Spruance Del Curtin awoke to the horrifying realization that he’d forgotten to set his alarm. And here he was supposed to meet Dr. Doorne in her office at 8AM sharp.
Throwing off the covers, he squinted at his phone, realized that he wasn’t so late that he couldn’t at least wash up, and he wouldn’t have to miss breakfast. He wouldn’t be able to linger around the table, but he’d never been one for long breakfasts anyway.
A few minutes later he emerged from his apartment to find the module lounge abuzz with activity. A dozen or so people were sitting and standing around it, all talking at once to the point there was no way he could possibly pick out any one conversation.
Dennis Riordan came over to him. “Do you know what’s going on with Brenda Redmond?”
Of course he’d assume that I’d know, just because we’re both DJ’s at Shepardsport Pirate Radio. Sprue bit back the first response that came to his mind, and instead said. “As a matter of fact, no, I don’t.”
It came out a touch more acid than he’d intended, and Dennis flinched just a little. Sprue decided it might be wise to soften the effect a little. “In fact, it sounds like you probably know more about the situation than me.”
Dennis moistened his lips. “From what I heard, she got a call or a text from someone in another module, so she had Ron-Jon Landis keep an eye on her kids while she went to help them. She ended up being out so late that Ron-Jon started getting worried the kids were going to wake up and be scared their mom wasn’t there.”
“Interesting.” Sprue gave his phone a very deliberate look. “Right now I don’t have time to talk. If I don’t get to the dining commons now, I won’t have time for breakfast before I have a very important meeting.”
Dennis actually had the grace to look a bit taken aback. “Oh, OK. See you later then.”
Sprue strode off to the module’s airlock, already thinking about what he’d just heard. What could’ve happened, that Brenda Redmond would take off to another module and leave her kids under the supervision of someone who’d still be in high school back on Earth?