In the Company of Others (53 page)
Read In the Company of Others Online
Authors: Julie E. Czerneda
“Why is it called the waist?” he asked, looking up in wonder at the view of the planet hanging overhead.
“The ship resembles an insect found on Earthâa wasp. There's a similar elongation between its body parts. Same name.”
“I see.” If Aaron thought this a strange way to designate components of a starship, he was polite enough not to mention it.
“We don't have much time here,” Gail said after a few seconds spent watching Aaron gaze at his planetâwary of the pleasure of seeing him enjoying himself.
“You don't have surveillance in here, do you?” he asked, looking back at her.
One of those casual, bombshell questions Aaron excelled at
, Gail reminded herself. He knew to ask. Who from Thromberg would? “No. The interior is scoured after each passage. As a rule, there are vids in every public place.”
, Gail reminded herself. He knew to ask. Who from Thromberg would? “No. The interior is scoured after each passage. As a rule, there are vids in every public place.”
“On the bridge?”
Gail smiled thinly. “The bridgeâseveral. Protects the Captain and crew from accusations of misconduct; keeps records of what's happened on board.”
“Your office?”
She gave him a sharp look, but the expression on his face appeared to be mere curiosity. “Grant's people remove them as quickly as they find them. I have to believe him when he tells me the FD don't plant their own. Why?”
“I can tell when you think you're being watched.”
“I'm watched most of the time, Aaron,” Gail shrugged. “It's a luxury to have space where I'm not.” She paused. “But this isn't what you wanted to talk to me aboutâso urgently you tracked me to my bedroom.”
“I knew where it was.”
Oh, dear.
Gail found the toe of her boot suddenly fascinating. “Aaronâ” she started to say.
Gail found the toe of her boot suddenly fascinating. “Aaronâ” she started to say.
“Don't,” he ordered. Gail looked up and saw his face had grown stern, as if he'd aged years in front of her. “Let me say what I need to say, Gail.”
She nodded, her grip on the hold bar tightening.
Aaron pointed upward. “You have to let me go on the first drop.”
Gail blinked, then regained her composure.
Of course this was what he wanted to say
, she chastised herself. She shouldn't have believed he'd give it up because she'd made an announcement in a meeting. This was the man who'd walked most of the stationâoutsideâto find his friend. “I have my reasons,” she told him, having no intention of giving way on this.
Of course this was what he wanted to say
, she chastised herself. She shouldn't have believed he'd give it up because she'd made an announcement in a meeting. This was the man who'd walked most of the stationâoutsideâto find his friend. “I have my reasons,” she told him, having no intention of giving way on this.
“Do you trust me or not?”
“Trust is not the issue hereâ”
“It's the only issue. You tell me I'm affected by the Quillâthat I might be part-Quill for all we know. How can you risk anyone else?”
How can I risk you, of anyone?
Gail froze, fearing she'd said that out loud. Fortunately, he was still waiting for her answer. Not angry, not yet, but with that stubborn pride she'd seen before. “You did enough by helping test the suits,” she explained. “We've trained personnel ready to use them. I don't even know if a suit could protect you, Aaron.”
Gail froze, fearing she'd said that out loud. Fortunately, he was still waiting for her answer. Not angry, not yet, but with that stubborn pride she'd seen before. “You did enough by helping test the suits,” she explained. “We've trained personnel ready to use them. I don't even know if a suit could protect you, Aaron.”
“I wouldn't wear one.”
“Wonderful plan,” she retorted, furious. “Why don't you just walk out the air lock?”
“You don't know the Quill Effect would harm me. It didn't before.”
She took a deep, reasoning breath. “You were a newborn baby. And who said you weren't harmed.” Horrified by what she'd said, Gail added quickly: “Aaron, I'm sorry.”
“If I've paid the price,” Aaron told her, his eyes implacable, “I want something to show for it.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” They'd been standing a couple of meters apart. He stepped closer. “The Quill made me like thisâI want to be the one to find them, to bring the sample back, so we can kill them.” Suddenly, Aaron was standing so close she could feel the warmth radiating from him. “There has to be something more to meâto my lifeâthan this, Gail,” he said urgently, searching her face. “Don't you see? If I can'tâ” His hand hovered in midair, as if cupping her cheek. “Let me go down. Please.”
“You want to be a hero,” Gail said coldly, deliberately.
“I want to be human and hold you,” Aaron countered. “But you can't make that happen, Gail. Nothing on this ship or back on Earth can do that. Let me go down.” He paused.
“All right.” Gail closed her eyes, feeling moisture escape them to make prickly trails down her cheeks. “Go,” she whispered.
“Gailâ?” he sounded startled.
By what
, she wondered wildly,
her giving in or the tears?
By what
, she wondered wildly,
her giving in or the tears?
“Hold on. We're moving again.” She opened her eyes but did-n't look at him as the walkway slipped into motion, speeding them both along to the end of the waist. “There isn't much timeâI'm planning to decide on a site within the next three hoursâand there are conditions. You'll wear a suit. Allyn will brief you on it. And you'll follow the procedures for Trial Number One. No creativity . . . in and out.”
