Geoff Ryman - Air (or Have Not Have)

'Maybe you could go to Balshang, stay with your son. Have tea with your new friend, Miss Soo. Have you ever seen the capital?'

'No,' said Mae, arms folded.

'There you go!' Sunni lifted up her arms as if everything were evident, settled. 'Maybe we could all go together. I would love to see the big city!'

'My work is here,' said Mae. 'The road is closed. What business is any of this of yours?'

'Come and live with me again for a while, Mae. Please!' said Kwan.

'No,' said Mae. 'I am happy living here with my family.'

Kwan leaned forward, her voice flat. 'Mae,' she demanded. 'Come with us.'

'I am happy as I am,' said Mae.

They tried for a further fifteen minutes, cajoling, tugging on her arm, offering her tea, saying she had worked harder than anyone and that she had won, she had succeeded, all the village was learning. Was the village not a Centre of Progress? Everyone knew that it was because of her.

'But even strong branches break when the load is too great,' said Sunni.

Everything they said availed nothing. They had stopped talking about making her stop work or taking away her baby, but that was what they intended.

Finally, sour, made angry and defeated, Kwan and Sunni left.

Mae sat still until she was sure they were gone.

Then she locked and barred her door. She thought about what Kwan might do next if she were determined enough.

Mae conferenced Mr Oz. 'Yes, yes, hello, it's always a pleasure. Look, I need a wireless account of my own for my TV.'

Mr Oz sounded relaxed and cheerful, away from the road. 'That should be easy enough. Just call the telephone company.'

'It's urgent. I need it done today.'

'Today? I don't know. You used to have a mobile phone, didn't you? You could try calling them. Why? Is there a problem with Swallow Communications?'

'Let's just say I just have a suspicion that Kwan might develop account problems.' She might cut Mae off.

Mr Oz groaned. Why was he upset? He was not the one with the problem. 'You've got extendable credit with the bank. Make sure they know that. Have the bank references ready, make sure you have your phone account number, and everything about your TV. It's a Hitachi 7700 PDTV. Okay? And Mae? What's wrong?'

Mae thought for a moment about future and past, and then said, 'I am too far ahead of them.'

Then she conferenced Sloop at his desk at the telephone company.

His round face glistened and he chuckled. 'There is no problem. We like new business.'

'I need it done today,' she said.

Sloop blinked. 'Today?'

It was complicated. Mae would have to download her new ID from their servers. Sloop would have to talk her through the process of reconfiguration.

She was at work on that when Kwan and Sunni came back. They hammered on the door. 'Mae! Don't be ridiculous! Open this door!'

'Mae, why are you leaving Swallow Communications?!' Mae looked out from her attic skylight. She looked down on them shuffling in front of her bolted door. They had Mr Wing with them.

Sunni's voice was shrill. 'Mae! We are your friends! We are trying to help!'

Mr Wing chortled, 'Mae, if we wanted to cut you off, it would be just as easy to cut the power!'

Kwan's voice was like a knife, shushing him in anger.

Mae unlatched her window. 'I have my own account, I have my own food, I have my own family. I will carry on my business, and I will continue to tell people about the Flood.'

Kwan puffed out air. 'You will end up damaging the thing you want to save.'

Sunni stepped forward. 'Mae! At least go to see doctors about that baby!'

'Thank you for shouting my business all over the valley,' said Mae. She latched the skylight shut, and went back to work.

'Mae! No one wants to hurt you!' Sunni called.

Mae heard Kwan murmur, 'I think we're just making things worse.'

Mae turned again to her beautiful screens and the messengers like birds.

There was another knocking at the door.

'Mrs Chung-ma'am,' someone called. It was Sezen.

And Mae's response was: What now? She went to the trapdoor. Suddenly it looked a long way down to the kitchen floor. Mae didn't want to move. She wanted to stay in her loft, above the floodwaters, with her machine.

'Please let me in,' Sezen called.

A thought of Mrs Tung's seemed to breathe through Mae.

We all end up alone, with no one understanding.

Mae went back to the TV. She watched as her morning weather data uploaded to Balshang.

There were footsteps on the roof. Mae heard boots skidding on stone tiles.

'Mae, this is Sezen,' said a voice from above.

'Get away, you silly girl, you will fall and kill yourself,' said Mae.

'I'm not one of them, Mae. I wouldn't do that to you. What did they say?' The voice through the stone tiles was as clear as if Sezen were in the room.

'They want me to stop working. They want to take everything away from me and they say they want to help me.'

' Tuh. Typical. You are a wild woman and don't wait for them to approve what you do. You go too far too fast.'

'They want to kill my baby,' said Mae, her voice thickening with rage. 'That bloody woman in the City has been trying to kill my baby all along, and she has been writing to Kwan.'

'Don't you worry, Mae, Sezen will never let you down. Ah? We are wild women together. What do you need me to do?'

'Get down off that roof before you kill yourself

Sezen laughed. 'The view is lovely up here. Okay. I am holding on to the crest of the roof so I cannot fall. So, what do you need me to do?'

Mae considered. She considered being accosted alone in the fields, surrounded by so-called friends. She considered all the hours she worked. She considered the baby in her belly made of fire. She considered the undoubted truth that she was doing too much. Above all else, she considered the village.

'I need you to help collect Info,' Mae said. 'Info about snow.'

'Mae!' someone shouted. 'What is going on?'

Sezen giggled. 'You have shut out Siao.'

'Siao, hold on, is there anyone with you?' For just a moment, Mae imagined that they might be with Siao; for just a moment, that Siao might even have joined them.

'I want lunch!' he shouted back.

Mae went down and let him in. Sezen joined them, grinning as Mae raged, pacing her own kitchen in fury. Siao and Sezen caught each other's eyes and mimed ducking.

'So I got a new wireless account, my machine is up in the loft! I don't need them!'

'Good,' said Siao, with a mild smile. 'You have needed to be independent of Kwan for a while. Don't worry, eh? If they cut off the electricity, I know how to get it going again. I'll put printout through doors, whatever.'

Mae hugged him in gratitude, and he kissed the top of her head. They hung together for a just a moment as if in outer space. Then they remembered Sezen was there. She made a mysterious and somehow knowing gesture, holding up both hands, palms out.

In the evening, an e-mail arrived from Mr Ken.

He had keyed it in, not spoken it, so he must not have wanted to be overheard. It came from Sunni's machine.

If you are in trouble, I will help. You know that. Please call on me to help. But please, also tell me: What is this about a baby?

By all the stars, she hadn't told him. She had not told Kuei about his child. The room seemed suddenly colder, her cheeks burned. She could hear Siao below in the kitchen, cooking dinner for her. The metal spoon tinged against the wok; Siao was humming a song.

Mae! What are you doing?

It was Chinese New Year and Mae was alone.

Kwan was having a party. After everything that had happened, Mae would not attend. Why should she – to be argued at, cajoled, and entreated?