PLANETBOUND

by D M Arnold

  “George ended up with what was left of the jewelry business, but he had no interest in running a retail shop. He sold the business to Jonathan for a pittance -- ten dollars or so.”

  Nyk stood, picked up the tea bowls and carried them to the sink. “I don't know what to say, Yasuko.”

  “I'll say it, then. Thank you, Nick, for entering our daughter's life -- for entering all our lives. I'm beginning to believe this will work out. Sukiko believes she's had a difficult time, particularly during her teen years. She doesn't know what a hard life is, and I've hoped to God she'd never have to learn.

  “Since you brought her home from Wisconsin -- especially since you've been with us -- have been the best months we've had with her since before she entered puberty. There were plenty of times I despaired having anything like what we have together now.”

  “Yasuko, I love being part of your family.”

  “You really are like a son to us.”

  He hugged her, kissed her forehead and gazed into her eyes. “Suki has your eyes...”

  “Am I interrupting something?” Suki walked into the kitchen.

  Yasuko pulled away from him. “Would you like some tea? There's a bit left.”

  “I came to fetch Nick -- if you're done with him.”

  “Good night, Yasuko. Thanks for the conversation.” Nyk held Suki's hand and ascended the stairs. “How did your call with Kronta go?”

  “Very interesting.”

  “What did you talk about?”

  “About Daphne and me -- how she influenced my life.” She headed into the bedroom and began undressing. “Nick -- What's going on?”

  “Some powerful forces are battling it out on the homeworld.”

  “Battling what out?”

  “My fate. I think our conversation with Daphne has given Illya the ammunition he needs. He said I can go to Floran and clear my name.”

  “Are you going?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Illya can't guarantee the outcome. Until he can -- I'm staying right here.”

  “You don't trust him?”

  “Him I trust. It's Tomyka Wells I don't. Illya thinks she's sent enforcers to abduct me.”

  “Oh, Nick! It would be like what happened to Daphne and Illya.”

  “I won't go peacefully -- and they'll have to find me first.” Nyk stretched out on the bed and Suki joined him. “I need to know one thing -- now that you've ... emerged from your tunnel. I need to know if you think you could manage Nicky on your own -- without me.”

  “I don't want to have to face that. I faced it once, I don't want to face it again.”

  “I need to know. I need to know how hard to push on this.”

  “Illya asked me the same question. I don't know the answer. I know I can with you.”

  * * *

  Nyk closed up the lab. He had developed the habit of varying his route home. This time he walked in the wrong direction from the house and awaited a city bus. He rode the bus several blocks, stepped off it and walked around the block. Then, he awaited another bus headed the other way.

  He walked up the steps and unlocked the front door. “It's Nick,” he called to the rear of the house.

  Suki ran toward him and threw her arms around him. “Dinner's ready.” She kissed his lips.

  He knelt beside her at the low dining table and sipped broth from a bowl. “Nick, a pair of young men called today while you were at the lab,” Yasuko said.

  “Oh? What did they look like?”

  “Blond, blue-eyed, clean-cut -- rather nondescript, I'd say.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I told them you weren't in.”

  “Did you give them the lab address?”

  “No.”

  “Good -- if they come back, please don't.”

  “As you wish, Nick.”

  “And, Yasuko -- don't let them into the house.”

  * * *

  Nyk lay holding Suki. “I'm worried about those men who showed up,” she said.

  “The other day I thought a pair fitting your mom's description might've been tailing me. I hopped a bus and lost them.”

  “Oh, Nick!”

  “I'll call Kronta in the morning and see if he knows anything about it. I'm being careful, korlyta.” He switched off the light, closed his eyes and attempted to will himself to sleep.

  Suki shaking him awakened him. “Nick -- Nick,” she whispered. “I heard a noise.” Nyk sat up in bed. “It sounded like footsteps on the stairs.” She stood and slipped into her robe.

  Nyk heard the apartment door open. He reached and touched the switch for the lamp on the bed stand. The bedroom door opened and Nyk turned on the light. Two young men stood in the doorway.

