Astounding! (17 page)

There were two clerks, which seemed excessive for the small, low-traffic space. One was tall and skinny and conservatively dressed, as if he might start lecturing at any moment on the intricacies of supply-side economics. His companion was shorter, with multicolored hair and a bright purple tank top that would have looked at home on a dance floor in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Both of them smiled at Carter as he came closer.

“Looks like we have a run on frozen confections,” said the shorter one. He had dimples.

“We’re on vacation,” Carter said, setting the ice cream on the old wooden counter. “That means we get treats.”

“I think we’re all entitled to treats even when we’re not on vacation,” the clerk answered. And he reached over to pat the tall guy’s ass, making the tall guy blush and Keith and Carter laugh.

And just when Carter was reflecting on how glad he was to find a gay couple living in the shadow of the old asylum, a toddler came running from a room behind the post office portion of the building. “Papa! Daddy!” she squealed. The tall man swooped her into his arms and gave her noisy kisses until, giggling wildly, she wiggled back down to the floor. She hugged the other clerk’s leg as he bent over to kiss the top of her head, and then she scooted away into another back room.

Carter waited for the shorter man to ring up his sale. “You have a really nice family,” Carter said, handing over his money.

Both clerks beamed. “Thanks!” said the shorter one, returning some change. “We’re expecting another kid in a few months. Sometimes Polly has a tantrum and I worry we’ve bitten off more than we can chew, but then she’ll draw us a picture or just give us that toothy grin and I know—”

“Colby,” interrupted his partner gently. “I don’t think they want our whole life story.”

Except Carter kind of did, because it sure looked like their story was a happy one, and there was never enough of that to go around. But his ice cream was going to melt. “Maybe sometime I’ll pass through again and you can tell me more. Introduce me to the new kid.”

“You’re welcome anytime,” Colby replied.

Keith seemed lost in thought as they returned to the RV. Before they stepped inside, he caught Carter’s arm. “I want that. What they have. Um, not a convenience store in the middle of nowhere. But the love. The children. You’ve known Freddy longer than I have. Do you think he’ll ever come around?”

Carter answered him with all sincerity, coupled with the odd insight he seemed to have picked up lately. “Yeah. He will. You know, Freddy still can’t believe that his whole life isn’t going to suddenly collapse around him. If you really mean it, show him how permanent things will be. Make an honest man of him.”

“You want me to propose marriage?” Keith asked, wide-eyed. “C’mon. Freddy’s no romantic. He’ll—”

“He is too. He just hides it well. Get him a big old ring and get down on one knee. Make some ridiculous gesture—a flash mob or something. I guarantee he’ll say yes, and in no time at all he’ll be helping you pick out nursery furniture.”

Keith’s hand was on the door handle, but he didn’t turn it yet. “You sound awfully sure of this.”

“I’ll guarantee it.”

“Okay.” Keith gave a tentative and slightly crooked grin. “Guess it can’t hurt to try. Maybe I’ll get a chance to do a little jewelry shopping in San Francisco.” Nibbling his lip thoughtfully, he opened the door.

Carter followed him inside and handed the ice cream to John, who took it gratefully. But even as he buckled himself into the driver’s seat, Carter was thinking about the couple he’d just met and their cute little girl. He’d never pictured himself like that—tied down, parental. He knew it was never going to happen to him. But fuck if it didn’t somehow seem like a truly enviable fate.

A
FTER
J
ELLEY
’
S
Valley, they descended some more and entered the Central Valley. They rumbled through Merced and then turned north onto Highway 99. The scenery here was unremarkable. Orchards, livestock, a few hardscrabble little houses.

“I always think of
Grapes of Wrath
when I pass through here,” Freddy said. “I keep expecting to run into the Joads.”

They didn’t. But somewhere near a sign for a federal prison, the RV began making troubling noises, as if it were suffering from indigestion. The brake felt alternately mushy and too stiff, and the steering wheel started pulling to the right. And then the dashboard displays flashed twice before reappearing in what looked like Chinese.

“Shit,” Carter said. He was relieved when he came to a rest stop. He took the exit and pulled the beast to a shuddering, groaning halt alongside several big rigs.

All four of them climbed out of the RV. Freddy opened the engine compartment—a small adventure in itself—and they stared inside. None of them had a clue what they were looking at.

