Tamsin smiled. ‘Big project,’ she suggested.
‘Big project,’ Isabel confirmed.
‘The kind of thing you’re gonna get done in one night?’
The projected data tables stared imposingly down at Isabel. ‘No,’ she sighed, tucking an errant lock behind her ear. ‘No, I suppose not.’
Tamsin cocked her head. ‘I kinda miss you at home.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Isabel said. ‘She’ll only be here for a few more tendays, and then—’
‘No, no.’ Tamsin put up her hand. ‘What you’re doing with M— with Ghuh’loloan is good, and I know you’re excited about it. And I know this kind of thing’ – she pointed to the desk – ‘is your thing, and that it’s important. I care. It’s good. You’re doing cool stuff. But, also, I miss you.’
Isabel reached her foot beneath her desk and found one of Tamsin’s. ‘I miss you, too.’
Tamsin scrunched her lips so high, they nearly touched her nose. ‘Wanna go do the Sunside?’
The suggestion came from out of nowhere and was the last thing Isabel expected to hear that day. She couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Come on,’ Tamsin said with a grin. ‘I’m serious. We could make the night flight if we go right now.’
‘We haven’t done that in ages.’
‘And?’
‘And I’m still working.’
‘And?’
‘And you just brought me dinner.’
‘Psh,’ Tamsin said, narrowing her eyes. ‘Put it in the stasie, have it for lunch. I’ll get you a stuffer on the way.’ She patted the side of her jacket. ‘I got a whole pocket of trade, and all you’ve got is weak excuses.’ Her grin spread wider. Every line in her face took part.
Isabel was incredulous, but enchanted, too. The latter won out. ‘All right,’ she said, throwing up her hands. ‘All right, let’s go.’
‘Ha!’ Tamsin said, clapping her hands together and collecting her cane. ‘I thought you’d punk out on me.’ She extended her hand once she’d made it to her feet. Isabel took it without even thinking. The best kind of habit.
‘Deshi,’ Isabel called as they left her office. The junior archivist looked up from his desk. ‘Please let everyone know I’m leaving the pre-spaceflight project until tomorrow. I’m—’
‘She’s being kidnapped,’ Tamsin said, marching them toward the exit. ‘Better call patrol.’
Deshi laughed and nodded. ‘I dunno, M,’ he said. ‘I saw the one who did it, and she looked like bad news.’
Tamsin gave a deep, short chuckle. ‘Smart man,’ she said. She gave him a threatening squint worthy of any festival actor. ‘Nobody likes snitches.’
Isabel rolled her eyes. ‘Have a good night,’ she said.
They made their way to the shuttledock as the globulbs began to dim. They made a short stop at the closest marketplace, where Tamsin made good on her word and traded a round of striped ribbon for two big pocket stuffers – toasted golden on the outside, packed with spicy shreds of red coaster meat and sweet onions. Isabel’s stomach growled in anticipation as she raised it to her mouth. It was hardly a balanced meal, and had she seen any of her grandkids trying to argue the same for dinner, she’d have foisted a few vegetables on them first. But stars, it was good. The dough crunched at first bite, then bloomed into airy fluff, then gave way to the fiery centrepiece. Perfect.
She glanced over at Tamsin, who tore into her own stuffer as they walked. ‘Did you not have dinner?’ Isabel asked.
Tamsin swallowed. ‘’Course I did,’ she said. ‘But why should you be the only one to benefit from my good idea?’ She took a large bite, mmm-ing appreciatively.
They continued their walk, relaying the events of the day between bites of bun until they arrived at their destination. The shuttledock stretched out before them, less crowded than in earlier hours. Beyond the entryway, a team of sanitation volunteers swept the floor, gaining nods and thank yous and short bursts of applause from the few passersby.
‘Hi there.’ A dock attendant appeared – a young teen, probably new to the job. He was short and well-groomed, and his polite alertness made it apparent that he took his role seriously. ‘Can I help you find any particular vessel?’
‘Have we missed the Sunside?’ Tamsin asked.
The kid looked surprised, but recovered quickly. ‘Let me check, M.’ His eyes darted and blinked with practised purpose as he accessed information on his hud. ‘You’ve still got time. Leaves in ten minutes.’ He looked between the two old women before him, a slight anxiety creeping in. ‘Have you done the Sunside before?’
Tamsin tsked. ‘Kid, I was there for the first Sunside.’ She smiled wickedly. ‘And that was before they put in seatbelts.’
That last detail wasn’t a bit true, but Isabel didn’t dare call her out. The look on the kid’s face was too hilarious. She leaned in. ‘Is it still dock thirty-seven?’
The attendant gave a smart nod. ‘Dock thirty-seven, yes, M.’ He pointed the way with a flat, business-like hand. Isabel could feel him watching them leave with the air of someone who’d had their sense of balance thrown slightly askew. She couldn’t help but smirk. Tamsin had always had a flair for ruffling strangers.
Dock thirty-seven was empty, save for the skiff waiting at the ready and a young woman leaning against the safety rail outside, playing a pixel game on her scrib. She was the pilot, as the multiple certification patches stitched onto her jacket indicated, and her uniformed appearance was every bit that of her profession, from her practical bamboo-fibre slacks to the resource-heavy boots that had probably belonged to another pair of feet first. But there were other details that would’ve been out of place on a pilot back when Isabel had been her age. The hypnotically shifting bot tattoos that danced up and down her forearms, for one. The thick Aandrisk-style swirls painted on her nails. The tiny glittering tech ports embedded near her temples, whose purpose Isabel could only guess at. She was an Exodan pilot, yes. But also . . . more.
The pilot glanced up as Isabel and Tamsin approached. ‘Hey, M Itoh and M Itoh!’ she said. ‘How’s it going?’
Isabel didn’t know the girl well, but she knew her name, that she was from neighbourhood five, and that she sometimes came into the Archives to look at records of old Earth architecture. Isabel had done the naming ceremony for her niece earlier that standard. ‘Hello, Kiku,’ she said warmly. ‘Are you our pilot this evening?’
Kiku looked delighted. ‘You two here for the Sunside?’
‘It appears that way,’ Isabel said, throwing a look in Tamsin’s direction.
Tamsin looked around the empty walkway. ‘Do we have it to ourselves?’ she asked, pleased with the possibility.
Kiku switched off her game, and the pixels scattered away. ‘Not many folks go for a night flight on a work night,’ she said, holstering her scrib and stepping toward the shuttle door. ‘Just kids on dates, mostly.’ She winked at them, and politely gestured toward the door. ‘Come on in.’
The shuttle had six pairs of passenger seats in a straight line, and a clear, domed roof that began at seat level and arched all the way around. Walking through the door, you could tell the roof was as thick and sturdy as any bulkhead, but sitting next to it, you’d never know it was there.