"Are you related to ..."
I felt my insides shrink. What was I going to say? If they had a portable DNA reader, they'd know in a second who my father was. I took a deep breath and held it, waiting.
"... the Oberon who was hurt in that explosion down in Florida? It was years ago."
I hid my relief as best I could and exhaled, saying, "That's my grandfather."
"Shame how he and that other guy had to fight to get what was due them." She turned off her LED. "My uncle was on that job. Lucky for him it was his day off."
Leaving us standing there, she joined her partner. It was our first chance to see what was happening with the guys.
Like us, they were standing in a line. The policeman had apparently asked to see inside Derek's guitar case, because it was lying on the ground, open.
The two officers conferred for what seemed like forever. Eventually the policewoman returned. "Everything seems to be in order. There was an incident earlier, some thug accosted two men over on Lincoln." She pointed in the direction of Robin's Roost. "He got away. A big guy, over six two, if you believe those wimps he beat up on." She snorted. "Anyway, be careful, he's still at large. And you ..." She motioned me over and lowered her voice. "Tell your grandfather some of us think he deserved better."
They got back in their trannie and sped off.
"Well, that was fun," Sal said.
"Yeah." Derek glanced over his shoulder at the disappearing trannie. "That cop messed up my music, and I think he swiped one of my picks."
"At least he didn't take any of us," Mike said. "Stupid checker-"
I poked Mike in the ribs. "Remember Sandy's dad," I whispered.
"Oh, uh ... yeah." He cleared his throat. "Need some help with that?" He knelt down beside Sandy, who was still squatting on the sidewalk, retrieving a comb and some lipstick.
We had to step off the sidewalk and into the grass, which made Sandy's progress even slower. Her stiletto heels kept sinking into the ground. For a moment, I thought Mike was going to carry her. He didn't, but he stuck with her. I'd only seen that side of him when he was working with the zoo animals, particularly baby calves that needed to be hand-fed. He was just as gentle with them. Sandy kept directing questions at Derek, but he and Wei were too far ahead of her and too engrossed in each other, for answers.
Something rustled behind me. My fingers tightened on Sal's arm. Lights from an apartment building at the park's edge cast a pale beam on some shrubs from where the sound originated.
Sal pushed me behind him and grabbed Wei. She, in turn, grabbed Derek and they stood like a shield in front of me. Sandy and Mike bumped right into my back.
"What the heck?!" Sandy exclaimed. "Why'd you-"
"Shhhh," Wei hissed.
"Don't sh-"
I stuck my hand over Sandy's mouth. "There's someone over there," I whispered, pointing at the silhouetted bush. "It could be Ed."
As I peered between Sal and Wei, the bushes crackled again.
XXIX.
"You guys stay with Nina," Sal whispered to Derek and Mike.
He motioned for Wei to circle around the bush on one side; he took the other.
Their reconnaissance became unnecessary when two sets of legs kicked partway out from under the bushes. One pair was bare and obviously female. The other pair had jeans pushed down around the knees. It didn't take a gallacticon scientist to figure out what was going on under the dark branches.
I was glad Sal couldn't see how red my face was. Or had been able to read my mind. Not that I wanted to be having sex with him ... just thinking about it made me quiver. I had to stop myself.
We sat under the shadow of the vert tower on a huge concrete pad. Our presence was partially blocked by a row of trees to one side and fencing that surrounded the tower on the other.
At first, no one said anything. I wondered if anyone besides me had had those embarrassing thoughts after seeing that couple in the bushes.
"Well, that was pretty crazy, wasn't it?" Sandy said, readjusting her boots. "I'd never do anything like that. Euwww! Think about all the crawly little things in the grass." She swiped imaginary insects off her pants. "Yuck!"
In a moment of huge collective release, everybody laughed. That was one of the things I loved (and sometimes hated) about Sandy. She spoke her mind about how she felt-about anything.
We were in a circle, Sal and I next to each other. On my right, Sandy was absorbed in straightening her clothes and sneaking glances at Derek. Couldn't she tell he was with Wei? Or didn't she care?
Mike was by Sandy's side. He hadn't taken his eyes off her since she'd walked into Soma. Derek and Wei were toying with some pebbles on the concrete. It felt like a bunch of friends hanging out-almost normal, except for the whole Ed thing hanging over my head.
