Free The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

the Ministry of Family Planning. It would reduce the number of single men and increase community bonds,’ Dllenahkh explained and drank his water peacefully.
    There was a small silence, then, ‘Do you think I should take a second husband?’
    Dllenahkh started. It had clearly not crossed his mind. ‘No . . . no. I do not think that would be appropriate.’
    Aunt Grace looked down at her plate with a small smile. Dllenahkh blinked at the remaining water in his glass.
    ‘Don’t you hate,’ murmured Freyda to Rafi, ‘how they pretend to ignore each other when they’re communicating without words?’ She spoke with humour and no bitterness whatsoever, but he felt a trace of wistfulness leaking through.
    ‘Do you want another husband?’ he asked her.
    She smacked the side of his head lightly. ‘You’re too young for me,’ she teased him.
    ‘Aie! I didn’t mean me !’
    She almost laughed, but her face sobered suddenly. ‘I want to go to Punartam, but Lanuri won’t . . .’ The unfinished sentence made Rafi itch. Won’t let me? Won’t come with me? ‘There’s a lot happening on Punartam, like research and debates on the future of the galaxy. Delarua doesn’t realise. She listens to Nasiha and Dllenahkh and their sources, and I doubt New Sadira is putting out objective reports on the state of galactic affairs.’
    ‘You’re a biotech specialist?’ Rafi asked, puzzled but taking care to match her light, conversational tone. Tell me your secrets .
    ‘Yes, and I talk to colleagues in other fields. They’re keen to talk to me. Everyone wants to know what the Cygnian Sadiri are doing and saying.’ She mumbled the next words, words he was sure he was not meant to hear. ‘Delarua is too busy living her dream life.’ She caught the edge of Rafi’s sudden tension, saw the way he bit his lip on a retort and became defensive. ‘It’s a beautiful place. A lovely community.’ That wistfulness again, trailing her final words into a fading fall. ‘We don’t all share the same happy-ever-after. Even if it existed.’ She paused. ‘But life is good.’
    Good , Rafi thought. Good is better than a shared happy-ever-after . He didn’t trust those.
    ‘Well,’ said Aunt Grace abruptly, ‘I need to talk to Freyda and Nasiha about a few things. Dllenahkh, take Rafi for a walk and show him what’s changed since he was last here.’
    Rafi blinked at the sudden dismissal and realised there was a very slight strangeness in the atmosphere, the kind of cautious air that comes from having a group of people talking around one person unaware of their greatest secret.
    *
    Dllenahkh took Rafi to the meditation hall, guessing correctly that he would be most interested in and distracted by their new microgravity Wall – not at all the standard for proper Wallrunning drills, but still useful training for those who wanted to keep their sense of three-dimensional space while planetside. It was especially popular with their growing community of pilots. Rafi gladly tried it out while Dllenahkh monitored the controls via handheld and pondered the discussion that was taking place back at the main house.
    He was still very much absorbed when Rafi dropped down to the floor and suddenly demanded, ‘I want you to push me.’
    Dllenahkh set the handheld back in its slot and gave the youngster a puzzled look.
    ‘You’re powerful. You stopped my father. Push me,’ Rafi insisted.
    Still puzzled, Dllenahkh walked over to Rafi, set his hand under his sternum and shoved him so forcefully that he flew backwards, bounced off the wall and fell onto the floor. Rafi curled up slowly, holding his stomach and squinting hard as his eyes watered.
    ‘That’s . . . not what I meant,’ he gasped.
    Dllenahkh crouched beside him but did not move to touch him or help him up. ‘No? But that was power, too, was it not?’
    ‘Your mind . . . I meant with your mind.’
    ‘Ah. I see.’
    He sat on the floor, back to the wall, and waited. Eventually,