The Aftermath (45 page)

He sighed. “Yep. Selene University doesn't want me. No scholarship. It's been too long since I first applied.”

“But that's not fair!”

“No, I guess not. But we've lost more than four years, Angie. And there's nothing we can do about that.”

*   *   *

There was only one restaurant in the habitat, the
Shoo-Shoo,
owned and operated by an Italian cook and his Japanese wife. Neither Angela nor Theo was in the mood for eating, but the hostess-owner took one look at the two downcast young siblings and presented them with a delicate sushi selection before she brought the wine they ordered.

Wisely, she sat them at the sushi bar instead of a table. It was mid-afternoon: most of the tables were empty but there were half a dozen customers along the curving bar, chatting amiably with the sushi chefs (both sons of the owners) and one another.

Angela took an experimental sip of the red wine that Theo had picked at random from the list displayed on the bartop screen.

“Ugh!” She put the stemmed glass down. “People actually drink this?”

Theo felt his mouth tingling. “I guess it must be an acquired taste.”

“Try the sake,” said the young man sitting on Angela's other side.

“Or a beer,” suggested the guy sitting on the next stool over. “Straight from the brewery on Vesta.”

Before long Angela was deep in conversation with the two of them: mining engineers who began explaining how nanomachines took atoms of selected metals out of asteroids and bypassed the old smelting process. Theo watched as he sipped at his wine and realized that Angie would not be lovelorn for long. Men are attracted to her. She's sort of beautiful, I guess. Not like me.

On his other side, a few chairs down, a pair of older men were discussing Dorn's trial.

“I never saw Big George so worked up,” said one of them. “He wanted that cyborg executed. I thought maybe he'd do it himself.”

The other shook his head. “Just about everybody in the habitat is a newcomer. They didn't see the massacre, like George did. It didn't affect them personally.”

“I don't know. I had a brother-in-law on the old
Chrysalis.
I voted to execute the bastard.”

Theo was about to tell them what he thought when a lithe, dark-haired young woman slid into the chair beside him.

“This seat isn't taken, is it?” she asked, in a near-whisper.

Theo shook his head, immediately forgetting the other men's conversation. She was really good-looking, he thought, with intriguing flecks of gold in her deep brown eyes. She wore a form-fitting dark zipsuit with insignias of rank on the cuffs and a stylized logo on her left breast. She must be a member of some ship's crew, Theo guessed.

“Are you working on a ship?” he asked, knowing it sounded terribly awkward.

She nodded. “
Hyades.
Medical officer.”

“Oh.” Theo had run out of things to say.

One of the sushi chefs slid a small porcelain bottle of sake to the young woman, and a tiny cup.

“We make the run out to Jupiter station,” she said as she carefully poured some of the hot sake into the little cup.

“Jupiter station,” Theo muttered. “I wish I could go there.”

The young woman sipped at the sake, then said, “They're looking for people.”

“Scientists. People with degrees.”

“Technicians, too. You don't have to be a scientist.”

“You still need a degree.”

She focused those gold-flecked eyes on Theo, as if thinking over a problem. Then, “Their chief recruiter is here on the habitat. He'll make the trip back with us on
Hyades.
”

Theo nodded glumly.

As if she'd made up her mind about the problem, she said, “I could introduce you to him. He's looking for technicians.”

Theo didn't know what to say.

“It couldn't hurt,” coaxed the young woman, with a shy smile.

“I guess not,” Theo agreed.

She dug into a hip pocket and pulled out a communicator. “I … don't know your name.”

“Oh! I'm Theo Zacharias.” He held out his hand.

“Zacharias?”

Theo nodded, wondering if he should spell it out for her.

She hesitated a moment, then took his hand in her own as she said softly, “Altai. “Altai Madagascar.”

NEW LIVES

By the time Theo returned to the
Shoo-Shoo
restaurant from his meeting with the Jupiter station's recruiter he was beaming with happiness. Until he saw his parents sitting at one of the restaurant's tables, with Angela and Dorn.

