Free The World Swappers by John Brunner Page B

Another ship was being pushed clear of an adjacent berth; beyond, the flaming trail of a ship blazing toward the sky struck across the ocean. It was so enormous, all of it, after the constriction and narrowness of Ymir, that her mind seemed unable to contain it.
    A young woman, plain, soberly dressed in brown, walked as though in doubt toward the wharf. She looked for a few moments at the Amsterdam; catching sight of Enni, she turned and approached her.
    “Excuse me. Do you know the name of this ship?” she asked.
    “The–the Amsterdam ,” said Enni, rather faintly. The young woman thanked her, but hesitated before turning away.
    “You’re a stranger, aren’t you?” she suggested. “Have you just arrived?”
    Enni nodded. “I’m from Ymir,” she ventured, wondering what the reaction would be, but needing to prove for herself that Jaroslav had told her the truth.
    “Why, how interesting!” The plain woman gave a friendly smile, and Enni felt a surging of relief. “You must have come in on the Amsterdam, then. I heard there was a ship from Ymir in Rio, so I came round to ask if anyone had news of a friend of mine. An Ymiran. I met him years ago, and I’ve never forgotten him. You might even know him, I guess–his name is Jaroslav Dubin.”
    “Of course I know him!” exclaimed Enni. “Why, what a wonderful surprise to meet someone who actually is a friend of Jaroslav’s!”
    And she poured out the whole story of her panicky flight.
    “Well!” said the plain woman when she had finished. “I never would have thought Jaroslav would do such a thing. I think it’s awful, just sending you to Earth to save his own skin, and not doing anything to make sure you were all right. My name is Dolores Lourenço–call me Dolly. Where’s this captain of yours? I think he deserves a talking-to for letting this happen!”
    After that, things happened very rapidly. Enni’s head whirled. Somehow, though, she found herself being whisked into a cab with her new-found friend, who announced that she was going to organize Enni’s immediate future for her. Enni asked no questions about what was going on, for fear of appearing either stupid or ungrateful, and though she was puzzled to find herself being taken into a vast building in the center of the city, which certainly did not look like a place where people lived, she kept her thoughts to herself.
    Men and women glanced at her–glanced down at her, she realized–and she tried not to be conscious of their eyes. Her clothing was unusual, but not extraordinary, so that could hardly be the reason for their interest. Her youth? Her smallness? She could not guess.
    Her own eyes were otherwise occupied. The building they entered was gigantic beyond her dreams. Twenty or more floors reared up to the sky, paneled with glass and metal and plastics; strange carvings decorated the walls, sounds and smells that puzzled her filled the air. There was humming of machinery, barely noticeable.
    So spacious! So wastefully spacious! On Ymir men cramped themselves and huddled together, yet there were only ten million people in the whole world. Here there were ten million in a single city, and everyone had room.
    She was in a small compartment rather than a room, with Dolores; the compartment startled her by pressing its floor against her feet. An elevator; on Ymir, there were ladders and occasionally, if there was room, a flight of stairs.
    A light corridor with numbered doors. Dolores took her through one of the doors, and a man at a table looked up. He had sharp, bright eyes under vast bushy eyebrows; he wore white coveralls like the doctor aboard the Amsterdam.
    “I found her, Dr. Gold,” Dolores said. “Right near the ship she came on. She’s all yours.”
    Gold nodded, thrusting back his chair to get to his feet. “Thank you, Miss Lourenço. Sit down, please, young woman.”
    Startled, Enni glanced from the doctor to Dolores. “What–what’s going on?” she faltered.
    Dolores