Rama 3 – The Garden of Rama by Clarke, Arthur C.

“Not bad. . . . Fairly interesting, in fact. Slowly but surely the human engineers are becoming more comfortable with the Einsteins.” He paused. “Did you hear what I said about Ellie and Benjy?”

Nicote sighed. From the tone in Richard’s voice she understood his real message. Despite her fatigue, she exited from the bedroom and headed down the hall.

Ellie was already asleep, but Benjy was still awake in the room he shared with Patrick. Nicole sat down beside Benjy and took his hand. “Hel-lo, Ma-ma,” the boy said.

“Uncle Richard mentioned that you and Ellie went into the village this afternoon,” Nicole said to her eldest son.

An expression of pain creased the boy’s face for a few seconds and then disappeared. “Yes, Ma-ma,” he said.

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“Ellie told me that they were recognized and that one of the new colonists called them some names,” Patrick said from the opposite side of the room.

“Is that right, darling?” Nicole asked Benjy, still holding and stroking his hands.

The boy made a barely perceptible affirmative motion with his head and then stared silently at his mother. “What’s a goon, Ma-ma?” he said suddenly, his eyes filling with tears.

Nicole put her arms around Benjy. “Did someone call you a goon today?” she asked softly.

Benjy nodded. “The word doesn’t have a specific meaning,” Nicole answered. “Anyone who is different, or perhaps objectionable, might be called a goon.” She caressed Benjy again. “People use words like that when they aren’t thinking. Whoever called you a goon was probably confused, or upset, by other events in his life, and he just lashed out at you because he didn’t understand you. . . . Did you do anything to bother him?”

“No, Ma-ma. I just told him mat I liked the wo-man*s yel-low hair.”

It took several minutes, but Nicole eventually learned the gist of what had occurred in the porcelain shop. When she thought that Benjy was all right, Nicole walked across the room to kiss Patrick good night. “And how about you?” she said. “Was your day all right?”

“Mostly,” Patrick said. “I only had one disaster— down at the park.” He tried to smile. “Some of the new boys were playing basketball and invited me to join them. … I was absolutely terrible. A couple of them laughed at me.”

Nicole gave Patrick a long and tender hug. Patrick is strong, Nicole said to herself when she was out in the hall, headed back to her bedroom. But even he needs support. She took a deep breath. Am I doing the right thing? she asked herself for the umpteenth time since she had become deeply involved in all aspects of the planning for the colony. / feel so responsible for everything here. I want New Eden to begin properly. . . . But my children still need more of my time. . . . Will I ever achieve the right balance?

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Richard was still awake when Nicole snuggled in beside him. She shared Benjy’s story with her husband. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help him,” Richard said. “There are just some things that only a mother …”

Nicole was so exhausted that she was falling asleep before Richard even finished his sentence. He touched her firmly on the arm. “Nicole,” he said, “mere is something else we must talk about. Unfortunately it can’t wait—we may not have any private time in the morning.”

She rolled over and looked at Richard quizzically. “It’s about Katie,” he said. “I really need your help. . . . There’s another of those youth get-acquainted dances tomorrow night—you remember we told Katie last week she could go, but only if Patrick went with her and she came home at a reasonable hour. Well, tonight I just happened to see her standing in front of her mirror in a new dress. It was short and very revealing. When I asked her about the dress, and then told her that it didn’t seem like an appropriate outfit for a casual dance, she flew into a rage. She insisted that 1 was spying on her and then informed me that I was ‘hopelessly ignorant’ about fashion.”

“What did you say?”

“I reprimanded her. She glared at me coldly and said nothing. Several minutes later she left the house without saying a word. The rest of the children and I ate dinner without her. . . . Katie came home only thirty minutes or so before you did. She smelled of tobacco and beer. When I tried to talk to her, she just said ‘Don’t bother me,’ and then went to her room and slammed the door.”

/ have been afraid of this, Nicole thought as she lay next to Richard in silence. All the signs have been there since she was a little girl. Katie is brilliant, but she is also selfish and impetuous.

“I was going to tell Katie that she could not go to the dance tomorrow night,” Richard was saying, “but then I realized that by any normal definition she is an adult. After all, her registry card at the administration office gives her age as twenty-four. We really can’t treat her like a child.”

But she’s maybe fourteen emotionally, Nicole thought, squirming as Richard began reciting all the difficulties they had had with Katie since the first other humans had entered

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Rama. Nothing matters to her but adventure and excitement.

Nicole remembered the day she had spent with Katie at the hospital. It had been a week before the colonists from the Nina had arrived. Katie had been fascinated by all the sophisticated medical equipment and genuinely interested in how it worked; however, when Nicole had suggested that Katie might want to work at the hospital until the university opened, the young woman had laughed. “Are you kidding?” her daughter had said. “I can’t imagine anything more boring. Especially when there will be hundreds of new people to meet.”

There’s not much either Richard or I can do, Nicole said to herself with a sigh. We can ache for Katie, and offer her our love, but she has already decided that ail our knowledge and experience is irrelevant.

There was silence in the bedroom. Nicole reached over and kissed Richard. “I will talk to Katie tomorrow about the dress,” she said, “but I doubt if it will do much good.”

Patrick was sitting by himself in a folding chair against the wall of the school gymnasium. He took a sip from his soda and glanced at his watch as the slow music ended and a dozen couples dancing on the large floor slowed to a stop. Katie and Olaf Larsen, a tall Swede whose father was a member of Commander Macmillan’s staff, shared a brief kiss before walking, arm in arm, in Patrick’s direction.

“Olaf and I are going outside for a cigarette and another shot of whiskey,” Katie said when the pair reached Patrick. “Why don’t you come with us?”

“We’re already late, Katie,” Patrick replied. “We said we would be home by twelve-thirty.”

The Swede gave Patrick a condescending pat on the back. “Come on, boy,” he said. “Loosen up. Your sister and I are having a good time.”

Olaf was already drunk. His fan* face was flushed from the drinking and dancing. He pointed across the room. “You see that girl with the red hair, white dress, and big boobs? Her name is Beth and she’s a hot number. She’s

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been waiting all night for you to ask her to dance. Would you like for me to introduce you?”

Patrick shook his head. “Look, Katie,” he said. “I want to go. I’ve been sitting here patiently—”

“Half an hour more, baby brother,” Katie interrupted. “I’ll go outside for a little while, then come back for a couple of dances. After that we’ll leave. Okay?”

She kissed Patrick on the cheek and moved toward the door with Olaf. A fast dance began playing on the gymnasium sound system. Patrick watched in fascination as the young couples moved in tune with the heavy beat of the music.

“You don’t dance?” a young man who was walking around the perimeter of the dance floor asked him.

“No,” said Patrick. “I’ve never tried.”

The young man gave Patrick a strange look. Then he stopped and smiled. “Of course,” he said, “you’re one of the Wakefields. … Hi, my name is Brian Walsh. I’m from Wisconsin, in the middle of the United States. My parents are the ones who are supposed to be organizing the university.”

Patrick had not exchanged more than a couple of words with anyone except Katie since they had arrived at the dance several hours earlier. He gladly shook hands with Brian Walsh and the two of. them chatted amiably for a few minutes. Brian, who had been half finished with his undergraduate degree in computer engineering when his family had been selected for Lowell Colony, was twenty and an only child. He was also extremely curious about his companion’s experiences.