“Thank you. I'llâ”
Gail turned so that she could see him. “And you'll come back.” She didn't care anymore what he saw in her face or heard in her voice. “I'm serious, Aaron. Go if you must. But you come back to meâor I'll be down on the next drop to find you.”
Chapter 61
Titan University Archives Excerpts from the personal recordings of Chief Terraform Engineer Susan Witts Access Restricted to Clearance AA2 or Higher
... Pardell's World, Jeremy. I named it, and your father, after your grandfather. Extravagant gifts for a man I barely knew? It didn't seem so at the time, when the two of us were alone here, making love for hours on empty hilltops, sleeping by barren riversâas if this world ached to hear new life and we were its instruments. We had to answer that need, however irrational it sounds now. Your grandfather? He went back to his ship when it made its next stop. Don't be surprised. We enjoyed one another. That's all it was, except your father was born of it. I loved him from the moment they put him in my arms, Jeremy. I always will, no matter what happened between us.
Now this world sings with life, Jeremy. It's as ready for settlement as any of the sixteen, but Pardell's Worldâyour legacyâis still hidden, untouched. Our secret. You have the coordinates; I sent them to your father, years ago. If you haven't found them before receiving this letter, look for them now. His gene key or yours, as well as mine, will unlock the data. Do with this world as you wish.
This may be my final visit to this place. Oh, it's not my health. In fact, I've been approved for rejuv. No, I'm heading out to the next set of worlds, to oversee Stage Three. Titan came to its senses. I haven't told them when I'm leavingâbut you can be sure it will be before all the pomp, circumstance, and outright pandemonium of opening the finished worlds to immigration. They can keep all that.
Unfortunately, I can't keep my Quill. The ERC is insisting anyone working on the new projects run through a genetic screenâto be sure we don't bring unsanctioned material. As if that would pick up a Quill. But it was my recommendation, after all. I don't trust the modern terraformers. They seem to think everything's by the book now, that there's no risk. I bet half of them would bring the family pet. Life's always a risk, I tell them. Living things can't be predicted. But they don't listen. We probably did our job too well, made it look too easy.
I can't bring myself to destroy my Quill, not after what it's done for me, the comfort of wearing it through those difficult times. I've left it at the base of the tree I planted for your father. Unfortunately, it will be gone to dust long before you come here. It can't survive for long away from me, and we never found a way to make them reproduceâand believe me, spacers have been trying. One day, someone will track down their homeworld and learn what we need to know.
Someone else. I've new worlds to build. I hope you'll be proud of me, Jeremy. Perhaps, one day, I'll have the courage to call and introduce myself. But if I don't, you'll read this and know I care.
Be well, grandson.
“What's that, young Aaron?”
Pardell folded the sheet and tucked it carefully in a pocket. “You know Malley, Rosalind,” he replied evasively. “He's forever coming up with new schemes.” He took another drink, aware his face had likely showed a confusion of emotions, but determined to keep Susan Witts' letters to himself.
There weren't many that referred so clearly to the planet they orbitedâhis rationale for rereading them.
Not that he could resist
, Pardell admitted, knowing himself fascinated by the drama in the simple words, the appalling consequences of his grandmother's decisionsâ
someone who meant so well.
Not that he could resist
, Pardell admitted, knowing himself fascinated by the drama in the simple words, the appalling consequences of his grandmother's decisionsâ
someone who meant so well.
“He seems in his element,” Rosalind agreed. She'd left their table to talk briefly with some of the
Seeker
's crew. Like Malley, she had her way of fitting in. “So, young Aaron. Where were we? Ah. Camouflage.”
Seeker
's crew. Like Malley, she had her way of fitting in. “So, young Aaron. Where were we? Ah. Camouflage.”
Pardell took another bite of his supper, an animal protein he usually enjoyed, but tonight found completely tasteless. “Yes, Rosalind. Camouflage.”
“This is what all the experiments in the lab and Dr. Smith's work have proved, young Aaron?” Rosalind questioned, sipping on the tea she enjoyed and Captain Tobo personally ensured was always supplied to their table. Her lips quirked. “Is that not how an animal hides from attention? I hardly see the Quill going unnoticed.”
“But that's the point, Rosalind,” Pardell explained. “They can't be found on any of the terraformed worlds. This morning's probes sent to the planet surface didn't find any trace of foreign organisms either.”
“Is not everything on this world of yours foreign to it, young Aaron?”
He was surprised into a laugh and conceded: “I suppose it is. The probes only detected the founding mixture of Terran plants and their partner microorganisms, as described in Witts' notes. Not species-by-species the same mix as used on the other projects . . . a simpler group, less likely to need intervention. This worldâ”
“Your world,” she reminded him gently.