Dad's not going to like my news, he said to himself. Drawing in a deep breath, he headed for his family.

The restaurant was filling up. The customers at the other tables were casting uneasy glances toward the cyborg, but Theo ignored them as he hurried to join the group. He grabbed the empty chair between his father and sister, and started to say, “I've got news for—”

Victor Zacharias cut off his son's words with a dark scowl. “Since when do you encourage your sister to drink wine? In the company of strangers, no less.”

Angela, across the table from Theo, tried to suppress a giggle. And failed.

Theo blinked at his father. “Dad, Angie's an adult.”

“That doesn't mean—”

Pauline laid a hand on her husband's arm. “It's all right, Victor. It's nothing to get upset about.”

“I wasn't drunk,” Angela said. Then she hiccupped.

Victor tried to frown at his daughter, but slowly a smile spread across his face. “Maybe I'm overly protective,” he admitted.

Angela nodded vigorously.

Turning to Theo, Pauline asked, “What's your good news, Thee?”

He glanced at his father, then replied, “I've landed a position on the Jupiter station. It's only—”

“Jupiter?” His father seemed startled.

“You're going to leave us?” Pauline asked.

“I'm going to Jupiter, too,” said Dorn.

Ignoring the cyborg, Victor asked, “How in the world could you do this? Why didn't you talk it over with your mother and me first?”

Because you'd say no, Theo replied silently. Their surprise and displeasure was about what he'd expected. “I met with their recruiter less than an hour ago. A girl I met here at the sushi bar introduced me. It's only a menial position, really. I'll be a junior-level technician. But I can take university courses electronically and work toward a science degree!”

“Jupiter,” Pauline murmured.

“The girl who introduced me is the medical officer on the ship that'll take me to Jupiter,” Theo went on. “She's really elegant.”

“They took you on?” Victor demanded, suspicious. “Just like that?”

“They need people, Dad. They're having trouble getting qualified people.”

“I'm not surprised,” Victor grumbled. “That outpost is a long way from civilization.”

“They'll train me on the job,” Theo went on enthusiastically. “It's a great opportunity.”

“Jupiter,” Pauline repeated. “It's such a long way off.”

Angela asked, “How long will you be there, Thee?”

“I'm contracted for two years.”

“You've signed a contract with them?” Victor asked darkly. “Without asking me? Without
telling
me?”

“I'm telling you now, Dad. The pay's good, if that means anything to you.”

“Two years,” Pauline murmured.

“At least,” said Theo.

They fell silent, each thinking their own thoughts. Pauline looked at her husband. Victor knew what she was trying to tell him. Theo's grown up. It's time he went his own way. This was inevitable. But he saw the pain in his wife's eyes. Leaving for Jupiter. Just like that. Spur of the moment. The boy has no common sense.

“I'm going to Jupiter, too,” Dorn said again.

“On the
Hyades?
” Theo asked.

“Yes.”

“We'll be on the ship together, then.”

With the bare minimum of a nod, Dorn said, “Big George wants me off the habitat in two days.”

“But
Hyades
doesn't shove off for a week,” said Theo.

“I've made arrangements to live on the ship, starting tomorrow. That will keep George's blood pressure down to normal, almost.”

“What will you be doing at the Jupiter station?” Angela asked the cyborg.

Dorn made a one-shouldered shrug. “I think they want to study me. They're making deep dives into the Jovian ocean, and a man who's already half machine may be very useful to them.”

Pauline started to say, “You'll be leaving in a—”

“So there you are!” called a voice from halfway across the quiet restaurant.

Heads turned. Cheena Madagascar threaded her way between tables, her eyes aimed at Victor. She was wearing a shiny black suit that fitted her like a second skin, polished knee-length boots, a flaming red scarf knotted around her throat.

Victor stumbled to his feet, his face flushed. Theo and Dorn rose, too.

