Read The Winds of Altair for Free Online

seeking, a viewport that looked down on the planet below them.
    "It looks so bright," Laura said.
    Jeff nodded wordlessly. The planet hung outside, seemingly motionless, enormously massive and brilliant in the harsh light of Altair. Its surface was a featureless disk of white clouds, as smooth and unbroken as a seamless veil. It shone beautifully against the darkness of space.
    "That's going to be our home," Laura said.
    "When we get it tamed."
    She looked up at him. "When you get it tamed."
    "It's not . . ." He stopped, feeling flustered and flattered at the same time.
    Laura smiled at him, as if she knew something that he didn't. Jeff wanted to hold her, to pull her close and lie down with her and forget about those who watched. But he could see, peeking at them from between the gnarled branches of a dwarf tree, the unblinking red eye of a security camera.
    Trying to control the urges burning within him, Jeff said, "It's funny, you know. Like, it's not really me anymore. When I was with that wolfcat . . . it's . . . I can run as fast as a rocket . . . I'm strong . . ."
    Laura stepped close and rested her head against his shoulder. He put his arm around her and stroked her flame-red hair.
    "You've always been strong, Jeff."
    "Not like that!"
    "I don't mean muscles," she said, almost in a whisper. "Any gorilla like Petrocelli can have muscles. I mean you're strong where it's important—when you set out to do something, it gets done."
    "Yeah . . . well, maybe."
    "No maybes. You're the only one who's made this crazy thing work, aren't you? I knew that if anybody could make contact with those animals down there, you could. The scientists couldn't, could they? But you did."
    "I'm just lucky."
    "No you're not. You're not afraid of it. You like it. You enjoyed being in contact with that animal, didn't you?"
    "Wolfcat," Jeff corrected automatically. "Yeah, I think maybe you're right. It's kind of scary, though. I didn't simply make contact . . . I was him!"
    Laura looked up at him, her green eyes searching. If she was fearful about the future, she did not show it.
    Jeff fell silent, his mind filled with the memory of being down in that forest, of having immense strength at his command.
    "They're going to need more volunteers," Laura said.
    It was an effort to bring himself back to reality. "I suppose they will. Do you want to try it?"
    Her eyes went wide. "Me?"
    "Sure. Why not?"
    She shook her head. "Dr. Carbo won't take women volunteers. He's such a male chauvinist!"
    "No," Jeff laughed. "He's just Italian."
    "It's more than that," Laura said testily. "Several women have already volunteered, you know. He turned them all down. Said it was too dangerous."
    "Well . . . it could be dangerous."
    "You're doing it."
    "Yes, but . . ." Suddenly Jeff felt confused. He didn't know which side of the argument he wanted to be on.
    Less sharply, Laura said, "I'm going to volunteer anyway. And if he turns me down I'll take him before the Council and charge him with prejudice."
    "And what'll you do if he accepts you?"
    For a moment Laura said nothing. Then, eyes suddenly sparkling, she replied, "Why, then we can be down on the surface of the planet together, Jeff."
    "Together," he murmured. Holding her closer, he gazed into her upturned face and kissed her. Laura twined her arms around him. He could feel her heart pounding against him; his own pulse thundered through him. Everything else vanished from his mind: the ship, the planet, the universe disappeared and there was only Laura and himself alone together in an infinite breathless moment.
    "UNAUTHORIZED CONDUCT," the Village computer's flat impersonal voice blared through the loudspeakers set into the tube's ceiling. "UNAUTHORIZED CONDUCT. STOP AT ONCE OR BE REPORTED TO THE COUNCIL."
    Jeff gazed bleakly up at the loudspeaker's grill as Laura pushed slightly away from him.
    The computer was silent for only long enough to scan their faces. "JEFFREY HOLMAN AND LAURA MCGRATH, YOUR CONDUCT IS IN