Part 18 (1/2)
We ended up at our favorite hiding place, a corner alley created where two bars and a machine shop formed an awkward divot in the street. You had to squirm to get through the narrow entrance behind trash bins-only kids could do it. Maybe Jenn had forgotten the knack because she knocked over a bin with a rattling crash. For a moment we all froze, and then, because we were tired of laughing, we settled for m.u.f.fled giggles. We dragged the bin in front of the opening and set ourselves against the wall.
For a while we just panted and giggled, remembering the wild run through the night. Tick breathed hard through his respirator but the look on his face was just this side of panic, like he couldn't get enough air. I felt a pang of conscience. Don't let him run so hard, I told myself. I patted my leg, an invitation for Tick to sit on my lap, but that same stubbornness took over his face, and he went over to Jenn and set his little body down in her lap. She wrapped her arms around him.
”This is fun,” she said wistfully. ”I missed you guys.”
”Do they know you're out here?” Dallas asked, wide eyed. Jenn shook her head.
”I'm on sh.o.r.e leave,” she said proudly, but the effect was ruined when she added, ”but my captain ordered me to visit my parents. I did, but then they made me go to bed.” Her voice was full of disgust. ”So I figured I'd find you guys.”
We all laughed, but I was struck by the easy way she said my captain. Like she belonged or something. Do you like it? I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of what she'd say. If she liked it she might as well be gone for good.
”What's it like?” Austin asked. She leaned her chin on her knees, waiting to hear. I snorted quietly in my respirator.
”It's fun. I like it. I mean, it was hard to get used to at first. I really missed-well, everyone. My parents.” We all nodded at this momentous admission. ”And I kept making mistakes at first. Everyone either ordered me around or told me I was in the wrong place. I got yelled at a lot.”
”Like Randy,” Tick piped up.
”Shut up, tick t.u.r.d,” I said.
”Anyway,” Jenn said reprovingly. ”But I got better at stuff. My favorite part is serving on the bridge. I can't touch anything, but I can watch. I love when we hit the jump gate.” I couldn't see her mouth under her mask but I could hear the smile in her voice.
”You've jumped? Where've you been, anyway?” Austin persisted This time I snorted for real. ”Apprentices don't get to go offworld, Austin,” I said. ”All they get to see are the same four walls, for light years and light years. We see more just by sticking around White Lake. ”
”That's not true!” Jenn said. She was shocked. ”I've been lots of places.”
”Oh yeah? Where?”
”Lots of places. I've been to s.p.a.ceports in five systems and I was on Earth Outpost.”
I kept pus.h.i.+ng it, I didn't know why. ”s.p.a.ceports. Big deal. We live on one, remember”
Everyone was looking at us, confused. Jenn's eyes became bright with tears.
”You're jealous,” she said.
”Of what?” I snapped. ”Living in some tin can?”
She stood up, letting Tick slide reluctantly off her lap. She slapped ineffectually at her uniform, but it had lost its white l.u.s.ter. Tick's blood mark rode her shoulder like a rust spot. ”I don't have to listen to this,” she said, and kicked the bin aside before squirming out of the alley. Dallas and Austin stared at me, and then her, and then followed her out. It was just me and Tick in the dim hideaway.
I couldn't meet Tick's eyes. ”Come on,” I said gruffly. ”Let's go home.”
He got to his feet a little slowly, and I knew he was worn out from our escapade. The energy I had earlier had faded and I felt tired myself, along with a bunch of other emotions all caught up in my stomach. Tired, angry, ashamed. Sad. I followed him through the opening half heartedly, pulling myself through the tight spot. To my surprise I saw the other three waiting for us.
We all stood around for a moment, looking at the rough pavement. After a moment Jenn broke the silence.
”Well? What should we do next?”
When we headed out to the main wharf again, the party was in full swing. Mindful of the guards we slid through the crowd, avoiding some of the more conscientious grownups who shouted that we needed to be in bed and what did we think we were doing, running around the wild part of town? Like we didn't already live there or something.
