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“Hey!” Beez and Alcy jerked their heads to stare at him, and Carter folded his arms. “Now that I have your attention…” He had no idea where this newfound boldness came from, but right then he didn’t care. “Seeing as I’m the one at the center of all this, how aboutIdecide?”
“And what’syourplan?” Beez demanded.
“Maybe if you let him keep talking, you’d find out,” Alcy muttered.
“Two full days on a rotating basis,” Carter announced. “You each get to spend two full days with me, then we keep repeating that until I choose, or you decide to go back. And Alcy goes first, because he won the toss fair and square.”
Beez bit his lip. “Can’t argue with that.”
Carter studied him for a moment. The first thought to cross his mind was that Beez was pissed at not winning the toss. Then he reconsidered. Beez gave a couple of rapid blinks, and for the first time since Carter had met him, he was avoiding eye contact. Come to think of it, he was a little jumpy too, and none of those things fitted in with what Carter already knew of Beez.
Why is he nervous?
Then light dawned.
He cheated. No idea how, but I’m sure of it. He made sure Alcy won the toss. But why?
Except Carter was being dumb. Ifhecould see how insecure Alcy was feeling, then Beez—who’d known Alcy forhowmany millennia? —certainly could.Both of them think Alcy doesn’t have a chance.
This was going to be tricky.
Alcy beamed. “Great. How about we find some anime or a movie, and—”
“Whoa there,” Carter remonstrated. “I didn’t mean you can startnow, right this second.”
“Why not?” Alcy’s face fell.
“Because I have a test, that’s why. I have to study.”
“What’s the test on?”
“Trust me,” Carter said gloomily. “You don’t want to know.”
“Try me.” Alcy folded his arms, and for a second Carter was distracted by the sight of Alcy’s broad chest, dusted with a light cover of reddish hair.
“Yeah, try him,” Beez piped up. “He’sallabout the knowledge. You don’t need an encyclopedia when he’s around.”
“Fine. The test is on Turing Machines and the theory of Computation.”
To Carter’s surprise, Beez grinned. “AlanTuring? I met him. Couldn’t understand a word he said. I think it was the accent.”
Alcy snickered. “No, he was just smart. Like, on a plane way beyond your understanding kind of smart.” He placed his hand on Carter’s arm. “I could ask you some questions, if you like, and—”
Carter’s stomach roiled. No, he really didn’t like.
Alcy spotted the moment Carter’s eyes glazed over, and the tension apparent in his body. “What’s wrong?” he asked in a soft voice.
Carter swallowed. “I don’t understand any of this stuff. I don’t even like it.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
“I told you… my parents wanted me to study it… so I can get a good job.”
Alcy sensed the battle within him. “Okay. Forget about what your parents want for a minute. What doyouwant?”
Carter huffed. “I haven’t figured out that part yet. You know what? You had the right idea. Let’s watch a movie.”
“But if you don’t study, you’ll fail,” Alcy reminded him.
