Vernor Vinge by Rainbow's End

Author:Rainbow's End
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-04-07T21:14:55+00:00

For a while Robert almost relaxed. After all, they were here to eat. Surely that couldn’t give him away.

But something was up, and it wasn’t just his imagination. Bob and Alice got into a discussion of San Diego politics, a school bond issue. But there was an edgy undercurrent; some couples really argue politics, but this was the first time Robert had ever heard that from these two. And every so often Alice’s clothing flickered. Around the house in the real world, Alice Gu wore a dumpy hausfrau dress that wouldn’t have been out of place in the 1950s. When she flickered, it was virtual imagery, nothing like Carlos’s old-fashioned smart T-shirts. The first time it happened, Robert almost didn’t notice — partly because neither Bob or Miri reacted. Half a minute later — as Alice gestured emphatically about some outstandingly trivial election issue — there was another flicker. For an instant she was dressed in something like naval whites, but the collar insignia said ‘PHS’. PHS? There were lots of different Google hits on the abbreviation. A minute or two passed, and she was briefly a USMC full colonel. That, Robert had seen before, since it was her true rank.

Bob said mildly, “You’re emoting, Dear.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alice said curtly. “You know that. The point is —” and she continued chewing on the school bond issue. But her gaze wandered around the room, eventually riveting on Robert. It was not a friendly gaze, and even though her words were unrelated to Robert Gu there was a sharpness in her voice. Then, for almost two seconds, she was wearing a civilian business suit with an old-fashioned ID lanyard. The ID bore a familiar seal and the letters DHS. Robert knew what that meant. It was all he could do not to flinch back. She can’t know everything! He wondered if Alice and Bob were silently coordinating all the scary signs, conspiring to panic him into confession. Somehow, he didn’t think Bob was that adept.

So Robert just nodded and glanced casually around. Miri had been quieter than usual. She was staring off into the distance, and looked as bored as a thirteen-year-old can look when she’s trapped at home with her parents rattling on about Things Not Important. But this was Miri Gu, and this was not the twentieth century. Most likely she was surfing, though usually she disguised such absences when she was at the dinner table.

Alice slapped the table, and Robert’s eyes jerked back to her. She was glaring at him.

“Don’t you agree, Robert?”

Even Louise Chumlig couldn’t glare more aggressively than that.

“Sorry. My mind wandered, Alice.”

She waved her hand abruptly. “It doesn’t matter.”

And then golden letters spread silently across the air. Miri --> Robert: <sm>Don’t worry.

She’s not mad at you.</sm>

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