Fate of Worlds: Return From the Ringworld

aboard.”

“And what about Endurance?” Julia could not help asking.

“You were light-years from home, and you did what you thought best.” He gave her a hug. “When you’re that far from home, using your best judgment to represent everyone is the job. As far as I’m concerned, you did the right thing.

“First thing in the morning come by my office in the Ministry. We’ll clear up this little matter before the announcement.”

* * *

“TELL US EVERYTHING,” little Annabeth said, tugging on Julia’s sleeve.

“About the Ringworld,” her twin Lilith clarified.

The twins and a gaggle of Julia’s other youngest cousins leaned closer, expectantly. Most of the little faces wore streaks and smears of barbeque sauce. Their parents, staying in the background, looked almost as curious.

“It’s a huge place,” Julia told them. She didn’t know much about it directly, but Tanya had told her plenty during their long flight. “Bigger than millions of New Terra.”

Fortunately she could talk about Ringworld on autopilot. People asked about the Ringworld wherever she went. The wonder had not worn off — nor the awe that such a thing could pick up and move — but other things were on her mind. She would be going to fabled Earth, not to jail? That was … that was …

Words failed her.

Grandpa had gone to stand at the head of the picnic table. Ready to tell everyone about the ambassadorship? As he waited for the family to quiet down, an adjutant in uniform burst from the house. He whispered in Grandpa’s ear.

Grandpa nodded, cleared his throat, and caught Julia’s eye.

He led her to what she remembered as his cozy den, into which a secure office and comm center had somehow been shoehorned. He said, “Well, Captain, your little retrieval project just got easier.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean that the urgent news was from the planetary defense center. Endurance will be here in a few days, with Alice and Louis Wu aboard.

“The rest of the news is terrible.”

51

By virtue of standing at least a head taller than, well, everyone, Alice could appreciate just how mobbed her house was.

She was twice a matriarch, the second time by Louis. And just as she was introducing everyone to Louis, and Louis to everyone, he had invited his grandson and great-granddaughter, soon to leave aboard Koala.

Louis, Wesley, and Tanya looked a trifle overwhelmed, if not as beleaguered as Nessus and Baedeker’s sons and their mates.

Alice’s heart went out to Elpis and Aurora. She had had time to grieve. Their loss — their entire species’ loss — was still a raw wound.

Maybe she and Louis could ease the pain, just a bit. As they had eased each other’s pain.

“Coming through,” Alice announced, edging her way from the kitchen doorway across the family room toward where Louis played bartender. It was slow going, punctuated by hugs, kisses, and catch-up chats. After spending much of a year off-world, casting off two hundred years, witnessing the destruction of the Fleet of Worlds, and bringing home the patriarch her family had never known, “Oh, you know,” did not suffice in answer to, “How have you been?”

Finally she made it to Louis’s side. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

“I was telling…” He ground to a halt, another name having eluded him.

“Danae,” Alice provided.

“I was telling my charming great-great-granddaughter a little something about Known Space.”

“And you’re not going back, ever?” Danae asked.

“Ever is a long time,” Louis said. “But right now, I don’t even want to leave this house.”

Alice slipped an arm around Louis’s waist. “Our house.”

“You young people,” Danae said, grinning. “Get a room.”

“On that note,” Louis said. He raised an empty carafe and started tapping it with a spoon. “People, of two legs and three. Children of all ages. If I may have your attention.”

He succeeded only in setting off a buzz of speculation.

“Hold it down!” Alice shouted. The direct approach didn’t work much better.

Shushing everyone turned out to be a process, as curiosity brought more and more of the families crowding in. When no one else could fit into the room except near the fidgeting Puppeteers, around whom people left a respectful space, the throng finally quieted.

Louis stepped up onto the low stone hearth and offered Alice a hand up. “Everyone, we have something of a family announcement. To all our families. Alice?”

“Louis and I are expecting,” Alice said. Danae’s whoop of approval broke the silence and their families started to clap and cheer.

“Wait,” Louis shouted. “We’re not done.

“Elpis, Aurora, you and yours are always welcome in our home, but there’s another reason Alice and I invited you today. You should know that this little guy” — he patted Alice’s stomach — “is going to be named Nessus.”

“And in a few years,” Alice added, “his brother or sister will be named Baedeker.”

52

Sigmund looked about the tiny cabin, his home for the next two years or so. (“Or a stasis field will be,” the voice in his head whispered. He told the voice to shut up. He had a lot of catching up to do on the long flight to Earth.)

In the narrow corridor outside the cabin, ARM officers and sailors went by in an unending stream. Pallets of supplies for the long flight lined the walls; to pass someone coming the other way was a negotiation.

There was a sharp rap at the door frame. “There you are.”

Sigmund glanced up. “Louis, thanks for stopping by. Come in and close the door, please.”

Eyeing the close quarters dubiously, Louis complied. “Why did you want to see me? Are you reconsidering my offer? If so, you’re cutting things kind of close.”

The offer to use the Carlos Wu autodoc. “No, although I appreciate the offer. I’m not sure the twenty-year- old me would look ambassadorial. Once we reach Earth, I’ll go on boosterspice.”

Louis shrugged.

“So here’s the thing,” Sigmund said.

Louis leaned against the closed door. “Nothing good ever begins with those words. So, what? You plan to shanghai me back to Earth? Give me a lecture about how to treat Alice?”

“I think I’ll keep advice about Alice to myself.”

Louis laughed. “Yah, I guess we’ve both gotten smarter that way.”

“The thing is, I need to go over your experiences one more time.”

“Oh, finagle. You’ve heard my story. You’ve heard Alice’s. You’ve seen the ship’s logs from our Jeeves.”

“And my Jeeves has gone over the data, too,” Sigmund offered.