Approaching Oblivion (Jezebel's Ladder Book 4) (13 page)

“Thank
you, sir.”

“Do
you have enough to keep busy otherwise?”

“Sojiro
still gives me the odd programming or firmware assignment for the linguistic
project. Though, I rarely know how a given module fits into the grand scheme.”

“Red
still wants you on a tight leash, with no chance for sabotage or eavesdropping.
You have to earn trust back.”

“Yes,
sir.” She bowed at the end of their session.

****

On
the next to the last day of winter, a Sunday, Yuki woke late and savored hiding
from the world under the thick, feather-stuffed comforter with Park. Because it
was their day off, the man hadn’t set the alarm—bless him. They hadn’t made
love last night, nor the night before that. Instead they talked and held one
another. For the first time, here was a man who didn’t leave. Even when they
disagreed, he still kissed her good night and good-bye. His face had the
innocence of a child’s as he slept. The wall behind him bore a realistic
painting of a cloud plume blowing off Mount Fuji. Sojiro had left his airbrush
set beneath until he decided where to place the Shinto shrine in the
foreground. Since it was too cold to paint in the barn, the artist had been
decorating personal quarters in Olympus whenever he had a difficult problem to
work out.

On
the left wall was a low, wide dresser of polished walnut, which she shared with
Park. Someday she hoped to have a mirror. Unless they were in bed, he left the
door between their room and the command center open so they could react to
emergencies. For privacy, they had a folding, rice-paper screen to change
behind. The room was spare, but every item in it was a work of art crafted with
love. Yuki watched Park in this setting for half an hour before texting Sojiro
a thanks for the landscape. ‘You’re right, it feeds the soul.’

Seconds
later, Sojiro called her headset, and Yuki crept out of the room to answer it.
She made the exchange as hushed and brief as possible.

Nonetheless
when she returned, Park stirred. “Whoozat?”

“Sojiro,”
she answered.

“Mmm.
No workout today.” He rubbed one eye with the heel of his palm. Sometimes he
did this in his sleep and elbowed her unintentionally.

“This
time, he called for me. He invited me to the computer cave for a special
linguistics project meeting at seven this evening.”

“I’ll
be your bodyguard,” he insisted.

“You
don’t have to go. It’s your day off.”

“It’s
about our normal walk time. Do me good. You make me more food and force me to
hibernate till noon. I’ll have the body of a grizzly soon.”

After
dinner, they dressed for the cold. Park had a crude coat layered over a
handsome cardigan that made him look like the dean of a science college. Short
of funds, Yuki normally wore their comforter outside on the patio. She had to
borrow an overcoat from Toby to attend—he was already locked in for the night.
The air around Olympus bit her nose as she bounced the short distance to the
elevators. The frigid swamp was perpetually foggy, and frost had flocked the
tops of the tallest trees.

As
they wandered through the orchard, Yuki was shocked to see Yvette and two
others lighting braziers in the murk. “What’s this for?” she asked the nurse.

“We
don’t want the oranges to freeze tonight. It’s going to be close,” said Yvette.

“Why
you?” asked Yuki.

Yvette
rolled her eyes. “One of our ‘geniuses’ got the idea to pick up one of these
red-hot metal bowls after it was lit. He might have been okay until his coat
sleeve caught fire. After I treated the minor blisters on his hands, I got to
take his place on the work crew. Auckland is with the big galoot now, picking
fused nylon off his forearm so he can dress that burn.”

“Herk?
That’s terrible.”

“I’ve
seen worse. We once had a surgeon who thought picking up his mover to trim the
hedge was a good idea. Oops, they need me. Later.”

Park
followed close at Yuki’s right side in case he needed to grab her remaining arm
and prevent a fall. White particles tumbled in the sky but never seemed to
touch the ground, making the habitat a giant, low-gravity snow globe. The
thumb-sized flakes fell only on the mountain as they approached, reminding her
of a carpet of cherry blossoms. The beauty of the moment threatened to overwhelm
her.

