Yesterday's Legacy

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  “So there’s no one to replace the Captain because no one can train a new Captain except the Captain,” Marlow said slowly, “except that you trained Jonah. That’s what you trained him for, isn’t it? The Captain’s chair? All those jobs, critiquing Bridge policies, moving around the ship, getting to know every district…it was all part of it.”

  “Very smart,” Emma said approvingly. “There is no formal mechanism for removing someone from the Captain’s chair. That’s what I overlooked. A Captain can step down. Grey and I both did, only for positive reasons—to make way for the new Captain, who was more than ready.”

  “Captain Sekar could step down, too,” Marlow pointed out.

  “But he hasn’t trained a replacement because it hasn’t occurred to him he should. He grew up in the new system, where replacements were automatically trained by experts in that profession. I suspect David doesn’t think he’s good enough to train someone, nor has it occurred to him that he’s getting older with each passing year and should make legacy arrangements.”

  They walked for a few more paces. Marlow didn’t know what to say. The sadness in Emma’s voice was that of a mother despairing over a child’s misdeeds.

  “Nor is there a system to find a replacement,” Emma added.

  “Tomas Averill seems to think he is the replacement.”

  “He is an over-privileged child who has never had to grow up,” Emma said quietly. “The AI might have put him on a short list of possibilities. The humans who do the final selection would never have chosen him. That is a fact he has overlooked. Besides, the old system is gone now.” She sighed again. “The riots, the polarization and lobbying…they’re all symptoms of the people trying to have their say about how the ship is run. The only way you will ever get peace back on your ship, Marlow, is to ensure that they do have their say.”

  “Me?”

  “David has lost his way. Jonah must find his by himself. He must want to take the chair.” Emma came to a halt next to one of the largest trees and turned to look at her. “The woman who holds the security and peace of the ship in her hands…she is in a position to change many things.”

  Marlow swallowed. “I’m nobody.”

  “You’re more powerful than you think and a time is coming when you will have to use that power, one way or another.”

  Marlow shook her head. “I just want to do my job and raise my son. Why must I play these games?”

  Emma rested her hand on Marlow’s shoulder. “These games, as you call them, are your job.” She dropped her hand. “There is the odious Tomas Averill. I have put Jonah out into the field. There may be others yet in the end, I think not. With a ship this divided, two seems to be appropriate.”

  “The Bridge thinks Jonah is a plebeian. A Spanner supporter. They watch him and follow him. They would never support him.”

  “That’s something about the Bridge you have failed to take into account,” Emma said. “There are five thousand people on the ship and only one hundred and twelve of them work on the Bridge. Eighty-four of that one hundred and twelve are your civil division, Marlow, which is unique among Bridge personnel because you straddle the Bridge and the civilian population each and every day. If you were to step over to the civilian side, that would leave thirty-one guards split between the other two divisions of the Bridge Guard. If they were to face the civil division they would be badly outnumbered.”

  Marlow drew in a deep breath. She was trembling.

  Emma gave her a smile and held out her hand. “I would suggest you start watching your back, if you haven’t already, Marlow. There are a few competent people on the Bridge and I guarantee some of them have done the same math I just did. In fact, I know it. It’s why you’re feeling cornered right now.”

  Jonah hurried down the narrow path toward them.

  “You’ll know what to do when the time comes,” Emma told Marlow.

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  Emma shook her head. “I know. I’m very good at reading people, Marlow. I’ve done it all my life.”

  Jonah hugged Emma. “Stop talking now,” he told her. “Marlow’s brain stalk is already twisting.”

  Marlow smiled, because Jonah had nailed it exactly. Emmaline Victore was nothing like she had expected such a hero to be. The way she thought and how she understood people…they were not typical and Marlow had spent the last few hours being constantly surprised and caught flat-footed. Greyson was almost as bad, although he seemed to be just a little bit more conservative compared to Emma.

  Emma let Jonah go, then surprised Marlow by hugging her, too. Emma was just as tall as Marlow yet she was frail. Marlow could feel the delicateness of her, which reminded her that Emma was of a great age, too. It wasn’t just Greyson who had lived a very long and productive life.

  When Emma went back into the house, Jonah picked up Marlow’s hand and looked at her. “So?”

  They started back along the narrow path out to the meadow. “It wasn’t just the lousy security in the cab that stopped you from telling me who your friend was. You wanted to surprise me,” Marlow said.

  “I did.”

  “I was surprised. Over and over again. They’re not what I expected. Either of them, but especially Emmaline.”

  “The way she thinks is unusual,” Jonah said.

  “She thinks the way you do. You always focus on the outside of the box.”

  Jonah laughed a little, yet he was also puzzled, the furrow between his brows deepening.

  “If a fire broke out in an apartment, everyone would run around trying to put it out with water, or smothering it, or the dozens of other ways. You, though, would be the only one who would seal the room and suck out the air and put it out that way.”

  Jonah grinned. “I never thought of putting out a fire that way before.”

  Marlow laughed. “Liar. You think higher up than everyone else.”

