[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
I guess I m talking about the fact that you deserve better than what you ve
got here, what we ve all got here. Are you happy?
Again, she shrugged.
I want you to be happy, Billie.
She looked at him blankly and he looked away. Just for an instant he couldn t
meet her eyes.
Okay. I m going to get some things. You think about it while I m gone.
There was no going back now. And while I m gone you can decide. You think
about whether you re happy here. You said you were okay with me. You either
come with me or stay, but I m not going to hang around in this place anymore
and just let all this crap happen. I can t do anything to change it. The whole
place belongs to people like Warburg and Van der Stegen. Maybe somewhere else
I can make some sort of difference, but I can t change things here. This
place, everything in it, it changes you, not the other way around. It s time I
took some responsibility.
She watched him carefully as he prepared to leave, a frown clearly etched on
her forehead.
As he left the apartment, Jack knew there was a risk. He could come back and
Billie would be gone. Then he d have his answer. And what would she do then?
Maybe drift back to Old. He hoped it wouldn t be that way.
He didn t know how long he could rely on his handipad outside of the
Locality. It had to have some range. Food, provisions, a couple of tools. What
else? Maybe something that he could trade, or convert. That still worked. He
hadn t been out of the real world that long. And then? He d have to rely on
the instinct that had served him so well over the years. He didn t know where
he was going or where he d end up, but it was somewhere in the real world. Of
that much he was sure.
When he got back to the apartment, she was still sitting on the couch. He
felt some relief. At least she was still there. That was something.
Page 160
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
So? he said.
So what?
Have you made up your mind?
She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. Where are we going,
Jack? she said.
Um . . . I don t know, really. I thought we could get outside the Locality,
and head in whatever direction felt right.
Nuh-uh, she said flatly. What s wrong with you?
I don t know what
Billie fixed him with a stern look. You really do need looking after, Jack
Stein, she said. Did you get paid?
Well, yeah . . .
Are there fliers that go to other cities?
Sure, but . . .
Billie sighed and rolled her eyes. Well, pick one.
She was right, of course. What with Van der Stegen s payment, the stuff from
Gleeson, he had enough for a ticket for both of them, enough to spin things
out for a couple of months after that. He should be able to find something in
another city. It might take a few weeks to get started, but the work would
start to come.
Yeah, you re right, Billie. He met her gaze sheepishly, feeling slightly
stupid. Tell you what. You pick somewhere.
She shook her head and sighed again as she stood and crossed the room to call
up the wallscreen.
Jack looked down from the flier s window. Out across the landscape, a broad
escarpment overlooked the valley where the Locality currently crawled. Cliffs,
rocks, escarpments they d all featured heavily over the last few weeks, and
here he was looking down on another one. No White-Haired Man this time. No
dream to sweep him away, but he d come full circle all the same. Full circle.
He d had his fill of circles.
Below lay the Locality, inching its way across the plains and valleys,
shimmering with its own obscene opalescence, and strangely reminiscent of the
sinuous tentacles extruded from the mine walls on Dairil III what seemed like
so long ago. Down there was the real beast nothing more than a doorway into a
hive. And inside lay the remnants of what had been promised to everyone who
had lived there, gradually falling apart into inevitable corruption. He
glanced across and put his hand on Billie s shoulder. They still had a lot to
work out, Billie and he, but now they had the opportunity to do it somewhere
else. Maybe somewhere better.
You ready for this, kid?
Page 161
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
I guess, she said. What are we going to do when we get there?
He looked up at the sky the real sky then back at the Locality. As above, so
below. That was the alchemical rubric. You had to know the depths to ascend to
the heights. Well, they d both been there, Billie even more than he.
I don t know, said Jack. I don t quite know.
But he knew it didn t really matter that he didn t know. It never had.
You know what, Billie? I think we ll work it out together.
There was the barest shake of her head, and just the hint of a sigh. Her lips
slightly pursed, and giving no other response, Billie turned to look out the
window at the landscape crawling slowly past below them.
About the Author
Jay Caselberg was born in a country town inAustralia . He graduated with
Honors from theUniversity ofWollongong , then pursued a Doctorate at
theUniversity ofNew South Wales inSydney , claiming that his postgraduate
degree was simply practice to write large, cogent volumes of material. After
he realized that academia wasn t going to fulfill his ambitions, he joined the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]