Yuen-Mong's Revenge (28 page)

     
"Whether you were a marathon runner. It’s a competitive sport where
people run a distance of 42 kilometers. The top men make it in just under
two hours."

 
     
"That’s something I must try once too."

 
     
"Yes, and you might even win, but I won’t join you for that."

* * *
 

Their room ICE comunit showed a message from Miss Blacey, notifying
Yuen-mong that her DNA test was scheduled for ten o’clock that
morning. It asked her to drop by at the office at 9:30 and inquired
whether she and Atun would be free in the evening to dine with Dr.
Twan.

     
In the afternoon, he filed the recovery report on Vishnu and sent an
official resignation notice to the Palo Exploration Company, his former
employer. It felt good to sever all old ties. He could not see himself going
back to his previous life, not while Yuen-mong was willing to share hers.

     
Afterward they hired one of the driverless viewcabs — an electric
vehicle offering 360 degree vision, and selected one of the shorter sightseeing tours. The cab briefly stopped next to one of the Sanctum entry
gates. The voice explained that access was either by automatic eye scan
for entry by vehicle or by presenting a fingertip to the fingerprint reader.

     
Syd Twan took them to the exclusive, rotating restaurant on top of the
tallest structure in Androma, up 184 storeys. Yuen-mong was again
wearing the black dress. Atun noticed that Syd could not keep his eyes
off her and that she responded to him animatedly. He became aware of
a feeling of unease. Would this man become a rival?

     
Syd wanted to know about life on Aros. Atun was surprised that she
did not mention the crippling effect of Aros’ magnetic field on all electronic equipment or give any details on how they were able to escape the
planet, nor did she talk about how she dominated the savages and his
own experiences, although she gave graphic descriptions of all the other
dangers, such as the night scavengers, the craws, the sudden storms, and
the raids between the clans of savages.

     
When he questioned her later on, she explained that she did not want
Aros to be ravaged by mineral exploitation, that as long as nobody really
knew why Aros was the planet of no return, it would remain safe. He
reminded himself that one day she might wish to return there.

* * *

On Wednesday afternoon, Miss Blacey notified them that the DNA test
had confirmed Yuen-mong’s origin and that Dr. Twan would now initiate
the inheritance recovery process, which this could take three days to be
completed. She also said that Atun’s account had been credited with
586,130 credits.

     
"You are rich," Yuen-mong laughed.

     
"Richer than I ever was. But this belongs to you too."

 
     
"
I will
let you pay for a few more things until I’m rich too, and then
it will become serious."

 
     
In fact, she already felt restless. Syd Twan’s remark about rumors that
her parent had been sent to the planet of no return had stirred up her
mind. Why rumors? Had the fact that they were sent there been suppressed, kept secret? If so, it confirmed their suspicions that somebody
wanted them to disappear and the only plausible reason for that was her
father’s instant communication research breakthrough. She would not
rule out anybody from her list of potential guilty and she also added Syd
Twan to it. She could think of a motive to get rid of her father: to gain
her mother, except that if he had instigated it, he had failed since he also
killed the person he had wanted.

     
Although she told herself that a few days up or down mattered nothing
— revenge had waited for twenty years — she wanted action, even if
only in a small way.

     
"Atun, how about exploring the Sanctum today?"

 
     
"But we can’t get in!" She sensed his sudden alarm. "Yuen-mong, this
isn’t Aros, not even Old Earth. We’ll be arrested if we try to get in illegally."

 
     
"What happens if one gets arrested?"

 
     
"That depends on the crime. For very serious crimes you undergo
rehab —"

 
     
"— that’s when they alter your mind?"

 
     
"Yes. You might as well be dead. In fact, your personality is dead."

 
     
"Is illegal entry into the Sanctum a serious crime?"

 
     
"No. I guess you are caught more than once, you could be deported to
one of the new settlement planets."

 
     
"They would not dare to send one of their own."

 
     
"But we wouldn’t even get in."

     
"Yes, we will." She fetched her amulet that she had not worn since
their ship had left the orbit around Aros and took out her mother’s thumb
tip. She fitted it to her right thumb. "This will get us in. My mother will
not be officially declared dead for another few days."

 
     
"But it’s crazy. It’s still an illegal entry. Why jeopardize things now?"

 
     
"Because I’m restless."

 
     
"Yuen-mong, when I wanted to get back to my lander on my second
day on Aros, you said that survival always came first."

 
     
She smiled and said: "But didn’t you just tell me that this wasn’t
Aros?"

 
     
"I give up. You are the most stubborn woman I know… Yuen-mong,
it’s not worth the risk. Let’s do something else. Make a trip into the
mountains."

 
     
"Atun, I’m unfair to you. I should not have asked you to come along.
I will go alone… Do you still love me?" She went to him, searching his
eyes, felt him melt and take her into his arms. She rubbed her cheek
against his.

