Spin by Robert Charles Wilson Page A

about Jason and Diane these days I get through Carol.”
    “Did she say whether Diane was coming up to the Berkshires? I can’t get a straight answer out of Jase.”
    My mother hesitated. “Diane’s been a little unpredictable the last couple of years. I guess that’s what it’s all about.”
    “What does ‘unpredictable’ mean, exactly?”
    “Oh, you know. Not much success at school. A little trouble with the law—”
    “With the
law
?”
    “No, I mean, she didn’t rob a bank or anything, but she’s been picked up a couple of times when NK rallies got out of hand.”
    “What the hell was she doing at NK rallies?”
    Another pause. “You should really ask Jason about that.”
    I intended to.
    She coughed—I pictured her with her hand over the phone, her head turned delicately away—and I said, “How are you feeling?”
    “Tired.”
    “Anything new with the doctor?” She was being treated for anemia. Bottles of iron tablets.
    “No. I’m just getting old, Ty. Everybody gets old sooner or later.” She added, “I’m thinking of retiring. If you call what I do work. Now that the twins are gone it’s just Carol and E.D., and not much E.D. since this Washington business started up.”
    “Have you told them you’re thinking of leaving?”
    “Not yet.”
    “It wouldn’t be the Big House without you.”
    She laughed, not happily. “I think I’ve had about enough of the Big House for one lifetime, thanks.”
    But she never mentioned the move again. It was Carol, I think, who convinced her to stay.
     
     
    Jase came in the front door midafternoon. “Ty?” His over-large jeans hung on his hips like the rigging of a becalmed ship, and his T-shirt was spackled with the ghosts of gravy stains. “Give me a hand with the barbecue, can you?”
    I went out back with him. The barbecue was a standard propane grill. Jase had never used one. He opened the tank valve, pushed the lighter button and flinched when the flames blossomed up. Then he grinned at me. “We have steaks. We have three-bean salad from the deli in town.”
    “And hardly any mosquitos,” I said.
    “They sprayed for them this spring. Hungry?”
    I was. Somehow, dozing through the afternoon, I had worked up an appetite. “Are we cooking for two or three?”
    “I’m still waiting to hear from Diane. Probably won’t know until this evening. Just us for dinner, I think.”
    “Assuming the Chinese don’t nuke us first.”
    This was bait.
    Jason rose to it. “Are you worried about the
Chinese
, Ty? That’s not even a crisis anymore. It’s been settled.”
    “That’s a relief.” I had heard about the crisis and the resolution all in the same day. “My mom mentioned it. Something on the news.”
    “The Chinese military want to nuke the polar artifacts. They have nuclear-tipped missiles sitting on pads in Jiuquan, ready to launch. The reasoning is, if they can damage the polar devices they might take down the entire October shield. Of course there’s no reason to believe it would work. How likely is it that a technology capable of manipulating time and gravitation would be vulnerable to our weapons?”
    “So we threatened the Chinese and they backed down?”
    “A little of that. But we offered a carrot, too. We offered to take them onboard.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “To let them join us in our own little project to save the world.”
    “You’re scaring me a little here, Jase.”
    “Hand me those tongs. I’m sorry. I know this sounds cryptic. I’m not supposed to be talking about these things at all. With anyone.”
    “You’re making an exception in my case?”
    “I always make an exception in your case.” He smiled. “We’ll discuss it over dinner, okay?”
    I left him at the grill, shrouded in smoke and heat.
     
     
    Two consecutive American administrations had been scolded by the press for “doing nothing” about the Spin. But it was a criticism without teeth. If there was anything practical that
could
be