The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2)(37)

“Are you sure?” Cardenia pressed. “I saw the two of you talking this afternoon. You were very animated together.”

“It’s because we’re the only two people in the entire system who know what the other one is talking about,” Marce said. “When it comes to the Flow, at least. It’s like finding the only other person in the world who speaks your language.”

“Well, see, that’s what I mean,” Cardenia said, and finished the rest of her drink. She went over to refill her tumbler.

“The language is Flow physics,” Marce said. “It’s specialized. It’s very abstruse. And it’s not at all romantic.”

“Are you sure that’s what Roynold thinks?”

“You think she has a thing for me?”

“Maybe.”

“I don’t think I’m her type,” Marce said.

“What do you think her type is?”

“Mathematical symbols, mostly. If you spent any time with her you’d know she doesn’t really like humans all that much.”

“She likes you.”

“She accepts dealing with the fleshy parts of me as part of the price of getting to work with my brain. It’s not exactly the same thing.”

Cardenia was quiet for a moment. “So, nothing between you two at all.”

“If civilization survives we might go down in history as the co-discoverers of the Claremont-Roynold Theory of Flow Stream Distribution, along with my dad,” Marce said. “But otherwise, no.”

“Well, fuck,” Cardenia said. She looked into her drink, which she had replenished, and then looked back up at Marce. “Did I mention I am really, really bad at this?”

Marce grinned. “You did.” He motioned to the tumbler in Cardenia’s hand. “May I ask you to put that down, please?”

“Why?”

“Because if we’re about to have the conversation I think we’re going to have, I’d like to think it wasn’t the booze talking.”

*

“You could have said no, you know,” Cardenia said, after, as they lay in bed in a classic snuggling pose.

“Why would I do that?” Marce said. “You’re the emperox. You could have me shot.”

Cardenia swatted him lightly. “That’s my point. I didn’t want you to think this was some sort of command performance. That I was hitting you up because you couldn’t say no.”

“Trust me, after tonight’s conversation, I would never think you were commanding me into your bed.”

“Oh, God,” Cardenia said, and buried her face in Marce’s chest. “Don’t remind me. I will never live it down.”

“I thought it was sweet.”

“I swear to you I’m not actually the jealous type. That was something else entirely.”

“What was it?”

“It was the ‘he likes someone else and now I’m sad and want to go eat an entire pie’ thing.”

“That’s a very specific thing.”

“Well, pie is amazing.” Cardenia lifted up her head and kissed Marce. “But I like this better.”

“I’m very happy to know I’m better than pie,” Marce said.

“Don’t knock it.”

“I’m not.”

“You still want to go on that Dalasysla expedition, don’t you,” Cardenia said, a minute later.

“Yes, of course,” Marce said.

“I could go with you.”

“I think the Interdependency might notice if the emperox suddenly went missing.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Cardenia said. “Samuel III would disappear for entire months. Nobody much missed him.”

“You may be more critical to the well-being to the Interdependency than Samuel III, whoever he was.”

“That’s possible.”

“And given the amount of controversy you’ve kicked up recently, people would definitely notice if you were gone.”

Cardenia looked up at him again. “That’s a sly reference to the visions, isn’t it.”

“I’m going to shut up now,” Marce said.

“So? What do you think of them? Really?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah. To me it matters.”

“What I think is that Emperox Grayland II is doing everything she can to make sure that civilization and all the humans in it survive past the next ten years. And because that’s what I think, if she’s having visions, and they help humanity survive, then I’m all for them.”

Cardenia kissed Marce again. “Thank you.”

“I mean, I would have been happier if you’d just leaned into the science more,” Marce said.

“Maybe next time,” Cardenia said.

Marce snorted at that.

“How do you feel about the Imperial Navy?” Cardenia asked.

“I’ve never really given them much thought,” Marce said. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to requisition a ship, crew and scientists from them to get you to Dalasysla and back. They can do it quickly and quietly, and no one asks any questions when the emperox has a mission for the navy. Well,” Cardenia amended, “people will ask. But they won’t ask them out of the chain of command.”