Spruance Del Curtin was walking through the corridors of Dunwich Sector when someone called his name. Surprised, he turned to face the young Grissom clone standing in the doorway.
Terry Gatlin’s face remained unreadable. “I was wondering when you’d get back here.”
Why did this not sound good? He and Terry had never gotten along very well, even back in the days of the NASA clone creche. Being up here had only exacerbated things, mainly because Terry just had to take the part of certain people.
However, right now was not the time for open conflict. Best to put the best face he could manage on the situation. “I was just going to see what a colleague knew about a situation.”
Terry gave a curt nod, a quick little up and down jerk of his chin. “You are aware that certain people are concerned about your recent inquisitivity.”
Like I didn’t notice it when the commandant called me up to his office to tell me to watch my step. But admitting that, or mentioning Dr. Doorne’s displeasure in class today, would put him at a disadvantage.
No, better go on the offensive. “Who told you to tell me this?” Sprue studied Terry, judging how far to push before he risked an altercation that would attract attention he couldn’t afford.
Terry rocked back on his heels, a bouncy little motion made easier by the Moon’s lighter gravity. Was he going to answer, or would he consider that too close to ratting someone out?
“All right, you’re not going to tell me, are you?” Sprue closed the distance between them just a little, enough to let his greater height dominate the situation. He was taking a definite risk — if he was in trouble, coming across as a bully could make things even worse.
But dammit, he did not appreciate all this passive-aggressive crap. Why couldn’t they just tell him what all this was about, instead of having people dropping hints?
Terry held his ground. Grissom himself had always been a scrapper, probably to compensate for his shortness, so why should it be any surprise. “What difference does it make? Or are you determined to. make things worse for yourself? You do realize you have a reputation as a difficult individual.”
No, Terry wasn’t going to tell him who was behind this. Whoever was displeased now, they wanted to keep him wondering so he wouldn’t know who to watch out for.
Damn, but he hated this crap. Nothing to do but acknowledge and move on. He had some studying to do, especially if Dr. Doorne wanted a talk with him right after breakfast.