Earthbound by DM Arnold (free books to read txt) 📖

back to bed!”

He let the sound of the surf drown out her words.

Nyk felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Andra, clutching her shell. “You've been here all night?” He nodded. “I heard you and Senta talking last night. Now, she's not speaking to me. Did it have to do with the hair?”

“Yes, it did. She told me I'm not my father's son.”

“Who is your father?”

“She said she doesn't know. I believe her. What she knows for sure is I am not a Kyhana.”

“This frees you for Sukiko!”

“It denies me what I thought was my heritage. I've known Destiny is cruel, and now I know just how cruel She can be. My father likely possessed the same Y-chromosome as the fetus in Suki's womb. To think that same chromosome had been passed along the generations for nearly seven thousand Floran years. For two hundred generations, all the Kyhana men have shared that same chromosome. Except me.” He picked up a rock, threw it into the surf and buried his face in his hands. “The Kyhana line starts with Suki's unborn child, and it ended, vaporized, in the shuttle crash. I'm an outsider looking in.”

He felt Andra caress his back. “We all must share some Kyhana blood. Each of us is the offspring of the original thousand settlers, and we know of the interbreeding in the early years.”

He looked up at her. “It's ironic -- there's a good chance you're more closely related to Sukiko than I am.”

“Nyk, we're all cousins.”

“In a way, I was expecting something like this. Two hundred generations leaves plenty of room for hanky-panky. I was expecting to find the Kyhana line broken, genetically. That's what I thought Senta's discovery was. To learn it was broken by my own parents.” He threw another rock.

“They never told me. That's what hurts. If they had told me from the beginning, I could've dealt with it. Instead, they led me on. Everyone led me on, because no one wanted to hurt me.” He stood and faced her. “Look at me. Am I as dim and naive and weak as everyone surrounding me must believe?”

“I think you're a fine man. I salute the strength and courage you have to do what you're about to do.”

“Courage?”

“Yes, Nyk. You're leaving your home to spend your life in an alien culture. We were taught at the academy never to question an assignment, but to do our duty and to make the best of whatever situation we encountered. Destiny has given you this assignment. If, indeed, your duty is to love Sukiko and her child to secure the Kyhana line, then you will be a hero and untold billions will owe you their lives -- including me.”

“I feel so unlike a hero.” He stood and walked, his hand laced with hers, toward the house. He stopped to regard the memorial plaque. “'They loved the sea nearly as deeply as they loved each other.' That's a bald-faced lie. We tell such lies about the dead. My parents didn't love each other.”

“How do you know?”

“You're looking at the living proof. I am the issue of an adulterous liaison. A deliberate, adulterous liaison.”

“Are you sure?”

“Beyond a doubt.”

“How? How do you know you weren't ... conceived from a sperm bank?”

“Because of my defect. No one would design a child with atypical female syndrome. A genetic counselor would've seen the trait and culled out my embryo. I am a natural child and not my father's. That's how I know it's a lie.” He approached the plaque and attempted to work his fingernails under it. “I'd like to pry it off that stone and fling it into the sea.” He picked up a small stone, threw it at the plaque and it bounced off. “Veska had that made, and I installed it. Such lies... Veska!”

Nyk walked into the house. He saw Senta sitting at a vidisplay annotating crop sequencing reports. His gaze focused on the Kyhana wedding crest tattoo on her arm. “Can you access birth sequences from here?”

She looked up from the display. “Yes.”

“If I name a short list of candidates, can you bring up their sequences and match them to mine?”

“Of course I can.”

“Let's start with your stepdad.”

“No, Nyk, I refuse. Don't make me do that.”

“It's my family and my genes. I must know. Bring up Veska's sequence and perform the match, or show me how and I will.”

Senta turned to the vidisplay and poked its touchscreen. Nyk awaited the results of the comparison. “I can't believe it!” she said.

“By rights it's his crest you should have on your arm.”

“What made you think it was Dad?”

“Because he's the only other man I ever saw spend time with my mother.” Nyk shook his head. “I should've suspected as much. This answers many questions. It explains why I was so unlike my father -- why Veska liked coming here on his vacations and why he stopped after my parents were killed -- why they kept separate bedrooms and why I never heard them making love.”

He headed into his childhood bedroom. “What are you doing?” he heard Senta call after him.

“I'm packing my case,” he yelled. “I have a transit to make.”

18 -- Earthbound

Nykkyo stepped off the shuttle onto the transit platform and walked straight to Veska's office. He stood in the doorway. “My friend and son, you used to say. I thought you meant son-in-law. Now, I've learnt our relationship is much closer.”

“Come and sit down, Nykkyo.”

“Why, Veska? Why wasn't I told?”

“Nykkyo, there were two women in my life that I loved, and I lost them both -- Jylla and Lydda.”

“My mother and Senta's.”

“I'll start with Jylla. Xarvo and I were good friends from the time we were boys in Sudal. We were rivals for Jylla. She loved me more, I think, but chose to marry him because of the family line. You see, Nykkyo, I suffer the curse of a broken line.”

“The Veska line's broken?”

