Page 23 (2/2)

He sat and s with hiood Antsy, out of sync with himself Usually he could just sit still and do virtually nothing while he let the hours pass-he’d learned to do that well enough in Beeville, letting whole days slip by in a kind of thoughtless trance-but not today Today he was ju in a pan He tried to watch TV, but the words and the ies didn’t even seem related to each other Outside, beyond the s of the barracks, the afternoon sky looked like old plastic, a washed-out gray Gray like Grey A perfect day to snooze away the hours Yet here he was, sitting on the edge of his un for the afternoon to be over, his insides buzzing like a paper harh he’d soh his alar shift It was OT, so he could make up sootten-but he was going to hear about it either way He was on again at 22:00 He really needed to nap, to store up so him

At 18:00 he pulled on his parka to walk across the compound to the co low, sponging up the last of the light A daed across the open field between the barracks and the dining hall, a cinder-block building that looked like it had been built in a hurry He couldn’t see the mountains at all, and on days like this it sometimes felt to Grey as if the compound were actually an island-that the world caness, so drive Vehicles came and went, delivery trucks and step vans and Army five-tons loaded with supplies, but the place they caht have been the inning to fade He hadn’t been past the fence line in six months

The commissary should have been busy at this hour, fifty orthe rooh the door, unzipping his parka and sta the snow off the soles of his shoes, Grey surveyed the space and saw just a few people scattered at the tables, alone and in sroups, not more than a dozen all told You could tell who did what by what they wore-the s; the soldiers in their winter ca the food into their mouths like farmhands; the sweeps in their UPS-brown ju-pong table and air hockey, but nobody was playing or watching the big-screen television either, and the roolass and flatware For a while the lounge had held some tables with computers, sleek new vMacs for e in the suht in the middle of breakfast Some of the soldiers had coood; the computers never returned, and all that reling fro theured, but he didn’t knohat for He’d never bothered with the co in his body, the save him such a voracious appetite it was a wonder he wasn’t heavier than he was-and he filled his tray as he ht of the meal to come: a bowl of minestrone, salad with croutons and cheese,of dried-out pineapple sitting on it like a citrus tiara He topped it all off with a wedge of le back to the corner to an empty table Most of the sweeps ate alone like he did; there wasn’t much you were allowed to actually talk about So so much as boo to anyone except the sentry on L3 who clocked him in and out of Containo in fact, when the techs and s about Zero and the rabbits and the teeth They’d listen to his answers, nodding,down on their handhelds But now they just picked up the reports without a word, as if the wholenew to learn

Grey h hiswas still running through hisseeot it was there He was finishing the last of the pie when soht his nah the soldiers had a way of all looking the same in their camos and Tshirts and shiny boots, their hair so short their ears stuck out like somebody had pasted them to the sides of their heads as a joke Paulson’s cut was so tight Grey couldn’t have said what color his hair really was He took a chair at right angles to Grey and spun it around to straddle it, s at him in a way that Grey wouldn’t have described as friendly

"You fellows sure like to eat, don’tcha?"

Grey shrugged

"You’re Grey, right?" The soldier narrowed his eyes "I’ve seen you"

Grey put down his fork and sed a bite of pie "Yeah"

Paulson nodded thoughtfully, like he was deciding if this was a good name or not His face wore an outward expression of cal effortful about this For ain the corner over their heads, then found Grey’s face again

"You know, you fellas don’t say much," Paulson said "It’s a little spooky, you don’tso"

Spooky Paulson didn’t know the half of it Grey said nothing

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Paulson lifted his chin toward Grey’s plate "Don’t let o on and finish while we talk"

"I’o to work"

"How’s the pie?"

"You want to ask me about the pie?"

"The pie? No" Paulson shook his head "I was just being polite That would be an example of what’s called small talk"

Grey wondered what he wanted The soldiers never said word one to hi hi straight at theed "I like the leive two shits about the pie"

Grey gripped the sides of his tray "I gotta go," he said, but as he started to rise, Paulson dropped a hand on his wrist Grey could feel, in just that one touch, how strong theon bars of iron

"Sit The fk Down"

Grey sat The roolanced past Paulson and saw that this was so, or nearly: most of the tables were empty Just a couple of techs on the far side of the rooone?

"You see, we knoho you fellas are, Grey," Paulson said with a quiet fir over the table, his hand still on Grey’s wrist "We knohat you all did, is what I’ Little boys, or whatever I say God bless, each to his own gifts What’s good for the goose is good for the gander You follow

"Not everybody feels the way I do, but that’s my opinion Last time I checked it was still a free country" He shifted in his chair, bringing his face even closer "I knew a guy, in high school? Used to put cookie dough on his joint and let the dog lick it off So you want to nail soet it, but your business is your business"