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of the government. And it had done its job here, even if it hadn't done it
very fast.
Would the Romans know what to do with freedom if they got it? They'd done
without it for a long, long time.
Jeremy shrugged. It wasn't his worry, not any more. Sure enough, he was and
felt like a visitor here once more, not somebody who might have to put down
deep roots. And that suited him just fine. Not living in
Polisso for the rest of his life, even if that meant going back to high school
and catching up on everything he'd missed, seemed pretty good.
Everything is clean now, in both transposition chamber areas, Mom wrote.
They're running a last few checks, and then we'll be able to come through.
Amanda raised an eyebrow when she read that. If everything were clean now, her
folks should have been able to come straight through now. The technicians
wouldn't be running more checks. She sighed.
She could understand why they didn't want to risk letting a tailored virus
loose in Agrippan Rome.
Doctors here couldn't do anything about natural germs, let alone genetically
engineered ones.
She said, Answer. We'll see you when we see you, that's all. We miss you. It's
already been too long.
Send.
The words minus the opening and ending commands appeared on the PowerBook's
screen. They would also appear on the monitor Mom was looking at back home.
When Mom and Dad came into
Polisso again, word would be bound to get back to the city prefect. Amanda
knew that Sesto Capurnio still half suspected she and Jeremy had knocked their
parents over the head and buried them somewhere out of the way.
Well, I don't have to worry about what Sesto Capurnio suspects, not now,
Amanda thought. She was just a tourist again, and she wouldn't even be that
for very long. Burgers. Fries. Milkshakes. Sushi. Lamb vindaloo. Spit flooded
into her mouth. She was tired of barley porridge and gritty brown bread.
It's been much too long, Mom agreed. You don't know how much we've missed you
and worried about you. Well, it won't be much longer. I've got to go. See you
soon.
See you, Amanda said. She'd done plenty of worrying about herself, too. Nice
to know somebody else was also doing it for her. That was a big part of what
parents were for.
She didn't want to leave the cellar. Going back into the world of Agrippan
Rome, the world of stinks, the world with slavery and without electricity,
reminded her of everything she'd left behind. She'd get it back again, though.
And she and Jeremy would get Mom and Dad back, too. It was like living in a
fairy tale when you got three wishes.
But the three wishes hadn't happened yet. She just had the promise that they
would. What to do in the
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meantime? The only thing she could see, was to get on with her life. She felt
like Cinderella, back with her stepmother and nasty stepsisters before the
Prince came along with the glass slipper.
The next morning, she put a water jar on her hip and went to the fountain. She
would never be able to go there without thinking of the Lietuvan cannonball
ricocheting through the crowd of women that one dreadful morning. She noticed
local women also looking at the scars it had left behind on the stonework.
The real damage it had done, though, had nothing to do with stonework.
Maria was at the fountain. She and a couple of free women were talking about
the victory the Romans had won against King Kuzmickas. People in Polisso hoped
it meant the Lietuvans wouldn't invade again any time soon. Past that, they
didn't much seem to care.
One of the free women waved to Amanda. What do you think? the local asked. You
went out there and gave the King presents. Will he try again soon?
How can I know that? Amanda said reasonably. I just met him for a little
while. I don't know how badly the legions beat him, either. If they really
smashed up his army, maybe he'll stay in his own country for a while. If they
didn't, though, he might think he'd have better luck next time and try again.
Sounds sensible. The local woman seemed surprised. Maybe she wasn't used to
logically thinking things through. Even back in the home timeline, a lot of
people weren't. That never failed to startle Amanda when she bumped into it,
which probably wasn't sensible on her part.
Maria smiled at her. Amanda cautiously smiled back. The slave girl seemed
willing to be friendly, at least to a certain degree, no matter what she
believed. Maybe that meant Maria wasn't quite so strict herself as
Amanda had thought. More likely, it just meant the slave couldn't help being a
friendly person even if her beliefs were strict. Maria said, You seem happy.
Amanda nodded. I am happy. I just got a message from my mother and father. She
didn't have to say the message had crossed timelines to get here. They ought
to be back in Polisso in a few days.
Oh, that is good news. Maria set down her water jar and gave Amanda a hug.
Yes, she was a friendly person, all right. I know you and your brother have
been worried about them. A little. Amanda didn't want to say how much. She
couldn't say all the reasons why she and Jeremy had been worried, either.
They will have worried about you even more, what with the two of you under [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]