Sal's fingers intertwined with mine. "You were at Robin's Roost, weren't you? When you ran into Ed?"
"Robin's Roost-" Wei's pointed look made me feel the tiniest bit guilty.
"What's that?" Derek asked.
"It's an old condemned hotel at Lincoln and Wells. It was really special to my mom and dad. I wanted to feel close to them," I said.
Sal squeezed my hand reassuringly. I had to tell them. Out tumbled the whole story about Ginnie, the Infinity machine, and Dee's baby book. "Because of what Ed said tonight, about me having something he wants, I don't think it's just Dee that he's after," I said. "It sounded like he knows what Ginnie said to me in the hospital. But we were alone when she told me about the book."
"He might have known something about it before. Maybe Ginnie let something slip when she was with him," Wei said.
"Maybe ..." I wasn't convinced. "But I don't think so. Ginnie was careful. I've looked all through the book for clues, but there's nothing except dates, first words, Ginnie's thoughts about being a mother, doodles, stuff like that. I don't know if it's important or not."
"You know, it could be written in code," Wei said. "You should let my mom take a look. She's amazing with codes. She started using them when she was a kid. Media even tried to hire her as a code writer and translator. She turned them down. They were so insistent that she made up some excuse about hitting her head in an accident and how she couldn't focus on sequences and patterns anymore. They made her take a ton of tests to prove she wasn't lying. A friend had to give her some kind of synapse interrupter that temporarily rerouted her cognitive skills. It worked, and she got off the hook."
"Even though my grandparents and Wei's parents both say my father's dead ..."-I hoped Wei didn't take this wrong-"Ginnie was certain he's alive."
"My parents thought that, too," Sal said. "My mom and dad were ... NonCons."
I cringed at the hesitation in his voice. I bet he was thinking about that night by the river and our argument. He didn't know my true opinion about NonCons, especially now that I'd found out about my parents and their views. I squeezed his hand, hoping that conveyed my support. He squeezed back. "What about your brother?" I asked. "Is he a NonCon?"
"Yeah, and"-he looked me straight in the eye-"I am, too."
Sandy gasped. "I don't believe this." She struggled to stand up, hobbled by her tight pants and unwieldy boots. "NonCons killed my father. They're a bunch of lawless-"
"Oh, sit down and shut up," Derek said. "Anyone with half a brain knows that the Governing Council supplies Media with all sorts of fabricated stories accusing NonCons of being the bad guys. I'm sorry about your dad-but where's the proof? I've read all about that foray and lots of people are sure it was a setup."
Sandy's jaw dropped. I was taken aback, too. I didn't know Derek had that kind of fervor in him for anything except for music. Sandy sat back down and kept quiet. I doubt her reaction would've been the same if that speech had come from any of the rest of us.
I could only take so much of the silence that followed Derek's outburst. "Wei, do you think your dad knows where my dad is but didn't want to tell me? Didn't want me looking for him?"
She hesitated a moment. "Maybe. Nina, I don't know what I should or shouldn't say." I could see the conflicted emotions on her face. "My dad's gone until Sunday. He's been summoned to an emergency meeting in Amsterdam with his Media bosses. It's so hush-hush that they've blocked all outside communications. I can't even call him."
"Do you think your mom would know anything?"
"If Dad knows but didn't say, then Mom knows and won't say."
"Back up a sec," Sal said. "About Ed. What exactly is he? Government? B.O.S.S.?"
"He's a Chooser." Sandy didn't look at any of us; instead she pawed through her purse, looking for who knows what. "After tonight he'll never pick me," she muttered. I hoped I was the only one who heard her. I also hoped that whatever she was hearing she would keep to herself. For the first time since I'd known her, I wasn't sure I could trust her.
"So he's government, but not B.O.S.S.," Sal said.
"I think he used to be an agent, but I'm not sure with who. I remember a big blowup he and Ginnie had when she was pregnant with Dee. It had to do with his job. But I was like five. I don't remember."
"Why'd your mother stay with him? Did she love him?" Sal asked gently.
"I don't think so," I said. "At least not after he started beating her up. Sometimes she'd swear she was leaving him, but then she always went back. It's like he had some kind of hold over her."
"Fear maybe." Sal's jaw muscles tensed. "That's what keeps my brother from leaving his wife. Fear that she knows what he and I are really doing and would expose us."
