Free Random Chance and the Paradise that is Earth by Shawn Michel de Montaigne Page B

it. Frustration ate into him, disrupting the pleasant
digestion of his oatmeal. He sat next to the console for a long
time, then shook his head to clear it. “Hewey, I need some help
with this alignment.”
    “Gotcha,” said Hewey. “Getting
those two cores lined up might take a little work. The Glowing Girl ’s
mainframe is damn old, Rand.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “Some advice?”
    “Hit me.”
    “Let’s get that console goin’, and then you
and me and Cubey … let’s get goin’, too.”
    “We need to download you and Cubey
first.”
    “Nah. Let’s scratch that. She’s
already freaked out about your superpowers. Cubey n’ me will do
nothin’ but remind her of ‘em. Plus, she may not trust us. Strike
that. She won’t trust us given her current state of mind.”
    “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”
    “You screwed up tryin’ to keep her safe. If
you’re gonna screw up, do it tryin’ to help. That’s how I look at
it. That console all by itself will provide her systems with a
mighty nice upgrade and will keep her much more secure. Those bugs
will probably even try reinforcin’ her hull and other vitals. You
may have screwed up, El Capitan, but you did it with love. Let it
go at that, and let’s skedaddle. Whaddya say?”
    “I say you’re a damn good
friend,” said Random, smiling sadly. He pushed himself back
under The Girl ’s
ancient mainframe cabinet. “Let’s finish this job and
jettison.”
    He sang:
    Leaves are fallin’ all around; it’s time I
was on my way.
Thanks to you, I’m much obliged for such a pleasant stay.
But now it’s time for me to go,
The autumn moon lights my way.
    ~~*~~
    He didn’t see her on the way out. He asked
Tony, who scrunched his face. “She took a taxi to Vesta City.
Sorry, Random.”
    Random went to go, but Tony stopped him.
“Listen. I know her. Whatever trouble happened between you two,
she’ll drop it. Just give her a little time.”
    Random nodded.
    “For what it’s worth, thank you
for upgrading The Girl . We all love this ship, and we really appreciate that you do,
too.”
    Random nodded again and stepped into the
airlock. When it finished cycling, he said, “How are the fuel
cells, Hewey?”
    “Charged like a buckin’ bronco on
caffeinated alfalfa. Where we off to?”
    “The nicest bed and breakfast in the nicest
cave right here. I deserve to pamper myself a little.”
    “I got just the place.”
    “Show me after my shower. Cycle up the ship,
please.”
    “I’m on it, Captain.”
    ~~*~~
    The cave’s name was Ratinorm and was located
on the other side of Vesta. It was called a “country tube,” so
named because settlers had sealed off the entrance against space
and filled the vacuum with atmosphere and “sunshine” (two long
fusion-enhanced window projectors on opposite sides), then
terraforming it.
    It was enormous. Its mouth was
over three kilometers wide and twelve deep. Most of the cave’s
inner volume was g -free, meaning that if you wanted to, you could strap on a
quick-pack and float away. Photos displayed a prismatic destination
rich with farmland, meadows, ponds, winding creeks, and tall stands
of trees. Random had scanned SolarWeb brochures and was impressed
with the reviews visitors posted.
    The Pompatus of Love docked at one of Ratinorm’s airlocks not far from
the mouth. He took a lift to the inner entrance, which was very
rustic, like the entrance to a country lane.
    He looked up. To his left and up was a
tremendous hole of space-blackness. The dome that kept the vacuum
of space out couldn’t be seen from here. The effect was terrifying
and gave him vertigo, so he forced himself to look away. At his
feet began a well-groomed lane that led into the cave. It wound
through short scrubland, then along large mixed groves of pine,
elm, and cottonwood, then up to the cave’s top near a projector.
The bed and breakfast was a nice house at the road’s end. Its
rooftop was just visible from here. It looked like an