Picnic | Page 5

Go hook yourself back up." To Jim she said, "You do your own camp setup. I get it that you don't want to help, but please refrain from actively hindering my work."
He didn't say anything. So far he wasn't having much luck in the talking department. He looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt, embarrassed at how quickly she had dismissed his idea.
After Nancy marched back into the ship, he turned to the tent pieces. The setup instructions were in the box--Old Bob hadn't needed them, of course--but they were hard to follow. He decided that Old Bob had made it more confusing by doing things out of order. He started taking it all apart but soon became frustrated. Stupid Nancy. Why should he have to do all of this menial labor?
He was thinking about taking a walk down to the lake when he heard loud cursing coming from within the ship. Nancy had left the hatch open when she went back in.
"Jim! Get in here!"
She was standing by the robot alcove. New Bob stood against the back, powered down.
"What is this?" she asked.
"That's New Bob." He suddenly realized why she was upset again. "Oh, it's not what you think--"
"Why didn't you mention you had another bot? Didn't you think it might help us?"
"Not really. New Bob is a pretty recent model, and the license fee is metered by computation cycles. My dad would have a fit if I used New Bob." He had found that out the first time he took the ship out. "I never even think of him."
"You idiot. How many nodes?" She found the activation bar and switched the machine on.
"Four, but--"
She turned a withering look on him and he trailed off. This might cut into his allowance if the bill ran too high. The weekend was working out horribly. Yesterday's sex was a distant memory.
She eased her expression again. "Look, I can still use your help. Why don't we work together and figure this out?"
He wanted to help her out, he really did, but he just couldn't right now. He didn't care anymore. His plans had all gone for nothing. All he wanted to do was go lay down on the hammock, which he did without turning back to see her reaction. * * *
Late the next morning, Jim woke up feeling very refreshed. The pneumatic tent bed was much better than the common room couch. He also clung to a sense of accomplishment from yesterday. He had set the tent up all on his own and started a campfire. This despite Nancy's continued refusal to let him use Old Bob.
Late in the evening, she had come out to take a break. She sat down by the fire and even complimented him on the work he had done. It seemed like a come-on, but she reacted negatively when he invited her into the tent. She had stormed back into the ship and slammed the hatch shut.
He rolled over on the bed, stretching and thinking maybe he should try to help again. If they did get out of here, it would be embarrassing to admit that Nancy had done all of the work. He was afraid of facing her again; all those stimtabs were probably making her even more irritable. He had just gathered up the courage to head over to the ship when he heard a loud, dull roar outside. That could only be the ship's drive motors, he thought, and ran outside the tent.
The ship was already rising into the morning sky, its name clearly visible in large red letters on the side: ROCINANTE. He briefly saw Nancy at the controls with New Bob, in the piloting bay, before the ship rose out of sight. What was she doing?
"Jim." It was Nancy's voice.
He turned to see Old Bob acting as a comm device.
"Jim, I did it!"
"That's fantastic!" He didn't mind that she had showed him up. He was going home! Maybe his dad wouldn't even find out about this. At least not until he got New Bob's monthly bill. "Come on back and we'll load this stuff up and get out of here."He thought about some of New Bob's other capabilities, and the hypnosoft demo version he had on the ship. Maybe he could arrange it so Nancy wouldn't remember what had really happened. This could work out beautifully.
"Umm... No. You'll get along just fine with Old Bob to help you out. I'll return the ship to your house and send your dad back to pick you up."
What? "No way! What do you think you're doing to me? Come back right now!" His pulse raced. Would she really leave him behind?
"Sorry Charley."
"It's dangerous! You need me to pilot the ship."
"New Bob is fully certified. Goodbye."
"Nancy! I'll report you to the Patent