Free The Parallel Man by Richard Purtill Page A

Hill of Thorn up to the towers and battlements above. There were a few changes, but very few. Standing above the vast alien sprawl of the unfamiliar city was Castle Thorn, the home of my fathers, which I had left, surely, no more than a week ago!

7. Castle Thorn
    Elena Petros turned to me and asked with that same controlled appearance of normality, “Are you familiar with the city, Casmir?’’
    “My ancestors lived there,” I said, gesturing at the castle. She nodded. “Of course, Casmir Thorn; you’re named for the city. Your family must have left soon after Rediscovery, though; Carpathia hasn’t been in the Commonwealth all that long, if I remember the data fax we got on the planet. Do you have relatives here?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said. I wondered in a remote fashion what my emotions would have been if they had not been frozen by the enchanted voyage I had taken. For Thorn to have grown from the village I remembered to this sprawling city must have taken generation upon generation. Had our magical voyage taken centuries? But no, Pellow had said that these star voyages took no real time at all, despite the days that seemed to pass. And Pellow had no reason to lie—or had he? Whom could I trust, whom could I believe in this land of enchanters which seemed to have reached ot and engulfed my homeland? The problem was agonizing, but I felt no agony, locked as I was in the frozen emotions which were the price of star voyaging.
    We landed in the city as routinely as we had left the city where I had boarded Argo ; there was another great stretch of the false lawn with the same glowing globes on high poles. There were fewer of the enigmatic structures, and only two of the great discs which must be “starships” like Argo . Of course, we felt nothing as the ship landed, but I felt a certain detached admiration for the evident competence and efficiency of Captain Petros and her crew as Argo settled her immense bulk on the false greensward as lightly as a leaf falling from a tree.
    “Finished with the engines,” said Elena Petros. “Open the sally port and prepare to receive planetary officials.” She turned to me. “We generally get rid of passengers fairly quickly, Casmir Thorn, but you and your companion are quasi-crew, If you’d like, use your cabin for a while until you get oriented here on Carpathia. The duty officer at the sally port will give you a ship’s badge which will get you in and out of the Starport and let you use the crew shuttles into the city.”
    “I thank you, Lady,” I said. Was Elena Petros merely being kind, or did she have some hidden motive, I wondered coldly. Perhaps she saw some advantage to be gained from learning more about my reasons for coming to Carpathia. Pellow had told me that the captain of an independent starship like Argo had to be a shrewd trader, quick to seize opportunity. Perhaps, too, Elena Petros had some interest in me as a man; there had been a certain spark between us before our emotions had been frozen.
    I turned to go, but she stopped me with a gesture. “I don’t know what your business is on Carpathia, Casmir Thorn,” she said, “but if you’re ready to leave before Argo lifts, come and see me about a real crew berth, The technical things can be learned—many of them can be autolearned. But the ability to function as well as you did in Q condition is something that’s very rare. This flit was just a delivery run. After it, we’re outward bound for some trading on our own. There’s wealth as well as adventure in the star trade. If that appeals to you, I can always use a good man.”
    I tried to put some feeling into my voice as I said, “I will remember your words, Captain, and I thank you again.” As I left the bridge I considered her offer. I was a man ripped out of his own place and flung into a world which was often incomprehensible. If I could find no way back to my own place, I could certainly do a great deal worse than to