Sail Away, Sweet Sister by Patrick Goodman

Author:Patrick Goodman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2014-04-22T06:00:00+00:00

01 January 2074

The doorbell woke him up sometime later. It didn’t look like the sun was quite up, and it was therefore an uncivilized hour; he was going to skin whoever it was alive. He was a doctor, dammit; he knew how to do it, and make the process as painful as possible to boot.

“Thomas, it’s Lydia. Are you all right?”

Okay, maybe not. She could hurt him, probably a lot, before he was able to start. Besides, if she was waking him up at this ungodly hour, in person, it had to be important. He pulled the door open quickly. “Come on in,” he said, still a little bleary.

She was facing the street as he opened the door. “I was beginning to worry,” she said, turning back to the door. “I tried to call, but—oh, Christ!” She turned back around quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do me a favor,” she said over her shoulder. “Close the door and go put some clothes on, then let’s try this part again.”

He looked down, and then closed the door. With all that had happened last night, he had completely forgotten that he’d fallen into bed naked. He quickly put on a pair of jeans and a Darwin’s Bastards t-shirt, and then opened his front door again. “Sorry about that. Come in.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s better,” Lydia said as she stepped into his house. “I’ve been trying to call, but you didn’t answer. After the third time, I started looking for you. You weren’t at the office, which I half expected, so I decided to check here. If you hadn’t answered the door, I’m not sure where I’d have checked next.”

He chuckled. “Even I wouldn’t be at the office at—what time is it, anyway?”

“About a quarter to eight.”

“Even I wouldn’t be at the office at a quarter to eight in the morning on New Year’s Day.”

“What did you do last night, Thomas?” she asked. “It’s nearly eight at night, not eight in the morning.”

He stopped in the middle of the living room and turned to look at her. He raised his eyebrows, motioning her to the couch as he collapsed into a recliner facing her. “That would explain why I’m so damn hungry,” he said. “How do you take your pizza?”

“Everything but anchovies.”

He rose from the chair and headed for the kitchen. “Good answer,” he said as he found his commlink. It was still in standby; no wonder she’d not been able to reach him. He brought it to life and saw that the search agent had completed its task. He’d look at the results later, after Lydia had left and he’d had a chance to put his AR contacts in. He found the Matrix site for his usual pizzeria and ordered a large with everything. He then called into the living room, “Are you on duty?”

“Not at the moment.”

He pulled two beers out of his refrigerator and walked back into the living room. “Glass or bottle?” he asked, holding them up for her.

“Bottle’s fine,” she said.

He got each of them settled with an open bottle and took a long pull from his.

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