“You’re a more advanced being,” Keith said to John, sounding slightly peevish. “Why can’t you figure it out?”

John had already explained this, but he did so again. “We’re not physical. We don’t use engines. When I first arrived here, it took me a long time to learn to use simple mechanical devices like locks and stoves.”

With a thoughtful frown, Freddy settled a gentle hand on John’s arm. “Do you think the malfunction has anything to do with you? Like Keith’s photos not turning out?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I do… I do tend to break electronic devices, but only if I try to use them.”

Freddy nodded. “And you didn’t actually break the phone. It works great unless Keith tries to catch a shot of you.” He patted John reassuringly.

But John looked unhappy. “I’ve never had a problem with my car, but it’s old. No computer. And I’ve never spent as long inside it as I have in the RV.”

Because John looked so miserable, Carter gave him a quick hug. “It’s probably not you. Things break down all the time. But even if it
was
you, it’s not your fault.”

He could have hugged Keith and Freddy when they nodded their agreement and flashed smiles at John. John’s shoulders relaxed a little and he smiled back. He was a pretty big man, and far older than any of them, yet sometimes he seemed so fragile. Carter didn’t know if that was due to his alien nature or the result of five decades on Earth with virtually no emotional support. Carter knew how long days could feel when you had nobody to share them with—and at least he had a few good friends. So he gave John another squeeze, and John squished him back.

Three truck drivers had been leaning up against one of the big rigs, smoking and talking, but now they wandered over. Carter steeled himself for a confrontation. After all, he and John were in a half embrace and Keith still sported his gay Dumbledore shirt. But when the truckers came closer, their body language was not aggressive.

“You folks got a problem?” asked a stout man in his fifties.

Apparently appointing himself spokesman, Freddy stepped toward the newcomers. “Yes. But we don’t know what. Maybe the computer’s out of whack. It’s not handling right and the dashboard controls aren’t working.”

A wiry man in a cowboy hat wrinkled his already well-creased face. “Damn things, computers. We was all better off without ’em.”

And then the truckers spent about fifteen minutes firing up the engine and shutting it down again, poking at whichever of the RV’s guts they could reach, and meditatively scratching their heads. Carter wasn’t surprised when they shrugged and gave up. “Sorry,” said the cowboy. “We ain’t gonna be able to fix it.”

“We appreciate the attempt,” Freddy said.

“It’s one of them rental rigs, right? You can give ’em a call and tell ’em you’re stuck. You’re prob’ly gonna need a tow, though.”

“Is there someplace nearby that can fix it, do you think?”

The stout man and the cowboy looked toward the third trucker, a tall man wearing a turban. “Possibly in Turlock,” he said. “That’s just a few miles from here. If not, surely in Modesto, and that’s not far up the road.”

Well, that was reassuring. “Thank you,” Freddy said.

But the truckers weren’t through with them. “Look,” said the turbaned man, “it is very unlikely your vehicle will be repaired today. It is late already. My cousin lives close. If you like, I can ring him and ask him to drive you to a nearby motel.”

The eventual arrangements ended up being somewhat more complicated. The cousin showed up in his van to chauffeur Carter, John, and all the luggage, while Freddy and Keith waited at the rest stop for a tow truck to appear. “We can catch a ride with the tow truck,” Freddy assured everyone. “Go get comfortable at the motel. We’ll meet you there.”

And because there didn’t seem to be any point in all four of them waiting, Carter and John climbed into the van. But not before thanking their new trucker friends, who wished them well and waved as they left.

The cousin was a cute young guy named Hardeep who used to work at a chicken processing plant but was now trying to earn his college degree. When John mentioned proudly that Carter edited
Astounding!
magazine, Hardeep almost drove off the highway.

“Seriously, man? I frigging love that magazine! My parents buy me a subscription for my birthday every year.”

Blushing slightly, Carter decided not to inform the kid that his subscription was about to come to an abrupt end. He cleared his throat. “Have you, um, received the latest issue yet?”

“Yeah! It came today. Man, I wish I had it with me so you could sign it. I haven’t read it yet ’cause I have a calc exam tomorrow. I’m saving it for, like, my reward for studying. It has a Fred C. Morgan story, right?”

