Free Absorption by David F. Weisman

There was something detached about her. She floated where her partner led her, seemingly out of carelessness rather than abandon. Soft red boots ended in high heels. Her white dress was trimmed with red, and her fair skin by the slight flush on her cheeks, which appeared to be natural rather than makeup. Blond hair hung to the middle of her back, a soft cloud rather than perfectly straight.
    She was a candy cane angel, Brett thought irreverently. He realized he had stared too long when her eyes met his for a moment. Brett wasn’t sure what held his attention, but as she was escorted the diplomatic thing was probably to look elsewhere.
    Many would have considered the man with her handsome, but his too smooth features irritated Brett. The couple was only a few steps away from Brett when the candy cane angel spoke. “If you’re still tired you can sit down awhile, Michael.”
    Her voice was just as Brett would have imagined it, sweet but with a hint of mischief. Had she seen Brett looking at her?
    The opportunity was too perfect to ignore, and Brett stood up impulsively. “May I cut in?”
    As he spoke, the spell broke, and he wondered what he was doing. Brett wasn’t shy, but she seemed heart-stoppingly beautiful at that moment, and this was a ball on an unfamiliar world. Landfall was near the largest spaceport on Oceania, and could assume the patina of ancient Earth when she chose to make her guests feel comfortable, or cast it off when they crossed a line.
    She smiled at her companion, presumably Michael. “Do you mind?”
    The girl had made it difficult for him to say no without seeming churlish by reminding him of some earlier claim of tiredness. From the sullen expression on his face as he took in Brett, the reply could have been ‘Who let that pig in here?’ Instead Michael said, “If you want to.”
    She walked lightly towards Brett. With perfect timing, the band started a tango. As they danced, he felt her body against his. Brett pretended not to notice the black look from the man who was headed back to his seat. After all, he could have objected.
    They danced in silence until the tango ended. Brett spoke softly as they began a waltz so she had to hold her head a little closer to hear him. “I’m Brett Johnson.”
    “I’m Ariel Lilac.”
    “Lovely planet you have here.”
    Brett hadn’t realized how that sounded until after it came out.
    Ariel laughed lightly, a pretty peal of sound. “You can’t have seen much of it yet! Or have you? What do you think?”
    Brett nodded judiciously. “This city is so beautiful. I couldn’t figure out what all the quiet came from, until I realized it was the lack of vehicles on the street. Your transportation network is underground, right?”
    She nodded. “The Podlink, yes.”
    “From a distance everything looks so peaceful. Up close you see doors opening as people walk up, and pods arriving without people pushing the button, so it’s kind of uncanny. I know that sort of thing is done with your brain interface, but still.”
    Suddenly Brett’s mouth was dry, but Ariel was willing to carry the conversation. “Do you have anywhere else to compare it to? Has the Space Force shown you many worlds?”
    So she recognized the uniform, or there weren’t many off world uniforms here. “Three, counting my home world, which I guess they didn’t really show me.”
    Michael tapped Brett on the shoulder, “May I cut in?”
    Brett repressed his reluctance. Under the circumstances, further pursuit was excluded by his job description. It required a distinct effort not to follow her with his eyes before she vanished into the crowd. He stood a few moments as the crowd swirled around him, grappling with an absurd sense of loss. At least he was doing a better job mingling with the crowd than Williams, though he didn’t care as much as he had a few minutes ago.
    What the heck. No sense thinking of the impossible. He saw a woman who had white hair proudly done up in an elaborate