Jenn and I hung back, Tick lagging between us, still brighteyed, but flagging fast. Jenn glanced down at him and then at me.
”What happened? I thought he was going to get his new set right about the time I left.”
I kicked the ground, bitterness rising in my throat. ”You remember what happened to firs'pop, right?”
She nodded. Firs' pop was guiding a fueling tube into the lake when the tube hit an air pocket and bucked. Jenn had been there when first pop's name was chiseled on the memorial stone at the Cathedral.
”Well, after that there was only money for second mama to get new lungs. Tick-we thought he could wait, since he was so little. Now, though, it looks like he's going to need them sooner than we thought.”
”He shouldn't even be outside,” Jenn said, alarm rising in her voice. I shrugged.
”Nah. The clinic gave us some drugs to keep him going. He'll be fine.” I snuck a glance at her. ”I couldn't keep him from seeing you. Couldn't keep myself away.”
I waited with my heart beating so hard my head swam. Jenn just kept walking, as if she hadn't heard. Then she turned sideways toward me. I could see her eyes crinkling over the mask.
”Me too,” she said, and she reached out and squeezed my hand. ”What about you?” she said. ”I thought you were going to get that seas.h.i.+p spot.”
Even holding hands couldn't take the sting away. ”Yeah, well,” I said. ”They need me on the lake.” I didn't tell her I hadn't signed on yet, or that second pop hated looking at me anymore. Or that all we did was fight when we did talk. Or that I missed firs'pop so fierce that I halfway made a promise to myself that I would give up the seas.h.i.+p apprentices.h.i.+p if only he could come back.
”Look!” Tick shouted. ”Randy and Jenn are holding hands.
We sprang apart, and I made a lunge for him. ”You little-” Dallas and Austin began to sing, ”Jenn 'n Randy sittin' in a-”
”Hey, you kids!”
Startled we all turned around. Three wharf guards were coming toward us, their masks sleek and new, their eyes narrowed. Jenn muttered something her firs'ma would disapprove of.
”Can we help you, officers?” beamed Austin. Dallas came up next to her. The twins had the natural ability to project sweetness with their eyes and voices alone. I always looked guilty, even when I wasn't.
”What are you kids doing up this late? Where do you live?”
With blithe innocence, Austin said, ”We're sorry, officer. We had to bring dinner to our firs'mas on the night s.h.i.+ft. We're heading straight home.”
He bought it. His eyes relented.
”See that you do. The docks are no place for kids.”
Solemnly we nodded and chorused our promises. Then, with them watching us, we heading quickly in the most plausible direction. We turned a comer and risked a look back-they were still watching, but they had half turned back to the wharf. One was talking on a radio. I got a bad feeling about that.
”Austin, how do you do that?”Jenn said admiringly. ”Come in handy on board.” She imitated Austin with a mincing falsetto. ”Sorry, officer, I'm just a poor innocent little waif.”
We started laughing, but it was too soon-I could see the officer sign off the radio and look over at us again, and then moving purposefully toward us. Someone must have mentioned the street lamp.
”Uh oh, time to go,” I said. Not even Austin would be able to get us out of this one. Grabbing hold of Tick again, we took off through the crowds.
”Where to?” Jenn shouted, her breath coming hoa.r.s.e through her mask. I looked around for inspiration.
”The Cathedral!” I said.
It was a long steady uphill slog. Before long we were all breathing like Tick. The Cathedral rose above the White Lake s.p.a.ceport, a ma.s.s of solid rock, its feet dipping into White Lake and forming one end of the vast bowl that contained the fuel reservoir. It shone in the reflected light of the lake and the string of pearls, s.h.i.+mmering with white and pastels, like an aurora made of stone. In school they taught us that people used to build cathedrals, but those cathedrals were just buildings. No one built this Cathedral except for the planetary forces that shaped the lake itself. It undulated with elaborate carvings, curtains and gargoyles and dainty columns of stone that were as delicate as lace.