Deathwatch (The Faded Earth Book 1)(36)

Rank had its privileges, which meant Stein pulled her rotation during Novak’s off hours. She didn’t have to sit quietly for hours on end, fighting off the urge to doze.

It was a fight Eshton lost. He would never have allowed himself to fall prey to idle sleepiness in any other context, but the lab was different from just about any post he would have manned. The work space itself was nestled deep in the rear of the complex behind three redundant steel blast doors. The hallways in between each—and outside of the first—were deathtraps of spectacular creativity. The least of these were thermite mines capable of fusing a set of armor into a molten statue that would double as a tomb for whoever was unlucky enough to be inside at the time. Combined with a host of sensors running the full length of the complex, Eshton felt comfortable to nod off three feet away from his waiting armor.

“Let’s get some lunch,” Novak said loudly, his voice cutting through the air and waking Eshton with a start. He shot to his feet, lurching half a step toward the armor before catching himself. He opened his eyes wide, deliberately flooding them with as much light as possible, and wiped a spot of drool from the side of his mouth.

Novak chuckled. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. It’s been a hundred years since I was able to scare anyone awake, and since you woke me up it only seemed fair.”

“It’s fine,” Eshton said, bringing his hammering heart under control. “Let me suit up and we’ll go to the mess.”

Novak raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face. “Really? You think the extra twenty yards will make that much difference if someone trips a sensor out in the tunnel?”

Eshton considered how to respond to that. It was tricky; no one in the Watch would have even asked the question. Maybe no one he knew at all. Reminding himself that Novak came from a different era with wildly different values and internal logic was a constant struggle. “Let’s say I’ll feel better having it right next to me if anyone tries.”

“Whatever,” Novak said with a shrug.

It only took him a few seconds to lock into the suit—when indoors here he left the more stringent sealing procedures disabled—and within a few minutes they sat across from each other in the small mess area with heaped plates of food in front of them.

Novak stared at his meal, vat-grown artificial potatoes and beef, with fascination rather than the disgust Eshton expected. He ate bites slowly, thoughtfully, as if examining the food.

“Is it okay?” Eshton asked. “You look like you’re trying to decide whether to ask it on a date.”

Novak looked up as if surprised to see Eshton there, then grinned sheepishly. “So, dating is still a thing?”

“If we’re talking about a couple doing something romantic together, then yes,” Eshton said. “Why would you think otherwise?”

Novak shook his head ruefully. “You can’t see how much it’s changed because you’ve never known anything else. The world, I mean. American society. Hell, this isn’t even the United States anymore. You people don’t have a Bill of Rights. If nothing else, I’d think history would at least show you how different it all is. The idea of there not being a fundamental freedom of speech is mind-blowing.”

Eshton tried to take this all in, frowning. “I was asking about potatoes. And beef.”

Novak stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Oh, man. That’s...yeah. Okay. Well, let me answer out of order. From what little your people have been able to tell me about the outside world, I would have thought your society was too utilitarian to have anything like dating. Like maybe people were matched by computer or something.”

Eshton flinched in revulsion at the idea. Not just the concept of being paired with someone without any say in the matter, but because the concept was deeply at odds with one of the Tenets. In a flash of understanding, he realized this must be how Novak himself felt constantly. So many of the givens in his world view hadn’t just been cut away, but replaced with laws and social mores in direct opposition.

“No,” Eshton said once he regained his composure. “It’s actually one of our primary laws. I’ll give you a copy of the Tenets to look at, but the short version is we don’t allow anything to interfere with the creation of families. Early on, the survivors of the old world recognized that trying to would just lead to unrest.”

“What about gay people?” Novak asked, a note of the same scientific curiosity in his voice Eshton heard when he talked about the Fade.

“I don’t know what that means,” Eshton said.

Novak chuckled. “Some words fall out of use, I guess. I’m talking about homosexuals. I’m also curious how things like polyamory work, but we’ll stick to the simple stuff if you like.”

“Oh,” Eshton said. “Well, it’s all the same answer. People build families how they want. If they choose not to, we don’t make them. My best friend growing up had two mothers and three dads. We call them cluster families. The idea is to encourage population growth with as little friction as possible, but the founders knew it was too dangerous to mandate it.”

Novak chewed his bottom lip. “That’s a coldblooded way to put it. You make it sound like everything in your entire society is built on logic.”

Eshton nodded. “Yeah, you’re starting to get it. It all starts with survival of the species. So what about the potatoes?”