“But she may not make it,” Arria protested. “And even if she does, there’s no guarantee she will still resemble Calla.”
“Tonto still resembles a water mammal.”
“Yes, but . . .”
“Arria, please don’t make this any harder than it is. You must know I am determined in this.”
“I could stay,” she said
“And make me choose between you and Calla next spring?” He shook his head. How hard that would be. Arria, so yielding. Even now he could see a heavy flush sweep over her face, so humanly aware that he was looking at her. And Calla? He would never touch Calla again in the way that he wanted to.
“Jason, if this succeeds, you’re right. She will need you.” He nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
“No!” she said so sharply that he was startled. “It isn’t me who isn’t understanding. It’s you. Yes, she will need you . . . back on Mercury Novus or wherever it is you go to get a planet protected. Have you forgotten about the crystal? What do you think the miners will do to the Amber Forest when the ranger station is gone?”
He stared at her a moment. He had forgotten, and now his mind was churning from the relative peace of knowing just a few moments ago what he should do to horrendous turmoil. “You and Marmion . . .” he stammered. “You must tell them.”
“Me? A backplanet nobody miner’s daughter who’s psi and probably crazy, too? Who will listen to me?”
“Marmion, then. He’s a chief in the perfection engineers. They pay attention to perfection engineers.”
“Eventually,” Arria said. “But if he’s transferred downtime, who will make sure it’s done on time? What if she emerges next spring and a miner shoots her on her first flight?”
“I have to go,” he said, knowing it was true. He had to leave her again, and again she would say nothing to stop him. He would be lonely and try to pretend that he did not miss her, and he would ache inside. But this time he could believe it wasn’t forever. He nodded with only small satisfaction and looked at Arria. “We had better finish up here.”
“You go ahead,” she said. “I’ll finish up here.”
He grunted in agreement and started to get up.
“And, Jason?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t hold a place for me on Compania. I won’t be going.”
He sat back down. “Don’t get stubborn,” he said. “Of course you must go.”
“It would be a miserable journey,” she said, “worse than the last two years. Don’t bother trying to change my mind; you lost your right to do so when you chose Calla. Oh, I’m not blaming you anymore, Jason. I won’t forgive you, but I won’t hold it against you, either.”
“Those are Calla’s words,” he said.
“She was a whole hell of a lot more perceptive than you, Jason, and she was my friend. I’m choosing her, too. And there’s something I can do for her that you cannot.”
“Oh? What’s that.”
Arria looked at him, then touched him gently on the cheek.
“I can tell her that you’re coming back.”
Copyright & Credits
DOWNTIME
Author’s Preferred Edition
Cynthia Felice
Book View Café September 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61138-545-8
Copyright © 1985 Cynthia Felice
First published: Bluejay, 1985
Production Team:
Cover art and design: Dave Smeds, with thanks to Srecko Djarmati, Ruslan Huzau, and Jon Bilous, Dreamstime.
Proofreader: Sherwood Smith
Formatter: Vonda N. McIntyre
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Digital edition: 20150718vnm
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About Cynthia Felice
Cynthia Felice writes science fiction novels, and occasionally writes short stories and articles. She was a John W. Campbell Award nominee for her novel, Godsfire. Felice is a workshop enthusiast, including being an early Clarion “grad” and a frequent Milford attendee. Her experience includes managing technical editors, writers, and designing configuration control software, as well as writing and editing technical articles, essays, and documents, one of which received the Award for Outstanding Paper from the Society for Technical Communication. Cynthia Felice grew up in Chicago, and now lives with her husband on a ridge east of Colorado Springs overlooking the Front Range.
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