Bodhi Rising (Reality Gradient Book 2) by Andrew Sweet

Author:Andrew Sweet [Sweet, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

FOURIEDON ACCEPTANCE

Friday, August 14, 2201

In true Fouriedon fashion, Christine's acceptance letter arrived by postal delivery carrier. The university had paid someone an exorbitant amount of money to have the letter hand-delivered from their campus just outside of Missoula, Montana, to H Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Even her grandfather's business partners sent every correspondence via Labyrinth, or ansible if the message was timely and extremely important. She held the letter in front of her, examining it closely for close about how she should manage her future.

"Congratulations," the bartender said, reading the letter upside down from where she stood on the other side of the polished wood.

"Thanks," she replied, starting once again from the top. The words "Dear Christine" made her heart leap as much as it had the first time. She skimmed ahead to the body.

"…are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Fouriedon…"

She looked up from the document to the bartender.

"First try, you know," she said automatically, as though she had something to prove. The bartender gave her a quick disinterested nod before hurrying away to help someone else.

The person Christine wanted to tell was only an ansible call away. He could be talking to her in a heartbeat, telling her how great she was and how they would be only an hour's flight from each other by volantrae. No doubt her grandfather would provide her with the most expensive one he could find.

Christine looked at the paper once again then rubbed her tired eyes. After "Christine,” the name printed there wasn't 'Hamilton,' the name of her father and her grandfather. It was 'Turner.” Christine Turner. She examined the tiny blonde hairs on the back of her borrowed wrists.

Turner.

She’d forgotten about the name change. She took another sip as her vision clouded from the sadness and she wrinkled her nose as the aroma of alcohol lingered.

How could she explain to Bodhi the sadness that had come with that letter? Her entrance to the school that she'd been trying to get into was accomplished. The life journey she had chosen for herself lay before her. Her first initial step into it wouldn't be in her body, and it wouldn't be her name either. What of her was she bringing on this journey?

The name wasn't an accident or a misprint. Christine Hamilton lingered on the edge of death in a coma in a hospital across town. Christine’s former body, with legs too short and stubby arms, lay attached to a breathing machine. Nothing was happening in that mind, and only devices kept the lungs expanding and contracting. The name protected the new and improved Christine Turner from scrutiny.

Name or not, I'm a Hamilton.

Christine choked back the rest of her drink and stood, crinkled papers now secure in her left hand. Then she wiped her tears away with one hand and put on a smile that she hoped was genuine enough to fool the bartender. She made her way out of the bar in steady, confident steps. There was one more thing to do to take ownership of the body, and that was where she headed.

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