Summer's End by John van Stry

Author:John van Stry [Stry, John van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Hard Science Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781625798855
Google: -ex5EAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2022-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Ceres

We were lying in bed together at her parents’ house. I had no real idea what time it was, and no desire to find out. After the initial rush of jumping into bed and making love to each other, we’d had a long talk.

I’d told her everything. And I do mean everything that had happened. How Pam had lost it, how we’d been stranded, my fears of just what might happen to me if we got “rescued,” my decision to take my chances with what I’d thought were pirates, and my decision as well to protect Pam, even if that meant lowering my own chances of survival.

I even told her of Pam’s decision to reward me, as well as what Pam told me later about her last run-in with pirates. I told Kacey flat out that I wanted her to know who I was and, yes, what I was. That I wasn’t ever going to hold anything back.

And I wanted to know all about her as well.

“Why? Why are you telling me all this?” she asked sometime late in the middle of the night.

“Pam told me that the reason we couldn’t make a go of it was because we really didn’t know each other.”

“So you’re trying not to make the same mistake again?” Kacey asked, frowning.

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “When I saw you, I realized that I’d never asked about Pam’s past, who she was, what she wanted, because I really didn’t care. My ending up with Pam was a complete fluke. The only thing we had in common was that we were both crew on the Iowa Hill. I didn’t ask, because I didn’t want to know. Same for her.

“But you? I want to know about you. I want you to know about me. Pam was afraid of me, because I’ve killed people. You’re not, because you like the idea of what I’ll do if I have to. You’re used to men like that and instead of scaring you, it makes you feel secure.”

Kacey snorted. “Yeah, I can’t understand her going to pieces like that, when the smart thing to do was run. She just fell down and was waiting to die.”

I nodded. “Deep down, I knew I couldn’t count on her. Not like I could count on my brother, my old gang mates, or” —I smiled —“you.”

Kacey blushed a little and leaned into me. Then she started to tell me about herself, what she was doing, where she wanted to go in life. After that we traded stories about our past. I actually felt better lying in bed, tired because we’d been up all night talking, than the mornings I’d woken up with Pam tired from having sex all night.

Sort of like the difference between filling up on dessert, or filling up on a good meal.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Kacey asked, yawning and stretching while I watched appreciatively.

“Eat, go to the park and enjoy some open spaces, then maybe

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