Asimov's Science Fiction by Penny Publications Page B

wall, and young people stood smiling at him.
    "Hi," one of the girls said. "I'm Leah, and this is June and Paul. Welcome to The Resort."
II: Inside
    Three ordinary human teenagers, two girls and a boy, dressed in ordinary pants and shirts and leather shoes. Behind them a field stretched to a bright blue sea with the sun rising above it in multi-colored glory. The air smelled of flowers. Zed said, "Let me out!"
    Leah frowned. "You just got in."
    "I have to go to Isobel."
    "Oh." The frown was replaced by compassion. "Your wife?"
    Zed looked at them more closely. Not teenagers: older than he thought. Twenties, maybe. He didn't care. "Girlfriend," he said, aware even now, even here, of a ridiculous little hiccup of pride as he said it. "I have to get back! We were supposed to come in together!"
    "If she didn't come in with you," Paul said, "there's a reason for that."
    "What reason?" Zed rounded on him, fists half-clenched, almost glad to have a target he could understand.
    "Easy, big guy," Paul said. "This isn't a place for fighting."
    "I have to go back!"
    "Well," Leah said reasonably, "if you really want to do that, you can. But—"
    "I can?"
    "—first you have to see your mentor. Once, at a minimum. Those are the rules. Then if you want, you can go back. June, who's he assigned to?"
    June appeared to stare at something invisible. "C7."
    "Okay," Leah said. "Come on, I'll take you. What's your name?"
    It was a trap. They wanted to get him away from the wall so he couldn't go back to Isobel. But he couldn't go back to Isobel now. If they wanted him dead, he'd be as gone as his.22. Wouldn't he?
    Utterly confused, he said, "Zed Larch."
    "This way, Zed."
    She led him across the field, toward the ocean. As they got closer, Zed halted to stare. He'd never seen any water bigger than a mountain lake. The Atlantic threw up sparkling whitecaps before it broke on rocks. Seagulls wheeled overhead, crying raucously. The wind smelled of salt and freshness.
    Leah waited, smiling, while he took it all in. Her smile stayed even after he planted his feet and stared at her. "No farther till you answer some questions!"
    "Sure."
    "Can I really leave after I see Seeven?"
    "C7. Yes. A few do. Most of us stay."
    "Why?"
    "We're learning things. Or we like it here. Or we were hurt or sick when we came. Or it's a big adventure. Or we understand what's happening. Pick your reason."
    "What
is
happening?"
    "History."
    "I want answers!"
    "You're getting them."
    He raised his hand and gnawed on his fingernails. "How long have
you
been here?"
    "Two years."
    "What do the aliens do to you?"
    "Do? Do you mean do they torture us or brainwash us or force us into hard labor or eat us? Grow up, Zed. If you were a starfaring race with the technology to remake a planet, would you need slaves? Would you want to eat microbe-ridden mammals whose flesh might kill you?"
    Zed didn't know what microbes were, but it didn't sound good. God, he was behaving like his father. The last thing he wanted.
    "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to insult you."
    "You didn't. Come on, C7 will answer your questions. Or rather, 'The Question.' That's what you really want to ask."
    "I—"
    "Come on."
    Women were always telling him to do something. Leah, Isobel, Mrs. Bellingham, his mother.
Go, come, go.
    They walked a long way along the shoreline to a low white building, gracefully curved. It blended with the white sand between it and the sea. Behind, dunes rose to woods and fields, where the low buildings were brown or green or gray. A rabbit dashed across the path.
    A young woman passed them, walking beside a low cart that floated above the ground. In the cart lay two infants. Zed gaped at the floating cart, the babies, the cart again. The young woman said, "Hi, Leah."
    "Hi, Mary. How are the twins?"
    "Off to J4. We're late."
    She hurried off, the floating cart keeping pace. Zed said, "How—"
    "The usual way, of course. Their father is Tim, my brother. Come on inside."
    An ordinary room;