The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Author:Micaiah Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2020-08-03T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

THE DAY OF my debriefing at Eldridge, I’m woken by the proximity alert on my doorcam. I shuffle forward and make it to the door just in time to see someone retreating, ducked down so I can see only a shape I first assume is a black-clad shoulder. Too tired to be cautious, but just awake enough to be curious, I open the door and find a note—an actual paper note, not a plastic vidscreen—folded and tucked into my door. It’s the kind of thing Esther might do, if she was in the city, but when I touch the paper I know it’s not her.

I have an affinity for paper that is as little understood in Wiley City as it was in Ashtown. When I make my lists, I like to write them physically, not type them into a coded file on my cuff. This is precisely what got me into trouble with Nik Nik back on my home Earth. The paper that’s been placed on my door is softer and smoother than Ashtown paper, because in Ashtown paper is made from blending root plants and dirt, and here the paper is made from other paper. Ashtown paper is brown to tan, depending on the quality. Wiley City paper is the gray of other people’s ink. Someone from Wiley has left me a note.

For a moment, I entertain the fantasy that it’s from Dell, but then the careless scrawl sets me straight. Dell practices calligraphy like other people practice meditation, and I imagine her handwriting carries the structured fluidity of anyone who is also fluent in a kanji-based language. Whoever wrote this is unused to writing physically. A tech head, for sure.

I know what happened on 175.

Beneath the declaration is a meeting place and time. I read the words again, trying not to react, forcing myself to fold the note back along its seam when I want to crumble it into nothing. I close the door and rewind my doorcam, but whoever left the note stayed tucked below its range. All I can see is the same dark bump on the edge of the feed where they didn’t hunch down quite low enough. It might be a shoulder, but it might also be the curve of a back, the top of a head, or the edge of a hood. All I know for sure is they were wearing black.

My cuff beeps an appointment reminder. It’s time to get ready.

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.