Intro and opening scene for “They Return to Earth”
The bulk of humanity had lived beyond the pull of Earth’s gravity for generations now. Taking advantage of asteroid mining, they concocted and constructed village ships orbiting the sun hidden among the asteroids. Inside these village ships, rarely seeing the sun themselves, they created spaces for life to continue after the collapse and quarantine of Earth. But Earth still pulled them spiritually. It was still “home” in the deepest sense.
Fristephenson Balseiro Hevelius Hevelius worked in Restoration in the VS Hevelius, in which he was also born. This was fairly common, though Friste had traveled to other village ships in the local cluster of ships, first to learn and later to teach restoration of the ships’ various systems. He had never traveled beyond that and had no desire to do so.
Friste’s life had clear, consistent rhythms. He woke up, had breakfast in the small suite he shared with his wife, talked with her about whatever things they had on their agenda, did his first work shift, exercised, and had lunch in the commissary with his work mates. If he had a second work shift, he did that. If he had personal time, as he did most Cycles, he liked to go to a jai shop. There, he might meet a friend, one of his adult children or grandchildren, or even a niece or nephew or grand-niece or grand-nephew. Failing that, he was also content to sip his jai and watch people come and go through Market Concourse. In the evenings, he and his wife had dinner, often with friends, either in the commissary or at a bistro.
Once a decaCycle on one of his two Cycles off, Friste would visit his mother, either taking her to a jai shop on her low-gravity level or have jai with her and her suite mates in their common room. They would fuss over him as if he were a little boy again or a first-time visitor. They would dress up, Mother in an azure shirt and indigo slacks, Isonoe in a cream blouse and green pleated skirt, and Mira in a sunflower dress. Aster would wear civvy coveralls with thistle sleeves, lilac midsection, and orchid bottoms. Mother would make the jai, heating water in the kettle, warming the pot, and steeping the dry mixture that made jai so wonderful. Isonoe would set the table with the best dishes and utensils, chatting with Friste while she laid them out with precision. Mira would make sandwiches with fresh, warm bread and different fillings each visit and cut them into petite servings. Aster would decorate sugar cookies with frosting in many colors, painting one of five different flowers on each one. All together, it was like watching a ballet as the four suite mates walked lightly around each other in their small kitchen and back and forth to the common-room table where Friste sat watching them.
Yes, Friste had clear, consistent rhythms, which felt good to him. Right now was not one of those moments.
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Friste disconnected the comm link with his sister. Aharon had been crying inconsolably—which he understood—but had also been yelling at him in anger—which he didn’t. He was emotionally saturated and couldn’t take it any more. He knew passing along the news of Mother’s death would be hard. Hard for Aharon to hear and hard for him to deliver. But he didn’t expect her to be angry too. He was just making sensible decisions. Yes, he had already authorized recycling of the body. No, he didn’t plan to have a remembrance service. Yes, he’d asked for Mother’s things to be placed in stowage. No, he didn’t see the point of Aharon traveling to be here from her cluster of village ships. Yes, he had written and posted an obituary already. These seemed perfectly reasonable answers to Friste. Plus he was the one who was here who needed to make the decisions. He didn’t understand Aharon’s mounting anger with each pragmatic response.
Of course he could feel! It had been quite cruel of Aharon to call him heartless. He’d been shocked when Mira had called to say she found mother unresponsive. He’d rushed to be with her on the low-gravity level, only to meet the medical staff who told him she’d already returned to Earth. He’d cried long and hard and stayed until they took her body away. Of course he could feel!
But then it was time to move on. Mother had recently turned 34 kiloCycles, quite a respectable age. Her sixth great-great-grandchild had been born just in the last hectoCycle. Yes, she could have lived another 5 kiloCycles or so. But she had lived a good life and had been retired for 8 kiloCycles already. Getting worked up about her return didn’t make sense to Friste. Heart attacks still happen and are not uncommon for someone her age.
His wife put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She had heard the whole conversation. “Phoebe, why is she being so unreasonable?”
“I’m sure she’s not meaning to be unreasonable.” She turned his chair away from the comm panel so they could see each other properly. “She would do things differently if she were here, that’s all. She and your mother took care of things when your father returned to Earth. That frustrates her as much as it frustrates you.”
Friste pursed his lips and pushed himself out of the chair. “Well, I didn’t interfere with their planning after father returned. And she’s not here and everything’s taken care of. Let’s go to dinner.” Friste headed toward the door of their suite. With a statement like that, Adelka Phoebe Hoshide Hevelius knew she wouldn’t make headway now. He’d made up his mind without a hint of doubt. Getting him to think about alternatives would just crystallize that decision. Then again, maybe it was even the right decision for him.
Friste was the only person who still called her by her given name now. They had met before either of them had moved to the Dorms. Her parents had changed village membership to get a leg up on their promotion ladders. So, she got a new village name before selecting her chosen name. Phoebe became his name of affection for her at home, since he had had a crush on her when they were in school. Her friends from that age, following custom, called her by her chosen name, Adelka. Parents often called their adult children by their given names, either out of fondness, fury, or forgetfulness. But her parents had returned to Earth many kiloCycles ago. So, Adelka knew that there was a lot needing doing after a parent returned and, certainly, everything was not taken care of.
Adelka hurried after Friste. “The commissary is serving salmon tonight, and Revati and Shadar should be there.”
“I’d like to go to the Basil Bistro. They have that new menu you mentioned you’d like to try.” Adelka translated this as, They have quiet tables inside where we won’t be bothered. Still, the new menu was exciting and the food was good. And they went to Cassia afterwords for dessert. They conversed like they usually did, avoiding any talk of his mother or his argument with Aharon. It was a nice evening out. But back in their suite while Adelka was dressing for bed and Friste was getting them water from the kitchenette, she heard him sobbing at the sink. When she hurried out, he claimed he was fine, just tired, and he slunk to bed without letting her see his face.
