The Light-years Beneath My Feet Read Online Free PDF

fleeting glimpses of life and landscapes that were as foreign to him as life on Seremathenn was to that of Earth. Despite their inherent alienness and the speed of their passing, one or two were more than a little suggestive of something at once familiar and inaccessible.
    When the map of the galaxy appeared, she focused on one section and enlarged it. A pinpoint of light brightened. “Seremathenn,” she rasped at him. A barely perceptible flexing of one digit caused the light to shift elsewhere. “Niyu.”
    He caught his breath. While his ignorance of matters astronomic prevented him from even beginning to estimate the actual distances involved, there was no denying that Viyv-pym’s homeworld lay an impressive distance from Seremathenn. Furthermore, it was clearly located away from the galactic center and out along one of the galaxy’s two main spiral arms. A step of cosmic dimensions toward Earth. Toward home. Although it was apparent that Viyv-pym herself knew nothing of humans or their world, it was conceivable that another of her kind more versed in astronomics or the intelligences that populated the galaxy might have some knowledge of humanity. Or perhaps there were far-ranging sentients with some faint knowledge of Earth who visited distant Niyu but never came as far in as Seremathenn. Possibilities not risked were possibilities that would never exist.
    Provided
Niyu lay within the
right
spiral arm—the same spiral arm as Earth. If not, by accepting her offer of employment he would only be taking himself even farther away from the world of his birth, perhaps irrevocably so. His chances of making the right choice in the galactic scheme of things were fifty-fifty. He hesitated—but not for long.
    Hell, he’d bought and sold consignments and futures of raw materials worth millions of dollars on odds far worse than that. Of one thing he was 100 percent certain: remaining on Seremathenn certainly brought him no closer to home.
    What were his other options? If he declined the Niyyuu’s offer he might never come across another half as promising. He might very well live out his life on Seremathenn, the lone representative of his species among millions of creatures whose intrinsic courtesy rendered them no less alien. Or if he bided his time he might encounter other, similar offers—to carry him off in directions even less promising than Niyu. He had not become successful in his chosen profession through indecision. It was time to take a gamble.
    “I accept, with one condition.”
    Eyes like polished pendants of Scythian gold stared back into his own. “You will receive treatment in accordance with you skills. Medium of exchange will be satisfying.” The tips of her astonishing ears quivered, and the light of the room shimmered on her bronzed metallic epidermis. “Regency of Kojn-umm treats properly the members of its staff.”
    “It’s not about money, or living conditions. You’ve researched my background. Do you know how I came to be here, on Seremathenn?”
    She turned off and repocketed the compact image generator. As she reached beneath the folds of her kilt-skirt to do so, he found his eyes wandering. If she noticed the shift in attention or his subsequent confusion and embarrassment, she gave no sign.
    “You was Vilenjji captive. A people harboring more than their share of clods. Is clear violation of all civilized norms to treat any sentients as goods. Cannot sell sentients.” Dark circlet of mystery, the perfect painted circle of a mouth expanded slightly. “Can only rent them.”
    Not quite sure that she was making a joke, he held back from laughing. “During the time I spent on the Vilenjji vessel, I made three friends. Three very close friends.” He took a deep breath. “If I agree to come and work for you, I would like for them to come along with me.”
    Again the double blink, twice this time, the lilac eyelids flashing. “You ask much.”
    He held his ground, much as he had when confronted