Asimov's SF, September 2010 by Dell Magazine Authors Page B
Authors: Dell Magazine Authors
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goes wrong, I'll trigger it; you know I won't chicken out."
Jo-jo hesitated. Whatever he'd been about to say was stopped by the intensity of Chen-chi's eyes.
"Please,” she said. “For the man we once knew."
"All right,” Jo-jo said, handing the device to Chen-chi. He glanced at me. “You've got nine minutes to get your daughter out of that room. Make sure the leader doesn't escape. But Chen-chi—” and his look hardened to match her own—"Remember there's more than one memory to be honored here. Save the girl, if you can. But save the city and the world first."
She nodded. Jo-jo laid an assault rifle on the table next to her, “In case there's trouble.” He moved to grab Sean, but I stepped in front of him and pulled the thug to his feet.
"I need him."
Jo-jo gave a curt nod, then turned and strode toward the stairs. I gripped Sean by the elbow and stared into his face. “Do you love my daughter?"
He nodded.
"More than you love this fanatic group you're a part of ?"
He hesitated, then gave a firm “Yes.” His eyes told me he meant it.
"Then help me."
"No."
I nearly punched him. Maybe I would have, if his next words hadn't been so sincere:
"Clarise would never forgive me."
"Maybe not,” Chen-chi said, stepping to my side, “but if you don't help us now, she'll never forgive herself for what's about to happen, and neither will you. I've seen pictures of her funeral. You were in them. You looked like a man haunted by his own ghost."
Sean stared at her with incredulity but not, surprisingly, with suspicion. Perhaps he understood more of Clarise's equations than I'd given him credit for.
"So you're, what, some kind of time traveler?"
"In a sense."
"And this thing we won't forgive ourselves for?"
"An explosion. One so big it will wipe out half the city. More importantly: Sharken isn't the man you think he is. Watching what he does after he gains power will make you wish you'd never met him."
Sean's expression darkened. “Anyone could say that."
"Maybe they could,” Chen-chi said, unruffled. “But you're already uncomfortable with some of the decisions Sharken is making. Already, you lie awake some nights and wonder whether you're making a mistake. In a few years, you'll speak out against Sharken's new order. And a few months after that, you'll be executed."
Chen-chi spoke with such conviction, it was hard to disbelieve her.
I saw the muscles in Sean's jaw working. Slowly, deliberately, he shifted his gaze from Chen-chi to me.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Get Clarise out of the building. As fast as you can. Lie if you have to. Clonk her on the head if that doesn't work."
"She and I can't just walk out of a meeting. People would ask questions, try to stop us..."
"That's where I come in,” I said.
I grabbed Sean by the collar, strode to the conference room, and kicked the door open. As the doorknob struck the wall, I threw Sean through the doorway with enough force to send him skidding across the floor, then stepped over the threshold myself. I closed the door behind me.
Twenty pairs of eyes stared at us. Clarise stood in the middle of the room next to a whiteboard. Her mouth opened in shock as Sean slid to a stop near her feet.
"Clarise,” I said, with all the parental authority I could muster. “You've been keeping secrets."
She stared at me. For two heartbeats nothing in my world existed except those eyes: teal blue and bright as crystal. A complicated wash of emotion passed through them, settling at last on a familiar mixture of anger and fear. I knew that expression so well; it was the same one she'd worn as a girl, whenever I went on assignment.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" Her voice was a furious hiss.
"Saving you from yourself. You should go home. Now."
It would have been so easy if she'd obeyed me. I'd have floored anyone who tried to stop her. She'd have walked out the door, out of the building. She'd be two blocks down the street before the bomb blew. But things were
Jo-jo hesitated. Whatever he'd been about to say was stopped by the intensity of Chen-chi's eyes.
"Please,” she said. “For the man we once knew."
"All right,” Jo-jo said, handing the device to Chen-chi. He glanced at me. “You've got nine minutes to get your daughter out of that room. Make sure the leader doesn't escape. But Chen-chi—” and his look hardened to match her own—"Remember there's more than one memory to be honored here. Save the girl, if you can. But save the city and the world first."
She nodded. Jo-jo laid an assault rifle on the table next to her, “In case there's trouble.” He moved to grab Sean, but I stepped in front of him and pulled the thug to his feet.
"I need him."
Jo-jo gave a curt nod, then turned and strode toward the stairs. I gripped Sean by the elbow and stared into his face. “Do you love my daughter?"
He nodded.
"More than you love this fanatic group you're a part of ?"
He hesitated, then gave a firm “Yes.” His eyes told me he meant it.
"Then help me."
"No."
I nearly punched him. Maybe I would have, if his next words hadn't been so sincere:
"Clarise would never forgive me."
"Maybe not,” Chen-chi said, stepping to my side, “but if you don't help us now, she'll never forgive herself for what's about to happen, and neither will you. I've seen pictures of her funeral. You were in them. You looked like a man haunted by his own ghost."
Sean stared at her with incredulity but not, surprisingly, with suspicion. Perhaps he understood more of Clarise's equations than I'd given him credit for.
"So you're, what, some kind of time traveler?"
"In a sense."
"And this thing we won't forgive ourselves for?"
"An explosion. One so big it will wipe out half the city. More importantly: Sharken isn't the man you think he is. Watching what he does after he gains power will make you wish you'd never met him."
Sean's expression darkened. “Anyone could say that."
"Maybe they could,” Chen-chi said, unruffled. “But you're already uncomfortable with some of the decisions Sharken is making. Already, you lie awake some nights and wonder whether you're making a mistake. In a few years, you'll speak out against Sharken's new order. And a few months after that, you'll be executed."
Chen-chi spoke with such conviction, it was hard to disbelieve her.
I saw the muscles in Sean's jaw working. Slowly, deliberately, he shifted his gaze from Chen-chi to me.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Get Clarise out of the building. As fast as you can. Lie if you have to. Clonk her on the head if that doesn't work."
"She and I can't just walk out of a meeting. People would ask questions, try to stop us..."
"That's where I come in,” I said.
I grabbed Sean by the collar, strode to the conference room, and kicked the door open. As the doorknob struck the wall, I threw Sean through the doorway with enough force to send him skidding across the floor, then stepped over the threshold myself. I closed the door behind me.
Twenty pairs of eyes stared at us. Clarise stood in the middle of the room next to a whiteboard. Her mouth opened in shock as Sean slid to a stop near her feet.
"Clarise,” I said, with all the parental authority I could muster. “You've been keeping secrets."
She stared at me. For two heartbeats nothing in my world existed except those eyes: teal blue and bright as crystal. A complicated wash of emotion passed through them, settling at last on a familiar mixture of anger and fear. I knew that expression so well; it was the same one she'd worn as a girl, whenever I went on assignment.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" Her voice was a furious hiss.
"Saving you from yourself. You should go home. Now."
It would have been so easy if she'd obeyed me. I'd have floored anyone who tried to stop her. She'd have walked out the door, out of the building. She'd be two blocks down the street before the bomb blew. But things were
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