She says that she did not use her handbag as a weapon. ("Why, that would be silly, dear. Too slow and not lethal. You took out two of them at once and that gave me time to get at my little Miyako. After I had used my scarf, I mean.")
According to her, I shot four of them, while she worked around the edges, cooling those I missed. Until they brought me down with that slice into my thigh (knife? She tells me they picked bits of bamboo out of the wound) and they hit me with an aerosol-and that gave her the instant she needed to finish off the man who sprayed me.
("I stepped on his face and grabbed you and dragged you out of there. No, I didn't expect to see Gretchen. But I knew I could count on her.")
Her version does explain a little better how we won... except that by my recollection it is dead wrong. There is no point in picking at it; it can't be straightened out.
"How did Gretchen get there? That Xia and Choy-Mu were waiting isn't mysterious, in view of the messages we left for them. And Hendrik Schultz, too, if he grabbed a shuttle as soon as he heard from me. But Gretchen? You talked to her just before lunch. She was home, at Dry Bones."
"At Dry Bones, with the nearest tubeway being far south at Hong Kong Luna. So how did she get to L-City so fast? Not by rolligon. No prize is offered for the correct answer."
"By rocket." "Of course. A prospector's jumpbug being the type of rocket.
You remember that Jinx Henderson was planning to return that fez for you via some friend of his who was jumping his bug to L-City?"
"Yes, of course."
"Gretchen went with that friend and returned the fez herself. She dropped it at lost-and-found in Old Dome just before she came to the Raffles to find us."
"I see. But why?"
"She wants you to paddle her bottom, dear, and turn it all pink."
"Oh, nonsense! I meant, 'Why did her daddy let her hitchhike to L-City with this neighbor?' She's much too young."
"He let her do so for the usual reason. Jinx is a big, strong, macho man who can't resist the wheedling of his daughter. Forbidden to satisfy his suppressed incestuous yearnings he lets her have anything she wants if she teases him long enough."
"That's ridiculous. And inexcusable. A father's duty toward his daughter requires that-"
"Richard. How many daughters do you have?"
"Eh? None. But-"
"So shut up about something you know nothing about. No matter what Jinx should have done, the fact is that Gretchen left Dry Bones about as we were having lunch. Counting time of flight, that put her at City Lock East around the time we left the Warden's Complex... and she arrived at the Raffles just seconds before we did-and a good thing, too, or you and I would be dead. I think."
"Did she get into the fight?"
"No, but by carrying you she freed me to cover our retreat. And all because she wants you to paddle her bottom. God moves in mysterious ways, dear; for every masochist He creates a sadist; marriages are made in Heaven."
"Wash out your mouth with soap! I am not a sadist."
"Yes, dear. I may have some details wrong, but not the broad picture. Gretchen has proposed formally to me, asking your hand in marriage."
"What?"
"That's right. She's thought about it, and she has discussed it with Ingrid. She wants me to allow her to join our family, instead of starting a new line or group of her own. I found nothing surprising about it; I know how charming you are."
"My God. What did you say to her?"
"I told her that it had my approval but that you were ill. So wait. And now you can answer her yourself... for there she is, across the pool."
XXIII
"Do not put off till tomorrow What can be enjoyed today."
JOSH BILLINGS 1818-1885
"I'm going straight back to my room. I feel faint." I squinted, staring across the sun-speckled water. "I don't see her." "Straight across, just to the right of the water slide. A blonde and a brunette. Gretchen is the blonde."
"I didn't expect her to be brunette." I continued to stare; the brunette waved at us. I saw that it was Xia, and waved back.
"Let's join them, Richard. Leave your cane and stuff on the bench; no one will touch it." Hazel stepped out of her sandals, laid her handbag by my cane.
"Shower?" I asked. "You're clean; Minerva bathed you this morning. Dive? Or walk in?"
We dived in together. Hazel slid between the molecules like a seal; I left a hole big enough for a family. We surfaced in front of Xia and Gretchen, and I found myself being greeted.
I have been told that on Tertius the common cold has been conquered, as well as periodontitis and other disorders that gather in the mouth and throat, and, of course, that group once called "venereal diseases" because they are so hard to catch that they require most intimate contact for transmission.
Just as well- On Tertius.
Xia's mouth tastes sort of spicy; Gretchen's has a little-giri sweetness although (I discovered) she is no longer a little girl. I had ample opportunity to compare flavors; if I let go of one, the other grabbed me. Again and again.
Eventually they got tired of this (I did not) and we four moved to a shallow cove, found an unoccupied float table, and Hazel ordered tea-tea with calories: little cakes and sandwiches and sweet orange fruits somewhat like seedless grapes. And I opened the attack:
"Gretchen, when I first met you, less than a week ago, you were as r recall 'going on thirteen.' So how dare you be five centimeters taller, five kilos heavier, and at least five years older? Careful how you answer, as anything you say will be taken down by Teena and held against you at another time and place."
"Did someone mention my name? Hi, Gretchen! Welcome home."
"Hi, Teena. It's great to be back!"
I squeezed Xia. "You, too. You look five years younger and you've got to explain it."
"No mystery about me. I'm studying molecular biology just as I was in Luna-but here they know far more about it-and paying my way by working in Howard Clinic doing unpro-grammed 'George' jobs-and spending every spare minute in this pool. Richard, I've learned to swim! Why, back Loonie side I didn't know anyone who knew anyone who knew how to swim. And sunshine, and fresh air! In Kongville I sat indoors, breathing canned air under artificial light, and dickered with dudes over bundling bins." She took a deep breath, raising her bust past the danger point, and sighed it out. "I've come alive! No wonder I look younger."
"All right, you're excused. But don't let it happen again. Gretchen?"
"Grandma Hazel, is he teasing? He talks just like Lazarus."
"He's teasing, love. Tell him what you've been doing and why you are older."
"Well... the morning we got here I asked Grandma Hazel for advice-"
"No need to call me 'Grandma,' dear."
"But that's what Cas and Pol call you and I'm two generations junior to them. They require me to call them 'Uncle.'"
"I'll make them say 'Uncle'! Pay no attention to Castor and Pollux, Gretchen; they're a bad influence."
"All right. But I think they're kind o' nice. But teases. Mr. Richard-"
"And no need to call me 'Mister.'" "Yes, sir. Hazel was busy-you were so terribly ill!-so she turned me over to Maureen, who assigned me to Deety, who got me started on Galacta and gave me some history to read and taught me basic six-axes space-time theory and the literary paradox. Conceptual metaphysics-" "Slow down! You lost me." Hazel said, "Later, Richard."
Gretchen said, "Well... the essential idea is that Tertius and Luna-our Luna, I mean-are not on the same time line; they are at ninety degrees. So I decided I wanted to stay here-easy enough if you are healthy; most of this planet is still wilderness; immigrants are welcome-but there was the matter of Mama and Papa; they would think I was dead.