He settled back against the desk and rubbed his chin some more. "I don't know. I'd set up a huge data base. Servers. Terminals for every specialty. And then...then I'd see where it lead me."
"You really would? Even knowing how much more is out there? You could go to space, Marlon. Deep space. You could jump through the fah'ti and teach them all..."
Marlon held his hand up. "Whoa now, space monkey. Not everyone wants to go traipsing around the galaxy."
"You already do," I pointed out.
"And I had no choice," he said with bitterness I didn't really expect. He might be a lot of bluster, but there was also a legitimate pain there. "Besides," he said quickly, trying to steer away from the truly uncomfortable conversation, "Someone has to be here to help everyone that's up there. Someone has to be able to process what comes in. Someone has to be able to drive this end of things."
I almost laughed until I saw the look in his eyes. He was grinning, pretending to be casual and make a joke of things. But it wasn't a joke. That's what he really wanted. And looking at him, I realized it wasn't bravado, it wasn't just a big ego talking. He could do it, he really could.
"You don't want to return to Utopia with us."
His smile faded. "No."
"But you will."
He nodded. "Until Lynnie's birthday."
"And then?"
"Then it's up to her if she wants to come home or stay in the bubble."
"What if she wants to go further?"
He looked at me for a long minute before turning. "I have work to do," he said quickly.
That was the end of that conversation. It was almost as if a door was physically slammed in my face. I really wasn't expecting as much as I got, so like Dad said, be grateful. "Don't break my system," I said getting up to leave him alone. "I've never been a host before, but I'm pretty sure that would be considered rude."
Marlon gave a chuckle. "Please. Your tech team won't even know I've been in."
I stopped at the doorway and turned around. "Hey Marlon?"
He sighed heavily. "Whaaaat?"
I was going to ask him about the fah'ti, but his tone clearly told me he was done entertaining my questions. "Uh, nothing. Just have a good night." He flicked his hand over his shoulder to shoo me away.
I went upstairs I laid in the huge bed of the huge room in the huge house that's supposed to be mine and I missed my tin can. I missed the comfort and safety of the Condor One. Sure, I got annoyed with its smallness. How many times had I wanted to escape to Laak'sa and run around the wide freedom life on land provided? And then I got all the room I could ever want, and I found myself wanting to be cramped and safe again.
Life was so much easier on the Condor. I was Jake, not Mr. Cosworth. I had exactly one possession, my holo, and didn't have to wonder and worry about stupid vases and ugly crystal and confusing paintings and houses that were too big and glasses with my initials on them and...
Ralph burst in. He was grinning and laughing. "You missed a good one, kiddo." He swayed to my bed and flopped down. I caught him before he rolled off. "You ever seen a squint cocked?"
I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Booze, Jake. We fed the ol' doc a good bit of some of your best whiskey." He poked my chest. "Good stuff you got, kid. Good stuff." He was grinning like an idiot and his eyes were shiny. And he smelled.
"Are you planning on sleeping here?"
He shrugged. "Bed's big enough. This was your dad's room. Did I tell you that?" He had. At least a dozen times. "Do you know how much I used to wish this was my house, Jakey? Me and Lance..." He twisted his first two fingers together. "Like this, kid. This close. Like brothers." He gave me a stupid smile. Grinned like an idiot, as Dad would have said if he was here. I couldn't help but smile back.
"So the doc's a funny drunk, eh?"
"Imagine your mother with a few in her."
I can't. I've always thought I had a good imagination. I guess some things are beyond imagination.
Ralph snorted and tried to tell a story but ended it fits of laughter with very few recognizable words.
"I think you should call it a day," I said, pulling off his shoes.
"Don't do that."
I ignored him and tugged off the other one. He grumbled, but it was half-hearted. I pulled the blanket over him, even though it wasn't that cold. It just seemed like the thing to do. "There," I said. "All tucked in."
"You know why I'm drunk tonight, Jake?"
The question was serious and seemed to be out of the blue. One of those where you know the whole evening is about to shift and there's nothing you can do about it. I tried to keep it light. "Because I have good booze."
But Ralph did not want it light. "I have to see Mabel tomorrow."
"Who's that?"
"My kid sister."
I sat back down on the bed and had no idea what to say. So I blurted out something stupid. "I can't believe she'd still be alive." I slapped my hand over my mouth.
He snorted. "You should see your face! Yeah, I kinda figured she'd have kicked the bucket, too. She's not. Getting on toward a hundred and still going strong if the pissed off holo I got earlier is accurate."
I had no idea what I was supposed to say. For some reason, Ralph was very upset about seeing his sister and it sounded like the feeling was mutual. I couldn't imagine why. "That should be..."
"Don't," he said bitterly. "Don't be like Lance right now." His words were starting to slur with the booze and the anger.
I sighed. "Fine. I hope your visit is horrible and that she hates you and throws you out. Is that what you want?"
He let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Well I don't want Eunice, either!"
I will never get drunk like that. It turns perfectly reasonable people into raving idiots. It was late. It had been one hell of a tough day and an even worse evening, in my opinion. And now I had a drunk moron making no sense at all on my bed. "Then what do you want? Because it's kind of been a bit of a tough day and frankly I'm all out of patience for guessing."
He looked at me a minute before he slowly smiled. "There's the angsty teen I was lookin' for. Come with me tomorrow, Jake."
I snorted. "To the sister's house who hates you? Yeah. That seems like a great way to spend the day."
He shrugged. "Won't be any worse than today."
I opened my mouth to argue, then found I had no argument. The man had a point. "Go to sleep."
"I'm your guardian," he said, his eyes drooping in spite of the words. "Not the other way around."
He was snoring in minutes. I grabbed a pillow and blanket and headed to the couch on the other side of the room. It was very fancy looking. It had that "money" look to it like everything else. But in spite of it's fancy looks, it was rock hard and uncomfortable. It felt a lot like my bunk on the Condor and for the first time since I left, I got a good nights' sleep.
The morning was rough. Not for me. Not for Lynnette or Marlon, either. And my fleet of service bots that fed us and tended to fetching and doing everything we're perfectly capable of doing for ourselves looked as perky and glitch-free as ever. It was all the adults who suffered. To be honest, I kind of enjoyed it.
The doctor sat at his seat, clutching his head. Whenever anyone would scoot their chair back, rustle a cloth napkin, or be so evil as to actually clank their forks against their plates, he'd moan and clutch his head. "Must you people be so torturous after the hell you've dumped me in?"
Jillian looked old. Very, very old. Her eyes had dark circles around them, her shoulders hunched, and even her hair seemed to give up. "Aspirin," she said to one of the bots serving coffee.
"Madam already had one full dose."
"And if you don't get madam another, you'll get one full dose of my foot up your robotic backside!"
"Yes, Madam. Right away."
Ralph sat at the table with his head down on his arms. He had pushed away all food and even his coffee and if I couldn't see his back rising and falling with breath, I would have worried that he was dead.