Free Solaris Rising by Ian Whates Page A

Arizona’s Spacewatch mission currently have their telescopes focused on one newly observed and fast-moving asteroid, dubbed Perses after the destructive Titan of Greek mythology. The experts are nearly certain that the hurtling rock will miss our world, but the projected clearance is the smallest ever recorded…”
    Blueberry took that cue to utter a gasp of exaggerated fright and grab Arp’s arm. That was when he lost it.
    The two sweet spots which Arp had heretofore poked had resulted in a cascade of macroscopic events. But somehow, this time, he knew he was tapping into something more subtle.
    Instead of casting off Blue’s hand, as he wanted to, he took it in both of his own and squeezed. He could feel her pulse accelerate and a hot blood rush beneath her skin. Metabolic and cellular processes began to churn within the girl. At the same time, Arp put his head closer to hers, but then forced a sneeze out directly at her, spraying her with his personal blend of microbes.
    “Oh, dude, sorry,” Arp said unctuously.
    Blueberry took no offense. “Don’t worry,” she whispered.
    “Class, quiet, please!” Mrs Christelli admonished.
    Arp continued to squeeze Blue’s hand, even massaging a pressure point on the underside of her wrist. Blue practically purred. He listened for a rustling of paper. Sure enough, under cover of darkness Ludmilla Duda was unwrapping a sandwich. The odor of a highly spiced Middle Eastern shawarma filled the room.
    Blue began to fidget. She withdrew her hand. “I – I don’t feel so good. My stomach –” She began to retch and jumped awkwardly to her feet. Gagging wholeheartedly, she dashed from the room amidst unsympathetic laughter, and Arp sat back with a feeling of relief, accomplishment, and, if truth be told, a smidgen of guilt and remorse.
    But overall, it felt sweet.
     
    Jason and Arp came to call the sequence of events triggered by poking a sweet spot ‘okiegoes’or ‘rubes,’ after the elaborate Rube Goldberg device depicted in OK Go’s video for ‘This Too Shall Pass.’ Witnessing the perfectly sequenced cascades of improbable events – at least the parts that fell under their immediate point of view – began to assume an allure almost as great as obtaining the desired outcome.
    Not that Arp turned his nose up at getting things he wanted for almost no effort.
    The incident with Blueberry Chefafa had tipped Arp’s mind over into the ‘for profit’ side of the moral equation. After many months of trying to discourage Blue’s unwanted attentions, he had disposed of her in ninety seconds. The aftermath of contracting a flukey and short-lived stomach virus, coincidental with Arp responding to her overtures, had weirded Blueberry out. Although not actually repulsed by his presence when their paths crossed, Blue reacted like a startled fawn, jerking up short and leaping back an inch or so, while regarding Arp with puzzlement as to his intentions or exact nature. She seemed to regard him nowadays as something other than human.
    Every time she jumped so, Arp winced a bit inside.
    But on the whole, he was satisfied with what he had accomplished.
    Rewarded instantly, his brain demanded more. Forgotten or buried were all thoughts of embarking on a do-gooder’s career.
    For nearly a month now, Arp had indulged his every idle wish. Or at least those for which local sweet spots availed themselves. None of his desires reeked of megalomania, cruelty or excessive greed. But they were all self-centered. Except for those which he activated for Jason’s sake.
    A partial catalogue of Arp’s conquests – or, viewed another way, presents from the obliging universe – included: a thousand-dollar gift card at the Dearborn branch of Marshall Field’s; the grade of A-plus on his latest civics paper, composed in half an hour with copious use of the internet; a promotion for his Mom in her job at the Detroit Metro Airport; the public humiliation of a crooked city councilman who had taken