Before Carter could reply, John enthusiastically jumped in. “It does! And you know what? Our friend with the beard, the one you just met? That is Fred C. Morgan.”

“Shit!” This time Hardeep came to a screeching halt on the shoulder. He whipped out his phone and began texting frantically. “My cousin and I are huge Stonesfire Saga fans. He’s gonna flip his lid when he finds out. Man, I hope the tow truck’s not there yet!”

As Hardeep resumed driving—and got deep into a conversation with John about their favorite
Astounding!
stories—Carter smiled to himself. Freddy might not be entirely pleased about the text Hardeep had just sent, but a little bit of hero worship was the least the truckers had earned with their assistance. But Carter’s smile faded when he remembered what Hardeep had just told him. The last issue of
Astounding!
was out—the issue with John’s story. If John was correct, that meant his people would show up anytime now.

Fuck.

Not too much later, Hardeep pulled up in front of a Fairfield Inn. Grinning from ear to ear, he helped unload the luggage.

“Can we pay you for your time and gas?” asked Carter, who was running low on cash.

“No way! But here—” Hardeep grabbed a sheet of notebook paper from somewhere inside his van. It had math calculations all over one side, so he turned it to the blank side. “Would you autograph this for me?”

Nobody had ever asked Carter to autograph anything. It was disconcerting. He pulled a pen from his jacket pocket and scrawled his signature. But he didn’t hand it back when he was done. “You know what? John’s being shy, but he’s an author too. His very first story is the last one in this issue.” Or any issue.

Hardeep’s eyes widened. “For real, man?”

“For real.”

It was John’s turn to blush, which made him even more adorable than usual. His hand shook slightly when he signed underneath Carter’s scrawl. Hardeep hugged the piece of paper to his chest as if it were priceless. “Thanks so much, you guys! I am so stoked over this!” He bounced a little on his feet.

He was going to be considerably less stoked when he read John’s story and then his magazines stopped showing up in his mailbox. He was really happy now, at least. He even gave each of them a quick hug before climbing back in his van. “Let me know if you need another ride or anything, okay?” He scribbled quickly on a smaller scrap of paper, which he handed out the window to John. “Just give me a call.”

After Hardeep was gone, John and Carter stood for a moment in front of the motel. “You told him I’m an author,” John said.

“You are. Published and everything. Oh—and I owe you thirty bucks. It’s what I pay for a story that length.”

John waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll take it in trade.”

Laughing, Carter slung John’s bag over his own shoulder, picked up his suitcase, and began wheeling Freddy’s larger suitcase toward the door. John stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Did you hear what Hardeep said?”

“He said a lot of things.”

“Yeah, but the main point. He loves
Astounding!
as much as I do. And we just ran into him by chance. Carter, think how many people you’ve brought happiness to with your magazine. Doesn’t that mean you’ve changed the world?”

“Not really.”

John rolled his eyes. “Of
course
you have. You’ve added materially to the planet’s total joy. That’s important. Really important.”

Carter might have argued the point, but the luggage was heavy. He huffed at John instead, then continued on his way. John laughed and followed with the rest of their stuff.

Two young women stood behind the registration desk. Belatedly, Carter began to fret about how to pay for their rooms, but John pushed his way in front of Carter and smiled at the women. “We’d like two rooms, please. One for us and one for our friends. They’ll be here in a while.”

One of the women began clacking at her computer. “Would you prefer adjoining rooms?”

“Yes, please.”

“And would you prefer rooms with two queen beds or one king?”

He gave her a sunny smile. “One bed per room, please.”

She typed away for a few more moments before completing the rest of the check-in process. John paid in cash. The clerk and her colleague promised to give Freddy and Keith their keys when they turned up.

The room wasn’t very exciting and had a charming view of the Lowe’s next door. But it was clean. Also, Carter had noticed several restaurants in the strip malls nearby, so they’d have various dinner options even though they didn’t have wheels. Silently, he and John unpacked a few things. And then, because the hotel had Wi-Fi, Carter decided to fire up his laptop and check his e-mail for the first time since leaving Seattle. But his computer wouldn’t connect to the Internet for some reason, and after a lot of muttering and a little swearing, he gave up. When he lifted his gaze from the screen, John was standing in the middle of the room, grinning at him. He was naked.