused to think a moment. "No," ha detto. “Go to school. You could drop by here afterwards if you want. We can talk then”

They said quick goodbyes and disconnected the phone link.

Stanley sat and thought for a few minutes, then got up and headed out the door. After about a half hour walk, he found himself at Sareena's door. He knew she wouldn't be home but he rang the bell anyway. After a few moments, the door slid open with a small hiss. Standing before him, was Spanfell. The two men glared at each other for a long while.

Spanfell spoke first: “Did you not hear what I said to you before?”

”I heard you.”

”Then why are you here? Are you stupid or something? Do you not really think I'll do what I said I would do?”

”I think you're overreacting a little, Spanfell.”

           ”I don't care what you think. I want you to leave, now. Leave. Do I have to smack you really hard this time?”

Stanley thought quickly about what he had come here to do. There was something else he wanted to do first though, but didn't know if he should. Why not?, he wondered. He deserved it. What could Spanfell do anyway? And with that little thought, Stanley took a quick step forward and gave Spanfell a hard right jab, just to the left side of his nose.

Spanfell staggered back, his hands to his face. “Oh, Jesus!” he said. He pulled his hands away slightly to reveal a great deal of blood, dripping from his nose. “You little bastard!” And he lunged at Stanley.

Stanley stepped aside, easily avoiding the attack. Spanfell stumbled past him and Stanley wrapped his arm around Spanfell's neck from behind in a kind of headlock, pulled him inside the apartment and threw him to the floor. The door slid closed automatically, giving the two men privacy. Stanley stood over Spanfell in triumph. He smiled down on him, and said, “I have a job opportunity for you.”

”What?” Spanfell said, still lying on the floor, still holding in the blood from his nose with his hands.

”Sareena tells me you need a job for some client of yours. I happen to know of an opening. I can get this guy in, if you're willing to do something for me.”

Spanfell staggered to his feet and moved away from Stanley. He went to the sink in the kitchen and washed the blood from his face. “What the hell are you trying to pull here buddy?” he said.

”I'm not pulling anything. We need people to help clear off all of the equipment from my ship. We're short handed and I heard you had someone looking for a job. It seems to me like it's perfect.”

Spanfell looked across the room at Stanley. “You hit me,” he said.

”You hit me too.”

”You deserved it.”

”So did you.”

”What are you trying to do here?” Spanfell asked.

”I'm trying to give you a hand. I want to help you out.”

”No you don't. You just want to get at my daughter.”

”I've already gotten at her. This has nothing to do with her. Nothing you say or do could change what is happening between us. What I am doing here, is trying to offer you something in return. You can take it or leave it. I suggest you take it because if you don't, you'll still need to be out looking for work and there's no guarantee that you could find this guy anything. Whether you take my offer or not, it won't change anything between me and your daughter. That's something you will need to learn to accept.”

There was a time of silence. Spanfell wiped more blood off his face and said, “This does not mean that we're friends now you understand.”

”I understand.”

”I still don't approve of you and Sareena.”

”I know.”

”You're too old for her.”

”That doesn't matter.”

”All right,” Spanfell said. “Let's go give this guy his job.”

______   ______   ______

Tyson was nearly in tears as he sat alone in his motel room. He was now completely out of money. He had spent it all, just living here. Station life was expensive. That was something he had not planned for. Now, he was without options. In another three days he would be kicked out of the motel, and would be forced to roam the station, homeless, looking for work. Eventually he would be picked up by the police and they would most definitely find out about what he had done. It was over. You can't hide from the world unless you have a good supply of cash to do it with, and he had none. He would have to turn himself in. That was his only option left. Coming here had been a grave mistake. Possibly the worst mistake of his life–besides switching off the auto drive.

The door bell rang. Tyson checked himself and got up to answer it. Standing just outside was Spanfell with a man Tyson did not recognize. They seemed to be smiling. “I found you something,” Spanfell said.

Tyson felt a surge of joy rising from within him. A job? A real job?, he thought.

”This is your new boss,” Spanfell said, indicating the man next to him. “This is Stanley Peterman.”

Tyson resisted the urge to grab Stanley in a tight embrace and smother him with kisses. “Hello,” he said. “I'm Tyson. Pleased to meet you.”

Tyson and Stanley shook hands.

”What exactly is it that I'll be doing?” Tyson asked

”Have you heard of the Galaxy Four , interstellar space craft that has been docked here?”

”No,” Tyson said.

”Well, it's here, and we need people to help get it ready for it's next voyage. You see, we don't have any androids programmed for work on this particular type of craft. Therefore, we need human workers. Do you think you can help us out?”

