that — the octos don’t want to hurt anybody?”
“The colonists in New Eden don’t understand the octospiders,” Nicole had replied. “And they won’t let Archie and Uncle Richard explain anything.”
“Then they’re stupider than I am,” Benjy had said gruffly.
Dr. Blue and the other members of the octospider hospital staff who had not been reassigned because of the war were all very impressed with Benjy. In the beginning, when he had volunteered to help, the octospiders had had reservations about what he could do with his limited capabilities. Once a simple task had been explained to him by Nicole, however, and he had repeated it back to her, Benjy never made a mistake. With his strong, youthful body, he was especially helpful performing heavy labor, a valuable attribute now that so many of the larger creatures were no longer around.
While Nicole was walking toward the administrative center, she found herself thinking about both Benjy and Katie. In her mind’s eye Nicole glanced back and forth between pictures of the two children. As parents, she said to herself, we often spend too much time focusing on intellectual potential instead of more substantive qualities. What matters most is not how much intellect the child has, but rather what he or she decides to do with it. Benjy has succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings, primarily because of who he is inside. As for Katie, never, in my worst nightmares…
Nicole broke her train of thought as she entered the building. An octospider guard waved at her and she smiled. When she reached her usual viewing room, Nicole was surprised to find the Chief Optimizer waiting for her. “I wanted to take this opportunity,” the head octospider said, “both to thank you for the contribution you are making in this difficult period and to reassure you that all your family and friends here in the Emerald City will be cared for as if they were members of our species, no matter what happens in the next few weeks.”
The Chief Optimizer started to leave the room. “The situation is deteriorating, then?” Nicole asked.
“Yes,” the octospider replied. “As soon as the humans fly over the forest, we will be forced to retaliate.”
When the Chief Optimizer was gone, Nicole sat down in front of her console to scan through the quadroid data from the day before. She was not allowed access to all the information from New Eden, but she was permitted to call up the images of the daily activities of all the members of her family. Nicole could see each day what was happening in the basement with Richard and Archie, how Ellie and Nikki were adjusting to being back in New Eden, and what was occurring in Katie’s world.
As time passed, Nicole watched Katie less and less. It was simply too painful for her. Observing her granddaughter Nikki, by contrast, was pure delight. Nicole especially enjoyed watching Nikki on those afternoons when (the little girl went to the Beauvois playground to play with the other children of the village. Although the images were soundless,
Nicole could almost hear the squeals of mirthful delight as Nikki and the others tumbled over one another in pursuit of an elusive soccer ball.
Nicole’s heart ached for Ellie. Despite her daughter’s heroic efforts, Ellie was not having any luck resuscitating her marriage. Robert had remained withdrawn in his workaholic pattern, using the demands of the hospital to keep him from facing all emotions, including his own. He was a dutiful but restrained parent with Nikki, only rarely showing any true delight. He did not make love with Ellie and would not talk about it, except to say that he was “not ready” when she tearfully brought up the subject three weeks after they had been reunited.
She always saved Richard for last. Although Nicole never really shook the premonition that she would not touch her husband again, she did not let that feeling detract from the daily pleasure she experienced sharing his life in the basement in New Eden. She especially enjoyed his conversations with Archie, even though it was often difficult for her to read his lips. Their discussions reminded Nicole of earlier days, after her escape from prison and New Eden, when Richard and she would talk and talk about everything. Watching Richard always left Nicole feeling uplifted and much more able to deal with her own loneliness.
The reunion between Richard and Katie caught her by surprise. She had not been following Katie’s life closely enough to know that her daughter and Franz had success-folly designed a plan to secure a short visit with Richard. Because the quadroid images covered the infrared portion of the spectrum as well as the visible, Nicole actually had a better view of the reunion than the participants. She was deeply moved by Katie’s action, and even more by Katie’s sudden admission (which Nicole watched over and over, in super slow motion, to make certain she was properly leading Katie’s lips) that she was a drug addict. The first step to overcoming a problem, Nicole remembered from somewhere, is to admit to someone you love that the problem exists.
There were happy tears in Nicole’s eyes as she rode the nearly empty transport back to the human enclave in the Emerald City. Despite the fact that the bizarre world around her was deteriorating into chaos, for once Nicole was optimistic about Katie.
Patrick and the twins were outside when Nicole stepped off the transport at the end of the street. As she drew closer, she could tell that Patrick was trying to adjudicate one of the boys’ innumerable disputes.
“He always cheats,” Kepler was saying. “I told him that I wasn’t going to play with him anymore and he hit me.”
“That’s a lie,” Galileo replied. “I hit him because he made a face at me. Kepler’s a sore loser. If he can’t win, he thinks it’s all right to quit.”
Patrick separated the two boys and sent them, as punishment, to sit against opposite corners of the house. He then greeted his mother with a kiss and a hug.
“I have some big news,” Nicole said, smiling at her son. “Richard had a surprise visitor today-Katie!”
Of course Patrick wanted to know all the details of the visit between his sister and Richard. Nicole summarized what she had seen, admitting that she was encouraged by Katie’s confession of her drug habit. “Don’t read too much into her action,” Patrick admonished. “The Katie I knew would rather die than be without her precious kokomo.”
Patrick had turned around and was almost ready to tell the twins that they could resume playing, when a pair of rockets raced skyward, bursting into bright red balls of light just underneath the dome. Moments later the city was plunged into darkness. “Come on, boys,” Patrick said. “We must go inside.”
“That’s the third time today,” Patrick commented to Nicole as they followed Kepler and Galileo into the house.
“Dr. Blue said they extinguish the city lights the moment any helicopter rises to within twenty meters of the top of the forest canopy. Under no circumstances do the octospiders want to risk showing the location of the Emerald City.”
“Do you think Archie and Uncle Richard will ever have a chance to meet with Nakamura?” Patrick asked.
“I doubt it,” Nicole replied. “If he were going to see them, it should have happened before now.”
Eponine and Nai greeted Nicole and embraced her. The three women talked briefly about the blackout. Eponine was holding little Marius on her hip. The boy was a fat, happy baby with a major drooling habit. She wiped off his face with a cloth so that Nicole could kiss him,
“Ah-ha,” she heard Max say behind her, “the Queen of Frowns is now kissing the Prince of Drools.”
Nicole turned around and gave Max a hug. “What’s this Queen of Frowns bit?” she said lightly.
Max handed her a glass containing some clear liquid. “Here, Nicole, I want you to drink this. It’s not tequila, but it’s the best substitute the octospiders could make from my description. We’re all hoping that maybe you’ll find your sense of humor before you finish the drink.”
“Come on, Max,” Eponine said. “Don’t make Nicole think that we’re all somehow involved. This was your idea, after all. The only thing that Patrick, Nai, and I did was agree with you that she has been very serious lately.”
“Now, my lady,” Max said to Nicole, raising his glass and clinking it against hers, “I want to propose a toast. To all of us, who have absolutely no control over our future. May we love each other and share laughter until the end, whenever and however it might come.”
Nicole had not seen Max drunk since before she went to prison. At his insistence she took a small drink. Her throat and esophagus burned and her eyes watered. The drink contained a lot of alcohol.
“Before dinner tonight,” Max now said, opening his arms in a dramatic flourish, “we are going to tell farm jokes. This will provide us some much-needed comic relief. You, Nicole des Jardins Wakefield, as our leader by example if not by election, will have the floor first.”
