by John Bluck
She leaned closer to him and said, "Many do. Some have a girlfriend but not a wife. I need to explain how our society works. It's unlike yours."
"What are the main things that are different?" he asked as he reached out for her hand. He and Lena were the first of the crew to ascend the steps. Many crewmembers followed, but they were far enough away so that Wilson and Lena could speak privately.
"The Great Leader makes the final decisions regarding our society," Lena said. "He's the heir of the first Great Leader who took office in the Global War. It was like your World War II. The Global War resulted in a planet-wide Sunevian government."
"So, is the Great Leader a dictator?" Wilson asked, slightly winded as they reached the third floor.
"Not according to our laws." She frowned. "Citizens elect him every eight years. He always gets more than ninety-five percent of the votes."
Wilson pushed open a door that led to an outside balcony. Below, hundreds of people and a few cyborgs carried placards and chanted loudly in Sunevian. Two men carried an effigy of the Great Leader, which hung from a pole like a scarecrow with a white wig and beard.
"What are they chanting?" Wilson asked in a strong voice.
"They're yelling, 'Down with the Great Leader,'" she said at full volume. "They're demanding equality for all intelligent beings, fair elections, and peace with the revolutionary government of Triod."
"How did they get into the spaceport?" Wilson asked, speaking loudly into Lena's ear.
"Officials don't have high security here because up to now people haven't dared to demonstrate like this."
The two men with the dummy of the Great Leader placed its tall carrying pole in a trash can and set the likeness of the old man on fire. The crowd screamed in delight.
"You're also a botanist, right?" he yelled.
"Yes, we companions have normal jobs so that if we become injured or are without a patron, we can be useful," she said in a loud voice. "But most women, whether they're wives or cloned females, are dutiful. They're resigned to the situation they're in, grateful that they have a nice place to live."
Crowd members pounded the tarmac in unison with heavy poles on which they had nailed their protest signs.
Wilson was irritated about the state of Sunevian society, and his face flushed. "Making women second class citizens is not right," he roared.
"I'm glad you feel that way," she said loudly. "I'm lonely, and I hope you still want me. In my culture we're expected to please men. Because of that I did what I thought you wanted, but I wanted it, too."
Police rushed the demonstrators from all sides. The lawmen tackled some protesters and secured their hands with plastic tie-wraps. The rest of the crowd ran away.
"You're my best friend here, Lena. You're smart and beautiful. I'm fortunate that we met, and I do want you, too." He hugged her.
She looked up from his embrace. "You're my friend as well, not just a lover. You're sort of like me because you remind me of a lone wolf," She clung to him, and they held each other for a long minute as a fresh breeze tossed her hair. He closed his eyes and held her closer.
"Do you think we have something going stronger than physical attraction and friendship?" she whispered.
"I don't know if it's love or not," he said. "It's too early to say."
"Your Inner One will tell you when the time comes," she said.
"What's the Inner One that you Sunevians sometimes talk about?" he asked.
"It's not a god. It's your sixth sense, your inner self that you must trust to tell you the truth and guide you along the best pathway on life's journey," she said. "We believe that you must have faith in your gut instincts in order to make the best decisions."
"It sounds sort of like an Eastern philosophy," he said. They stopped hugging and looked out across the spaceport in silence.
"Will you let me go with you to your office on Earth?" she asked. She was still close enough that he saw details in the hazel-green of her liquid eyes.
"That would be great," he said. "Do you think Raven will agree?"
"I think so. I'll ask," she said, and she winked. "I'll meet you in the transfer room at three."
"If you're allowed to go, you can pose as a staff member from the foreign company I am to visit."
"I'll suggest that thought to Raven," she said.
The loudspeaker on the balcony hummed. "Attention, crew, you may return to the ship as the demonstration is over," said Raven.
"Let's get back in. See you at three," she said.
His new bond with Lena was a turning point. It was even more significant to him than the fact that he had been the first person from Earth to travel from one dimension to another.
