mother’s arms, drawing comfort.
Suri pushed her away, still holding her, looking into her eyes.
“I’m okay, Mom.”
“I’ve heard so much. I’m worried.”
From Daria? Ruby shook her head. “I’m just me. In school. Same stuff.”
Suri handed Ean the long tongue of the wheeled cart and waved him down the corridor. After the cart passed them, Suri grabbed Ruby’s hand and directed their pace to match Ean’s, staying behind him and out of his earshot. “Daria told me about Fix, or Fox, or whatever his name is, and Greg brought home a rumor that you’re in trouble with the reds here, and I want you to tell me everything .”
Ruby decided she hadn’t missed Suri after all. If she really couldn’t test inward, then maybe some other pod needed an apprentice robot-repair girl.
13: The Owl’s Talk
A week later, Ruby looked up from her seat in common to see Hugh wheeling Owl Paulie to a nearby table. The old man looked determined, as if some secret store of energy drove him. Hugh had attended study sessions, but he’d never brought his grandfather. Ruby eyed them from time to time as she finished walking Salli and Jinn through a math problem. Owl Paulie watched her, contemplative. He seemed to draw strength the longer he sat there, as if he were drinking in the young people’s energy.
A few students came up to greet him, and others waved.
They’d been meeting here for over a week. It had been Marcelle’s idea to start a study group so they could get to know the other students and maybe get more people excited about testing into other levels. They’d done it by example and rumor and invitation. First, it had been Salli and Jinn, who never left each other’s sides. Two days later, another group—three boys and a girl. And then they brought friends. There were two new students today. One was a pale girl, Nia, who had looked scared when Ruby stopped and introduced herself.
Right now, common held almost half of the last-years in the pod.
Ruby leaned over and whispered to Marcelle. “I half expect the reds to come bouncing in to break us up. An illegal gathering.”
Onor glanced over at her, grinning. “Studying together is encouraged. We’re not protesting. We’re studying.”
Marcelle moved from table to table, supporting, asking questions, and greeting today’s crop of new people.
Onor went back to his journal. Ruby peeked. He was lost in a diagram of interactions between the water reclamation systems, the fruit and vegetable gardens, and the oxygen/CO 2 balance.
Ruby fingered the blue beads around her neck, small and hard against her skin.
“Cookies!”
The moment Kyle said it, Ruby smelled them. Kyle balanced two platters of his cookies, one on either arm, a great big smile on his face.
Ruby leapt up and stopped him in his tracks with a hug. She planted a kiss on his cheek, drawing a flush of red to his face, then took one platter from him. She pointed, sending Kyle to one end of common to start handing out cookies. She began at the other end. As she went, she asked questions that were likely to be on the tests.
“How many people can each pod feed?”
“How are metals separated for reuse?”
“What is the minimum amount of exercise required each day?”
She saved Onor and Owl Paulie and Hugh for last, and as Hugh took his cookie, he whispered in her ear, his breath ticklish, “Can you get everyone to be quiet? He wants to talk.”
She smiled at the old man and took his thin, shaky hand. “What do you want to say?”
He looked . . . intense. Alive. “I need to give them fire.”
“They have fire. But I trust you.”
Owl Paulie squeezed her hand, his grip strong. She bent over and straightened his shirt. “Did you and Kyle plan the cookie break and talk together?”
Owl Paulie ignored her question.
She sat on top of a table and started humming, warming up her voice, thinking about Lila Red controlling a group with sheer determination. Salli and Jinn and the students
Suri pushed her away, still holding her, looking into her eyes.
“I’m okay, Mom.”
“I’ve heard so much. I’m worried.”
From Daria? Ruby shook her head. “I’m just me. In school. Same stuff.”
Suri handed Ean the long tongue of the wheeled cart and waved him down the corridor. After the cart passed them, Suri grabbed Ruby’s hand and directed their pace to match Ean’s, staying behind him and out of his earshot. “Daria told me about Fix, or Fox, or whatever his name is, and Greg brought home a rumor that you’re in trouble with the reds here, and I want you to tell me everything .”
Ruby decided she hadn’t missed Suri after all. If she really couldn’t test inward, then maybe some other pod needed an apprentice robot-repair girl.
13: The Owl’s Talk
A week later, Ruby looked up from her seat in common to see Hugh wheeling Owl Paulie to a nearby table. The old man looked determined, as if some secret store of energy drove him. Hugh had attended study sessions, but he’d never brought his grandfather. Ruby eyed them from time to time as she finished walking Salli and Jinn through a math problem. Owl Paulie watched her, contemplative. He seemed to draw strength the longer he sat there, as if he were drinking in the young people’s energy.
A few students came up to greet him, and others waved.
They’d been meeting here for over a week. It had been Marcelle’s idea to start a study group so they could get to know the other students and maybe get more people excited about testing into other levels. They’d done it by example and rumor and invitation. First, it had been Salli and Jinn, who never left each other’s sides. Two days later, another group—three boys and a girl. And then they brought friends. There were two new students today. One was a pale girl, Nia, who had looked scared when Ruby stopped and introduced herself.
Right now, common held almost half of the last-years in the pod.
Ruby leaned over and whispered to Marcelle. “I half expect the reds to come bouncing in to break us up. An illegal gathering.”
Onor glanced over at her, grinning. “Studying together is encouraged. We’re not protesting. We’re studying.”
Marcelle moved from table to table, supporting, asking questions, and greeting today’s crop of new people.
Onor went back to his journal. Ruby peeked. He was lost in a diagram of interactions between the water reclamation systems, the fruit and vegetable gardens, and the oxygen/CO 2 balance.
Ruby fingered the blue beads around her neck, small and hard against her skin.
“Cookies!”
The moment Kyle said it, Ruby smelled them. Kyle balanced two platters of his cookies, one on either arm, a great big smile on his face.
Ruby leapt up and stopped him in his tracks with a hug. She planted a kiss on his cheek, drawing a flush of red to his face, then took one platter from him. She pointed, sending Kyle to one end of common to start handing out cookies. She began at the other end. As she went, she asked questions that were likely to be on the tests.
“How many people can each pod feed?”
“How are metals separated for reuse?”
“What is the minimum amount of exercise required each day?”
She saved Onor and Owl Paulie and Hugh for last, and as Hugh took his cookie, he whispered in her ear, his breath ticklish, “Can you get everyone to be quiet? He wants to talk.”
She smiled at the old man and took his thin, shaky hand. “What do you want to say?”
He looked . . . intense. Alive. “I need to give them fire.”
“They have fire. But I trust you.”
Owl Paulie squeezed her hand, his grip strong. She bent over and straightened his shirt. “Did you and Kyle plan the cookie break and talk together?”
Owl Paulie ignored her question.
She sat on top of a table and started humming, warming up her voice, thinking about Lila Red controlling a group with sheer determination. Salli and Jinn and the students
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