  “Nykkyo Kyhana -- zi dev kun ni ziven,” one of them said.

  “What? What did you say?”

  “Zi dev kun ni ziven.”

  “What language is that? Who are you?”

  Suki screamed, threw herself at one of the men and began pounding him with her fists. “No! No! You're not taking him!”

  The other man withdrew a short staff and touched her with it. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

  “Suki!” Nyk jumped to her. “What did you do to her?”

  The enforcer approached Nyk with the stunner. Nyk brought his fist down on the man's forearm and the stunner flew from his grasp and lodged under the bed.

  “Zi dev litir.” the first enforcer said to the second. “Zi dev lu brakebanda forig.” He pointed to the band on Nyk's forearm.

  Nyk lowered his head and jumped toward the first enforcer, butting him in the abdomen and knocking him to the floor. The second enforcer grabbed Nyk's arm and slipped his fingernails under the copper bracelet. Nyk broke free and jumped over the bed. He looked around the room for something to use as a weapon.

  The first enforcer regained his breath and leapt at Nyk, grabbing his forearm and bending it behind his back.

  “Zi dev liten.” the enforcer said. “Lu brakebanda...”

  The second enforcer pried the copper bracelet from Nyk's wrist and it fell to the floor. “Mi va xi scanfa util...”

  The enforcer slipped a credit-card sized device from his pocket and approached. Nyk struggled. The intruder grabbed Nyk's forearm and pressed the scanpad against it. He looked at it, pressed a control and held it to his own wrist. It chirped as it read the ID chip in his bone.

  The enforcer pressed it to Nyk's wrist again. “Li xi vir ni niserxi n'est. Zi dev li liberiv!” Nyk found himself free of the enforcers' grasp.

  He ran to Suki. She was beginning to regain consciousness. “She'll be all right,” the first enforcer said. “The effect is temporary.”

  “What is the meaning of this? Who are you? What language were you using?”

  “We -- we must've made a mistake,” the second enforcer said. “We're terribly sorry -- we'll be on our way.” He slipped the scanpad into his pocket. The two men headed for the door and were met by George. He was in a martial-arts crouch and brandishing the antique samurai short sword.

  “No one's leaving. You make one move toward this door, and I'll cut you. I'll slit your throats.” Nyk heard a siren approach and more footsteps climbing the steps. A pair of NYPD officers entered the apartment.

  Suki sat on the floor holding her head. “All right, what happened?” one cop asked.

  “These men broke into our house and assaulted my daughter and her fiancé,” George said.

  “It was a mistake,” one of the enforcers replied. “We had the wrong address -- we're terribly sorry.”

  The other cop looked at George. “Do you wish to file a complaint?”

  “This is my house. Yes, I'll file a complaint.”

  “We'll take 'em to the station. You can follow us.”

  Nyk saw one enforcer give the other a hand signal, then reach into his pocket and retrieve something. He popped it into his mouth, bit down and swallowed. “Oh, no you don't!” one cop said and
headed to him. The enforcer's eyes rolled back in his head, he collapsed on the floor and began convulsing. The other cop ran to him. He became still.

  “He's dead,” the first cop said.

  The remaining enforcer dashed down the stairs and out the front door. “Stop! Halt!” the first cop shouted and started after him with his service pistol pulled.

  “I'll call for support,” the second cop said. “Whoever they were, they must be plenty hot for one to put himself down so the other could escape.” He placed a call on his radio.

  The first cop returned. “He got away.” More sirens sounded in the background.

  * * *

  Nyk sat in the living room conferring with a NYPD detective. “No -- I've never seen them before. My fiancée's mother thinks they came to the house earlier, asking for me -- but I have no idea what they wanted.”

  “The medical examiner is looking over the body,” the detective said. “He swallowed some sort of poison, but nothing we can identify. We're sending samples to the state crime lab. So far -- no identification. He had nothing on him. He doesn't fit the description of any known subjects. We're running prints right now. The guy had no dental work. Not even a filling.” He showed a sketch to Nyk. “The only mark was a small tattoo on the right deltoid. Does this ring a bell?”

