Free Creation by Greg Chase Page B

and fucking all day.”
    Yoshi tossed a sly wink at Doc, who nodded in reply. “And getting high. Take away all the normal fears and drives of any animal, and that’s pretty much where they end up: sleepy, satisfied, and stoned.”
    Sam failed to control his laugh. “Doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
    Mira lightly placed her hand on his thigh. The act came so naturally to her, and Sam again wondered at his lack of embarrassment by the obvious flirtation. “But without growth, without some betterment of humanity, what would we have to offer the future?”
    Sam looked into her inviting deep-brown eyes. “ Are you trying to offer something to the future? I had the impression this society wanted no part of the rest of human culture.”
    Instead of being offended, she contemplated her granola bar for a moment. “For now. To build what we want may take a generation or two of isolation. We need the idea to sprout in our children. Then when they have their children, free of the remnants of a violent, selfish society, maybe we can return to Earth with something to offer.”
    Doc nodded. “It’s still an experiment, Sam. Those of us who started this society are constantly dealing with our old human conditioning. Twenty years may sound like a long time, but Jess’s generation is just coming into its own. And there is a naïvety among them that we’re struggling with.”
    Could it be that simple? Separate a group of people for a generation who devote themselves to the goal of better human interactions, and thus create a society free from all the old Earth repressions? “Why take me in? I know, Lev vouched for me. But why? What can I do here? Wouldn’t I just be infecting this society with that old conditioning?” Sam knew he had many failings, but ego wasn’t one of them.
    Doc grew serious as his dark-blue eyes bored into Sam. “We can use you. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, everyone here has at least two jobs: one for our agriculture experiment and one to keep our little tribe together. For the first, Yoshi is always complaining he doesn’t have enough hands to tie the bamboo, redirect the lights, and manage the water flow that’s needed on a daily basis. Not terribly complicated work, but there is a great deal of fulfillment in seeing a living thing slowly take shape. As for the second, well, Lev thought you might serve us well as a shaman.”
    Sam shook his head, pretty sure he’d misheard what Doc had said. “A shaman? You mean like a religious leader? Are you sure Lev wasn’t trying to make a joke?” As if coming to terms with a woman flirting with him weren’t enough, nothing about this morning’s conversation was doing anything good for his digestion.
    Doc laughed. The infectious sound momentarily eased Sam’s anxiety. Based on how often people laughed at his comments, maybe he could serve as comic relief.
    “You haven’t heard any of her knock-knock jokes?” Doc asked.
    “Knock-knock jokes?” Sam shook his head.
    “Yeah,” Doc said. “She had to spend half an hour explaining the concept to me. At one time, if you wanted to announce yourself, you punched your fist against the door. They called it knocking. A genre of jokes developed about it, mostly involving some type of linguistic coincidence. They’re truly horrible even if do you get the concept. Lev decided being eccentric necessitated pursuing a form of outdated humor and has devoted herself to finding and preserving every knock-knock joke she can find. Problem is, because she thinks I know what she’s talking about, she bombards me at any opportunity.”
    Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, so me as a shaman is just another of her knock-knock jokes.”
    “No, you see… oh, never mind. I’m pretty positive she wasn’t joking.”
    Sam did his best to not focus on Mira’s hand as her fingers caressed small circles along his inner thigh. The thin garment did little to cushion her touch. The conversation, Yoshi’s look of acceptance, and