Read Online The World Swappers by John Brunner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Brunner
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time you woke up.”
The impact of what it meant to lose four days from one’s life started to hammer at Enni’s mind. They were going through a pipelike corridor, metal-walled; three or four members of the crew passed them, nodded to the doctor, gave Enni curious, searching glances.
“We weren’t scheduled to come so far on this trip,” the doctor was saying. “But we had to get you out of the reach of those elders of yours, and Jaroslav’s a friend of ours–all of us in the space trade know him pretty well. That’s a good man, you know! So we cut through straight to Earth.”
Earth! The doctor was saying something explanatory about cargo costs and the reason why the extra long trip would not be a loss to the crew, but Enni could not hear for the thunder of blood in her ears.
It was one thing to dream about a pleasant world where people could live freely and enjoy their lives; quite another suddenly to find herself there. Earth, the wellspring of evil, the fountainhead of sin, the worst, most ill-famed planet in the galaxy–to an Ymiran, at least. The world from which the founding fathers had departed in scorn and hatred–that was a tale every Ymiran schoolchild learned as soon as he or she could talk.
Blindly, she kept up with the doctor, not noticing the complex equipment lining the walls they now were passing, hardly noticing as they passed through a vacuum bulkhead into a place full of light and busy people.
“Hullo, Enni!” exclaimed Captain Leeuwenhoek from his post by the main control panels. Enni took no notice. A blinding, wonderful truth had burst in on her, and she was dazzled.
The bridge had been opened to the air. The screens had been rolled back, and through them came the gentle plopping sound of waves breaking against the hull of the ship. They had of course settled on water; it would have been suicide to attempt a landing on Ymir’s gnaw-toothed, storm-racked oceans, but Earth’s wide stretches of calm sea served better than land-built bases or the operating of spacecraft. Ahead was a city of splendid whiteness, set against a montage of green hills. Nearer, tugs were coming out to meet the Amsterdam and gentle her through the last few miles to the main docks.
Enni had never seen a city like Rio, nor such vessels as the powerful, shining-clean tugs. But she was not looking at either. She was looking at the sky, blue, warm, with a powdering of high white clouds, and at the sea, which rolled lazily in long undulations: gentle, green, inviting.
And to this, eyes bright, Enni was saying under her breath, “Why, it’s true! It’s really true!”
Behind her, Leeuwenhoek gave the doctor a significant glance; the doctor nodded and smiled.
Enni stayed on the bridge, not daring to miss a moment of what was going on, hardly speaking even when spoken to, until the tugs had urged the Amsterdam into dock, and the sight of the sea and sky had almost been obscured by the piled crates, the cranes and conveyors, the hulls of other docked vessels, and the sheer-sided warehouses fronting on the wharf. Everywhere there were people going about their business; everywhere there was noise and shouting.
And now Enni’s delight gave way again to apprehension. It was so different, so vastly different from anything she had ever known. What would she do here on Earth? What could she do? How would people treat her? True, the men and women she could see on the dockside appeared friendly enough, and spoke in cheerful tones to each other; true, Jaroslav had told her that when he rebelled against the rules imposed on the staff of the Ymiran Embassy and went to meet Earthmen on their own ground, the reaction he got when he admitted his origin was something like, “Ymiran, huh? Thought you guys weren’t allowed out on the streets, or something–we never see your people around. Have another drink.”
But …
An official-looking person in a smart white uniform came to the dockside and shouted for the skipper;
The impact of what it meant to lose four days from one’s life started to hammer at Enni’s mind. They were going through a pipelike corridor, metal-walled; three or four members of the crew passed them, nodded to the doctor, gave Enni curious, searching glances.
“We weren’t scheduled to come so far on this trip,” the doctor was saying. “But we had to get you out of the reach of those elders of yours, and Jaroslav’s a friend of ours–all of us in the space trade know him pretty well. That’s a good man, you know! So we cut through straight to Earth.”
Earth! The doctor was saying something explanatory about cargo costs and the reason why the extra long trip would not be a loss to the crew, but Enni could not hear for the thunder of blood in her ears.
It was one thing to dream about a pleasant world where people could live freely and enjoy their lives; quite another suddenly to find herself there. Earth, the wellspring of evil, the fountainhead of sin, the worst, most ill-famed planet in the galaxy–to an Ymiran, at least. The world from which the founding fathers had departed in scorn and hatred–that was a tale every Ymiran schoolchild learned as soon as he or she could talk.
Blindly, she kept up with the doctor, not noticing the complex equipment lining the walls they now were passing, hardly noticing as they passed through a vacuum bulkhead into a place full of light and busy people.
“Hullo, Enni!” exclaimed Captain Leeuwenhoek from his post by the main control panels. Enni took no notice. A blinding, wonderful truth had burst in on her, and she was dazzled.
The bridge had been opened to the air. The screens had been rolled back, and through them came the gentle plopping sound of waves breaking against the hull of the ship. They had of course settled on water; it would have been suicide to attempt a landing on Ymir’s gnaw-toothed, storm-racked oceans, but Earth’s wide stretches of calm sea served better than land-built bases or the operating of spacecraft. Ahead was a city of splendid whiteness, set against a montage of green hills. Nearer, tugs were coming out to meet the Amsterdam and gentle her through the last few miles to the main docks.
Enni had never seen a city like Rio, nor such vessels as the powerful, shining-clean tugs. But she was not looking at either. She was looking at the sky, blue, warm, with a powdering of high white clouds, and at the sea, which rolled lazily in long undulations: gentle, green, inviting.
And to this, eyes bright, Enni was saying under her breath, “Why, it’s true! It’s really true!”
Behind her, Leeuwenhoek gave the doctor a significant glance; the doctor nodded and smiled.
Enni stayed on the bridge, not daring to miss a moment of what was going on, hardly speaking even when spoken to, until the tugs had urged the Amsterdam into dock, and the sight of the sea and sky had almost been obscured by the piled crates, the cranes and conveyors, the hulls of other docked vessels, and the sheer-sided warehouses fronting on the wharf. Everywhere there were people going about their business; everywhere there was noise and shouting.
And now Enni’s delight gave way again to apprehension. It was so different, so vastly different from anything she had ever known. What would she do here on Earth? What could she do? How would people treat her? True, the men and women she could see on the dockside appeared friendly enough, and spoke in cheerful tones to each other; true, Jaroslav had told her that when he rebelled against the rules imposed on the staff of the Ymiran Embassy and went to meet Earthmen on their own ground, the reaction he got when he admitted his origin was something like, “Ymiran, huh? Thought you guys weren’t allowed out on the streets, or something–we never see your people around. Have another drink.”
But …
An official-looking person in a smart white uniform came to the dockside and shouted for the skipper;
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