the first word out.
“How about we find ourselves a quiet corner somewhere?” I suggested, looking first at Ringer and then at Val. “You two are starting to draw a crowd of admirers.”
“She’s right,” Ringer agreed without looking around, smiling faintly at the sudden awareness in Val’s eyes that nevertheless wasn’t enough to cause him to glance around in the guilt reflex. He turned to our right and began leading the way out of the docking area, and Val and I ambled along behind him.
Faraway Orbital Station had been in service for almost ten years, but it still looked as though it had only just been unwrapped and put into service. We passed beyond the docking area into the main body of the Station, ignoring the room reservation alcoves, enjoying the appearance of new-seeming carpeting under our feet, bright drapes covering the metal of the walls, soft music playing. The saying that goes, “If you’ve seen one Station you’ve seen them all” is perfectly true, except that on Faraway you sometimes get to see an almost empty Station. Right then the volume of traffic going through was minimal.
We ignored the almost empty dining rooms for the even emptier bar, found our own fairly well lit corner, and claimed a table. Just as we were settling ourselves; a tall, thin, long-faced specimen materialized out of nowhere.
“The robot’s out for servicin’,” he announced in a slow drawl, his long face making the simple statement of fact a tragedy of the ages. “Ah’ll have to fetch whatever it is yore drinkin’.”
“I think we can survive that,” Ringer answered with a glance for me, undoubtedly as amused as I was.
“Make it Selesian brandy all around.”
“Why, shore,” the man agreed with an amiable nod, then sort of floated on his way again. It looked like it would be awhile before our drinks came, but Val didn’t seem overly concerned.
“All right,” he said in a soft voice, to keep from carrying his eyes on Ringer again. “You claim you know more about me than I realize; what do you think you know, and how did you gather all of this intricate knowledge?”
“You’d better watch yourself, Valdon,” Ringer growled with faint but very real amusement. “Diana’s sarcasm is beginning to nab off on you. What I think I know about you is pure deduction, but that deduction is based on what I know for certain about Diana. Do you believe I know Diana?”
“Considering the way she greeted you, I think that’s a safe assumption,” Val answered dryly with an odd glance for me. “Does she make that offer to all her old friends?”
“Only to a certain select few,” Ringer said with even more amusement, glancing at me. “It brought back a lot of old memories, and let me be as sure as possible that this little girl I’m looking at is the woman I’m used to working with. Until then, I wasn’t sure at all.”
“That’s ‘young woman,’ not ‘little girl,’ ” I corrected Ringer, bringing his eyes to me. “‘Young woman’ I can live with without any hassle; ‘little girl’ is positively out.”
“Little girl,” Ringer repeated very firmly, grinning widely, then turned his attention back to Val. “You just finished a two-month trip with this harmless-looking little girl, and the first thing you did after leaving the ship was complain about how she treated you. Look at her and tell me what you see.”
Val blinked and looked at me, but not understanding what Ringer was talking about made it a waste of time.
“I don’t see anything,” Val said after that very brief hesitation, his black eyes puzzled. “What is it I’m supposed to see?”
“Just what you did see,” Ringer answered, settling back comfortably in his armchair. “Nothing. Which is just what I saw, and on both of you. If Diana ever makes a mistake in character judgment and ends up alone on a long trip with someone who turns out to be the sort no gal would bring home to meet her mother, you can be damned well
“How about we find ourselves a quiet corner somewhere?” I suggested, looking first at Ringer and then at Val. “You two are starting to draw a crowd of admirers.”
“She’s right,” Ringer agreed without looking around, smiling faintly at the sudden awareness in Val’s eyes that nevertheless wasn’t enough to cause him to glance around in the guilt reflex. He turned to our right and began leading the way out of the docking area, and Val and I ambled along behind him.
Faraway Orbital Station had been in service for almost ten years, but it still looked as though it had only just been unwrapped and put into service. We passed beyond the docking area into the main body of the Station, ignoring the room reservation alcoves, enjoying the appearance of new-seeming carpeting under our feet, bright drapes covering the metal of the walls, soft music playing. The saying that goes, “If you’ve seen one Station you’ve seen them all” is perfectly true, except that on Faraway you sometimes get to see an almost empty Station. Right then the volume of traffic going through was minimal.
We ignored the almost empty dining rooms for the even emptier bar, found our own fairly well lit corner, and claimed a table. Just as we were settling ourselves; a tall, thin, long-faced specimen materialized out of nowhere.
“The robot’s out for servicin’,” he announced in a slow drawl, his long face making the simple statement of fact a tragedy of the ages. “Ah’ll have to fetch whatever it is yore drinkin’.”
“I think we can survive that,” Ringer answered with a glance for me, undoubtedly as amused as I was.
“Make it Selesian brandy all around.”
“Why, shore,” the man agreed with an amiable nod, then sort of floated on his way again. It looked like it would be awhile before our drinks came, but Val didn’t seem overly concerned.
“All right,” he said in a soft voice, to keep from carrying his eyes on Ringer again. “You claim you know more about me than I realize; what do you think you know, and how did you gather all of this intricate knowledge?”
“You’d better watch yourself, Valdon,” Ringer growled with faint but very real amusement. “Diana’s sarcasm is beginning to nab off on you. What I think I know about you is pure deduction, but that deduction is based on what I know for certain about Diana. Do you believe I know Diana?”
“Considering the way she greeted you, I think that’s a safe assumption,” Val answered dryly with an odd glance for me. “Does she make that offer to all her old friends?”
“Only to a certain select few,” Ringer said with even more amusement, glancing at me. “It brought back a lot of old memories, and let me be as sure as possible that this little girl I’m looking at is the woman I’m used to working with. Until then, I wasn’t sure at all.”
“That’s ‘young woman,’ not ‘little girl,’ ” I corrected Ringer, bringing his eyes to me. “‘Young woman’ I can live with without any hassle; ‘little girl’ is positively out.”
“Little girl,” Ringer repeated very firmly, grinning widely, then turned his attention back to Val. “You just finished a two-month trip with this harmless-looking little girl, and the first thing you did after leaving the ship was complain about how she treated you. Look at her and tell me what you see.”
Val blinked and looked at me, but not understanding what Ringer was talking about made it a waste of time.
“I don’t see anything,” Val said after that very brief hesitation, his black eyes puzzled. “What is it I’m supposed to see?”
“Just what you did see,” Ringer answered, settling back comfortably in his armchair. “Nothing. Which is just what I saw, and on both of you. If Diana ever makes a mistake in character judgment and ends up alone on a long trip with someone who turns out to be the sort no gal would bring home to meet her mother, you can be damned well