Armageddon Read Online Free PDF Page B

races?”
    Lena shook her head. “This isn’t about work. It’s about Morris.”
    Several emotions flickered across Nigel’s face, alarm prominent among them.
    “He’s still refusing to come live you?”
    Lena shook her head. “That’s just it. He isn’t. He moved in with me without a whimper of protest when I went to see him a few days ago.”
    Nigel removed his hand and sat back as the bot returned and set their food out on the table before them. When the server had departed again, Nigel placed his napkin in his lap and picked up his fork. He was frowning thoughtfully, though, and Lena could see he thought that Morris’ behavior was as strange as she did.
    “Maybe he finally realized he was getting to the point where he really needed someone to look after him,” he said slowly.
    Lena swallowed against a knot in her throat and went through the motions as Nigel had, pretending an interest in her meal she didn’t feel. “I was in a state of shock, though.” Resisting the urge to glance toward the vid she knew was trained to observe all of the diners, she tried to formulate something to say that would sound innocuous to those who listened but would get her anxieties across to Nigel. “He seems … happy. He spends all day wandering around East end sightseeing.”
    Nigel’s brows rose, but she saw alarm flicker in his eyes again. He managed a shrug. “He hasn’t visited this side of Grand City in years. It’s changed a lot.”
    Lena forced a smile. “Yes. When I get home in the evenings, he always gives me an account of the improvements he’s seen. It’s good to see him out and about instead of huddled in front of the vid, watching the news all day. And he’s so cheerful and upbeat about absolutely everything that it keeps my spirits high.” It was hard to keep the note of hysteria out of her voice when she made that announcement.

    Nigel stiffened. For a moment his dark skin turned a sickly, pasty shade, and she knew he’d caught the alarm she felt.

    “I’d thought about taking him to the clinic, but he always makes excuses and I finally realized he’s just a … new man. I guess he just missed the two of us and that was

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    why he always seemed so dispirited when I went to see him before.”
    She could see Nigel was struggling with the hints she’d passed to him. Focusing on her meal, she allowed him to sort it out in his mind. “I should stop by for a visit,”
    Nigel said finally. “I haven’t been to see either one of you in weeks.”
    Lena beamed at him. Relief flooded her, making her feel weak as the tension vanished. “That would be such fun! Tonight? I could stop by the market and pick up something special for dinner.”
    Nigel glanced at his watch. “Sure. I have to work late. I’ve got five more clients to see today, but I’ll come as soon as I’m off and we can catch up.”
    Lena couldn’t help but notice that she’d completely demolished Nigel’s appetite.
    She could see he was struggling to maintain a pretense of interest in his food. Guilt flooded her when she realized her own appetite had exerted itself now that she’d shouldered her anxiety off onto him.
    She wished she could’ve just explained everything plainly. Nigel might have been able to dismiss her qualms without growing so alarmed himself, but there was no discussing anything private in public if one wanted to keep it private.
    She’d never found that particularly disturbing before. The gov had vids everywhere to monitor its citizens and prevent crime. It was for their own safety, and it was a comfort to know that, unlike the old days, crime was now almost non-existent and one could walk most anywhere, at any time of the day or night, without concern for their safety.
    Not that anyone except the home guard was allowed on the streets after curfew.
    She supposed she shouldn’t worry about being overheard now. It wasn’t as if there was anything criminal in anything she might have said.
    Yet she had felt real