Read Beyond Heaven's River for Free Online Page B

busily translating from a queue of definition requests, and his eyes were squinty. “I know nothing about weather. I was never outside dome until now.”
“To rest with all of us,” Nestor said. “Yoshio, you know the way to your cabin. Mr. Elvox, are you happy with the sleeping arrangements?”
“Yes.” Happy was not quite the word. Uncertain, perhaps.
“Good. You’ll find the cabin just around the curve clockwise from Yoshio’s quarters. I’ll be down in a while.”
Elvox walked with the Japanese. He was curious about the man’s story, but discretion was best for the moment. It was a credit to Nestor and her people that the man was accepting things so calmly. Kawashita gestured for Elvox to wait as they came to his door.
“I am not familiar with some things here,” he said. “It would embarrass to askher about them. Could you explain?”
“I can try,” Elvox said. “What don’t you understand?”
“The bed. I was shown, but it is not easy.”
“Of course.” The sleep-field was easy to operate but difficult to explain. He showed Kawashita how to lie across it for maximum comfort, and how to set the timer for a gentle let-down after however many hours he wished to sleep.
“And these?” Kawashita pointed to the sleep-induction phones.
“Try them on,” Elvox suggested. “Over your ears, just like old-fashioned … like the ones in your time.”
Kawashita put them on and Elvox adjusted the knob for mild relaxation. Kawashita’s eyes began to droop, and his face relaxed. Suddenly he tensed and removed the phones, handing them back to Elvox. “Don’t need that now,” he said. “Sleep enough without.”
“They’re not the most pleasant way to sleep. But you do wake up feeling you’ve slept a whole night, when only a half hour has passed. They’re useful for long watches.”
“Yes, I see that,” Kawashita said. “I was a pilot. There were many days I could not sleep, thinking about the battle, flying. This would have been good. But not now.” He walked across the cabin. “The lavatory bothers me very much. Have questions —” He cut himself short and smiled politely, then shook his head. “No, never mind. I will ask later. I thank, and ask you forgive me very much.”
“No forgiveness for asking questions,” Elvox said. Kawashita’s face fell. “I mean, questions are essential. We expect them and don’t mind at all.”
He still looked worried when Elvox left. Before the door closed, Elvox heard him muttering.
“He’s been doing that a lot,” Nestor said behind Elvox. He turned in surprise.
“Oh?”
“It’s not the most polite thing to do, but we’ve been taping and listening.”
“I see.”
Nestor held up a translator tapas. “He’s talking to someone named Ko. Every chance, he discusses Japanese history with Ko. I suspect it’s been going on for some time, since they — he — makes reference to different events across about a thousand years. Right now,” she indicated the tapas screen, “they’re talking about the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Chinese incident, and the destruction of an Earth city called Nanking. In detail. Assigning blame to individuals.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know. We don’t know whether this Ko ever existed.”
“Perfidisian, perhaps?” Elvox said.
“No. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the cabin with him. Ko, whatever he or it was, is purely imaginary now.”
“But why the debate?”
Nestor shook her head. “Go ahead to the cabin, Mr. Elvox. I’ll be with you shortly.”
There was only one sleep-field in the cubicle he and Nestor were sharing. He wondered if he should use it, and decided it was more polite to take out the secondary mattress and lie on that. With the lights out, and the ship shuddering, he felt an odd smugness, something he hadn’t known in years.
He was almost asleep when Nestor entered the cabin. She left the light off and removed her clothes in the glow from the corridor. Then she bent over Elvox.