Part 24 (1/2)

He busied himself with organizing his research notes, and working on his latest publication, but could not concentrate, and made little progress. There was a brief disruption while the spin generators were geared back up and gravity was restored. Once acceleration was back to its steady three-quarters gee, Xuan picked up the items that had fallen to the floor, and then sank heavily into his desk chair.

At least we will have the ice, he thought. he thought. Perhaps the damage to Kukuyos.h.i.+ won't be irreparable. Perhaps the damage to Kukuyos.h.i.+ won't be irreparable. Cold comfort. Cold comfort.

Okuyama contacted him. ”We have been asked to provide a.s.sistance in helping substantiate some sugar-rock claims, again. Do you have any more graduate students we can loan out?”

”I'm afraid not. Everyone we could spare is currently a.s.signed to the Kukuyos.h.i.+ recovery efforts...” In mid-sentence, it occurred to Xuan that he could use a rock-hopping break. Jane didn't want him around right now. And it would do him good to get out into the Big Empty and kick around in the dust with his rock-testing tools again, away from his colleagues' stares and the miasma of motes that had been following him around the past day or two. ”But I'd be glad to volunteer,” he finished.

”Excellent! Here is the contact info.” His address cache registered receipt. ”They want to head out right away. I understand they are outfitting a yacht out at the Klosti Omega dock. It's a decent-sized rock they're interested in, so it's definitely worth the trouble. Your contact is a Mr. Andrew Mills.”

Xuan recorded the name and contact info. ”I'll call him right away.”

Sean paid visits to the kids' families. Ian's parents' reaction seemed to be mostly peevish annoyance. Mrs. Carmichael sighed. ”I suppose we had better head up to Yamas.h.i.+ro Memorial and deal with this. I'm going to have to cancel my appointments for the afternoon. This is a serious inconvenience, Mr. Moriarty.”

”The cl.u.s.ter had better be prepared to cover the costs,” Mr. Carmichael added, ”or you will have a lawsuit on your hands.”

Sean replied, stiffly, ”Your son is a hero, and the cl.u.s.ter owes him a great debt. I have no doubt that his medical costs will be covered. If there is any question or doubt, you have the hospital people call me.”

The man was mollified; the woman bemused. Sean left quickly, before his temper snapped. He and his wife had decided not to have children-his patience was not up to the task-but by G.o.d, he could not understand why people who did did want children thereafter behaved so badly toward them. want children thereafter behaved so badly toward them. Self-absorbed f.u.c.kwads. Self-absorbed f.u.c.kwads.

Kamal's parents were much more concerned. They sat together on their couch, Mr. Kurupath with his arm around his wife. Mrs. Kurupath spoke calmly, but her hands belied her by endlessly wringing a small green silk scarf. ”We understand that he, and you, must have been swept up in events last night, and we appreciate your coming by. But we must insist that this sort of thing not happen again. We don't want him partic.i.p.ating in any further such activities.”

”He is our only child, Mr. Moriarty,” Mr. Kurupath said. He clasped his hands together tightly. ”Surely you can understand. He is very dear to us. He has explained his part, and it is clear that he acted of his own free will, out of loyalty to his friends. But he is no soldier, and we are not at war. Please do not press him to do any dangerous stunts again.”

”I fully understand,” Sean replied. ”I promise you, I have no intention of asking him to undertake any further actions on behalf of Phocaea.”

Amaya's mother, Mariko Toguri, was much calmer. She fixed him a cup of tea and asked questions about what had happened. Amaya was still in bed, but apparently she had given her mother a full account the night before, as the older woman did not seem surprised.

When Sean finished recounting the prior evening's events, she rested her hands on the low table and said in a soft voice, ”My daughter is an adult now, and makes her own choices. I am glad to hear that she acquitted herself well, and thankful that you have come here to tell me all this. I admit that sometimes her actions scare me. But my own parents thought I was out of my mind to emigrate Up here. How can I blame her for following her own heart?”

At Geoff's home, Sean could tell as the door opened that he had interrupted an argument. Geoff stood in the center of the room, face to face with his father. The nano-meds had done him a world of good: his wrists were not nearly so raw, he seemed to be standing straighter, and his nose had a.s.sumed normal proportions and a mostly normal color.

The mother slumped on a chair in the corner of the room, with a tissue at her mouth. Her face was tear-swollen and blotched. Mr. Agre turned on Sean.

”How dare dare you?” he demanded. ”How dare you endanger Geoff? He came home last night looking as if he had been beaten to a pulp.” you?” he demanded. ”How dare you endanger Geoff? He came home last night looking as if he had been beaten to a pulp.”

”I was given responsibility to stop the feral sapient from escaping our computer systems, Mr. Agre. Without the help of Geoff and his friends, I would not have been able to do so. The feral sapient would be loose in the solar system right now.”

Mr. Agre stabbed a finger at Geoff. ”His brother just died died! Last night his friend suffered a traumatic amputation-doing your bidding! Don't give me high-minded speeches. Let someone else risk their life next time.”

