Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [12]
CHAPTER 2
CROUCHED WITHIN THE KNEEHOLE OF HER FATHER'S DESK, four-year-old Kathryn listened to the sound of the tocktock-tock of the grandfather clock in his office.
She was careful not to make a sound, for she knew her father needed to concentrate, and a small child fidgeting at his feet would have distracted him. He was working-he was always working-on a starship design, and the various clicks and beeps of his padd punctuated the silence in the room, offering odd counterpoint to the sonorous clock. Kathryn loved hearing the sounds of the padd; they were oddly soothing, a reminder that he was there, a connection to him. Sometimes she pretended the sounds were in fact a private code they shared, that he was sending her messages that no one else could interpret.
"Daddy to Goldenbird... my ETA is fifteen minutes... rendezvous with me in my study at sixteen hundred hours... this is top secret... Daddy out. his
Kathryn smiled as she snuggled in the kneehole. Maybe it would be only fifteen minutes more, maybe it would be longer. But the reward for her patience and stillness would be worth it: she and Daddy would do their games. She would have him to herself for a time. And for that, Kathryn would gladly have sat quietly under the desk for hours. She'd been spending a lot of time in Daddy's study lately, ever since Your Sister had come to their house. Your Sister didn't seem to be much more than a wriggling movement inside a soft blanket, but her arrival had had a profound effect on the household. Mama was hardly ever in evidence now, except when she walked with the small bundle in the blanket over her shoulder, patting its back and singing softly to it. So far, Kathryn had not heard Mama singing her song to Your Sister, but knew that was because Mama and Daddy had not yet decided on a name for this new presence. Kathryn had her own thoughts about that, but so far no one had asked her. Her father's leg shifted slightly next to her and she sat up quickly. Did this mean he was almost done? Was he closing up his padd and getting ready for the games? She held her breath, afraid of causing distraction, but she continued to hear the sounds of the padd. Daddy wasn't ready yet. She settled back again, mind running over the games, practicing, readying herself so she would be perfect. She intended to surprise Daddy by knowing every single thing today-and even more-so he would ruffle her hair and say, "That's my Goldenbird... what a clever girl you are!" The prospect of hearing those words made her heart quicken.
She sat like that, contained and quiet, for another half hour. She could tell because the grandfather clock chimed every fifteen minutes, and there were four fifteen minutes in each hour. Two of them was half an hour. She had figured that out when she was three.
She heard a familiar click and realized that Daddy had snapped shut his padd. She held her breath for a moment, for sometimes he would open another, but she saw his legs withdrawing from the desk. He was done, and she knew exactly what would happen next.
Now she heard him pacing the room, as though looking for something. "No, not there," he intoned, and she smiled. A few seconds later, he said, with a hint of exasperation, "Not there either. Hmmmmm."
Her smile grew as she listened to this careful ritual. "I could swear I heard a little bird in this room... but I can't find her. Where could she be? Is she hiding in the replicator?"
Now Kathryn had to cover her mouth with her handsin the replicator! How silly, how could she do that? She felt a giggle building. "Oh-oh... maybe she got into the fish tank... she's after my African lionfish... you naughty bird, you'd better not bother my lionfish!" Now the giggle was starting to tickle her throat; she tried to push it down and instead it came out through her nose as a little snort. "What's that? What did I just hear?" His mock-stern voice moved closer to her. She scrunched into the tiniest ball she could become and covered her face with her hands. Then she heard his voice right next