~ Chapter IX ~
Far From Home

Dr. Bromley shifted position in his chair as Jonis set the mnemonoshpere on the cotside table. The green light blinked three times in quick succession, then steadied. The recording had begun.

"Date, 25th September, Year 8014, 6:47 morning, median time," the anthropologist stated in his official introduction. "Dr. Elias Bromley speaking, Charter anthropologist and Terran specialist. Accompanying me is Mr. Jonis Locherman, connection to be explained. We are conducting this interview in the quarantine ward of Jordan Hospital, room 1043, South Sievryck City. Interviewee is…" Dr. Bromley hesitated for a moment as he met the Terran's inquiring gaze. He swallowed. "Interviewee is the young woman formerly known to Agaetians as the Terran Lady, of Museum fame." His introduction at an end, Dr. Bromley settled back in his chair and resumed an air of informality. "I'm sorry, madam, but could you say your name again for the record?"

Phoebe's eyebrow arched weakly at his address, and Jonis thought he caught a ghost of amusement in her eyes. "Phoebe Reyes."

"And is it all right if the doctor calls you Phoebe?" Jonis said quickly. He wasn't sure how many more 'madams' it would take to make his head ache.

Phoebe nodded in assent. For a moment, Dr. Bromley looked taken aback. But after a pause, his wrinkled face broke into a grin. "Very well! Phoebe, then." He said the name carefully, as if it were the answer to some riddle for which he had long been searching. His expression eager, Dr. Bromley leaned forward. "Phoebe—can you tell us what year you were born? And where? Where you were born?"

But Jonis spared her from answering, remembering Stoddart's warning. He coughed sharply. "Dr. Bromley, shouldn't we hold off on the interrogation until we've told Phoebe a little bit about where she is now?"

Dr. Bromley looked abashed. "Oh. Of course. Forgive me, mada—Phoebe."

She shook her head once. "Sallright, doctor." Lifting her chin slightly, she looked to Jonis. "So tellme where Iam, Jonislocherman."

"It's just Jonis, Phoebe," he replied, correcting at last the mistake that had puzzled him since they met. "Locherman is my family's name."

Phoebe's brow furrowed, and Jonis could see her trying to work out the separate words. He had figured that she had heard him say it together so often on his nightly rounds, she eventually assumed it was his whole first name.

"Jo-nis."

"There you go. Just Jonis."

"Where am I, Jonis?" she said again after a moment.

He pushed the fingers of his free hand through his hair and let out a short laugh as he exchanged a look with Dr. Bromley. "That's a rather long story, Phoebe. I don't know if I'd know where to begin."

Her gaze steadied and she raised an eyebrow. "Try."

"You are on the planet Agaetis," Dr. Bromley cut in, "On the continent of Oceanas, in Charter territory. This hospital is in South Sievryck City."

Phoebe looked at the anthropologist blankly.

Jonis sighed. I suppose there's no other way but the hard truth. She'll never understand otherwise. He cleared his throat. "Agaetis is three systems from the Terran home star, Phoebe," Jonis explained gently. She looked at him without blinking, the shock slowly registering in her eyes as he continued. "It's about a half-dozen light years to your planet."

For a long moment, Phoebe said nothing. The beeping of her monitors filled up the space between the three as the Terran girl absorbed the ramifications of what Jonis was telling her.

"Phoebe? Are you all right?"

But instead of answering, Phoebe's eyes suddenly grew wide. She tried to struggle to a sitting position.

"Hey!" Jonis jumped to his feet and eased her down again. "Don't do that! You're going to hurt yourself again."

"Whatyear did you sayitwas, Jonis?" she whispered, terrified.

"8014, Phoebe. You have to lie down," he insisted, regretting the painful impact the fact was bound to have on her once she had time to process it.

Phoebe glared as she complied, unable to fight him in her weakened state. "I wantto sit," she protested.

Jonis was taken aback at the emotion she was able to muster in those few words. Motioning to his companion, he pointed to the anteroom. "Doctor, would you grab some pillows from the cots in there?"

The anthropologist nodded and departed, returning in a minute with an armful. Jonis took them from him and arranged them behind Phoebe's back, easing her up against them as gingerly as possible. She winced but did not say anything until she was upright. "8014?" she repeated at last in an undertone. Jonis and Dr. Bromley nodded together.

