Part 27 (2/2)
And old animosities surfaced like ghosts, troubling a present in which humans knew they were not alone.
”It doesn't sound like it was any case of finding three or four survivors,” he said to Grant. ”They're saying 'illegal colony' and they admit it's ours.”
”Still going? Organized?”
”It's not real clear.”
Another moment of silence. Grant sat up then and remembered to dry his hair before it dried the way it was. ”d.a.m.n crazy mess,” Grant said. ”Did they say they got them off, or are they going to? Or what are they going to do about it?”
”Don't know yet.”
”Well, we can guess where Giraud's going to be for the next week or so, can't we?”
v Ari was bored with the offices. She watched the people come in and out. She sat at a desk in back of the office and cut out folded paper in patterns that she unfolded. She got paper and drew a fish with a long tail.
Finally she got up and slipped out while Kyle wasn't looking, while maman was doing something long and boring in the office inside; and it looked like maman was going to be talking a long time.
Which meant maman would not mind much if she walked up and down the hall. It was only offices. That meant no stores, no toys, nothing to look at and no vid. She liked sitting and coloring all right. But maman's own offices were best, because there was a window to look out.
There was nothing but doors up and down. The floor had metal stripes and she walked one, while she looked in the doors that were open. Most were.
That was how she saw Justin.
He was at a desk, working at a keyboard, very serious.
She stood in the doorway and saw him there. And waited, just watching him, for the little bit until he would see her.
He was always different from all the rest of the people. She remembered him from a glittery place, and Grant with him. She saw him only sometimes, and when she asked maman why people got upset about Justin, maman said she was imagining things.
She knew she was not. It was a danger-feeling. It was a worried feeling.
She knew she ought not to bother him. But it was all right here in the hall, where there were people going by. And she just wanted to look at him, but she did not want to go inside.
She s.h.i.+fted to her other foot and he saw her then.
”h.e.l.lo,” she said.
And got that fear-feeling again. His, as he looked up. And hers, as she thought she could get in trouble with maman.
”h.e.l.lo,” he said, nervous-like.
It was always like that when she was around Justin. The nervous-feeling went wherever he did, and got worse when she got close to him. From everybody. It was a puzzle she could not work out, and she sensed by the way maman shut down on questions about Justin that he was a puzzle maman did not approve of. Ollie too. Justin came to parties and she saw him from across the room, but maman always came and got her if she went to say h.e.l.lo. So she thought that Justin was somebody in a lot of trouble for something, and maybe there was something Wrong with him, so they were not sure he was going to behave right. Sometimes azi got like that. Sometime CITs did. Maman said. And it was harder to straighten CITs out, but easier to make azi upset. So she mustn't tease them. Except Ollie could take it all right.
There was a lot about Justin that said azi, but she knew that he wasn't. He was just Justin. And he was a puzzle that came and went and no one ever wanted kids around.
”Maman's down there with ser Peterson,” she said conversationally, also because she wanted him to know she was not running around where she had no business to be. So this was Justin's office. It was awfully small. Papers were everywhere. She leaned too far and caught her balance on the door. Fool, maman would say. Stand up. Stand straight. Don't wobble around. But Justin never said much. He left everything for her to say. ”Where's Grant?”
”Grant's down at the library,” Justin said.
”I'm six now.”
”I know.”
”How do you know that?”
Justin looked uncomfortable. ”Isn't your maman going to be wanting you pretty soon?”
”Maman's having a meeting. I'm tired of being down there.” He was going to ignore her, going back to his work. She was not going to have him turn his shoulder to her. She walked in and up to the chair by his desk. She leaned on the arm and looked up at him. ”Ollie's always working.”
”So am I. I'm busy, Ari. You go along.”
”What are you doing?”
”Work.”
She knew a go-away when she heard one. But she did not have to mind Justin. So she leaned on her arms and frowned and tried a new approach. ”I go to tapestudy. I can read that. It says Sub-” Sub-” She twisted around, because it was a long word on the screen. She twisted around, because it was a long word on the screen. ”Sub-li-min-al mat-ma-trix.” ”Sub-li-min-al mat-ma-trix.”
He turned the screen off and turned around and frowned at her.
She thought maybe she had gone too far, and oughtn't to be leaning on her elbows quite so close to him. But backing up was something she didn't like at all. She stuck out her lip at him.
”Go back to maman, Ari. She's going to be looking for you.”
”I don't want to. What's a sub-liminal matrix?”
”A set of things. A special arrangement of a set.” He shoved his chair back and stood up, so she stood up and got back. ”I've got an appointment. I've got to lock up the office. You'd better get on back to your mother.”
”I don't want to.” He was awfully tall. Like Ollie. Not safe like Ollie. He was pus.h.i.+ng her out, that was what. She stood her ground.
”Out,” he said, at the door, pointing to the hall.
She went out. He walked out and locked the door. She waited for him. She had that figured out. When he walked on down the hall she went with him.
”Back,” he said, stopping, pointing back toward where maman was.
She gave him a nasty smile. ”I don't have to.”
He looked upset then. And he got very quiet, looking down at her. ”Ari, that's not nice, is it?”
”I don't have to be nice.”
”I'd like you better.”
That hurt. She stared up at him to see if he was being nasty, but he did not look like it. He looked as if he was being nasty, but he did not look like it. He looked as if he was the hurt one. he was the hurt one.
<script>