  “I'm sorry, lieutenant -- I can't help you.”

  “Do you know what they used to disable your fiancée?”

  “It must've been a stun-gun of some sort. It happened so fast...”

  “Thank you, Mr Kane.” He handed Nyk a business card. “If anything else comes up, feel free to contact me.”

  Nyk climbed the stairs to the apartment. “That was too close,” Suki said.

  He nodded, knelt to fetch the stunner from under the bed and concealed it in the cardboard carton on the top shelf of the closet. Nyk switched on the laptop computer. Soon he was looking at Kronta's image. “Illya -- a pair of enforcer goons came tonight.”

  “I told you Tomyka's desperate. What happened?”

  “They weren't successful.”

  “Obviously.”

  “One's dead -- he had a pill or something.”

  “Enforcers always travel in pairs. Before an assignment they draw lots -- one carries the technology and the other carries the poison pill. In the event they're discovered the one with the pill sacrifices himself so the other can get away.”

  “He left in such a hurry he forgot his stunner.”

  Kronta's eyes widened. “Where is it now?”

  “I have it.”

  “If he had permitted our technology to fall into the hands of Earth authorities -- I don't know what we'd do.” Kronta shook his head.

  “Tell Tomyka the stunner is secure.”

  Kronta smiled. “It's not my role to help my opposition. I'll let her worry about it for a while. That enforcer will pay for botching the job -- and Tomyka will pay with him.”

  “Will he return?”

  “No. He's headed here, and he'll never return to Earth. The death of an enforcer won't be welcome news to the oversight committee. They'll be hard on Tomyka for engaging in such a dangerous gambit. I wish, though, you had considered my suggestion and returned here. This might have been avoided.”

  “How did they find me?”

  “Koichi's journal. He wrote his family has lived in the same house for over two hundred Earth years.”

  “Tomyka read the address in the journal and sent them here.”

  Kronta nodded. “Tomyka will use Koichi's records as they suit her. She's taking a fall, Nyk, and she'll fall hard. Please -- come to the homeworld and put an end to this madness.” The vidphone session went dark.

  Suki put her hand on his shoulder and he jumped. “I'm sorry. This has me rattled.”

  “Me, too.”

  “The one who died was married and might've had a family.” Nyk shuddered. “Kronta said Tomyka would do foolish things. I had no idea how foolish.”

  “What will you do?”

  “Kronta wants me to return home and stand before the committee to clear my name.”

  “Must you in person?”

  “Yes -- under Floran law, a default is by definition an admission of guilt. I can stay here, but I'd worry -- not so much for me, but for you and Nicky.”

  “If you go, for how long?”

  “Kronta can't give me a guarantee. He says it's a near certainty I'd be reinstated with full privileges, but he can't guarantee it.”

  “What do you think you should do?”

  “I don't know...”

  “I do. You must go. Nick -- you love your people and you love the Agency. You won't be whole or happy doing anything else. Besides -- if you're reinstated, perhaps I'd have a chance to see your beautiful world again.”

  He nodded. “I'll call Kronta and make arrangements. I'd have to fly to Milwaukee and take the shuttlecar. What'll we tell your folks?”

  15 -- Cursed With Knowledge

  Nyk sat at the breakfast table. “That was quite the excitement last night,” George said.

  “Nick, what was it all about?” Yasuko asked.

  “I don't know how to tell you. I don't know where to begin. I do know what those men wanted -- me.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “When I was detained before Nicky was born -- I was out of the country and charged with a crime -- one I did not commit.”

  “You? What crime?”

  “Espionage -- interfering with a government agency. I escaped. Those were alien agents attempting to abduct me.”

  “I thought it must've been something like that,” Yasuko replied. “It's like that fellow who was detained by the Russians!”

  “Yes,” George added. “You try to expand your business into a foreign country and these are the thanks you get.”