Without being asked, Cheena took the unoccupied chair at the foot of the table.

Flustered, Victor introduced, “Cheena Madagascar, the owner and skipper of
Pleiades.
”

Cheena made a brittle smile. “Not anymore, Vic. You screwed me out of my ship.”

Victor sputtered as he resumed his seat. Theo almost laughed. He'd never seen his father looking so flummoxed. Then he realized: Madagascar; that's Altai's last name, too. And they look so much alike.…

“I'm Pauline Zacharias,” said his mother, smiling steel-hard at Cheena.

Cheena nodded. “And you must be Angela. And Theo. And you're the one we voted to exile.”

Before anyone else could speak, Victor said, “I've brought
Pleiades
back to you. I'm sorry I—”

“Can it, Vic. I don't own
Pleiades
anymore. The insurance consortium owns it. They paid off on the bird when you stole it and I bought a new ship,
Hyades.
”

“Hyades?”
Theo blurted. “Then Altai is your daughter?”

“Smart fella,” said Cheena. “Like your father.”

“So what do I do with
Pleiades?
” Victor asked.

“You don't have to do a thing. Insurance agents are taking it over right at this instant. They'll probably want your hide, but that's not any of my business. Not anymore.”

With that, she got to her feet, blew Victor a kiss, and sauntered away from their table.

Victor ordered another bottle of wine.

*   *   *

It wasn't until they were in bed that night that Pauline asked, “Just who was that woman?”

Glad that it was too dark for her to see his cheeks reddening, Victor cleared his throat before replying, “I told you, she owned
Pleiades.
I stole it from her.”

“And now her insurance carrier has repossessed the ship?”

He stared up at the shadowy ceiling of their bedroom. “Yes, and they want me to pay for damages—the difference between what they paid Cheena and what
Pleiades
is worth on the open market.”

Pauline fell silent and Victor was glad of it. He closed his eyes and tried to change the subject.

“Big George says he'll hire me for the new construction program. There's a lot of building going on here, and new projects in the planning stage.”

“Then we can stay at Ceres?” Pauline asked, sounding pleased at the prospect.

“For as long as they keep building. We won't have to be rock rats anymore and I'll be able to pay off the insurance debt, in time.”

“Angela wants to go to Selene, to the university.”

“The Moon? But how—”

“She says she'll work her way through. She'll take classes part-time and find a job.”

“Doing what?”

He sensed his wife's amusement. “She learned a lot while we were on
Syracuse
without you. She's got a good head for math.”

“Do you think she'll be all right, on her own? She's never—”

“Victor, dear, it's time for Angie to go out on her own. We can't keep her with us forever.”

He nodded reluctantly. “I suppose not. But with Angie going to Selene and Theo going to Jupiter—”

“It will be just you and me, Victor. The two of us, alone together.”

“The way it was in the beginning,” he said, reaching toward her.

Pauline melted into his arms, but asked softly, “Just how well did you know this Cheena woman?”

He froze. There it is, Victor said to himself. For the flash of an instant he thought about lying his way through, but he heard himself say, “When I was forced to work on her ship, we slept together.”

“That's what I thought,” Pauline said, her voice gentle, far from accusative. “She had that possessive air about her.”

“I didn't have much choice,” he tried to explain. “She was captain of the ship and—”

“And we'd been separated for years,” Pauline finished for him. “You didn't even know if we were still alive.”

“I didn't have much choice,” he repeated.

“Neither did I,” Pauline whispered.

It took a moment for Victor to understand what she'd said.

“You and Valker?”

He couldn't see her face in the darkness, but he heard the remorse in her voice. “Once.”

“He forced you?”

“Not really. I was trying to protect Angie. He would've gone after her.”

“I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance.”

“It's over and done with,” Pauline said. “Let Big George and his people take care of Valker.”

It took Victor several moments before he could reply, “Over and done with.”

“It's time to start our life together again.”