To The Stars

“No!” The word burst out of her. “I said that I found it hard to understand. But that doesn’t mean that I feel any different about you. I love you, Jan, and I will always love you.”

“I hope so. I have acted irrationally, perhaps stupidly. That I did it because I love you is little excuse.” Her hands were cold in his. “I can understand if you blame me for what I did next. Putting you in this train and taking you away. We were talking about it when they attacked me. I never heard your answer.”

“Didn’t you?” She smiled for the first time. “There can be only one answer. I will obey The Hradil always. But now that she is no longer here to give orders it is not a matter of obeying or disobeying. I can love you as I have always wanted to, be with you always.”

“Jan,” the voice called from outside, then twice again before he heard it. He felt he was smiling like a fool and held her gently for a long moment, beyond words, then pulled away and stood up.

“I have to go. I can’t tell you how I feel

“I know. I’m going to sleep now. I am much better.”

“Do you want some food, something to drink?”

“Nothing. Just you. Come back as soon as you can.

The co-driver of the tank was leaning out of the hatch. “Jan, got a message,” he said. “Semenov wants to know why the stop and when we can go on?”

“Just the man I want to see. Tell him we move on as soon as I join him in his engine. Let’s go.

Ivan Semenov was still Trainmaster With the families and all their problems left behind, Jan had relinquished the lead engine to him. Any problems that came up now would probably be with the Road and he could handle them better from the lead tank. Jan climbed the ladder to the driver’s compartment and Ivan started the trains forward as soon as he had closed the door.

“What is the delay about?” Semenov asked. “Every hour is important now, as you keep saying.”

“Come into the engine room and I’ll tell you.” Jan was silent until the engineer had left and the hatch was shut. “I would like to get married.”

“I know, but that is between you and The Hradil. I can speak to her if you like, the law isn’t that exact as to which families the girl cannot marry into. A decision could be made. But it is up to The Hradil.”

“You misunderstand. You are a Family Read which means you can perform marriages. I’m asking you to do just that. Alzbeta is here, aboard a train:’

“It cannot be!”

“It certainly is. So what are you going to do?”

“The Hradil would never permit it.”

“The Hradil is not here to stop it. So think for yourself, just once. Make your own mind up. Once it is done there can be no going back. And there is nothing that evil old woman can do to you.”

“It is not that. There is the law.”

Jan spat disgustedly on the floor then rubbed the spittle into the steel plating with the sole of his boot. “That for your law. It is an invention, don’t you know that? There are no such things as Families and Family Heads on Earth, or taboos about marriage between chosen groups. Your so-called laws are works for fiction written by hireling anthropologists. Societies to order. They scratch around in the textbooks and put together bits and pieces of vanished societies and brew up one that will keep a population docile and obliging and hardworking — and stupid.”

Semenov did not know whether to be shocked or angry; he shook his head unbelievingly, a physicist with the basic laws of energy threatened.

“Why do you say these things? You can’t mean them, you’ve never said anything before.”

“Of course not. It would have been suicide. Ritterspach was a police spy — among his other endearing traits. He would have reported anything I said when the ships came, and I would be dead as soon as they found out. But with the ships not coming it doesn’t matter now. Everything’s changed. I can tell you about dear old Earth…”

“I’ll hear no more lies.”