Конни Уиллис - Terra Incognita - Three Novellas

“Would you have come?”

I thought about that day she’d come to Winfrey High to recruit applicants. “No.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Besides, bringing D.A.s here involuntarily ensures the critical mindset we’re looking for.”

“It also ensures that when they find out, they’ll be so furious they won’t want to have anything to do with the Academy or IASA,” I said.

“True,” she said ruefully, “but they don’t usually find out. You’re only the second one.”

“Was the first one Palita Duvai?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “Unfortunately, Cadet Duvai’s medical discharge was real. Inner-ear complications.”

But if she wasn’t the one, I thought, frowning, then that meant uncovering the conspiracy didn’t automatically mean a discharge, and that meant—

“The other D.A.s concluded that either there’d been a bureaucratic foul-up or they’d been so outstanding they hadn’t needed to apply.”

Jeffrey Griggs, I thought.

“Or they eventually gave up trying to go home and decided that, in spite of the food and the solar flares, they liked the Academy.” She shook her head. “I underestimated your dislike of space. And your friend’s hacking and communication abilities. Tell me, is Kimkim interested in becoming a cadet?”

“That depends on what you’re recruiting for,” I said. “If you want a great hacker, yes. If you’re looking for another D.A., then no, definitely not, she’d probably have to be dragged up here kicking and screaming. And the sooner the better.”

The Commander grinned. “I really am sorry to lose you. I think you would have made an excellent D.A.” She leaned back. “Have we answered all your questions?”

“No,” I said. “I have two more.”

“You want to know what D.A. stands for?”

“No, I already know that. Devil’s advocate.”

She looked at the registrar. “I told you she was good.” She smiled back at me. “You want to know who the other cadet was who figured out what had happened.”

“No, I know that, too. It was you.”

She nodded.

“Did you decide you liked the Academy in spite of its shortcomings?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I thought it was a complete mess, and that if they didn’t get some people in charge who knew what they were doing and change things, it was going to fall completely apart.”

“I think you’re right,” I said. “You’ve got to get some private space on board before somebody kills somebody, and surely something can be done about the food. And you’ve got to get a lot more cadets with computer skills up here.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” the Commander said, and extended her hand. “Welcome aboard.”

I saluted her. “Cadet Baumgarten reporting for duty,” I said.

“You said you had two questions,” the registrar said. “What was the other one?”

“Which of you won the pool?”

“I did,” the Commander said, and grinned at the registrar. “I told you she was good.”

Yes, well, they don’t know how good. Or how much trouble they’re letting themselves in for. If it’s independence, questioning authority, and bending the rules they want, Kimkim and I can come up with all kinds of stuff. I went straight to my hiding place and called her.

The display lit up. “Illegal transmission,” it read. “Not allowed.”

I waited, and in a couple of minutes Kimkim said, “Sorry. It took me a while to route around their jamming devices. I found out what ‘D.A.’ stands for.”

“So did I,” I said. “I definitely think you should reconsider applying for the Academy. And I think it would be a good idea to pack your kit now so you won’t have to do it at the last minute.”

“I already did,” she said.

“Good,” I said. “I’ve got a list of stuff I need you to bring when you come up. First, I want you to ask my dad for his stink bomb formula…”

Remake was written before the Internet Movie Database and all the other online movie information sites existed, so I owe a huge vote of thanks to all the people who helped me find movie references and movie quotations; come up with examples of chase scenes, tears, and happy endings; and figure out who played that one guy in that one movie, you know the one, I don’t remember the title, but it was about a chorus girl. I couldn’t have done it without them:

Scott and Sheryl Kippen

all the rest of the UNC Sigma Tau Deltans

my secretary Laura Norton Lewis

and my daughter Cordelia and her college statistics classes at Nebraska Wesleyan

“Here’s lookin’ at you, kids!”

TERRA INCOGNITA

A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

CROSSTALK

THE BEST OF CONNIE WILLIS

ALL ABOUT EMILY

ALL CLEAR

BLACKOUT

ALL SEATED ON THE GROUND

D.A.

INSIDE JOB

PASSAGE

TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG

BELLWETHER

UNCHARTED TERRITORY

REMAKE

IMPOSSIBLE THINGS

DOOMSDAY BOOK

LINCOLN’S DREAMS

FIRE WATCH

CONNIE WILLIS has received seven Nebula Awards and eleven Hugo Awards for science fiction, and her novel Passage was nominated for both. Her other works include Doomsday Book, Lincoln’s Dreams, Bellwether, Impossible Things, Remake, Uncharted Territory, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Fire Watch, Blackout, All Clear, Crosstalk, and A Lot Like Christmas . She is an SFWA Grand Master and has been named to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Connie Willis lives in Colorado with her family.

Terra Incognita is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2018 by Connie Willis

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

DEL REY and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Most of the stories in this work have been previously published by Del Rey Spectra. Uncharted Territory was originally published in paperback form in 1994 by Del Rey Spectra. Remake was originally published in paperback form in 1995 by Del Rey Spectra. D.A. was originally published in hardcover in 2007 by Subterranean Press.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Willis, Connie, author.

Title: Terra incognita : three novellas / Connie Willis.

Description: New York : Del Rey, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018022918 | ISBN 9781524796860 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Science fiction, American. | BISAC: FICTION / Short Stories (single author). | FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure. | FICTION / Satire.