Engineman - Eric Brown [149]
All across Earth, and across the Expansion, interfaces were being dismantled. In their place, new starship lines were starting up, old vessels, mothballed until now, hauled out of retirement and repaired. It would be a long time before the lines would be at anything like their former strength, but every day he heard of new lines starting up and old ones resuming their trade.
Hirst Hunter had got in ahead of the competition and set up his own business: the Hunter Line, equipped with a fastship, a bigship and several small ships. Effectuator Bobby Mirren was at this minute mind-pushing a fastship out to the Rim worlds, carrying UC officials to oversee the dismantling of various colonial interfaces.
Mirren smiled to himself and ordered another drink.
Over the course of the past week, Dan and Ella had struck up a touching friendship. Despite the age difference - Dan was almost twenty years her senior - they were spending all their free time together, with Hirst Hunter's blessing.
Mirren wondered if it was seeing Dan so happy with someone which had prompted him to make the call that morning.
For days he'd thought long and hard about doing so. He had so much to say to Caroline, so much to apologise for. He wondered how he would begin to atone for his past treatment of her.
He looked up suddenly, aware that he was being watched.
He smiled. "Carrie..."
She stood beside the booth, looking down on him uncertainly. "I got your message, Ralph." She gave a humourless laugh. "I thought it was a joke, at first."
"No joke." He gestured to the padded seat across from him. "I wanted to see you."
She slipped into the seat and ordered a drink from the press-select panel. When the gin and tonic emerged from the slot, she took a quick sip and stared at him.
"I've been watching the news, Ralph. It's... incredible."
"That's the reason I didn't get in touch sooner, Carrie. After you saved me, Hirst Hunter picked me up and we fluxed. Since we got back... Well, things have been rather hectic."
She regarded her drink. "The news reports... They said you'd contracted Heine's." She looked up at him. "Is it true?"
Was it genuine concern he saw in her expression? To his surprise, he thought it was.
He took a chance, reached out and laid a hand on top of hers. She didn't pull away. "A variant of Heine's. It's not as bad as the original strain." He shrugged. "Hunter's paying for me to have the very best treatment there is."
"And?"
"And the medics reckon I have between six to eight years."
At last she said in a small voice, "I suppose it doesn't matter, does it, now that you've found the flux again?"
He squeezed her fingers. "I've been giving it a lot of thought, Carrie. Everything. My life. What happened out there... You."
She looked surprised. "Me?"
"I have a lot to apologise for, Carrie. How I treated you, what I did, walking out like that... Even a few weeks ago, when you got back in touch..." He shook his head. "I was a different person then. I had... certain pressures, years of..." He stopped, then said, "I'm sorry. I'm making excuses. But there's no excuse for what I did. I just want to apologise for everything."
She stared at him, her expression unrelenting. "And now?" she asked.
"Now?"
"What kind of person are you now, Ralph? You're obviously still craving the flux, and what with the opening of the lines-"
He stopped her. "That's what I wanted to tell you, Carrie. I won't be fluxing again." Even as he spoke the words, he was aware of his heartbeat.
She widened her eyes. "You won't? But..."
He shrugged. "What I experienced in the flux, with Bobby, what I saw of the ultimate truth... it's as if that was enough, for now. I know for a fact that it's what I'm destined for... what we're all destined for, ultimately... and that's enough."