“Yes -- five generations ago, a woman's contraceptive implant capsule malfunctioned, she became pregnant and refused to terminate the pregnancy. As a result, a son was born without benefit of birth license to an unwed mother. Have you ever seen the crest of a broken line?”

“No.”

Veska took a polycard and drew a pair of triangles in a circle. “This is the crest of the legitimate branch of my family.” He drew a slash through the circle. “This is what my bride would have to wear. There are women who don't care. Jylla cared. She didn't want a broken crest applied to her arm, or her children suffering the stigma of a broken line. She wanted to give her children the gift of the Kyhana surname, one of the most prestigious in existence. But she wanted at least one of her children to be fathered by me.

“She convinced Xarvo to support her in applying for the birth license. He wanted genetic counseling, to produce the best of the best their genes could supply. She insisted their first should be a natural child.”

“And she secretly employed contraceptives with ... her husband?”

“Yes, as if it were necessary. Xarvo and Jylla were never truly compatible. You know they kept separate bedrooms.”

“So when you came to Sudal on your vacations, it wasn't the sea or the Residence that drew you. It was my mom.”

“And you, Nykkyo. I'll never forget the assignation. Xarvo was busy with his agridome plans and crop forecasts. Jylla scheduled a sabbatical day from the product development labs and we met at their apartment -- it was before the Residence was constructed.” Veska pressed his hand to his eyes. “You were conceived in love, Nyk. There's something special about a man and a woman making love to conceive a child.”

“Something I'll never experience. My ... father was a cuckold. Did he ever know?”

Veska shook his head. “No.”

“I think he must've suspected. I was so unlike him -- I never had his drive or ambition -- or his talent. He wanted desperately for a son to follow in his footsteps. I had no interest. I was a disappointment to him. I knew that early on.”

“You were a sensitive and inquisitive child, Nyk -- and a gentle one. You had a love of nature, the stars, and, of course, the sea. Those destined for leadership are gifted with certain traits. You were gifted with others.”

“Why didn't my mother tell me?”

“She planned to. At my apartment I have a datacel containing a letter she wrote to you on the day of your birth. She intended to give it to you on your day of majority. She gave me a copy for safekeeping, in case...” Veska wiped a tear from his face.

“I'm past majority now,” Nyk said.

“I never found the right opportunity to broach the subject. I procrastinated. I didn't want to hurt you. I knew how much being a Kyhana meant to you.”

“So many wish not to hurt me, I end up hurt more.”

“I'm sorry, Nyk. When I go home, I'll transmit the letter to you.”

“No -- I don't want to read it.”

“I'll transmit it and you can save it. You may decide you want to read it some day. They are the words of a mother to the son she loved. Your mother did love you.”

“And the reason you insisted Senta and I marry? Not to bind to the Kyhana line, as I believed.”

“No. I was concerned for you. You were miserable after the shuttle crash, and you couldn't keep up with your studies. I had no idea what was to become of you. I wanted to make sure you were cared for. You are my boy, and I love you.”

“Senta was on her way to a brilliant career.”

“Yes -- she had a guaranteed position with the Food Service after she completed her studies. I knew you'd have a roof over your head and meals on your table. I couldn't bear the thought of my boy petitioning for maintenance or living in a group home.”

“You didn't want a wife for me -- you wanted a mother. Senta's not a good substitute for a mother, Veska.”

A smile broke across Veska's face. “I suppose you're right about that.”

“After the ricin affair, Senta leapt over those Food Service positions. She's successful beyond anyone's expectations.”

“I am proud of her ... and of you too, Nyk. I was pleased with your acceptance into the ExoAgency, and of how you handled yourself in the Baxa ruckus. You've exceeded my expectations, also.”

“Everyone's expectations of me appear to have been rather modest.”

“Seymor has had nothing but good to say of you. Hearing it makes me very proud.”

“What of Lydda?”

“She found herself in a loveless marriage with an abusive husband. They moved to the T-Delta colony, and worked in one of the mines there. Lydda was quite athletic -- she enjoyed the physical labor. Senta was born on T-Delta.

“As their marriage fell into acrimony, I pleaded with her to leave him, to file for separation, and to return to Floran. Of course, we could never marry, but she could be my amfin. She would, she promised me, once this or that happened, or the promotion came through. Then, the explosion ... and she was gone.” He shook his head.

“My only consolation is the accident that took my Lydda also claimed her tormentor. A hollow consolation, I can assure you. She asked me to wait. I'm still waiting.”

“I'm so sorry, Veska.”

“That was more than thirty years ago, Nyk. We're well past sorry. After the accident, I adopted Senta. She wasn't a year old. I did so she'd have a modicum of a family, and to have a bit of Lydda close to me. Senta always looked like her mother. Now she's grown and the resemblance is remarkable. She's a great comfort to me.”

“You know I'm petitioning for dissolution of our marriage.”

“Yes, I know. It pains me to see Senta unhappy. It also pains me to see my boy unhappy.”

“Senta doesn't really care. I'm not unhappy. I've found my true destiny, and it lies on the third planet orbiting a yellow