Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End

"I understand," Robert replied out loud.

"Okay." Clearly Juan didn't think Robert could pass all the tests. Sometimes it seemed like the poor kid was trying to protect him . "See," Juan continued, "the school uses a real good proctor service. Maybe there are some kids who can fool it, but there's a lot more who only think they can."

And then there's the Mysterious Stranger, who seems to have no trouble at all with security . The Stranger was so powerful, yet he still got pleasure from taunting Robert. Could it be some old enemy — someone a good deal brighter than Winnie Blount?

"Anyway, I think we have a chance for an A in our semester demo, Robert." The boy launched into the latest plans for using his writing together with manual music and Robert's network algorithms. It was the blind leading the blind, but after a few moments Robert was absorbed in it.

Things were very tense around the house, and it had nothing to do with final exams. In point of fact, Robert's midnight fracas at the front bathroom amounted to a physical assault. Never mind that he'd been trying to protect Alice — that was scarcely something he could claim. This time there were no threats, no showdowns. But Robert could see an uneasiness in Bob's eyes that hadn't been there before. It was the look of a fellow who begins to wonder if the snake he's been keeping might actually be a black mamba. That conclusion would get Robert shipped to Rainbows End faster than any mere boorishness.

Miri gave him a clue as to why this hadn't happened. She caught up with him one afternoon as he wandered around West Fallbrook hoping for contact with some friendly form of Sharif.

Miri rode her old bike along beside him for a few paces, matching his speed, and wobbling wildly. Finally she hopped off and walked the bike. As usual, her posture was schoolmarm straight. She looked at him sideways for a moment. "How are your finals going, Robert?"

"Hi Miri. How are your finals going?"

"I asked first! Besides, you know my finals don't start till after the break." Her ebullient bossiness seemed to collide with diplomacy. "So how are you doing?"

"It looks like I'm going to get a C in math."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry."

Robert laughed. "No. That's good news. I wouldn't have even understood the problems, back before the Alzheimer's."

She gave him a sickly smile. "Well, that's okay then."

"Hmm. A… friend… of mine told me that the kids in your classes are really good at these things."

"We know the tools."

"I think I could be a lot better in math," said Robert, almost to himself. "It might even be fun." Of course, if his real plans for the next few days worked out, he would have his poetry back and none of this would matter.

This time Miri's smile was happier. "I'll bet you could! You know… I could help you on that. I really like math, and I have all sorts of custom heuristics. Between semesters I could show you how to use them." Her voice slipped into leader mode as she planned out his vacation for him. That's the Alice in her , thought Robert. He almost smiled. "Hold on, there's still finals to get through." And he thought about Juan's latest demo plans. The boy was doing okay. It was Robert who was having trouble with his part, the graphics and the interfaces. "That's where I really need help."

Miri's face snapped around, "I will not help you cheat, Robert!"

They both stopped and stared at each other. "That's not what I meant, Miri!" Then he thought about what he had actually said. Christ. In the old days I insulted people all the time, but I knew when I was doing it . "Honest. I just meant that finals are a problem, okay?"

Lena — > Miri, Xiu: Be cool, kiddo. Even I don't think Robert's messing with you.

Xiu — > Lena, Miri: This is a first for you then.

Miri glared at him for a second more. Then she made a strange sound that might have been a giggle. "Okay. I should have known a Gu would not cheat. It's just that I get so mad at some of the kids in my study group. I tell them what to do. I tell them not to cheat. And yet they are always chiseling at the collab protocols."

She started walking again, and Robert followed along. "Actually," she said, "I was just making conversation. I have a mission, something I should tell you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Bob wants to send you out-of-state. He figures you tried to beat up Alice." She paused, as if waiting for some defense.

But Robert only nodded, remembering the look in Bob's eyes. So Rainbows End was too close by. "How long do I have?"

"That's what I want to tell you, not to worry. You see — " It turned out that his rescue came from an unlikely source, namely Colonel Alice herself. Apparently, she hadn't felt the least bit threatened by him. "Alice knew you were just desperate, I mean — " Miri made a verbal dance of avoiding insult and gross language: Basically, Alice already thought he was a crazy old man. Crazy old men have to go to the bathroom all the time; they get overly focused on that problem. Furthermore, Alice didn't regard his manhandling of her as assault. Robert remembered how sore his head was after he tripped over her feet and slammed into the doorjamb. Black-belt whatever must be one of Alice's myriad JITTs. Alice was the dangerous one. Poor Alice, poor Bob. Poor Miri.

"Anyway, she told Bob that he was overreacting, and you really need your schooling here. She says you can stay as long as your behavior is…" Her voice dwindled into silence, and she looked up at him. She couldn't figure how to pass on the rest diplomatically: as long as you don't blast my daughter again .

"… I understand, Miri. I'll be good."

"Well. Okay." Miri looked around. "I, um, I guess that's all I had to say. I'll let you get on with… whatever you're doing. Good luck with finals."

She swung back on her bike and pedaled industriously away. That old bike had only three speeds. Robert shook his head, but he couldn't help smiling.

20

Robert's finals were over. He had earned a 2.6 average, and a B in Search and Analysis. He had worked harder than he ever had in his life. If it weren't for the imminent irrelevance of it all, he would have been proud of himself.

Now it was Monday afternoon and Robert was counting the hours, almost down to counting the minutes. The Mysterious Stranger had been very scarce lately. The cabal had met a couple of times, with Tommie doling out information on a need-to-know basis. Tommie had read too many spy novels. For now, all Robert knew was that they were meeting at the library at 5:30 tonight.

Meantime, somewhere under Camp Pendleton…

In theory, being officer of the watch for Continental U.S. Southwest was no different than running a snoop-and-swoop operation anywhere in the world. In theory, there could be world-wrecking conspirators at work here. In fact, this was home, in some of the best-connected real estate in the world. The chances they'd have to swoop were near zero. Nevertheless, for the next four hours Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gu, Jr., would be responsible for protecting about one hundred million of his neighbors from mass destruction.

Gu arrived twenty minutes early, checked in with the current officer of the watch, and then looked for DHS screwups. Those were usually the worst thing about CONUS watches. Through the miracle of virtual bureaucracy, Gu's Marine Expeditionary Group was tonight a part of the Department of Homeland Security. This was how DHS kept its budget so, ahem, small. "Like a modern corporation, DHS seamlessly meshes with whatever organizations are needed at the moment." That was the hype. And tonight — well glory be — there was not a single authorization glitch in sight.