Eclipses (v1.0), page 21
Shelley dampened all the alarms he felt inside, pushed them aside and filled the spaces with the excitement that was Beth, Beth then and Beth now. “You’re only partly right,” he said, moving from the console chair to sit on the bedside so that he could touch her cheek. “More than anything I wanted to see if you cared that I didn’t make love to you on the river. It was more exciting to wait and see if you’d come on your own than to arrange it in any way. There’s a romantic-fool side to this honest and upright citizen you see seated before you.”
“And there must be some of that same romantic foolishness in me, though I suspect you don’t approve of my kind of . : . citizenship.”
Shelley smoothed her blonde hair away from her cheek and saw streaks of silver at her temples. No one would ever notice when she grayed completely, for there seemed little difference in the two colors. “Beth, what happens when Aram … notices you again?”
Beth shrugged, and he thought he noticed her chin tremble.
“I guess I’ll leave that for you to deal with, except to ask that you tell me if it starts to hurt for any reason,” he said.
“Why?” she said.
“So I can hold you when you cry,” he said, holding her now against his chest. And would she hold him when he cried? His robe over her shoulders was silky, but not so pleasing as the smooth skin beneath.
“Shelley, I’m not going to cry, except with joy when you love me again.”
“Now?” he said, nibbling her earlobe and sliding the robe off her shoulder. “Or after you tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself for all these years?’’ For an answer he got a kiss, and felt her hands move steadily on him. Now, he thought happily, again, he realized with pleasure, again when he had never really believed there would be a first time. And afterwards there would be time to talk; at least, he hoped there would be time.
Chapter 20
Aram could hear Hilde’s shrill laughter beyond the orchard’s embankment, followed by a wail from three-year-old Marc. Aram smiled and pulled off his shirt, for he intended to join the two youngsters in their water sport and then sit on the beach with Beth until the sun turned his skin bright pink and the children were exhausted. He had missed his family, missed them while they were under his feet, racing down corridors and even sitting at the dinner table with him. He understood the reason for the past week, for Alexi had gone to the Empire borderlands to roust refugee squatters who had managed to evade Empire transportation details during the confusion that had prevailed when the very last shuttle had landed in the plains beyond Red Rocks. There should have been one shuttle; instead there were ten. And that was the end of it, for Aram could permit no more. The rest waited in the transports, sleeping, perhaps indefinitely. It was no wonder to him that he didn’t have time for his family while all that was going on, but it wasn’t only these past weeks, and not especially worse just because Alexi was away. It seemed to him that the Empire had required his assiduous attention for more than a year, starting right at the time Erik had run away. It got worse in the winter, just when the Empire usually became sluggish with cold … perhaps because he’d had to break in a new hardware man to replace Pola. Two, in fact, for the first one hadn’t worked out. The second, he had to admit, was almost as efficient as Pola. But today, nothing could compel him to give more time to Empire matters. He paused at the orchard’s edge to pick a few ripe apples, sacked them with his shirt and walked up the grassy mound.
Below him, splashing at the water’s edge, were Hilde and Marc, their plump bodies golden and glistening in the sunlight. Farther along the beach, Beth sat hugging her knees. There was a man sprawled at her side. Aram’s heart surged with adrenaline until he squinted and confirmed that the hulking form was Alexi, whose return Aram had not expected. Every man Beth looked at struck fear in Aram. But now, identifying the man as Alexi deliberately shunning the mansion offices made the fear give way to unexpected pleasure. The family could enjoy the afternoon together and, come evening, Alexi could tend his own duties, leaving Aram even more time with Beth and the younger children. Briefly, Aram wondered when he had come to lean on Alexi’s broad shoulders, or if there were simply more to do now. Shrugging, not caring about the answer, he walked down the embankment to his family.
He had half formulated a chiding comment about Alexi’s presence on the beach while knowing work awaited him when his shadow fell on mother and son, abruptly cutting off an intense exchange. As she looked up, Beth stifled a gasp and Alexi seemed embarrassed.
Their reaction took Aram aback. “Am I interrupting a private conversation?”
Beth’s blue eyes widened a bit, as if she were frightened. Aram looked at Alexi in alarm.
“No, not private. I’m glad you’re here. I was just telling Mother that I’ve found Erik.”
That was startling news, but not frightening … or was it? Aram sat down in the sand, touched Beth’s leg in place of a greeting kiss. “How is Erik?” he said carefully.
“Fine.”
Aram sighed, relieved, and patted Beth’s leg reassuringly. She had worried about the boy ever since Aram’s refusal to launch a search when he’d run away last year. She had seemed reluctant to mention Erik’s name in Aram’s presence, as if it were Aram’s feelings she worried about. He hoped Alexi’s news would ease the confusing tension. He wondered how he would be reacting if Alexi had brought news of Erik’s death, for that morbid thought—which he’d never dared mention to Beth—had occasionally nagged him. He pushed away the muse and asked Alexi, “How’s he doing?”
“Very well. When he left here he went to Red Rocks, apparently intending to leave the Empire with the refugees. Instead he took about thirty of them to Tarcota Springs Basin and started a vineyard and winery.”
