Free A Calculus of Angels by J. Gregory Keyes

were not in any of those places, because I have told you time and again to avoid them. So it is most surpassing strange that you could have encountered these men you speak of.”
    Ben nodded throughout the tirade, and when it was done, he met Newton’s ancient eyes square on. “I was in Old Town,” he admitted distinctly.
    “Yes, of course you were, you imbecile. And that is what I am sick unto death of. I think, indeed, that it is high time that I found a new apprentice.”
    Ben managed a weak grin. “I’m glad that you were concerned about me, sir.”
    Newton stared at him incredulously for a moment, and then rested his forehead on his fist. “Benjamin, what am I to do with you? How can I keep you from the hands of the devil?”
    “Sir—” Ben considered for a moment, then plunged on. “Sir, I was never so proud as the day you made me your apprentice. Proud I still am. But of late, you do not include me. I hardly feel your apprentice anymore.”
    “This excuses your behavior? Is that what I shall tell the emperor when he hears of your exploits?”
    “It is no excuse, I agree. I do not offer it as such.”
    “It seems to me that you do,” Newton said, his voice suddenly weary. “I have perhaps neglected your education, somewhat. But I do what is for the best, and you are good at educating yourself.”

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    “But, sir, to be barred even from your new laboratory—”
    “My current endeavors are of too delicate a nature to disclose. This is as much for your sake as anyone’s, I promise you. Meantime, you still have the old laboratory to putter about in.”
    “But it is my wish to help you.”
    “You help me in what you do.”
    “Making toys for the emperor? Scientifical baubles for the archduchess?
    Forgive me, sir, but I had hoped for more. I thought you promised me more.”
    “Perhaps I did, but we must suit our actions to the times. Had I all leisure, I would devote myself to your education. But the world is at the edge of a fearful precipice, and I cannot fail it to serve you.”
    “I don’t understand,” Ben said, feeling a little angry. “If the importance of your present work is so great, would it not serve us all better for me to aid you?”
    Newton’s eyes lit with an answering fire of their own. “I have said I cannot discover these things to you now, Benjamin. In time I will. That should be enough for you.”
    Ben nodded in sudden understanding. “You don’t trust me.”
    Newton tapped his finger on the armrest, looking at the floor. “I have already been betrayed by one I trusted deeply,” he said, softly, “the only one I ever gave my trust to. You are bright, and have a good heart somewhere in you, but you are also reckless. I cannot risk your becoming another Fatio de Duillier.”
    Ben kept his tongue still, a dam against a flood of angry words. Perhaps it is this very sort of mistreatment that made de Duillier betray you, he thought.
    But he could not say that; it would only make matters worse. Instead, he took another tack.
    “I have been working at affinity,” he said. “I’ve found a method to repel against water.”

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    “And made something amusing for the emperor?”
    “Yes, I think so. But in working with repulsions, I hope to eventually solve the problem of the comet.”
    Newton smiled indulgently. “My new system has that in hand, never fear.
    Now, clean yourself up. We are to see the emperor in an hour, and your present appearance would, I daresay, displease him.”
    After undressing and dabbing at himself with a cloth, Ben felt more human but no less frustrated. Newton’s casual dismissal of his work stung, and the admission that he did not trust Ben was even worse. After two years of being Newton’s apprentice, it was almost as if they had come full circle to the day they first met.
    Except that it was worse now, because in those days he had thought Newton a god, and now he had begun to have his doubts. What he could