Earthsmith, Page 2

one is up to it."

  "What happened to your astrogation and ethics?"

  "That? Oh, that's just a catch-all phrase. Your courses will depend onsuch things as your D or R classifications--"

  "It makes me laugh a little," Smith admitted. "But they've classified meas a receptive. I guess they know what they're doing. Still--"

  "You think you're strong, eh?"

  "Well, I didn't see anyone in the registrar's room who would worry mevery much in a fight."

  "Society is sophisticated, Smith. There's more to strength than merebrawn. What sort of psi-powers have they cultivated on the planetEarth?"

  * * * * *

  In a general sense, but in a general sense only, Smith knew what shemeant. "Well, there's hypnotism, and some people play at telepathy andclairvoyance. Nothing much, really."

  "That isn't much, my friend."

  "Why? What else is there?" Smith smiled for the first time. "I didn'tknow--" He shook his head, suddenly, to clear it. He felt tilted. Helooked and he saw that everything was straight, but still he felttilted. He tried to right himself, and down he went. On his stomach helay, his legs twisted under him a little. Foolishly, he tried to get up.He couldn't.

  "There's that." The girl laughed. "Suggestion without the need forhypnotism."

  Smith stood up, said, "I see what you mean."

  "Think so?"

  It began to rain. A brisk wind came up abruptly, and off in the distanceSmith heard the roar of thunder. It came closer. Still closer. Like in astraight line. Smith watched the lightnings prance.

  "We'd better get back to the school!" he cried. He didn't think shecould hear his voice above the thunder. He started to shout again, butlightning crackled before his eyes. Between him and the girl. Somethingrumbled, and Smith started to fall. They had been blasted off the crag,and now they hurtled down through the sheets of hot rain....

  "Feel yourself," the girl told him. The huge crimson sun still sat onthe horizon. The air was hot and warm and Smith was dry.

  "Suggestion," she smiled again. "Most of us have it to some degree, butwe of Bortinot have it still more. Still think you should be adominant?"

  "Well--" The girl's face swam before his eyes. Lovely. Smith took a stepforward, reached out and placed his big hands on her shoulders.

  "Well what?" She was smiling.

  "What's your name?"

  "Geria."

  His lips were big and hers were little, if full. He quivered as hekissed her. "I love you, Geria."

  "I know it," she said.

  * * * * *

  "The reason I went outside to watch the sea," Smith said, "was because Ididn't know how to get to room 4027. I didn't want to ask anyone, notafter--"

  "That makes sense. I'll take you, Smith. I'm just down the hall fromyou, anyway."

  "Thank you, Geria." Smith wondered how he knew her name was Geria. Nicename. "What happened after I thought there was a storm, Geria?" Smithsuppressed a smile.

  "Oh, nothing much. I just planted another suggestion in your mind. Fornow you've forgotten, but you will remember. Shall we go?"

  They walked back down the path from the top of the crag, and soon Smithsaw other students in groups of two and three. Ahead was the long lowschool, a dull rectangle of metal perhaps two miles long and half aswide. With Geria, Smith entered through one of the hundreds of doorwaysand followed her wordlessly up a mechanical staircase.

  They flashed past many landings, and after a time Smith followed thegirl across one of them and into a long hall.

  "Simple," she said. "You have the twenty-seventh room here on thefortieth floor. Mine is room eighteen. Will we be seeing more of eachother, Smith?"

  "As much as you'd like," he said, but it made him feel foolish. He hadmerely spoken to the girl for a few minutes, and yet he could not quitefathom his emotions. To some extent she had made him feel the same ashad the man Jorak, and yet she liked him. She wanted to see more of him.She said so.

  "Smith, you're blushing again. I tell you what: if you can do that everyday, then I will see you every day. It's so nice and--unaffected."

  Was that the word she really had in mind? Smith remembered once when hewas little, a farmer had come to the city and everyone had called him anancient word which they said came from a still more ancient name. Rubethey had called him. Rube. He didn't like it. He had had a fight, Smithrecalled, and a big plateglass window was broken. He went to jail for afew weeks on the moon, and after that he didn't come to the city anymore. Smith was little at the time, but he had never forgotten the lookon the farmer's face when the security officers took him off to the moonrocket.

  Had he known it, Jorak would have used the word rube, but what aboutGeria?

  The green number on the white door was painted sharply--4027. "Here's myroom," Smith said. He tried an indifferent wave, but it hardly worked,and he began to blush again.

  Geria skipped lightly down the hall, and he couldn't see her face totell if she were smiling. He shrugged, opened the door.

  * * * * *

  "Earthsmith! Oh, no ... I come half way across the galaxy to get here,so what are the odds against any particular room mate? Huge, that'swhat. But I got me--hello, Earthsmith."

  It was the purple man, Jorak. He had just recently greased his shock ofbright green hair, and he had turned away from the mirror when Smithopened the door. Now he turned back to the tinted glass and held hishead at various angles.

  "Well, can you change rooms if you want to?" Smith asked pleasantly.

  "You're not going to chase me out of my own room, Earthsmith. You canchange if you'd like. Not me."

  "All right if you want me to I'll change."

  "If I want you to! Don't pass the blame to me, Earthsmith. I didn't saya thing about changing, not me. Don't you think I'm good enough foryou?"

  "I don't care one way or the other," Smith said. "I suggested you changebecause I thought you'd be happier that way. Look, I'll mind my ownbusiness and pretend you are not even here. How's that?"

  "Pretend I'm not here? Like cepheid you will. If you want to be ornery,Smith, or Earthsmith, or whatever your name is, I'll give you plenty tobe ornery about. I'm a dominant, you know, so just watch out."

  "I'll change if that will make you happy." Smith didn't want anytrouble. He still felt more than a little strange and out of place here,and a fight with Jorak wouldn't help matters. Briefly, he wondered whatsort of psi-powers Jorak possessed.

  The purple man stood up. "What kind of a slap in the face is that? Wehaven't even started courses or anything. You think I'd need you to helpme with my work or something?"

  "No, I'm quite sure you wouldn't. But I'll change my room, anyway. I'llprobably get in your way--"

  "Well, _I_ wouldn't get into _your_ hair, satellite-head! If you thinkyou're going to leave here and say I started a fight or something.... Myfather made quite a record for himself here at the school, and I'll haveto beat it, of course."

  "Of course," Smith agreed, but he did not really know why.

  "Are you implying anyone, just anyone, could top my father's record,Earthsmith? Not a man from Gyra ever did it, and intellectually Gyra istop planet in its own sector. Not a woman from Bortinot came close, butthen, you probably don't even know where Bortinot is."

  Smith said no, he didn't, but he had just met a woman from Bortinot.Perhaps if he changed the subject....

  Jorak ran his fingers up along each side of his shock of hair. They cameaway greasy green. "Exquisite, those women of Bortinot. But then, youprobably wouldn't appreciate them, eh, Earthsmith?"

  Smith said that he could appreciate them very well indeed, especiallysince, except for a few minor structural differences, they looked likewomen of Earth. It was a mistake, and the muscles in Jorak's cheeksbegan to twitch.

  "I say they look exquisite, you say they look like women of Earth. Whichis it, Earthsmith? Not both, surely--a contradiction in terms. I believeyou're tr
ying to provoke me."

  Smith sighed. He wanted no trouble--they had spent a year with him onEarth, indoctrinating that. He was to be a paragon at the school, asEarth's first student there, he had to be a paragon--even if he turnedout to be more awkward in this situation than the farmer on Eartheveryone had called Rube.

  "I think I will go to sleep," Smith said.

  "Why, don't you men of Earth ever eat, Smith?"

  Smith said