Aram shook his head. “Vineyards have been tried before. The wine is always bitter … something to do with the soil or the barrels.”
“The ones who brought the seed spent years researching the problem back on Earth. They solved it, too. The product is superb!”
Aram couldn’t resist smiling, and Beth, who was watching Aram, smiled slowly, too, her eyes brightening as she spoke. “Alexi says the wine is better than Greatland apple cider.” “Irreverent upstart,” Aram said.
“Earth grapes are so much sweeter than ours. I sampled the hothouse produce and I assure you, it’s special. I was half-drunk almost every night that I spent with Erik because I couldn’t say no to just one more refill. They expect the sun-ripened harvest to produce an even finer quality.”
Aram couldn’t suppress his amusement. Erik had adroitly evaded labor and responsibility all of his life, yet Aram knew cultivating the soil for grapes required back-breaking work. “So Erik joined refugee squatters. Tell me, did he find honest work less painful than anything I’d ever asked him to do?” “He earned his calluses and found it rewarding,” Alexi said, “but you’ve not quite grasped the situation. The refugees are not squatters, they are colonists. Erik did not join them, they joined Erik. He financed the settlement with his birthright land grant and he made it work. He is the dynamism.”
“Colonists, eh?” Aram said. The word denoted rights and connoted quality that Aram immediately assimilated. Knowing he could not claim homesteaded land, Aram asked Alexi, “What of their water supply?”
“He built an earthen dam across Little Sister River, one as good as any I’ve seen.”
“He could hardly help but know how to build a good dam, coming from this family,” Aram said. “But Little Sister River’s headwaters are in the Empire.” If there was one thing Erik could do, it was to read the survey maps from the computer, if only to locate the newest monorail tracks that would carry him off to a new adventure.
Alexi looked at him easily. “He showed me our own projections. There are no plans to build dams upstream of him. Tarcota Springs is in the Western Slope foothills, the volcanic area just outside the Empire border.”
Aram had favored development in the eastern lands, which were less volatile. Erik would know that Aram would not change his plans just for spite. “What about power?”
“Independent of the Empire. He’s turning turbines with geyser steam. He’s got an engineer there who can make anything run. Even figured a good way of removing mineral contaminants.”
‘ ‘Transportation? ’ ’
“We’ve got them there,” Alexi said. “They could cross the riftlands and contract on the coast, but they’re practical. I made a profitable contract to run the monorail through their valley.”
Alexi was watching Aram for his reaction, wondering, no doubt, if Aram would have spited the colonists if he’d been on the scene. Aram smiled, nodding. “A winery, ha!” He leaned back, laying his head in Beth’s lap, feeling a delightful inner satisfaction. Alexi was a practical man and a tough bargainer. Brother or not, if the winery were anything less than good, Alexi would have postponed the monorail, thereby causing the venture to perish. Aram loved feeling pride in his sons welling up in his breast.
“Will he come home now?” It was Beth who asked.
Alexi didn’t answer.
Still feeling smug, Aram answered, “The first year can be precarious despite progress. He probably feels obligated to stay a while.” Aram chuckled. “I think the boy’s learned a lot.”
“Their position is solid. The operation is compact and efficient now, and this winter they will expand. I reviewed Erik’s specifications with him. He wanted them very explicit because he won’t be there to carry them out.”
“Then he is coming home!” Beth said happily. She massaged Aram’s temples with her fingertips.
Aram didn’t hear Alexi’s reply. He turned, squinting against sunlight and water reflections. Alexi was shaking his head, thoughtfully sifting sand. Aram frowned and said, “I think you’d better tell us everything.”
Alexi shook his head. “I can tell you about his vineyards and about using geyser steam to heat freon and generate electric power, about the hothouses and homes. I can even describe the many fine people Erik’s surrounded himself with, but I can’t tell you why Erik won’t come home. He tried to explain, but I just don’t understand.”
“Perhaps there is a woman?” Beth said tentatively.
“Yes, there is, but Megan’s not going with Erik, nor is she staying in the settlement. I’ve invited her to come here.” Aram and Beth stared at Alexi, deeply concerned.
Alexi’s fingers raked his hair. “No, I assure you. Little brother’s heart is not broken. Megan doesn’t belong in a pioneer settlement. She is beautiful, charming and loving— more. She used to be a dancer On Earth; in the settlement she’s another pair of hands. At liberty, she’ll be a wonderful surrogate. She’s so well-suited, I couldn’t refuse when she asked me for help.”
Beth’s brows raised. “I’m surprised an Earth woman would become a surrogate. There are disagreeable implications associated with similar Earth professions. She must be remarkable.”
Alexi nodded.
“Alexi, you still haven’t told us about Erik. Surely he knows we are eager to see him again,” Aram said.
“He’s eager to see everyone … except you, Father.” Aram’s pain was so deep that he was unable to speak. His head bowed and he blinked back tears.
“He spoke of your power, your Empire and of refusing to be ruled.”
“I’ve always recognized free will,” Aram said slowly, “even at the cost of one eye from my own son.”
“I only know he does not want the Empire, and since the Empire is your life, he will not return to your sphere of power.”
