Galactic Center 3 - Great Sky River by Gregory Benford

Author:Gregory Benford
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780446567503
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-10-30T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

“Dad… ?”

Toby had been asleep for so long Killeen could no longer resist the urge to shake him gently, seeking reassurance that the boy had not slipped into some down-winding neural spiral.

“Yeasay, yeasay. I’m here. You’re all right.”

“I feel… funny.”

“Any pain?”

“No, I… kinda… can’t feel.”

“Where?”

“Legs. Just the legs now.”

“Guts okay?”

“Yeasay.”

“Sure?”

Unexpectedly, Toby grinned. “Sure I’m sure. Put your hand down there, I’ll pee into it.”

“Think you can hit a pot?”

“It’s either that or try for the window.”

Killeen found it harder than he’d have guessed to get Toby sitting up on the raised pallet. Toby, too, seemed sobered by the effort. Shadows passed in his eyes and his throat contracted with some interior struggle. Then it was gone, leaving no sign in his smooth, papery skin. He peed roisterously into the clay pot, laughing.

“When’ll my legs come back?” Toby asked when he was lying back down.

“Rest a bit, we’ll see.”

Killeen had tried to keep his voice easy and cheerful but Toby caught something in it. “How long?”

“They don’t know. Never saw a case like this, where a Marauder was surekillin’ and got interrupted.”

“Marauder? Looked like navvy.”

“Well…”

Toby’s face clouded. “Reg’lar one?” To be brought down by a mere navvy…

“Naysay. Was a Marauder disguised as a navvy. Mantis made it, I figure.”

Toby brightened. “Least I wasn’t got by some damn navvy.”

“Nasty one, yeasay.”

“How’s your arm?”

“Not good.” No point in lying.

“Use it any?”

“Can’t even wipe my ass.”

“Since when didja?”

Killeen grinned, the lines splitting his sunburned face like trenches. “Look I don’t snatch off one them legs and close that mouth with it.”

“Least it’d be something decent to eat.”

Killeen fed him supper. He carried on conversation as wan halfnight fell, shadowing the room. He made making his own tour of Metropolis seem more colorful than it really had been. Toby was enthusiastic about getting out and seeing it on his own. Killeen promised to take him out tomorrow. He would have to carry the boy in his arms or else devise some wheelchair. He had to struggle to keep his voice from giving away much of what he felt. Hatchet and the others who knew about these things said there was no way any of them could fix Toby’s damage.

Even Angelique, when she had come to visit in the day, had mournfully shaken her head. She knew how to adjust eyes and mouth-taste. She could get into some other chips at the skull base. Whole body systems were beyond her, though. No one had even a hint of how they worked or where their neural junctions came into the spine. Toby had three tapjoints set into his spine, small pink hexagonal notches. The woman who installed them had died at the Citadel Bishop. Nobody among the Bishops or Rooks or Kings knew how to connect through the notches, or even if Toby’s damage was repairable through them.

He was relieved when Toby drifted into sleep, just as Killeen had begun rummaging for interesting things to say. He went out of the small square building to get more water from the King wells and met Shibo on the path.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.