"I'm afraid so."

She did not reply. Jonis could almost see the thoughts running beneath her devastated expression. Incredulity, despair, fear, confusion…all warred for supremacy in her unfathomable gaze. For a moment, Jonis wished he could think of something comforting to say to her, if only to fill the silence. But after another moment's consideration, he knew that was impossible. What comfort exists for someone who has just discovered that everything they knew and loved has been dead and gone for more than a century?

"Jonis?"

He snapped out of his reverie. Her voice now seemed smaller, more vulnerable. It was the voice of a frightened child far from home.

"Yes?"

"What happened to me?" Jonis shot a quick glance to the scientist seated beside him. "What happenedto me?" Phoebe repeated in an undertone, her despairing gaze falling from Jonis' face to her hands folded in her lap.

"That may be better coming from you, Dr. Bromley," Jonis said. "I can only tell her what I heard on the news."

Dr. Bromley nodded. "Of course. And please, call me Eli." He settled back in his chair as Phoebe looked up, curious. His face took on a thoughtful expression. "Give me a moment to remember."

They waited in silence as the older man retraced the paths in his memory.

"It began in 7989, I believe," he began at last. "Yes. That was when the Council first applied to the Charter to send an expedition to your system. Twenty-five years ago." The anthropologist smiled to himself. "I had just completed my Ph.D. at University."

And I was five years old, Jonis couldn't help but think to himself. He dimly recalled the rumors that had flown around in '89 regarding the mission to Astrayis Prime. There had been a lot of whispers but no facts until the Council received permission from the Charter, five years later. Then it became a media darling, just as the Council intended.

Dr. Bromley continued, ignoring his companion's reflective attitude. Phoebe was listening with rapt attention. "The mission craft was state-of-the-art. Best our scientists could make. It took all five years for them to complete the seven-man shuttle, and just in time too. The Charter approved their application in 7994."

Snapping out of his memories, Jonis took note of the flash of puzzlement that crossed Phoebe's face. He understood without asking. "Doct…Eli. It might make it easier for Phoebe to follow you if we explain what exactly the Council and the Charter are."

Phoebe nodded her thanks. "He's right."

Dr. Bromley looked a little sheepish, but he complied. "About a hundred years ago, a couple dozen Agaetian nation-states grouped themselves together under a Charter of Alliance. Everyone signed it and elected representatives from each continent…"

"Three out of the five, actually," Jonis added.

"Yes. The people of two continents wanted nothing to do with the Charter. So the rest left them alone and made their own government."

Phoebe's brow furrowed. "Government?" Both Dr. Bromley and Jonis stopped short. "What is government?" she asked, her penetrating gaze shifting from one to the other.

Jonis could hardly believe his ears. If it were anyone else asking, he would have burst out laughing. But the Terran girl's expression, while inquisitive, was also deadly serious. He gaped. She truly doesn't know!

"What is government?" Dr. Bromley repeated, as astounded as his companion. "You don't know?"

Phoebe shook her head. "What is it?"

"It's…it's…" the anthropologist trailed off. Jonis could understand his difficulty; it was basic enough to defy definition. But they would have to do their best.

"It's a group of people that make laws, Phoebe," Jonis tried.

She arched her eyebrow at his childish explanation but said nothing, gesturing for the anthropologist to continue. Dr. Bromley took a breath, still wonderstruck. "So…the government was formed." He exhaled. "Those in Charter territory have abided by its rule for the past century."

"What isthe Council?" Phoebe asked.

"They're one of three cultural and scientific organizations set up by the Charter about eighty years ago. The Royal Council of Antiquities," Dr. Bromley clarified. "They own the Museum. The others are the Agaetian History and the Academy of Art and Science. "

Phoebe looked at Jonis. "The Council owns the Museum I was in?"

He nodded, feeling odd recalling the curator's claim of ownership on her. I hope they don't think that anymore, he mused. But their earlier interview with sub-consul Devins was not reassuring. "Yeah."

The Terran girl bit her lip and fingered the blanket that covered her torso. "How didI get there?" she asked after a moment.

