John Ringo: Sister Time

“The Tchpth and mentats approach the same Way from different Paths,” Michelle replied. “Sometimes we have trouble communicating. This would be… a crossroads, yes?”

“That was her way of saying ‘whatever,’ ” Papa O’Neal said. “Your compromise is accepted. We need to get it to Prime Base.”

“And we need to get the flock out of here,” Mosovich pointed out. “There’s going to be more response than just us. And I really don’t want to be here when it gets here.”

“We can carry the team out on the shuttles,” Kelly said. “We’re not going to be going back to DAG anyway.”

“Details, details,” Papa O’Neal said. “Let’s load up.”

“What about the security goons?” Cally asked.

Papa O’Neal looked at the still frozen group and snorted.

“Let them try explaining what happened,” he said. “Gonna love reading the debrief. Granddaughter…”

“Yes?” Cally and Michelle answered simultaneously.

“I don’t give a crap about the thing with the Indowy,” Papa said, clarifying with a glance at Michelle. “It’s about time you come home. Other Granddaughter?”

“Yes,” Cally said.

“Tell my grandson-in-law that he can come down and explain in person, and to me , what the fuck is going on or he’s on my personal ‘better off dead’ list. And there ain’t many people still living on that one.”

“This is incredibly stupid,” Stewart said as he stepped into the car. “This endangers not just me but our children.”

“Whom you have never met,” Cally said coldly.

“For that precise reason!” Stewart snapped. “Do you think I don’t care?”

“Given that e-mail,” Cally said. “Yes.”

“I sent that to prevent the danger,” Stewart said, sighing. “I’ve become too much of a player in the Tongs to keep up this dual life. Other members watch me even if Grandfather does not require it. The Tongs are not much friendlier, internally, than the Darhel. If we are found out, it would mean not only our own lives but those of the children.” He paused and looked at her stony face. Cally was apparently concentrated on driving. “It would mean yours. And I cannot lose you, Cally.”

“So you dumped me to protect me?” Cally scoffed. “Oh, that’s rich. I damned near got killed because of it! I was preparing for a mission, you moron! You think getting a Dear Cally just before a mission didn’t put me in danger? If it hadn’t been for George I’d have never made it! My head was, to say the least, not on my job!”

“I didn’t know,” Stewart said. “And I couldn’t think of a better way to do it. In person would double the risk.”

“Well, you can forget about ‘risk’ for the time being,” Cally said coldly. “You’re covered. My Lord are you covered.”

“How?” Stewart asked.

“You’re sure it’s him?” Chang Pou said.

“He just passed through a coded door,” the technician replied, waving at his screen. “It took a gene scan. It’s him.”

“Grandfather was sure he was meeting someone,” Chang Pou replied, looking at the video footage. The Tong were well connected in the security system of Luna. Anything that security saw, the Tong could look at as well.

“Not so far,” the technician said. “He’s stayed to public corridors. He could have made a dead drop at some point, sent a signal. But you know how hard those are to detect.”

“There is nothing here though,” Chang Pou replied. “Curious.”

“You’ve got somebody doubling for me on the Moon?” Stewart asked.

“Not… exactly,” Cally said. “My sister, who is truly scary, is projecting a sort of hologram. Except that you can touch it. It is you to any simple examination down to a surface gene scan. It’s just going around, doing things that you normally do. It’s even going to do some business for you. Meanwhile, if you think meeting with me is tough, you’re going to have to explain to Papa O’Neal why you haven’t been by to see your kids. Not to mention trying to Dear Cally me. Not to mention marrying me in the first place without his approval. As if I needed it!”

“Since I’m finally going to see my kids, I can live,” Stewart said, grinning. “And if we can patch things up—”

“Oh, you’re not forgiven,” Cally said. “You’re going to owe me, big time . Get ready for lots of backrubs.”

“I can deal,” Stewart said, then paused. “Who is George ?”

“Oh, don’t even start… !”

“Sittin’ on a dock of the bay…” Mueller muttered, looking out over the seascape.

“I thought you were under orders to not sing?” Mosovich asked.

“Ain’t in the army no more, Snake,” Mueller replied. “Haaarmy training, sir!”

“Okay, try to sing and I’m going to off you,” Mosovich replied.

“So what the fuck do we do now?” Mueller asked.

“Oh, there’s plenty to do,” Papa O’Neal replied, grinning. “There’s farming and fishing and—”

“You’d better have more use for us than running a plow,” Mueller growled. “I did not throw away a… fifty-something year career to become a farmer.”

“Killing bad guys,” Papa O’Neal continued. “Fighting the Darhel…”

“That’s more like it,” Mosovich said, taking a pull of his beer. “Where do we start?”

“Going to have to find a place to hide you, frankly,” Papa O’Neal replied. “With most of DAG suddenly descending on us, we’ve got an overpopulation problem. I’m thinking we might need to start up another island. So there may be some farming and fishing involved. Not to mention hunting Posleen. But we’ll handle it.”

“Just another day in paradise,” Mueller said grumpily.

“Every day’s a holiday,” Mosovich replied. “And every meal’s a banquet.”

“Mike,” Shari said from the kitchen. “Cally just pulled up.”

“Oh, there will be a banquet,” Papa O’Neal said, standing up. “We’re going to serve the head of my grandson-in-law.”

“I thought you were covering for my husband on the moon?” Cally said.

Michelle was sitting in the flower bed, holding one of Sinda’s hands over a pansy.

“I can do that and this at the same time,” Michelle replied. “I’m pretty good for a ‘glorified engineer.’ ”

“Any news on the investigation into the attack?” Cally asked, ignoring the jibe.

“The Wise have stepped in,” Michelle replied. “I was exonerated for my actions, including my actions against the guards and your forces, due to the nature of Erick’s… unwellness. There is a portion of the Wise who disagree with my actions, who feel that it should have been handled by a broader consensus. The majority, however, simply want the situation to go away. The Tchpth, Darhel and Indowy senior leaders have, in rare combination, convinced the local human governments to ignore the occurrence.”

“We’re covered, in other words,” Cally said.

“Well, the humans would still like to find out what happened to DAG,” Michelle admitted, then turned back to Sinda. “Can you feel it? The tug of life?”

“It’s tickly,” Sinda said. “Like a flower in my head.”

“All things are linked,” Michelle said quietly. “This is not just a saying; it is a fact of reality. The universe is not so large as people believe. Indeed, large is an illusion. Everything is everywhere. At once. Everything is everything. At once. This is the first lesson of Sohon. Your daughter has the Gift, Cally.”

“You mean Sohon?” Cally said. “Really?”

“Our father learned some of the most rudimentary abilities at the age of nearly thirty,” Michelle said. “Oh, not much more than what I am showing Sinda. But it was an impressive feat. The Gift is hard to define. It is not carried genetically or even through proteinomics. Experience shapes it. But it must be present. Sinda could be a great adept in her time. She has the Gift most strongly.”