”Oh, yes. Does it pay well?”

”Minimum wage. It's only a temporary job, of course. It should take about a month and a half before we're finished, so you should have a job for about that long.”

”Great. When do I start?”

”Right now.”

”Let's go.”

______   ______   ______

This is it, Sareena told herself. It has to be now. Let's tell him and get it over with.

She opened the door to her home. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table. He seemed to be smiling. Buono.

”Hello,” he said happily.

”Hey.”

She went back to her room and dropped her school bag on the floor and came back out. She sat down at the table, across from her father. He didn't pay much attention to her at first. He was eating a bowl of soup.

”I need to talk to you,” she said.

”Oh, what about?”

She thought about what the best way was to approach this, and finally decided to just say it. It probably wouldn't help much to tell him craftily. The meaning would be the same anyway. “Stanley is taking me down to the planet for awhile. We're leaving next week. You don't have to worry; I'm coming back. It's just a little vacation.”

She saw his smile fade into a deep glare. “You're leaving me?”

”Only for a little while,” she said.

He glared at her. The spoon he had been holding, dropped from his hand and clattered on the table top. He got up, threw his chair back, glared at her for another moment, then stormed out of the room. She heard him slam his fist into the door activator in the back bedroom.

She sighed. Was it really worth it to go back there and try to talk to him? No, she decided. Let him calm down first. I don't care anymore, she thought. Let him be like this. I'll just leave with Stanley. Forget about Spanfell. I'll just leave and never come back. I don't need him.

But how could she do that? This was her home, the only place she had ever known. How could she just leave without a second thought? It wasn't Spanfell that she was reluctant to abandon so much as it was the place, Austin Station. She had been here for so long that no other place could possibly feel like home.

But if she ever wanted to come back here, she would have to make peace with her father. She knew that was something she had to do or she would never feel comfortable visiting. He was just as much a part of this place as anything else.

But not now. Not right now.

She stood up slowly, and went to the front door. She glanced back. He was still locked in his bedroom.  And with that, she turned and walked out and headed towards Stanley's place on the other side of the Station.

Capitolo 5

           As far as Tyson could see, the job was working out fairly well. It consisted mostly of him pushing carts, piled with boxes of supplies, on and off the huge spacecraft. His job would vary from day to day. He would move around the ship, organizing the supplies needed for the Galaxy Four’s next voyage or removing supplies left over from the last one. He rarely had the same supervisor two days in a row, but everyone seemed impressed by his work performance. Growing up with Earth's gravity had given him more strength than most of the other workers and he was able to put them all to shame with his lifting ability.

The one problem with the job, however was that it was only temporary. In a month and a half, Tyson would have to be out again, looking for work, and this time he would have to do it himself. He had already paid off Spanfell and was no longer using his services. Tyson worried about what was to come, whether or not he would be able to find permanent employment. He still had not settled completely into station life, but he was getting used to it.

It was now more than a week since that night when he had had so much to drink and unintentionally run down that woman. He still thought about her all the time, but now, the pain in his stomach was gone. He was surprised at how quickly he seemed to get over accidentally killing someone. He was beginning to believe that he would never be caught. It's strange, he thought. You kill someone one day, then a week later you've forgotten all about it.

But he hadn't forgotten it. He only thought he had, wished he had. He kept seeing himself, in her place, standing in the middle of the road, watching as some unknown vehicle plowed into him.

Anathene was like an old girlfriend to him. That's how he thought of her. He felt as if he had known her intimately, and somehow hurt her and she had left him forever. Gone forever, but still alive. There was nothing he could do now. He couldn't change how things were. He could only change how he thought.

He knew he wasn't thinking clearly, but he couldn't find anything to do about that. He needed to get away. Farther. Leave everything behind. Not only Earth, but civilization entirely. Maybe then, he could finally be free of Anathene Ravanis, the girl that haunted his mind, day and night.

One day, as he was riding a gliding sidewalk to work, he stopped to look out a large picture window that was set into the side of one small corridor. He looked out at the stars, glittering the sky, wondering which one the Galaxy Four would be visiting on it's next trip. The perfect escape, he thought. He wondered if it would be possible to somehow sneak aboard the starship before it's departure and travel with it to that unknown solar system. He wondered what they would do with him if he somehow succeeded. Would they turn back and make him get off again or would they keep going, allowing him to tag along? He figured they would keep going. It was probably tremendously expensive to send a ship into light speed and they wouldn't wish to waste so much fuel for just one stowaway. They would be forced to deal with his presence.