When
they reached the Hollow, Park opened the gate for her and bowed her through.
Mercy met them at the gate, obviously with child and beaming to see her friend.
Mercy was wrapped in a blanket and had handmade mittens. Below the bundling,
her belly extended as far as her breasts. Her cheeks were pink and healthy as
she said, “Careful, the walls have ears.”

Out
of the corner of her eye, Yuki spotted a void in the snowfall. At first, she
couldn’t believe it, but the empty space in the swirling flakes moved along
with them. The hole was triangular and roughly a meter tall. Was Mercy
referring to this ghost? “Pardon?” Yuki asked, shaken.

“Nadia’s
house is over there. She’s probably peeking through the blinds at you right
now.”

“Of
course,” Yuki said with a nervous laugh. She didn’t dare let their ghost know
it was visible. How was it staying hidden? She guessed the same Magi technology
that cloaked
Sanctuary
from the outside and that the Chinese used for
their stealth armor. That would explain where Mercy’s theoretical agricultural
robots had disappeared to—they were still here, watching the experiment
invisibly. What was the Magi’s final quote? ‘The hand of the uplifter must not
be seen.’

Who
could she tell? Most of the planners thought Yvette was imbalanced for
suggesting that the Magi were evil. She would need hard evidence first. To do
that, she’d need to get her chronometer back from Mercy, the one with the spy
gadgets. Licking her lips, Yuki tried a small lie. “I gave my contact lens to
Z, and
someone
turned off my alarm this morning to keep me in bed.”

When
Park closed the gate behind her and dashed to catch up, Mercy said, “He’s so
attentive and smiling all the time. What have you done to that man?”

Chuckling
evilly, she said, “What
haven’t
I done to that man? Speaking of which,
do you have any spare thin fabric I can borrow for a few days? I’m trying to
make a gladiator costume.”

“Oh,
are you reading Z’s copy of
Ben Hur
out loud?”

Park
made his amused thinking gesture, and Yuki replied with an exaggerated, “Yes,
that’s it.” A moment later, she asked suspiciously, “Um . . . I know Lou will
be at the meeting as the project sponsor. Why are you braving the cold?”

“They
use my voice in the translation interface—Lou likes to hear it. Data entry is
tedious, but it gives me a chance to earn allotment as well as spend time with
him.” Once in the comparative warmth of the caves, Park and Sojiro went ahead
to hang the coats. Mercy said, “Come to our room, and I’ll get the wristwatch
for you.”

Once
they were in the neat bedroom, Mercy whispered, “This is the longest you’ve
ever been with a guy. I’m glad you two are happy.”

The
comment startled Yuki because it was true in every respect. Both the longevity
and the bliss had crept up on her unawares. For the first time since graduating
college, she was truly happy.
Damn that Lou, he was right. Every lot has
enough good in it.
Although, she was sure everyone had been betting against
her, with the exception of Mercy. “Thank you.”

When
they returned to the lab, candles decorated the walls. Yuki asked, “Are we
conserving power?”

Sojiro,
Mercy, and Lou shouted, “Surprise!”

There
was a sad, lopsided cake and a wooden breadbox wrapped with a piece of red
ribbon.

“Happy
birthday,” said Park from behind her.

Half-hugging
each of her friends in turn, Yuki said, “How did you know? Even I forgot the
date after I took out my chronometer contact.”

Park
said, “Important dates are remembered.”

Mercy
raised her eyebrows in silent approval.

“Risa
made the box for me,” Sojiro said rapidly. “I traded her a couple framed
sketches of Herk. Open it up. I want to see if you like the lining.”

“Okay,”
Yuki said, pulling the ribbon off, and placing it carefully in her pocket. That
would be useful in thanking Park later. Perhaps she would tie it in her hair.
When she flipped open the box, her breath caught. The interior held a burnished
wooden bicep, shiny metal bars, and carefully molded plastic bits that smelled
like a new car. “My arm. You finished it.” Not crying at that moment was the
hardest thing she’d ever done.

