Postsingular

"Welcome to the Merz Boat, " whispered Jayjay. "You and me, Thuy, forever." CHAPTER 9

The Attack Shoons

The bay's riffles were faintly lit by the San Francisco lights, the reflections roughened by the endless rain. The soft plastic scow flexed with the water's gentle chop. Double-jointed mounds of Craigor's art projects stood heaped beside his little workshop at the boat's stern. Amidships, the glowing windows of a long cabin illuminated fishing nets and a big glass tank of cuttlefish. In the bow, a group of Jil's shoons chattered among themselves and called soft greetings.

"How-" began Thuy, but now one of the cabin doors opened and here came Jil Zonder. Although the night was dark, Thuy could see Jil clearly via the orphidnet: perfect bob of dark hair, straight nose and great cheekbones, almond eyes and crisply cut mouth. Thuy had always admired Jil, and even now she wanted to like her.

"You made it, Thuy!" exclaimed Jil. Seen up close, her face was tired and worn. The sudocoke was dragging her down. "I watched Jayjay watching your reading," said Jil. "I caught the part about Topping's office having that grill co

"Aren't you giving away the surprise, talking about it out loud?" said Thuy.

"I hardly know what I'm saying anymore," said Jil, suddenly on the point of tears. "Nobody cares about me anymore. I don't matter."

"Do you mind that I'm here?" said Thuy uncertainly. She felt naПve and plain and stupidly perky before this suffering older woman.

"Oh, forget about my stupid fling with Jayjay," said Jil in a flat, rapid tone. She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "Dead ashes for him, just a snack. He's such a beautiful boy. Maybe I thought I'd win Craigor back that way. As if. I hope you didn't watch us on Founders, Thuy?"

"No, no," said Thuy. "Of course not."

"Good," said Jil, scratching her scalp. "The kids saw us almost right away, and then it was horrible and we had to stop having sex. Momotaro slugged Jayjay in the crotch. Bixie had a screaming fit. And usually she's so calm. Girls are wonderful when they're eleven. Remember being that age, Thuy? It's right before sex drags you down. I've never been so unhappy in my life."

"But that was all two months ago, Jil," put in Jayjay, trying to lighten the mood. "And you and I are still friends, right? I wish you and Craigor could settle back down. And of course it's for the best if you and I keep things platonic. I feel like I abused your hospitality."

Jil shrugged and sniffled, her expression unutterably bleak.

"By the way, Thuy," jabbered Jayjay, "in case you're wondering why I'm still on the Merz Boat, it's because of Azaroth, that Hibraner friend of yours? He always turns up here. He steals cuttlefish and sends them to the Hibrane to eat. Azaroth has been helping me get good at physics. Not that he's a scientist. But he remembers stuff for me. And Craigor's okay with me being here. He likes that I'm helping him teleport."

Thuy felt an irrational pang of jealousy to learn that Azaroth was working with Jayjay as well as with her.

"Pop, " said a deep voice right behind Thuy, startling her. It was Craigor, materializing out of nowhere, wearing a cuttlefish-stenciled poncho like Jayjay's.

"How do you guys do that?" asked Thuy, wiping the rain from her eyes.

"I invented a new family of quantum mechanical interpolators," said Jayjay. "I package them as little agents. You saw one just now, it looked like a caterpillar. Nobody gets hold of my interpolation agents unless I give them a onetime link. I'm begi

"You used the Big Pig?" said Thuy, disappointed. A sudden gust of wind sent salt spray flying across the deck, totally drenching her.

"The winter wet T-shirt look," said Craigor, theatrically goggling at Thuy's soggy sweater and her sagging striped tights. He was also peering under her clothes through the orphidnet; she could sense the hitcounts. Thuy looked to Jil for help.

"Don't worry about Jayjay, Thuy," said Jil, ignoring her husband. "Jayjay's down to one Pig session every two weeks. It takes him that long to process all the stuff that Azaroth helps him remember. He's gotten so smart. I'm proud of him. Come into the cabin and dry off. You're going to catch a cold and start sniffling like me."

"That golem shoon's on his way," said Craigor, asserting his presence. "And he's bringing backup. See them, kiqs? Look in the orphidnet: the golem, a crocodile, a pelican, and a pterodactyl." He messaged the links.

Thuy zoomed in on the ragged, ineluctable forms. The stubby golem shoon was a mile off, sculling toward the Merz Boat. He'd puffed up his body with air so as to float on the surface, and he was using his arms and legs like oars. Further away, but moving faster, was a submerged plastic crocodile beating a long, tapering tail. A pair of sinister flying shoons were just leaving the ExaExa labs in San Francisco, one resembling a pale green pelican, the other a leathery reddish pterodactyl. "Maybe your boat should swim down to the South Bay?" Thuy said to Craigor.

"No use," said Craigor. "It's like when a Frankenstein monster is chasing you in a dream: he moves slow, but he never stops, and eventually you have to rest, and that's when he catches up." Reflexively clowning, Craigor lurched stiff-legged toward the stern, rocking from side to side, intoning, "Me kill bad shoons. Jayjay help."

"I'm staying with Thuy," said Jayjay, not budging from her side.

Craigor's voice returned to normal. "If we're not ready for those attack shoons, kiq, there's go

"Don't always bring that up," said Jayjay testily. "You should be nicer to Jil."

"Fuck you. You go

"All right, " said Jayjay. "Give us a freakin' minute." He hugged Thuy again, and this time she let him kiss her.

"You feel so good," Thuy messaged privately. "Why didn't you call?"

"I missed you a lot," messaged back Jayjay. "But I didn't want to bug you till I'd done something to make you proud. And now I've invented my own teleportation technique. It's much hipper than the Armory-to-ExaExa kludge that Luty set up with those gratings. Prav Plato says I should publish my work as a physics paper, but I'm thinking I should keep the details secret and get rich by selling onetime access links."

"Rich would be nice," messaged Thuy. "That way you can get a good place to live. And then maybe we-" But she didn't dare formulate her wish, not with Jil and Craigor around.

"Move it, Thuy," said Jil, bossily tapping her on the shoulder. "Dry clothes and hot tea." Even though Jil was frowning, her voice was creepily calm. "Jayjay has to help Craigor. After all, it's thanks to you that those attack shoons are coming here."