But was it a good idea? Twelve years he would be gone. He thought, maybe, that would be going a little too far. And when he got back, he would almost certainly be charged with stowing away and they would probably be able to find out about the death of Anathene and would probably charge him with that. But that would be twelve years from now. That's nearly an eternity, he thought.

As he turned to continue on his way toward the docking bay where he worked, he began to formulate a plan.

______   ______   ______

”Why don't you show me your ship?” Sareena said to Stanley.

The two were sitting at a table in the cafe where they had met. They had just finished their evening meal and were getting ready to leave.

”You want to see it?” asked Stanley.

”It was your home for seven years, wasn't it? I feel as though I should at least see it once before it's gone. I want to know what it was like for you.”

”All right,” he said. “Right now?”

”Good a time as any,” she replied.

           They arrived at the docking bay and Stanley proceeded to show Sareena all over the huge starship. They went first to his quarters and to the meeting hall where he had watched the first pictures of Earth coming in, only a couple weeks earlier. He showed her a few of the storage areas and cafeterias. She seemed to be fairly interested in it all, but he wasn't. It was all so familiar to him that it was nearly boring. He had spent so long here, but now that he was back in the middle of a huge civilization, it seemed as if those seven years had slipped by in a matter of hours.

As they were leaving again, they ran into Tyson. “Oh, hello, Mister Peterman,” he said.

”Please: Stanley.”

”I'd like to thank you again for getting me this job.”

”It was no problem.” Stanley looked down at Tyson and noticed he was carrying a blanket and pillow under one arm and a flashlight and paperback novel in the other hand. But they were in the food storage area. Why would he be taking those things here? Stanley shrugged off the question, assuming Tyson had some logical reason.

”I'd like to introduce you to Sareena,” Stanley said.

”Hello,” said Tyson. “You're Spanfell's daughter, correct?”

”That's right,” Sareena replied.

”He talks a lot about you.”

She smiled. “I'm sure he does.”

”Well I really ought to get back to work,” Tyson said. “I guess I'll see you later.”

”Actually, you probably won't,” Stanley said. “We're leaving for Earth in two days.”

”'We'?”

”Yeah, Sareena and I,” replied Stanley, placing a hand on her shoulder.

”All right then, I guess I should say, have a nice life–both of you.”

And they departed. Stanley looked over his shoulder once at Tyson and thought that he sensed something not quite right about the man, but he quickly forgot all about it as he walked out of the ship, his arm around Sareena's shoulders.

Chapter 6

Spanfell saw his daughter coming closer. She was carrying boxes of luggage.

”You're here,” she said when she got to where he stood. “I didn't think you'd come.”

”I had to see you off,” he replied. “I couldn't just let you leave like this, without saying goodbye.”

”Well, I'm glad you came. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving you without letting you know.”

”Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?”

”No, you can't,” she said. “I've made up my mind. It's my decision.”

”You're coming back right?”

”Of course I am.”

”When?”

”I don't know. A couple weeks. Months maybe. It depends on how I like Earth. But I will come back. I promise you, I will return. You know I wouldn't leave you for good. I couldn't do that to you.”

He smiled at her, looked into her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

But he actually didn't. He did not know if she was ever coming back. He had lived with her for long enough that he knew she could lie right to his face, and did often. He hoped to God that she would return, but her promise did not convince him of that.

”I've got to go check in my baggage now,” she said. “Be back in a second.” She hurried off, lugging her bags along with her.

A few seconds later, Stanley showed up. “You're here,” he said, looking a little nervous.

”Of course. I couldn't let you two leave without saying good-bye.”

”Does this mean you're okay with all this?”

”No, of course not. But at least I know you a little. I know you'll take good care of my daughter.” The two men stared at each other for a moment. “You will, won't you?” Spanfell added.

Stanley shook his head. “No, I won't,” he said. “I think she can take care of herself. You should be trusting in her, not me. She's old enough to make her own decisions.”

Spanfell considered that. He smiled. “Maybe I should try thinking that way.”

A couple minutes later, Sareena returned, empty handed. “Are you all ready to go?” she asked Stanley.

”Yes, I am,” he replied.

The three sat down on a nearby bench in the waiting room of the docking bay, and waited for the boarding call that would announce Sareena and Stanley's shuttle.

           When the call finally came, neither Stanley or Sareena immediately got up to leave. After a few moments, Stanley stood and said, “I think I'll go find our seats. You can catch up with me.” He turned to Spanfell. “It's been nice knowing you,” he said, holding out his hand.

Spanfell took it. “You too.”

Stanley walked off, following the small crowd of people boarding the shuttle.

”I guess this is good-bye,” Spanfell said.

”Yeah, I suppose it is,” Sareena replied. “I'll be back before you know it.”

