Deadrock (17 page)

Planetary
Earth Date: 15.09.2115

Max leaned
against the wall and watched the stream of partygoers flow by. He caught sight
of Bluebell dipping her tongue into a champagne flute on the banquet table.
Nearby, Bird entertained a couple of enraptured holostarlets, one on each arm.

Mayor Rhoades
strolled up to Max and offered his hand. "Enjoying my little victory
party, Max?"

"Yes,
sir. Very much," said Max half-heartedly.

"Well, I
can't thank you enough, Lieutenant. Clearing my great-grandfather's name made
all the difference in the election, I assure you!" said the Mayor.

"My
pleasure, Your Honor."

"And I
was delighted to return the favor, too. Those people in Internal Affairs can be
so unreasonable!"

"Yeah,
well, thanks for your help," said Max, shaking hands again.

The Mayor
drifted away saying, "Enjoy yourself, son. My home is your home."

If this were
my home, I'd go to my room, thought Max. Now where can I hide out for the rest
of this thing? He found a quiet corner in the Meditation Room and prepared to
sink into an Alphawave chair when he was swept up in an armlock.

"Maxie, we're
just so proud of you! So proud!" said Mr. Louis.

"He's
been like this ever since your promotion ceremony yesterday. Which you failed
to attend, to our surprise," said Grandma.

"I'm
sorry, Grandma, I should have called you. I just didn't want to go. All that
fussing and stuff," said Max.

Grandma
searched his face. "Promise you'll stop by for a chat this week, won't
you, dear? You know, my shoulder may be old but it's still plenty good to cry
on."

Max hugged her
for a long time. "I think I will, Grandma, I think I will."

"Yeah,
and I'll mix us up a special snack. How's about Jail Break Brownies?"
asked Mr. Louis.

Max grinned
and nodded.

When they
left, Max found a quiet place in the Conservatory to ride out the party. Only about
a half-hour to go, he thought. Then I can leave without anybody noticing.

"Max!
What are you doing hiding in here? We've been looking all over for you,"
said Leo, breaking through the crowded doorway. "Rosie wants to thank you."

"What
for?"

"For hitting
me," said Leo. "Says it knocked some sense into me, Max. Or should I
say, 'Lieutenant'?"

"You can
just call me Deadrock, Leo."

"Deadrock?
I thought you hated that name!"

"I did.
But now I think it's a good reminder. I still have a lot to learn, I guess."

"Now, Max,
don't you fret about that Over-Involvement charge. We all know you weren't involved,"
said Leo.

"Right.
But still, there are some things I'm going to miss about the twenty-first
century, Leo. Or should I say, 'Sergeant'?

Leo grinned. "Imagine
that, Max! Me carrying out a sting without you! Even O'Malley didn't mess me
up!"

"Too bad
he flunked the sergeant's exam, though. Again," said Max with just a touch
of malice.

"Yeah,
but it sure worked out well or both of us, didn't it, Max? Didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess,"
said Max.

"Wait, there's
Rosie! Rosie! Here's Max!" He vanished into the doorway and the mob beyond
it.

Max wandered
back into the mirrored ballroom and found an empty seat next to Bird. "What
happened to your girlfriends?" he asked.

"Later,"
winked Bird.

"PPPHHHHHbbbbb!"

"Uh-oh,"
said Bird. He watched Bluebell push another champagne flute along the buffet
table with her tongue in order to get every last drop.

"She
never could hold her liquor! See if you can find her a glass of something
non-alcoholic, will you, Max?"

"Sure."

"I think
that girl in blue has a serin soda or something," said Bird, hurrying
away.

Max sighted
the back of the girl in blue and followed her through three rooms before he
caught up with her. "Serin soda?" he asked, tapping her on the back.

She turned
around. The hair was more auburn than red, but the face was unmistakably
Nickie.

"Nickie!"
he cried.

"Nicole.
Rhoades. My grandfather is your host," she said, handing him a glass.

"You're
wearing my necklace!" he said. He pointed to the slightly bent and
tarnished silver bunny on a chain.

"I don't
think so," she laughed. "It was my Great-Grandma Nickie's. I think
she found it on a dig or something. She was an archeologist."

"You did
it! You became an archeologist!" he crowed.

"Not me, Great-Grandma
Nickie. Well, anyway, she passed the necklace down to her son, Max, and he
passed it-"

"Nickie
got married and had a son!"

"Well,
she didn't get married, she-"

Max! That's
me!" he dithered.

"Your
name is Max, too?"

"Don't you
know me?"

"I may be
only fifteen," she smiled, "but isn't that pick-up line supposed to
go, 'Don't
I
know
you
?'"

"I'm
sorry," he said and shook some of the clouds out of his head. "It's
just that you're so familiar to me!"

"Let me
guess, you knew me in a past life, right?" she teased.

"Exactly!"

"Oh, cosmos!"
she laughed. She turned and began to circulate again, making sure she walked
slowly enough so that he could keep up. Max followed, smiling and talking a
lightmile a minute.

As they passed
Bird and Bluebell, Bird raised his glass in a toast to the pretty girl with the
auburn hair laughing up at the dark, slightly taller, young man.

"Lovely
party, isn't it, Bluebell?" said Bird. "Just lovely."

"PPPPHHHBBBB!"

THE END

About the Author

Jill Sardegna
is the author of the YA novel,
Callie's
Quilt
, three children's books,
The
Roly-Poly Spider
,
K is for Kiss
Goodnight
, and
You Monsters Are in
Charge
and co-author of the nonfiction books,
The Encyclopedia of Blindness and Vision Impairment
and
A Guide to Independence for the Visually
Impaired and Their Families.

About the Cover

The Kindle book
cover was designed by Donna Harriman Murillo
. See more at dhm-designs.com.