Read Online Resolution by John Meaney - Free Book Online
Authors: John Meaney
Tags: Speculative Fiction
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finished the sentence:
‘—I’ll do it instead.’
‘Now look, boys ...’
Ro let her voice trail off. Kian was already striding away through the snow.
‘What?’ Dirk shrugged. ‘I’d do the same for him.’
‘You would?’ said Ro. ‘Or you already have?’
‘I—’
‘No.’ Ro held up her gloved hands. ‘I don’t want to know.’
They‘re growing up.
Dirk chuckled.
Way too fast.
Part of the problem, Ro concluded, as she walked arm in arm with Dirk towards the main station, the magnificent old Hauptbahnhof, was the length of time she spent away.
A red thermoacoustic tram, with a man dressed as Santa in nominal control (the onboard AI was in charge, freeing Santa to dispense jolly bonhomie), hissed past above the snow-covered cobblestones. The lighting was a cheerful golden glow. Passengers smiled at each other or peered out, delighted at the sights.
If I were thirty-seven, she wondered, would they take me more seriously?
That was the age Ro would be, had she remained earthbound. In fact, she bent the ultra-relativistic mu-space geodesies to far greater limits than UNSA planners suspected. No wonder she looked more like the twins’ sister than their mother.
They crossed the street, passed the seated statue which frowned down upon the waiting travellers, seated in their bubble-lounges waiting for trams. Inside the station proper, transparent laminate covered the stone, preserved its baroque splendour. Holo adverts gleamed in shop windows. New-fangled morphslides had replaced the ancient escalators; Ro hoped that bioarchitecture would not replace the old buildings.
‘Dirk? You want to go down?’
The boys, when they were younger, had loved to descend to the platforms and watch the big yellow double-decker mag-trains whisk away, or deliver crowds of passengers, many with snow-shoes or skis, into the city’s heart.
‘No thanks, Mom.’
Growing up.
Josette, with slightly pouting lips, her honey-coloured hair drawn back with a papillon mag-clasp, was hunched over an espresso, reading the tabletop display. Fashion news, Kian guessed.
Josette looked up, and wiped the display to neutral navy-blue.
‘Grüezi,’ called Alberto from behind the zinc-topped counter. ‘Wie geht’s?’
‘Guten Abend.’ Kian used the local pronunciation: oh-bent. He spoke Schweizerdeutsch by default, could switch to formal Hochdeutsch when required. ‘Also gut. Alles ist hier OK?’
‘Ja, natürlich.’
When Kian sat down opposite Josette, he automatically switched mental gears.
‘ Tu vas bien, Josette?’
‘What do you think, Dirk?’
‘I...’ Kian stopped. Exactly what had happened between her and Dirk?
‘Andre’s not too happy, either. You’d better stay away from him for a while, hein?’
Kian thought that Josette’s elder brother was a clumsy fool, but that was irrelevant.
‘All right. Um, how did things go today?’
He knew Josette was trying out for the gym team. Like himself and Dirk, she came into the city three days a week for school; the rest of their studying was in Every Ware.
‘Vernadski hates me. I score 75 in biochem, or he drops me from the alpha group.’
Josette leaned back in her chair, took a tiny vial from her pocket, squirted a pleasant, understated fragrance beneath her ears.
Why does Dirk want to break it off?
It seemed a shame. Josette was very nice.
He‘d do the same for me.
‘What about gym?’ he asked.
Josette gave him a strange look.
Merde. Something you forgot to tell me, bro?
She opened her mouth as if to deliver a scathing reply, but just then Alberto came round from behind the bar, and deposited two tall glasses of warm dark Glückwein.
‘To keep out the chill.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Merci. ’
Alberto nodded, and set about delivering similar free drinks to
‘—I’ll do it instead.’
‘Now look, boys ...’
Ro let her voice trail off. Kian was already striding away through the snow.
‘What?’ Dirk shrugged. ‘I’d do the same for him.’
‘You would?’ said Ro. ‘Or you already have?’
‘I—’
‘No.’ Ro held up her gloved hands. ‘I don’t want to know.’
They‘re growing up.
Dirk chuckled.
Way too fast.
Part of the problem, Ro concluded, as she walked arm in arm with Dirk towards the main station, the magnificent old Hauptbahnhof, was the length of time she spent away.
A red thermoacoustic tram, with a man dressed as Santa in nominal control (the onboard AI was in charge, freeing Santa to dispense jolly bonhomie), hissed past above the snow-covered cobblestones. The lighting was a cheerful golden glow. Passengers smiled at each other or peered out, delighted at the sights.
If I were thirty-seven, she wondered, would they take me more seriously?
That was the age Ro would be, had she remained earthbound. In fact, she bent the ultra-relativistic mu-space geodesies to far greater limits than UNSA planners suspected. No wonder she looked more like the twins’ sister than their mother.
They crossed the street, passed the seated statue which frowned down upon the waiting travellers, seated in their bubble-lounges waiting for trams. Inside the station proper, transparent laminate covered the stone, preserved its baroque splendour. Holo adverts gleamed in shop windows. New-fangled morphslides had replaced the ancient escalators; Ro hoped that bioarchitecture would not replace the old buildings.
‘Dirk? You want to go down?’
The boys, when they were younger, had loved to descend to the platforms and watch the big yellow double-decker mag-trains whisk away, or deliver crowds of passengers, many with snow-shoes or skis, into the city’s heart.
‘No thanks, Mom.’
Growing up.
Josette, with slightly pouting lips, her honey-coloured hair drawn back with a papillon mag-clasp, was hunched over an espresso, reading the tabletop display. Fashion news, Kian guessed.
Josette looked up, and wiped the display to neutral navy-blue.
‘Grüezi,’ called Alberto from behind the zinc-topped counter. ‘Wie geht’s?’
‘Guten Abend.’ Kian used the local pronunciation: oh-bent. He spoke Schweizerdeutsch by default, could switch to formal Hochdeutsch when required. ‘Also gut. Alles ist hier OK?’
‘Ja, natürlich.’
When Kian sat down opposite Josette, he automatically switched mental gears.
‘ Tu vas bien, Josette?’
‘What do you think, Dirk?’
‘I...’ Kian stopped. Exactly what had happened between her and Dirk?
‘Andre’s not too happy, either. You’d better stay away from him for a while, hein?’
Kian thought that Josette’s elder brother was a clumsy fool, but that was irrelevant.
‘All right. Um, how did things go today?’
He knew Josette was trying out for the gym team. Like himself and Dirk, she came into the city three days a week for school; the rest of their studying was in Every Ware.
‘Vernadski hates me. I score 75 in biochem, or he drops me from the alpha group.’
Josette leaned back in her chair, took a tiny vial from her pocket, squirted a pleasant, understated fragrance beneath her ears.
Why does Dirk want to break it off?
It seemed a shame. Josette was very nice.
He‘d do the same for me.
‘What about gym?’ he asked.
Josette gave him a strange look.
Merde. Something you forgot to tell me, bro?
She opened her mouth as if to deliver a scathing reply, but just then Alberto came round from behind the bar, and deposited two tall glasses of warm dark Glückwein.
‘To keep out the chill.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Merci. ’
Alberto nodded, and set about delivering similar free drinks to
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