William Dietrich: Getting back

"And we're not supposed to be here."

"I'm supposed to be here."

"Why?"

"Because it makes me feel alive!" She lifted her head and shouted. "Alive!" The call echoed down the corridor.

"Jesus! You'll get us caught!"

She laughed. "Maybe. Are you frightened of that?"

"No." He glanced over his shoulder. "Just nervous, okay?"

"There's nothing down here but utility robots, with brain chips about as smart as the potato variety. And we're not hurting a thing by exploring. Come on, I can take the pack for a while. We'll go to our picnic spot."

"No, I've got it."

She teased him. "Gallant as well. A man of the past."

"Sometimes I think I'm in the wrong century."

"Do you?" Again, she seemed to be appraising him. It reminded him of the joke about a first date being a job interview that goes on all evening. She didn't offer agreement.

Walking the Utiligrid was indeed like exploring a labyrinth but Raven seemed to know where she was going. "I've learned to read the signs," she explained. Occasionally the ground would tremble from the passage of a tube train overhead, or they would hear the rumble of pumps from behind steel doors, but mostly there was a humming stillness, their steps echoing on concrete.

"It's eerie down here," Daniel said. "Empty, like a catacomb."

"Don't you like it empty? Everywhere else is full."

"I like to get away."

"Down here is an away that gets to the heart of things."

Suddenly a dot of red danced across them and there was a warning beep. A detection laser. They turned and saw the lights of a maintenance-bot growing in intensity as it sped down the tunnel toward them, its orange crown flashing. "Uh-oh," Daniel said. The machine could summon the police. "Run!"

He yanked her arm and they sprinted down a side tunnel, Raven actually laughing as they fled. There was a bang as the janitorial vehicle took the corner too hard and bounced off the concrete. Then it was wheeling their way, beeping madly, its dim circuitry probably assuming they were some kind of giant rat in need of fumigation. He turned into one tunnel and another, utterly lost, and then Raven sprinted ahead of him to lead, twisting this way and that in the maze like a deer as the alarm shrilled behind them. Daniel followed her as he had on the run, noticing the swell of her hips and rhythm of her bottom as she ran. You sexually hopeless lunatic, he scolded himself. Then she pointed above at a dark hole in the ceiling and sprang, grasping a pipe. She looped her feet to catch the overhead piping with her heels and then boosted herself up into blackness. Daniel jumped, pulled, and kicked his legs to follow. They were in a tube that led upward but his climb ended when he banged into a steel cover. There was just enough room under its lid to squeeze together above the pipes.

She was breathing hard, grinning at him as the robot cart went honking by underneath in what seemed to be a machine imitation of frustration.

"What if it calls for help?"

"I don't think the cops like to come down here."

He realized that they were pressed against each other to wedge in place and he could feel the softness of her hair. Her smell had the sweetness of slight perfume and the tang of sweat. He was considering whether to try to kiss her when she turned and kissed him, quickly and hard. "That was fun!" she whispered.

"You're going to get us detained."

"No. The robots are stupid."

He leaned forward to kiss her again but she pushed him back. "We can't stay here, though, in case they search this quadrant." She dropped down through the pipes to land lightly on the floor.

"I thought you said the cops don't come," he called down to her.

"I've never seen them, but… Come on, before it comes back."

"Great." He dropped to follow her jogging form through the corridors.

She turned this way and that with determined purpose, glancing upward at the dangling signs periodically for reference. The frantic beeping of the robot quickly receded and they began to relax, slowing to a brisk walk. As Daniel got his breath back he noticed a background murmur that rose in volume until it became the roar of falling water. She led him into a side passageway and down a flight of wet steps, his curiosity growing as the noise grew. Then out onto a balcony grating.

"The water comes from the mountains," Raven said. "Someday I want to see its source."

They were overlooking an underground reservoir, lit by only a few lights. A vaulted ceiling receded back into darkness. Water was pouring in from an unseen pipe, creating a pattern of ripples that sparkled in the artificial light. The water glowed blue, emphasizing the cistern's clarity.

"This is my private spot," she said. They sat.

"How'd you find this place?"

"I've been coming down here for two years."

"And you never got lost or caught?"

"No one ever challenged me. I started drawing maps, deciphering signs, and slowly figured it out. It's been like exploring an underground world. When I found this reservoir it was like I'd discovered my own private lake."

"Less pretentious than a restaurant, quieter than a club."

She smiled. "Exactly. You should like me, Daniel. I'm a cheap date."

She opened the pack and took out their dinner. Ordinary stuff: farmed-salmon sandwiches, wedges of genetically enhanced vegetables, vacu-packed brownies. "What did you bring us to drink?" she asked mischievously.

He opened his mouth in surprise. He'd supposed they would buy something.

"No matter." She pulled out a small pail that was tied to a string and lowered it over the railing to the pool below. When it filled, she lifted it up and sipped. Then she held it out to him with two hands like an offering.

"Is it safe?"

She laughed again, that delicious laugh. "It's the same water in your apartment except it hasn't flowed through the grub of city pipes yet. This way I don't have to carry a canteen. Water's heavy."

He took the pail and drank, watching her over the rim. It seemed sweeter and colder than the water at home. "I'll bet this is against the rules."

"Everything is against the rules, isn't it?"

"Everything that's good."

They ate quietly a moment, Daniel unsure whether he liked her or was merely intrigued by someone so eccentric. It would be interesting to get her in the same room with harridan Lundeen.

Yet despite the kiss and her trespassing boldness she also seemed somewhat shy, he judged. Or at least reserved. Guarded. Her enigmatic replies deflected as much as they revealed, and she volunteered little. Why had she brought him here?

"This isn't exactly the great outdoors," he finally ventured, trying to feel her out.

"Don't you like it?"

"It's weird. Interesting. Not a typical choice."

"I'm betting you're not a typical man."

"And you're not a typical woman?"

"No."

He made a guess. "A loner?"

"I'm not alone with you."

Daniel took a bite of brownie, watching her. Pretty. Smart. A bit full of herself, maybe. Self-absorbed, certainly. But interesting too. He leaned forward slightly and watched her unconsciously lean away. Standoffish: she liked to control relationships. Her assertion of leadership kept her safe.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked.

She smiled mischievously again. "You're cute. Handsome, even."

He rolled his eyes.

"No, that's not it," she corrected.

"Thanks, Raven."

"It's more that you're curious. That you think. That you question. That you explore."

"Like you."

"Maybe like me." She sipped from the pail, setting it down. "So. Have you decided why you do?"

He sat back. "I don't understand what you mean by that."

"Well… what do you do?"

"I work on software at Microcore. Dumb stuff. I hate it."