  “Never heard it called that before,” he said. “Weird, radical, mischief-making, contrary…and worse.” Then he shook his head. “They invited you back to visit, Marlow. You know that means they think you’re special? They don’t invite anyone to the house these days.”

  “Except you.”

  “Oh, I’ve had a standing invitation for years. That’s different. You’re the first new person they’ve opened the door to, that I’m aware of.”

  Marlow felt a warm glow in her chest. “I like them. Even though they’re nothing like what I have always thought them to be.”

  “How did you think they should be?” Jonah asked curiously.

  Marlow sighed. “They’ve done so much, the two of them. They changed life on the ship for everyone. They were both Captains and they were parents, too. It’s unheard of. I always thought….” She gave a little laugh, embarrassment making it hard to say it aloud.

  They moved out of the copse of trees onto the meadow. The light was fading rapidly as the “sun” set. Jonah looked up into the sky. “It’s on its way,” he said, pointing. “We have a few minutes before it gets here though.”

  She could see the glimmer of the taxi-boat far overhead, made into a little dot in her vision by the distance.

  “You always thought…?” Jonah coaxed, drawing her into his arms.

  Her pulse leapt. “It’s stupid,” she admitted.

  “Stupid is a good place to start,” he said, his voice low. “If you recognize stupid, you can improve on it.”

  She looked at him startled. “See, that’s what I mean by higher-up thinking.”

  But Jonah wasn’t going to be side-tracked. “What’s stupid?” he coaxed.

  It was difficult to pick up her train of thought. The length of him was pressed against her and the heat between them was fogging her mind. She could feel his hand in her hair, that she had left loose. His dark eyes were looking into hers and that was the hardest thing to ignore.

  “Tell me,” he said softly. “I promise I won’t laugh.”

  It was a silly thing to say, yet it reassured Marlow enough t
o let her speak. “I thought they would be more conventional. The entire ship loved them. Everyone screamed for a week when Emmaline announced she was going to step down. I was a little kid, only I remember my parents talking about it. They were very upset. I always thought that to have a whole ship love Grey and Emma like that, they would have to be…very conformist.”

  Jonah smiled. “In some ways, they are. Mostly, I think people love them because the two of them understand people. Sometimes it feels as though they’re reading my mind. They see people very clearly.”

  “Yes, I saw that. They did it to me a few times this afternoon. It’s almost creepy. Except they’re not malicious about it. I could feel their good intentions.” She drew in a sharp breath as he pressed his lips to hers, just a light touch. “On top of that, Grey and Emma were parents, too,” she added, when he let her go.

  Jonah tilted his head to study her. “Grey always says it was an AI anomaly. Back then, everyone obeyed the AI, so he wasn’t going to argue when it gave him Victoria.”

  “I don’t think it was a mistake. Not now. Not after today. That’s the thing,” she told him. “I always thought they were chosen as parents because they were good, traditional-minded, law-abiding, hardworking…all the values that everyone prefers to think the perfect citizen demonstrates every day. Now I’ve met them and.…” She bit her lip.

  “They are good, hard-working people,” Jonah said.

  “The way they think, outside the usual ways people think…that might have been why they were chosen as parents. No one knows for sure why the AI picks anyone. I always thought that if I behaved as they did—law-abiding, hard-working, conservative, then I would get to be a parent, too. Then I was selected and was convinced I was right.”

  “So you’ve stayed that way ever since,” Jonah finished.

  “Yes! And now…now, I’m wondering if that’s it at all. The only way Grey and Emma could have created such massive change on the Endurance was to reason in ways that would have made people look sideways at them. The risks they took…!”

  Jonah smiled. “Change is always risky, especially in a closed community like this.”

  Marlow stared at him. “That’s something you said in an essay, the one about comfort and custom.”

  His face lit up. “You read them!”

  Marlow rested her hand against his cheek. “Jonah, I’ve been reading your essays since you started posting them. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think it was a good idea for someone like me to admit I liked what you had to say.”

  His kiss this time was deep and thorough.

  They were interrupted by the thrumming of the taxi-boat’s engine as it lowered down next to them. Jonah helped her onto the taxi and didn’t let go of her hand. They stood in the corner farthest away from the operator, who kept his back to them. As the taxi lifted back into the air, Jonah pulled her up against him once more. “Stay the night,” he murmured in her ear. “Please.”

  “My place is closer,” she said.

  Jonah pulled back to look at her. “Excuse me?”

  Marlow took a deep breath. “I know,” she said in agreement. “I’m just as surprised as you. I mean it, Jonah. Come home with me.”

  “What about your family?”

  “Taniel moved out a few months ago.” She looked Jonah in the eye. “I know you know why, because you’re the only person on the entire ship who had the guts to push me into finding out for myself.”

  Jonah’s gaze dropped to the steel deck at his feet. “Hannah Lucia lives in my wall,” he said. He lifted his chin to look at her. “I couldn’t bear you not knowing, when he was so flagrant about it. It had nothing to do with wanting to kiss you since I met you.”

  Marlow looked at him steadily and Jonah grinned. “Well, perhaps just a little bit.”

  “I want you to come home with me, Jonah,” she said. “I want Erron to meet you. It’s time.”