Chapter 9 – A Secret Sabbatical
"I'm happy to let Lena go with you to Earth, Bill," said Raven. "I had planned to send someone with you in any case. She'll help you find your way back to the ship with the ship finder."
"Thanks," Wilson said. He had met Raven and Lena outside the transfer room for his jump to Metro General Hospital in San Ramon, California.
"I appreciate it, too, Richard," Lena said. "I always like an excuse to visit Earth."
"The pleasure is mine, Lena," Raven said. "Have a good time."
Lena smiled and turned to Wilson. "Here's the equipment we'll carry with us." She opened a storage cabinet.
She took two sets of lapel TV cameras, ship finders, and transfer capes out and helped him put on his equipment. He jammed the ship finder and the folded, ultra-thin transfer cape in his hip pocket.
"Come on," she said as she opened the transfer room door. He followed.
Raven wants to make sure I return, Wilson reasoned. He must know she's involved with me.
"You just need to sit down and buckle in," said Lena. "The control room technician will handle our jump."
Wilson sat in a brown leather flight chair, sank into it, and fastened the seatbelt. "I wish I had a chair as comfortable as this in my apartment in San Ramon," he said.
Lena sat and snapped her seatbelt buckle shut. "You'll have to make one more adjustment," she said. "Pull the lever on the side of your chair, and move your seat flat like a bed. In the jump, your body will shift so you'll be standing when we arrive on Earth."
He pulled the lever, and the chair snapped into a recliner position. He felt edgy because this would be the first jump in which he would be conscious.
"Jumps will become routine for you after a couple of times," Lena said.
An operator sat in a glassed-in control room inside the transfer center. "If you are ready, we'll begin the jump to Earth," he said over an intercom.
"Ready," said Lena. She smiled at Bill and eased her chair into a horizontal position.
The intercom spewed static, but it stopped when the operator's voice began the countdown, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one . . . jump has begun."
Wilson felt a tremor that grew second by second and then lessened. The shaking alarmed him, but Lena had told him what to expect. It was as if he were in a dream. He saw lights spin on a deep black background, and then he thought he floated and spiraled through the darkness of space. As the jump ended, his surroundings glowed bright until he found himself upright next to Lena in the English garden behind Metro General Hospital in San Ramon.
Because of the time gap between dimensions, it was eleven o'clock in the morning on April 11.
"How do you feel?" Lena asked.
"Good now," Wilson said. "During the jump it felt like I was riding a roller coaster through space."
He glanced at the bright green leaves of the garden, which were bathed in warm sunshine. As Lena stepped out of the shade along the stone walkway, her lime green miniskirt glowed vividly in the intense sunlight.
"In jumps it's common to think you're flying," she said. She took a step towards Wilson, held his hand, and squeezed it. He felt good.
"We should check in with my secretary, Mona Parker, before noon. She goes to lunch then."
/> Lena reached over to his button TV camera and shut it off. "No point in having the ship's crew watching our every move and listening in," she said. "I usually turn on the communicator only in critical situations."
"That seems logical," Wilson said.
Lena's hazel green eyes sparkled. "Okay, Doctor," she said. "Lead the way."
The pair retraced their steps from a week prior to the rear door of the hospital. They arrived at his secretary's room, which was next to his office, not far from the hospital's main entrance.
He opened the area's glass door for Lena. Mona Parker sat behind a walnut desk, which was separated from the rest of the secretarial pool by partitions. As Wilson looked at her with fresh eyes, he was struck by how good looking she was. She wore black rimmed glasses, which went well with her bleached blond hair. Images of her recent thirtieth birthday party flashed unexpectedly through his mind.
"Dr. Wilson, what a surprise!" she said, snapping him out of his reverie. She stood up, came forward, and grinned. "I thought you'd still be at home on a quiet vacation before your trip to Sweden."
