Pandora: Liminal Space Book 2

Chapter Nine

Garrett went back to the terrace and finished his breakfast without coming off too strangely, he hoped. Claudia was more than happy to talk and he was more than happy to provide appropriate noises and cheerful expressions of interest. They talked a little but about Jezria and the contract, and Claudia expressed some more-than-just-polite dismay at the prospect of Garrett being gone for so long. "You'll miss so much."

"I'll get vacations," Garrett replied. "I prefer to be able to swoop in and spoil my sister rotten anyway. That makes it so much more exciting for Dad."

"I don't know how much excitement from you I can handle at my age," Miles said.

Garrett grinned. "Well saddle up, cowboy, because you're about to start all over again. Remember to do your Regen and do try to learn from past mistakes."

As soon as he said it Garrett knew it was a mistake. His father wasn't as calm and collected about Claudia's pregnancy as he was pretending to be, and being reminded of parts of Garrett's childhood wasn't helping him any. Miles hid his discomfort from his wife, but Garrett had had decades of deciphering his father's flashes of stillness. Now wasn't the time to talk it out, however, and they finished breakfast and went their separate ways as usual.

Garrett had vaguely thought about cornering his dad that evening, but that plan was shot to hell when a bomb went off in the warehouse district of Rapture that afternoon, killing a dozen workers, injuring seventeen more and doing millions in damages. Miles dispatched security forces immediately and went to the bomb site himself to coordinate the relief and repair efforts, and he was out all night. So was Robbie, and so Garrett and Wyl and Claudia banded together and spent the night watching news reports and ignoring the reporters that seethed just beyond the gate. Claudia thought she should go and speak to them, but Garrett advised her not to.

"You aren't on the scene, you can't tell them anything they don't know, and your PR person has already made a statement about how seriously you're taking this. Dad is at the site of the explosion, he's got this. They just want to interview you to see if they can stir something up."

"Really?" Claudia asked, her expression torn.

"Really," Garrett affirmed. "Stay here, let your staff do their jobs and make Miles's and your lives easier by not saying anything he might have to refute. You don't have an official place in his administration beyond spouse yet, but they'll throw everything at you from 'do you have any theories' to 'how do you respond to allegations of...' whatever the fuck they want to allege. Probably something negative. Don't go there."

"You have a very cynical mind," Wyl told him, bare feet dangling over the arm of his chair. Garrett had no idea how the man could be comfortable sitting sideways in a hard-backed chair, but maybe he liked the feeling of being contained.

"Cynical is synonymous with experienced," Garrett replied. "I'm not trying to throw that in your face, Claudia..."

"No, it's fine," she said. Her voice was calm but her eyes were troubled. "This is the sort of situation I worry about without you, Gare. I don't know what to do yet. I'd be out there making a mess of things right now if you weren't here."

"Dad's chief of staff will advise you when I'm not here," Garrett said soothingly. "You're smart, you'll learn fast, and in the meantime treat everything like a learning experience and be thankful that the bomb didn't hit closer to home."

"You don't think..."

"You're dealing with terrorists, honey. From the losing side of a civil war. They're bound to be thinking about all sorts of targets." Tears sprang up in Claudia's eyes and Garrett felt like hitting himself. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot." He got up and moved over to Claudia's side, hugging her close and throwing a remorseful glance at Wyl. "Dad's got great security. You and the baby will be completely safe."

"What baby?" Wyl asked.

"Oops. Did I let that slip?"

Of course then Claudia had to explain to Wyl, who was very happy for her and told her as much, and after a little while the gloom was put aside and the conversation was onto lighter, happier topics, exactly like Garrett had intended. They shut the news off and made popcorn and played a non-drunk version of "Never Have I Ever...", which Garrett lost soundly, and eventually Claudia dozed while Wyl and Garrett drank espressos and talked.

"So," Wyl said, "when's the goodbye party?"

"I'm not having one," Garrett replied. "Assuming things still happen on track, there won't really be time. I'm set to leave tomorrow."

"No goodbye party." One eyebrow went up. "You're fucking weird these days, man."

"Yeah."

"You should let Robbie and I take you out. One last night on the town. I'll even drag him to one of your clubs."

Garrett grinned. "I loved doing that. He's never understood how attractive he is. People would gravitate towards him and he'd be looking like he was plotting exactly how to take out each and every one of his admirers."

"Yeah, he told me once he's always looking for trouble. He'd be threat assessing in a nursery school."

"Have you guys ever thought about...you know..."

"Having a kid?" Wyl asked with a grin. He brushed fine black hairs out of his face and threw back the last of his espresso. "No, not really." He headed over to the machine and ordered up another one, waiting patiently while it churned and ground and steamed. Condensed espressos took a little longer. "I think Robbie would be a great father, but he says he isn't interested and I know I'm not. Besides, I've got black marks on my mental health record that would make adopting or surrogacy tough."