Jonis nodded to Dr. Bromley, encouraging him to continue his recollections of the mission that had brought Phoebe to their world. "The Charter approved the Council application in '94," he repeated. "They launched a year later."

"Where were they going?" Phoebe asked.

For the first time, Jonis was aware of the remarkable improvement in her speech. She was no longer slurring her words together; in fact, if it weren't for the faintest trace of an alien accent, he would have thought she had spoken their language all her life. She's a quick learner, he remarked to himself as Dr. Bromley began his answer. Unbelievably quick.

"Astrayis Prime."

"Where?"

"Your system, Phoebe. Astrayis Prime is the name of your star."

She fixed the anthropologist with a strange look. "Your name, Dr. Bromley. Notmine."

Unflappable as ever, Dr. Bromley leaned forward, eager to gather more alien trivia. "What did your people call it?"

A look of incredible sadness flashed across her pale face at the question, and Jonis reached out a hand to arrest her answer, remembering his promise to Dr. Stoddart. But the look passed, and Phoebe waved his hand away. "It was Sol," she said softly. "We called our star Sol."

"Fascinating."

"But there's more to the story, Eli," Jonis reminded him, hoping to stay his curiosity a little longer. It was clear the anthropologist was bursting with other questions for the Terran girl. "Let's finish that first."

Dr. Bromley nodded, restraining his inquisitiveness with an effort. "Of course. The crew was sent to the Astrayis Prime system to gather information about the lost cultures of your worlds. Here on Agaetis," he explained, "we call them the Old Planets. Terra, Meridius and Valakara—the seats of civilization in your system." Phoebe looked on blankly as he continued, and Jonis was sure she didn't know those names any more than she had known Astrayis Prime. Dr. Bromley shrugged as he spoke, missing her expression. "They gradually disappeared from their homeworlds over a millennia. We don't know what happened; we could only speculate. That's why the Council wanted a team in that system."

"What did they find?" Phoebe asked.

"The Council had given them five years to explore. It was my understanding that they could only land on Meridius and Terra, due to some weather complication on Valakara. And Lorn, the Terran moon. But in the end they spent most of their time on Terra."

"Their atmosphere was nearest to ours," Jonis explained. "They didn't have to use up their life-support to explore." Which made it cheaper for the Council, he added to himself. Of course.

Phoebe nodded in understanding. "And was that where they found me?"

Dr. Bromley cleared his throat. "Er…yes. You were buried in the ice at the retreating edge of their southernmost continent. As one of the crewmembers told it, they weren't even looking for anything down there. But the Council had required them to fly over all landmasses, so it was just a routine pass. The crystal caught the light and just about blinded the pilot of the reconnaissance ship," he recalled with a smile. "I heard his report when they returned home. Said it was the luckiest day of his life!"

Phoebe did not share in his amusement. She kept her eyes on her hands as she spoke. "Did they…did they read any lifesigns?" She paused as Dr. Bromley's smile faded a little. "Anywhere?"

Jonis bit his lip, remembering the news reports. "They didn't, Phoebe. I'm sorry."

She looked up. "Not even me?"

He shook his head and glanced at Dr. Bromley for support. "No."

"The, um, thing you were found in defied our technology," the anthropologist offered apologetically. "We hadn't the slightest idea what it was. You baffled the best of us."

Phoebe's eye widened a bit. "Then…did no one know I was alive?"

The two men shook their heads at the same time. Dr. Bromley tried to explain. "Please don't think so poorly of us, Phoebe. The Academy has made some progress in cryogenics, but none to compare with…with, er, what you experienced."

Jonis helped him. "We didn't know it was possible for you to be alive in there."

For an instant, the Terran's gray eyes flashed, indignant. "Then what did you think I was?"

Jonis reached out a hand to soothe her. "Phoebe, calm down. We thought you were a hologram."

Clearly upset, Phoebe obeyed nonetheless. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, serenity had returned to her expression. "All right. So then what?"

"So then…" Jonis gestured helplessly. "The Council took you to the Museum. You were their crowning jewel. You have been for three years."

Phoebe sat up a little straighter as a sudden thought took hold of her. "Then…will they recognize me?"

Jonis glanced at Dr. Bromley. "Some may." He drew back his hand. "But whether they do or not, we should warn you that your existence is going to come as a shock to the people of Agaetis. Considering the fact that you were a famous work of art yesterday."

