Deep Black Road: The Head of the Snake

Chapter 29

Ricky stood, looking out the window in the empty front room and resting his hand on the spot where Suzanne had pressed her hand. It was oddly warm—not 'warm' according to his skin sensors, but warm to his—for want of better words—inner self.

Suzanne, he thought. You 'touched' me; but it wasn't very nice. Just the same, feeling your feelings, that's something I could never do with Lisa. She was really open; so it wasn't that big a deal; but still, there were times I had to guess. Ha! I'll never have that problem with you.

There's a scary thought: I can't hide from you. But you can't hide from me either. We're trapped with each other.

Abruptly a burst of anger from Suzanne derailed his train of thought; and he realized that he could 'feel' how far away she was.

She must be back at the CDA, he thought; but what's she so upset about?

God, she's nasty. It's like she hates the whole world.

No, that's not it. He let her feelings wash through his mind for a moment. Yeah! She's scared of the whole world! But why would she feel that way? Could somebody have treated her that badly?

And she knows I don't like her. Rats! I blew it again, God. Sorry.

But what am I supposed to do? It's not like I'm a psychiatrist or anything.

No, I don't do anything but be you to her, which means I've got to love her, and let you do the rest.

Thanks for putting up with me.

He looked at his hands.

I wanted to fix her? That made my hand glow?

He thought over the incidents when his glow had turned on. That first time with Bill didn't count because he was under repair himself; but when he'd zapped that stasis field General Orkan had trapped him with, he'd definitely felt he needed fixing.

Of course, he could do an experiment. He brought up the memory of Suzanne as he first saw her as a robot, lying dormant on his father's worktable. After a moment, his hands became white in the darkness.

That settles it, he thought. Now to control it.

But after several attempts, he was forced to conclude that the glow wasn't a robotic function, meaning that he was going to have to be careful about his feelings, and what was going on in his head ... um, chest ... processor—yeah, processor.

#

"Hi, you," linked Ricky in the morning when his father connected. "What's happening?"

"Ricky!" his father exclaimed. "What are you up to?"

"Spinning my wheels. Suzanne told me you wanted to get a hold of me."

"Oh good." He was silent for a little, and then said, "Uh, Ricky?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you come back home? I ... I need to talk with you."

That startled Ricky. "No tricks?"

A sigh. "No tricks."

"Okay. How about I meet you at the lab this afternoon, like maybe around two?"

"No, I'm busy with post-graduates then. Make it five."

#

That evening, Dr. Sheppard and Ricky sat down at the kitchen table.