“Not
completely.” Sojiro waggled his hand. “I have to do a little fine-tuning, but
you can take it out for a test spin. These slave drivers wouldn’t let me sleep
till I finished it.”

She
unzipped her jumpsuit and slid the fabric down so he could attach the
prosthetic. Lou couldn’t see anything, and she trusted the others to see her
exposed. As Sojiro strapped the device in place, she said, “How did you all
manage this? It’s so expensive.”

Mercy
explained, “You’re hooked up with an important pilot now, and you’re both
pulling hazard pay. You’d be surprised how fast that accrues.”

Yuki
had to bite her lower lip to stop the tears. Gazing at Park, she whispered, “I
didn’t seduce you to—”

Park
put his finger to her lips. “I don’t sleep with a woman unless she’s my
partner.”

That
did it. The tears poured out. She couldn’t see a thing and had to use both
hands to wipe the water away. Yuki didn’t realize what was happening until she
patted both pockets to find a cloth.
Both.

She
stared in wonder at her new hand as it did everything she asked of it, turning
slowly so she could examine every aspect. When she could breathe again, she
told Sojiro, “You are a genius who has made even this crutch a work of art.” To
Mercy, she said, “You are a beautiful, considerate liar who I will repay every
cent.” To Park, she said, “You, hold still.” Using both hands, she cradled the
back of his head and pulled him close for a kiss. “We’ll talk about your
punishment later.”

He
looked down with a slight grin, unwilling to discuss such matters in front of
others, no matter how close. He stroked the ring finger of her new hand. “Maybe
now that you have one of these, we can decorate it.”

Yuki
had no capacity left for shock. “No,” she blurted. “Why would you want me?”

Park
furrowed his brow and looked around in embarrassment. “I love you.”

She
looked down. “I stole you from another woman who was counting on you.” Holding
up her new hand, she pointed to the golden battery visible beneath its clear
cover. “The one who made this for me. What kind of person does that?”

“I
asked Nadia to marry me one year from our first date. She turned me down
because she doesn’t believe in marriage. She doesn’t believe in a lot of
things. You do. You believe in
me
.”

“I
have to face her and make peace,” Yuki said irrationally.

“I’ll
go with you,” Park offered.

“No.
Just me.” She wanted to be able to speak frankly to Nadia, and she couldn’t do
that if she needed to act demure in front of Park. Besides, it would give her a
chance to scope out the unseen watcher. Quirking up her mouth, she added,
“Consider it my black-belt test.”

“I
think it’s a bad idea,” Lou muttered. “She’ll rip that arm off and beat you
with it.”

“Z
said I have to begin with honesty. I need to apologize to Nadia and thank her, or
I can never fully be a part of this community.”

Park
and Sojiro helped her slip the new arm into first the shirt and then the coat.

Alone,
Yuki strolled outside in search of Nadia. Yuki opened the picket fence and
walked up to Nadia’s porch. The others crouched in the oval door of the cave,
waiting to rush to her rescue. This was the longest and coldest night of the
journey. If they could get through it unscathed, nothing could stop them.

Yuki
knocked at Nadia’s wooden front door, but no one answered. It was too early for
sleep, and smoke trickled from the chimney.
Nadia must be avoiding the
confrontation.
How could the power engineer know it was her? Then she
remembered—if Nadia concentrated, she could see power sources with her talent,
and no one else in camp walked around with a battery powerful enough to power a
car strapped to her hand. Knowing the distinct signature, Nadia could easily
avoid her rival from now on. Yuki said, “Time to put on big-girl panties. We
need to talk.”

“Screw
you. That’s all you’re good for, you know,” Nadia bellowed. “When the paint
wears off, he’ll see.”

Yuki
waved the new hand. “I did you wrong, and you still helped me.”

“Z
ordered me to.”

“Nevertheless,
I came to thank you—for the battery and Park. I owe you.”

The
door opened a crack. A brown eye peered out. “Why are you really here?”

“I
stole your happiness. I’m afraid . . . unless I replace it, mine won’t last.”