Analog SFF, December 2010 by Dell Magazine Authors

Author:Dell Magazine Authors
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dell Magazines

Novelette: HOME IS WHERE THE HUB IS by Christopher L. Bennett

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Illustrated by Vincent Di Fate

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Is an obviously better way always the best choice?

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Nashira Wing fidgeted with the straps of her slinky dress as she signaled at the door of Suite 47. She practically jumped out of said dress when the door opened and a huge, slavering carnivore thrust out its head. “Are you room service?” it said. “About time. I'm starving.” Several snaketongue tentacles darted out to sniff at her limbs. “Are the exposed parts the ones that will grow back? Don't worry, my venom anesthetizes you."

"Ahh, no,” Nashira said, regaining her aplomb. She stared down banal and pointless death every day; at least the sight of a huge hyperdentate mouth got the adrenaline flowing a bit. “Sorry, I must've hit the wrong button. I want Room 4."

The beast—more properly, the Qhpong—reared its head and all its tongues back. “Oh, you must be David's mating partner! Of course, I should've recognized the species. Hard to tell with your scent masked like that."

"Yeah, we're funny that way."

The Qhpong looked her over again, with its eyes this time. “And so many exposed parts too. A pity. But never mind. I like that David. Such a polite fellow. And he smells delicious. You're a lucky female."

"I am? Um. Sure. Yes, I am."

The Qhpong went back inside, muttering about calling room service and threatening to eat some of their parts without anesthesia. Nashira again hit the door signal, hoping that this time it would connect her to the right facet of the tesseract-shaped suite within. By now, thanks to the inept maintenance in this fleatrap hotel, virtually all of the suite's other occupants had become aware of her frequent visits to David LaMacchia, and they'd become an object of gossip around Hubstation 3742. David liked it that way, but Nashira could do without the embarrassment.

This time, the dimensional interface worked properly and David answered. “Oh, great, you're here!” The young, sandy-haired American ushered her in quickly, shut the door, and activated the small cubic room's privacy field. His eyes went straight to her purse. “Is that it?"

Nashira glared. “What? No comment about the dress?"

"What? Oh, you look gorgeous,” he said absently. “Now, come on, let me see the module."

Gorgeous? Nashira was too nonplussed to resist as David took the purse and rummaged through it, retrieving the gravitational sensor module she'd been smuggling aboard her Hubdiver ship for the past week. After a moment, she shook it off. Why should she care whether this feckless rube noticed her? She could do better any day of the week. Or she could if her arrangement with David didn't require the pretense that their private meetings were of a personal nature. She sighed. What a waste of good perfume.

All David cared about, of course, was his quest to crack the secrets of the Hub and thereby prove humanity's worth to interstellar civilization. Not that Nashira couldn't sympathize with his

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