"Oh." Her gaze fell again to her hands.

"Don't worry," Jonis tried to reassure her. "We won't let the news get out until you think you're ready."

Phoebe looked up and met his eye. She spoke softly. "I don't think I'm never going to be ready, Jonis Locherman."

For a few moments, Jonis was robbed of words.

But to his surprise, Dr. Bromley saved him. "Then we will tell the Council exactly that. We'll introduce you to our world on your terms." He nodded his frizzy white head with conviction. "Yours and no one else's."

Phoebe looked startled at the sudden pronouncement. Then she smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Bromley. I…" she swallowed and glanced at Jonis. He could still see the trust in her eyes, but now it was shared with the both of them. The anthropologist had earned her confidence. "I am glad of that."

He inclined his head. "Of course."

Quite abruptly, Phoebe changed the topic. She pulled herself straighter and looked Dr. Bromley in the eye. "You wanted to ask me some things?"

The older man fairly beamed. "Yes! Absolutely!"

Jonis intervened. "As long as you think you're up for it, right Phoebe?"

The Terran girl gave him a look. "I am, Jonis. That's why I asked him."

Ashamed at her reproof, Jonis held up his hands. "Just making sure!" He motioned to his eager companion, hoping for Phoebe's sake that he could control his abundant enthusiasm. "Go for it."

"Give me a moment," Dr. Bromley requested, rising from his seat to feel about his pockets under the hospital robe. "Aha!" Finding what he was looking for, he sat again, withdrawing a rumpled and well-inked notebook from his jacket. Phoebe sat patiently, waiting for him to begin. Jonis wondered why the doctor felt the need to take handwritten notes while the mnemonosphere was already recording their conversation. But he said nothing to interrupt him.

"So…you said your name was Phoebe…Reyes?" Dr. Bromley began, testing her surname. "Is that correct?"

"Yes. Phoebe Regina Reyes." She carefully enunciated the emphasis on the 'y.'

The anthropologist jotted something down in his notebook. "And what year were you born, Phoebe?"

"7894."

Jonis silently calculated her age. If she was born in 7894 that would make her…120 years old. Chronologically, of course. Biologically, she can't be more than 20. He was struck once more with wonder at the impossible nature of the creature seated across from him.

"Where were you born?"

"Reyes Laboratories, South Atlantic Archipelago."

Dr. Bromley chewed thoughtfully on the end of his pen. "Atlantic? Where is that?"

"It's one of our oceans," Phoebe answered, her eyes clouding with memories. "My parents had a research facility on the islands. That's where I was born."

Jonis thought of a question and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Phoebe, what did your people call your planet?" he explained.

The anthropologist shot his companion a grateful glance."Yes! I wondered the same thing. What is the Terran name for Terra? We never have been able to reach a consensus from the records alone. They were either too damaged or unintelligible." For a moment the sheepish expression crossed the older man's wrinkled face. "And I'm ashamed to say we've never been able to master the Terran language."

Phoebe gave them both a quizzical look. "You haven't?"

"No. Like I said, the records were too damaged. We have no reference text."

"Damaged by what?" Phoebe asked sharply.

"Fire, mostly. The greater surface area of most of the continents was covered in some sort of ash. We've been speculating its cause since the team brought back the report. It was concentrated around the ruins of cities—that's why most of the records were lost."

The Terran girl's face fell as the weight of his words settled on her. "Then…then the planet was…destroyed?"

Dr. Bromley nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. The inhabited parts, at least. Like I said, they found no lifesigns." His brow furrowed and he reached out tentatively to pat her hand. "I'm sorry, Phoebe."

She sighed and looked away. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Not to me."

Jonis felt his heart go out to the girl on the hospital cot. Her tone was heartbreaking, and despite her words, he could sense the aching loneliness hidden beneath her stoic expression. Whatever she said to the contrary, he could tell that Phoebe Regina Reyes missed her world.

"Phoebe…you don't have to answer now," he said. "We can do this some other time."

"No. I want to." Phoebe looked from Jonis to Dr. Bromley, determination shining in her pale gray eyes. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with a sigh. "Earth. We called our planet Earth."