Chapter 9: We Have Another Guest

Nyk walked into the wardroom and opened his personal effects locker. He transferred the stasis capsule from his pocket to the locker and examined his identity documents -- a passport and state-issued photo ID. He returned to the shuttle bay and climbed into the shuttlecar. The door seals checked and the safety catches engaged. The bay began to decompress. The spacedoor slid open and the shuttle rolled into the void.

With his subjump coordinates verified, he triggered the subwarp coil and soon found himself in a parking orbit around Earth. He activated countermeasures and piloted the craft on a reentry trajectory, touching down in the countryside near the university in Wisconsin. The craft headed toward the house.

He pulled up to the detached garage and opened the door. Then, he drove the vehicle into the structure and covered it with a canvas shroud. He closed the garage door and locked it. He opened the house and walked in, picked up the telephone, ordered a taxi to stop at 6AM and flopped onto his bed.

The cab driver sounded his horn and Nyk stepped from the house. He locked the door and climbed into the taxi. “Mitchell Airport,” he instructed the driver.

Nyk watched as the cab pulled onto the freeway and headed for the airport south of Milwaukee. It was mid November, and most of the trees had lost their leaves. The driver dropped him at the curb. Nyk paid him twenty dollars, went into the terminal and stood in line to purchase a one-way ticket to New York.

The ticket agent looked at his photo ID. “How would you like to pay for this, Mr Kane?”

Nyk handed her his Agency debit card. “See if this works.”

She processed his transaction. Nyk tried to modulate his breathing. “It came back declined,” she said. “Do you have another card?”

Nyk looked into his wallet. “No, sorry.”

“Let me try it again,” she said and processed the transaction. “It looks okay this time -- it must’ve been a computer glitch.”

Nyk signed the credit slip and took his boarding pass. “Concourse D, gate 38.”

He headed up the escalator to the security checkpoint. The metal detector buzzed as he walked through it.

“Empty your pockets.” Nyk dug out his keyring and wallet. “Step through again.” The detector beeped.

“Please step over here. Hold out your arms.” The security agent ran a detector wand over his body. It buzzed as it passed over his right wrist. “Do you have something up your sleeve?”

“No.” He unbuttoned his cuff and pulled his sleeve up.

“That bracelet.” Nyk slipped off the copper band.

The wand buzzed over his wrist again. “I broke a bone and have a pin in my wrist.”

“Okay, go on through.” He slipped on the band, buttoned his cuff, headed for the gate and sat to wait for the boarding call.

The flight took off and headed for New York City. Nyk picked up the airphone and ran his debit card through the device. He punched in the phone number for the house in Queens. No answer. He looked out the windows at the cloud cover below as the plane droned on toward New York. Finally it began its descent over Long Island Sound.

Nyk stepped through the jetway at LaGuardia and stood in a line for a taxi. He gave the driver the address in Queens, and looked at the clock on the taxi dashboard. It read 11:40.

The car pulled up to the house. Nyk gave the driver has last twenty and collected some singles in change. He climbed the steps and pressed the doorbell.

Yasuko opened the door. Nyk’s eyes met hers. She broke into a smile and embraced him. “Shhh,” she said and beckoned him into the living room. He saw Suki sitting on a sofa, her back to the door. A number of other women were sitting on furniture in the room. “Sukiko ... We have another guest.”

Suki hoisted herself from the sofa and headed toward the front door. Her eyes met Nyk’s and she ran to him. “Nick! Oh, Nick!” He threw his arms around her and kissed her. She began to laugh and cry at the same time, peppering his face with kisses as he kissed tears off hers.

“I see I’m not too late,” he said as he caressed her bulging belly.

“Not too late -- two weeks and counting. Come in. Mom is throwing me a surprise baby shower.” She looked at her mother. “Was this part of the surprise?”