by M. D. Cooper
“I thought I would take Jude in with me today,” Martin said.
“Take Jude with you?” Isa asked. “How? You said it’s a half-hour swim to the labs.”
“I had something made for him,” Martin said, his expression softening a smidgen.
Isa also relaxed a little and hoped it was a sign that he was beginning to get over his anger about the drill and Erin’s response.
“I didn’t want to bring it out last night because that was supposed to be about you and your gallery. I’ll go and get it now.” He stood up and walked into the house.
“What do you think it is?” Isa asked Erin.
“Maybe a little wetsuit? I don’t know.” Though her tone was normal, unhappiness creased Erin’s features.
“Here it is,” Martin said as he returned to the terrace. Balanced between his arms was a child-sized submersible. “Jude’s very first vehicle.”
“That has to be the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen,” said Isa.
“He doesn’t have to operate it,” Martin explained. “Eamon can drive it and make sure he isn’t ever in any danger. And when I’m at the labs, he can come out with me in one of the submersibles they have there.”
“He’s going to love it,” Isa said. “Look what Daddy brought you,” she said to Jude.
“That for me? I want in it!” The little boy abandoned his toast-smashing activities and wriggled in his seat, trying to get down and reach his gift.
“That is cute,” said Erin, “but are you sure it’s safe? I know Jude’s a great swimmer, but you’ll be underwater all the way to the labs.”
“Of course I’m sure it’s safe,” Martin snapped. “Do you really think I would put our son’s life in danger?”
“No, I don’t,” Erin replied. “I’m only saying I think he’s a bit young to be alone in something like that. What if it leaks, and the Link goes down at exactly the wrong moment? Eamon would never know—”
“Do you think I won’t be watching him? What the hell, Erin? You’re the last person who should be telling me I don’t care about my son’s safety.”
“I didn’t say that you won’t be watching him,” Erin said hotly. Then she added, “What do you mean I’m the last person who can say you don’t care about Jude’s safety? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you weren’t so concerned about him last night, but you think it’s OK to criticize me.”
“Not concerned about Jude? Of course I was, I leapt off a balcony and took out a soldier to get to him. I hated to see him so frightened.”
“He wasn’t frightened, he was terrified.”
“But he didn’t come to any harm in the end, and he’s OK now.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know him like we do; after he was born, you were hardly around. Maybe you just don’t care about him as much as Isa and I do.”
Isa sucked in a breath.
Erin looked like she’d been slapped.
Martin paused. He looked down at Jude, who was trying to open the little submersible, apparently oblivious to the angry words passing over his head.
Erin gazed at Martin steadily as if giving him the chance to retract his statement. He wouldn’t look at her.
She carefully put down the spoon she’d been idly holding and rose to her feet. She walked past Martin, and disappeared into the house.
“Martin,” Isa said as soon as she was sure Erin was out of earshot. “How could you tell Erin she doesn’t care about Jude like we do? That was a terrible thing to say.”
“Maybe it was, but maybe I’m right too. You saw how she behaved last night…. Your evening was ruined, Jude was a screaming mess, and she didn’t care. She sided with Tanis, the person who orchestrated the whole thing, and who could have stopped it if she’d wanted to. Only she didn’t. She allowed it all to go ahead, knowing full well that the drill would spoil everything you worked for, and that there was a young child present.”
“She said she didn’t know it was happening then,” Isa countered, but Martin cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“All it would have taken was a note to the commander not to attack your gallery because there were children present. Do you think our governor would have let the drill go ahead if her own kids had been there? I bet she wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” said Isa. “Maybe she would. Tanis has the whole system to think of, don’t forget. We’re all depending on her. Millions of us. And it wasn’t only my gallery that was attacked—there were lots more places throughout Heliopolis. I saw it on the feeds last night.”
Martin said, “You’re too nice for your own good, Isa. Just because you got friendly with Tanis while we were in Landfall doesn’t mean you have to defend her.”
Isa’s eyes narrowed, but she forced the frustration from her voice. “I’m not as nice as you think. I’m only trying to see it from her perspective. Martin, please go and talk to Erin. You really hurt her feelings—what you said was flat out rude. I already have the aftermath of the drill to deal with at work. I don’t want to have to deal with it at home too.”
