Lifespinners by Lynn Watson

Author:Lynn Watson [Watson, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Classic science fiction
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2023-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Trish was the better runner, faster on the track and stronger over a distance, while Isabel was more supple and agile, still the gymnast. As they did their stretches under the chestnut tree, she bent and looked back through her legs, admiring Trish’s athletic body: her muscled calves, flat stomach and perfectly shaped thighs. They didn’t look bad, either of them, in their aerodynamic, figure-hugging sports kit. Trish leant forward at a right angle from the hips, splayed fingers touching the ground and her upside-down face on a level with Isabel’s.

‘It’s such a nice day, I don’t want to go in yet. Let’s walk along the river, shall we? I want to hear how you got on with the trial.’

Isabel stood up, pushing back stray strands of hair. ‘Happy to walk but I can’t talk about the trial, which is normal but Juno and Itsuki made an especially big thing of it – no external influences. They’re the sweetest young couple, or twins, I should say.’

‘You enjoyed it then? I can’t wait to start my memory sessions but I need to have the implant inserted first. That’s happening on Friday. All done by nanobots. It’s freaky but it’s a standard procedure now and I’m able to watch the whole thing. I’ll be under the same vow of silence after that, although maybe we could loosen it a bit between the two of us?’

‘No, Trish, I’m going to keep to my end of it. Apart from anything else, I’m sure the twins will know, they’ll sense it if we don’t follow the rules. They could be psychic, maybe in a way we haven’t yet encountered. I’ve no idea, but I intend to find out. Might have to enlist Suzanne and her special powers at some point, see what she makes of them.’

‘Or it could be the blended reality aspect, giving them an aura of extra perception.’

‘But they designed the blended reality, so it’s not just an aura. It was searching and insightful, spot on. I couldn’t begin to do it justice if I tried to describe how it went.’

They were approaching the bridge and stopped halfway across to look upriver.

‘What’s that?’ said Trish. ‘There, beyond the far willow? It’s a log, someone’s laid it across the river to make a new crossing, short cut to the Institute. It looks fun, let’s go see.’

They jogged along the path to the log, which was part-plank with a flat, sawn top and a rounded underside. It was about twenty centimetres wide and firmly embedded low down on each bank, not much above the water level.

‘What are you waiting for, Isabel? It was your gym apparatus, wasn’t it, the beam?’

‘Yes, but it’s years ago, decades even. I’m way out of practice, my balance isn’t—’

‘Chicken, are you? I’ll run across ten times if you give me one balancing act.’

‘Okay then. Your idea, you go first. Five times each way and make it quick!’

Trish was over-confident, of course; rushing at it, rather than testing the structure and her ability to keep steady on its springy surface.

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