Threshold Shift Read Online Free PDF Page A

did in Main Street. I’d
be dead now if you hadn’t weighed in.”
    “It
seemed the right thing to do.”
    “Well,
thank-you, I know we haven’t spoken for a while, but I... I’ve
missed you.”
    “Dad,
this doesn’t change anything,” Jon said. “Once Paul
is sorted out I’ll be shipping off-world. I never planned to
stay here. I should have been on the evening shuttle.”
    “Were
you going to say goodbye?” Jacob asked.
    “What
would be the point, Dad?”
    “Despite
everything,” Jacob said. “I just thought you would.”
    Jon
felt the old anger beginning to rise to the surface. He swallowed it
down again. His Mother would have said this was not the appropriate
time. When was there ever an appropriate time?
    His
father’s jaw was set tight. There was a long moment of silence
between them.
    “It’s
a big universe out there, Dad,” Jon said finally. “Threshold
is just a dirty backwater. There is so much to see.”
    “Oh,
I know,” Jacob said. “I know. You think the Threshians
are horrible, they’re just big lizards. There are creatures out
there that would make you run for the hills. Things that would kill
you without a second thought, planets where hunting humans is a
commercial sport. You want to go out into that?”
    Jon
took a deep breath. “Yes.”
    “You
little fool.”
    “You’ve
seen it Dad,” Jon said. “All I want is to see it too.”
    Jacob
cradled his bandaged hand, his eyes on his desk. “Sometimes all
that matters is a little justice, in a little town, on a little
border planet.”
    “Maybe
today, Dad,” Jon said, “but not tomorrow. I am going to
get Paul out of here and then myself. I am not going to be your
successor.”
    “There
isn’t anyone else,” Jacob replied. “Lucas was the
best deputy I had, but even he couldn’t stomach it.”
    “What
about the deputy you have already?” Jon asked. “Surely
she can take over?”
    “You
mean Roe? I don’t think so. She’s good, but,” he
became thoughtful. “I couldn’t do that to her.”
    Jon
shook his head in disgust. “But you could do it to me?”
    “Look,”
Jacob said. “When you left, she came and helped out. I was
grateful, she’s good with a gun, she can talk to people, but
being Marshal would break her.”
    “What
do you think it would do to me?” Jon asked, the anger sliding
to the surface despite his earlier efforts.
    “You’re
my son,” Jacob said. “You’re stronger. You have no
idea how strong you are. It should be you.”
    “Save
it, Dad. There are plenty of female Marshals out there, and Roe is
going to be one of them.”
    “No,”
Jacob replied. “No.”
    “In
fact,” Jon said. “I need to get her back here.”
    “She’s
dealing with a mining dispute.”
    “Well,
we need her here,” Jon said. “I’m recalling her.”
    “No!”
Jacob said, pounding his desk with his good hand.
    Jon
stared into his father’s tired eyes. “Is there something
going on between you?”
    “Of
course not,” Jacob said, rubbing the stubble on his chin.
    “Oh,”
Jon said, suddenly realising, “She doesn’t know, does
she?”
    “I
don’t want her to see me like this.”
    “Too
bad,” Jon said. “If you don’t let me recall her,
I’ll walk.”
    Jacob
was silent, a single bead of sweat rolling down his cheek next to his
eye. Jon waited.
    “Recall
her,” Jacob said finally. “And damn you for forcing me.”
    “Good,”
Jon replied, he was already activating his Espirnet implant,
accessing communications.
    “Deputy Roe, this is base, please respond.”
    A few
moments passed, and then her avatar appeared in his field of vision,
a girl with close-cropped spiky black hair and severe features.
    “Jon,
what are you doing there?” She asked. “Is the Marshal
OK?”
    “He’s
a little beaten up, but he’ll live. Where are you?”
    Jon
saw Jacob watching him intently. His father had never had an Espirnet
implant fitted, he could only be aware of one side of the
conversation, Jon’s