wanted and I wouldn’t even know.”
“He could do
anything he wanted to you,” said Tessa. “That’s kinda creepy.”
“Yes I could
but I wouldn’t,” Digby said. “Anyway, what would be the point? It
would still be you and you would behave no differently from the
person in front of me.”
“Yeah, like,
run screaming from the room,” Tessa said.
“I can see
you’re both still determined to cast me in the role of ogre,” Digby
said mildly. He changed the subject and asked Tessa, “How’s
school?”
It worked.
Tessa really wanted to talk about all the amazing and interesting
things she was doing, including, “The Amalfi pistol is armed and
I’ve been on the range for the last two months. Like I thought,
it’ll take out a tank or a small building and even a big ship like
a missile cruiser, if you punch a few holes along the waterline.
That doesn’t mean you could take out a missile cruiser
because you’d have to get real close and they would probably object
to that.”
“It’s been
three months for me in subjective time,” Marion said. “Mostly topic
introductions. Has given me some ideas about getting the message
out. I’ve decided to spend another subjective nine months so I can
get a better handle on the topics. That’ll still only be three
weeks in real time. That data you’ve been feeding me adds up to a
stand-off. Another three weeks isn’t going to make any difference.”
She turned to another topic. “I’ve asked the ship to set up a
couple of websites, one for me and one for Tessa, also Twitter
accounts and some other social media. My studies have suggested
that there is a significant chunk of the population who could be
brought on side if we were able to communicate directly with them
through social networks they are comfortable with. Tessa,
especially, may be able to generate a large fan base in an age
group which want to believe in her and are waiting for a
sign—.”
“My own
website!” Clearly that was okay with Tessa. Her Twitter account had
fallen into disuse because she had been cut off from her networks
when her parents had died. Tessa had never been able to find out
what had happened to her parents’ estate so she had very little
money of her own. None of the foster parents would pay for Internet
access or devices so she had been scrounging for crumbs of Internet
access in the underground.
“The websites
are, marion.com and tessa.com.” Marion subjected Digby to a
quizzical expression. “We could also have digby.com…?”
Digby did not
even bother to rise to the bait.
The three of
them chatted idly, finished lunch, and Marion had some time alone
with Tessa before she went back to her quarters and her studies.
She did her best to blot out bad thoughts about the real human
beings who had lived briefly and then died so that they could have
music for lunch.
Alone with
Digby, Tessa created Arlington cemetery about them. “I really want
to visit my parents before I have to go back to school. I wasn’t
allowed to hardly at all when I was in foster care.”
“Now?” Digby
said.
“Whenever.”
Digby created
the mercury alien attack craft. This time Tessa was allowed to sit
up front except that there weren’t any windows although Digby had
arranged human seats.
“No eyes,”
Digby explained. “They used a type of radar to construct a view of
their environment.”
Before they
exited the sphere ship, Digby had a word about the jellyfish. “This
is the last time I want them running on automatic, for you anyway.”
He had arranged for Tessa’s next set of studies to include adding
the jellyfish to her weapons’ kit.
While they were
talking about weapons and seeing as how Marion was not around…
“The pistol
wants me to do live target practice,” Tessa said. “That’s nice talk
for killing actual people. Not any objects here on the ship, the
pistol wants some Marines or Special Forces as targets. I’ve told
the pistol that hell will freeze over before
“He could do
anything he wanted to you,” said Tessa. “That’s kinda creepy.”
“Yes I could
but I wouldn’t,” Digby said. “Anyway, what would be the point? It
would still be you and you would behave no differently from the
person in front of me.”
“Yeah, like,
run screaming from the room,” Tessa said.
“I can see
you’re both still determined to cast me in the role of ogre,” Digby
said mildly. He changed the subject and asked Tessa, “How’s
school?”
It worked.
Tessa really wanted to talk about all the amazing and interesting
things she was doing, including, “The Amalfi pistol is armed and
I’ve been on the range for the last two months. Like I thought,
it’ll take out a tank or a small building and even a big ship like
a missile cruiser, if you punch a few holes along the waterline.
That doesn’t mean you could take out a missile cruiser
because you’d have to get real close and they would probably object
to that.”
“It’s been
three months for me in subjective time,” Marion said. “Mostly topic
introductions. Has given me some ideas about getting the message
out. I’ve decided to spend another subjective nine months so I can
get a better handle on the topics. That’ll still only be three
weeks in real time. That data you’ve been feeding me adds up to a
stand-off. Another three weeks isn’t going to make any difference.”
She turned to another topic. “I’ve asked the ship to set up a
couple of websites, one for me and one for Tessa, also Twitter
accounts and some other social media. My studies have suggested
that there is a significant chunk of the population who could be
brought on side if we were able to communicate directly with them
through social networks they are comfortable with. Tessa,
especially, may be able to generate a large fan base in an age
group which want to believe in her and are waiting for a
sign—.”
“My own
website!” Clearly that was okay with Tessa. Her Twitter account had
fallen into disuse because she had been cut off from her networks
when her parents had died. Tessa had never been able to find out
what had happened to her parents’ estate so she had very little
money of her own. None of the foster parents would pay for Internet
access or devices so she had been scrounging for crumbs of Internet
access in the underground.
“The websites
are, marion.com and tessa.com.” Marion subjected Digby to a
quizzical expression. “We could also have digby.com…?”
Digby did not
even bother to rise to the bait.
The three of
them chatted idly, finished lunch, and Marion had some time alone
with Tessa before she went back to her quarters and her studies.
She did her best to blot out bad thoughts about the real human
beings who had lived briefly and then died so that they could have
music for lunch.
Alone with
Digby, Tessa created Arlington cemetery about them. “I really want
to visit my parents before I have to go back to school. I wasn’t
allowed to hardly at all when I was in foster care.”
“Now?” Digby
said.
“Whenever.”
Digby created
the mercury alien attack craft. This time Tessa was allowed to sit
up front except that there weren’t any windows although Digby had
arranged human seats.
“No eyes,”
Digby explained. “They used a type of radar to construct a view of
their environment.”
Before they
exited the sphere ship, Digby had a word about the jellyfish. “This
is the last time I want them running on automatic, for you anyway.”
He had arranged for Tessa’s next set of studies to include adding
the jellyfish to her weapons’ kit.
While they were
talking about weapons and seeing as how Marion was not around…
“The pistol
wants me to do live target practice,” Tessa said. “That’s nice talk
for killing actual people. Not any objects here on the ship, the
pistol wants some Marines or Special Forces as targets. I’ve told
the pistol that hell will freeze over before
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