High Priest on Union Station (EarthCent Ambassador Book 3) by E. M. Foner

Author:E. M. Foner [Foner, E. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Paradise Pond Press
Published: 2014-10-23T22:00:00+00:00

Eleven

“I’ve never been in a swimming pool before,” Aisha admitted to Kelly as they stood a few paces apart at the shallow end. Dorothy swam energetic laps between them, doing a dog-paddle that Joe had taught her in preparation for Blythe’s twentieth birthday party after temporarily filling an old hull in Mac’s Bones waist-high with water rented from the Frunge.

Joe had been relieved to have an excuse to teach his daughter to swim because he was brought up to believe that not doing so was the height of folly. Mary Crick was quick to take him up on his offer to teach her younger children as well. But swimming, or even floating, was not really an essential survival skill on a space station where access to the sole human swimming pool was both limited and expensive.

“And I’ve never been in an executive club before,” Kelly responded. “In fact, I didn’t even know this place existed before we got Blythe’s invitation.”

Blythe had rented out the pool area of the club for her party at a price Kelly couldn’t even imagine, since her economic outlook hadn’t had time to readjust to her Stryx credit balance. In addition to Donna’s and Kelly’s families, the guests included a large number of young people who had learned to swim before coming to the station and were friends of Blythe, Paul or Chastity.

Both of the EarthCent employees crouched low in the water, Kelly because she was embarrassed that her old bikini no longer contained her comfortably, and Aisha because the modest one-piece swimsuit Shaina had helped her hunt up in the Shuk was the most revealing garment she had worn in her life. It had taken every ounce of diplomacy Kelly could muster to talk the girl out of sewing legs onto the swimsuit. Even though Aisha’s father had taught her rudimentary swimming skills in a muddy river when she was a child, the girl was relieved that Dorothy provided her with an excuse to remain with Kelly at the shallow end.

The kids cavorted at the deep end to show-off, many of them skinny dipping, but Blythe herself wore a stylish swimsuit with detachable skirt and shawl accessories that made her look almost well dressed when she came out of the pool. By the time Dorothy had used up her excess energy for the day, Kelly felt like she had been pickled in hydrogen peroxide, or whatever chemical they were using to keep the water so clear. She handed Dorothy up to Aisha and then clambered out of the pool after them, where they gladly wrapped themselves in the towel-robes provided by the pool attendant. Aisha volunteered to take Dorothy in search of an ice cream in the club area.

“What are you oldsters talking about so seriously?” Kelly asked Donna, as she approached the poolside bar where her best friend was in deep discussion with Joe and Stanley.

“The kids,” Donna replied, with a furtive glance to see if anybody else had come up. “It’s nice to see Blythe around people her own age for a change.

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