Read Online Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar-Apr 2013 by Spilogale Inc. - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Spilogale Inc.
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you know anything new?"
"I've heard rumblings of a caveat to the 'medical care' thing, after the broadcast last night. No one wants to be packed off to a doctor who didn't go to med school."
"Or who might experiment on them? I can't imagine why they'd object."
In any case, Father Tim hadn't seen Debbie and didn't know how to get a message to her. "Actually," he said a little sheepishly, "I was thinking of asking you to try to find her for me. I want to make sure she's okay with the current funeral plans. If you could give her this note.…" He handed me a paper envelope. "She can send a message through you, if she doesn't want to come up."
Come up . Of course . She was hiding at the bottom of the stead, the same as I had last night.
SO, THE PROBLEM NOW was this: the thought of endlessly wandering around that dimly lit maze of pipes and wires with no destination, trying to find someone who was hiding on purpose when I'd already been warned that plenty of groups down there weren't "friendly"—frankly, that didn't sound like a good plan. I mean, I'm not exactly a coward, but when I went to rescue Lynn from the place on Lib, I took an Alpha Dog with me. I could actually hire a bodyguard, but going down there with a hired gun was the most certain way possible to ensure that no one trusted me and I never found Debbie.
I pondered whether I knew anyone who was big enough to make me feel like I had someone with me, but also nonthreatening enough that he wouldn't make things worse, and went to see if I could find Thor. I caught him as he came out of his afternoon class. His face lit up when he spotted me. "I wasn't expecting to see you again today."
"Yeah, well, I want company for something." I was trying to avoid specifics where people could overhear.
"Awesome." Thor put his arm around me and his head close to mine. "Do you need help getting to the Citizens' Services Bureau?"
"No," I said. "I want company while I hunt for Debbie."
"Why do you need her?"
" Stead Life wants to interview her."
He raised his head and glanced over his shoulder. Shara was coming out of the tutor's apartment as well, and he waved. "See you later," he said cheerfully, and we picked up the pace.
"Okay," he said, "I'm in."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Do you want to stop and get something to eat first?"
"Yeah," I said, "but you have to let me treat, because it's not a date when I'm kind of basically using you for your height and gender."
"Sure it is," he said. "As long as we're spending time together, I'm good."
"You haven't seen where I'm taking you!"
"I should tell you, I'm still jealous of that Alpha Dog who got to hang out with you on Lib."
"You should be more jealous of Lynn. After all, she was officially my date—that's how I got the Alpha Dog to rescue her."
"True, but since she's either dead or somewhere awful, that felt like sort of a tasteless joke for me to make."
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay for you to make it. I just didn't feel comfortable going there."
I bought us both sandwiches. The line was kind of long; a lot of the people with dining hall contracts had realized the one-person operations like sandwich shops were mostly not affected by the slowdown.
"We should make sure you're not being followed," Thor said. "I mean, if other people are after her, you probably don't want to lead them to her by accident."
"Good point," I said, and we took a circuitous route to the locker-room level. If anyone was following us, they were good enough that we didn't see them when we looked over our shoulders repeatedly.
The door to the utility level was still taped open. On the other side, Thor looked around in wonder. "I can't believe you didn't think this was a romantic destination," he said. "It's dimly lit, mysterious, and our parents would never find us down here. What more could you ask for?"
" Not being slapped with a massive fine if you're caught during your date?"
"That just adds the element of excitement."
Walking down the
"I've heard rumblings of a caveat to the 'medical care' thing, after the broadcast last night. No one wants to be packed off to a doctor who didn't go to med school."
"Or who might experiment on them? I can't imagine why they'd object."
In any case, Father Tim hadn't seen Debbie and didn't know how to get a message to her. "Actually," he said a little sheepishly, "I was thinking of asking you to try to find her for me. I want to make sure she's okay with the current funeral plans. If you could give her this note.…" He handed me a paper envelope. "She can send a message through you, if she doesn't want to come up."
Come up . Of course . She was hiding at the bottom of the stead, the same as I had last night.
SO, THE PROBLEM NOW was this: the thought of endlessly wandering around that dimly lit maze of pipes and wires with no destination, trying to find someone who was hiding on purpose when I'd already been warned that plenty of groups down there weren't "friendly"—frankly, that didn't sound like a good plan. I mean, I'm not exactly a coward, but when I went to rescue Lynn from the place on Lib, I took an Alpha Dog with me. I could actually hire a bodyguard, but going down there with a hired gun was the most certain way possible to ensure that no one trusted me and I never found Debbie.
I pondered whether I knew anyone who was big enough to make me feel like I had someone with me, but also nonthreatening enough that he wouldn't make things worse, and went to see if I could find Thor. I caught him as he came out of his afternoon class. His face lit up when he spotted me. "I wasn't expecting to see you again today."
"Yeah, well, I want company for something." I was trying to avoid specifics where people could overhear.
"Awesome." Thor put his arm around me and his head close to mine. "Do you need help getting to the Citizens' Services Bureau?"
"No," I said. "I want company while I hunt for Debbie."
"Why do you need her?"
" Stead Life wants to interview her."
He raised his head and glanced over his shoulder. Shara was coming out of the tutor's apartment as well, and he waved. "See you later," he said cheerfully, and we picked up the pace.
"Okay," he said, "I'm in."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Do you want to stop and get something to eat first?"
"Yeah," I said, "but you have to let me treat, because it's not a date when I'm kind of basically using you for your height and gender."
"Sure it is," he said. "As long as we're spending time together, I'm good."
"You haven't seen where I'm taking you!"
"I should tell you, I'm still jealous of that Alpha Dog who got to hang out with you on Lib."
"You should be more jealous of Lynn. After all, she was officially my date—that's how I got the Alpha Dog to rescue her."
"True, but since she's either dead or somewhere awful, that felt like sort of a tasteless joke for me to make."
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay for you to make it. I just didn't feel comfortable going there."
I bought us both sandwiches. The line was kind of long; a lot of the people with dining hall contracts had realized the one-person operations like sandwich shops were mostly not affected by the slowdown.
"We should make sure you're not being followed," Thor said. "I mean, if other people are after her, you probably don't want to lead them to her by accident."
"Good point," I said, and we took a circuitous route to the locker-room level. If anyone was following us, they were good enough that we didn't see them when we looked over our shoulders repeatedly.
The door to the utility level was still taped open. On the other side, Thor looked around in wonder. "I can't believe you didn't think this was a romantic destination," he said. "It's dimly lit, mysterious, and our parents would never find us down here. What more could you ask for?"
" Not being slapped with a massive fine if you're caught during your date?"
"That just adds the element of excitement."
Walking down the
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