“Here you go.” She held the box out to himas she sank down on the couch next to him.
He took a proffered tissue and placed it onhis lap. “Thanks. I just have to…” He trailed off and continued totap on his screen. Varya checked his face. The tears had dried.
“Kir and I, we can’t stay here.”
“Mm-hmm, I’m nearly finished, they just needto know…”
“I think we should move to Canada.”
He looked up then, mid-tap. “What?”
“Or New Zealand.” She looked at him,expressionless. “You could come with us.”
“What? Why?”
Varya pursed her lips and shook her headslightly.
“Seb, we can’t stay here. How will weexplain Kir just suddenly reawakening from the dead?”
“We’ll just tell them the truth.” Sebastianswiped at his screen a little and held it up to her, the lines ablur to her tired eyes. “I’ve already started trying to explain it.I’ll file a report, we’ll answer some questions, that’ll be it.Var’, they won’t arrest him for being alive.”
Varya laughed softly. “Well, that’ssomething.”
Sebastian swiped again and went back to histapping. “And you’ll be able to stop work and look after Kirproperly. You can both come live with me.”
Varya bit her tongue and dug her thumbnailsinto her fingers. She kept her voice even.
“Hmm. And what about the Minor MiraclesFoundation?”
“Connor can run that, can’t he? Surely Kir’smore important.”
“Maybe you could look after Kir whileI go back to work.”
He stopped swiping and looked at her asthough she’d suggested he take up pig farming and pipe smoking.
“Varya, I can’t just leave my job. I’m partof a small team of specialists that keeps our country safe, thatmaintains civil order and ensures we don’t exceed our resources.That’s…”
“More important than Kir?” she offered.
“That’s not what I meant.” There was angerin his tone, but also pain.
“You could do important things to keepCanada safe.”
“Canada isn’t my country.”
“No. It’s not, but your country murders itsown citizens when they reach their expiry date. Canada doesnot.”
“My country’s citizens sacrifice their placeon this earth when their time comes so that others may flourish.”He looked hard at her and stood, towering above her.
She smiled and pushed herself up from thecouch. She lightly gripped his hands, rigid by his sides, andstroked his palms lightly with her fingers until they relaxed alittle.
“I’m sorry, you’re right. We’ll stay andwork things out. I’m just tired and… overwrought.” She smiled, headbowed, then peered up at him sideways. “You’re staying, right?” sheasked. “I-I mean just for tonight, in the spare room. I didn’tmean…” She held her breath as he leaned towards her and gentlykissed her forehead. “It’s just that I’m… really tired. I’m so verytired.”
“Yes, I’m staying. I thought I could make uspancakes in the morning.” He smiled.
She shrugged. “Well, actually, I’ve taughtmyself how to make pancakes. I’m pretty sure they’re better thanyours. But you can give it a shot, I suppose.” She raised hereyebrows and looked directly into his eyes, trying not to thinkabout how her face was probably red and blotchy with darksemi-circles on her cheeks where her make-up would have run.
“I’ve missed you too,” he said, giving her ahalf-smile. “Damn, I’m tired too.”
“How about we have a drink, a toast to ournew future, and then get some sleep.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She kissed him this time, on the lips. Theywere warm and dry and the smell of him made her hungry.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Varya padded out to the kitchen to preparethe drinks. Sebastian went back to replying to urgent messages ofnational importance.
They sipped imported vodka and talked aboutold times—when Kir was a baby, when Kir was a toddler, when theyfirst met. Never about the time thefts; never about hisillness.
When both their glasses were empty, Varyaleft him to finish up a couple of things on his screen. Then shechecked on their boy one more time. There he was, back in his bedas though he’d never left. She pulled the cover up to his chin andstroked his soft hair with her open palm. He sighed deeply androlled over.
In her own bedroom, alone, she changed intopyjamas and fell into bed. Varya slept deeply for the first time infive years.
Chapter fifty-four
Marisa
If you’d asked me, I could have told you what Varyawould do before it even happened. I knew she wouldn’t stay. I don’tknow Sebastian well, but I know his type and they’re infuriatinglypredictable. He thinks everyone should accept their fate, andsacrifice whatever they can for our great and glorious country.Varya, on the other hand, doesn’t have a single belief that shewon’t happily beat to death in favour of her oneobsession—protecting her little boy. Ain’t no way she was going tolet them use Kir as a guinea pig for the next sixty years.
Here’s what I think happened that night. Ithink Varya dosed both Sebastian and Kir with Entiac, the night sheslipped away with their little boy. Sebastian would have beensleeping like the proverbial baby when she woke up and packed herbags. She would have taken the bags down to the car first, thencome back up for Kir and carried him down in the elevator.
Then she took the documents from the shoeboxat the top of the wardrobe and drove east, deep into the back roadsof Gippsland, and off the grid. Nobody would look for them there.And besides, the government doesn’t much care if they occasionallylose a few people. The new economy means that less really is more,so long as we can keep our population decline fairly steady. And Imean, really, why would you want to go anywhere else? Most of therest of the world has at least the same problems as we do, usuallyworse. It’s not like you can escape your Rest Time Chip anyway.Once that sucker’s inserted at birth it’s not coming out againwhile you’re alive. No, it’s going
