Up Against It - M. J. Locke [111]
“Excellent! Here is the contact info.” His address cache registered receipt. “They want to head out right away. I understand they are outfitting a yacht out at the Klosti Omega dock. It’s a decent-sized rock they’re interested in, so it’s definitely worth the trouble. Your contact is a Mr. Andrew Mills.”
Xuan recorded the name and contact info. “I’ll call him right away.”
* * *
Sean paid visits to the kids’ families. Ian’s parents’ reaction seemed to be mostly peevish annoyance. Mrs. Carmichael sighed. “I suppose we had better head up to Yamashiro Memorial and deal with this. I’m going to have to cancel my appointments for the afternoon. This is a serious inconvenience, Mr. Moriarty.”
“The cluster had better be prepared to cover the costs,” Mr. Carmichael added, “or you will have a lawsuit on your hands.”
Sean replied, stiffly, “Your son is a hero, and the cluster owes him a great debt. I have no doubt that his medical costs will be covered. If there is any question or doubt, you have the hospital people call me.”
The man was mollified; the woman bemused. Sean left quickly, before his temper snapped. He and his wife had decided not to have children—his patience was not up to the task—but by God, he could not understand why people who did want children thereafter behaved so badly toward them. Self-absorbed fuckwads.
Kamal’s parents were much more concerned. They sat together on their couch, Mr. Kurupath with his arm around his wife. Mrs. Kurupath spoke calmly, but her hands belied her by endlessly wringing a small green silk scarf. “We understand that he, and you, must have been swept up in events last night, and we appreciate your coming by. But we must insist that this sort of thing not happen again. We don’t want him participating in any further such activities.”
“He is our only child, Mr. Moriarty,” Mr. Kurupath said. He clasped his hands together tightly. “Surely you can understand. He is very dear to us. He has explained his part, and it is clear that he acted of his own free will, out of loyalty to his friends. But he is no soldier, and we are not at war. Please do not press him to do any dangerous stunts again.”
“I fully understand,” Sean replied. “I promise you, I have no intention of asking him to undertake any further actions on behalf of Phocaea.”
Amaya’s mother, Mariko Toguri, was much calmer. She fixed him a cup of tea and asked questions about what had happened. Amaya was still in bed, but apparently she had given her mother a full account the night before, as the older woman did not seem surprised.
When Sean finished recounting the prior evening’s events, she rested her hands on the low table and said in a soft voice, “My daughter is an adult now, and makes her own choices. I am glad to hear that she acquitted herself well, and thankful that you have come here to tell me all this. I admit that sometimes her actions scare me. But my own parents thought I was out of my mind to emigrate Up here. How can I blame her for following her own heart?”
At Geoff’s home, Sean could tell as the door opened that he had interrupted an argument. Geoff stood in the center of the room, face to face with his father. The nano-meds had done him a world of good: his wrists were not nearly so raw, he seemed to be standing straighter, and his nose had assumed normal proportions and a mostly normal color.
The mother slumped on a chair in the corner of the room, with a tissue at her mouth. Her face was tear-swollen and blotched. Mr. Agre turned on Sean.
“How dare you?” he demanded. “How dare you endanger Geoff? He came home last night looking as if he had been beaten to a pulp.”
“I was given responsibility