Enigma Read Online Free Page A

crucible for human interaction, not chemical reaction.”
    “I’ve taken the differences between the branches into account, Director Stowell.”
    “Then consider one thing further: whether you want to commit yourself to an enterprise which in the scheme of things has no future.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “That our investment in space is temporary, ephemeral. Our population is very nearly stabilized, and the infrastructure needed to support it is well on its way to being completed. Once those two conditions are in place, we will have very little need for off-planet resources. The long-term plan calls for stability, not growth. There will be a time, not all that much farther down the road, when we will call the ships home. Oh, we will still be busy in earth orbit, but that’s practically an eighth continent. It’s the System and Survey ships we’ll have no use for. Is that part of your calculation, too?”
    “No, sir. I dispute your précis,” Thackery said with quiet confidence. “The Council might well call the ships home. But I doubt very much if they would come.”
    Sighing resignedly, Stowell stood and moved to the door. “A romantic notion. Have it as you wish. I think you’re making a mistake. You won’t be the first to let Georgetown intimidate you, or the first to bolt. I like you, Merritt, so I hope I’m wrong. But if I’m right, I just hope you’re smart enough not to let the door lock behind you.”
    The use of his first name was an unexpected and jarring familiarity. Thackery drew a deep breath and blew it out his mouth. “All right. I’ll concede there’s at least some uncertainty. So please put me on hiatus.”
    Content with that small victory, Stowell opened the door and was gone.
    Thackery shook his head wearily and resumed his packing. There was no ready way to prove it to another’s satisfaction. But he knew in his own heart that he was running toward , not running away.
    Nevertheless, turning back Stowell’s challenges had exhausted his tolerance for confrontation. He had arranged his schedule so that the turbocopter from Dulles would drop him at Philadelphia’s central transport node four hours before his flight to London was scheduled to leave from the outlying PHX airport—enough time to seek out Andra. But when he arrived, he sought out a public netlink instead.
    He sat and stared into the nearly blank screen for a long time, composing his side of the conversation in advance. The results were unsatisfying. Then, on impulse, he selected Message mode rather than Call mode. He felt a pang of guilt over ducking a confrontation that way, then washed it away with a wave of comforting rationalizations: It won’t help us to yell at each other. A fight won’t change anything—
    Then the prompt bell chimed, and it was time to record:
    “Hello, Andra. I’m here in Philadelphia, at the transnode. I’d hoped to come by and see you, but I’m afraid the schedule got squeezed and I’m not going to be able to. I have another flight to catch—I’m on my way to London, to study at Tsiolkovsky. This is a little scary for me, but one of the things that I’m counting on is that you’re behind me, and that you’re happy I’m getting this chance.” He smiled nervously and searched for something else to say. Nothing else seemed relevant. “Take care, Andra. I’ll be in touch.”
    Thackery did not really know what kind of reaction he expected. In his most pessimistic moods, he comforted himself with the knowledge that there was no way she could stop him. “Mother” was a flexible concept without much legal standing, considering all the Alternate Conception variations—fetal adoption, host-mothering, group contract, blind-donor fertilization (Andra’s choice). And even the limited powers granted by his Care & Custody papers had expired when he was sixteen. He was an adult in the eyes of the law, an independent agent. The decision was not hers, it was his.
    But not being stopped