Nemesis Read Free

citizens of later Settlements.
    Pitt was tall, though, with iron gray hair, and a long face, and deep blue eyes, and a body that was still in good shape, despite the fact that he was fifty-six.
    Pitt looked up and smiled as Eugenia Insigna entered, but felt the usual small surge of uneasiness. There was something always uneasy-making about Eugenia, even wearying. She had these Causes (capital C) that were hard to deal with.
    “Thank you for seeing me, Janus,” she said, “on such short notice.”
    Pitt placed his computer on hold, and leaned back in his chair, deliberately producing an air of relaxation.
    “Come,” he said, “there’s no formality between us. We go back a long way.”
    “And have shared a great deal,” said Insigna.
    “So we have,” said Pitt. “And how is your daughter?”
    “It’s about her I wish to speak, as a matter of fact. Are we shielded?”
    Pitt’s eyebrows arched. “Why shielded? What is there to shield and from whom?”
    The very question activated Pitt’s realization of the odd position in which Rotor found itself. To all practical purposes, it was alone in the Universe. The Solar System was more than two light-years away, and no other intelligence-bearing worlds might exist within hundreds of light-years or, for all anyone knew, billions of light-years in any direction.
    Rotorians might have fits of loneliness and uncertainty, but they were free of any fear of outside interference. Well, almost any fear, thought Pitt.
    Insigna said, “You know what there is to shield. It was you who have always insisted on secrecy.”
    Pitt activated the shield and said, “Are we to take that up again? Please, Eugenia, it’s all settled. It was settled when we left fourteen years ago. I know that you brood about it now and then—”
    “Brood about it? Why not? It’s
my
star,” and her arm flailed outward as if in the direction of Nemesis. “It’s
my
responsibility.”
    Pitt’s jaw tightened. Do we have to go through all this again? he thought.
    Aloud, he said, “We’re shielded. Now, what’s bothering you?”
    “Marlene. My daughter. Somehow she knows.”
    “Knows what?”
    “About Nemesis and the Solar System.”
    “How could she know? Unless you’ve told her?”
    Insigna spread her arms helplessly. “Of course I didn’t tell her, but I don’t have to. I don’t know how it is, but somehow Marlene seems to hear and see everything. And from the little things she hears and sees, she works things out. She’s always been able to do it, but in the last year it’s grown much worse.”
    “Well then, she guesses, and sometimes she makes lucky guesses. Tell her she’s wrong, and see that she doesn’t talk about it.”
    “But she’s already told a young man, who came to tell me. That’s how I know. Aurinel Pampas. He’s a friend of the family.”
    “Ah yes. I’m aware of him—somewhat. Simply tell him not to listen to fantasies made up by a little girl.”
    “She’s not a little girl. She’s fifteen.”
    “To him, she’s a little girl, I assure you. I said I’m aware of the young man. I’m under the impression he’s pushing adulthood very hard and I remember, when I was his age, that fifteen-year-old girls were beneath contempt, especially if they were—”
    Insigna said bitterly, “I understand. Especially if they are short, plump, and plain. Does it matter that she’s highly intelligent?”
    “To you and to me? Certainly. To Aurinel, certainly not. If necessary, I’ll talk to the boy. You talk to Marlene. Tell her the idea is ridiculous, that it isn’t true, and that she must not spread disturbing fairy tales.”
    “But what if it
is
true?”
    “That’s beside the point. Look, Eugenia, you and I have concealed this possibility for years, and it would be better if we continued to conceal it. If it gets around, it will be exaggerated, and there will be rising sentiment about the matter—useless sentiment. It will only distract us from the job that has