"My plans changed. I e-mailed you a message."
"Oh? I didn't see your message."
"Yesterday a major foreign research firm asked me to travel to their plant to look over new genomic research. My trip to Sweden needs to be delayed," Wilson said. "Maybe I hit 'save' instead of 'send. '" He smiled.
"How long before you go on the new trip?" Mona asked. "I need to work the changes after lunch."
"You don't have to worry because the firm arranged my travel. I leave tomorrow," he said. "I'll be back in three months, so delay the Swedes for at least three months, and put off my other two trips."
"I'll get right to it and e-mail everybody about what's happened," Mona said.
"Thanks," he said. "But before you do that, let me introduce you to my new friend, Lena."
"How do you, Lena?" Mona asked. The women shook hands.
"Pleased to meet you," Lena said in her Scandinavian-like accent.
"Likewise," Mona said.
"Lena's from Denmark," said Wilson. "She works for the foreign research firm."
Mona glimpsed at Wilson. "For my e-mail to co-workers can you give me more detail about the new trip?"
"Sorry, I have to be secretive," Wilson said. "I've signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company, which will remain nameless for now. I can't even give you my itinerary. But you can let everyone know that what I'll learn is proprietary and will be secret until the firm gives its okay for me to disclose facts."
"Will the company let you put some of that material in your post-sabbatical report?" Mona asked.
"Yes," Wilson said.
"If you can, please send me new stuff for your report little by little, so it won't be such a big job just before the deadline," she said.
"As soon as I can, I'll send you the details," he said. "I'm lucky to have you."
"Thanks," she said. "I'll take care of everything. Don't worry, Doctor."
"You're the best," Wilson said, and he hugged her.
"Have a good time," Mona said. "See you when you get back."
"Nice to have met you," Lena said.
Mona waved as Wilson and Lena left. They went out of the back entrance of the hospital and slipped into the English garden. Using his mobile phone, Wilson called his mother and some of his friends to let them know he'd be on travel for an extended time doing research.
After Wilson finished making a half dozen calls, Lena turned on her ship finder. Green and red arrow lights on the device led them to the jump point.
"Let's step behind those tall bushes," she said. "Nobody will see us leave back there."
"Okay," he said. "Should we take out the transfer capes?"
"Yes," Lena replied. She opened her purse, took out a cellophane-thin cloak, and draped it over her head like children do when they pretend they are ghosts.
Wilson covered himself with his cape, and Lena signaled the dimension craft with her ship finder. He felt a tremor like he had felt in the jump from the ship to Earth. The light near him dimmed, and then his surroundings turned black. Points of light spun like shooting stars spiraling over the darkness around him.
As Wilson and Lena began their jump to the ship, two lovers came around the hedge to kiss.
"Look!" exclaimed a red-headed nurse. She pointed at two ghost-like figures that shimmered like a mirage and vanished. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah," said a young intern in hospital blue. "I wouldn't admit it to anyone. No one would believe it." Then he kissed the nurse.
Wilson and Lena arrived in the ship's transfer room. They remained in their flight chairs and dozed while the vessel began the two-hour jump to Sunev.
The craft's vibration jolted Wilson awake as it landed in First City. Lena pulled the lever on the side of her chair and moved it into a sitting position. Wilson did the same.
"I'll give you my best tour of First City tomorrow," she said. "You'll be amazed how different our capital is from your cities, just as I was astounded by yours."
"I can't wait," said Wilson. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stood.
Lena got up, kissed him, and then gave him a strong hug. "You're not just another man. You're much more to me. Maybe you'll have me tonight."
Chapter 10 – The Map
Lena released Wilson from her embrace as they stood in the ship's transfer room. It was six o'clock, dinner time on Sunev, so they went to the ship's cafeteria and ate sandwiches.
"I'm going to my cabin to take a bath. Then, if you wish, I'll watch TV with you tonight," she said. "Would it be okay if I were to knock on your door about ten? We can talk about the First City tour I promised you for tomorrow. Then, maybe we can do something more."
