Up Against It - M. J. Locke [117]
Thondu escorted Geoff in silence back down across the catwalks and bridgeways, to the edge of the Badlands.
“Thanks,” Geoff said.
“Think nothing of it,” Thondu said, with a smile that reminded Geoff of Vivian’s.
Geoff said, on impulse, heart suddenly pounding against his ribs, “And tell your sister—” Thondu raised eyebrows. “Tell her I said hi,” Geoff finished lamely. “Tell her to call me. If she wants. I mean, I wouldn’t mind.” Thondu gave him an arch little smile. Geoff felt his face grow hot. “She helped me out. I want to thank her. That’s all.”
Thondu eyed him speculatively. “Well, well. You are a complicated young man, Mr. Agre. I will relay the message.” He flicked a hand.
Something about his grin lingered in Geoff’s mind. He thought about Thondu and Vivian. He sensed that Thondu and Vivian shared some connection he didn’t understand, some bone-deep secret tie. That bothered him a lot. He had to admit, he had already fallen, hard, for Vivian. But Thondu unnerved him, and something about him drew Geoff, too. He’d never thought of himself as attracted to men. What was he getting himself into?
Still, he had gotten out of the Badlands with body and soul intact. That was something.
* * *
At the hospital he found his friends having a picnic on Ian’s bed in a private room. Amaya and Kam had smuggled breakfast past the orderlies. Ian held up a pastry. Geoff’s mouth filled with saliva. The room’s antiseptic smell did not put a dent in his appetite. “We saved one for you, doof. But you’d better hurry or I’m going to eat your roll.”
“Not on your life, chinpo.” Geoff took the last sticky bun. It was dripping in brown sugar and butter. He bit into it, and felt as if his face would explode from sheer caloric overload.
Amaya leaned across the bed to hand him a coffee. “Well?” She was referring to the bone dancers.
The room was thick with motes and mites, so Geoff merely said, “We’re good.” He would fill them in on his visit to the Viridians later—back on Ouroboros, perhaps.
Over sweet rolls and hot, bitter coffee they went over the prior night’s events. Ian was pallid, and not as loud as usual, but still in good humor. Geoff wondered what painkillers they had him on.
“Hard-Rock News 42 came by earlier. And Upstreamers 180! I’m going to be all over the nine o’clock news. Have you seen my sammy cache? Take a look!”
Geoff exchanged an amused look with Kam and Amaya. They all agreed the contents of Ian’s cache were impressive. “You’re famous,” Geoff said. “No doubt about it.”
“The prime minister is coming by! Can you believe it? Get my arm ripped off and everybody thinks I’m hot shit. Maybe I can write my memoir and make a million.” Kam and Geoff both laughed; Amaya looked mildly disgusted.
Kam replied, “Now if only you could write three sentences in a row, you’d be all set.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Oh, yeah. I can hardly wait to get my arm ripped off.”
“Great! The gimp twins. We’ll get adjoining hospital beds,” Ian said. But the idea made everyone queasy. To change the subject, Geoff asked, “You said they’re going to start growing you, you know, a new arm today?”
“Yeah.” Ian looked at his covers, at the place where his arm should be, as if still surprised it was not there. “They said there was so much damage to the old one that it’s easier to just start from scratch. In a couple of months, nobody will be able to tell the difference. Look.” He pulled up his sleeve. The others recoiled—but the wound had already closed up. Pink, baby-smooth skin stretched over the shoulder joint, and just below that was a bump with five little nubs. Ian wiggled them, and Geoff thought again of the Viridians. Was what they did so different than this?
Amaya’s anger at Ian seemed to have cooled; she touched the tiny new fingers growing there, and then they kissed. Ian gave her this wondering look. Geoff knew, even if he didn’t; even if Amaya didn’t. Ian had just figured out he loved her. Geoff wondered if that meant he’d stop being such a chinpo. One could hope.
“What?” she demanded. He only shook his head, and laid his head back on