leave the city.
That last bit perked her up. Sheâd been studying Lym on the way down. There were so many places she wanted to see. And animals. There were animals on the Deep, but nothing there was wild. On the Deep, water ran inside pipes. âWill you take me to Ollicle Falls?â
âTomorrow. If you hire me.â
She startled at that. âI thought Satyana hired you.â
âShe wanted to set it up like an accident and not tell you I was working for her.â
Why would he tell her that? She let silence come back up between them while she thought. Satyana hiring him made senseâsheâd made Nona a personal project thirty years ago. She was probably going to be even more overbearing now that Marcelle was deadâsheâd think it was her duty. The Nona project. But why would Charlie tell her this right away? âDo you know Satyana?â
âNever been off of Lym.â
âSoââ
He cut her off. âI donât like being told what to do. And I donât like secrets.â
Well. Things must be much simpler down here. Nona had to take a few extra steps every so often to keep up with him. Her thighs and calves had started feeling sore. She didnât complain. âSo I have to hire you?â
âYou can hire whoever you want.â
âIâll hire you for tomorrow.â
âThat would be telling me what to do. Iâm not interested.â
âSo why are you here?â
âIt seemed like someone should greet you.â
âSo can I hire you for tomorrow?â
âAre you asking?â
âYes.â
âIâm not cheap.â
âSatyana can pay you.â
âReally?â
He was right. She should pay him. She fell silent, still dizzy with the space all around her. The ground changed from the hard concrete of landing pads to something softer but still man-made. They passed a man heading in toward the spaceport, and two runners passed them. Someone could run forever here, no stopping, no going around in circles. âSo what are your rates?â
He told her, and she snorted. âIâll sort something out.â
He glanced at the sky. âHave you ever seen a sunset?â
âOf course not.â
âAbout two hours. Youâll have time to eat first.â
âWhere should I watch it?â
Just off the spaceport grounds, Charlie stopped for a moment and pointed. âThatâs the town, Manna Springs, and thereâs your hotel, the Spacerâs Rest. On the far side, thereâs the main government buildings and the Port Authority officesâsee the tall grey building?â
She nodded. The town fascinated her. Buildings stood up straight from the floor of the world, a myriad of colors and designs. At least that was like the Deep. Except there would be connections between the habitat bubbles at home; everything on a station connected to something else, even if the connections were locked. Manna Springs looked like building blocks, all square and rectangular; the Deep looked more like a collection of rings and rounds and cylinders and even arrows lashed together.
Maybe it wasnât much like home after all. She expected him to ask if she liked it, and when he didnât she said, âItâs pretty.â
âIâll show you pretty tomorrow.â He fell silent again, and that was fine with her. She struggled to take in as much new information as she could and not to complain about her legs or her lower back, which had gotten in on the game. By the time they arrived at the hotel, her legs were shaking, although she refused to complain.
To her surprise, Charlie said, âGo clean up. Eat. Iâll meet you back here twenty minutes before sunset. The first sunsetâs free.â
She blinked. âWhat time is that?â
âFigure it out.â
Nona sat on the steps of the Spacerâs Rest, waiting. She had no idea if she was early or late, but it hadnât
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