George Martin - Busted flush

"Ate it too fast, didn't you?" Justice didn't say it in a smug way. "I'm sorry you found out about your family the way you did. The doctor is just trying to help you get your memory back. This place can be comfortable for you, Drake, if you just settle in and help us to help you."

"I'm trying," Drake said defensively. "How would you feel if your entire family was dead and somehow you were the only one left alive? And people stuck you in a place and asked you questions you didn't know the answers to?"

Justice nodded silently and sat for a moment in thought. To Drake it almost seemed like Justice felt sorry for him. "I think I'd be pretty unhappy, but I also think I'd try to adapt to my new circumstances." He held out an open hand. "Give me the card, Drake."

The ice cream went sour in his mouth. Drake pulled the card out and dropped it into Justice's large palm. "It was just a game."

"Right. But we don't want to get Alice"-he nodded toward the ice cream woman-"in trouble, do we?" He tucked the card into his pocket. "And this wouldn't get you out anyway."

"Like I said, it was just a game."

"We'll have to find you some different games, then. Make the best of your time here, Drake. Nobody wants you to be miserable." Justice stood, straight and tall and solid as a brick wall. "Let's get you back to your room."

Drake got up and began trudging from the cafeteria, dragging his feet as he went. So they'd caught him. So what? No way was he giving up. Sooner or later they had to make a mistake, and that was when he'd make a break for it.

Pendergast's office had no waiting room. Niobe stood next to a watercolor landscape of grama and pinon, shifting her feet often. Her tail made it impossible to rest her back against the wall, so she had to lean one shoulder against the hard concrete. It put an ache in her hips.

Muffled voices leaked into the corridor. She knew the doctor's voice, and Justice's, but the third was unfamiliar.

I was thinking. Maybe your dad would like to come to California with us. Perhaps Christian would be more eager to spend time with her children-their children-if he had the chance to vacation away from BICC for a while.

Yeah! thought Yectli. Yves liked the idea, too. But Yvette thought, Don't trust him, Mom.

Why? He's your dad and he loves you.

But he's not-ouch.

Yvette, what's wrong, honey? Niobe knew the answer but she asked anyway, hoping to be wrong.

Owey! Momma, it hurts.

Niobe found herself silently pleading with the virus. No. No, no, no. Just a few more days. Please. I promised them Disneyland. All three.

The door opened. Justice exited Pendergast's office, pulling the new arrival-the boy-after him. The kid's head hung low, and his face was flushed. Niobe wanted to give him a wink and a smile as they passed, but Justice pulled the kid in the opposite direction when he saw Niobe. The kid didn't even look up.

She entered the office. Pendergast himself sat behind his desk, scribbling notes into a file.

The doctor looked up, saw her, and reared back in surprise. "Genetrix." He shut the file folder, with his pen still inside. "This is a surprise."

Niobe jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "New kid?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Yes."

"Looks pretty unhappy."

Pendergast fished his pen out of the file, saying distractedly, "He's still adjusting to his new environment." He looked pensive for a moment, then added nonchalantly, "Have your children said anything about him?"

Niobe had deflected several days of leading questions about Yvette. Clearly Pendergast suspected the girl was some kind of mentalist. But if her daughter wanted privacy, she'd have it. As much as could be had at BICC, anyway.

"No. Just wondering about him."

He recapped the pen and opened a filing cabinet. "I have another appointment. Do you need something?"

"Nope. Just letting you know I'll be on vacation for a few days." She grinned. "Taking the kids to Disneyland."

"Ah. I see," he said quietly. He slid the file into a drawer filled with many others. "You'll be leaving soon, I take it?" Niobe heard the cabinet lock click when he pushed the drawer shut.

"The sooner the better. Want to take them before…" She didn't want to say it aloud; bad enough they already knew she was thinking it.

"Of course." Pendergast nodded. He looked pensive again. "Tell you what. If you'll do something for me first, I'll personally see that your leave paperwork is expedited."

"Great. Name it."

"Drake. The new arrival. Introduce yourself; try to make him feel welcome. Let him know he has friends here."

"Sure. I can do that. Why is he here, anyway?"

"The important thing," said Pendergast, "is that he feels comfortable and relaxed."

Don't trust him, Yvette repeated.

The evasion wasn't lost on Niobe. But poor Drake did look like he needed a pal. And if cheering him up would get the kids to Disneyland that much sooner, that was win-win.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Drake said, trying to get his brain working.

After being unbolted, the door opened a bit and a young woman poked her head in. "Can I come inside for a minute?" Something about her tone of voice was different than what he was used to around here. Then it clicked that she was being polite.

"Sure." Drake swung his legs over the bedside and onto the floor, then stood up.

"Hi, my name is Niobe."

"Holy crap." Drake couldn't keep himself from staring once all of her was inside. For the most part she was a normal woman, pretty young still, but there was something attached to her. It was like a big tube coming out from her lower back, almost like a third leg, but with no bones. Her clothes were the kind fat girls wore, all floppy and worn. "Sorry," he said. "I've never met anybody like you before."

"You mean a joker?" If she was bothered by her appendage or Drake's reaction to it, Niobe didn't let on. "It's okay. You must be pretty special yourself for them to ship you here."

"Not really, just another little fat boy from West Texas." Drake was suspicious, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Well, maybe a little bit special. You want to sit down?"

The corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk, and the thing stuck to her back wiggled over her shoulder, like it was waving at him. "Easier for me to stand. Have they turned on your TV yet?" She nodded to the set on the wall.

"Only the DVD player, and most of the movies are pretty lame." They'd given him The Rescuers, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Dumbo. He hadn't made it all the way through Dumbo, it was just too depressing. Drake slumped a little.

"That figures." She pulled something from a large paper bag she was carrying. Drake had been so distracted by her tail, or whatever it was, that he hadn't even noticed it. "Don't tell anyone I gave you this. And keep it hidden."

Drake immediately recognized the Game Boy and grabbed it from her with a grin. "Geez, thanks."

"I thought you might like that. I've only got one cartridge, arcade classics, but I'll try to get you a couple more and some extra batteries." Niobe handed over the rest to Drake. "Like I said, though, keep it hidden or they'll take it away and we'll both be in trouble."

Drake began to really relax. "You're not one of them. I mean, you don't work here."

She shook her head. "Not exactly. They're conducting, sort of, tests on me. You know how that goes."

There was no reason to believe she was lying, although Drake thought she was holding something back. That was okay, so was he. "Yeah. I really appreciate this, Niobe. Trust me, I won't get caught."

"Good. Because if you do, they probably won't let me visit again. One more thing. I heard you liked the ice cream, so…" She fished a moist carton out of the bag, and a plastic spoon. "Mint chocolate chip. Tastes incredible, believe me."