“He fears I could make him act against his better judgment?”
“Yes, that you would confine him.”
“Then, it isn’t me he fears, but himself. I have no power over him other than what he’s given me.” Aram sighed shakily, for he finally understood. He knew Alexi and Beth probably did not appreciate Erik’s predicament, for neither gave Aram power. None whatsoever. He wondered if they knew of their power over him. Did Erik? Erik’s ability to strike pain across a thousand kilometers was, indeed, giving the boy—man—great power. And Erik had given his father great power, too. So much that Erik had no alternative but to run away, or suffer and suffer …
Beth was talking in clipped, agitated sentences. “Erik’s a fool. Aram’s proud of the winery. He’s never begrudged success.”
Her eyes were flashing with fear, and Aram, knowing the fear was now for him and not for their son, took her hand. “He can’t come here, Beth.”
“Damnit, Aram, he’s our son! We can’t just forget him.” “I have not, nor will I ever, forbid him to come home. He can’t come. Don’t you understand?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t understand Erik’s selfish, self-centered attitude. I don’t understand a father who turns his back on his son.”
“Mother, it’s what he must do. Erik doesn’t want us to suffer. He’s going to see Pola. I contracted monorail passage to Research City for him—he hasn’t any credit left.”
Beth whirled on Alexi. “You shouldn’t have! What kind of success is this winery if he has no contracting power? You’re helping him run and nothing is solved by running!”
“Until he contracts their crops—which he’ll have no difficulty doing—he has no credit. It was a loan. Did you think I could bring him home by the scruff of his neck like a naughty puppy? I don’t approve of what he’s doing, but he’s simply not a child anymore.”
“He’s only seventeen!”
“He’s a man!” Alexi shouted.
Beth deliberately fixed her gaze on Hilde and Marc, refusing to look at Alexi or Aram. No one spoke, and Aram knew the silence would hang heaviest on Beth.
“I’m going to visit Pola next week,” she said defiantly.
“Good idea,” Aram said. “Take Hilde and Marc. They’ll want to see Erik, too.”
Beth looked at him, puzzled and still angry. “Just like that?”
Aram shrugged. “It’s an excellent solution—one I suspect Erik suggested to Alexi, just in case you didn’t think of it yourself. Now let’s go for a swim.” Aram unbuckled his shoes and tossed them.
Beth stood up with a spray of sand and walked toward Hilde and Marc while she untied her wraparound. Then, tossing it angrily, she stomped into the water. Usually Beth would stand knee-deep and trickle water over her back and splash her arms, gently accustoming herself to the cold. But now she took a running dive, flattened out, and her naked torso smacked.
“Ouch,” Alexi said.
Aram retrieved Beth’s wrap, folded it and placed it atop his pants. “She needs to see him. She’ll recognize the transition from child to adult and that will ease her anxieties. But will she understand the other?”
“I just spent a week with him and I don’t understand,” said Alexi.
As he walked to the water, Aram knew it was not the sinking sands alone that made his feet seem heavy. His power was a part of his pride. And now it was also a part of his humility.
Chapter 21
Beth hadn’t left for Research City to see Erik as quickly as Aram had thought she would. She claimed the need of reaching a convenient stopping point in the program she was writing, and she had spent several days in conference with the veterinarian from the feedlot; but since then she had spent a lot of time at the beach and walking in the forest. Aram suspected that she was quite done with the program for now and was using the time to collect her thoughts for the meeting with Erik. He hoped she wouldn’t attempt to pressure him into coming home, hoped she was using this time to adjust to the reality that Erik had managed to do something quite important on his own and that he’d done it completely independently of his parents.
As for himself, he tried not to think of the hurt and concentrated on the triumph. He had secretly placed a generous order for wine from Erik’s vineyard, which wouldn’t be delivered until the monorail was in operation but which would give the little community a start in establishing credit with the Research City computer. The rail wouldn’t take long to lay; Alexi had moved right along on that, determined to beat the winter snow and to see that the vineyard was not cut off for another winter.
Aram realized he’d been pacing, and he stopped by the window to look out. Megan was in the garden talking to Alexi—no, not Alexi. It was Shelley. The engineer was dressed in bush pants^and hiking boots, which must mean that he had only just returned from the site-selection trip he’d been on for more than a month. There was a bulky roll of maps and probably plans as well tucked under his arm. The man had an uncanny ability to overcome design problems, but he was completely incapable of estimating time required to complete a project, even his own time. A six-month design project was about to enter its second year. Aram had known from the beginning that it was likely to happen, for he’d investigated Shelley’s previous contracts and discovered his shortcomings early. Shelley had help, at Aram’s insistence and at his expense, too. But there was no way to prevent the delays at this stage, because he recognized that Shelley needed to work out all the problems himself, else risk not having every facet of the project hook into the overall plan smoothly.
Shelley stepped away from Megan now; apparently introductions and greetings had been exchanged. As Megan strolled toward the outer courtyard, Shelley hurried to the house. Aram had the office door open for him. The big engineer stepped through looking tan and healthy after what must have been an arduous journey. The redness of his hair was more pronounced after so much exposure to the sun, and it had grown down over his ears.
