[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.” The bed began to rise behind his back.“Xiri?”Her clothing was outrageous to Hegemonic forms (not to say anachronistic or unrevealing), but she was definitely his Xiri; as she leaned forward and hugged him fiercely he felt something bend inside him, a dam of despair crumbling before a tidal wave of relief.“How did they find you?” he asked her shoulder, secure in her embrace.“Why did they reinstate—”“Hush.Pierce.You were so ill—”He hugged her back.“I was?”“They kept me from you for half a moon! And the burns, when they cut that suit away from you.What did you do?”Pierce pondered the question.“I changed my mind about.something I’d agreed to do.”They lay together on the bed until curiosity got the better of him.“Where are we? When are we?” Where did you get that jumpsuit?Xiri sighed, then snuggled closer to him.“It’s a long story,” she said quietly.“I’m still not sure it’s true.”“It must be, now,” he pointed out reasonably, “but perhaps it wasn’t, for a while.But where are we?”She eased back a little.“We’re in orbit around Jupiter.But not for much longer.”“But I—” He stopped.“Really?”“They disconnected your phone, or I could show you.The colony fleets, the shipyards.”He blinked at her, astonished.“How?”“We all have phone implants, here.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement.“This isn’t the Stasis you know.”“I’d guessed.” He swallowed.“How long has it been for you?”“Since”—her breath caught, a little ragged—“two years.A little longer.”He gently trapped her right hand in his, ran his thumb across the smooth, plump skin on the back of her wrist.She let him.“Almost the same.” He swallowed once more.“I thought I’d never see you again.Anyone would think they’d planned this.”“Oh, but they did.” She gave a nervous little laugh.“He said they didn’t want us to, to desynchronize.Get too far apart.” Her fingers closed around his thumb, constricting and warm.“Who is ‘he’?” asked Pierce, although he thought he knew.“He used to be you, once.That’s what he told me.” Her grip tightened suddenly.“He’s not you, love, it’s not the same.At all.”“I must see him.”Pierce tried to sit up: Xiri clung to him, dragging him down.“No! Not yet,” she hissed.Pierce stopped struggling before he hurt her.His arms and his stomach muscles felt curiously strong, almost as if they’d never been damaged.“Why not?”“Scholar Yarrow asked me to, to intercede.She said you’d want to confront him.” She tensed when she spoke Yarrow’s name.“She was right.About lots of things.”“What’s her position here?”“She’s with him.” Xiri hesitated.“It took much getting used to.I made a fool of myself once, early on.”He raised a hand to stroke her hair.“I can understand that.” Pierce pondered his lack of reaction.“It’s been years since I knew her, you know.And if he’s who—what—I think he is, he was never married to you.Was he?”“No.” She lay against him in silence for a while.“What are you going to do?” she asked in a small voice.Pierce smiled at the ceiling.(It was low, and bare of decoration: another sign, if he needed one, that he was not back in the Hegemony.) For the time being, the shock and joy of finding her again had left him giddy with relief.“Where are the children?” he asked, forcing himself: one last test.“I left Liann with a nurse.Magnus is away, in the ship’s scho lasticos.” Concern slowly percolated across her expression.“They’ve grown a lot: do you think—”He breathed out slowly, relieved.“There will be time to get to know them again, yes.” She reached over his chest and hugged him tight.He stroked her hair, content for the moment but sadly aware that everything was about to change.“But tell me one thing.What is it that you’re so desperate to keep from me?”Nation of Me“Good to see you, Pierce,” said the man on the throne.He smiled pleasantly but distantly.“I gather you’ve been keeping well.”Pierce had already come to understand that the truly ancient were not like ordinary humans.“Do you remember being me?” he asked, staring.The man on the throne raised an eyebrow.“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He gestured at the bridge connecting his command dais to the far side of the room.“You may approach.” Combat drones and uniformed retainers withdrew respectfully, giving Pierce a wide berth [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]