Providence - Max Barry Page 0,14
easy.”
“It’s not supposed to be easy,” Jackson said.
* * *
—
Beanfield caught him on the way out. “Gilly. Wait up?”
He waited. Jackson ducked through the doorway and disappeared into the corridor.
“Are you going to see Anders now?”
“Do you think I should?”
She nodded. “You’re good for him. You help him blow off steam.”
“I was going to check on the downstream distributors.”
“Could you do this first?”
“Uh,” he said. “I guess so.”
“Thanks.” She smiled brilliantly and squeezed his shoulder. Beanfield was very touchy-feely. It was best practice for a Life Officer, Gilly presumed. She was providing human contact. Personally, he found it distracting. They were trillions of miles from anyone he could have a relationship with and he preferred not to be reminded about it. He could do without the touching. “You’re a good dude.”
“Thanks,” he said.
* * *
—
Anders didn’t respond to ping so Gilly went and knocked on his door. After a minute, Anders pulled it open and stared at him. “You’re knocking,” Anders said. “I thought there was something wrong with the door.”
“You were dark on ping.” He glanced around Anders’s cabin, which he hadn’t seen in a while. There was crap everywhere: empty bowls on the floor, a boot on the bed. Gilly could not have lived like this. He wondered if Anders was cropping the mess out of his clips or just leaving it to Service to edit out. “Are you all right?”
Anders nodded. His breath was not great. “Is Jackson pissed at me?”
“Probably. Beanfield’s concerned.”
“I bet.”
“You want to play something?”
Anders scratched his face. “Nah. I’m going to lie down. The ship gave me hydrexalin and now my head feels huge.”
That explained a lot. “Okay.” Then he hesitated. “Beanfield told me to visit you.”
“Heh,” Anders said. “She ordered you to play with me?”
“Yeah. Instead of doing my job. Do you feel like Beanfield gets in the way sometimes?”
“Like how?”
“Like I’m trying to keep the ship in one piece,” Gilly said, “and she’s interrupting with stuff like this.” Anders was silent. “I mean, it’s annoying, right?”
“That’s Beanfield’s job,” Anders said. “To be annoying. Like everyone’s mom. That’s a Life Officer.”
“I work for Surplex,” Gilly said. “I’m not some Service cadet she can boss around.”
Anders yawned enormously. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” His role had been the subject of careful negotiation between Service and Surplex. He was expected to act within the Service chain of command, but he was also an independent civilian, exempt from military punishment.
“Well, then tell Beanfield that your job is more important than hers.”
“That’s not what I think.” It was. It was exactly what he thought.
“Then I don’t know what to tell you, Gilly,” Anders said. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Okay,” he said, and Anders closed the door. Gilly stood in the corridor for another few moments. It still bothered him. He felt he hadn’t explained himself very well. It wasn’t that Beanfield was annoying; it was that when she prevented him from doing his work, she was potentially endangering them. Maybe he should confront her directly.
Before he could take a step, his film changed:
□ LOSS OF PRESSURE / HYDRATE FILTERS (SPT-2)
“Oh, goddamn it,” he said. He headed to his cabin to collect his tools.
2
[Beanfield]
THE DISTANCE
She was the most famous, according to the numbers: 311 million people back home following the clips, pics, and quips of Life Officer Talia Beanfield as transmitted from her Providence-class battleship in an undisclosed but, trust me, incredibly dangerous part of space. Frankly, she could see why. She sometimes browsed her own feed to admire the Talia it presented. Here: Talia taking you through her workout routine, bright and bubbly, glowing with health. Here: Hilariously trying to unravel the mystery of where the robot crabs went when they were finished doing something (how long was that chute??). Here: Waking with puffy eyes and matted hair (so vulnerable!),