"Come on," Lin says, "it's almost time. The sooner we get through all your business stops, the sooner I get to meet your grandparents. Let's get Evan and Valerie and go."
I chuckle. I’m glad she’s so eager to meet the last two members of my family. “Let me check with them and make sure they’re ready.”
To Evan: You two ready to go?
From Evan: Sure, ready whenever. The car's already loaded and everything. We were just waiting for you two.
To Evan: Great, be there in a sec.
“Are you doing your nanobot telepathy thing?” Lin looks at me with interest. “Or are you just sitting there and making me wait?”
"The first one. They’re ready. Let's go."
By the time we reach the front gates, a green midsize sedan is waiting for us. Valerie is in the driver's seat and Evan is next to her. I open the door for Lin and she slides in and across, leaving room for me.
"Hey, Noah, are you sure your grandparents won't mind us all coming?" Valerie asks. “We can still go with you for the mining stuff and have Cindy take us home. We really don’t mind.”
“Are you kidding? They’ve been dying to meet all three of you. If they had their way, we’d bring the whole campus up.”
“They could just come down to the Institute, couldn’t they?” Lin asks.
“They could, but I asked them not to. I don’t want to tie any more threads to them that Jeff or the illuminati or whatever could follow than I have to. It’s bad enough I already had to make them move once so their address wouldn’t be anywhere that anyone had listed."
“Illuminati? Is that what we’re calling the bad guys now?” Valerie asks.
“It’s as good a name as any, right?” Evan says. “Since we still don’t have any idea of who they really are.”
The car arrives at our airstrip. We’re a little early, and the ground crew is still doing their checks. I’m sure they’ll be ready soon. The boarding door is open and Cindy waves to us as we park and get out.
“Welcome back,” Cindy says cheerfully as we step inside the plane and get settled in the recliners. “I was starting to worry you were going to put us out to pasture.”
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“Yeah, sorry,” I tell her. “We had some things to work out. I do expect that now we’ll probably start flying regularly again if that makes you feel better.”
“So I hear. How’s Eleanor doing these days?”
Eleanor? A parade of potential Eleanors skims across my overlay. Right, Mrs. Hastings.
“Full recovery, thanks to Louise. She got a nasty scar out of the ordeal and is talking about an earlier retirement, but she was probably due for that anyway. Other than that, she’s doing great.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. Give her my best next time you talk to her.”
“Will do, Cindy.”
She bustles around, grabbing drinks for everyone and then popping into the cockpit.
“Looks like we’re all set,” she declares when she returns. “Please stow your little robots and anything else that might interfere with the flight systems.
I put my bots into sleep mode. We all pull out our SynTech smartphones and put them in airplane mode. The plane hums and vibrates as I feel the acceleration pulling me into the cushy seat. In a moment we’re in the air.
“So how did you end up getting Yang Song to agree to stay on campus?” Valerie asks Lin. “I thought for sure she’d insist on coming along to keep an eye on you.”
“Well,” she responds with her grin that signals endless mischief, “she might be under the impression that we’re actually leaving later this afternoon.”
I don’t think I knew about that, but my quick glance through my logs doesn’t tell me how I thought we were getting out of here without Lin’s bodyguard. “You’re trying to get her to kill me, aren’t you?” I laugh.
“Sometimes I just need a little space,” she says. “I appreciate that she’s been almost like a mother to me, but she can be just a tad overprotective. Especially these last few months.”
“You can’t blame her for that, though,” Valerie says. “It has been a pretty big adjustment for both of you.”
“I know,” Lin sighs. “And she means well. But I’ve got Noah with me this week. I don’t need any other protection.”
I like that. I also like the look she gives me along with it.
“We’ve reached our cruising altitude,” Cindy declares as she enters the main cabin again. “Y’all can get up and walk around if you like. We’ll be landing in Santa Fe in about three hours. Can I bring you more drinks or snacks?”
“We’re good, thanks,” I reply.
“Just let me know if you need anything,” she says, retreating to wherever she disappears to on these flights.
Lin gives me a significant look and glances back towards the plane’s bedroom. I nod and we both get up. Evan is already napping. It’s amazing how fast that big guy can do that. Valerie gives us a knowing smile as we slip off. I go to close the door behind us, but Lin puts a hand on it to leave it open.
“Sorry,” she whispers. “I know you want more. I do too. I’m just not ready yet.”
“It’s fine. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll still be here, still crazy about you.”
She smiles and leads me over to one of the beds. The remaining hours of the flight still go by fast.