Lane smiled and bowed to her. “The contract is complete. What Wish would you have?”
The young woman cocked her head to one side. “The contract?”
That wasn’t in the script.
“Yes, the contract.” Lane frowned. How had she activated the LAMP if she didn’t already know? “Hasn’t someone explained what the LAMP does?”
She was still staring at him in a way that he wasn’t sure how to interpret. It didn’t really seem like a smile, for all that her lips turned up at the edges.
“Not in so many words. I’ve been trying to work it out myself for the last few years.” She stood up. The battered old chair she’d been curled up on hit the far wall of the tiny room. “I didn’t expect anything would happen.”
A hint of wonder: he recognized that. He’d seen it so often by now that he could see it before they knew they were feeling it. Sometimes they liked to talk about themselves before they settled down to business. It used to be his favorite part, but right now, Lane just wanted to move on. She rolled the LAMP in her hand and studied him.
Then she smiled. She extended the hand that wasn’t holding the LAMP. “I’m Ariadne. It’s nice to meet you.”
Lane froze. He really should have remembered to change. Wishers didn’t interact with Granters as people, and he wasn’t comfortable with this shift. As he glanced from her hand to her face, he could feel the energy sizzling through her, but she was outwardly still, ready to wait until he answered the unasked question.
He hesitated and then took her offered hand and shook it as briefly as he could. “If we could get to your Wish?”
She didn’t let him escape that easily. She raised a brow at him and stared. Lane was sure Ariadne had never met his grandmother, but she captured her expression perfectly. Lane’s cheeks heated.
“I’m Lane.” He paused; then, hoping to get back to a professional tone, he added, “Ma’am.”
At that, her smile grew into a grin. “ ‘Ma’am’ is my mother. I’m just Ariadne.” She let go of his hand, and Lane stuffed it into his pocket. “Before we get to the Wish, you said something about a contract. I want to make sure I understand what I am agreeing to. Can you review it?”
It was unusual, but if she wanted to go over it line by line now, he could humor her. “Okay, point me to a coffeepot and we’ll get to work!”
“We don’t have any coffee on the station. Caffeine has so many side effects it was phased out a generation ago in anything more than ten milligrams.”
Lane understood each word, but he still had no clue what Ariadne was saying.
“I don’t understand,” Lane said.
She said, “I’m not sure I do either, but regulations must be followed. We do have a tea shop. Maybe they’ll have something that can help.”
Ariadne grabbed a coat that was made out of the same jersey fabric as her pajama outfit, stuffed the LAMP into a pocket, and pushed open a door Lane hadn’t noticed before.
“Come on,” she said over her shoulder.
* * *
Lane stepped out of the room onto a metal stair and gaped. A vast lattice, like lace made from girders and glass, arced overhead. A vibrant neon-blue light radiated from every pane. Nestled in the hollow underneath, falling away from this tiny room tucked up near the sidewall, was a town. But it wasn’t like any town Lane had ever seen.
“What is this place?”
“Welcome to Vale. The oldest research station in Venus’s clouds.”
“Venus?” Lane’s voice cracked.
Ariadne leaned on the railing as she turned toward him. “Yep.”
“But…” Lane inspected the dome again. “When did Venus turn blue?”
“It didn’t. The glass is absorbing the energy, blue shifting the light as it processes it. That’s used to feed the magnetic drive that keeps the station hovering.”
“Oh, well, that’s impressive.”
She shrugged. “I suppose. I’ve probably just been here too long. None of it seems special anymore.” She avoided looking at him as she spoke. “Come on. We should get to the shop before second bell.”
Lane trailed behind her as they descended the stairs but couldn’t help sneaking glances up at the wonders she so easily dismissed. What could she want to Wish for, if this was where she lived?
* * *
Ariadne passed the counter, answering the shopgirl’s greeting and tossing out a quick order as she hustled Lane into a booth near the back, as far as possible from the big windows at the front. It could have felt like she was trying to hide him away. Instead it felt like she was hiding and had pulled him along with her.
The shopgirl had to be several years younger than Ariadne. Lane’s best guess was she was around twelve, much younger than any he’d seen working in stores last time he’d been out of the LAMP. When the teapot arrived, the girl stared at him until Ariadne shooed her away. Once she left, Ariadne stopped peering around the corner toward the front of the store and started preparing their tea. Lane finally tried to find words to explain…everything.
“I’ve never had to do this before. The story is something you tell yourselves, as the LAMP is passed on. I’m Called and ask what the Wish is, grant it, and it’s done. Then I can go back to my books.”
“I don’t need a novel,” Ariadne said; “I need information. I have to know the consequences before I can make an informed decision.” Lane fumbled his drink. She grabbed a cloth and wiped up the small spill. “I know. But my mother is the head of station. Unnecessary risks are not tolerated.” Her voice twisted on the unnecessary, but she didn’t give him a chance to ask about it.
She leaned back in her seat, her mug cupped in her hands, and said, “Tell me a story.”
“There are stories about Wishes all across the world—I guess worlds, now that people have made it to Venus.” A smile touched his lips, but just briefly, as Ariadne waited for him to continue. “Most stories get it more wrong than right. But we don’t contradict the myth. We’re not demons, or spirits of fire or air. We’re people. Mostly.”
“But you live in here?” Ariadne pulled the LAMP from her pocket and held it cupped in her palm. It glowed softly in the artificial light of the shop.
“The LAMP’s more of a passageway or gate than a house. It’s not like I shrink down and go live inside a glass sphere until the next Call. My place is pretty much the same as a regular apartment.” Lane considered what he’d seen of where she lived and added, “Where I’m from, at least. It just connects to the rest of the world through that.” Lane gestured toward the LAMP.