Children of the Old Star Read Online Free PDF

Granada. The scenes were packed with emotional energy. Why had the Cluster shown these scenes to him?
    Clyde held the paper to his chest, and vowed silently to find the answer.
* * * *
    John Mark Ellis arrived at the spaceport in Boston feeling grungy. His jacket hung askew over the top of his rumpled jump suit. His auburn hair felt too long and kept falling into his eyes. Not only had there been no gravity on the freighter from Titan, there had been no showers. Consequently, his beard ached, sticky with dried sweat. The one thing there had been on the cruiser was a teleholo. Mark Ellis tried desperately to drive the image of his mother's face as he told her about leaving the fleet from his mind. Ellis searched his coat desperately for a cigar. He growled when he remembered he had smoked his last cigar on Titan.
    Ellis’ eyelids felt heavy, despite the fitful nap he had managed to catch on the two-hour trip to Earth. He stood in the dingy port, realizing he was too tired to make the trip home to Nantucket, but too many thoughts buzzed to allow him to sleep. Grumbling, he ran his fingers through his hair, disheveling it even further. His stomach began to growl.
    Ignoring the crowds, he stepped out of the port and made his way to a motel that looked as grungy as he felt. Bright neon meant to be cheery only added to the building's dismal appearance. Inside the lobby, he rang the little electric bell. A bald man with four days’ growth of beard stepped up to the counter.
    "I need a room for the night,” said Ellis wearily.
    "No rooms,” rasped the man. “Just compartments."
    "Great,” muttered Ellis, handing his credit chit to the man. The man took more time than necessary processing the chit. Finally, he handed Ellis the chit and key.
    "You staying more than the night,” sneered the man.
    "Not if I can help it,” said Ellis, snatching the key. He stormed out to the street without visiting the compartment he had reserved. He knew the space would be no more than a cabinet. He didn't really care, but it did remind him of how crowded the planet was. He would be glad to get back to his spacious house on Nantucket.
    Ellis stood in the street trying to sort out his feelings. Mostly, he felt numb, not sure where or how to begin his search. Still, there was some gnawing, underlying feeling. In his mind, he saw Admiral Marlou Strauss, angry. He saw his mother, disappointed and trying to understand. The green eyes of the woman from Ellis’ vision haunted him. The ex-commander's mind was muddled with images of women tormenting him, hounding him, and giving him platitudes. His stomach rumbled again, reminding him he hadn't eaten since well before the meeting. All these feelings combined together, causing a dark memory to surface. Ellis knew where he would go for food.
    Numbly, Ellis hailed a hover taxi. “Take me to Cambridge,” he said to the cabby.
    "Sure you wanna’ go there sailor?” asked the hack with a sour laugh. “It's gonna cost."
    "Fine,” said Ellis as he climbed in the back behind the hepler-proof glass. After a moment, when the cabby didn't lift off, Ellis rapped on the glass. The cabby simply pointed downward. Ellis sighed, looking at the slot for the credit chit. He inserted the chit and the cabby lifted off.
    A few minutes later, Ellis found himself standing across from one of the ancient ivy-covered buildings that used to be part of Harvard University. Now, the red brick building covered in rotting ivy was a tenement house for as many people as it could hold.
    Ellis thrust his hands deep in his pockets and walked up Garden Street to another large brick enclosure topped by a lurid, gleaming dome. The dome, in turn, was covered in blinking neon proclaiming the name “Hernando's.” He nodded satisfactorily, seeing the building that once was Harvard College Observatory. The city lights gleaming brilliantly and exotically off the pollution in the air above had rendered the building useless as a research facility