"There are some places that don't care about that."

"Yeah, and those are the places that produce fucked-up kids," Wyl said, shaking his head. "I've got a friend from when I was a bonder named Leesie—"

"The undercover marshall?" Garrett broke in, remembering a little of Wyl's story.

"Yeah, they use her for that kind of shit all the time. She's got this way with people...anyway, she told me about an operation she took part in once infiltrating and producing evidence of wrongdoing at a baby mill. She said it was atrocious. The geneticists' backgrounds were all forged, half of the kids they incubated didn't make it and the other half...man, everything from deformities to mental retardation to naturals.

"And what could the parents do? The kids were biologically theirs, they'd paid for them, they had wanted them...but some people only want perfect kids, so when the place was shut down a lot of them went into Federation-run facilities instead of to their parents. If that was what the folks chose." Wyl picked up his tiny cup and blew on it a little. "It still makes Leesie cry to talk about it."

"That's terrible."

Wyl might have said more, but the faint door chime indicated that Miles was back, as he was the only other one who could get into the personal wing without having to be let in. Wyl set his fresh cup down untouched. "I'll get out of here, Gare. Robbie'll be back soon if Miles is in. Remember, tonight: club, dancing, party. Suck it up." He went out the back door, and Garrett grabbed up the espresso and went out to meet his father.

Miles was setting his formal coat down on the table by the entrance, looking exhausted. "How's Claudia?" he asked as soon as he saw Garrett.

"Fine. Sleeping."

"Good." Miles took the proffered cup and sipped, did a slight double-take, then sipped again. "Did you make this?"

"Wyl was here. That was going to be his third."

"Kid knows how to brew it," Miles said appreciatively.

"Things okay out there?"

"As okay as they can be. We've got a lead on the bomb's manufacturer, the company that was targeted is increasing security and I've spoken to the families of the victims..." Miles sighed. "So not great, but okay. Any problems here?"

"Lots of reporters. I persuaded Claudia not to make any comments."

"I should have mentioned that before I left."

"You might want to get her squared away with her own publicist or media relations person, just to be safe."

"You're right. I sometimes forget she doesn't have your experience," Miles said. He looked at Garrett fondly, and Garrett felt a surge of affection for his father.

"Can we talk in your office real quick?" he asked.

"Sure." It wasn't far, and they were careful not to wake Claudia as they moved past the cavernous living room. Once his door was safely shut, Miles turned to his son. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry about this morning," Garrett said without preamble. "I didn't mean to insinuate that you're not a good father."

Miles's lips twisted a little. "I made plenty of mistakes with you, Gare. Big ones. To be perfectly frank, I'm a little unsure about becoming a parent again. Claudia will do great, of course, but my schedule hasn't gotten any lighter over the years despite being out of the military now."

"It isn't your fault I was an unstable, egocentric little freak," Garrett snapped, not wanting to hear his father putting himself down. "Some traits breed true, and those gems came from Mom, no questions there."

"You weren't a freak," Miles said calmly. "You had medical issues that were being overlooked, and I wasn't giving you the attention you needed. I barely ever saw you, Gare. Who could blame you for doing what you did?"

"I can," he replied. "It was a stupid, completely selfish thing to do to myself, and afterwards...afterwards, you could have sent me to a nice, discreet rehab center. Instead you quit your work, put your entire career on hold to stay with me for a fucking year. That is not the act of a delinquent father. You might not have been there for every milestone, but you put me first when I needed you and you've been there for me ever since. You're a great father, and any more kids you have will be lucky to get you."

Miles' eyes were shining suspiciously, but his voice was reassuringly gruff as he said, "You can't say that kind of thing to me without advance warning, kiddo, it doesn't give me time to prepare."

"Yeah, well, I'm a bastard sometimes."

"Nope, completely legal." His father held out one arm and they embraced, briefly but tightly, before the embarrassment got to be too much for both of them and they separated again.

"Are you going to catch a nap before your morning officially starts?" Garrett asked.

"No time," Miles said, happily transitioning back to safer topics. "I'm supposed to meet with Jezria in two hours and I haven't looked over the changes she wants to make to the shipping contract yet. I can't go into that meeting unprepared."

"Should I let Claudia know you're in?"

"I'll wake her up in a moment. Go get some sleep, son, you look beat."

"Fuck you, I'm fresh as a daisy," Garrett replied amiably. "I'll see you later. Dinner out, maybe?"

"It might be better to order in for now," Miles said cautiously, "just to be safe. But I think some sort of farewell celebration is in order, since you're leaving tomorrow. Whatever you want."

"Dinner with you and Claudia and Robbie and Wyl."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Miles looked at him for a long moment, then shrugged. "As you wish."