     
"Yes, love, I do. Why do you want to go into the Sanctum?"

 
     
"I have to get the feel for it, to sense it from the inside."

 
     
"But why can’t this wait three more days."

 
     
"Because then I will do it in the company of Syd Twan and it won’t
be the same, and I won’t be prepared when I have to face my relatives for
the first time. Being prepared is part of ensuring survival."

 
     
He looked at her thoughtfully. She let go, searching his eyes.

     
"If you still want me, I’ll come along."

 
     
She decided to wear her mother’s pant suit. The shawl they bought
with the black dress would hide that it was not the latest fashion, but it
looked respectable. They dismissed the cab on the square in front of the
gate and walked across to it. She could feel Atun’s trepidation and took
his hand.

     
At the gate, she presented the tip of the thumb to the reader, purposely
avoiding the eye scanner. It took a few seconds and the steel door
opened. They passed through under the watchful eye of an attendant.

     
In a matter-of-fact tone, she said: "He is my guest."

 
     
The attendant asked Atun to place his right hand on the reader, face
the eye scanner, and pronounce his full name for future record. They
walked up the path through a park in the shadows of the trees. What
struck her immediately was the informality of the landscaping —
irregular shaped beds, winding paths, rock garden, cascading water,
secluded grassy areas and an ubiquitous mixture of trees, bushes and
flowers — a complete contrast from the few small rigid parks they had
seen in the BD.

     
In the distance, she saw a dozen or so children in one of the grass
areas. "Let’s go and see them," she said. "I have not seen any yet. I would
like to know if they are different from the children of the savages."

 
     
She expected to hear happy voices, calling, laughing, even crying. But
no noises reached her, except the silent sounds of their minds — suppressed fear of failure in some, vicious competitiveness in others, bored
hatred in a few. As they came closer, she guessed that they were six or
seven years old. All but two were moving in fixed patterns while the
other two roamed around freely, trying to snatch a place whenever a gap
opened inadvertently. The only words she heard were "you are out"
whenever that happened, spoken in a measured adult tone. Two adults
were watching from a raised position, occasionally marking something
down on an electronic organizer. Their emanations were bored disapproval.

     
Yuen-mong’s heart contracted. She wanted to cry out, to shatter the
shackles that kept these children prisoners. "Let’s go," she murmured and
walked quickly away. When they were out of hearing, she said: "These
poor children."

 
     
"Why poor? They were playing a game of roam and catch."

 
     
"Didn’t you see how repressed and unhappy they were?"

 
     
"Yes, now that you mention it, they were awfully quiet. When I
played that as a kid, there was always a lot of shouting and laughing."

 
     
"What kind of adults will they grow into if they are suppressed at this
young age? It makes me shudder."
Is this the upbringing that my
relatives got? Is this what my mother rebelled against when she married
my father?
Was this any different from what the savages did? Fighting
and jostling for who would be headman, enslaving their women, raiding
the property of other clans? And she was going to ask for admission to
that? A shudder went up her spine, and she had a first tinge of doubt.

     
Vaguely she heard Atun’s reply: "Oh, I guess they’ll get over that. I
had a nasty teacher in my third year at school. I still remember her
vividly."

 
     
See, you still remember,
but she said nothing.

     
Leaving the park, they entered a pedestrian area, lined with attractive
shops of all kinds, as well as several restaurants, all looking expensive,
none of the automated fast-food kind so common in BD. The shops
continued into a huge shopping mall covered by a dome, consisting of
smaller half globes, each displaying of a series of stained glass designs.

     
"Ah, this is the famous hall of the Foundation Families, I read about
once," Atun pointed out. "Look, each picture depicts the history of one
of the original Foundation Families. Let’s see whether we find the one
for the Youngs."

 
     
She was not really interested. It was the people milling around that
aroused her curiosity. There was none of the outrageous garb they had
seen in the BD. The dress style was different from her parents’ wardrobe,
but she found it elegant and tasteful, if a bit on the conservative side. But
what fascinated her even more was the mental state of the people. There
was anxious correctness and insecurity, usually from immaculately
dressed women, outright fear by those that looked like domestics, except
for the occasional older woman who seemed secure of her place. The few
men present gave mainly signals of impatience. She also noticed that
everybody always gave way or moved aside when they encountered one
of these men. She would have to ask Atun about that. She could not see
a person who looked under twenty, except for a few domestics. Maybe
that was due to the time of the day. There was an occasional small child.

     
She had the feeling of being constantly watched, not by the people
who all seemed to ignore each other, except for the occasional polite nod,
but by something that seemed to be removed from the place. The constant
movement of a small object, like a big eye, placed about ten meters up a
side wall, drew her attention. She noticed that there were three, evenly
spaced on each side of the mall.

     
"What are those?" she asked Atun, pointing at one.

     
"Don’t point," he whispered. "They’re surveillance cameras."