"I'd like that," Wilson said.
Lena grasped his hand and led him towards the doorway out of the cafeteria. "First City is our biggest metropolis. You'll see the large government buildings, museums, and the legislative houses that are the planet's center of power."
"I look forward to it."
Lena patted his hand, and her touch felt soft.
He reached into his jacket pocket and found something flat and smooth. He took out the plastic sheet that he had taken from Raven after he had been wounded in the park. Symbols and map-like lines were on the white sheet.
"What do you have?" Lena asked.
"I found it in Raven's pocket when I took his pistol to fight the cyborg in the park."
"It's a map," she said. "Raven must have used it to guide him. May I see it?
"Sure," said Wilson. He handed it to her, and she sat at a table near the cafeteria exit. He sat next to her.
"Raven was supposed to find wild flowers for me in the Sierras," she added. "He called it Gold Country."
She unfolded the map and spread it out on the table. As Wilson peered at the chart, he said, "Yes, it could show Gold Country. There's a range of mountains that runs north and south, and the x marks might indicate areas of interest."
The Sunevian writing on the map was as unreadable to Wilson as Chinese.
"It says the map is a copy that came from one of your museums. It shows the largest gold discoveries in California – Sutter's Mill and the Imperial Mine." She wrinkled her brow as she thought. "The notes on the side of the map refer to other charts that show Cripple Creek, Colorado; the Black Hills of the Dakotas; and the Yukon."
"How do you think he got it?" Wilson asked.
"He took video pictures at a museum on Earth, printed images from the video, and decided to look into the history of these places. He likes geology," she said. "He travels disguised as a tourist."
"He's fascinated with the California Gold Rush," Wilson said.
"History is an interest for both of us because similar resources and places are found on parallel worlds. But because of the quirks of history and the choices people make, history evolves in different ways on parallel planets," she said. "Triod, for example, is far behind both Sunev and Earth."
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"What made us fall behind you in nanotechnology and D-travel?"
"Your World War I and II and other conflicts sidetracked scientific and engineering research. Governments classified inventions as top secret. Some of these, if they had been made public, would have inspired more discoveries," she said.
"Did you have world wars?"
"We had a big war about the same time as your World War II, but the quick creation of atomic weapons by our side settled the conflict earlier than yours."
"Which side won in your world, the more democratic one or the one governed by a different system?"
"We can't say a similar alliance won or lost on our planet. We're organized in a different way than you are on Earth," she said. "When you learn more about us, you'll know what I mean."
Lena touched his hand, and he kissed her soft lips.
"See you soon, Bill," she said, as she took a half step back, still holding his hand. "I'll tell you something that will please you."
It must be sexual, he thought.
"See you at ten," Wilson said.
She smiled and left.
As Wilson walked back to his cabin, he wondered, was Raven on the trail of gold for personal gain? Wilson took a shower, turned on Sunevian TV, and fell asleep. He had a vivid dream in which Raven was a prospector, a placer miner, panning for gold near Sutter's Mill, where the prized metal was found in the mid-1800's. In his dream Wilson saw Raven dressed in gold miners' clothes. He wandered first in a park near the mill and later in the park's present-day museum. There he examined gold items exhibited behind glass. Suddenly, he smashed a display window, and took a handful of gold nuggets.
Raven drew a six-shooter from his holster and fired a warning shot as a museum attendant rushed forward, skidding to a stop like a tennis player. Raven ran away, as acrid gun smoke filled the building. Wilson saw a movement in a dark corner of the museum. Lena emerged from the shadows topless, and she beckoned him.
Chapter 11 – First City, Sunev's Capital
He splashed water on his face to wake up. There was a knock on his cabin door, and he opened it. Lena stood in the entryway, smiling. Her face was faultless without a hint of makeup and as unmarked as a perfect peach.