Martin’s expression softened ever so slightly. “All right, I will. I don’t think I should have to, but since you’re asking me, I’ll try.”
Isa watched him as he also disappeared into the house. She hoped that his apology would sound sincere and that Erin would forgive him.
When Martin was out of sight, she told the servitor to gather the breakfast dishes. Most of the food remained uneaten.
For a few moments, there was silence on the terrace except for the sound of dishes being stacked and the scrape of the submersible on the stone floor. Jude had given up on trying to get inside it and was just pushing it around.
The calm was suddenly disturbed by the sound of raised voices, coming from the direction of the master bedroom, the window of which overlooked the terrace.
Isa winced. It didn’t sound like Martin’s apology had been effective. Though she could hear Martin and Erin’ shouts, she couldn’t make out the words.
She put her hands in her lap and gazed out to sea once more as she listened unwillingly to the fight going on above her.
“What’s wrong, Mommy Isa?” Jude asked.
He left his submersible where he’d pushed it against the railings and skipped to her side. He rested his head on her lap and looked up at her with wide eyes.
“Nothing. I’m OK, sweetheart.”
Jude didn’t seem to believe her. He climbed into her lap, hugged her, and lay his head on her chest.
Isa wiped her eyes.
The two of them sat like that without talking, Jude lending his silent support, or perhaps seeking comfort, until finally the yelling stopped. Not long afterward, Erin came down to the terrace.
“I’m going to work,” she said and leaned down to kiss the top of Jude’s head. “Bye bye, sweetie.”
Isa caught Erin’s hand in her own. “Did Martin apologize for what he said?”
“He did,” she replied, “but it was obvious that he didn’t mean it.”
“I’m sorry. You know I don’t agree with him, right? I know you love Jude just as much as we do.”
“I know, but it’s good to hear you say it.” Erin kissed Isa goodbye and then left.
Isa hugged Jude tightly. For a short while, she’d seen a glimmer of hope that what had been broken last night would be fixed. Now she didn’t know if that would ever happen.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
STELLAR DATE: 05.12.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Elevator terminal, Heliopolis, Ithaca
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
Erin was still fuming over Martin’s comment as she strode through the elevator terminal. She knew why he had made his crass, unfair statement; he was overprotective of Jude and it was making him lose perspective about what happened at Isa’s party. Erin suspected that, deep down, he didn’t really believe his words. She didn’t think he could be that blind or misguided about how she fel
t about their son.
Yet that didn’t change what he’d said, or the fact that he’d used his love for Jude as a weapon against her. It was a horrible, low blow. When he’d made his half-hearted apology, he hadn’t even been able to look her in the eyes.
said Walter.
Erin said as the car began to climb the strand.
Walter’s comment started her fuming again. Martin didn’t see the invasion drill the right way. All he was seeing was that a bunch of soldiers had terrified Jude, and that the woman who’d arranged it didn’t seem to care about his son. But it was because Tanis cared about Jude and all the other kids in New Canaan, and all the adults, too, that she had done what she did.
Stars, Erin thought, he should be thanking Tanis for the drill.
But it wasn’t the drill or Martin’s inability to see the wider picture that was the problem. It was his hurtful statement that had gotten to her, worse than anything anyone had said to her in a long time.
She knew from the first time she’d met him that Martin could be difficult and stubborn, but she had never imagined he could hurt her so badly. She wondered if he would ever truly retract what he’d said, and if he did, if she would be able to forgive him.
* * * * *
Erin’s foul mood hadn’t dissipated by the time she reached Messene Station. If anything, she felt angrier and more crushed. Fighting off Transcend invaders was nothing compared to navigating the pitfalls of relationships. She wondered if she’d stumbled on the reason it had taken her so long to venture into the world of romantic partnerships again.
Her feelings clearly showed on her face. As she entered the control center, MacCarthy took one look at her and immediately glanced at Linch, who switched his gaze to his console. They were clearly talking over the Link. Probably something along the lines of, ‘Watch out. The boss got out of the wrong side of the bed today.’
