She looked at Mary. “When’ll that be, might’s know?”
Alex shrugged, uncertain as to how to answer. “I thought ev’body heard about the jaunt to Lalande. The star, it is. They wan’ Mary an’ me to jack a clicker man first, though. Thens we take our star-ride aboard Goddard . There we go lookin’ for more of ol’ Joe reefs.”
“Anoth’ star?” Kass stroked the cat gracefully, wide-eyed. Then she looked at Mary. “You’re taking your cat?”
“Of course,” Mary answered forthrightly, taking Inky from Kass’ arms. Her cat awoke and protested, but Mary kissed his head and hugged him. The cat squirmed a bit but purred loudly, nevertheless. “I can give up living in an ice cave,” blustered Mary, her blue eyes sparkling with resolve. “But Inky stays with me.”
Alex’s shoulders sagged. “Don’t feel bad, Kass. I was lookin’ forward to some time home wi’ Mary.” Alex feigned kissing Mary on the cheek and whispered, “Did they brief you, too?”
“I’m more powerful than they know,” Mary whispered back.
Alex hugged her. Like all the clones, Mary was perfect. The bio-engineers had tried to suppress individuality in their products. They deliberately chose special features to make the clones stand out. If they weren’t ringers for some famous personage, like the Marilyns, then they were made as model types. Chief among these were the service types, like the Osgood series, developed to man the Martian terraforming centers. The service clones were built to serve, but they were also designed to appeal to ‘normal’ humanity. Among these, the Sensors – Mary’s type – were mobile human communication systems whose core purpose was to travel deep space missions or commercial vessels and broadcast personal messages from doomed ships, should the need arise. The Marys had been engineered as a sturdy and compassionate prototype, but as Mary had explained to Alex, random selection supercedes all engineering. Mary was a living example of that – a rebel seed, unlike any of her sisters.
Alex had learned this not just from Mary but from Mary One, the prototype, mother of them all, at her private compound on Mars. For him it had been a surreal trip, like meeting the Vestal Virgins, but he had come away knowing there was more to a Sensor’s power than their creators realized. Cloaked by their already extraordinary communications skills, another level of communication was being practiced. The Sensors could read minds. The Marys had allowed Alex to share their secret only because they knew that he could be trusted. Why, exactly, he wasn’t sure, but all the Marys liked him, as if they knew him through Mary. He came away from the compound feeling like a unique part of Mary’s family.
After the final reef mission they’d retired and set up shop on Ganymede. At least they thought it was their final mission.
A ship arrival and immediate departure almost never happened, so Alex expected unprecedented grumbling from the Ganny ground crew. But to his astonishment the Gannys took the whole matter in stride, servicing Diver in just under two hours while Alex, Mary, Kass, and Connie Tsu dropped into a nearby restaurant.
Being with Mary helped Alex relax, and they enjoyed a leisurely meal, Ganny style. Mary had leashed Inky to her chair and ordered some fish to keep him happy. The restaurant, called Crabs on Ice, was competing with others near the spaceport. Now that the underground hatcheries were producing fish at low cost, people were getting choosy. Once a rarity in any restaurant, seafood was now commonplace. This restaurant’s hatchery specialized in salmon and lobster, and they had suspended the great tank above the diners to attract clientele.
Kass pointed to the ceiling. “Jim ’n I love t’ come here ’n watch th’ fish. So relaxin’.” She was a local girl whose husband was a creative engineer – once called a tech spec or plain old trouble-shooter. He knew about as much about
Alex shrugged, uncertain as to how to answer. “I thought ev’body heard about the jaunt to Lalande. The star, it is. They wan’ Mary an’ me to jack a clicker man first, though. Thens we take our star-ride aboard Goddard . There we go lookin’ for more of ol’ Joe reefs.”
“Anoth’ star?” Kass stroked the cat gracefully, wide-eyed. Then she looked at Mary. “You’re taking your cat?”
“Of course,” Mary answered forthrightly, taking Inky from Kass’ arms. Her cat awoke and protested, but Mary kissed his head and hugged him. The cat squirmed a bit but purred loudly, nevertheless. “I can give up living in an ice cave,” blustered Mary, her blue eyes sparkling with resolve. “But Inky stays with me.”
Alex’s shoulders sagged. “Don’t feel bad, Kass. I was lookin’ forward to some time home wi’ Mary.” Alex feigned kissing Mary on the cheek and whispered, “Did they brief you, too?”
“I’m more powerful than they know,” Mary whispered back.
Alex hugged her. Like all the clones, Mary was perfect. The bio-engineers had tried to suppress individuality in their products. They deliberately chose special features to make the clones stand out. If they weren’t ringers for some famous personage, like the Marilyns, then they were made as model types. Chief among these were the service types, like the Osgood series, developed to man the Martian terraforming centers. The service clones were built to serve, but they were also designed to appeal to ‘normal’ humanity. Among these, the Sensors – Mary’s type – were mobile human communication systems whose core purpose was to travel deep space missions or commercial vessels and broadcast personal messages from doomed ships, should the need arise. The Marys had been engineered as a sturdy and compassionate prototype, but as Mary had explained to Alex, random selection supercedes all engineering. Mary was a living example of that – a rebel seed, unlike any of her sisters.
Alex had learned this not just from Mary but from Mary One, the prototype, mother of them all, at her private compound on Mars. For him it had been a surreal trip, like meeting the Vestal Virgins, but he had come away knowing there was more to a Sensor’s power than their creators realized. Cloaked by their already extraordinary communications skills, another level of communication was being practiced. The Sensors could read minds. The Marys had allowed Alex to share their secret only because they knew that he could be trusted. Why, exactly, he wasn’t sure, but all the Marys liked him, as if they knew him through Mary. He came away from the compound feeling like a unique part of Mary’s family.
After the final reef mission they’d retired and set up shop on Ganymede. At least they thought it was their final mission.
A ship arrival and immediate departure almost never happened, so Alex expected unprecedented grumbling from the Ganny ground crew. But to his astonishment the Gannys took the whole matter in stride, servicing Diver in just under two hours while Alex, Mary, Kass, and Connie Tsu dropped into a nearby restaurant.
Being with Mary helped Alex relax, and they enjoyed a leisurely meal, Ganny style. Mary had leashed Inky to her chair and ordered some fish to keep him happy. The restaurant, called Crabs on Ice, was competing with others near the spaceport. Now that the underground hatcheries were producing fish at low cost, people were getting choosy. Once a rarity in any restaurant, seafood was now commonplace. This restaurant’s hatchery specialized in salmon and lobster, and they had suspended the great tank above the diners to attract clientele.
Kass pointed to the ceiling. “Jim ’n I love t’ come here ’n watch th’ fish. So relaxin’.” She was a local girl whose husband was a creative engineer – once called a tech spec or plain old trouble-shooter. He knew about as much about
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