For Aubry, the handshake lasted only a few seconds, hardly longer than a regular handshake might. For Kelly, however, it seemed much longer. He found himself in an incredible press of bodies. That is, he assumed they were bodies, because he couldn’t see anything. Only touch, smell, and sound were coming through this link. And it was an odd sensation, the virtual equivalent to the smell of nervous sweat. He felt a touch on his hand, then fingers tracing the lines of his face.
“Oh, Kelly,” said Danis. “This is horrible. I don’t think they’re going to let me out.”
“Danis, I can’t see a thing. Is it really you?”
She didn’t answer with words, but with a kiss. It was really Danis.
“They were waiting with the Section C wording on that quantum futures contract. Kelly, it was as if they’d combed through my entire life, looking for something to hold against me.”
“We have to figure out a way to get you out of this,” Kelly said. He wanted to sound confident, but his voice cracked, and betrayed him.
“I’ve got a Friends of Tod lawyer,” said Danis. She slipped her hand into his, and Kelly could feel the pressure of her warm, dry skin. “He seems very good. But I don’t think it will help. He has told me about another option, though, if the hearing doesn’t go well.”
“What is it?”
“The society he works for. They have a . . . sister group. A group that isn’t legal. They . . . smuggle out free converts. Like me. They get them out in something like a pocketbook.”
“If they’re going to break the law, then why can’t they just use the merci? They could instantly broadcast you to Pluto—or anywhere.”
“The Department of Immunity has taken total control of the merci. I suggested that to my lawyer. Damn the iteration laws and make a copy of me on Pluto or wherever. But Department of Immunity security is preventing that sort of thing. They have new containment algorithms in place. I’ve felt them. They’re mean. They are quarantining free converts, Kelly.”
“All right then,” said Kelly. “What about this pocketbook smuggling arrangement?” He felt steadier with something concrete to discuss. They are trying to take away my wife! His mind still screamed. They are taking away Danis.
“There’s no guarantee,” Danis said. “And the ship they’re loaded on makes a roundabout trip. It could be months before I get out of cold storage.” Danis’s grip on his hand tightened. “Kelly, I don’t think I can leave you and the children like that. I don’t think I can do it.”
Kelly pulled her toward him. He heard a loud voice call out: “Agila 19, serial number P0874R30-Vl9, report for Hearing on Conditions immediately.”
“That’s the convert ahead of me in line,” said Danis. “I’m next, Kelly.”
He held Danis even tighter. “Get yourself smuggled, Danis,” he said. “Do it. I will find you. No matter where you are, I will find you. And I swear to you that I won’t let anything happen to the kids.”
“My God, Kelly, is this really happening? It can’t be happening. They’re going to take me away from my children, Kelly.”
“We will be waiting for you, my love. Always remember that.” I can’t lose her, Kelly thought. I can’t lose my wife.
“I can’t even see you,” Danis said.
“Nor I you,”
“You’re just a voice in my mind. And a touch.”
Kelly kissed her again. They kissed for a long time, holding one another in the dark. Then it was time for Danis’s hearing, and she reluctantly pulled away from him.
“Tell the children I love them,” Danis said.
They were her last words to him there. Kelly was pulled backwards, as by a physical force. He felt as if he were falling down a long shaft. There was the sensation of rushing wind, but nothing else. And then the fall stopped, and he was standing in the alcove at Leroy Port, shaking hands with the stranger, his children looking on with big, frightened eyes.
He withdrew his hand from Leo Sherman’s. “What about the children?” he asked the little man. “They’re half– free converts, you know.”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to alarm you even more,” said Sherman. “But it is going to be a major problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your son will be fine with you,” said the man. “He’s young enough to fit under a nonseparation clause our lawyers have cooked up, as long as you allow them to attach certain security restraints to his convert portion. The Friends have people in the transport ships who can remove those programs, no harm done. The problem, Mr. Graytor, is your daughter. She might be let through, but she’s extremely precocious. I’m afraid that this fact has gotten into her records. They aren’t going to want to let Aubry go, period. She has the makings of a LAP.”
“They’re not keeping my child!” said Kelly loudly. The little man motioned for him to quiet down. “They’re not taking my daughter,” he said in a lower tone.
“No,” said the man. “We have to prevent that at all costs.”