He hesitated in his response. “I know you will.”

”I'll miss you,” she said. “You'll call me right?”

Si mise a ridere. “Do you have any idea how expensive a call like that would be?”

”But you will won't you?”

”Of course I will.”

”All right then,” she said. “Good-bye”

”Bye.”

He watched her walk off, following the continuing crowd of people, heading towards the shuttle that would take her down to Earth and out of his life. After a while, he moved to a window to watch the departure. A long wait, and he finally heard the docking clamps disengage and he saw the little shuttle emerge from it's place in the side of the station. It moved quickly away and was soon out of sight.

Turning to leave, he noticed a tall, attractive, blond woman had been standing next to him, also watching the departure. He looked around. There was no one else in their immediate vicinity. What the hell, he thought.

He looked at her and said, “Somebody you know on the shuttle?”

She looked at him. “My parents. They were here visiting.”

”Did they like station life?”

She smiled. “They liked being able to jump higher than they could on Earth.”

Spanfell laughed. “That's always the first thing everyone notices about this place.”

She nodded. “That's probably true,” she said and turned back to look out the window.

”So are you married?”

She looked back at him and cocked her head, looking a little stunned. "Cosa?"

He gave her an inquisitive look.

Laughing, she looked down at the floor, then back up at him. “No, I'm not,” she replied.

”So are you free for dinner tonight?”

She put her hand to her face. “I don't believe this,” she said. “You're trying to pick me up.”

”I'm making the attempt,” Spanfell replied.

She shook her head. “No, I don't have any plans for dinner.”

”Would you like to eat with me tonight?”

She nodded. “Yeah, sure. I'd love to.”

”I'm Spanfell.”

”Kelsey,” she said.

They turned for a moment, and looked out the window again. “So who was it that you knew on that shuttle?” Kelsey asked.

”My daughter.”

”She going on vacation?”

”She's going home,” he said.

______   ______   ______

The box he chose was a large gray plastic container about the length of a long coffin, but nearly three times as wide as an average coffin. That would provide him with enough room to move around comfortably. Tyson knew he would need to spend at least two and a half weeks in that box.

It was his last day of work. He got his final paycheck transferred to his account and said a few good-byes to his coworkers and went out, looking as though he was leaving the ship, but as soon as no one was looking, he turned back and headed quickly but quietly down the halls toward the food storage area. No one saw him.

He reached the door to the storage area. His anxiety rose as he placed his hand on the security panel. The door slid open and Tyson was relieved that they had not yet taken away his access.

The narrow aisleway was lined on either side with myriad forms of containers, stacked high to the ceiling which was nearly ten meters to the top. Creeping slowly, he found the section that held his selected container. There was a small ladder just to the right of the stack of coffin sized boxes. He began climbing it. His, was the third from the top. He thought now that perhaps he should have chosen the one at the very top, since he wanted to be as far away from anyone that might pass by as possible, but it was too late now. The top container was already stuffed full of–Tyson believed–crackers.

           Opening the door on the side of the container, Tyson peered inside. His stash of stuff was still there. His blanket and pillow; reading material and flashlight; scale, and of course, his three week supply of food and water. He crawled in and closed the door behind him.

Darkness.

He picked up his flashlight and flipped it on. The light illuminated his surroundings very well. He read the little readout on the side of the flashlight. It had three hundred hours worth of battery left. Perfetto. Tyson did some calculation in his head and decided that he should keep the light turned off approximately half of the time, in order to conserve the energy and make it last for the duration of the time he would be in here. He didn't think the light would cause him any sort of problem since the hall outside was always brightly lit. It wouldn't tip anybody off to his presence.

Tyson sat cross legged in the middle of his new home, and set the scale he had brought, down on the floor. He weighed the first of the three novels he had brought along and recorded it's weight on the inside of it's front cover. He did this for the next two, concentrating hard, so he could get an exact reading, and recorded their weight on the inside covers. The only way he would be able to tell when the ship had left the station was when the gravity changed. It would probably be too slight for him to notice himself, without the aid of equipment. When the gravity changed, he knew it would be less than forty hours before they were completely out of the solar system and heading at full speed, towards the unknown destination.

It had been nearly three days since he had slept, not because of his anxiety about attempting something like this but because he hadn't allowed himself to sleep. He wanted to be able to rest as much as possible while in the crate. Adjusting his position, he laid his head on his pillow, wrapped the blanket around him, switched off the light and fell instantly into a deep sleep.

Chapter 7

The gravity had changed nearly two days ago. It was time to leave the crate. Taking a deep breath, Tyson kicked open the door, and crawled out. He grasped hold of the ladder to his left and climbed down.

