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treasured it more.
She looked at him for several seconds, then asked, Why do old people always
say stuff like that?
Conrad thought for a while before answering. Because it s true, I suppose.
Because we hope to be listened to, though we know we will not.
Was he really as old as all that? Did it show? Had he dug himself into so
deep a rut that any break in the routine was this unsettling? He
wasphilosophizing, for crying out loud. Conrad Mursk, the ne er-do-well space
pirate and summer camp hooligan! But no, that was hardly fair to the original
Conrad Mursk, who had never asked to grow up into . . . what? A man who worked
hard all the time, never playing, decade in and decade out?
It was a troubling thought, and it panicked him so greatly that when Bascal
finally arrived, the first thing Conrad said to him as he stood in the
doorway flanked by a pair of looming Guards was, I need a new job, Bas. Your
Majesty, Sire, I need to be someplace far away. Your daughter here who by the
way you should ve told me about! has persuaded me that my life needs shaking
up. And she s correct. How did I not see this? Why didn t you tell me?
Um, I did, the king said, blinking. Didn t I?
Can you get me out of here? Bas, I need adventure, or anyway I need change.
Sudden, dramatic change the kind that keeps a person young.
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But you re the greatest architect in the world, the king protested.
You rebuilding a world for the rest of us to inhabit. It s what you always
wanted, right? You had to come six light-years to achieve it!
I wanted it, yes, but not forever. Not some unchanging rut to last me all
through eternity. Have I never thought this through before? There has to be
somethingnext, doesn t there? Or my life is over, and the fact that I ll never
die becomes an actual liability.
May I come in? Bascal asked with mock impatience.
Oh. Sorry, yes. But Conrad, lost in his thoughts, continued to block the
doorway. You ve said it yourself: there are other architects. I don t have to
build the whole world. If I m going to live forever then I should be out
there, experiencing things. Right? Maybe my childish ambitions are something
I m supposed to outgrow. We used to bepirates, for crying out loud. Every day
a new adventure.
Laughing, Bascal nudged Conrad out of the way and stepped inside. One hulking
Palace Guard trailed in behind him. That wasn t what you said at the time,
boyo. You were a miserable mutineer who never stopped trying to get us out of
that business. And you were successful in the end, if I recall correctly. We
were caught and punished. Did you forget that part? Or sleep through it?
I was a fool, then. Just get me away from here, away from myself, so I can t
fall back into this habit. Send me somewhere. Make it an order, a
proclamation.
Okay, okay. Calm down. The king pulled out a chair and sat down next to
Wendy. As it happens, I know of a job which just opened up, for which you re
uniquely qualified. Yesterday I wouldn t have dreamed of asking, but it seems
the situation has changed. How would you like to work in space again?
Perfect, Conrad said, seizing on it and nodding vigorously. The stars, the
vacuum . . . When do I start?
Four days. Actually, ninety-seven pids.Fuck I hate this planet s clock. It s
three months from now, all right? On December first.
Youdesigned the clock, Bas.
God designed it, my boy, to keep this place from ever quite feeling like
home.
Hey, what about me? Wendy protested from the kitchen. Mr. Mursk, you said
you had a young man for me. You said you d show me around, or he would, or
something. You just got done telling me how that pirate stuff was all in the
past. What were you, lying?
Bascal looked from Conrad to Wendy and back again. It sounds as though I
missed something. Perhaps something better missed, something a good father
ought not to want to know. Wendy, fear not, I will order Conrad to keep his
promises to you, provided they are honorable. And Conrad, with this Guard as
my witness, I do hereby legally request your presence at Skyhook Station at
the top of the Gravittoir, there to travel to Bubble Hood, for rendezvous with
your ship. I can t make it an order, much as I d like to, but my suggestions
have considerable impact on those who disregard them.
Fine, Conrad said, allowing himself to relax. The situation was fixable. In
fact, he had all of eternity to fix it, and this was just the first step.
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What s the job?
Bascal smiled wickedly. Why, first mate of the QMSNewhope . She s got a
systemwide procurement tour coming up, and I need someone onboard I can trust
to speak for me. The captain is an old girlfriend of yours, I m afraid, but
that s just the sort of problem we immorbids have to put up with in life. So?
What do you think?
Conrad mulled it over for about a tenth of a second before saying, With this
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