  “It's all terribly sensitive,” Nyk continued. “Those agents hadn't counted on George's fortitude.” Nyk looked toward Suki's father. “When I first met you, I told your daughter I thought, two hundred years ago, you would have made a good samurai.”

  George grinned. “I would've cut them, too. A man's home is his castle.”

  “My God!” Yasuko gasped. “I had no idea such could happen in this day and age.”

  “I've been in contact with the advocate who helped me during my captivity. He tells me if I return there, voluntarily, I can clear my name. I was willing to remain here, figuring I was safe. But, after last night, I worry for your safety -- and for Suki's and Nicky's. She and I have talked about it. I'm making travel arrangements now and will leave in two days.”

  “Will you be back?” Yasuko asked.

  “I've been told it's nearly a certainty, but I haven't been given a guarantee. Even if this isn't on the level -- I will return. Nothing can keep me from Suki -- or you -- forever. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.”

  Yasuko looked toward Suki. “Are you in agreement?”

  “I'm not happy about it, but I agree. Nicky and I will be fine until Nick's return.”

  * * *

  Nyk held Suki against him. “Tomorrow I make transit. If I believe Kronta, I leave Earth a fugitive and return free and with my privileges restored.”

  “Will you see Andra?”

  “I don't know. I hope so. I may spend a day or two in Sudal while my affairs are sorted out.”

  “If you see her -- share with her some of the love we've made. And Nick -- tell her how you love her.”

  * * *

  Nyk pulled the shuttlecar into the relay station shuttlebay. The bay repressurized and the pressure door opened. He stepped into the workroom. “Hello?” The station was deserted. He headed for decontamination and then to the wardroom where he placed his personal effects into his locker. His eye caught sight of the stasis capsule containing his ID chip. He carried it to the workshop and took a razor knife. With its point he penetrated the skin at the base of his thumb and slid the chip into the cut. Healing salve closed the wound and he tested the chip on a station vidisplay's scan
pad.

  A vessel docked with a thud. A young man in tunic and xarpa stepped through the docking tunnel. He was wearing insignia identifying him as an Internal Affairs agent. Nyk recognized him as the enforcer who had run from the house.

  “Nykkyo Kyhana?” Nyk nodded. He held out a scanpad. “Please identify yourself,” he said with narrowed eyes. Nyk pressed his wrist to the scanpad and it chirped. The enforcer looked at it. “We'll be underway shortly.”

  A pair of technicians stepped through the tunnel and into the shuttlebay. “What're they doing?” Nyk asked.

  “The shuttlecar is overdue for service. We're taking it in. Please follow me.” He gestured toward the docking tunnel.

  “Wait a moment.” Nyk headed to the wardroom and removed a device from his effects locker. “Here,” he said as he handed it to the enforcer. “You left your stunner on Earth.”

  The agent tucked the device into his xarpa. Nyk followed him into a tender shuttle. The agent folded down a pair of seats along the rear bulkhead. Nyk sat in one and fastened a safety harness. “I'm sorry about your partner.”

  The officer glanced at him. “We accept the risks.”

  The spacecraft undocked and the viewport shutters closed. A white indicator signaled the upcoming warp jumps. A pair of jolts rocked the vessel and the viewports opened. Nyk looked down upon his indigo homeworld. He felt the forces of re-entry and saw an orange glow through the viewports as the shuttle plowed into Floran's upper atmosphere. The craft extended wings and began flying toward Floran City.

  Nyk watched as the spacecraft lost altitude and made a final approach to the shuttleport. It taxied to a maintenance terminal. Nyk unbuckled his safety belt. “Please wait here,” the agent told him.

  Illya Kronta boarded the craft and conferred with the agent. He approached Nyk. “Welcome home. We have someone eager to see you. Follow me.”

  Nyk followed Kronta into the maintenance hanger and through corridors and tunnels to the arrivals terminal. He spied a tall woman with oat-straw white hair. His eyes met hers of the palest blue. “Andra!”