Jupiter Project Read Free

is pulling extra duty today, so you’ll go on an hour late.” He said this in a straight, informal way, but there was a note of strain in his voice.
    “Oh, okay,” I said. “I’ll have lunch first.”
    “Got a minute?” he said quickly. He waved toward his office. I nodded and followed him into the cramped little room. Somehow Dad always looks bigger in his office, even though he’s only a few centimeters taller than me. The medical people say I’ll probably dwarf him in a few more years, since the low-g environment will make all us kids taller. But Dad’s over two meters now, without an ounce of fat, and he looks like he wrestles bears for a living. He sat down and put his feet up on his desk—no small trick, in that room—and I folded a straight seat out from the wall to perch on.
    “I wanted to talk before you go rushing off to Ganymede. You leave in a day or two, isn’t that right?” He frowned, as though thinking to himself.
    “Yes, but I’ll only be gone a week.”
    “There are a few things you ought to know before then, and I think you’d better hear them without your mother around.” He gave me a wry grin. “Sometimes she takes the edge off what I want to say.”
    “Uh huh.”
    He tugged at his long sideburns. “I’ve been hearing some pretty high quality scuttlebutt. Talk about cutting corners on Lab operations, minimizing expenses—but serious, this time, dead serious. I think there’s something behind it. Things are brewing back Earthside. I suspect a few insiders guessed early, several months back. That would explain some of the maneuvering going on in the higher echelons of the Lab.” He stared off into space. “In particular, the adroit sidestepping by a certain figure in Bio-Tech…”
    “You’re leaving me behind. Dad. What’s happening?”
    “Sorry. Let’s see—in, ummm, about six months you’ll turn eighteen. I suppose you have considered what that means?”
    “Sure. I’ll be voting age. Only there’s nobody to vote for, out here.”
    He smiled wryly and then frowned. “There’s more than that, I’m afraid. Below eighteen, a boy dips into the knowledge and history the human race has accumulated, even though mankind’s history is mostly a series of regrettable errors. After eighteen, you’ve earned the right to make your own mistakes.”
    “Fine. I’m ready.”
    “Well…” Dad looked uncomfortable. “I have been wondering if you might make your first big mistake if you elect to remain here at the Laboratory.”
    “Huh? You don’t mean I should go back? ”
    “A solid grounding at Caltech will stand you better in the long run than what you can pick up casually here.”
    “I don’t want that. For Chrissake—”
    “Calm down. Sit.” I noticed that I had gotten to my feet without being aware of it. I sat.
    “I am only making a few observations,” Dad said mildly. “What you do is your business—or will be, six months from now. You are officially a minor until age eighteen. That means you are a member of our family and a student. After that, where you live and what you do is strictly between you and the Laboratory administration.”
    “Yes.” I said. I value my independence as highly as anybody, but it sounded as though Dad was practically throwing me out.
    “But you’ll always be my son.” He smiled. “You know you’re welcome in our home. I’m just telling you, now, that it’s time to start thinking about the future.
    “I have thought about it. I’m going to stay here,” I said, setting my shoulders.
    “Now, don’t go all stiff-necked on me.” He grimaced and scratched his bald spot. “Have you figured out which job slot you’re going to apply for?”
    “Oh, well, probably for watch officer in Monitoring.”
    Dad smiled faintly. “I am sure your mother would be happy to know you freely elect to continue working in dear-old-Dad’s section. What do you really want to do?”
    “Uh, something outside, probably. Low-g work.”
    “Not a