Sean hesitated. His first instinct was to tell the man to let his son grow up. He had had men and women Geoff's age under his command who fought, killed, and died for their country. Still, the contrast with the Carmichaels was stark. At least he cared enough to get angry. From the expression on Geoff's face, though, he didn't see it that way.

”What the h.e.l.l do you care?” Geoff asked.

His father turned on him. ”What did you just say?” ”What did you just say?”

Geoff paled, but his back stiffened and his fists balled. He repeated, ”What do you care? You never gave a d.a.m.n about me. It was Carl you cared about.” His mother's hands went to her mouth, and her eyes went wide; his father's eyes narrowed. Geoff went on, ”All you've ever done is ignore me, and when you weren't doing that all you did was criticize.

”And now Carl's dead,” he said, ”and I'm all you have left, and you think that gives you the right to start telling me how to live my life? Well, you don't don't. I'm an adult now. I make my own choices.”

Mrs. Agre reached toward him, but he pulled away from her.

”That's the problem with you, Geoff!” his father said. ”You don't don't make choices. You're completely random. The way you chase all your d.a.m.n stupid ice rocks, you fool yourself into thinking what you're doing means something, when the truth is, you're just running away. You dodge the sweat and tedium it takes to do well in school. You dodge your responsibilities at home. You dodge the people who want to get to know you. I don't know how many girls have come by here while you were out somewhere, and you never follow up. You are afraid of failure!” make choices. You're completely random. The way you chase all your d.a.m.n stupid ice rocks, you fool yourself into thinking what you're doing means something, when the truth is, you're just running away. You dodge the sweat and tedium it takes to do well in school. You dodge your responsibilities at home. You dodge the people who want to get to know you. I don't know how many girls have come by here while you were out somewhere, and you never follow up. You are afraid of failure!”

”Don't put that on me, Dad. You don't have a clue who or what I like. You're You're the one who ran away all your life. You ran away from Earth. You ran away from your first family and all your screw-ups back on the moon. the one who ran away all your life. You ran away from Earth. You ran away from your first family and all your screw-ups back on the moon. So get off my back. So get off my back.”

His father was so angry he shook. ”I'm still your father and while you live under my roof, you'll do what I say.”

”Then I'm moving out.”

”The h.e.l.l you are!”

Geoff moved toward the door. Mr. Agre blocked him, and, when Geoff tried to shove past, struck him in the face. Mrs. Agre screamed. ”Sal! Stop!”

Geoff's hand went to his face, where the imprint of his father's knuckles stood out-first marble white, then an angry red. They stood there, looking at each other: Geoff still as stone, his father panting and flushed. Then Geoff grabbed his helmet off a hook by the door and left.

Mrs. Agre looked aghast at her husband. ”How could you?” ”How could you?”

”He deliberately defies me, Dee. You've seen how he acts.”

”I've had enough,” she whispered. When he tried to reply, she screamed, ”Enough!” She fled into the other room and closed the door. Sean heard a soft snick as it locked. Agre collapsed into a chair.

Sean had already stayed too long. He stepped toward the door. It whispered open behind him, and more motes swirled in on the cold breeze. But he had to say one thing. ”Mr. Agre, your son's courage and quick thinking have been all that have stood between us and many people dying. Not once, but twice. If he were my son, I would be proud.” He paused. ”And I would tell him so.”

Agre gave him a tormented look as the door closed between them. Sean looked up and down the corridor, but Geoff was nowhere to be seen.

22.

Geoff met Kam and Amaya in New Little Austin for breakfast. He could tell by their glances that they both noticed the fist-shaped bruise blossoming on his left cheek. He hoped they would a.s.sume it happened yesterday, during his fight with Ian or the run-in with the feral sapient.

They decided to get take-out and visit Ian.

While they were waiting in line at the cafe, Amaya grew tense. She tugged at his sleeve and jerked her head toward the plaza. Not two meters from where they stood, a skeletal hand reached up through a sewer grating. He gasped and surged half to his feet. s.h.i.+t-the bone dancers! Somebody's foot came down on the skeleton's wrist, and the silicate bones shattered and dissolved back into the sewer.

Geoff sat back down and tried not to hyperventilate. He recalled the Viridian woman, Vivian's, warning. It's harder to control than you think. It's harder to control than you think. Their stunt wasn't over and forgotten. Which meant the authorities would be more motivated to find the culprit. He could still end up in prison. And so might his friends. Their stunt wasn't over and forgotten. Which meant the authorities would be more motivated to find the culprit. He could still end up in prison. And so might his friends.

He asked Amaya and Kam to order for him, found a seat at a table, and did a search. Sure enough, people were reporting skeleton parts showing up here and there in the lower levels. Only a few reported sightings so far, but it was bound to get worse.

Amaya and Kam brought the breakfast burritos and coffee over. He pinged their wavefaces-they saw what he saw. ”Holy s.h.i.+t,” Kam whispered.

”I know what to do.” Geoff stood.

Amaya asked, ”Where are you going?”

And Kam said, ”I thought we were going to see Ian.”