Wei tossed a couple of rocks aside. "I'm sure this has something to do with that book. Otherwise, why would she have said you had to get it to your father? With Ed's connection to the government, they have their ways of getting information. Even if you were alone with Ginnie, the room probably had some kind of surveillance."
Sal jumped up. "Let's go look at it. Sounds like that book's the link between you, your mom, and Ed."
On the way to my place, I caught up with Derek. "I'm really sorry I messed up your big night. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And I would never hurt you, ever."
"It wasn't totaled. Besides, you're more important than any old show."
"Still friends?"
He grinned down at me. "Always."
"What are you two whispering about?" Sandy'd teetered up alongside us.
"Apologies."
"Oh." She did her signature hair toss. "I hope you accepted." She smiled up at Derek, her blond hair sweeping seductively across her shoulder.
"He did." I took her firmly by the arm, steering her away from Derek; leaving him to walk with Wei. I figured that was best for everyone. Handing Sandy off to an eager Mike, I joined Sal, hooking my arm in his.
We headed down LaSalle Street like a small army marching into who knew what.
A green trannie whizzed past us. I stopped breathing and clutched Sal's arm. The transport didn't slow down, turn, or stop. I watched its lights disappear into the night.
XXX.
The green trannie was the only thing we saw, between the park and the apartment, that could've had anything to do with Ed.
"Why don't you go up and get the book?" Sal said. "We can take it over to the oasis. That way we won't disturb Gran and Pops or Dee."
Sandy and I went upstairs. While we were there, I made her change out of her ridiculous boots so Mike didn't have to serve as her crutch.
"Listen, Sandy." I didn't quite know how to say what needed to be said, so I just said what I felt. "You can't say anything to anyone about what you heard tonight, okay?"
"Nina, how could you even think that?" She stopped looking through my meager cache of shoes (all three pairs) and stared at me. "You don't honestly think that I would get you in trouble, do you? You're the only friend I have, the only person who actually cares what I think or feel about things. Now ... have you got some socks? These shoes are way too big, but if I stuff the toes ..."
I didn't know what to say, so I just helped her get my low-decks on. It amazed me at how one minute she was a sex-teen queen, and the next, she really was a true friend.
I grabbed Dee's baby book and we slipped out of the apartment. I tucked the book under my coat.
At the traffic light, I noticed the green trannie again, halfway down the cross street.
"Don't look," I whispered to Sal. "That's Ed's on Wacker." I tilted my head in the direction of the street.
Sal pulled me into an embrace. What the ...? I started to protest when, instead of anything romantic, he whispered, "Pretend to trip on the curb. Fall down like you've hurt yourself."
The light changed. I lurched forward, yelped, and then collapsed, clutching my ankle. I didn't have to pretend; like an idiot, I'd accidentally twisted it for real.
Wei rushed over, kneeling beside me. "What happened?"
"Ed's across the street. Sal told me to fake it, but I actually twisted it."
"It's her ankle. Come on, guys, we'd better get her home."
Sal and Derek each grabbed an arm and hoisted me to my feet. Sandy retrieved the book, which I'd dropped.
"Don't forget this." She waved it in the air.
Wei snatched it from her. "Way to go. Now he's seen it for sure."
"'Scuse me?" Sandy planted a hand firmly on one hip.
"If you'd use that head for something besides growing hair ..."
"Stop," I said. "Somebody just take it, okay? My ankle's killing me."
Wei stuck the book in her bag. Sandy gave her a dirty look and stormed back to the building.
I put one arm around Sal's neck and grabbed Derek's arm. I hobbled back between them. I felt ridiculous for actually hurting myself.
Wei made small talk, like, "Does it hurt much?" and "Be careful, guys." I guessed she was doing this in case Ed had a listening device. We didn't stop the ruse until we were all in the elport.
"That really did hurt." I rubbed my ankle. "If that's Ed out there, we can't use the oasis. We'll have to look at the book in my room. If we're really quiet, we shouldn't disturb anybody."
"Not a good idea," Sal said. "You know ... listening ..."
"It'll be fine," I replied, winking at him.
When we got into the apartment, they all went down the hall to my room while I hobbled to the kitchen. Several minutes later, I returned with the scrambler and plugged it in.
"Is that what I think it is?" Wei said. "Those are illegal."