  Jonah pressed his lips to hers. “What about your reputation?”

  “That ultra-conservative, hard-working, do-gooder reputation? I think it can stand some shaking up.” She frowned. “I don’t think it was ever really me, anyway. Not if I had to sneak around to talk to you.” She shook her head. “One afternoon in the company of Emma and Grey and I can barely remember why I did all the things I did for all those years. I almost want to shock everyone.” She smiled.

  “One step at a time. Although I have to warn you, truth-telling is addictive.”

  “My first vice,” she replied, with deep satisfaction.

  Chapter Twelve

  Erron looked Jonah up and down. “I didn’t realize how big you are,” he said.

  “Erron!” Marlow said.

  “You’ve looked at my Forum profile, then,” Jonah said. “The 3D there is deceptive.”

  “Clearly.” Erron grinned. “I bet I could still get you on the ground.”

  “No bet,” Jonah said hastily. “Your mother trained you and she’s brought me down more than once.”

  “She has?” Erron was the startled one this time. “Are you some sort of bad guy?”

  “No, he’s not,” Marlow said firmly.

  “I read some of that stuff on your profile. You like to shock people,” Erron said.

  “Shocking people makes them start thinking for themselves,” Jonah said easily.

  Marlow sat on the stool at the counter. She had the feeling she was no longer a part of the conversation.

  Erron grinned. “Isn’t that bad?”

  “Depends on who you ask,” Jonah replied.

  “I’m asking you.”

  “Rational thinking is never a bad thing. But most people suck at it.”

  “They do?”

  “Sure.” Jonah pointed through the big window behind the table. “What color is that apartment there?”

  Erron barely glanced at it. “A horrible dirty green.”

  Jonah shook his head. “No. Only the wall you can see is dirty green. Until you look at the other three walls to confirm their color, you can’t say the house is green. If you were thinking rationally, your answer would have been that the house is green on this side.”

  Erron’s mouth opened. His eyes widened. Then he smiled and this time, it was a delighted expression. “I brought home cheese from the farm today. You want some?”

  “That would be great.”

  And so Jonah joined them for dinner, at Erron’s urging. Marlow stopped trying to shield either of them from the other and concentrated on the meal, which was the first solid food she’d had all day.

  By the end of the meal she realized she felt more relaxed and at ease than she could say about any other meal she had eaten here. She and Taniel had gotten along tolerably well, only there had always been the little stresses of juggling work shifts and managing Erron’s care, discussions about the division of responsibilities that despite twenty years of compromising and experimentation, had never really settled into customs that suited them both. One of them had always been unhappy about the divisions and demands on their time, to the point where any talk of who was expected to do what always left her feeling tense and her stomach in knots, especially as she was the one with the demanding job and little spare time to begin with.

  Now she knew Taniel had been trying to preserve his own spare time to pursue his outside interests. It explained the tension and arguments.

  There was none of that at the dinner table now, though.

  Once the meal ended, Erron got to his feet and shoved his hand toward Jonah. “I’m glad I got to meet you,” he said. “But I’m heading back to my room for the night. I have research assignments.” He rolled his eyes. “I always thought working on a farm meant physical work and getting my hands dirty. I’ve spent more time researching horticultural cross-breeding and DNA contamination than I ever expected to know.”

  “It’s a critical subject, these days,” Jonah pointed out.

  “So I am beginning to understand.”

  Erron moved away, then turned back hesita
ntly. “There’s a strange man who works on the farm. Siegel. He’s from the Capitol only I remember him from when he was living here in the Esquiline. Do you know him?”

  “Very well. He and his partner share an apartment with me.”

  Erron nodded. “He understands rational thought, too, doesn’t he? I mean, when he talks at all, it’s usually in reaction to something someone has said and it’s never the same as anyone else’s opinion.”

  “Siegel is a deep thinker,” Jonah said, his tone one of agreement.

  Erron went to his room, his face thoughtful.

  Jonah turned back to Marlow. “Uh-oh,” he said. He was smiling.

  “You’ve got him thinking,” Marlow said in agreement. “That could make life interesting from now on.”

  He picked up her hand and drew her toward him. “As if it isn’t already.”

  Marlow skirted around him, pulling him toward the door of her room. Jonah followed. Inside, she turned to look at him. “You’re the first person to ever step into this room besides me.”

  Jonah drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you.”

  Marlow pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But if you don’t kiss me immediately, I will bring you down and do it for myself.”

  He kissed her.

  * * * * *

  Jonah woke, startled. The light was all wrong. There was an actual window over the bed and low light coming through it.

  Marlow’s hand settled on his chest. “You’re safe,” she whispered.

  He let out his breath and settled back on the pillowform and tucked his hand under his head.

  “Bad dreams?” she asked.

  “Strange ones,” he admitted, recalling the flash of images and jumbled up motions. “Erron on the farm…have you ever been there?”

  “The farm? Yes, a couple of times. It’s fascinating, walking through all those rows of growing things. The smell…it’s like nothing we ever smell in the districts.”

  “Siegel calls it the smell of our future.”