Free On a Beam of Light by Gene Brewer Page A

the details. “
    “Did prot give her any?”
    “Nope. He said that would spoil the fun of discovering them for herself. “
    “Maybe he doesn’t know any of the details. Maybe he’s just speculating. “
    “He knows enough to travel at superlight speed!”
    “Maybe. Anything else?”
    “That’s about it. They left a thick notebook of additional questions for prot to consider. “
    I told her about my suspicion that he only had until September 20 to answer them. She nodded unhappily. “And what about the letters? Has prot said anything about the letters?”
    “He’s finished with them. He gave them back to me. “
    “He doesn’t want them?”
    “Whatever he wanted from them is in his head somewhere. Of course more keep coming in. He gets some every day. “
    “And where are the old ones?”
    “They’re on the little table you gave me to use as a desk. ” She drew out and emphasized the word “little, ” “You want to read them?”
    “Isn’t it illegal for me to read them?”
    “Not if he gives you permission. “
    “Would he do that, do you think?”
    “He already has. I’ll put them on the big desk in your office. “
    “Not all of them. Just leave me a representative sample. By the way—the faculty thinks the idea of a trip to the zoo is a pretty good one. Can you contact the officials over there and set it up?”
    “I know someone who works there. All I need from you is a definite date. “
    “Gino! Long time no see!”
    “It’s only been two days, prot. “
    “That’s a long time. You can get halfway across some GALAXIES in two of your days. “
    “Maybe you could. “
    “So could you if you wanted to badly enough. But you’re more concerned with other things. The stock market, for example. “
    “But you won’t tell us how to do it. “
    “I just did. “
    “Uh-huh. Anything else you feel like telling me before we begin?”
    “I think some of my correspondents would enjoy a long voyage. “
    “Who wants to go, for example?” I casually asked him.
    “Your humor still needs work, gene. “
    “I mean in general. “
    “Those who are unhappy here on EARTH. “
    “That’s not much help. “
    He shrugged.
    “All right. Are you finished with your grape juice?”
    “Yep. Amazing stuff. Nothing in the UNIVERSE purpler than grape juice. “
    “Okay. Remember the whistle?”
    “Of course. But that won’t be necessary, Dr. Brewer. “
    The transition had been so subtle that I barely noticed the slight change in voice and manner, especially with the purple mustache across his upper lip. “Robert?”
    “Yes. “
    “How are you feeling?”
    “I don’t know. Strange. Shaky. Not too bad, I guess. “
    “I’m glad to hear that. Tell me—can you come out whenever you want to now?”
    “I always could. I just—couldn’t. “
    “I understand. Will you be able to stay here for a while?”
    “If you like. “
    “Good. As I told you under hypnosis, this is your safe haven. Please try to remember that. Now—is there anything you especially want to talk about today? Anything bothering you right this minute?”
    “I miss my wife and my little girl. “
    I was astonished by this simple sentence. Coming from anyone else it would have been routine and long overdue. But I thought it might take weeks to get him to talk about his family. This was a profound change. How much courage it must have taken for Robert to say it! “I’d like to hear more about them if you’re ready to tell me. “
    His eyes drifted away and became moist and dreamy. It was as if he wanted to dwell lovingly on a delightful subject for a moment before beginning. At last he said, “We had a wonderful place in the country, with a garden and a small orchard. None of the trees had produced any fruit yet, but they would have in another year or two. We had five whole acres with a hedgerow and a small pond and a stream and lots of maples and birches. Prot told me it reminded him of K-PAX, except there’s hardly any