Continuance (18 page)

When her coin supply dwindled to
a pair of pennies, footsteps clattered softly on stone behind her. A moment
later, a man in a grey suit jacket and jeans passed by, headed toward the
building. She rose, deciding it was time to head back and check on Mandy. But
something made her glance at the man again as he ascended the courtyard steps
toward the entrance. She furrowed her eyebrows, squinting after him in the
fading light. Something in his gait, the way he carried himself, struck a note
in her memory.

“Patrick?” she called, feeling
foolish. Already opening her mouth to apologize for bothering whoever he was,
the words died as his familiar face broke into a smile of recognition.

“Michelle.”

2033

The roaring sound returned, swallowing
whatever Patrick might have said next, but diminished in volume this time.
Michelle felt a cold breeze lift a few strands of her hair as nearby voices,
unintelligible at first, crystallized out of the noise.

“…elevated ICP so we’ve kept the
sedation field at a minimum, and she’s been in and out of consciousness. Her
left side’s a mess. Multiple fractures in the arm, leg, and ribs.”

“Internal injuries?”

“Imaging in the bird showed
pericardial lacerations, one of them severe, some contusions of the… ”

She shut the voices away. She
knew she should care about what they were saying, but the part of her that
appreciated the importance of such things seemed remote – asleep, perhaps.

Other things weren’t as distant.
Thirsty.
Why am I so thirsty?
A fountain. She’d been dreaming of a fountain full of
cool water. Patrick had been there. Why?

I was on my way
to see him,
she
thought.
On my way to make things right.

Too late
, came her own
reply, mocking her.
It’s too late, and you’re out of time.

2089

In lot of ways,
The Collegiate wasn’t too different from the place Jason had known long ago. A
favorite UCE hangout since before he’d met Michelle, the place had built its
reputation on casual atmosphere and a single menu item done well – in this
case, their burgers. If the entertainment had evolved to include superimposing
singers onto a stage, performing with an interactive simulation of the real
band, well, it was still karaoke. And if the TV screens had been replaced by
giant 3D photoscreens, they still showed football games and racecars.

“Everton’s best
ground round.” Stuart rubbed his hands together as the server deposited a sizeable
double cheeseburger in front of him. Jason sat next to him on a bar-style chair,
their small table situated adjacent to, but not technically inside the bar – a
concession made necessary by the fact Chaela was underage. So was he.

Sitting to his right,
she fingered the collar of a white tunic-style top that covered her hips and emphasized
the red-brown of her hair. She’d said little tonight, seeming to alternate her
attention between the conversation at the table – most of which came from
Stuart – and the goings-on around the room. At that moment her attention was on
a plump girl belting out a De Novo tune from the corner stage. She sang
back-to-back with a projected holo of the band’s scruffy lead singer,
pretending to share the hovering microphone with him, letting enthusiasm make
up for her lack of intonation.

“Did you know
they don’t even use cultured beef here?” Ivory asked. “They actually kill cows
to get that stuff.”

“I know.” Stuart
smiled around his first bite. “Delicious.”

Sitting opposite
Jason, Ivory took a sip of her amber-colored beer, her second. Unlike Chaela, she
seemed to have a preferred look for every occasion, her outfit tonight
something in between the jeans and ponytail she always wore in class and the
men’s magazine cover she’d looked like the night he first saw her at the track.

The prospect of
getting news from Alex tonight made Jason’s mood light, and he found himself enjoying
the outing with his lab mates. After his conversation with Dr. Fairchild – it
still amazed him that she was part of Chrysalis – it felt a little strange to
be sitting here chatting about everyday things.

Ivory giggled as
Stuart took another bite. “It may be Everton’s finest, but it’s okay to use
your hands.” She looked at his plate where he’d neatly cut the burger into a
dozen small pieces.

His fork froze
halfway to his mouth, and he gave her a mock-scandalized look.

“He cuts up all
his food,” Jason said. He’d been out with Stuart enough times to be used to his
habit of using knife and fork for everything – even finger food. “But I don’t
think I’ve ever asked why. Maybe it’s an Ireland thing?”

“Nope. It’s a
sister thing,” Stuart said. “Back in primary school, I swear she acted like
every meal was from a five star restaurant – treated her macaroni and cheese
like escargot. She’d actually cut the noodles in half with a knife and fork,
then dab her mouth with a napkin between each bite.” Stuart tried to sound
annoyed, but Jason saw amusement in his eyes. “She was convinced you had to use
utensils for everything. ‘It isn’t proper, Stu, eating with your hands,’ she’d
tell me. I finally got tired of hearing it a started cutting everything up. Gallihugh
family table manners.”

Ivory turned to
Jason. “So why does he talk with his mouth full, then?”

Jason laughed,
and even Chaela seemed engaged for a moment as a small smile crept across her
face.

Stuart shook his
head, not at Ivory, but as if he were lost in thought. “She was always courtly
and prim, my little sis. I think her career ambition was to become royalty.
Back home, she started this princess club with the girls in her first-grade
class. At recess, they’d pretend the deck of the playground fort was their
private veranda, have these make-believe formal dinners, right? Not just your
run-of-the-mill tea party sessions. I’m talking full-fledged
happily-ever-after-fairytale-ball banquets.”

He drained his
last swallow of beer and went on. “One day she roped me into playing the proper
gentleman at one of these things for her and her friends. They loved it, but I
was in third grade, and my mates all laughed at me. Banished me from the recess
football team for being girlie. They didn’t let me back in for weeks.” Stuart
put on a stiff smile. “Tell you one thing, though. I don’t regret it. I should
have had make-believe crumpets up there with those princesses every day.”

