The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon: Baby Is Three by Theodore Sturgeon

Author:Theodore Sturgeon [Sturgeon, Theodore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781583947500
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2013-04-16T05:00:00+00:00

Her expression changed, but there was no saying exactly how. It wasn’t in the eyes, the mouth. It was, if anything, something inside. But now she looked pleased.

He was annoyed. “I gave you the money,” he said pointedly. When she simply sat, watching him, he said, “And tomorrow I change that lock.”

“Locks mean nothing to me,” she said.

“They do to me, if they’re mine. Miss Morgan, I think I’m taking up too much of your time.”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head solemnly.

He rummaged into his desk, found a jar of instant coffee and some restaurant-style containers. He spooned the powder into a container, switched off the hot plate, and poured steaming water into the coffee. He sat stirring it, looking at her. He didn’t offer her any.

From his top right-hand drawer he got a handful of pretzel sticks. Dunking one, he stuck the end into his mouth.

“This is where you came in,” he said.

She nodded.

“Damn it!” he exploded. “What are you after?”

She said, “Wouldn’t it be better with rye?”

He had the container to his lips as she spoke. His nostrils distended. There’s a distinctive odor to strong black coffee with a dollop of rye in it—and this had it.

Guinn’s first reaction was to drop it; his second to throw it. His third was to drink it. He did none of these things. He put it down with a consciously controlled rock-steadiness. He selected a pretzel-stick carefully and dunked it. It tasted of rye. He finished it slowly, wiped his hand across his mouth, and took out a cigarette. As he clawed a book of matches up from the desk, the girl raised one hand from her lap and pointed a finger at him. Something like a swift butterfly of flame whisked across from the finger to his cigarette, and was gone. He drew back violently, followed by a faint curl of tobacco smoke. He automatically dragged on the cigarette. It was lit, and the unexpected gout of smoke made him cough. He thought he smelled ozone.

“Do something else casual,” said the girl, as quietly and offensively as ever. “I can keep this sort of thing up all night.”

“Okay,” he said harshly. “What’s your story, Miss Morgan?”

“Look in your wallet.”

“I know what’s in the wallet.”

“You do?”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.