She slumped into her seat. “OK, guys. We’re finishing off the maglev mainline today, right? Shouldn’t be too hard. Did someone check that the last of the sections were delivered last night?”
“Double checked. It all came in on the latest shipment,” Linch replied. “We’re set to begin.”
“Let’s do it, then,” said Erin.
Laying a maglev track wasn’t complicated, but it would take time to install all the sections across the entire length of the station. Like most of the construction work, it was carried out by remote drones. The station’s AI hadn’t yet been appointed, so Walter coordinated the machines. Erin would also monitor their progress via the feedback they sent and feeds she pulled from several checkpoints across the construction site.
The task was so straightforward that it was too simple for her right then. She wished she had something more complicated that required deep concentration and would distract her from her thoughts.
As she monitored the track laying through the central concourse, the image of Martin’s face as they’d yelled at each other in the bedroom that morning kept flashing into her mind. She entertained a vision based on the events of the previous evening, in which it was Martin she’d jumped on and knocked to the floor. That would have shut him up.
Then she felt bad about her wish-fulfilment daydream. She loved Martin. If only he wasn’t being such an asshole.
She suddenly stood up. Her movement was so quick and unexpected, MacCarthy and Linch jumped a little in their seats.
“I’m going to take a skiff out and tour the station,” she said. “It’s about time to give it a good visual inspection.”
“OK,” MacCarthy said. “We’ll keep an eye on the track laying while you’re gone.”
“There’s no need for that,” she told him. “I can fly a skiff and monitor the installation progress at the same time, you know.”
Another look passed between MacCarthy and Linch. Erin decided that leaving the control center for a while was definitely a good idea. Her discomposure was clearly showing.
She walked out of the room and turned down the corridor that led to the newly built administrative shuttle bay. The vast space was nearly empty. Most of the ships wouldn’t be delivered until the management crew was assigned in a few months, but the construction teams had the use of a few shuttles and skiffs for carrying out inspections or transporting engineers across the site to fix anything that required human attention.
Erin took the nearest vessel, flew it out of the bay and over the station’s half-finished structure. Almost immediately, her tension slipped away; the image of Martin’s angry face finally fading from her thoughts.
There was something calming about the near-emptiness of space. Things out in the black were simpler. The shell of the pinnace was all that lay between her and death. Out in space, you did what you had to in order to survive. You defeated the bad guys and moved on.
Erin sighed. This colonization stuff is hard. Counting my time at the Kap, I’ve spent the majority of my life doing it, too.
When she reached the eastern end of the station, she turned the skiff so that its roof faced the construction site. Ithaca and Syracuse were below her. Due to centripetal force, the side of the station facing the planet was ‘up’. That’s where most of the current construction was taking place. Viewing the work that had been completed so far and observing the automated machinery and drones busily working lifted her spirits.
She flew over a long section a few dozen kilometers from the eastern end of the station, which was covered in a ten-kilometer dome that Linch had grown from pure carbon. Beneath was a vast learning campus with parks and buildings that Erin was tailoring to house an engineering academy and science center. She felt that Troy’s next generation of engineers would be deprived of vital experience if they didn’t have the opportunity to work in an off-planet environment. Though whether the Trojans would use her space as she intended, she didn’t know—espe
cially with their recent isolationist bent.
If the current trends continued, the planet’s future was murky. Erin had concluded from her conversation with Tanis that she, Isa, and Martin might have a difficult decision to make in the near future. Should they remain on a seceded planet, or go live on one that remained within the New Canaan government’s control?
Martin.
Her tension mounted again. Her reflections had led her back around to the subject she’d been trying to avoid.
Damn Martin and his heartless…I do love Jude just as much as he and Isa do.
The pinnace veered sharply to the right, throwing Erin to the side as the a-grav system strained to compensate. Her eyes snapped to the forward view, and she saw a large grey object slide by only centimeters from the front of the ship as collision alarms blared.
said Walter, sounding peeved.
Erin groaned.
She cursed Martin insensitivity one last time as Walter steered the skiff back to the bay..
