Dark Lightning by John Varley

Author:John Varley [Varley, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780698154421
Google: ddckAgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 22668723
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Polly:

As Cassie likes to tell me, there is usually a good side and a bad side to everything, and I tend to see the bad side first. Though I really hate to agree with her when she’s talking about me, I have reluctantly concluded that she is right.

My first reaction when I lost the scissors-paper-rock game was to mope because she was going to be taking a trip outside the ship, having an adventure, while I was going to be stuck with the family having a meeting about this ruckus stirred up by what Papa had said. I mean, is there anything more exciting than sitting around a table with your relatives, talking about stuff most of them, including me, don’t even understand?

But as the guests began to arrive I realized there was a silver lining to the cloud. Mike and Marlee came walking down the driveway and right behind them came Apollo. Excuse me, I meant Patrick.

And where was my sister? Why, about a hundred thousand miles away and receding fast.

Eat your heart out, bitch. I’ve got him all to myself.

I smiled at him as I held the back door open for them, but I didn’t overdo it. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake Cassie had made, throwing myself at him, practically dropping my knickers and waving my ass at him. What I decided to do was sneak up on him, insinuate myself into his space as if accidentally, and see what developed.

I wished I had a better idea how to do that. Not to toot my own horn, but though we may not be exactly the most gorgeous girls in the ship, we’re attractive enough that we’ve seldom had to make a play for a particular guy. They usually come on to us if we just wait. Now I was wishing I’d more carefully studied the techniques of the handful of real flirts in our social circle.

“Everybody’s gathering in the music room,” I told them, and watched Patrick pass through the kitchen and turn right to go down the hallway. The dude looked good from every angle. Fantastic buns.

Mama Podkayne had assigned me the role of greeter and bartender, and that’s what I did for the next hour as guests arrived at the back door.

Travis was already back there with Mama.

Granddaddy Ramon and Granny Evangeline came in together, followed quickly by Aunt Elizabeth and Dorothy. I offered everyone beverages and plates to fill with the snack items Mama had ordered from the commissary. Granddaddy asked for a beer, Granny wanted a glass of white wine, Aunt Liz opted for sparkling water, and Dorothy asked if we had any of that eighteen-year-old Glenlivet (now thirty-eight-year-old, since there was no point in storing hard liquor in time suspension), and I told her of course we did. Although Travis is an admitted alcoholic, for many years now he has been able to drink as long as he keeps it to one glass of Scotch per week, when he’s out of the bubble.

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