It hardly seemed credible
, Pardell thought again, once more caught by the vision of orbiting the world where his grandfather had been bornâwhere he'd been born.
Of stepping on it.
“We share the name, Rosalind,” he said, fishing on his plate for another of the green vegetables called peas. “Grant says, as sole citizen I could vote myself president if I wantedâor appoint myself king. Which would last about as long as it takes TerraCor and the rest who financed Witts' exploration and research to get out here and laugh.”
, Pardell thought again, once more caught by the vision of orbiting the world where his grandfather had been bornâwhere he'd been born.
Of stepping on it.
“We share the name, Rosalind,” he said, fishing on his plate for another of the green vegetables called peas. “Grant says, as sole citizen I could vote myself president if I wantedâor appoint myself king. Which would last about as long as it takes TerraCor and the rest who financed Witts' exploration and research to get out here and laugh.”
“And how will they get here, young Aaron?” Rosalind had dropped her voice.
An unnecessary precaution
, he thought, given there was no one else close by. Their usual table was in a corner, where they had quick access to two doorways from the science sphere dining loungeâ'sider habit. Of course, from what Pardell and Malley had learned of the Earther habit to have surveillance in every public place, whispers likely wouldn't help anyway. He hadn't bothered sharing that paranoia with Rosalind.
An unnecessary precaution
, he thought, given there was no one else close by. Their usual table was in a corner, where they had quick access to two doorways from the science sphere dining loungeâ'sider habit. Of course, from what Pardell and Malley had learned of the Earther habit to have surveillance in every public place, whispers likely wouldn't help anyway. He hadn't bothered sharing that paranoia with Rosalind.
She had enough, it seemed, of her own.
“What do you mean, how?” the 'sider asked, willing to believe Rosalind might also have her own sources of information on the
Seeker
. She spent all of her free time in engineering and, if the
Seeker
's crew contained individuals anything like other spacers of Pardell's acquaintance, there would be plenty of gossip to while away the translight hours. “They'll be sending more ships from Titan University to support this oneâsupplies, more equipment,” he told her. “Aisha was talking about it. If this is the right place to work on the Quill problem, they might even detach the science sphere and leave it in orbit.”
“What do you mean, how?” the 'sider asked, willing to believe Rosalind might also have her own sources of information on the
Seeker
. She spent all of her free time in engineering and, if the
Seeker
's crew contained individuals anything like other spacers of Pardell's acquaintance, there would be plenty of gossip to while away the translight hours. “They'll be sending more ships from Titan University to support this oneâsupplies, more equipment,” he told her. “Aisha was talking about it. If this is the right place to work on the Quill problem, they might even detach the science sphere and leave it in orbit.”
Rosalind had that look, the one where she was about to tell him something he didn't want to know. “They are sending more ships,” Pardell repeated, but almost as a question.
“The course bringing us here was sealed, young Aaron, and remains so. First Officer Szpindel was quite definite on that. He was curious if I had any knowledge why that might be. A significant breach of protocol, it seems. Unsafe was a word he used. I do believe he thought I might know where we are.” She dabbed her lips with a napkin. “Which I don't, of course.”
“Gail must have a good reason.” Saying her name brought it all back. Pardell swallowed hard.
How much he'd wanted to wipe the tears from her cheeks. How he hated his own hands, that couldn't. He belonged on that planet, with those monsters.
How much he'd wanted to wipe the tears from her cheeks. How he hated his own hands, that couldn't. He belonged on that planet, with those monsters.
The wistful thought that underlay all others:
but she'd made him promise to come back. She wanted him back.
but she'd made him promise to come back. She wanted him back.
“Oh, I'm sure she has a reason. Whether it's for our goodâor hersâremains to be seen.”
Always suspicious.
Pardell poured himself some of the tea, glad of Rosalind's familiar company if not of her tendency to schism the universe into enemy or 'sider. He knew about her extortion of ships and the threat she'd held over the station. It hadn't surprised himâPardell was quite sure Rosalind still controlled the spacer faction of the 'siders from here, if only in the sense they'd be paralyzed without her leadership.
Pardell poured himself some of the tea, glad of Rosalind's familiar company if not of her tendency to schism the universe into enemy or 'sider. He knew about her extortion of ships and the threat she'd held over the station. It hadn't surprised himâPardell was quite sure Rosalind still controlled the spacer faction of the 'siders from here, if only in the sense they'd be paralyzed without her leadership.
The last Ration Riot had taken a disproportionate number of moderate-thinking 'siders, especially those with strong ties to Thromberg. Including Aaron Raner, a loss Pardell hadn't known until seeing Malley back to safety, a loss that emptied his universe, too. Had Raner and those like him missed the signs, or simply trusted a moment too long? More likely, the true 'siders had never trusted at all. Regardless, a lot had changed Outside since.
Anyone's guess
, Pardell told himself,
how many of those changes were the result of this woman's grief and rage.
Anyone's guess
, Pardell told himself,
how many of those changes were the result of this woman's grief and rage.
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