Randoms by David Liss Page B

that I got picked on a lot, because that would sound pathetic.
    â€œI don’t care what you were ,” she said. “I only care what you will be. Understand that I will do anything to make certain Earth is accepted into the Confederation, and if your behavior becomes a problem, then I will deal with it in ways you won’t like.”
    â€œI also respond well to positive reinforcement. I like Twizzlers, FYI.”
    She stood up. “Tone down the sarcasm. I’m not sure how it translates. Now I need to speak to the rest of the delegation, sogo wander around the grounds or something until your mother arrives.”
    She went inside the meeting room and closed the door. She paused, just a beat, and then locked it. Whatever she had to say to the other humans, it was not for me to hear.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    They made my mother sign nondisclosure agreements with serious legal consequences for violation, but I couldn’t imagine they would have actually prosecuted her for speaking up. Who was going to believe her if she claimed the government was in on a scheme to send her son to Hogwarts in space? The end result was that later that afternoon I was back in Ms. Price’s office with Dr. Roop and now my mother, looking utterly astonished.
    My mother wasn’t skeptical about what they were saying. It’s easy to believe in aliens when an actual alien is making the case. The Confederation’s laws prevented my mother from getting the translation nanites, so Ms. Price and I had to tell her what Dr. Roop was saying. Mostly me. Ms. Price tended to type on her laptop when other people were speaking.
    Dr. Roop was a charming giraffe guy, but even he couldn’t make her happy about her son heading into space for a year. Given that my mother didn’t know just how many years she had left, I understood that this was hard for her. It was hard for me, too.
    They let us have some time alone together in an adjoining room. My mother looked pale, and maybe a few years older than the last time I’d seen her. Her eyes were red, but she wasn’t crying. Not yet. Or maybe not anymore. Or maybe both.
    â€œI don’t know if I can do this,” she said. “I don’t know if Ican let you go. We have no idea what’s out there, what they are going to ask you to do.”
    â€œThey say it’ll be safe,” I told her, not liking the whiny tone of my voice.
    â€œThey say that, but how do we know?” She shook her head. “We don’t.”
    Was my mother really going to refuse to let me do this? It wasn’t like her to hold me back. She always encouraged me to take risks, but this was a whole new order of risk, and for her the stakes were high.
    She stood up. “I’m going home. I need to think.”
    â€œThey want an answer soon, Mom.”
    â€œI understand that,” she said quietly. “But I can’t figure anything out knowing that the giraffe man is in the next room waiting for my answer. I need time to come to terms with this.”
    â€œWhen do you think you’ll decide?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t know!” she snapped. Then she hugged me tight, and I felt her tears against my neck. “I don’t know,” she said much more quietly.
    Then she left.

CHAPTER SEVEN
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    I spent much of the rest of that day fending off Ms. Price, who wanted me to call my mother and persuade her to sign. I knew that would be a mistake. She did not respond well to bullies. I had to believe that she would make the right decision and that she simply needed the room to make it on her own.
    The next day, when she returned with a large duffel bag in the back of the dark sedan, I knew she had decided to let me go.
    Agent Jiminez, carrying the bag, led her into a private room where I was waiting. He set down the bag and left.
    My mother hugged me. “This doesn’t mean you have to go,” she said when she released me.