Free Fall of Night by Rachel Caine Page A

Morganville, she’d have readied a weapon, but this wasn’t Morganville. Defending herself wasn’t quite that clear-cut. What if she staked some totally innocent person?
    ‘Hey!’ the man finally called to her, when he’d caught up to about twenty feet. ‘Hey, Claire?’
    She turned, still walking, and saw that it was one of the guys from the campus. Nick. There must have been something warning in her body language, because he slowed down and held up both hands, looking suddenly cautious. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s me. Nick. I know, it’s weird I’m following you because we just met, but … I didn’t want you walking by yourself, that’s all.’
    ‘Oh,’ Claire said. She felt torn between continued suspicion and an intense desire to believe in someone’s innocent intentions, for a change. Surely the entire world couldn’t be
that
hideous, right? Yes, she’d had bad times; yes, guys she’d trusted had betrayed her. But it wasn’t right to assume that everybody was like that. ‘Oh, well, thanks. What about Viva?’
    ‘She’s hanging with my crew, headed for the dorm. Not that I actually have a crew, per se, but more of a horde. Possibly a gaggle. So, you’re new, right? First year?’
    ‘Yes,’ she said.
    ‘Already living off campus, though?’
    ‘Well … it was probably a mistake. The dorms seem fun.’
    ‘It’s epic adventure,’ Nick agreed soberly. ‘Maybe you’re not up for it.’
    She almost laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s me. I’m terrified.’
    He smiled, and fell in step with her. A comfortable distance away, a gentleman’s distance, nothing intrusive. ‘You don’t seem like the wallflower type.’
    It felt so natural and friendly that it came as a shock to her when she suddenly thought,
I think he’s flirting with me. Is he? Am I flirting back?
I shouldn’t be, should I?
It was confusing and strange, and for a perilous second, some rebellious part of her thought,
Why shouldn’t I? I came here to stretch my wings. Well. This is stretching.
    ‘I’m pretty shy,’ Claire said. ‘Really, I am.’
    ‘I could tell by the way you dragged Viva over and announced her to the world. So, what’s your major?’
    The inevitable college question. She didn’t hesitate. ‘Physics.’
    Nick seemed pleased, not daunted – another difference between MIT and, well, everywhere else. ‘You don’t just get to say physics. I mean, what flavour? Chocolate, vanilla, applied, theory …’
    ‘A little of both.’
    ‘I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure there’s no “little of both” major. You don’t know yet, do you?’ When she didn’t answer, he shrugged and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘It’s okay. According to the literature, people change around. Probably good to give it some thought before you commit.’
    That’s why I’m here
, she almost said.
To give it some thought
. It was about so much more than her choice of study, but she didn’t know how to say that, and she didn’t really want to give him the wrong idea. ‘What’s yours?’
    ‘My major? Mechanical engineering, emphasis in robotics. Second year. Haven’t flunked me out so far.’
    ‘Do you think it’s possible to take a human brain and wire it up to control a computer?’
    He missed a step, but only one, and said, ‘Ah, I get it, you’re asking me a classic Trek question. “Spock’s Brain”, right? Where the planet of women grabbed Spock, removed his brain and stuck it in a machine to power their systems?’
    ‘I—’ She had no idea what he was talking about; she’d watched some
Star
Trek
but not the old episodes. Her parents had been kids when those were on. ‘Uh, I guess so.’
    ‘Geek cred points for trying to stump me, but sorry, you’ll have to do better than that. Would you like to try anime for a hundred?’ When she looked blank, he sighed. ‘What took it down, anime, or the
Jeopardy
reference?’
    ‘
Jeopardy
, I guess. I know a little about