Chaela and Ivory
exchanged looks, unsure what to say. Stuart cleared his throat, suddenly self-conscious.
He rose, catching Ivory’s beer with an elbow, and the glass dropped over the
edge of the table.

Jason cringed,
bracing for the sound of shattering glass. It never came.

“Close one.”
Ivory set the glass back on the table, with a relieved sigh. The others marveled
at her, staring at the glass like some magician’s prop. Jason peeked under the
table. Not a drop of beer had landed on the floor.

“Wow, baby. Nice
save!” Stuart raised a hand to high five Ivory, then headed off to the bar.

“So what was
that all about?” Ivory asked. It took Jason a moment to realize she was talking
about Stuart, not the glass.

“His sister died
when he was eleven,” Jason explained, keeping his voice low. He knew a little
about his roommate’s past – enough to understand why he’d gone to the bar for
another round when he could have just punched one up through the table’s menu
interface. “Laumeyer's Disease. That’s why his family moved to the States.
There were some doctors here working on a treatment, but it never panned out.”

“Do you know if
they took a biorecord?” Ivory asked. “She couldn’t be continued now, but maybe
someday?”

Jason shook his
head. “As far as I can tell, none of his family opted into the stasis protocol,
even when they knew she was terminal. Not so much because they were good
Catholics as because they saw it as speculative, a pipe dream. She’s gone.”

“I can see why
he’d regret not taking advantage of all those moments, then.” Chaela’s gaze
looked thoughtful as she eyed Stuart where he stood speaking to the bartender.

“That’s why I
make sure I always do,” Jason said. The words were true enough, but he
regretted them immediately.

Chaela turned to
look at him then, suddenly more interested than he’d seen her all evening. “Are
you telling us you don’t have any regrets, Jason?”

Too many.
He looked
around, picturing Michelle’s face that day he’d told her about his cancer, here
in this very restaurant.
“I’ll take a leave of absence and come back here.”
But
he could tell she hadn’t wanted to. He’d beaten the cancer, but not the fear it
caused in her.
I should have asked her to come back. She’d have seen it was
going to be okay.

“I’m too young
to have regrets,” Jason said as Stuart joined them again, setting a fresh
Guinness on the table.

“That’s BS.”
Chaela said, eyeing Jason. The others looked at her like they hadn’t heard her
right.

“What’s BS?” he
asked, annoyed.

“You’re lying. Everyone
has regrets.” She stared at him, eyes probing.

Ivory shot her
an annoyed look, but then looked to Jason, obviously waiting for a response.
Stuart seemed to be doing the same.

I’m starting to
regret inviting you.
He was too happy tonight to let her spoil his good mood, though.
And I can
hardly blame her for being right.
He gave her a tight smile. “Fine, then.
If everyone’s got regrets, you must, too. You first.”

Her mouth
tightened, and he realized he was actually becoming used to that frosty,
blue-eyed stare. She seemed on the verge of saying something, but then the
tension drained away. She lowered her eyes, suddenly intent on studying the ice
cubes in her soda.

“Looks like we
don’t have any regrets here, then. I’ll drink to that.” Stuart raised his
glass. “No regrets.”

“No regrets,”
Jason echoed with the others. Chaela darted a frown at him as she raised hers,
and Jason gave her a smug look.

“Wait.” Stuart raised
a finger, turning to Ivory. “Now that I think about it, I do have one regret.”

She rolled her
eyes. “I’m dying to hear it.”

He waved his
glass in Jason and Chaela’s direction. “They’re stuck with Diet Coke and NewTab
while we’ve got the good stuff. Doesn’t seem fair.”

From the way Ivory
raised her eyebrows, this might have been one of Stuart’s more brilliant
observations. “I think we need to correct that,” she said. “Any ideas?”

“The rules on beverage
distribution are a bit less restrictive at our place,” Stuart said. “And I just
got the new IF mod for my RealiSIM. You guys game for some football action?”

“I live there,”
Jason said. “Do I have a choice?”

When the other
three looked at her, Chaela shrugged. “Sure.”

“Great,” Jason
said.
Should be interesting to see Chaela with a few in her
. “I’ll get
the check.”

Outside, Chaela
folded the passenger seat forward and climbed into the back of the BMW. The
girls had ridden in the back on the way, but as Stuart held the door for Ivory
to climb in, she put a hand on his arm. “Shotgun,” she said, tilting her head
as she motioned him into the back.

“What? I want to
play DJ,” she said when Stuart hesitated. “Chaela doesn’t bite.”

“I might,”
Chaela said as Stuart settled into the back. Ivory laughed as if it was a joke,
sliding into the front seat, but Jason wasn’t so sure.

He checked his
AP while they got situated, feeling his pulse quicken when he found a new
message waiting.

Got the
location. I’ll call you later tonight. A.

Close.
With the SLIDe
location pinpointed, he could tighten his search. With any luck they’d zero in
on Michelle’s location soon.
I’m getting close.
The engine gave a deep
rumble as he pushed the ignition button.

“I assume this
thing does have a sound system?” Ivory asked.

He engaged the
autonav, then tapped a control, pulling his AP’s music library up on the HUD.
When he’d installed his racing upgrades and other mods, he hadn’t neglected the
entertainment system. With a flick of his finger, he slid the digital listing
across the dash to Ivory.

As the car
rolled out of the parking lot, he opened the sunroof, letting in a fresh,
saltwater breeze. Ivory flipped through his music while he turned around in his
seat to talk to Stuart and Chaela, letting the autonav do its thing. “Where do
you guys want to make a beverage stop?” Colored light played across their
faces, reflections of the animated signs and 3D photoscreens they passed along
the way.

Stuart opened
his mouth to answer, but Chaela cut in. “Steven’s on Coast Drive.” Jason gave
her a questioning look.