It was like coming out of a cocoon. He was changed somehow, different, metamorphosized. He was starting a new life. Everything looked different to him for some reason even though nothing had actually changed. But in fact it had changed. The ship was no longer docked at Austin Station but was now traveling at some unimaginable speed towards some unimaginable destination. He looked around at his new surroundings and thought, I've made it. I finally escaped. Una volta per tutte.

Tyson quickly left the storeroom, anxious to look over the ship.

At first, nobody he met seemed to pay much attention to him. They treated him as if he was just a part of the crew. Some gave friendly little nods or smiles. Tyson was beginning to think, after a while, that he would simply be able to blend in and nobody would ever find out that he wasn't supposed to be here.

Eventually he found himself entering one of the ships gardens. Somebody approached him. A large, clean shaven man. “Hello,” the man said, giving Tyson an odd sort of confused look. “Who would you be?” he asked.

”My name is Tyson.”

”Tyson? I don't remember anyone by that name on the crew roster. In fact, have I ever seen you before?”

Tyson shrugged.

”Who are you.”

”I told you.”

”What's your job here?”

”Don't have one.”

”You don't have one? You have to have one. Everyone has to have a job here.”

”I was loading some crates before.”

”You're not part of the crew, are you?”

”Nope.”

”Who are you?”

”I told you. Who are you?”

”I'm the captain. You're a stowaway, aren't you?”

”Yup.”

”Oh my God. Do you have any idea what you have done to yourself?”

”Pretty good idea,” Tyson replied.

”Why the hell would you want to stow away on this ship? What kind of an idiot are you?”

”An idiot who wanted to leave the world behind.”

”Yeah, well I guess you've certainly done that now haven't you? Didn't you think of all you're leaving behind. You're never going home, do you realize that?”

”What never? Twelve years isn't so long.”

”Twelve years?” the captain said.

”Twelve years till we come back home.”

”Who told you that?”

Tyson paused for a moment. “Stanley Peterman.”

The captain looked surprised. “You know Stanley?”

”Yes.”

”What exactly did he tell you about this trip?”

”He said it was going to take approximately twelve years. His trip took seven. This trip is going a little farther, so it's going to take twelve.”

”Wrong.”

”What?” Tyson replied.

”You're friend, Stan, was mistaken.”

”What?”

”You're not going home.”

”What?”

”This journey isn't twelve years long. It's as long as we make it. Our destination in unknown. We will go until we find an inhabitable planet somewhere out there, then we will stop. We won't be going back. Not ever. And we can't turn back just for you.”

Oh, my God, Tyson thought. What have I gotten myself into?

”It looks like you just made a life changing decision, there buddy.”

”It was kind of a snap decision, I guess,” said Tyson.

”A snap decision can still change your life forever.”

”I know all about that,” Tyson said.

The captain smiled and shook his head. “Come on,” he said. “I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew. They're going to have to meet you sooner or later.”

______   ______   ______

The glass door slid quietly open. Sareena pushed her walker in front of her, out onto the porch of Stanley's house. The cold suddenly hit her and a shiver ran down through her body. That was something she would have to get used to. On Earth, the temperature is not always perfect. She ignored the chill and stepped outside. She let the door close automatically behind her.

Staring up at the night sky, she saw the stars. They were much dimmer here, than they had been when she looked at them from Austin Station. It was the atmosphere between her and them that was making them appear less bright. She thought about that. But there was nothing solid between her and the stars. There was no glass window separating them. Niente. She felt as if she could reach out and touch one of them. Nothing would stop her.

She wondered if one of those tiny sparkles was actually the world she had left behind. Can you see the habitat worlds from the planet's surface? She liked to believe that you could. She liked to think that she could still look up at the night sky and see Austin Station there, somewhere.

She wasn't going home. She knew that now. How could she? She was happier now, than she had ever been in her life. Heavier–much, much heavier–so heavy, in fact, that she could barely stand straight without the help of her walker. But she knew that would pass. In a few months she would grow strong and be able to walk erect without any help at all.

Glancing at Stanley who was sound asleep in the bed, she thought about the life she had left behind. She thought about school, about her father, about what it had been like to wander aimlessly around the station. That world was gone, now. She missed it, but she knew that what lay ahead for her, here, would be much greater. Everything on this world was totally new, unexplored. There were myriad things to do, things to experience.

It had been a rash, snap decision to leave the station, but she knew it had been the right one. It was a decision made in an instant, but one that would affect her life more than any other decision she had ever made.

Quietly, she turned and walked back inside the house.

This was her home now.