Duplex: A Micropowers Novel by Orson Scott Card

Author:Orson Scott Card [Card, Orson Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781799903178
Google: ewkXEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1799903176
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2021-09-06T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

The next morning, Ryan was outside sitting on the steps, watching cars drive past. What would it mean if he saw that RAV4 again? That he was still doing surveillance, or that he just had a regular errand that required him to drive past their house?

And what would it mean if he didn’t see the RAV4? That the surveillance had ended? Or that they had switched vehicles?

The RAV4 drove by. The guy didn’t glance at their house. He still had mud spatter on the side of the car. If they were doing surveillance, they were really bad at it, because they left random identifying marks on their car.

Or maybe they meant Ryan to notice, while the real dangerous car slipped past him unidentified.

For that matter, maybe the guy didn’t glance at the duplex, because there were cameras on both sides of the car uploading images to the cloud.

The door behind him opened. Please be Bizzy. Please don’t be Mrs. Horvat or Mother. Nor either her sibling or mine.

It was Bizzy. She sat beside him and put her arm on his back, hooking her hand over his near shoulder, in what Ryan could only assume was a convivial gesture. Putting her arm around him would have been at least affectionate and maybe even possessive. So of course she did the brotherly friend-zone thing.

Her hand is on your shoulder, bonehead, the voice inside his head pointed out. Enjoy it while it lasts.

“So you’re checking out for lovek spy cars?” she asked.

“The same RAV4 drove past, heading toward school.”

“So he has to drop off a kid.”

“No high school kid in the car. No little kids in the car seats.”

“So he’s on his way to work,” said Bizzy.

“Maybe,” said Ryan. “But there he is, coming right back toward us.”

“Well. That’s bad news,” said Bizzy.

Without really thinking about it, Ryan leapt to his feet and ran out into the street. Fortunately, nobody was coming from the left at that moment. Ryan stopped in the middle of the lane so that the RAV4 would either hit him or stop. Or go around, but Ryan could hear a phalanx of cars coming from behind him, so going around was probably off the table.

Either I die here or the car stops.

And what then? I pull out my .45 and start shooting through the windshield? What kind of stupid action movie do I think I’m in?

Running out here came to him like his micropower—doing what was necessary. But what in hell was it necessary for him to do? Every time before, he knew what he was about to do when he started acting instinctively. Where was that knowledge now?

Maybe I have to actually think this time, he thought. But if I actually think, I probably won’t go through with it.

The guy stopped the RAV4. Then he just sat there, staring straight forward. Not even looking at Ryan, just staring off into space. No honking. No opening the window and yelling for this weird teenager to get out of the road.

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