“I never thought there’d be a day when I’d say Army cooking beats anything I can name,” Keene replied. “But there it is.” He dug hungrily into the plate of eggs, biscuit, gravy, and sausage. “What about you? How have you been? Have some coffee.”
“Apart from the outside, not too bad. My face feels as if it’s been sandpapered.” Alicia poured coffee into a mug for herself, adding milk from a cardboard carton.
“You’ve been working nonstop. How do you do it?”
“It must be my virtuous character. And then having Leo around is always an inspiration.”
“There’s another one who amazes me. How did you get to meet him? You know, in all the years I’ve known him, he’s never told me.”
“Oh, really?”
“No. Tell me. I’m curious.”
“Oh, it was in a bar in Manhattan. I was young and new here—just took a notion to see the other side of the world. This guy was coming on strong and being a pain—you know, a jerk. Leo saw that I didn’t know how to deal with it, so he moved in and gave him a lesson in charm and manners. I think I just wanted to see the look on the guy’s face when I walked out to go someplace else with a man twice his age.” Alicia chuckled. “Leo knew I would, because he’s got the same kind of humor. Anyway, it grew from there. He thinks I’m crazy, you know.”
“Does he really?”
“Don’t tell me he never told you.”
“If he had, I’d probably choose not to remember.”
Alicia started to smile, then winced as it stretched the dried skin around her mouth. “Oh, how gallant! I love it. You see, underneath all this outside, you’re just a romantic too.”
“Maybe.”
“You give up your place on the shuttle to go and find Vicki, and even that gorgeous Kronian woman can’t make you change your mind? Of course you are! What else is there to call it?”
“Maybe I just didn’t like the thought of being privileged,” Keene suggested. “Equal opportunity. An old American tradition.”
“Pah. I don’t believe a word of it. It’s just the gruff outside switching itself on again.” Alicia helped herself to a spare piece of biscuit. “So tell me about her, Lan.”
Keene leaned back in the chair and sighed. “Oh . . . It wasn’t anything romantic. Just a kind of closeness that comes from two people who think the same way and share a lot of values and things. You know—she was the kind of person you never had to explain to about what you were thinking or how you felt, because she already knew. I don’t think I even realized it myself much until these last few weeks. . . .” Keene broke off when he realized that Alicia was frowning at him. He raised his eyebrows quizzically.
“Why do you say she `was’?” Alicia asked. “You make her sound like a thing of the past, a piece of history already.”
Keene stared at her uncertainly, then jerked his head in agitation. “Well, I mean, it’s . . .” He faltered, unable to say the painful but obvious.
“Lan, what are you saying?”
“What else is there to say? We tried. . . . That’s not an option anymore. All we can do now is stay here and figure out what—”
“Lan!” Alicia protested. “You can’t! We’re not staying anywhere. We’re going on to San Saucillo like we said. You can’t change your mind now.”
“But . . .” Keene shook his head. What other way was there to put it? “Alicia, there isn’t any way to get there. All flying is over, finished. They’re saving the planes for when things get better. It’ll be years before anyone can make any again. The roads are all choked or blocked, and whatever can move on them is going the wrong way.”
“We don’t need the roads,” Alicia said. “I’ve been talking to some of General Weyland’s staff. Stocks of gas and supplies from south and east Texas have been concentrated in San Antonio. A train is leaving here tonight to bring a load back up to El Paso. There will be plenty of room on the outward run.”