Part 36 (1/2)

Fargone Station

And her return address was:

Dr. Denys Nye

Administrator

Reseune Administrative Territory

Postal District 3

Cyteen Station

She wanted to put her own name on the letter, but uncle Denys said she would have to wait until she was grown up and had her own address. Besides, he said, if it was from the Administrator of Reseune to the Director of RESEUNEs.p.a.cE it looked like business and it would get right to maman's desk without anybody waiting.

She was in favor of that.

She asked why their address was Cyteen Station when they lived on Cyteen, and he said mail didn't go to planets without going through stations; and if you wanted to write to somebody on Earth the address was always Sol Station, but because there was Mars and the Moon you had to put Earth, then the name of the country.

Uncle Denys tried to explain what a country was and how they started.

That was why he got her the History of Earth History of Earth tape. She wanted to do that one again. It had a lot of really strange pictures. Some were scary. But she knew it was just tape. tape. She wanted to do that one again. It had a lot of really strange pictures. Some were scary. But she knew it was just tape.

She went to tapestudy. She studied biology and botany, and penmans.h.i.+p and history and civics this week. She got Excellent on her exams and uncle Denys gave her a nice holo that was a Terran bird. You turned it and the bird flapped his wings and flew. It came all the way from Earth. Uncle Giraud had got it in Novgorod.

But there was only Nelly for playschool. And it was boring doing the swings and the puzzlebars with just Nelly. So she didn't go every day anymore. She got tired of going everywhere with Nelly, because Nelly worried about everything and Nelly was always worrying about her. So she told uncle Denys she could go to tapestudy by herself, and she could go to library by herself, because people knew her, and she was all right.

She took a lot of time getting back from tapestudy. Sometimes she stopped and fed the fish, because there was a Security guard right at the door and uncle Denys had said she could do that. Today she went down the tunnel because there had been a storm last night and you had to stay indoors for a few days.

So she got to thinking how she and maman had come this way once when she went to see ser Peterson. You took the elevator. Dr. Peterson was boring as Seely was; but that hall was where Justin's office was.

Justin would be interesting, she thought. Maybe he would at least say h.e.l.lo. And so many people had Disappeared that she liked to check now and again to see if people were still there. It always made her feel safer when she found they were. So if she got a chance to see an old place, she liked to.

She took the lift up to the upstairs hall, and she walked the metal strips she remembered: that was nice too, like once upon a time, when maman had been down the hall in that very office; but it made her sad, too, and she stopped it and walked the center of the hall.

Justin's office door was open. It was messy as the last time. And she was happy of a sudden, because Justin and Grant were both there.

”h.e.l.lo,” she said.

They both looked at her. It was good to see someone she knew. She really hoped they would be glad to see her. There weren't many people who would talk to her that weren't uncle Denys's.

But they didn't say h.e.l.lo. Justin got up and looked unfriendly.

She felt lonely all of a sudden. She felt awfully lonely. ”How are you?” she asked, because that was what you were supposed to say.

”Where's your nurse?”

”Nelly's home.” She could say that now about uncle Denys's place without it hurting. ”Can I come in?”

”We're working, Ari. Grant and I have business to do.”

”Everybody's working,” she complained. ”h.e.l.lo, Grant.”

”h.e.l.lo, Ari,” Grant said.

”Maman went to Fargone,” she said. In case they hadn't heard.

”I'm sorry,” Justin said.

”I'm going to go there and live with her.”

Justin got a funny look. A real funny look. Grant looked at her. And she was scared because they were upset, but she didn't know why. She sat there looking up and wis.h.i.+ng she knew what was wrong. Of a sudden she was real scared.

”Ari,” Justin said, ”you know you're not supposed to be here.”

”I can be here if I want. Uncle Denys doesn't mind.”

”Did uncle Denys say that?”

”Justin,” Grant said. And gently: ”Ari, who brought you here?”

”n.o.body. I brought myself.” She pointed. ”I came from tapestudy. I'm taking a shortcut.”

”That's nice,” Justin said. ”Look, Ari. I'll bet you're supposed to go straight home.”

She shook her head. ”No. I don't have to. Uncle Denys is always late and Nelly won't tell him.” She kept getting this upset-feeling, no matter how she tried to be cheerful. It was not them being bad to her. It was not a mad either. She tried to figure out what it was, but Grant was worried about Justin and Justin was worried about her being there.

h.e.l.l with Them, maman would say. Meaning the Them that kept tilings messed up.

”I'm going,” she said.

But she did it again the next day, sneaked up and popped sideways around the doorframe and said: ”h.e.l.lo.”

That scared them good. She laughed. And came out and was nice then. ”h.e.l.lo.”