my eyes. Something had heated my shower this morning, and something had burned my toast, but it wasn’t cold bloody fusion. Somewhere off in the building’s depths there had to be a generator, or maybe the village was still hooked up to the mains, the supply coming and going as Vivian buggered about with it. Well, I wasn’t making such a shining example of my own life at the moment that I couldn’t afford to waste a day playing along. “Okay. Where do we start?”
We stood more chance of powering the nation with that smile than with his cables and couplings. I was going to have to be careful here—I could see myself going to great lengths to elicit that beautiful grin.
“The chalets,” he said. “They don’t need to be heated and lit, but it’s a good test if they can be. A functional system, you know?”
I didn’t. I decided I didn’t need to. I crouched in front of him. “Right. You’ll have to show me how these things work, though—I don’t have a clue.”
“It’s simple. Just very repetitive. I’ll hook up the first one, and then we’ll divide the rest between us. Wait a minute while I get…”
I knelt among the bolts and wires and waited. Out of interest, I glanced at my watch and timed him. Exactly sixty seconds later he reappeared, and I wondered what magical piece of equipment he’d been to fetch, and whether it had taken him a minute or whether whatever was wrong with him had kept him marking time outside the door until his actions could match his words. “What have you got there, then—your sonic screwdriver?”
“My what?”
“Your…er, never mind.” A feeble joke about how he liked life in outer space died on my lips. He was holding a tube of antiseptic cream. “What’s that for?”
“Your mouth. It looks quite bad today.”
I’d forgotten. I put my fingers to the place where the old man had walloped me the day before. Alcohol and the anaesthetising wind had kept it numb until now. I took the tube, uncapped it and put some on. Vivian watched me closely, as if I might be in danger of doing it wrong. I was glad to have something to do, because I certainly couldn’t speak. Already I knew enough about him to put the cap on nice and tightly before I handed it back to him.
“Your father beats you,” he said gravely.
I couldn’t have admitted it to anyone else. All my life I’d taken stories to school about doors I’d walked into, bikes I’d tumbled off. But his dispassionate observation called up an answering firmness in me, and my throat unclenched.
“He used to. Not anymore.”
Good enough for Vivian. His capacity to take me at my word was restful. He nodded, apparently satisfied, and suddenly I was too, the outrage and fright I’d been carrying around for years evaporating in the café’s blazing light.
“Bring those, then. We’ll start with your chalet.”
* * * * *
I didn’t know why he thought of it as mine, except that he’d found me outside it. He unlocked it with a key from the fob at his belt and pushed the wind-scoured door open. Then he handed the key to me. It felt like a gesture, and I almost thanked him, until I realised he was also unhitching five more of the dozen keys on the fob. He was just assigning me my workload.
“Why all the security?” I asked, pulling up my collar against the sawdusty chill of the place. I could remember sitting here during summers so hot that the resin had melted out of the boards. “Are you scared someone’s gonna steal your secrets?”
I couldn’t keep a teasing edge off my tone, but he answered me seriously. “No. The technique isn’t stable yet. Once I can keep the power running for more than a few minutes, and I can reproduce my results off-site, we’ll have to be very careful.”
I wasn’t sure who we was. If he meant me, I was touched, but I hadn’t done anything to earn it, and I didn’t want the burden of anyone’s blind faith right now. “Your secret is safe with me,” I said, hoping the
We stood more chance of powering the nation with that smile than with his cables and couplings. I was going to have to be careful here—I could see myself going to great lengths to elicit that beautiful grin.
“The chalets,” he said. “They don’t need to be heated and lit, but it’s a good test if they can be. A functional system, you know?”
I didn’t. I decided I didn’t need to. I crouched in front of him. “Right. You’ll have to show me how these things work, though—I don’t have a clue.”
“It’s simple. Just very repetitive. I’ll hook up the first one, and then we’ll divide the rest between us. Wait a minute while I get…”
I knelt among the bolts and wires and waited. Out of interest, I glanced at my watch and timed him. Exactly sixty seconds later he reappeared, and I wondered what magical piece of equipment he’d been to fetch, and whether it had taken him a minute or whether whatever was wrong with him had kept him marking time outside the door until his actions could match his words. “What have you got there, then—your sonic screwdriver?”
“My what?”
“Your…er, never mind.” A feeble joke about how he liked life in outer space died on my lips. He was holding a tube of antiseptic cream. “What’s that for?”
“Your mouth. It looks quite bad today.”
I’d forgotten. I put my fingers to the place where the old man had walloped me the day before. Alcohol and the anaesthetising wind had kept it numb until now. I took the tube, uncapped it and put some on. Vivian watched me closely, as if I might be in danger of doing it wrong. I was glad to have something to do, because I certainly couldn’t speak. Already I knew enough about him to put the cap on nice and tightly before I handed it back to him.
“Your father beats you,” he said gravely.
I couldn’t have admitted it to anyone else. All my life I’d taken stories to school about doors I’d walked into, bikes I’d tumbled off. But his dispassionate observation called up an answering firmness in me, and my throat unclenched.
“He used to. Not anymore.”
Good enough for Vivian. His capacity to take me at my word was restful. He nodded, apparently satisfied, and suddenly I was too, the outrage and fright I’d been carrying around for years evaporating in the café’s blazing light.
“Bring those, then. We’ll start with your chalet.”
* * * * *
I didn’t know why he thought of it as mine, except that he’d found me outside it. He unlocked it with a key from the fob at his belt and pushed the wind-scoured door open. Then he handed the key to me. It felt like a gesture, and I almost thanked him, until I realised he was also unhitching five more of the dozen keys on the fob. He was just assigning me my workload.
“Why all the security?” I asked, pulling up my collar against the sawdusty chill of the place. I could remember sitting here during summers so hot that the resin had melted out of the boards. “Are you scared someone’s gonna steal your secrets?”
I couldn’t keep a teasing edge off my tone, but he answered me seriously. “No. The technique isn’t stable yet. Once I can keep the power running for more than a few minutes, and I can reproduce my results off-site, we’ll have to be very careful.”
I wasn’t sure who we was. If he meant me, I was touched, but I hadn’t done anything to earn it, and I didn’t want the burden of anyone’s blind faith right now. “Your secret is safe with me,” I said, hoping the
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