Empyrion II: The Siege of Dome Read Online Free

She laughed lightly. “What an odd word.”
    “I'm still a growing boy.” It was true—spending every waking moment with Jaire made him feel like a youngster whose fondest birthday wish had come true. “I could look at you forever,” he said, speaking his thoughts aloud. Never in his life had a woman as beautiful as Jaire allowed him within fifty meters; most hung out “Forget it, Buster!” signs the second they saw him coming. Jaire was different. And despite the fact that she was, technically, an alien—or maybe because of it—he was ankles over elbows in love with her.
    Jaire favored him with one of the dazzling smiles she gave so effortlessly, bent her head, the lights off the water filling her eyes, and with deft fingers tugged open the bundle in her lap, bringing out the sweet fruitbread she had prepared. “I am going to the hospital tonight,” she said, passing a thick slice, over which was spread a soft nut-flavored cheese.
    “Is someone sick?” He took a bite and savored it.
    “No ...” Jaire shook her head. “It is my—what is your word for it?”
    “Shift. Your work time is called a shift.” He had been teaching her Earth English, as she had been teaching him Fieri.
    “It is my shift.” Jaire worked at the Fieri's single central medical facility—a hospital devoted mostly to the care of expectant mothers and the delivery of babies. There was little disease among the Fieri; so being a physician meant obstetrics and pediatrics almost exclusively.
    Also, since disease had long been in decline, the medical profession among the Fieri ranked about the same as the position of computer operator back on Earth, as far as Pizzle could tell. Not that the Fieri worked all that hard at any particular occupation. Theirs was a culture wholly given to job-sharing. No one, apparently, held down a single career. Each of those tasks necessary to the maintenance and functioning of society was divided among any number of people.
    And since there was no such thing as wages—they simply had no concept of money—it didn't really matter who did what. People tended to do what they liked to do, receiving training in several different occupations and then pursuing them most casually. This had the effect of removing such societal ills as avarice, ambition, and stress from the work environment. The Fieri ascribed no status to what a person did; they were more concerned with the quality of the life being led.
    “How long?” Fieri work schedules bewildered Pizzle; he didn't see how they kept all their various tasks and commitments straight.
    “Ten days.”
    “Every night?”
    She laughed, “Yes, every night. You will have to ask Preben to take you to the concerts instead of me.”
    “But I don't want to go with Preben—I want to go with you. I'll miss you.”
    Jaire passed him another slice of fruitbread and looked at him in that mysterious, enigmatic way Pizzle regarded as her Mona Lisa look—a look she had begun giving him a great deal in the last few days. It hinted at both humor and high seriousness, combined with several other elements he couldn't decipher. Something completely female, and therefore foreign to him. He had no idea what it meant.
    Pizzle continued, changing the subject. “I've decided what I want to do with my life here. I want to learn all I can about your people—every single thing.”
    “That will not take long.” Jaire lifted the sweet bread to her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “There is not much to learn.”
    “I disagree! There's everything to learn.” He held up the half-eaten slice of bread. “For example, I don't have the slightest idea how or where you grow your food, or where you go to get it, or how you divide it up. Or how you get along without money, or anything like that. Where I come from, everything's money! Without money you can't live.”
    “You have told me about money before. Forgive me, but I still don't understand it.”
    “Never mind. But you see what I mean?