Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 3: July 2013 by Mike Resnick;Heidi Ruby Miller;Eric Flint;Laurie Tom;Barry Malzberg;Muxing Zhao;Jack Williamson;Brennan Harvey;C. L. Moore;Ron Collins; Michael Flynn.;Charles Sheffield;Stephen Leigh;Daniel F. Galouye

Author:Mike Resnick;Heidi Ruby Miller;Eric Flint;Laurie Tom;Barry Malzberg;Muxing Zhao;Jack Williamson;Brennan Harvey;C. L. Moore;Ron Collins; Michael Flynn.;Charles Sheffield;Stephen Leigh;Daniel F. Galouye
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Darker Matter, strange horizons, Speculative Fiction, Locus, Asimovs, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Analog
Publisher: Phoenix Pick
Published: 2013-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

***

“Gonna stare out the window all day, or can I have a cuppa joe?”

I said I was sorry and poured coffee. The woman wasn’t a regular, but I had seen her before. She had a job somewhere in town and came in every other week. Not quite enough for a nickname, but enough that I had a sense of ownership about her. She was fine enough: average height, average build, dark hair, dressed well. Probably a city worker. Probably thirty, maybe thirty-five. Cash enough to be comfortable. She was sitting alone, reading a scanner.

I put the coffee on the table, and slid across from her.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you might be interested in taking a vacation?”

“Excuse me?”

“The aliens are looking for people to take two weeks in a space ship. They wanna—”

“Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“What’s that, ma’am?”

“Are you asking me out?”

“Oh, no, ma’am.”

“Because if you’re suggesting I take two weeks off so you can get your pop on in zero-G, you better get your skinny behind out of that seat. I’ve got people around who can take you out.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said as I stood up.

She gave me a hard stare.

I apologized again, retreating back to the counter.

“Trying to get a little senior tail?” Kenta said from the kitchen.

“She’s not that old,” I said, realizing how lame that sounded even as I said it —as if her age was the thing to come between us.

Kenta just laughed, and banged a spatula on the grill.