The Settlers (8 page)

If you already know you are, then why is that his job?
Tasneem asked.

Now it was Audra's turn.
Whatever, she said.

Tasneem enjoyed a measure of silence.

Then Audra caved again, and turned back to her.
Look, she insisted.
David's just so smart.

So?
 

So I want to know that he's smart enough to know what he's got, Audra said.

I don't even know what that means, Tasneem replied.
David doesn't
have
you.
He doesn't own you.
 

I'm his girlfriend.
 

So?
 

Stop saying so!
Audra exclaimed.
Look, I'm his girlfriend, and he should treat me more like -- like --

Like what?
The Queen of Spain?
 

No, I can wait until I'm married to be his queen, Audra said.
But right now I should be his princess.

Tasneem sighed.
Audra.
Listen to me.
I'm going to explain something that you don't get, because if I don't, you'll never ever be with David forever.
I know you want that, so you have to listen to me.
 

Audra exhaled in frustration.
Look, I --

Audra
.
Listen to me.
David is not like every other boy you've ever know.
Don't you see that?
David doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.
And even if he did, he's twelve years old.
He has plenty of time to be romantic later if he wants to.
But he won't be, because David is like a robot.
He just wants to consume knowledge.
He wants to know everything.
David wants to be the person in the world who knows everything about everything, because that's who David is.
Do you understand?
You will never be more important to him than a conversation he'll have with someone who knows something he doesn't know.

Audra began to cry.
 

Tasneem pinched her eyes shut and took a long, slow breath.
Audra, look at it this way, she started.

No!
No, I won't look at it your way, Audra said.
Your way sucks, Tasneem.
And just because you don't have a boyfriend, don't try to screw up what I have.
And don't screw things up with me, either, because I know boys, I know lots of boys, and I can probably convince one of them to be your boyfriend or something.

Gee, thanks, Tasneem said.
But you're completely missing my point.
 

No, you're missing
mine
, Audra said.
And it's too bad, because this is my stop, and now we're not friends.
 

Okay, Tasneem said.

Audra had been in the middle of rushing off of the train, anxious to have the final word.
But Tasneem's acceptance had stopped her short.
 

You're just like him, Audra said in a wounded voice.
It's like I don't really matter to either one of you.

The car's door began to close.

No, no, Audra said, and she squeezed through the narrowing space.
Then she stood outside the car and watched as it hummed slowly away, carrying Tasneem with it.
 

Tasneem turned her attention back to the view ahead, and her long, slow ride to Callisto City.
She wasn't worried about Audra.
These tantrums usually passed, and they would be friends again in a few days.
Instead, she thought about the band.
They hadn't been good, although there had been a woman playing a slide guitar, and Tasneem had closed her eyes during the woman's solo and been transported to a quiet, mournful place.
She liked it.
 

Tasneem's pocket vibrated.
 

Her eyes snapped open -- she hadn't realized that she had closed them -- and she retrieved her wristband from her jacket and put it on.
She had forgotten that she'd removed it.
She tapped the top of the band, and answered the incoming call.

Tasneem?
 

It was David.
 

He had been on the ground outside her compartment when she finally arrived.
He had a tablet on his knees, and was furiously writing things.
 

David?
she asked.

He kept writing, so she waited.
A few minutes passed, and still she waited.

Finally he put the tablet down.
Tasneem, he said.
I'm sorry.
It's late.
 

It's not too bad, she said.
Come inside.
 

He got to his feet and followed her through the door.
 

Mom?
Tasneem called.
I'm home.
David's here.

Anjali appeared in the doorway of the sleeping quarters.
David, she said.
Hello.
 

You should tell her what you told me, Tasneem said.
 

Anjali looked at her daughter, then back at David.
Is something wrong?
 

David looked at the floor.
Mrs.
Kyoh, I have been living alone.

Anjali nodded.
I know.
Tasneem has told me.
She says you are a very grown-up boy, and that she knows you are not in danger on your own.
I believe her.
 

So far the Station Administration didn't know, Tasneem interjected.
 

David looked away.
 

David?
Anjali asked, not unkindly.
How did that escape their notice?
 

Tasneem touched his shoulder.
It's okay to tell her.
 

Anjali waited patiently.
She looked very tired, which worried Tasneem a little.
It was not that late, and her mother had looked more and more weary the past few months.
 

David looked at the floor.
I found my way into their system, he confessed.
And I invented records for my parents, and assigned them to my compartment.
 

Anjali nodded.
And was that difficult?

David brightened.
Not at all!
In fact, the most difficult thing about it was trying to think of names for my fake parents.
 

Tasneem laughed.
 

Anjali smiled.
David?

He went silent and looked at her.

Where are your parents, actually?

David bit his lip.
 

It's okay, Tasneem said.
 

Anjali nodded again.
 

David's shoulders slumped.
I don't have parents.
I'm an orphan.

And you found a way onto Ganymede despite this?
Anjali asked.

Yes, David said.
 

You're a smart boy, David.
 

He smiled hesitantly.
Thank you.

Tell me what has happened that has you so worried.
 

Tasneem nudged him.

I --
 

David faltered.
He looked helplessly at Tasneem.

Tasneem looked at her mother.
They've found him out, Amma.
 

Tasneem and David waited in the lobby.
David chewed his nails, stopping only when Tasneem chided him, then starting again as soon as she looked away.
 

Tasneem looked at the sign behind the reception table.
 

Junior Citizen Services.

There was no more terrifying place for David, she knew.

Anjali was in the office across the room, meeting with JCS administrators as well as top Station Administration officials.
There was no easy way to predict what might happen.
No citizen had ever hacked his way into station databases to falsify citizenship.
And since this had happened both on Earth and Ganymede, the authorities were struggling with jurisdiction.

Tasneem feared the worst -- that David would be shipped back to Earth.
 

You can't let that happen, Amma, she had told her mother before the meeting.
Look at him.
He's terrified.
He wouldn't last a week down there.
Please help him.
 

Tasneem placed her hands on David's.
Stop chewing them, she said again.
 

He gave her a guilty look.
I don't know if I can.
They're going to send me --

Nobody's going to send you anyplace, Tasneem said.
Amma will solve it for you.
 

I don't mean anything by this, but your mother is just a citizen, David said.
She can't actually fix this.
They're going to deport me to Earth and I'm going to drown or burn up in the ozone or something.
 

Amma might surprise you, Tasneem said.