Page 2 of Paradise

“It’s important because I’ve got a kid at home who needs supervision, and if one of his parents can’t be here, then the other one needs to be informed … No, I didn’t get Garrett’s message, I’ve been ferrying supplies up to theIndigoall day, but you should have forwarded it to—no, itisa part of your goddamn job description.” Cody listened with wide eyes as his daddy said a curse word. That meant he was really mad. “You work for Resident Services, it’s your job to facilitate communication between families. The regular ground coms still haven’t been expanded to cover low orbit, which is where I’ve been for my entire shift … yeah, well, next time, think about it.” He disconnected the call and took a deep breath, then turned toward Cody. “Hey, bucko.”

“Hi, Daddy.” He waited for his dad to take off his jacket and shoes before asking, “Where’s Garrett?”

“Apparently, he had to go fix some things Outside this morning. He wasn’t supposed to be gone long, and he did leave me a message, but I didn’t get it until just a few minutes ago.” Daddy got that worried line right between his eyebrows. “He was supposed to be back an hour before school ended, though. I talked to the lab, and they haven’t heard from him since his shuttle landed.”

“So he’s still Outside?” “Outside” meant outside the city—outside the environmental shields, which were closed now. “But how’s he going to get back in?” Ships couldn’t fly through the shields when they were up. Cody felt his stomach roll over. “The alarm went off at school, and we all had to come right home; that means something’s wrong, right?”

“Tsunami alert,” Daddy said, coming over and sitting down next to him on the couch. Cody burrowed into his side immediately. “One of the big waves is coming in, kind of by surprise. It wasn’t supposed to be big enough to reach the city, but the scientists upgraded it and sounded the alarm. We’ll be fine in here.”

“But Garrett’s Outside!” Cody protested. Of course, they’d be fine in the Box; it was always safe in here, but Garrett wasn’t with them.

“Yeah.” His dad took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then tried a smile. It wasn’t a very good one. “But he’s in a good shuttle with a good pilot. I’m sure they’re holed up somewhere safe. They’ll wait the wave out, and then they’ll come back once the shields are down.”

“Why didn’t they come back before the shields went up?”

“I don’t know,” Daddy said quietly. “We’ll have to ask him when he gets back.” He ruffled Cody’s hair, then tried to stand up. Cody clung to him like a monkey, and his dad took the hint and picked him up. “I can’t cook dinner when I’m holdin’ onto you, bucko.”

“’m not hungry.”

“Not even for mac and cheese?”

Oh … that was Cody’s favorite, all gooey and cheesy and crispy on top. Daddy usually only made it for special occasions, or if Cody was feeling sick. He was feeling kind of sick right now, so it made sense that Daddy would want him to be better. “Okay,” he agreed finally, and his dad let him sit on the counter and help grate the cheese.

By the time they ate, Cody was really hungry, and he finished two servings, but his dad hadn’t eaten very much of his own. “I’ll save it for later,” he said when Cody asked about it.

The com unit suddenly activated all on its own. “Advisory alert: wave impact in five minutes. All residents are required to remain indoors for the duration of the wave. Again, five minutes to wave impact. Remain indoors until you hear the relief bell sound.”

“You wanna watch it?” Daddy asked Cody after the com turned off. They had a big picture window at the top of the stairs that gave them a good view of the shields.

“Sure.” They put the dishes into the autoclave, and then Daddy picked Cody up again, without him even having to ask, and they went upstairs. Usually, Cody liked to watch the waves when they came close to the shields, but this time, as the faint light was replaced by no light at all and the thunderous crash of so much water filled his ears, all he felt was sick again. Garrett should be home, with them, and instead he was Outside, where anything could happen. He could get washed away. He could fall into the ocean and never come back. He coulddie.

“Hey, now, don’t cry,” his dad murmured, kissing his cheek. “Garrett’ll be fine. He’ll be back real soon, and he’ll tell us all about it.”

Cody wasn’t stupid. He knew when his daddy said things just to make him feel better, but it did help a little. He sniffed andwiped his face on his dad’s shirt, and they stood quiet for a while longer until the thunder died down, and the water washed away again.

“They’ll open the shields soon, and they’ll send another shuttle out to look for him if he doesn’t call,” Daddy said soothingly.

“Could you go look for him?” His dad was a real good pilot, the best. He’d find Garrett superfast.

“Nah, bucko, I’m stayin’ here with you.”

“Oh.”

“It’s gonna be fine.” Daddy walked them back downstairs and sat on the couch. Cody spread out but kept his head in his dad’s lap. “You look tired. You want to go to bed?”

Cody shook his head vehemently. “I want to stay up with you.”

Daddy didn’t even argue. “Okay. But go wash your teeth and get into your sleep clothes just in case. Maybe take a quick shower too.” He sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. “You kinda smell a lot like a little boy right now.”

“Iama boy!”

“I know, and phew.” His dad waved the air in front of his nose theatrically.

Maybe it was the glue. Cody had kind of gotten some of it on his shirt during art. And then he fell in the mud at recess, but the aide had helped him wash most of it out of his hair. But okay, maybe he did smell just a little. “Fine,” he said with a huge sigh. He pushed up off the couch and headed for his room just as the relief bell sounded.

As he picked out the sleep clothes he wanted to wear, Cody could hear his dad on the com with someone, but he was talking too quietly for Cody to hear. Well, if it was important, his dad would tell him about it later. Cody finally decided on his blue sleep set, because it had teddy bears sailing ships on it, then went into the bathroom and got into the shower. He conscientiously put his clothes in the cleaner before he got in,then remembered that he’d left his backpack by the front door. And Daddy hadn’t even noticed it! That meant Daddy wasreallyworried because he always noticed when the backpack was there. Usually because he tripped over it.

Cody washed fast, bouncing up and down while he waited for the sonic cleaner to finish with his teeth, then ran back out into the living room. He jumped on the couch and snuggled close again, and his dad covered him with the blanket that Garrett’s stepmom had sent them. It was the softest thing Cody had ever felt and had a warmer built into the fabric. Daddy turned the holoscreen on, but he turned the volume down and stroked his hand through Cody’s damp hair, slowly untangling the curls.

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